::blows out dust & coughs uncontrollably::

Geesh. Get busy & you totally forget you have a journal just looking for words. Or pictures. Or at least acknowledgement that it exists.

I see you, journal. I know you are real.

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The biggest thing on the horizon is NaNoWriMo. Yes, I'm trying again this year. Some attempts have been more successful than others. The challenge this year will be getting my words in with a tired brain. (Overtime. Not my friend.)



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So hello to anyone still following. Can't promise I'll post every day but more often than once a year should be doable.

Where have I been? What have I been doing?

• Work - though in a different location very close to home. No more cab rides to & from the office. No more working at home. The work load has fluctuated wildly over the last month. Since the past couple of weeks have been insanely busy, I have to do some overtime this weekend.


• Home - trying to sort through all the boxes and release the stuck stuff that no longer serves me. This is a struggle - I knew it would be.


• Vacation - spent almost two weeks in New Mexico at the end of May. Wonderful to visit friends and soak in the desert and mountains. (Ironically, I did very well with the sun there and got sunburned here the weekend I arrived home.) It was great to fly out of the local airport too.


• Writing - been rewriting and revising and trying to find my way back to the land of the fantasy novels. Lately, I've been writing spicy romances. I'm still on track with my goal of sending out a submission per month.

There has also been a lot of thinking and dreaming and wondering. Some planning and decision making.

One short term goal is to actually post here more often. It's my space. I've paid for it. I should probably use it.  :-)

No, not for me. I don't often put these on this journal but, selfishly, I want to read these stories.

Laura Anne Gilman (suricattus) is kickstarting two new stories in her Cosa Nostradamus universe.

In her words:
THE WORK OF HUNTERS and AN INTERRUPTED CRY follow the adventures of PI Danny Hendrickson (human mother, faun father, 100% Attitude) and his partner/assistant/student Ellen, a human with magic she doesn't understand and can't contain. As private investigators, they work the space between the magical and the Null world, where people can - and do - get lost...

In my words:
Danny and Shadow (aka Ellen) are a great team. They aren't perfect (and wouldn't it be boring if they were) but both are willing to risk everything to save lives and help. You want magic, sardonic humour and great stories? You've come to the right place.

If you have a few dollars to spare, please consider backing this. The funding period ends February 14th. Wouldn't a successful Kickstarter be a great Valentine's gift for the author?

Sylvan Investigations: The Work of Hunters and An Interrupted Cry

Well, in some ways I'm glad because 2013 has been very difficult for a lot of people. I've had my share of issues too.

In an attempt to get into a holiday mood, I put up my little tree and have been watching favourite holiday programs. (Or trying to. My Rudolph DVD won't play on my computer. Must find another or move up the date to purchasing a new television.) I need to get some parcels and cards into the mail stream.

I bought my membership for World Fantasy 2014. I've never been to DC/Arlington so I'm looking forward to it for more than just convention reasons. I'm going to try hard to have something sold by then, which means putting a concerted effort into revisions and submitting more stories.

I'm also working on planning for 2014. I'm using 2014 Create Your Incredible Year Life + Biz planners from Leonie Dawson as a starting point. I did accomplish some of what I planned for last year using it but 'fell off the rails' when the issues from my first point started piling up. (Full disclosure: That is an affiliate link.)

All right. Time for How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

50,805 words and the first draft is done! Woo!

::blows dust out of the nest::

Been a while. Been that kind of time over the last few months. Busy with work and commuting and World Fantasy and spending far too much time playing games. Things will change. Once I have a deadline for things, I'm better focused. (If panic can be a focus?)

First:

(Thanks to mindyklasky for reminding me about this idea. http://www.maryrobinettekowal.com/journal/the-month-of-letters-challenge-2013/)

I have always loved receiving letters - little notes, cards, pages of thoughts and jokes and feelings and ... Well, most anything.

I love the idea of a month of letters. (Writing & sending one for each day the post office delivers means 19 items here in Canada - 23 in the US.) If you'd like a note or postcard or something from me, let me know. I'd love to receive one from you. Last year I managed 5 or 6. I'd like to get closer to 19 this year.

Second:

I've been using Leonie Dawson's 2013 planner. (This link is to a friend's affiliate account. I'm not currently one but thinking about that too.) One of the things I am to do is plan how I'd like to celebrate my birthday. Beyond stretching it out as long as I can, I'm considering asking friends to join me for high tea. Not sure where we can all be together, but I do still have a few months to think about it.

Third:

I do plan to be here more often. Really.

After my success last year and with the camp version in August, I'd considered doing NaNoWriMo. However, I think it's going to be NaNoEdMo instead. I'll either be editing Environmental Hazard or the paranormal romance Long Legged Beasties (that one needs a new title so very badly).

There will be words. Just not on a new novel.

Anyone make me a NaNoEdMo icon? :-)

I went into this week with the plan to unpack, organize, sort and store all the boxes from my apartment move this summer. Hmm. I decided I was more than a little overambitious and have changed my plans.

The weekend was spent doing the normal weekend things. Holiday Monday, I made chicken stock, zucchini pickles & pickled jalapenos. Tuesday, my parents visited. Today, I looked around the apartment and decided not to stress about it all.

I listened to an on-line seminar, shifted boxes to get the plant stand into a usable position, set up the little stereo my parents gave me (and discovered the reason the radio doesn't work is that the antenna is missing - next up, internet search), walked to McD's with my friend (who was working from home) for coffee and took myself out for dinner.

Tonight's plan involves sorting the books that are on the dining room table and writing. Tomorrow is my cooking day - stew and soup and muffins - as well as more sorting & writing. Friday, I need to run errands and do more sorting & writing.

Work will come far too quickly for me not to actually relax a little. So, change of plans. I'll schedule the emptying of boxes over the next few weeks and hope to have it all done before the end of the year. Then I can focus on what furniture/organizational aids/etc. I can use.

Originally posted by copperwise at Every Time You Pass This On A Faerie Gets Her Wings

I went from scrapping what I had after day 1 to writing over 4000 words tonight and finishing a day before the deadline. It's a very drafty first draft but it is done. Woo!


Now I must go to bed because I have to work in the morning.