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 ...
I have an insane amount of yarn, so I’m trying to use it up. I knitted a lot of gifts this past year, but I also knit this jacket for me. image , a photo by camytang on Flickr. It’s a bit big for me, but it’s super warm (it’s two types of acrylic yarn held together). It also attracts dog hair like a vacuum. I was saving it to wear to church or whenever I go out, but I realized I don’t go out that often, usually just to church on weekends and the grocery store once a week. Most of the time I’m home writing. So in order to actually enjoy the fruits of my labor, I started wearing it while I’m home rather than wearing a sweatshirt to keep me warm. I fully admit that the neighbors might scurry into their homes when they see me going out to check the mail, because I’m wearing sweatpants under my jacket. But what’s the use of going through the effort to knit it and then hardly wearing it? Here’s to offending the Fashion Police, staying warm, and stash busting.