Just Sayin' Hi

Hello!  I just wanted to pop in and let you know I'm still alive.

I've been trying to be more productive both work-wise and writing-wise, which means less blogging. But maybe I'll actually finish this manuscript soon.

Things are pretty busy now, with the end of the semester fast approaching, and the first summer session coming hard upon its heels.  Then I'll have some time off in July and August.  But, when I'm off, so is my son, which means the endless "I'm bored! What are we gonna do today?"

Summer is never as productive as I hope it will be, so I'm trying to get my manuscript done before he gets out of school.

How are you doing... productivity-wise? What's happening in your life?

Loveliest of Trees

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

-A. E. Housman

I Am Officially Insane

I counted the number of copies of my novel that I have stored on various drives. I have... wait for it... forty-one copies.  Forty-one!  And that just includes the laptop and portable flash drives where I store my backup copies, not the PC itself. It also doesn't include all the files with chapters, chapter notes, and other material.

You know you used to work in clinical data management when....

I've got a paper trail, baby!  If anyone wants to audit my files, it's all here.

I had to create yet another new copy today, because, based on the results of last weekend's First Page Blogfest, I've decided to cut the first three chapters off the novel and start it where it used to - Chapter 4. That is the "waterfall scene" for those of you who are familiar with it. So now I have the huge headache of trying to weave all that great character and background info through the rest of the book.  I'm going to miss the nightstalkers in the snow.  I really am.  Maybe I can put them in the next book.

Why did I make this decision? Because I realized that the inciting incident occurs in that scene. So if I want to jumpstart the narrative, I have to put that first.  I have to make Raynor the focus of attention from the beginning.

Sorry, Michelle G., the kissing scene has to be cut, also.  I got icky responses from my male readers.  That really seemed to turn them off.  It wasn't really working for me, either.  I think it's going to have to be a flashback. In fact, I think I'm going to have to put several flashbacks in there.  And find a new way to introduce Harth and his prowess with a bow, and to emphasize his and Faldur's friendship.  I don't know yet how I'm going to make that work.

Why is none of this getting any easier?  Okay, I guess it's a little easier in that I'm more confident about my decisions. But I still can't understand how people can pound out novels in a month or two, revise them and send them off to agents lickety-split.  Am I too careful, or just mentally challenged?

I want this book to be done.  Oh, how I want it to be done! But done well.  And that, as they say, takes time.

A Virtual Tea Party

Spring has burst upon us like confetti.  Suddenly the trees are decorated with green dots of leaves, and the cherries and dogwoods with white and pink petals.  My flower border is a jumble of yellow daffodils, red tulips and pink and purple hyacinths.  We have long, warm evenings - at last!

And naturally I feel like celebrating.  When I was a member of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) we had a spring tea every year.  Now that I have graduated to the post-preschooler level, I don't get to go to that tea because apparently I am no longer in need of emotional support.  They must think I am HIATByN  (Have It All Together By Now). Ha!

So, I thought I'd have a virtual tea party.  Bring your favorite brew (coffee, tea, or other) and a little snack to share, and let's chat.  I have made a pot of Darjeeling and some mini-quiches, cucumber sandwiches and zucchini-raisin bread.

Tea anyone? How is life going for you?  Anything good, anything bad, any wishes or hopes?

My biggest headache right now is that my husband got into a fender bender, which will probably result in some not so minor repair bills.  The other driver hit him when he stopped for an approaching fire truck.  The other driver's insurance company is represented by a class-A grouch who was extremely rude to DH when he called about the claim. Not only that, she was so belligerent to the rep from our insurance company who also tried to talk to her, that our rep had to hang up on her.  DH, who has no stomach for this kind of thing, wants to pay the deductible and let our insurance handle it, but I am unwilling to sacrifice that much money just because of that woman's poor behavior, nor risk getting dropped when it's time to renew our policy. I am going to be hitting the phones tomorrow to try to get some results, but I'm not looking forward to it.

So, I hope this works out so that we can avoid paying a deductible. 

Some people are so unnecessarily rude, aren't they?  It makes things so much more difficult than they need to be.  Perhaps I should send that woman a copy of "Emma" to read.  Jane Austen always makes me quite ashamed of my manners.

Happy Easter!

"Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, carrying the spices that they had prepared. When they found the stone rolled away from the entrance, they went in. But they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus, and they did not know what to think.

Suddenly two men in shining white clothes stood beside them. The women were afraid and bowed to the ground. But the men said, "Why are you looking in the place of the dead for someone who is alive? Jesus isn't here! He has been raised from death. Remember that while he was still in Galilee, he told you, 'The Son of Man will be handed over to sinners who will nail him to a cross. But three days later he will rise to life.' " Then they remembered what Jesus had said.

Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and some other women were the ones who had gone to the tomb. When they returned, they told the eleven apostles and the others what had happened. The apostles thought it was all nonsense, and they would not believe.

But Peter ran to the tomb. And when he stooped down and looked in, he saw only the burial clothes. Then he returned, wondering what had happened."

Luke 24:1-12, CEV courtesy of BibleGateway.com 

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

John 3:17