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Happy Halloween to those who celebrate, and happy last day before NaNoWriMo for those of us who are attempting it this year! Let's see how I did this month. Words written YTD: 43,109 on two and a half projects (Paranormal Investigations novels, a prequel short story that didn't really go where I wanted it to, and my outline for Nano) - a small bump in preparation for, well, tomorrow. Writer-ly things accomplished: First pass editing of Paranormal Investigations is done, yay! I'm getting out of that world for a bit, as I've been there for a really long time, and starting something new for Nano. New books read: Once Broken Faith, Dreams and Slumbers, Rat-Catcher (more from the October Daye series, which means I'm pretty well caught up; Lightspeed Magazine January 2016 (...I may be a bit behind on my magazines); Feedback (Newsflesh book 4, otherwise known as "Why must you tear my heart out, Seanan/Mira? Why?") Old books re-read: Jingo (one of my favor...

The first pass on draft zero of Paranormal Investigations is complete! *throws confetti* I realized that I ended it at sort of a weird stopping place, which is something I'll fix in post, but for now, I'm looking ahead to outlining for Nanowrimo. While originally I was planning to work on Act 2/Book 2 of Paranormal Investigations, I'm contemplating taking a break from that world and going somewhere else. I'm not sure where that somewhere else is yet, but I have the weekend and Monday to figure something out. Optimism! That's what I need here. Either way, I made a milestone, and I'm proud of it. Next stop is to write more, and see what comes of it. Happy Friday!

I swear the title makes sense. I'm talking about those times when you aren't actively writing or making something, or when you're not moving around much (like when you're riding the bus for example). Do you sit still? Do you have to have something to keep at least part of you occupied? I've always been a fidgety person. Most of the reasons why I wear rings beyond my wedding set is so I have something to play with on each hand, particularly if I'm sitting in a meeting and listening to someone speak. I'm not entirely sure why, but my focus seems to be directly connected to my hands. A couple of years ago, my office had to evacuate due to a threat to the building that the authorities felt was credible. (Spoiler: nothing happened in the end, thank heavens.) I've found that my anxiety is much more likely to rear its ugly head when I have just enough information to know that Something Is Wrong, but not enough information to make any sort of a plan. Natural...

I'm most of the way through my first-pass editing of draft zero, and I've definitely learned a few things about my writing style. For one thing, I have a devil of a time remembering the full names of my characters - several of my in-line notes involve "[CHECK VERONICA'S LAST NAME]" or "[INSERT JONATHAN'S LAST NAME]." It's kind of sad, but it makes me feel a little bit better about the fact that I have a hard time remember real people's names as well - it means that, even when I make the people up, I'm just no good with names. I've got a better idea of what needs to be fleshed out in book 1, and where to go in book 2, which is super helpful. Once I finish this pass, I want to go back to my rough outline of book 2 and fill in some of the gaps that I know need to be filled, before going to book 1 and turning my notes into actual changes in the manuscript. This, of course, is provided that I can read my own handwriting - we'll have ...

The last couple of weeks in American politics have been particularly rife with...let's call it excitement. We've seen words used to harm and cause outrage, used to discuss vile behavior as though it were common and nothing to be ashamed of, and used to belittle and demean. We've also seen words used to inspire hope and change, used to reassure and comfort, a nd used to fight back against those who would use words for ill. It's been an object lesson in how flexible language can be, and how important. A little background: I graduated from high school in 1999. (Yes, I know - by Tumblr standards, I'm ancient.) It means that my formative years were filled with people telling me that words didn't matter - if I was being teased, it was because I "reacted so well" and I needed to ignore them. If people made fun of me, maybe I shouldn't raise my hand so much in class. (On the flip side, asking a teacher to stop announcing my grades to the class, because...

Lately I've been thinking a lot about how we arm ourselves to face the world outside our comfort zones. Some of us have rituals that we use to get ourselves in the right mindset to go out and do what needs to be done, even if we don't actively identify them as such - shower, shave, brush teeth, comb hair, that sort of thing. For some folks, this morning ritual includes things like working out or yoga or some other form of getting the body in a good place as well as the mind. I was always a "do it the night before" kind of kid, because I value sleep, and the best sleep is that first thing in the morning. However, I need to take a few steps to make sure I can handle whatever comes at me, as well - if I'm not wearing my rings or my watch, I find myself feeling off-kilter all day, and I don't quite feel like I'm as prepared as I could be. I see it as a form of shield-making - the things we do to prepare before leaving the homes we create for ourselves. Eve...

I am a big fan of comfort reading. I tend to re-read books that I love many times over the years, because even if I remember the broad strokes of the plot or the characters, there's always something new to discover and remember with every reading. This book? This is one that probably has, if not the most re-reads, at least in the top 5, in my library. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society  was one of the first epistolary books I ever read. The entire story is told in letters and journals, which as a writer, is always fascinating to me - how can an author fit so much about a character into a simple letter? The fact that the book is also historical fiction, taking place not long after the end of the Second World War, helped to attract my attention as well. The main theme is the love of the written word. The main character is an author who wrote columns for the newspaper during the war, and is now trying to find the best idea she can for a book. Out of the blue, she re...

We are now in the dawning of the Age of Aquarius the fourth quarter of the year, so let's look back on Q3 and see what got accomplished (or didn't). Complete draft of book 2 of Paranormal Investigations Due:  March 31, 2016 Q1 status:  I should really restate this as "fill in the gap between books 1 and 2 of Paranormal Investigations", and it's still in process. New due date: July 31, 2016 Q2 status: This is the goal for this Camp Nano, so we'll see if we can actually finish filling the gap this month. Q3 status: Ish? I've reached a good stopping point and realized that enough changed in book 1 that book 2 basically needs to start over again. I'll call this one complete (as restated in Q1), with redrafting book 2 as the plan for Nanowrimo New goal: Complete draft 0 of book 2 of Paranormal Investigations New due date: December 31, 2016 Complete draft of Church of Books Due:  September 30, 2016 Q1 status: I haven't even touched this o...