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I survived September, and so did you! 2016 is that much closer to dying in a fire (but please, Lord, not an actual fire, because seriously, we do not need that after this year)! Let's see how it went on the book and writing side. Words written YTD: 42,846 on one and a half projects (Paranormal Investigations novels and a prequel short story that didn't really go where I wanted it to) - you'll notice this didn't increase, because of all the editing. New word count will begin in November at the latest. Writer-ly things accomplished: Realized that, while my Draft Zero is not complete crap, there are certainly plenty of things to fix. My editing notes have started turning into questions, a la "When did THAT happen?" and "Really? You sure about that?". Sometimes they're directed at the characters, but they're mostly directed at Past Stephanie, who really didn't have a plan for this (clearly). New books read: In Little Stars, The Fixed S

Well, to be fair, I usually have several plans. It's how I've discovered I operate the best. If there's an issue of some sort, I tend to handle it best when I can have the issue laid out as plainly as possible, and have steps toward resolving the problem put into place. Yes, the plan may be difficult, and yes, there may be hazards on the path, but it's a heck of a lot easier for me to handle a solution when I can chart out what needs to be done. I realize that I don't share this problem-solving style with a lot of people, but it's come up recently with some day-job and personal life issues, and I've wanted to put something down so I can remember it the next time things get overwhelming. Breaking things into a manageable, clear problem (you did X when you should have done Y, you haven't been doing Z as well as you should, that sort of thing) makes the solutions more clear to me. If I did X instead of Y, I can do Y now, see what needs to be updated from

When I was in high school, my Spanish teacher asked me in front of the whole class if it was possible for me to talk without moving my hands. I defiantly sat on my hands for the rest of the period...and couldn't finish a complete thought for the life of me. Every time I opened my mouth, my hands struggled to regain their freedom. As I've gotten older, my gesturing isn't as expansive as once it was - I freely admit that it was dangerous to stand too close to me if I was in full story-telling mode when I was younger, particularly if you were holding a beverage - but it's still pretty well ingrained in the way I communicate. I still gesture more if I'm speaking Spanish instead of English, and those gestures tend to be more of a pantomime to help me find the right words. And I do still gesture while speaking to someone on the phone, or who could not otherwise see me. Recently, a  study  came out that helped explain a little bit about why people gesture when they can

I know I said last time that things are definitely better than I expected, but I'm now starting to get into sections that...I'm not sure if I put the scene away for a while and then picked it up after several months and didn't re-read what I wrote, maybe? That's the only thing that I can think of, to have a character that is only visible to certain people get in line for coffee and be served, and have the line of customers (who had been behind the mostly-invisible character) disappear from one page to the next. Ugh. Meanwhile, I'm not sure what's going on with my auto-posting to Facebook, but I don't think it's working. I probably need to tweak some settings somewhere, but that probably won't happen until this weekend. Until then, I need to get a bunch of work for the day job done, and crochet like the wind for the three (!) baby blankets for work and the cat toys for a swap (before starting the stuff for the Nanowrimo Prep swap) - I, uh, may have

I spend a not-insignificant amount of time on the weekends making sure that I have all of the things I "need" with me in the right bag, depending on where I'm going. During the week, I have a backpack that carries the bulk of the burden, but on the weekends, if I'm going to a game store or some such, I may not want the whole backpack - I may just take a small shoulder bag. It always leaves me reconsidering exactly what I need to have on me in order to feel comfortable. Most people have their own version of the daily "pocket litter" that they have with them every time they leave the house - keys, phone, wallet. But what kind of wallet? Is it all of the keys together, or separated by a valet ring? Is the phone in the wallet somehow? And what else do they feel like they can't leave the house without? For example, my husband needs to have at least one pen on him before he goes anywhere. I need some form of reading, be it on my phone, my Kindle, or a phys

I've been working on taking a first go-through of what is currently draft zero of Paranormal Investigations, Inc., and it's been an experience. For the most part, I'm looking through what I've written and seeing what's changed in the...three? four? years that I've been drafting this thing. Clearly, some major changes have taken place - I mention in the first few pages that Alison didn't want to move back in with her parents after college, which is good, because her parents are, y'know, dead and all, and have been since she was about 8...oh, and she moved back in with her grandfather instead. Still, it's nice to take a look at some of this and realize it's not all as awful as I was expecting it to be. I tend to be my own harshest critic, so I usually cringe at the idea of reading my own writing, as I'm convinced it's horrible and hardly makes any sense. And true, there are some things in here that need updating or removing entirely - thi

Time to see how the last month went in the world of reading and writing. Words written YTD: 42,846 on one and a half projects (Paranormal Investigations novels and a prequel short story that didn't really go where I wanted it to) Things accomplished in fiction: Alison decided that things were getting a bit too much for her after she discovered that her family probably knew about the organization from way back, and she decided to nope on out; I think Miss Strahan has convinced her to listen to more information, but it's still pretty touch-and-go. Writer-ly things accomplished: Reached a point where I can stop writing and start editing book 1, seeing if there is actually a book 2 in here or if everything can and should get wrapped up in one volume; made some outlines for the next part for Nanowrimo; still using My Write Club for the weekly challenges to great success. New books read: Lumberjanes #21 (still so much fun); Imprudence (the second book in the Custard Protocol,