A Time For Everything

Yes, I do, although I'm usually working from the kitchen table, my bed, or the home office (on the days I work from home and need to be near the phone). Remember this room...?



Over the weekend, DH asked why I didn't work from my office because at least then he'd know I was working, and with the door closed, I wouldn't be so easily interrupted by him or distracted by everyone else moving around the house.

Of course, I had no good answer other than liking the comfort of my bed, and the kitchen table offers good seat-to-work-surface ratios for my short self.

As I was making the big push to complete book two this weekend--which I did!!!!--I realized that working in my office would be a good thing for another reason.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm working to publish books in a series. And of course you want characters, places, and events to crossover two or three books at least, but keeping track of all that information on top of keeping track of the current books and its plot and characters can be difficult. Especially if you work more than one book at a time, which I'm trying to do.

So...

I'm thinking that in my office, I can put up a bulletin board or a white board (hey, I think I have some in the garage!!!) that I can just make lists of those things on, and they can be in plain view as I write to both remind me of what's available and to actually include it.

I got book one back from the editor a couple of weeks ago, but I didn't look at the document at the time, because I wanted to get book two done (in the sense that the story is complete, but there's still tweaking and word-smithing to do) before I went back to it.

Tuesday morning I spent an hour or so making the small corrections, spelling/punctuation/grammar stuff to book one, but I also noted the places where I could add mentions of upcoming characters or town establishments we'll visit in the future. I hadn't thought of those things way back in February when I first wrote this book, but a lot, A LOT, has changed since then, both externally to the series and internally, so, yeah.

Over the course of the next week or two, I'll be tidying up the office in preparation for working in there like a real professional writer.

WOO HOO!

Today, I'm just going to dump a bunch of random stuff -- I haven't done that for a while, because there's been one thing or another needing posting, so, in no particular order...

My oldest daughter, aka the Brown Eyed Girl, moved out a week or so ago into her own apartment. That was the week that threw me a few curves. It was stressful as hubby was/is really worried about her ability to pull it off. Her biggest challenge is that she doesn't have a car. I hadn't posted before now partly because I hadn't talked to my mom about it and I didn't want her to hear it here first.

Anyway, the Brown Eyed Girl came home for a visit on Tuesday and brought Kitty with her too. It was good to see them both.(Kitty's grown.) And BEG wanted mashed potatoes. She bought me some flowers when her and DD went to the store for said potatoes. So now I have a pot of beautiful pink Gerber daisies in my writing room. She said she bought them because I always buy flowers or a plant when I go to people's houses. Nice!

Speaking of the writing room... because BEG moved out, I got it back. I don't have the big screen, high def TV since that's down at the fireworks store, but I'm not missing it too much. It's been so nice to have a place to go and close the door to work and not be bothered or distracted. Since the loss of my writing room, I've only had my bedroom to work in, except when DH is home. Then he comes in and wants to watch TV and snack and chuckle and move around and talk to me. Can't you see me working here?? I can concentrate better in the living room while Sonshine is playing Xbox. Argh. And, sure,there's the garage, but until recently it's been too cold to be out there and soon, it'll be too hot.

Spring is pretty much here in north Texas, but last year's drought took its toll. I'm seeing A LOT of dead trees. Surprisingly, the three trees in my back yard are still alive though a bit worse for wear. I thought for sure the one farthest back near the shed was a goner, but it's sporting some greenage on the lowest limbs. They all need some serious trimming too.

I don't remember if I mentioned our most recent trip to the vet and Sammy's diagnosis of some sort of spinal/neuro degeneration--basically not all the messages are getting from her brain to her legs. And because I'm such an awful dog owner and wasn't walking the poor thing hardly ever, her muscles have begun to atrophy. So the vet prescribed some mild pain meds even though she didn't really think Sammy'd reached the pain stage yet. She thinks she was probably just uncomfortable more than in any pain. The vet also suggested some carpet runners for the house along the dog's usual pathways since we have flooring and no carpet. I also asked about walking her and was told absolutely.

So Sammy and I started walking. First just up one half the block (we live dead center) and then up and down both ends. This week, we graduated to actually going around the block. Between that and the carpet runners, Sammy's doing so much better, so I'm very relieved. So far, we've walked every day for probably two and a half weeks. Another week and it should officially be a habit. :)

I haven't talked about Sonshine too much of late, so let me just say he cracks me up. The other night he had a sweet tooth and I told him to get a bowl of cereal. And he said 'damn skippy' as an affirmative response. It's a funny little phrase and he likes to say it and I like to listen to him and watch him when he does 'cause he gets such a kick out of it.

So that's me playing catch up...

New things are going on here at the day job. People are here and working when I arrive so I tend to get sucked into doing work earlier.

As you know, I gave up my writing room for my Brown Eyed Girl. I was mostly happy to do so, though I do admit to feeling a little out of sorts about it. But I've been feeling the displacement keenly. I don't have a place to go to write that's quiet, or at the very least, where I can be alone. DH isn't staying up late watching TV anymore--he's going to bed early (due to the aforementioned changes at the office) and watching TV in our room. Which means I can't write in our bedroom. Grrr...

So this morning, I claimed myself some space:



Yes, that's right--the newly cleaned up garage!!

I've got my camping chair, a TV tray for a desk, and my bookshelf. There's an outlet just next to that armoire in the upper right corner to plug in my laptop. I don't care what it looks like (right now), as long as I can write in peace and quiet. And I need to write!!

I've also been narrowing down publishers to submit to. I've submitted to Entangled already, but if they decline, I need backup. So I've been looking at websites--how do they look? Do they look professional and not amateurish. In terms of the books they sell, does the site scream trashy novel or respectable romance? I don't care if they sell erotic romance, I just don't want the site to look like it sells porn that needs to be carried home in a brown paper bag. And I'm not dissing erotic romance either--I've written my fair share of graphic sex. The next thing to look at is do they want what I write, not only genre, but length.

Anyway, I've narrowed it down six e-publishers. There's more winnowing to be done based on other factors, but that's for another day.

The weather is awesome. The heat is gone and the crisp is here. Now if only I could drag myself out of bed at 5am to walk and/or write.

What's new with you??

Of course, it's been summer since June 21, but it's been nice. But real summer heat has finally hit Texas. The actual temperature is supposed to hit 106* today. UGH UGH UGH

I didn't take my doggies out for their walk last night because it was just so hot. One missed it, the other didn't seem to care. I promised Sammy that I'd take her tonight. UGH

In other news, I have revised my contest entry. I finished it yesterday, mid-day and then put it away to rest. It's now about a 1/3 of a page longer than the allowable 10 pages, so I have to find a new place to cut it off. Or start the story farther in as one first-round judge suggested, which means I could submit a little more of the story. Decisions, decisions...

It's official, I'm a Batman fan girl. I bought myself a tee-shirt on Saturday. (I was already in the store when I saw it--I didn't go in search of it on purpose.) I'm also considering seeing the third film in the theater again. I rarely go to the movies, but for me to see the same film in the theater more than once: it's serious. :) No fan fiction of the horizon, though.


The writing room is almost finished. The latest addition is a 50" HD television, now hanging on the wall. DH bought it for the fireworks store, and went and got it for me and mounted it. I was just going to buy a small TV for in there along with a new Wii balance board so I can get back to doing Wii Fit aerobics. But, hey, I'm not going to complain.




I haven't watched a movie on the TV yet, but I'm looking forward to that. I just can't decide what to watch first. (It'll probably be Harry Potter.)(Probably 6 or 7.1.)

All we need now is a desk and a pair of comfy chairs and this room is set.

Hope you had a great weekend and here's to a good week.

For about 4.5/5 hours Saturday morning.

I think it started somewhere around 4am, though that's a guess, and it rained until 8:30/9am. It didn't rain as hard as I would have liked for all that time, but beggars can't be choosers, I know.

Saturday remained "cool" only reaching the mid-80s temperature wise. Sunday was a little warmer, though I don't think we broke 100*. But today we're back to triple digits.

The house is 98% done. Now it's time to put it all back together. My FIL starts a new job today and will return next weekend to finish up minor things.

Tonight, I'll go over my new bedroom floor with a couple of coats of Mop n' Glo before moving my furniture back in there. I'll dust my ceiling fan and all the shelves and decorations. Then each piece of furniture will also be wiped down before it gets to return home.

Unfortunately, our bed money had to be spent to buy additional boxes of flooring, so no new bed anytime soon. :( I will have to buy new sheets though.

Once we're back in our room, we'll work on getting Sonshine's room put back together. His room & furniture will undergo similar cleaning in the process. Despite his penchant for falling asleep on the couch, he is looking forward to getting his own bed back.

I did get to enjoy my writing room yesterday though my bed's still in it and I didn't actually write. I cross-stitched and listened to music. It was nice and cool and quiet. :)

Pictures tomorrow.

Here are a few pictures of the room in progress...

Once it's empty of remodeling supplies and equipment--it's been the storage spot/staging are for my in-laws tools and stuff--I'll take a few pictures of it. The again once I get it complete with furniture and decorations.

Keep cool.

Seeing as how the writing room is almost done, I'm going to post a handful of before pictures....


































































Tomorrow, maybe some during pictures. :)

Keep cool!

. . . is coming along. I have completed the third coat to the door molding and I'm satisfied with the result. Once it's dry, I'll DAP it. I also finished the shelf brackets and worked on the peg rack. I finally realized I'll need to buy an unpainted wood shelf for those racks and paint it myself rather than buying a pre-made shelf. It would have two different finishes and I think would look funny once "installed".

I have been toying with the idea of pin-striping the bottom half of the wall. As I may have mentioned, the bottom half of the wall is not sheet rock--it's real wood paneling. Not large sheets, but rough, textured planks maybe six to seven inches wide each. So there are seams where one panel buts up against the next and so on. So that little trough would be the ideal place to add a lovely line of white. I've been nervous about it for two reasons . . . a) because hubby isn't always into really creative decorating and b) because, if I do try it and looks crappy or hubby really can't stand it, how do I fix it?

Well, I decided to try it. In the corner behind the door. DAP is paintable, so if it looks ugly or I completely muck it up, I can paint over it with little impact. I only have one seam done so far and have come to a realization--I like it! But because the panels were left in a natural state, not planed down to a smooth surface, but left with the knots and texture of a real tree, the seams are uneven, not only from one seam to the next, but also within each individual seam. The section of seam at the top might be wider or narrow than the section at the bottom due to the vagaries of the panel. Hmmm... I'll have to do a few more and perfect my technique and see how it looks/goes.

And I've had an epiphany about my room. I've been lamenting the darkness of the room due to the paint color I chose to paint the paneling. I was hoping for a bright sunny room. However, I've come to realize that it's not the paint color that's making the room look so dark, though it is a contributing factor. It's the fact that I have two large trees about twenty feet from the house right outside this room--both in full leaf at the moment--which means the sun can never shine directly in the room. And right now, with 100 degree temperatures, that's actually a good thing. Come winter, when my trees have shed their leaves and it's chilly here in North Texas, I'll have the sunlight not only to brighten the room, but to warm it! I feel so much better now. Silly me. :)

Next step, the floor, but only once the paint dries.

Have a great weekend!

I really wish I didn't have to work today...I had the day off yesterday and now I'm looking at a holiday weekend. But the first of the month brings necessary tasks at work and I will attempt to get some of them done.

Yesterday, I met with two of my critique partners. They came to my house to get something accomplished, which they both claim to have done. Now me...it's my house and I work differently at home. I didn't get as much accomplished as I might have had my CPs not been around. But that's not to say I didn't get anything done. I got a little done.

Similar to my friend Regina, I work on a timed basis. Usually in 45 minute cycles. :) I write while (say) the washing machine runs. Then I get up switch out loads, use the restroom, refill my beverage if needed and get back to work. Or I sweep and dust or do dishes or clean the bathroom, etc. I could *so* be a stay-at-home mom/wife/housekeeper/writer if only I a) I didn't have to work and b) could come up with decent plots to keep me in story ideas.

Unfortunately I do have to work and I struggle with plotting.

I'm in the middle of revising a short story, working to get it long enough to be classified as a novelette, at least 7500 words. That won't be a problem. I'm at 6300 words and (only) through the second chapter out of five. I think I'll surpass my goal quite easily.

I'm alternating that with revising my young adult novel, of which the first chapter has been made available to my CPs. Unfortunately I'm not sure when I'll get any critiques back.

I'm incredibly lucky in that I am usually a fast worker (in my writing endeavors). My day job allows me a lot of free time to write or revise or critique. Unfortunately the members of my critique group are not similarly blessed and I usually have to wait for them to write something for me to read or to critique something for me. Someday I may be able to find someone who can keep up with me. :)

Anyway...I made no progress on my writing room yesterday. The day before however, though I really didn't feel like doing anything, I did accomplish most of what I planned to do. The door molding received its second coat and looks much less streaky. I think a third coat will take care of the rest. The seams around the wall have been DAPped and all looks quite tidy and lovely. I didn't make it to The Home Depot for outlets but seeing as how I don't do electricity they wouldn't be switched out till after the holiday anyway, and I did get part of a third coat on my brackets and peg rack. Oh, and Sonshine installed the door knob so I can keep the dogs out.

Next up will be the floor. I'll have to scrub it good and clean, down on my hands a knees. Scrape up all the paint I've dribbled and then I think the first coat will be a clear coat.

So now let me get on with my day.

See you Tuesday with some fireworks video.