The distracted writer
My wife is constantly nagging chiding reminding me about the need to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Of course, our definitions of what’s “healthy” are frequently not very well synchronized…
Jul 12
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The Three Roads
The book I’m supposed to be plotting resembles a vast desert sprinkled with various artifacts — a couple of characters here, some dialogue over there, an enchanted swan in the distance — with nothing but echoing emptiness between. The part of my mind that’s supposed to be dedicated to writing seems to be skittering merrily around, pulling up bits of old stories and chattering about current events. Hence this irrelevant and probably unimportant meditation on Thomas the Rhymer, the Wise and Foolish Virgins, and what I am reliably assured is a college loan crisis. Read more
Jul 11
Musings
So I’m off-routine this week because I’m actually taking some vacation time – it can be a challenge to take time out, because where I work, the programmers and me act as upper-level help desk, which means there’s interesting juggling of schedules to keep a decent level of coverage. That interacts with the deployment schedule, and gives some ‘fun’ time-off blackouts to play with.
Since my ability to organize myself kind of crapped out some years back – I suspect the screaming breakdown that ended my very short teaching career was the start – I tend not to take time off nearly as often as I should. So anyway… I’m off-routine which means I forgot to write a post last night, so I’m stream-of-consciousnessing at you.
Jul 10
An Unofficial PSA
I’ve been beyond sick for the past two weeks, with the cold-that-would-not-leave. It’s probably a sinus infection at this point, which means I’m wandering around in a fog and my head feels like it weighs nine thousand pounds. Yippee!
But I realized recently that Amazon Prime Day is July 15 and 16. Read more
How Not To Run Around With Your Pants Down-Redux
Sarah is busy fighting a very tight deadline today. Because of that, I’ve pulled one of her posts from 2016 she wrote that is as true now as it was then. Also, as an aside, you can find the post she references in her first paragraph here. The comments are, as she said “amazing”.
So, I’m still finishing Darkship Revenge which means this is a quicky post. I was — ahem — inspired by the sad spectacle in Amanda’s comments yesterday (no, really sample them, they’re amazing.)
It occurred to me that to an extent you’re all my, or perhaps our (shared) fledgelings. Except of course for those of you who have more experience than we do and can therefore add to the points, if you wish. Read more
Trope-tastic Ideas
I’m on my first free morning in … weeks. Wee Dave is at a summer school day-camp function, and Wee-er Dave is out pushing over old ladies for candy money. Or something. Hard to tell, really. I’m gathering supplies for some basic automotive work, as well as continuing the build on the littles’ new beds. And planning a new hobby (how many is enough, Dave?) making picture frames for hanging the art I don’t yet have, but plan to acquire. Which will require more tools (moar tools for to act hoo-man). And continuing to plan another collaboration – we’re still working on primary characterizations – toward something to be completed this year.
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Pet Peeves and Good Advice
As writers, we have to balance a number of balls from the time an idea first forms to the post-publication promotion period. There’s the plotting of our story, the research that needs to be done, the actual writing of it. That’s followed by editing, promotion, finding the right cover, preparing for publication, publication, ore promotion. Then there’s the business end of making sure taxes are taken care of, supplies are bought, receipts are kept, etc. At each point along the way, it’s easy to take a misstep. Read more
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