I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
Captain’s Log, Stardate 10.10.2006
Blog book giveaway:
My Thursday book giveaway is The Wedding Caper by Janice Thompson.
My Monday book giveaway is Thanks for the Mammogram! AND Reconstructing Natalie, both by Laura Jensen Walker.
You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on the blog posts above. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for The Wedding Caper and post the title for another book I'm giving away.
Pick my title! I’m still holding a poll for the title of my book! Go to this blog post to cast your vote!
My Alphasmart, how I love thee! Let me count the ways...
(Okay, so I wrote this a few months ago when I was being silly)
** Sitting in bed with a bedside lamp, taking advantage of the middle of the night brainstorm.
** Out in the backyard on a picnic blanket, while the dog runs and chases squirrels across the back fence.
** In front of the TV, taking notes while SportsCenter is playing (Those guys have the neatest metaphors! They’re more hip than the high school kids in my church youth group.)
** Typing all my comments as I read an entry for judging in a contest. Especially useful as a safeguard in case the entry gets lost in the mail.
** The lack of a mouse makes me keep writing even when I misspell a word, because it’s too much of a pain in the petootie to go back with those darn arrow keys to change “tath” to “that.” This total lack of left brain work keeps me in the right brain creative zone.
** Taking notes as I read a book, remembering plot events and my impressions as I read so that I can write a terrific, in-depth review.
** Writing in the car—on the passenger side, NOT while driving, in case any of you doofuses were going to make cracks about my stellar car handling—without getting a headache since the screen is too small to see anyway and I never correct my typos because there’s no mouse.
TMI:
Writing: Neck deep in revisions. I’ve finally figured out how to organize my plan of attack so that I’m not too overwhelmed. Please continue to pray for me. I’ll be going over to Dineen’s house today so we can both work.
Diet: I’m not doing too badly. I dropped a pound as of yesterday morning. Of course, I’m still two pounds up from my bad eating the entire month of September.
I also exercised for an hour yesterday, and managed to control my portions throughout the day.
I discovered how to pop popcorn on the stovetop. It’s very easy, very fast, and even though you use a little oil, it’s not too much AND I can use olive oil. And it tastes hecka better than air-popped—crispier and lighter. And since there’s a little oil, the salt actually sticks to the popcorn better than if it’s air-popped. I also like the taste of the olive oil.
And the biggest plus? It curbs my craving for potato chips.
Blog book giveaway:
My Thursday book giveaway is The Wedding Caper by Janice Thompson.
My Monday book giveaway is Thanks for the Mammogram! AND Reconstructing Natalie, both by Laura Jensen Walker.
You can still enter both giveaways. Just post a comment on the blog posts above. On Thursday, I'll draw the winner for The Wedding Caper and post the title for another book I'm giving away.
Pick my title! I’m still holding a poll for the title of my book! Go to this blog post to cast your vote!
My Alphasmart, how I love thee! Let me count the ways...
(Okay, so I wrote this a few months ago when I was being silly)
** Sitting in bed with a bedside lamp, taking advantage of the middle of the night brainstorm.
** Out in the backyard on a picnic blanket, while the dog runs and chases squirrels across the back fence.
** In front of the TV, taking notes while SportsCenter is playing (Those guys have the neatest metaphors! They’re more hip than the high school kids in my church youth group.)
** Typing all my comments as I read an entry for judging in a contest. Especially useful as a safeguard in case the entry gets lost in the mail.
** The lack of a mouse makes me keep writing even when I misspell a word, because it’s too much of a pain in the petootie to go back with those darn arrow keys to change “tath” to “that.” This total lack of left brain work keeps me in the right brain creative zone.
** Taking notes as I read a book, remembering plot events and my impressions as I read so that I can write a terrific, in-depth review.
** Writing in the car—on the passenger side, NOT while driving, in case any of you doofuses were going to make cracks about my stellar car handling—without getting a headache since the screen is too small to see anyway and I never correct my typos because there’s no mouse.
TMI:
Writing: Neck deep in revisions. I’ve finally figured out how to organize my plan of attack so that I’m not too overwhelmed. Please continue to pray for me. I’ll be going over to Dineen’s house today so we can both work.
Diet: I’m not doing too badly. I dropped a pound as of yesterday morning. Of course, I’m still two pounds up from my bad eating the entire month of September.
I also exercised for an hour yesterday, and managed to control my portions throughout the day.
I discovered how to pop popcorn on the stovetop. It’s very easy, very fast, and even though you use a little oil, it’s not too much AND I can use olive oil. And it tastes hecka better than air-popped—crispier and lighter. And since there’s a little oil, the salt actually sticks to the popcorn better than if it’s air-popped. I also like the taste of the olive oil.
And the biggest plus? It curbs my craving for potato chips.
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