EW

Ramblings on writing, crafting and life.

This entire process of editing the book is interesting. I knew that there were major changes necessary. We’d already planned for some gutting to happen in the first 1/3 of the book. What’s been a surprise is all the little bits that need to be adjusted for continuity’s sake. Things I hadn’t even realized. For example, I’d managed to change the main character’s last name at least three different times throughout the book. Heh.  Poor girl, I’m not listening to her very well about this. Or her social personality. The manner in which she interacts with people varies radically in a few spots, and I can only assume it was affected by my mood/state of mind at the time I wrote it.

Matt has created a really helpful excel document broken down by chapter, so I can list what needs to be fixed and how. I’m also finally getting down to writing up character sheets for all the main players. (I know. Cart. Horse. What??) Organization is my friend. So I plug away, and hope that I can get a cleaned copy out to the folks who have so generously agreed to read it and offer their opinions. With Matt leaving in the next week or so, I’m trying my best to get the bulk of it done before I no longer have someone to take over demon duty for large chunks of time.

Once it’s out of my hands for a bit, I’ll start outlining book two and taking notes for book three. I’m not sure where finishing the outline for book one of the second series fits in here, but I assume it’ll get squidged in there somewhere.

At least I’ve got lots to keep me busy. And I’m not even letting myself think about the packing/planning/etc that’s going to need to happen in the next couple of months. Gahh. Moving sucks.

Well…I got Wordpress updated. And promptly broke my whole site. Heh. I’m a technical genius I tell you. With much handholding by M and more hair pulling by myself, we finally got the thing up and running again. Only to find that comments STILL can’t be posted. I tried new themes. Nada. So M has promises to look into it further and fix it.

We cleared out the storage unit today. 50 pound boxes of books…frankly…suck to tote. It was funny to see that I still possibly own more books than everything else put together. Though the family room looks like a surrealist landscape from Moving-ville, it’s done and no more two hundred a month. Yay us!

Next up  – trying to manifest the funds to not only move once the school year is done, but to take a trip to Scotland for our 16th anniversary. Shooting for the moon? Totally! If you’re going to go…go big. Right? And honestly, if we don’t go now, it could be a few years before we get a shot at it again. Think good thoughts!

So my avid readers, all two of you. I received an email yesterday from a family member who stumbled across my blog after reading WWMD (Matt’s mostly gaming blog). And she was frustrated by her inability to post a comment. I was basically clueless about the state of things. But I managed to remedy the situation. Yes! All by myself – well mostly anyhow. I did the hard part by myself!

Readers are now able and welcome to post commentary. Have at it.

Well…I have finally managed to move through Chapter 14 an on to 15. It was a hellish kind of slog, taking months. But man oh man, I’m rolling again. Momentum people! We love us some momentum.

Everyone! Happy dance!

It sometimes seems like I’m fighting – everything. Myself, my environment, my schedule, my kids, my life – all things seem to conspire and align in direct opposition to my grabbing time for writing. Now, of course, that’s not the truth. Yeah…I have a busy, semi-complicated kind of life. But hell, who doesn’t? I’m sure it’s the rare author of any piece of writing these days who has the utter luxury of doing NOTHING else with their time save write….or think about their writing…or plot out their writing…or sleep in between writing jaunts. The point being, everyone has a life. Some are simpler than others, but really it’s all relative. Even the simplest of lives offers distractions, detours, land mines. It occurs to me, I’m ashamed to admit how belatedly, that it’s all in how we respond to these things. And in my very lack of response, I’ve been allowing circumstance to write this book ( or not write it as the case may be) for me. Sobering. Frustrating. Hopefully awakening. Just as the book can’t write itself. It can’t be allowed to moulder through my seeming inability to be proactive.

In my head…and here. It seems such a simple thing. Quit bitching woman, and write. In the time you spent here, you might have eked out another paragraph or two. But in practice, it’s something else altogether. And there’s me staring at the cursor, stymied again, or typing one slow, agonizing word after another.

Bahhh…I’m sick of my own whining.