A quiet weekend

I'm ready for a quiet weekend.  Sure, last weekend was somewhat quiet, but that's because I was so sick, I couldn't do anything at all.  Well, okay, I went to Savannah, but Sunday and Monday were fairly immobile.

This weekend, I don't have a lot planned.  I like that.  I've got the usual stuff - dance class, gaming, crafting - but not much that should keep me up late or wake me up early.  I'm looking forward to sleep.

More importantly, I've got a Shiny New Idea that's been percolating for about three weeks, and I think I'm ready to write down the bones of it!  I really do need to finish up Partners before I get deep into a new project, but I want to write down the basics of this new idea.  Maybe I'll finish the current draft of Partners this weekend!  That'd be awesome, because then I could get it out to my next set of readers, then edit some more, then take it to the theatre!

Hmm.

I have a new goal for the weekend, apparently.

Not feeling it

I sat down to work on tonight's fiction, and nothing happened.  I stared at the screen, and nothing flowed.  I think there are a few things at play here:

1. I've been mentally revising for the last few weeks.  I really do need to get it down on paper, but I'm working and reworking on both Partners and Happily Ever After.  
2. Meliora wants to play again, but I don't know what to do with her.  I condensed several short fiction pieces into a story called Fog Rolls In, but the character of Meliora is bigger than that - I think that she needs a full-length novel.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure of what sort of plot to use, so that's simmering, too.
3. I got a Shiny New Idea on Sunday while I was in the shower.  I really want to start playing with it, but I don't want to start a new project yet.  Why, you ask?
4. Mercury is in retrograde.  No, I'm not generally a big follower of astrology, but in general, when Mercury is in retrograde, you're supposed to be better off finishing outstanding projects than starting on new ones.  Which leads us to -
5. I've got a lot of other stuff on my mind that needs finishing.  Not only do I desperately need to edit Partners and Happily Ever After, I need to finish my mum's Christmas stocking (which will totally not get done for Christmas - I've been spending about three hours a night on it, and I'm only a third done), I need to finish my sister's Sekrit Surprise Present, I need to make a few more Christmas cards for people who have sent me cards (but I'm not complaining about that - please, send me more non-bill mail! I love it!), and a list of other craft projects about a mile long.  Oh, and cleaning up the apartment so my holiday guests don't have to sleep on a pile of dirty clothes.

So you don't get any fiction from me today.  :(  But feel free to go back in my archives and poke around!  Maybe check out the horrible-ness of the "Take Five" series.  I think that may get revisited soon, too.

Holiday preparations

Yes, it's that time of year again. Life is starting to get crazy.  Wait, starting?  Who am I kidding?  You've been following my blog - starting is a silly, silly word to use.

I'm going to be taking a bit of a break from writing.  It's pretty standard for me this time of year, actually.  There are a couple of reasons for this.  First, I'm just coming off of NaNoWriMo.  50,000 words in 30 days is a lot.  Although, actually, it didn't feel that bad this year.  What was hard, though, was learning to work with an outline, and trying to pay attention to how I was writing.  I didn't edit as I went, but I paid more attention to word choice, pacing, and all of the little technical things than I usually do.  Granted, I frequently made notes to myself like "fix pace," and "learn more words!" - but I noticed that I was using the same word over and over, or dragging out a fast scene.  I'm starting to realize where my weaknesses lie.

That brings me to reason two for a break.  Now that I have a better idea of what I need to work on, I want to spend some time reading other people's writing to find examples of what sort of things work and feel good to me when I read them.

And speaking of other people's writing... reason number three is that my critique group has just received a piece to read and critique, so I've got that to focus on.  I'm really looking forward to reading this one - I've heard about it for a while, and I can't wait to get started.  I want to be able to give it the attention it deserves.

Finally, it's the holiday season!  I'm having houseguests soon, so I've got to get my apartment cleaned, and try to get rid of some stuff from the spare room.  And of course, there's all the crafting and baking and drinking and sleeping it off! I've got a full schedule!

But no worries - I will continue reading and reviewing on Sundays, I will do a bit of fiction on Tuesdays to keep myself in practice, and I will be a bit more personal and chatty on Thursdays.  See you in a few days!

Happy Memories

Sunday is usually my crafting update day, but today is going to be a little different.  Today, I want to tell you all about my favourite memories of my Grandpa Clifford.

When we were little, my sister and I would spend time out at Grandma and Grandpa's house in northern Saskatchewan.  It was so much fun!  We would get to sleep on the pull-out couch in the room that used to be our dad's bedroom, and we were allowed to play on the organ, and we got to use the tape recorder and make our own 'radio programs.'  Grandpa had a huge garden outside - before I knew better, I used to think that it was a farm.  We would help him in the garden (although, looking back, I don't know how helpful we actually were...). I remember the taste of fresh carrots, pulled out of the ground, rinsed off with the hose, and eaten on the front steps.  I must have shelled thousands of peas, and eaten handfuls of them, even though I turned up my nose at peas when my mom served them at home.  There were big, tall raspberry bushes behind the house, and even though I didn't like eating raspberries, I loved picking them, and I loved the jelly that Grandma would make with them.

Grandpa had a little black diary, and every morning, he would record the weather that day - the temperature, how much rain had collected in his rain gauge, and how sunny it was.  I was never really sure why he did it, but I know that he did that every day.

Sometimes, at night, Grandma and Grandpa would play for us.  Grandma played the organ, and Grandpa played the fiddle.  The two of them made beautiful music - they had been playing together for so long that they knew exactly what the other was going to do, almost without thinking.  I'm sure I still have a tape recording of their music, from one of the 'radio shows' that my sister and I made.

Me, Grandma, Grandpa, my sister

The world is going to be a quieter place without their music.  I miss them both.

Feelin' good!

I have had an awesome weekend.  Absolutely awesome.  Did I mention it was good?  Like, really good?

I sat down to write my usual craft update, and I feel like I don't have all that much to post... I mean, I finished one little project, and some cards, but aside from that, all of my work has been on projects that are big enough that I can't finish them in a short time frame.  Plus, I tend to get bored if I work on the same thing for too long...

First, the photos:

Illoria's dice bag!  Now all of the girls in Tanya's clan have special dice bags.  Whee!  I'm thinking that next time we game, I'll take a photo of all of the bags together.

The card for Grandpa and Karen (Yes, I make multiples of cards.  It's easier that way.)

Birthday cards for friends who shall remain nameless (because I haven't sent them yet, and I don't want to give it away).

Second, the list!  These are the projects that are currently in progress, in order of pressing need for completion:

• Spencer's baby blanket
• NaNo Hamsterbeans
• Hufflepuff scarf
• Rachel's baby blanket
• Karen's baby blanket
• Picnic blanket
• Pillowcase
• Dance sweater/legwarmers
• Yellow/white wave blanket
• Purple/pink/white wave blanket
• Pink/white granny square blanket

Love this new meme

Okay, I'll admit it - I love this whole "I Write Like" thing! It's cheesy, and probably not accurate, but it's fun. So what am I doing with this? I'm going back through all of my Tuesday fiction exercises, seeing what the outcome is when I pop them into the box, and adding the badge to the bottom of the page.

So far, James Joyce seems to be the most frequent comparison, followed by Stephen King. Funny, I've never read any Joyce, and the only King I've read was part of "The Bachman Books." I kind of want to read some of their stuff now, to see what I'm being compared to.

In other news, I seem to have a plethora of ideas, and no friggin' time to actually work on them! Let's see...

- There's the group project, TSP, which I really need to work on, since we've got a tentative deadline of Sept 1. I have a basic idea, and two MCs, but I haven't actually written anything down.

- I've got 'Relationships are Hell,' the idea that came to me the other morning, complete with one-line synopsis. I tried a character sketch yesterday, and it's not remotely what I wanted it to be, which proved once again that I shouldn't try writing AFTER my brain has gone to bed for the night.

- I've got the edits for HEA, and I know what I need to do, I just haven't done it yet.

- I've got to finish Partners and get it back out to some crit partners, but I'm stuck with it... I can feel that something's missing, but I can't figure out what. I may have to send it out incomplete, so someone else can help me through it.

- There's an idea growing for another play, but it's still kind of nebulous. It's a Christmas show, complete with carols, but it's just sort of sitting there, not ready to be on paper yet.

- I have the beginnings of a plot for NaNo, which means that I'll be set come November, so that's good. I'll keep jotting down ideas in my orange notebook (complete with Mooseling pin!) until then.

- Finally, the only writing I have managed has been cathartic stuff, things that I had to write to start getting over things that are going on in 'real life.' They haven't been printed, they haven't been shared, and some of them haven't been saved. They've been for me, and it's good, I think...

Wait, 'real life'? What's that? Yes, I do have a real life! A life not consumed with writing, although if I could get away with doing nothing but writing and making things, I'd totally be set for the rest of forever! I'm looking into a new apartment, I'm reaching out and trying to make some new friends, I'm trying to find new ways to connect with old friends, and I'm trying to find ways to be happy on my own. That's not to say I wasn't happy before - quite the contrary, actually. I was incredibly happy. I was amazed that I had somehow managed to get so lucky. Unfortunately, there's that old saying: "All good things must come to an end." Sadly, it seems to be holding true. I've been on my own again for about a month now, although I suppose it's officially less time than that. I'm not going to lie; it's been hard. It's sucked, actually. Not that you could guess from the tone of my fiction!

Anyway, that's what's been up lately, and probably reflected in my blog, even though I wasn't being overtly chatty about it. Just felt like you all might want to know. And hey, if you don't care about my personal life, that's cool - let me know, and I'll keep to the writing and crafting from here on out! Well, that and cute puppies.

Yet another awesome day!

This has totally been my weekend!  I have felt amazing, and I've accomplished a lot.  The most notable accomplishment is the completion of the first draft of my WIP!  I'm thrilled about this!  Yesterday's field trip totally inspired me, and, as an added bonus, I got a really great incentive to finish - I get to workshop my play this summer!  Woot!  The offer came yesterday, and I accepted very eagerly.  I'm really feeling great right now.

I also managed to do a lot at home -  my place is almost in shape to have a party this weekend, which I'm hoping to do, since opening night for the Sunshine Boys is this Friday.  I've washed a bunch of blankets and sheets, so if I need to have people crash chez moi, there's plenty to use.  I did some cleaning upstairs, and more will follow next weekend, I hope.  And I've started weeding through my clothes and pulling out the things that aren't flattering on me anymore.  I know, I've been talking about losing some weight, but a lot of these things just aren't age-appropriate now.  So if there's anyone out there who is interested in some second-hand clothes (all good condition, all good-quality garments), size small to medium, let me know!  Friends get first pick, then the rest is going to Goodwill, I think.

Like I said, it's been a good weekend.  I hope this mood carries over into Monday...