Month: February 2014

2700 words

Yesterday was awesome, and who knows what today will bring.  I am officially at the halfway point; there remains 60000 words to write in the first draft, and then:

assembly – I’m not writing it in order so there will be a little hammer to fit and paint to cover in there

editing – there are certain words and constructions that characters never use, so I have to go through and remove them, as well as ensuring that verbs all tense up together in the appropriate places and I don’t do my normal firehose style application of adverbs and adjectives to every hapless noun.

beta readers

paid editor

final work and then I either self publish or see if someone will take it on.

I have a real job interview for a real job next Wednesday afternoon!  Not an agency. I am pleased, and I am still looking for work every day.

 

One foot in front of the other

I have interesting news, which I am waiting to share on the go-ahead of the other folks involved.   In the meantime, lip is zipped.

620 words yesterday.

Katie is moving out of her dad’s place on the 2nd.  I have rented a truck.  It’s going to be interesting, but it shouldn’t be that hard of a move, provided we get at least one other person lined up.

 

 

Sunny day

The sun on the snow yesterday – and the warmth, as it was quite warm – was a blessing after three straight days of snow.  I’m not used to shovelling  that much!

Jeff’s car is slowly going past that bourne from which no vehicle returns.  It’s certainly not safe for me to drive any more, so I have retreated from that endeavour.

Five hundred words yesterday.

The interview was interesting.  At the end of it I felt useless, stupid, dowdy, old and prehistoric.  But my test scores were great!  I wanted to slap some sense into the young thing I was talking to, but that doesn’t work even in the movies.  Then I locked myself in a stairwell.  So no, not exactly a good day.

Honest to Christ, I’m almost inclined to put my lumosity scores on my resume just to prove that I’m cognitively brighter than just about anybody.  The only real issue is speed – I’m not as fast as young people.  But in every other way, I blow doors off people younger than me. I won’t, it’s just another kind of bragging.

Found in the Toronto subway, safe for work. It’s a poster about alcoholism which somebody has marked up to mock Ford.

Today I will write, drink tea, eat leftovers, and ONCE MORE revise my goddamned resume to see if she’s right about it.  She made sure I knew that her time is much more important than mine, and that my resume is too much of a challenge for her.  And she is like all the rest, so she must be right, and I must need to stop feeling sorry for myself and just fix it.

 

My day so far

Cooking supper for breakfast – pork chops, oven baked potatoes and fresh steamed green beans.

Calling Sue and begging for a lift for church as there was a foot of snow on the ground.

Going to church.  It was about Israel being mean to the Palestinians.

Hanging around after church until my ride was ready and talking to people I love.

Buying fair trade organic chocolate, because, that’s part of what we do at Beacon.

Rob W gave me a ride home, but we DIVAGATED.  First we went to Renaissance Books, where I bought a cd and some books about First Nations, including a book by an activist I follow on twitter who really kicks ass, and a Buddy Wasisname album with Peggy Gordon on it.  Then Rob threatened to take me to lunch but we played quick draw mcdebit card and I won.  I had Putin, whoops, Poutine and Montreal Smoked Meat, and Vic from the SOAP hall dropped by and we had a lovely long chat, and he told me about this.   Which is about a crazy local woodturner.  Also I saw Kat, Katie’s old roommate and tattooist.

Now I’m trying to make word count.  It’s not going well!  I did work on my Homilies book instead thanks to mOm.

 

Just shy of the half way point

It will be so full of ideas, fun characters, crazy action and snappy dialog that no one will notice it has no plot.  (Of course it has a plot, I just don’t care about that part).   And if I follow the Dunnett Plan, a plot is just a way to get me from one awesome set piece to the next; those parts of the story that you go back and re-read because they are so funny, or mysterious, or moving, or scary or just plain action-packed.

1000 words yesterday. I can’t see the floor to my room, and I don’t care. Write every day while the world burns?  Same as it ever was.  I’ve gotten through every bad day before.

This is a completely different kind of February.  I’m used to feeling blah, and I don’t.

I wonder if I can get Jeff to take me shopping when he wakes up, there’s not anything I want to eat in the house right now.

 

sleeeeep

Margot just nosed her way into my room; which reminds me, I have to get on my hands and knees and wipe all her eye goop off the doors and walls in those places she normally stands.  She has a rip roaring case of ephoria, brown watery eyes.

Her breathing has been a little more stertorous of late.  She’ll be better when she is coming and going through her little cat door again.

Today, writing, practicing, seeing the floor of my room.

Awwwww

My libertarian facebook friend is running for office in South Carolina.  His campaign colours are pink and purple, and his slogan is a variant on “I’m only running so I have someone to vote for”.  I’ve offered to buy beer for the campaign workers after the election, which is the only way I can help without offending US campaign funds rules.

I think pOp would like this guy.

Today, I am having to generate at least 1500 words about a character who has been introduced but not explained.  Why would an alien be stuck with an intermittently appearing holographic human skeleton?  It’s a poser.  I am almost inclined to leave it as an unsolved mystery.  but I won’t.  Don’t show the gun unless you are going to use the damned gun!

Anti racism meeting / workshop went very well. Next meeting the Indian Act.

I want to buy some fish and cook it up for lunch.

I have love in my life, food and tea in my tummy, and last I checked the sun is shining and the world’s a better place than it was yesterday.

Quick post

Made word count this morning. I am very dependent on my mOm’s encouragement.  Managed to make my way through the death scene without imploding.

Anti racism workshop today.

My meal at IHOP was so grisly I didn’t have to pay for it.

True Detective, a new HBO show, is very good.  Matthew McConaughey is REVELATORY.  Who knew he could act!???? Not the same dude as Sahara, that’s for sure.

sadly, didn’t make wordcount

But it was a productive day in other ways.  I dealt with some more of the fallout from the shop, paid all my bills and figured out how much I owed Jeff for the last two months here; saw Katie and got some smoking hot and unrepeatable gossip from her which caused the two of us to fall about the kitchen laughing, an event much desired by me anyway; practiced for an hour, tucked away some more laundry, hosed down the gear I took to church on Saturday and put it away, dealt with Margot’s eyegunk and arranged a second phone interview for Wednesday.  I still managed to grind out 500 words on two separate sections, but I didn’t get that bit in the teeth feel.  I blame the weather, when really it’s all on me.

Jeff’s wanting me to be more restrained in what I feed him, so it was oatmeal this morning.

 

 

mud mud glorious mud

I still can’t believe I slept through church yesterday.  Honestly, I got up when church was already over.  I was just so TIRED.  I guess the February blahs are doing their thing, finally. The hell of it is, I feel cheerful most of the time.  Not a big smiley face Hi How Are You kind of cheerful, just, I’m doing okay and enjoying life, thanks.  Also, wearing pirate clothes to church always cheers me up.

I did make word count yesterday.  Only 70 thousand more words to go! April 15th is my current deadline for a first draft.

Did I mention I had a phone interview on Friday?  I am still looking hard for work, but it’s hard when the work isn’t looking hard for me.

And here’s a muddy pangolin.

 

 

We need a new calendar

Jeff and I were looking at the various shows we’re watching, and how we’re getting the content in all kinds of different ways.  Is it on the PVR? Do we buy it, rent it, Netflix it?  When do we get it?  It’s actually getting quite complex.

Warehouse 13 is back April 14!  House of Cards is back again and President Obama has announced to the twitterverse, “no spoilers, pls.”  This made me laugh quite immoderately.

I took Jeff for breakfast this morning.

Laundry is underway.  When I’ve done a couple more loads I’ll run the dishwasher.

I’m a third of the way through my daily word count, but I’m going to try to double up today because I slacked off yesterday.  Instead of the death scene, which gives me the shakes, I’m doing a Reddit AMA instead!  How’s that for topicality….

Today I made banana bread

It’s all gone now.  Good things don’t last!!!

 

Beautiful day here in Burnaby; I keep hearing dreadful dreadful things about the weather from all my new friends in Atlanta and Knoxville because it sucks there right now.

It’s probably time to do battle with laundry again.  How it do go on.

 

I haven’t made my word count yet today.  It’s a death scene, and I’m putting it off.