A Time For Everything

Slowly.

I'm not diving straight into the deep-end. Maybe I am. I don't know...I don't think so really.

As I mentioned a few ago, I really would like to finish the two series I've got going on. In each series, the next book is currently in progress. In the case of the Face Off For Love series, I'm working on book five of six with a vague notion of what book six is going to be about. As for the Linzer series, book two is in progress (although less so than the other WIP) and I have a plan in place for book three.

After that, I have ideas for at least two additional Linzer trilogies...

Not sure I'll ever get to those, sadly... But I digress...

I love Nate and Wesley, the heroes of hockey book five, called Finders Keepers (cover above), and I do want to tell their story. Nate is a goalie and he finds Wesley and in the end, opts to keep him.

I had two documents--one a revision of the other one with, I thought, a lot of duplicate text.

My first exercise was to read each doc side by side, paragraph by paragraph, and compare. To decide which text, where it's different, I wanted to keep and then to copy/paste into the correct document. 

That process went okay for the first 30-33 pages...then I reached a three-page section that was different and I liked both scenes. So the question became...could I keep both and in what order?

That meant note-carding the scenes. Which I did.

Turns out, not so much duplicate text after all.

As I moved farther through each document after that three-page section, I realized the two documents weren't as similar as I thought. One adhered more to the original plot thoughts than the other, and I was happy to find that that was so. I've often had the thought that I'd veered to far from my original concept.

A resolution to a major plot problem that I'd been struggling with also finally presented itself. When the time comes, I'll be able to rewrite with minimal impact to the dominoes that fall because of that one sticky wicket. I haven't tackled revisions, because I'm still working on the note-carding process, but I know some of what to do now and that's definitely a relief.

I'm working on it a little every day as my brain and my body build up the stamina once again for this kind of work and effort. I had put my writing endeavors in the freezer for safe-keeping when I left for Oregon in mid-March. The thaw and preparation is slow, but that's okay.

Real life has a few things going on that need my attention, I'm still pondering life going forward a bit, and I'm still working in my post-parent-loss grace period.

And fall is lovely; I'm trying spend a lot of time outside enjoying it.

Here's to a lovely weekend for one and all.

 

Happy Good Friday and Happy Easter Friends!!

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Hope you're all well. The new month has started, the new quarter has started, and the new week for me tracking various and sundry habits starts tomorrow.

March was rough for me. I've been in a funk for the better part of the first quarter and tomorrow seems like a good day to begin my climb out of it.

I've created my new habit chart. Stickers are at the ready. I'll be percolating the exercise plan of attack as well as the meal plan and menu items. I've ordered KETO test strips. They come with a guide book and an app, so we'll see how helpful that ends up being.

* * * * *

As I mentioned Wednesday, I'll be spending some time in that dang cookie book this weekend trying to figure out how to explain the revisions I plan to make--if I plan on moving forward with this online publisher.

An online friend was kind and generous enough to beta read the first three chapters and help me understand what the editor meant by a few of her comments. The whole process isn't working the way I expected, which has contributed to my frustrations and the desire to drop kick the whole process into outer space.

But...

The purpose of submitting & publishing with this publisher is still a valid one--to get my work in front of a new set of eyeballs.

The question is: am I willing to do the work necessary to make that happen or do I take my story back, hire an editor, contract out a cover, and publish it myself...

I'll let you know on Monday, once I figure it out. :0)

* * * * *

Have a great weekend!

I don't really mind the work weeks that much, but I look forward to Saturdays and Sundays for the extra hour or two of writing time I get. :0)

This weekend will be focused on revisions and getting my book, To Linzer & to Cherish, as close to ready for submission as possible.

I'll also work on my goals list, since, as you can see I don't have those...but I've been thinking about them and working on the list and the action plans. Next week for sure.

Have a great weekend.

I'm very excited for tomorrow-- It's Saturday, obviously, but it means I'll have a good 4 to 5 hours of writing time to get my revisions done. I'm not sure I can get them all done Saturday, but I'm hopeful that between Saturday and Sunday, they'll be completed. *fingers crossed*

The question becomes: do I let it rest and then re-read it myself or find a beta reader for the final set of eyeballs....

* * * * *

The office upgrades are coming along. The kitchen should be complete no later than next week, from what I hear. All the water-stained ceiling tiles have been replaced as well. Now we just need a fresh coat of paint and good dusting / vacuuming and my little corner of the office space will be as good as new.

* * * * * 

That's all I've got...

Hope you have a great weekend. Take care.

I've received the second half of the revisions to the current work-in-progress! And I'm definitely excited to have them back. This book will be infinitely better because of this editor's touch. Can't wait to dive in tomorrow morning. :0)

 In other news...

There really is no other news at the moment. Oh wait, there is...

As you know, we own our own business. After twelve years, we're finally getting kitchen space. It'll be nice to have a place to prep meals and eat them that aren't my desk. We'll also be splurging on an ice maker and a hot/cold water dispenser.

We'll also be painting the tech area and buying news desks in an effort to spruce up the environment for the employees.

Everything is moving a high speed right now which is not my favorite pace, but the changes are long overdue, much anticipated, and worth the short term chaos.

I'm trying to get back on the meal plan wagon...the weekend was a loss, but I've done well so far this week. My motivation was / is pumpkin cupcakes over Thanksgiving weekend, so I'm trying really hard to earn them.

Weekdays are definitely easier than weekends and after being off the wagon for so long. Consuming sugars and carbs for that time frame, re-awakened my sweet tooth--which is always just taking a catnap anyway--and lowered my resistance levels.

On top of all that--first world problems, I know--my stash of Plantation Mint has run out and the stores are out as well. What I discovered is that after decades, Bigelow has decided to change the name from Plantation Mint to Perfectly Mint.

I think the stores aren't replenishing their stock because of that for some crazy insane reason and it's wreaking havoc with my morning writing time and my stomach. My stomach doesn't care for the other flavors that early in the morning. The scent and flavor are just an ingrained part of my routine and I miss them terribly.

I have setup a subscription from Amazon so that I no longer have to worry about whether or not my local grocery store has it. The problem is waiting another ten days or so for the first delivery. I might just have to break down and place a smaller order to tide me over.

Did I mention how much I really miss my tea?

Have a great rest of your week!

 

I've been working on my publishing website! Originally, I was going to design and create it myself, but there were some features I wanted/needed for searching and organizing purposes that pushed me toward a WordPress-based website. I'm not complaining, because adding WordPress competence to my resume is a good thing if I want to pick up website updating jobs, so yeah.

There was/is still a learning curve, but I'm oh-so-slowly figuring how to make the site do the things I want it to do and show the things I want it to show.

Before I do a big reveal, I'm waiting for two things. One--the second logo I commissioned. Which, really, I'm just waiting for a minor tweak. I like this one much, much better. Two--book four's cover. Not sure how long for that though--by the end of the month, for sure, but I sent along the book-related questions and when the cover artist replied, it sounded like maybe she was going to work on it sooner rather than later. So--fingers crossed.

The most important task on my plate right now, though--completing revisions on book five. I've got to get myself psyched up to delve deep. I pulled a major plot thread, so I'm deleting a good chunk of words and re-weaving the remaining plot around the change. Yeah, buddy--I can do this.

That's my big plan for the weekend--revise, revise, revise. But it's going to be fun, because, it's a challenge and I have a deadline. :)

Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Yeah, yeah, I know it's Wednesday. I'm running a little behind today because I decided to loll around in bed for thirty extra minutes or so. But here I am...

I dropped $500 at the vet's yesterday in an attempt to finally get my dogs well. One is incontinent and needed a blood/urine test before the vet would continue to fill the prescription. So that's done. Plus she's got a mild allergy to flea bites. The other has all kinds of things wrong with her on top of the fact that she's probably 17 years old. Yes, that's right. My golden retriever mix is at least 17 years old. We've had her since DD was 7. DD is now 22. That's 15. She was at least a year when we got her, but probably two. So...17.  Yeah. I know, right???

Serious revisions on my contest entry begin today. I revised it once based on judge comments. Then I sent to two writer friends who were very kind and generous with their thoughts and comments. (Thanks Kary & Angi.) And now I'll take their suggestions and comments into consideration and get started. The revised version is due Saturday.

And that is that. It's the first of the month and I have work to do.

Do you have pets? If so, what kind/how many?

The weather on Friday was a bit nuts. Not crazy, make-the-national-news nuts, but some thunderstorms blew through with some wicked wind, dropping the temperature seventeen degrees. Clumps of leaves were pulled off the trees and all the dead little branches were shaken loose. (kinda hard to see, I know)


Remember Fat Patches? The neighbor's cat I shared a picture of several weeks ago? Well, it seems his family wants to move away. I got home Friday and saw a for sale sign in their front yard. Now, it's silly to be so saddened by this since I hardly ever even talk to these people. But they've been living across the street for many years. They moved in when their oldest was a baby, still in a carrier, and he's now maybe eight or nine years old. Then we watched them have two more children, the youngest still under a year old. :( I guess it just signals the end of an era...and of course Fat Patches will no longer be available for kitty fixes.


All the computers/servers in our office were upgraded last week in preparation for a new massive software implementation designed to help us become more productive and manage our resources better and then subsequently make more money. So it's been a slow few days as I learn to navigate Windows 7 and get all the programs and tools I use to do my real job loaded back onto the computer. Then of course there is re-bookmarking all my favorite Internet sites. Yada, yada, yada...

A chapter mate of mine just shared with us the dangers of using images off the web...she was sued. It's all said and done now, but as you can imagine, it was expensive and frustrating and time consuming. Number #1 lesson: disclaimers do not matter. If you didn't take the picture and don't have express permission to post it, you are in copyright violation. Lesson #2: take/post your own pictures OR join a stock photo site.

I went back through my blog--all five years of it--and there are very few images I've used that don't actually belong to me. So, yes, I'll be going through and replacing those if possible. If I can't replace them, I'll just put in a place holder. Who's going to go back and read those old posts anyway???

Last week I also sorta kinda finished a book. Not ready-to-submit finished, but send-to-critique partner finished. So I did. I told them a) to be harsh and b) not to rush, though I am anxious to get their feedback.

And yesterday, I finally got to working on revisions of A Snowball's Chance in Texas. I worked on it all day between laundry and other random chores and made excellent progress. The story is so much better now. It really truly is. I'm going to have to cut more words as the addition of the fixes added more words than I had available, but that's okay. I knew I was going to have to rework the beginning anyhow and get to the sex scene sooner. I'm hoping to save the prologue though.

I'm going to have to start yet another new story to get new words for my next charm. Despite the fact that I have five or six stories that need to be finished. I can take a month, possibly two (though not in a row) to do revisions, rather than write new words, and still earn a charm. But for some reason, I always feel compelled to write new words. By the time this book in a year program is over, I'm going to have a half dozen *more* stories to revise. Unless of course I just become that good. ha ha ha ha ha

I was going to work on the new story yesterday, but didn't quite have enough of the story worked out for my personal needs in order to start it. So I worked on the revisions as mentioned above. And I'm so glad I did.

So I leave you today with a picture of my charm bracelet with the newest charm: the lone star of Texas.

Blogging is therapeutic for me. Not sure why...

Anyway, my mother is traveling today from one end of the country to the other today. (west to east) Safe travels to her.

On the home front (anyone ever watch that show with Kyle Chandler??), we have a new dining room table. Actually, it's a breakfast nook thing, but I'm not complaining. The price was right and it fit our space and we now have someplace to eat other than in the living room in front of the boob tube. Sonshine also has a better place to do homework. (picture courtesy of Sears)

More changes will be coming down the pipe at home. The children are not/will not be pleased, but I have to learn that this is okay. Children don't have to be pleased. *I* have to be pleased.

Two other smaller projects were accomplished last night after the table was assembled and dinner eaten. My electric can opener was finally 'installed' after about four years of it living on the top corner of the microwave. Now it's attached to the underside of cabinet where it belongs. And my wooden swag holders were re-attached to their screws in the living room. Now I just need to buy new swags to match the living room decor. :)

On the writing front...no new words this week. Still struggling through revisions. I've learned that I'm not a one-pass revisionist. I produce better drivel when I work in waves, focusing on one or two things at a time.

So what good/exciting things have happened to you this week?