Holiday weekend

It was Independence Day over the weekend. And it was hot as blazes on the island. As usual, the actual temperature wasn't much over 90F (32C), but the sun and the humidity made it FEEL much, much, much hotter. The fact that it hasn't rained in more than a month (and doesn't look to rain today, despite the storms predicted by The Weather Channel), does not help

And I still haven't made it into the water. I really wanted to go swimming sometime last week/weekend, and every time I wanted to go, everybody else had something else going, and I didn't want to go by myself. I believe in the buddy system. Swimming in the Gulf of Mexico really isn't a solo activity, even if there is a lifeguard on the beach... I am just going to have to twist somebody's arm and GO.

I didn't go to the 4th of July parade downtown. It was too hot, and I didn't want to go downtown an hour and a half early, and nobody else in the house got up. Which didn't really hurt my feelings. ('Cause it was hot.)

But we did go to the fireworks. We headed down toward 39th Street about 45 minutes ahead of time, because they shoot them off out the 37th Street jetty. (It's paved along the top, so they could drive the Budget Rent-a-truck out onto the rocks.) There was a really strong onshore wind (isn't that what you call a wind that blows from the water onto the land?), whipping up the sand everywhere, so we had to hunt a little while to find a place where we could actually keep our eyes open and not have sand in them. The kids on the beach below the seawall digging in the sand like puppy dogs did not help, but it wasn't too bad, once we moved upwind from the sand ramp down to the beach. And shortly after it got dark, the fireworks started. It was a good show--lasted about 30 minutes. I'm not sure if it was longer or shorter than last year, because I don't remember how long last year's show lasted. But there were plenty of great big sparkly, splashy, flashy fireworks. It was fun.

I am hoping to have a chance in the rest of the week to plunge deep into the deadline cave and get a bunch of this book written. The fella and I are leaving the boy behind to hold down the fort and keep the dog in the yard to go to a conference of his. I plan to spend my time in Fort Worth writing. And maybe going to some fun stuff. I'm not sure what's playing in Bass Hall. We talked about going--but I don't remember if we ever did anything about it. Wish me luck. I have GOT to get some writing done!!

Blogging Here, Blogging There, Gail is Blogging...elsewhere

I am definitely not blogging everywhere, but I did blog in two different places this week. Which has sort of left me all blogged out. However, you can Read my blogs from those other places and know what I'm doing.

On Tuesday, I blogged at the To Be Read blog of the published authors chapter of RWA, all about my weekend spent at ApolloCon. So if you're more interested in my day-to-day life (which admittedly is not that interesting), go read that one.

Today, Wednesday, I have a blog up at the Fantasy, Futuristic and Paranormal chapter's blog, all about steampunk and what it is. And of course, a blatant promo job of the NEW BLOOD book...

More blogging? Here? Let me catch my breath, 'kay? I'm going to be busy the next couple of weeks. I need to catch up and try to get ahead... Oh, and I have my page proofs to go over, as well. I have plenty of time, but there's so much ELSE to be done! Ack!!

Pants, and the fitting thereof

I have two pairs of pants in two different sizes from a mail-order catalog waiting for me to send/take them back because neither pair fit. They were too small. I have pants in both sizes in my closet that fit nicely--one pair has no elastic in the waist, no stretch in the fabric, buttons and zips up the front, and fits very comfortably. The two pair that have to go back have both stretch and elastic, but the buttons won't fasten. They're made by different manufacturers, which is why--even though they're supposedly the same size, they're not.

I cannot be the only person who finds this a huge pain. It's not an issue just for large-size women like me. Even women who wear size 6 have problems because the Lee Jeans size 6 is not the same as the ... oh, Ann Klein size 6. (If Ann Klein makes jeans.) There needs to be some kind of standard--something with a waist/hip/length measurement maybe, like in men's pants. Women's pants would need that extra hip measurement, because there isn't a consistent waist-to-hip ratio. Some of us have larger backsides than others. But there ought to be some way to be able to order a pair of pants--or pull them off the rack/shelf in the store--and have a reasonable expectation that they will go around said backside.

I've dealt with the "high-water pants" all my life--it's incredibly hard for me to find pants that are long enough, especially since I'm not quite tall enough for the "tall sizes" but too tall for "average." I was really hoping these jeans would fit because they were a whole inch longer than the other pants in the catalog--all of which were for "average" height. But they didn't, and now they have to go back.

I do understand the vanity issue, that women like to say they wear a size 6--when they only wear a size 6 in, oh, Ralph Lauren clothes, and a size 8 or 10 in some other manufacturer's clothing. But it's still a pain. And since I was a size 12 from the time I hit my full height of 5'8" or so, I can tell you truthfully that size 12 is NOT fat--especially if you're on the tall side. (We will not discuss what size I am now--but I will never see 12 again...) All I'm asking for is a little consistency.

Why is it so impossible for the clothing industry to come up with a consistent, across-the-board sizing? Anybody out there have a clue?

Other people's vacations

Summer is vacation season. I like my vacations. Other people's, not so much. This week, the other person at the dayjob who handles the same things I do is out. So I'm having to do her every-day things as well as my own. I have been coming in to the newspaper office in the mornings, doing the "first thing" stuff, and then writing for an hour or two before digging into the regular stuff. And I'm tired. (whine, moan, complain)

The worst part is that my sprained elbow is still very sore. My arm hurts--it has turned spectacular colors all down the underside, and my whole elbow area is green--and it never touched the ground when I fell. I caught myself on my hand, but it's the elbow that's sore. As someone put it--the bruise is "where the pain went." So, since it's sore, I'm holding myself funny, which makes my back hurt too, and my shoulder--I'm just in sorry shape all over. (whine, moan, complain)

I would just like to lie down and do nothing for about 3 days. I might get tired of it after one, but I'd like the opportunity. No laundry. No cooking. No writing. Just vegetating. Maybe a little reading. By the end of it, I might be ready to jump back into the swing of things. Poor, poor, pitiful me.

I'm cranking out one, maybe two pages a day. It's not getting me very far, but it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, as my mama used to say. I think I'm going to see about going down to the rec center and getting my exercise in there, instead of trying to walk outside. I keep tripping over stuff, and that's NO fun.

It's still hot. No rain. I wish we could figure out how to do this swap thing...

I'm going to stop now before I depress myself any worse. No more whining! (Today, anyway)

Ouch!

Yeah. I fell again. I have GOT to quit doing this. Especially since this time, I hurt my arm. I can scarcely use it. My fingers work, and it bends and such (though it's owie), and I can even press it down on the arm rest or keyboard shelf, but the muscles are strained so I have no grip strength, and can't even exert enough pressure to fasten my seatbelt. (And when I type, after a while, it starts to ache from the muscle movement up near the elbow.) So, yeah. Need to stop this.

I've had offers to trade rain in Sweden (and maybe France) for some of our heat. I would be happy to do this--if I could just figure out how. We could really use the rain.

The city and tree experts have finally decided that very few of the 109-year-old live oaks down the median of Broadway (one of the few streets to have a historic designation) survived last fall's hurricane. They poured water to them after the salt hurricane surge went down, and waited to see if they'd put out new leaves this spring...but most of them didn't. People are all up in arms, insisting the trees are just dormant, and that they'll come back if we just wait. But if they haven't come back by now, it's pretty much "dead" certain that they won't. So now, all those trees have to come down so new trees can be planted. There are also palm trees in the medians. The palms survived the salt water, but not the oaks. I think they're planning a variety of trees to replace the dead ones, magnolias among them.

The magnolias in our yard survived the storm. They don't look real hot, but they have leaves, and they have even bloomed--even the one in the front yard where the storm surge came up to the door. The Norfolk Island pine in the back is doing just fine--though it did lose some leaves. The airplane/spider plants and ferns and sago palms and other shrubs all recovered nicely too. The only plants that died were these pink polka-dot plants that were on the front row of the flower beds--that looked kind of scraggly anyway. I really ought to replace them with something. But my elbow's too hurty today. (whine, moan, whimper, complain--yeah, I'm pathetic.)(But I can still type!)

Anyway, that's what the mention of rain makes me think of. All the trees that died partly because, after Ike, it didn't rain...

Hurricane season has arrived again. Y'all keep us in your thoughts/prayers that all the big ones go somewhere else this year...

Hot, Hot, HOT!!

We are not talking attractiveness (for which there is no charge) or awesomeness (ditto), when we speak of hot. (We are fans of Kung Fu Panda at my house.) We are speaking of--when you walk outside the air-conditioned cool of the house or office, the heat smashes into you like a brick. A really hot brick. Yeah, it got hot this week.

I am not surprised. This is Texas. It is summer. Texas + summer = HOT.

The temperature is not that hot, here on the island. It's 89F, (almost 32C) which would be reasonable--if the humidity were not somewhere in the vicinity of, oh, 900 percent or so. Yes, I do realize that technically, it is impossible to have a greater percentage than 100. But it feels like 900% humidity. If you were here, you would agree with me. Walking from the front door to the car door will have the average person sweating through his T-shirt. (Yeah, I know it sounds gross. How do you think it feels???)

So, of course, the crepe myrtles are blooming. They like the hot weather, don't really get to blooming much till the hot as Hades weather arrives. Our little island doesn't have as many crepe myrtles as I'm used to, in other Texas cities. We have oleanders, and the oleanders have been blooming like crazy for at least a month already. I figure they've got most of another month to go. Oleanders bloom a long time. Galveston has lots of oleanders, I'm told, because they are salt-resistant. They are not salt-proof, because the oleanders which were submerged longer and/or deeper in the Hurricane Ike surge have not returned. But most of the semi-submerged shrubs are putting out new shoots, or blooming valiantly on the few stems left living. Those less swamped are solid pink or peach or white with blooms. They're just gorgeous.

The granddog and I went for a beach walk today. It was hot already at 8 a.m., but there was a stiff wind blowing, which helped. Dolly was a very good dog, didn't pull, didn't try to go smell the other dogs or lick the people. The sand was extremely soft and hard to walk in, even where it was wet. We were there right at high tide, so the wet sand was dry underneath, hence soft. Tired me out right quick. So we didn't walk very far, but it was a good walk.

I think part of the reason Dolly was such a good dog is her little "adventure" last week. I went out to go walking one morning, and there was no Dolly in the yard. I made the boy get out of bed (before noon!) and he went to see if she'd gone to chase birds at the beach, and I drove down to the humane society. Apparently, she got out of the yard (a board on the fence came loose) and got picked up as a stray and taken to the humane society. Her boy tends to take her collar off when she's in the yard, so she didn't have her collar or tags. I was able to identify her right then, but we couldn't take her home till later when they officially opened for the day. She looked very mournful when I didn't get her out of the cage right then, all--"Gigi! Don't leave me!" And she was VERY happy when we did come get her to take her home.

Spent the weekend visiting with relatives, seeing the nephew graduate. Nice, snappy ceremony, with eating to follow. Ice cream the night of the graduation, and cook-out with cake and M&Ms the next day. I made myself go upstairs and work Saturday morning, and got almost 6 pages done. That's a lot for one day, the way things have gone lately. It was a good visit.

Wednesday words

I was trying to think of something alliterative for the title, to go with Wednesday, since I don't really have much to say today. Of course, I first came up with "Thursday thoughts" because I keep thinking today is Thursday for some reason. But it's not. It's Wednesday.

So what goes with Wednesday? Woes? Well, but I'm not really woeful today. It's been a pretty good day for me. Okay, there's a condo fire over on the Seawall, bad enough they've asked fire trucks from Texas City and La Marque and Santa Fe or Hitchcock, or one of those other towns across the bay, to come cover the rest of the city while all the Galveston fire trucks are dealing with the fire--but it's about 40 blocks from my house, and while I'm sympathetic, it hasn't really affected my day.

What else? Wisdom? *snort* Yeah right. On rare occasions, I might stumble over something that vaguely resembles wisdom, but ... Rare, remember?

Words. I am writing words on Wednesday. That's nicely generic, and promises nothing more than that the words be strung together in an order that will make sense. (Actually, it doesn't even promise that, but with any luck, that's what you're getting.)

So here they are. My words.

Like I said, it's been a pretty good day for me today, and that's because of words. As in, I got a decent number of them written today. I need to be writing more, but... I'm getting some done. And really, that's all I had to say. The writing is being written. The story is going. I'm not exactly sure where it's going, but it IS going.

So y'all go look at the fire pictures... 'Cause that's all that's happening around here today.

Lazy Summer Days

Yes, some of you will doubtless be telling me that it has been summer on my island since--oh, March or so. And given what your summers are like, I will be agreeing with you. However, now summer has REALLY arrived. With a vengeance.

First of all, the tourists are here.

On weekdays, even in summer, the tourists aren't too bad. You can still get into a restaurant without an hour or more to wait, and drive down Seawall without wanting to honk at the sightseers. But weekends? Fuggeddaboutit! (and yeah, I know, we don't sound like that in Texas, but we do definitely know the sentiment.)

The tourists hit Memorial Day weekend. The beaches were pretty much wall-to-wall people, and Seawall Boulevard was wall-to-wall cars. We spent a very lazy few days. We went to see a movie Saturday afternoon (Angels & Demons), went out to the Coastal Living magazine idea house on Sunday and then the fella had to go to Austin (he had a presentation I "got" to proof before he left) Monday, so I made the boy and his girlfriend go see Monsters vs. Aliens with me. On the way back, the traffic was so heavy, we had to sit through one stoplight--on the street most people use to leave the island--about 5 times just to get up to it and go through. Fortunately, we weren't trying to turn left, just go straight through to go home. The boy kept growling "Get off my island." And it hasn't even been his very long...

Actually, we didn't go home, but to one of our favorite, hidden, mostly-locals places to eat. Having lived most of our lives in small-town Texas, we know that the hole-in-the-wall non-chain/local chain places often have the best food. And no, I'm not going to tell you where we ate, because we don't want all you tourists crowding up our favorite place. If you know me, call me when you get to town, and I'll take you there. :) We figured we could get in easily, because everybody was heading home at the end of the holiday. And we did.

Still trying to get some writing done. Yesterday, I was going to go to Starbucks to try to write, but there wasn't a place to sit. And since I don't drink coffee anyway, I went across the street to the Taco Cabana and wrote there for a couple of hours. Today, I had both a dentist's appointment and a doctor's appointment (regular checkups) and that took up all my time--so much that I was very late getting to the paper for the dayjob. But I am getting a little bit done. I need to get a LOT done.

Party in Pittsburgh

I've been back a few days, but it's hard work, sitting through 5 hours of graduation ceremonies. (Yeah. 5 hours. Plus some.) The son-in-law walked across the stage in anticipation of completing his PhD in another couple of months, so we went to Pittsburgh to see it. Saturday, when we arrived, was chilly and rainy, but the Saturday night Hooding (when doctoral grads get their fancy hoods) was indoors. The middle grandson got fidgety and was sent outside to the playground with Uncle Bob to play...and when it started raining, he decided the tarp over the sandbox made a good slide and did a Superman leap onto it. He got Really wet and cold, but made it back inside with UB and Granddaddy to see Daddy get his fancy hood. After, we took him home to dry off and have cake. Doodlebug and Granddaddy are both allergic to wheat and milk, though Doodle is more allergic to milk. But there is a gluten-free bakery that makes really good cakes--so Everybody got cake, with really thick fluffy icing.

Sunday morning, all the graduates--from bachelor's degrees through the doctorates--marched into the stadium and got their degrees officially conferred, and had all the speeches. It was COLD! I think the high that day was barely 60 F, (15.5 C)--which is winter weather here in Galveston! I did take a velveteen jacket to wear, so I didn't get too cold. It started off cloudy and threatening, but cleared off by noon and warmed up nicely. Doodlebug went crawling around our feet, but he was really quite good. And afterward, we went to the physics department where they handed out the actual diplomas, or diploma holders for those who hadn't quite finished all the paperwork yet. And all the graduating was done! We went back to the hotel/home, changed clothes, took little naps, and gathered back at the house to be lazy. We spent the evening watching Kung Fu Panda with the grandboy. And eating sandwiches and more cake. (This was a BIG cake...)

Monday, we slept in, then went to join the others. Doodle still is in school, so we went to see the "scary movie." Star Trek. (He probably would have liked all the stuff blowing up, but not the talky parts.) Totally enjoyed it. My favorite characters are still McCoy and Scott, even with the new actors. (Who can't love Simon Pegg as Scotty?!?!! And Karl Urban has all the McCoy mannerisms down, with extra hotness. Sigh.) Then we took the boy to see the Science museum, one of his favorite spots, and went out to dinner by the airport, because his other grandparents needed to go to their hotel to fly out early in the morning.

We still had most of Tuesday to visit. We went to see the dinosaurs, and since Doodlebug (as his mom calls him), was in school, we got to see the mineral exhibits, and the horse exhibit, and even went over to the art museum to look at the art. Had some really cool stuff. Had an Ethiopian lunch. Apparently in Pittsburgh, you either get burger places (with Really Good burgers) or foreign food... Anyway, Ethiopian was interesting, and good, and no, it was not "Eat your twigs and bugs and go run 6 miles." It was good. Spicy. Then, as the daughter was driving us to the airport for our 5 p.m. flight, we had a wreck. It was relatively minor, nobody hurt, but left both cars undriveable. We wound up calling a cab, once the tow truck got there, and the fire truck got there. The police took another half hour to make it, but we had to go to make our flight. Which we did, with plenty of time. And we were home by 11 p.m.--Texas time, which meant midnight, Pittsburgh time. You know, it was odd that they didn't have a lot of steak places in Pittsburgh... Anyway. The weather stayed sunshiny, which is apparently peculiar for Pittsburgh. It's the 3rd rainiest city in the U.S., right up there with Seattle and Portland. Nice that it was gorgeous for us. :)

So, I've been home. Got my copy edits sent off before I left town, so I'm good there. Haven't got back into the writing of the book, much. Sigh. But I did type some in today. Less to have to do later. NEED to write. I'll try to do some tomorrow. So, that's what's doing here. I hope to go to the Coastal Living idea house this weekend. I bought tickets... Need to check how long they'll be open, in case I don't make it this weekend.

And there you have my life.

Beach observations and other news

I meant to post this yesterday, but got too busy. Today's no less busy, but I am determined.

First, want to say thanks for the "Awws" from Catie and Barb. I have decided that I need to walk more often, but not quite so far, because I get tired and don't pick up my feet and trip over stuff. My bruises are better, and my hand is doing that "getting well" itching. :)

I drove down to the beach to walk yesterday, because it's more fun, and because I wanted to spend my walking time actually on the beach, not getting to it. And I didn't take Dolly. I tend to observe stuff more when I don't have to deal with the dog.

First observation: The seaweed has come in. Blankets of it. I was thinking maybe it's a little early for the big piles of seaweed, but maybe not. We're almost halfway through May... I saw some logs that had floated in that looked like they had fur. Greenish fur, but furry, nonetheless. (Yes, I know it's algae. But it looks like fur.) And a tennis shoe that had been in the water long enough that it had those lipstick clams attached to it. Quite a few decent sized ones... I only saw the bottom of the sole, not the top, so I don't know how much of the upper shoe survived, but that sole had been floating around a long time.

I only saw one seagull. I was out there by 8 a.m., but I think because the sun's coming up earlier, the seagulls are giving up their "standing by the edge of the water waking up" earlier. I saw lots of sanderlings and ruddy turnstones, all of which had two legs. They have a little butt wiggle when they're running away from you...

I also saw a shark that had washed up on shore. It was about a meter/yard long (give or take that difference between a meter and a yard), and it didn't have a tail. I don't know if it died and got washed up because it had lost its tail, or if it lost its tail after it got washed up. It didn't look like any scavengers had been at it... I have no idea what kind of shark it was, though. I've been looking--not a nurse shark. Dorsal fins aren't right. Its nose was really square across, so it's not a pointy-nose shark or a round-nose shark. Hmm. It was gray, with that straight-across nose, one rather pointy dorsal fin, no barbels (catfish-like whiskers), gill-slits in front of its side-fins, and small high-set eyes. Haven't found the right picture for it yet. And having its tail missing takes away another thing to help ID it. Oh well.

In other, more interesting news, New Blood is a recommended read by the Virginia Beach Public Library! It's a lovely review--and they're recommending it!! I'm excited.

I got my copy edits for Heart's Blood (Grey's story), and have finished them up, except for the chunk of 25 pages that got left out of the ms they sent me.

What do you think of Blood from Stone as a title for Harry & Elinor's story? Stoneheart? Heart of Oak? Working on villains for the story... Villains are such a pain.

The clumsy gene strikes again

I'm going to have to stop doing this. Yep, fell down again. Tripped over an uneven gravel-concrete sidewalk and hit the ground, face down, stretched full-out. Cut my hand on the exposed rocks. Skinned the knees (again). Aches and pains, scrapes and bruises. Not much more than that, but boy am I moving slow.

I was on my way home after another walk with the dog. She'd worn herself out chasing birds through the surf--probably 17 times back and forth at full speed between the jetties, so she wasn't pulling at the leash at all when I fell. I'll probably have to give her an aspirin later on, for her bad knee. She was limping on it there at the end, but she was running as fast as the birds were flying, most of the time. I've always thought she looks to be part bird dog, except bird dogs don't actually chase birds...

When I crashed to the earth (and it's a wonder it didn't measure on the Richter scale), she came back to check on me, make sure I was okay. Luckily, I didn't fall on her--entirely due to her fancy footwork, I'm sure. I crawled up onto the grass, because I wasn't about to push off those rocks, and sat there a while. Dolly sat there with me. I think she figured if I was going to rest, she might as well rest up too. Thing is--she was still all salty and sandy and kind of icky, hovering by me like that. Oh well. She was looking after me. Or something.

So--no more falling down. Not sure how I'm going to make sure I don't--didn't mean to fall down these last two times either--but that's my intent.

I didn't think I'd be able to concentrate on the new book--but since I just got copyedits for Heart's Blood, that's what I worked on instead. It's pretty clean, which makes me happy. Got to check one thing with the Brit Across The Desk. Of course, I'm only through page 125 or so...

Adventures in Dog-bathing

So I took the granddog walking on the beach this morning. Tide was in, and the rainstorm last night had carved the new sand into more cliffs and gullies, so I was either climbing up and down steps (okay, the cliffs were no more than a steep step high, but still!) or walking in the water, because the water was washing right up into the gullies. I had actual shoes on today, because I walked from the house, and it's a tad too far to do that in flipflops, so I didn't want to walk in the water. And it was pretty quiet, so I let Dolly off the leash to go chase birds. She had a marvelous time terrorizing all the little sanderlings and a seagull or two...

We walked back home, and because Dolly had been needing a bath anyway, and I let her chase the birds into the surf and she was all sandy and salty, I got out the dog soap and washed her. Didn't even have to pick her up and carry her this time (though I did have to drag her by her collar...that dog does NOT like baths. Never knew one that did, actually...). Got her all clean, turned off the water, went to put up the shampoo back in the garage, and slipped on the very slippery garage floor with my wet feet (took off the shoes to do the dog washing) and hit the ground very hard. Ouch!

I did manage to get myself up off the ground. I got very wet because I basically sat down in the water from washing the dog. There are a few bruises, a scrape or two, but I'm really sore. I went inside and whined to the boy (who needed to get out of bed for class anyway) and guilted him into picking up the dead bug in the hall I didn't want to pick up (and he did!) and wrote only a little because I was being a whiny baby--and tomorrow, I will have to get back to work!

I am such a wuss... Oh well...

Anniversarius

Again, a quiet weekend. The fella and I had an anniversary Friday--number 33--and he sent me a gorgeous huge orchid plant with many red-speckled yellow flowers blooming on it. HUGE plant. Good thing, because for dinner, we went to the college pot-luck awards ceremony. I did get the promise to go out again the next night.

Saturday, I decided I really needed to write at least a LITTLE, so I sat down for an hour and got 2.5 pages done. Happiness! Then we went out and ran errands. Like getting a birthday present for Idbit (AKA the littlest grandboy)--whose birthday was Saturday, and we had thought about his birthday and a present the week before, and promptly forgot about it until the day before his birthday. (sigh) Typical. We'll hand deliver it.

I tried out office chairs at Office Depot -- the paper is getting me a new one--and then we went across the causeway and got some frames for the two antique map reproductions the fella bought. That took a little time. Also found a frame (finally) for my sunflower-sand dune painting. Then we came home, took naps and went out to dinner at Landry's for our "official" anniversary date. I really love their shrimp Fresca... Then we came home to watch "The Perfect Man" romantic comedy movie and discovered that the orchid I got was actually the perfect romantic occasion gift. Roses are great, but orchids... they're the best. So it's official. I received the perfect romantic anniversary gift. :)

I like orchids a lot. Have one on the back patio that survived the hurricane and the winter... I hope I can keep this one alive too. :)

The writing continues to go. Sometimes I'm not sure where it's going, but at least it's going...

Local Notes

This will be just a bunch of observations about stuff I've noticed around town. Like how, now that the dayjob desk faces the bit window, I can watch pelicans flying by outside. None so far today that I've really noticed, but there were seven of them yesterday...

There were Lots of birds out when I went walking yesterday morning--without the granddog, who loves chasing birds so much, I wouldn't have had a chance to see them so well. (She only likes chasing birds when she can chase them into the water...) There were the usual laughing gulls, and willets and pigeons. I saw a few ruddy turnstones, and a one-legged sanderling that was almost as fast hopping on its one little leg as its flock-mates on their two. It wasn't quite as smooth, hopping up and down, but wow, it was fast! It did take to flying quicker than they did, and landed sooner. I tried to keep enough distance from it so the poor thing wouldn't feel it quite so necessary to fly. The seagulls were flirting. The males--slightly smaller than the females--would give off a rhythmic squawk, as if singing to their chosen lady, while the females stood aloof--but listening. I also saw a pair of tiny terns. Little sparrow-sized fellas.

And then, today, I had to take a cell phone back to its owner who forgot it in my car, and while driving to work, I saw this house that I always think is the neatest thing when I see it, and promptly forget about it once I've passed by. It's an old raised cottage, vintage 1920 to 1940s probably, with the main floor upstairs and the garage below. The downstairs has vertical siding and the upstairs has horizontal--and every slat of the siding, both upstairs and down, is painted in a different bright color. Maroon, blue, yellow, green, orange, pink--every color you can think of. It might have been seriously garish when it was new, but the paint's pretty battered now, especially since Ike, and it just looks...happy. Even battered and peeling. The house always makes me smile when I drive down 39th Street and see it.

After I turned onto Broadway to head toward the causeway (the paper is at the very last exit before you leave the island), I passed by one of the older cemeteries there at 40th St. inside its cast-iron fencing. And it was all dressed up in its Maytime colors with coreopsis blooming like crazy. They cover every grave, crowd up to the headstones and make it look so bright and cheery--believe it or not--with their flashy yellow blossoms. So the cemetery made me smile too. I'll have to go by and take pictures, won't I?

So--yeah, I have lots and lots to do, and I'm not actually getting a whole lot of it done, but the birds are flirting and the flowers are blooming and the weather is gorgeous and... It's just nice to be here. :)

E-books and such

A number of you have asked about e-book availability for the Rose books and for (I hope) the new one. However, from everything I have been able to find, only THE ETERNAL ROSE is available in an e-book format. It is at Fictionwise, and at the Sony Book store, and at Amazon for the Kindle.

None of the other books seem to be offered as e-books. I've wandered around at the e-Harlequin website--no Rose books there at all. I checked at Tor, and it doesn't look like they do any e-books. I'll ask my editor, but apparently, MacMillan is caught in the stone age. They've bought all their editors Sony readers. They ought to consider that they need to put their books into an electronic format. If y'all send them e-mails asking for them, they might. Us lowly authors don't have as much clout as you powerful readers, aka customers. ;)

Okay, that's all I know to say about e-books.

I don't have much else to say at all. I spent a very lazy weekend, because it was POURING rain Saturday, and I didn't want to get out in it. The boy and his friends, Walter and Lamar (and if those aren't Texas country-boy names, I don't know what are), were in the garage building a miniature catapult for an engineering project. It was very convenient that the daughter gave her brother a book on how to built catapults for Christmas a couple of years ago... So they had plans.

We had to take all the bicycles out and put them under the covered porch portion of the patio so they'd have room to build. They got the ping-pong ball to fly about 15 feet (as required) once they replaced their wooden twister-things with metal ones, so they could tighten the tension enough to get some oomph behind it. Now they have to work on accuracy, because they have to sink their ping-pong ball in a bucket. They were industrious. I was not. I read books.

I have a number of things I need to do, not least, the writing of this silly book. I think I am going to have to try the "Puzzler" method of writing this book, this time. There are scenes I know I need. I think I will just write those scenes and work out the transitions between them later, because it seems to be the transition bits where I get stuck the worst. I have started this particular transition over three cotton-picking times, and am about ready to scream. And I'm not even sure I need it. So, I'm just going to ignore it, and go write the next scene I know about. So there.

Champagne & Chocolate

Okay, I didn't have any champagne. I was driving. I did have a little Pinot Grigio, though, and it was excellent. And the chocolate.... Oh, my.

Last night was the Houston Bay Area Chapter of RWA's Bookseller Reception at The Chocolate Bar in the Montrose area of Houston. And my-oh-my, the chocolate was everywhere! They had chocolate ice cream, chocolate cookies, chocolate cakes, chocolate cheesecakes and tortes and flan and pie and... Well, pretty much anything you could think of that can be made out of chocolate-- they had it.

I drove up from the island and picked up Dawn Temple (who's had a couple of books out from Silhouette Special Edition), Anne Marie Novark (who writes for Wild Rose Press) and Liz Webb, and Liz gave me directions to The Chocolate Bar so I didn't get lost, though it did feel a little squeezy maneuvering my big bus down those narrow streets. They weren't any narrower than Galveston streets, though, so I don't know why I felt squeezed... Maybe because there was even less parking... We carried all our stuff inside, then visited until the booksellers got off work and showed up.

One of them, Dana from the Barnes & Noble at Champions (I'm not real sure where that is, but it's on the other side of Houston from me) pulled My Book--New Blood--out of her purse and asked me to sign it. That really made me feel good. Like, totally wowed! And most of the others knew of my books, which also made me happy. :)

I got a piece of Miss Etta's chocolate cake. This was not any ordinary chocolate cake--though it had all the best things about chocolate cake going for it. It was moist and chocolatey and had gooey, shiny icing, and four (4!) layers, and cocoa dusted over the outside icing (up the side). It was a Huge piece of cake. I managed to eat about a third of it, and had to take a break. I think I ate 3 more bites, the rest of the evening. I also drank two bottles of water and a diet Coke. (I know. Eat huge amounts of chocolate cake, and drink diet soda... But chocolate takes longer to digest than corn syrup.) Anyway, it was fun, I had some Really good cake, and met some cool people. :)

So--there's what I have to say today.

New Space, Nice View

They rearranged desks at the newspaper today. I now have a window view.

There's spider webs and salt crud all over the window, as well as some unsightly bird-poop splatters, and my view is of a drainage ditch with Hurricane Ike debris still in it, with a billboard and the freeway beyond that (there are some fairly nice trees and palmettos in the ditch...), but hey, it's a window!

The editor I work with most closely wanted our desks closer together, so we wouldn't be hollering at each other halfway across the cavern that is the newsroom, and wanted more natural light, so he got us moved near the window. He's got his back to it, I face it, which is actually rather nice. And I got a new non-sticking keyboard, and a mouse with a wheel, so I'm all to the good now.

I was having a real struggle with the book last week. Didn't write for three days, even though I knew I needed to. Because I got stuck. I got my characters into something, and had no idea how they were going to get out of it. So finally, I called my friend and CP in Waco and talked through the issue, and got 10 pages written last week, and 6 more so far this week, which isn't great, but... It's still chugging along.

There really isn't much to blog about--I had a lazy weekend. Read a lot of books. I'm really loving my Sony reader, because I can read lots of books and not have them pile up on my floor. It's great!

Good Friends

Here it is, Monday again. I thought about posting a blog a couple of times last week, but alas, never did. If I think about it again this week, and I'm near/on a computer, I'll do it.

So, my post is about good friends. At least a dozen years ago, when I lived in Whitney, TX, and was just getting started with trying to write professionally, a young woman named Sandy decided the Central Texas area needed a chapter of RWA. I headed down to Waco and helped charter the Heart of Texas Chapter, and I've been a member ever since, even though I don't live there any more.

Sandy, along with the woman who would become Harlequin/Silhouette author Kristi Gold, and I formed a critique group. Later Belinda Barnes (who's had a couple of books published by Harlequin) joined the group and we met every other week for several years--until Sandy moved away.

Sandy grew up in Galveston, and not too long ago, her daughter was reading in the Tor newsletter about New Blood, and told her mom "Hey, isn't this one of your friends?" And something in my bio made her wonder if I was living in Galveston now. Which of course, I am.

She comes back to Galveston often. Her sister lives nearby, her parents are buried here, she has aunts and uncles just around the corner from my house... So when she came down this past weekend, we got together. She came to my house, and we talked. And talked. And talked. Then we drove around Galveston and talked some more, while she showed me all her old stomping grounds, and where she'd pictured us living, and where all her friends used to live, and we talked some more. It was SO much fun. And she's coming back in June. I'm hoping to get some of our Waco friends to come down then so we can hang out.

That was the big event of the week. I went to a baby shower for a friend on Saturday. Went out shopping and barely made it back in time to throw on other clothes, stick the present in a bag and go. It was fun and I even got to do a little book PR, because the new mom and her sister love fantasy romance. And the shopping trip was a good one--Two pairs of pants and a T-shirt, plus printer ink.

That's pretty much all the news I have. I got all of 9 pages written last week. Nothing at all over the weekend. Today, I'm working the dayjob all day, because I'm taking tomorrow off. I was thinking about heading out to the parents' this weekend, but now I think I probably won't. Not enough time. And it's Easter. Hmm. I may have to shop again. I don't have anything new to wear for Easter. Still, all in all, it was a good week. :)

Monday, Monday

It is very Monday-ish today. The weather is warm, but the sky is overcast and of course, I'm freezing in the newsroom. (Stupid vent that blows down my neck.) I have on my sweater and the "blanket" (which is really more of a shawl or cape, but it's big and blankety) to keep warm. And I'm in a Bleah mood. Or maybe it's better defined as a "Don' Wanna" mood, 'cause I just don' wanna do much of anything...and I have a LOT of stuff to do.

I did get the parents' tax stuff mailed off to the accountant today, so that's one thing ticked off my list. The fella spent yesterday working on Our taxes, which meant I was in my cave (I'm tellin' ya, that office is Really Dark--all the light is on one side of the room, the hurricane shutters block most of the outside light, and it's got dark paneling for walls. It's a cave!) putting in the rest of my expenses and stuff in the bookkeeping program. And printing them out 3 times, because I didn't do it exactly to suit him...

But, I'm caught up with all my receipts and royalties now, and we got the taxes mailed off. The fella set aside several thousands of $$ to use for paying them, and we did have some to pay--a little over $20. Yep, twenty bucks. We are all relieved.

I worked on cleaning up Harry & Elinor today. Not literally. I had to tweak an early scene so I didn't entirely eliminate all the conflict, and I had to go ahead and do it now, because if I don't know they're conflicted and how they're conflicted (and I'm going to have to do a major introspection or introspection-and-dialogue scene with Elinor to explain why she's in conflict), I can't write them that way. She may have some serious buyer's remorse in the next little bit.

I really needed to do this, but I NEED to move on too. I'm doing a Book-in-a-Month Writeathon with my friend Anne Marie Novark in April. I am hoping I will get a lot more done.

And maybe I'll post again sometime later in the week, because this is a very Monday-ish post. Mondays are so bleah... At least this one is.

On Writing, Blogging, and Editorializing

Now that I've written the title to this blog post, I'm not sure what I wanted to say about those topics. Let's begin with this one: editorializing.

See, my dayjob is at a newspaper. I've always been a newspaper reader, even before I got to college and majored in journalism. I tend to read stuff in them, and then--many times--want to argue with the things I read. Which is kind of a lot what bloggers do. But see, being on staff at the paper, I can't write letters to the editor. However, I CAN write columns. (They're not actually editorials, since I'm not an editor, but merely a lowly editorial assistant.) So, I wrote one this week. About reading books--recommending that if people want to escape from reality a little while, movies are fine, but books last longer and have a lower cost-per-escape-time ratio. They're trying to muscle me into writing a column more often--but I don't know if I can stand once a week. I've done that, and sometimes I wrote some really drivel-y drivel. It may be "occasional." Like whenever I think of something I want to write about.

Blogs are sort of like editorials for everyman. Letters to the universe, instead of the editor. Sometimes they're read by millions--or thousands. Sometimes, they're read by friends and family only. Hopefully the readership of this blog runs into the dozens. :)

Blogs are like editorials that people can write instant rebuttals to in the comments. The technology makes it easy for flame wars to get going, because people can just pop off. And there are no editors to clean up their grammar and turn their gibberish into logical sentences. (I've cleaned up a LOT of letters. What people mail/e-mail in looks a lot like some of the blog comments. Only less coherent, some of them.)

Let's see--so I've blogged about editorializing. And blogging. So. Writing. Peh. (It's like Meh, except more puffy, with a P.)

I've been making fair progress on the writing, since my realization of what the opening scene should be. Even though I have been smacked in the head with another story that has insisted on being written. I write the contracted book during regular writing-work hours, and have been writing the other one during the hours I would ordinarily be reading or watching television. (My current Netflix movies have been waiting for 2 weeks for me to watch them.) So I'm not taking away from the Official Book. It's actually been working pretty well. This other one--I'm not even sure it IS a book. It might be. So I'll see where it goes for a while. Even though I feel guilty, I'm doing okay on The Book.

Well, except for today. Today was a bust. First, I took the granddog to the beach for a walk, and even let her off the leash. She ran and chased the birds into the surf, and ran and ran, and did Not run off across the jetty, or bother the 2 people on the beach, and when she got tired, she came back and let me put the leash back on her. And because she chased the birds (seagulls and willets) into the surf, she got all salty and sandy. So I gave her a bath when we got home. (Mostly because she was stinky to start with.)

Except Dolly didn't want a bath. She so didn't want a bath, that she pulled out of her collar (which she didn't do on the walk). I had to pick up wet, salty, sandy, stinky dog and Carry her to the hose/shampoo. She is not a particularly large dog. But she ain't no toy poodle either...

She got her bath, though. Then I went inside and took one. Between the walk, the dog bath, my bath, the laundry, and all the other sundry things I had to do, it was getting late, I was feeling cranky, so I didn't write today. There. I confessed. Sometimes I skip a day writing, even when I'm on deadline. I am hoping this will help ... clear my palate. Or something. I think I'm about to run down with this side-writing thing. Right now, it's feeling very Mary Sue-ish, so if I can't fix that, it may not turn into a book. And I have A Book to write.

One I am liking, actually. I like how it's going. I need to go back and tweak some of the early stuff so it doesn't erase the conflict, but I think I know now how to do that now. Harry needs to shut up. He's a talky kind of guy, (Some guys are--my oldest grandson is getting in trouble at school for the exact reason his dad used to--talking too much... ) and he believes in laying his cards on the table--but he doesn't need to lay out quite so many of them. And he needs to be just a tad more aggressive.

Speaking of grandsons--they didn't get to come last weekend. Just their dad. So all my boys--the fella and the two sons--had a boys' day out and went Gulf fishing for the day on Friday. They caught two meals worth of vermilion snapper, which is not the same as red snapper, which is not in season. I'll post a picture of the fella's ginormous red snapper he caught. The youngest caught a 28-inch amberjack he had to throw back, because amberjacks have to be 32 inches to keep them. But the snapper was excellent. They invited me, but...

So. There you have it. Opinion, and news. What more do you need?

A Minor Tire Crisis

So, yesterday was my local, land-based RWA chapter meeting, about 40 miles away up on the mainland. I always leave work early, because there's some serious construction on the freeway around NASA, and there's some serious rush hour traffic leaving the island at "regular" quitting time, and I hate rush hour traffic. So I was driving along, maybe 10 miles off the island, and I noticed I was having to pull the steering wheel really hard to the right to keep the vehicle straight on the road. Bad enough I realized something was seriously wrong. Then somebody pulled alongside me, pointing at my left-front tire and mouthing things like "flat tire."

So I thanked them, and pulled over to the right lane, hunting for an exit--which was very close, as was a business driveway I could pull into. It was thumping really bad by the time I got stopped. When I got out and looked at it--eek! The tire was shredded all the way around.

Of course, I'm off the island. I have no clue what's around me or any place I can call, so of course, I call the fella. As I am talking to him, this young man pulls up and asks if I need help. Those of you who know me--or have been to my website and seen my picture--know that I am so white, I practically glow in the dark. Even my hair is white. (Okay, it's more silver, and it looks even silverier in photos, because it reflects the flash...) The two guys who stop, because a second man stopped before the first one could get out of his car--a young black man, and a biker. Okay, the biker worked for the local hospital, but still...

Chris and Gary worked and worked to change the tire on my massive beast of a vehicle. (Yes, I drive an SUV. I drive the least of anyone in our family, so I get the beast.) I didn't even hold the lug nuts. Just watched--and okay, I did unwrap the spare. It was all zipped into a carpet cover. Otherwise, it was all them. They were true gentlemen, and I appreciate so much what they did for me.

I drove on to my RWA chapter meeting, listening to the road thumps all the way there, praying I didn't lose another tire, and trying to remember whether they'd replaced the spare too, when they recalled the original tires... (Never did remember.)

At the meeting, Kimberly Frost, author of Would-Be Witch, spoke on "Scene and Story." And it helped me out with this book I'm working on, the third blood magic universe book.

See, I started the story with one scene. And then I decided a different scene--even though there are no monsters--might be a more dynamic opening. So I set the original opening scene aside, and wrote this other scene as my opening to the book.

But then, Kimber said that our opening scene needs to connect with the main conflict in the book. So, of course, I started thinking--does it?

And I realized that the Original opening scene Does, while the New Opening scene does Not. See, the working title of this book is Harry & Elinor Fight Monsters. And the Original scene has Harry and Elinor fighting a monster. The New scene has them dealing with a secondary bad guy, and it's mostly Elinor, not Harry & Elinor together. It's an important scene, because it creates a lot of complications to the story. But it's not the Main conflict. So-- I flip-flopped the scenes again, and now I'm up to 50 pages along. I'm still tweaking the opening, but at least it's only tweaks now, and not trashing and completely re-writing. (Though I wouldn't have trashed it. Just moved it to later...)

And that's where I am today. The older son and grandboys may get to come visit tomorrow. Cross your fingers. :)

Readers, Writers and how they (should) relate

Haven't posted a blog here in a week, so it's time. Because, you know, I try to post at least once a week. I can't manage to post every day, but once a week--you can check by and see what's new, but I don't overburden anybody. (Especially me!) (I'll get round to the topic in the title, eventually. Bear with me.)

I did an essay for Dear Author on Why I Read and Write... Y'all can go read it. And tomorrow, I'm posting a blog at To Be Read: So Many Authors, so little time... about how I'm so forgetful. (I was supposed to blog on Monday over there.) So it's not as if I haven't been blogging at all.

I have been thinking, off and on, about readers and authors and the relationship between them. It started with all the sound and fury over the fourth Twilight book, when so many readers got all up in arms about the way Meyers finished her series. Then I wandered across the post at John Scalzi's Whatever blog about "Pissy fans," which got me to thinking again (though it's really about other factors). Plus, there is the perennial Hate for Laurell K. Hamilton for the direction she's taken Anita Blake--which doesn't bother me at all. I still glom onto the books... Suzanne Brockmann even had problems with readers getting upset because certain characters got together with characters other than those that were expected--or hoped for. And now, I think all of that thinking has gelled to the point where I know what I think, and I think maybe I know why I think it. (Profound, I know.)

This may relate to a long-ago post of mine (I'm not going to go look it up right now because I'm supposed to be doing Bulletin Board) about Protecting the Work. Because I firmly, truly and deeply believe The Story Belongs To The Writer.

That's why I started writing stories in the first place. So I could tell the story I wanted to tell. My story, not somebody else's.

I read Hamilton's books to see where she's taking the characters. I'm along for HER ride, not mine. If I didn't like where they were going, I wouldn't ride along--I've stopped reading a number of authors for just that reason (George R.R. Martin's series among them--well written books, but not for me)--but I sure as heck wouldn't get mad at them for not writing the story I wanted. Because it ain't my story. It's theirs.

I think this is why I stopped writing fan fiction long before I really got to writing my own stories. I understand loving the characters and wanting certain things to happen. I can even understand feelings of ownership, because of that huge love, but guess what? Readers don't own the characters. And if the author sufficiently motivates the event--the love affair with the new/different character than the one the reader wants/expects, say--I'm perfectly willing to go with it.

In the case of Brockmann's Dark of Night, in which characters who have been pining for each other through five or six books wind up with someone completely different, the book worked perfectly for me. I think in part it's because "real life" doesn't always work out like we want it to--but if we're open, we can see that the change of plans is even better than what we originally thought we wanted. Maybe the folks who got all upset are that way in real life too--wanting what they want without being open to the possibility of something else. Or maybe not.

My point is--and I hope it's clear that I have one--the relationship between readers and authors must include the recognition and acceptance of the fact that The Story BELONGS to The Author.

By publishing a book, we are inviting the reader to come along on the journey with us, whether for one book, or fourteen--but the author is still the one in the driver's seat. That's just the way it is, my dears.

If you want to tell a different story, Go for it! Write the story the way YOU want it to go. But please, use your own characters and your own universe. And that story will belong to you. Until then, enjoy the ride!

NEW BLOOD is in the bookstores!

Yes, THE BOOK IS OUT! I haven't seen it in stores yet, but I am reliably told that it is there. AND, it got a really great review at Sarah and Candy's blog. I'm tickled about that. Y'all should go read it. I think they've cut off the sign-up for the book giveaway, but I'm giving a book away at the RWA published author chapter blog: To Be Read--So Many Authors, So Little Time... next week, so if you go by there and comment, you might win a book.

Um--what else is going in my life? Not much. I'm busy revising The Book Formerly Known As Old Spirits, and writing back cover copy for it, and writing articles, and doing blog interviews. (I'd post a link to the interview, but I can't find it--the wonderful person who interviewed me e-mailed and told me where it was, but now I can't find her e-mail... Sigh.) I've received some other very nice reviews. They're in my e-mail--and out and about. I'll put a couple on the website. I'm just hoping lots of people will buy it, and like it.

That's about it. Went to see the parents last weekend. Have to go back again soonish. To work. (sigh) But I have a friend I haven't seen in AGES who will be coming by and we're planning a visit. It will be fun! I also want to get my Waco buddies down for a visit, but don't know when... Lots of stuff coming up. Not so much going on now.

TBR Challenge Book #1

I have read a book off my TBR challenge.

SABRIEL by Garth Nix.

This is a YA fantasy. Sabriel is the daughter of the Abhorsen, who makes the Dead behave. In the Old Kingdom, where she was born, the Dead don't like to stay that way, and to come back into life, they have to eat living things. So they need the Abhorsen to make sure the Dead stay dead. There is, apparently, only one Abhorsen at a time. She's just graduating from boarding school across the Wall from the Old Kingdom, where magic mostly doesn't work when she gets a message from her father. He's not quite dead, but he's stuck in Death, and he's sent her his sword and the bells he works his magic with. And Sabriel is off on a huge adventure. This was a pretty good adventure story, though it didn't go very deep. Emotionally, it tended to stay at the surface. Don't know if I will read the other books in the series. Maybe if I can get them at the library...

I don't even know where my TEXAS RANGER book is. I'd been carrying it around in my bag to read, but the bag was getting heavy, so I took it out, but where I set it??? No clue... Sigh.

Will write more later. After I finish tomorrow's revisions on Book II. Which is acquiring a new name. Heart's Blood, is what it's looking like... Romancey and ties in with New Blood.

I'm reading Silent in the Grave now...

New week, new stuff

According to my goals list, I didn't get a whole lot accomplished last week. It felt like I was spinning my wheels most of the week too. Got my opening scene written, and then stalled out. Couldn't figure out where to go from there. Part of it was an "order" issue. I'm a linear writer, which isn't the same as a plotter, or a "pantser"--someone who just starts writing and figures it out as they go. The other kind of writer is a "puzzler" who writes scenes as they come, and then figures out what order they go in. I Really can't do that. I have to write mostly from beginning to end, because my scenes build on each other. If I leave something out I decide I need, I can insert it without much of a problem, but during the first draft stuff, I pretty much have to have stuff in the order it happens.

I am also trying to do my first draft on the computer this time. Not really because of the time issue, but because of my vision issues. So I'm doing a LOT of stuff on the computer. I also have a lot of my thinking files on the computer--including a scene list. I put the scenes I've already written in red for his POV and in blue for hers, and the ideas for future scenes--if I know I need the scene, it's in black, and possible scenes are in purple. I'm not very far ahead. I sort of know where I'm going, but my roadmap is REALLY vague.

I also need a new title for Old Spirits. It sounds like booze to the New Yorkers, and isn't "romancey" enough. (I don't know what was so "romancey" about New Blood...) So I have to get my brain in gear and figure out a new title. Not my best topic. All suggestions invited. (The Conjurer's Apprentice?) And I have to do a few revisions on it, ramp up the action early on. I think I know how to do that. (First, cut out all the boring stuff that I didn't already cut out.)

Last week was a really lazy week. I did take Dolly the granddog to the vet, because she apparently ate something that made her sick. She quit eating and almost quit drinking, and acted like a sick little doggie. She's all better now, though. Back to her high energy, Gigi-exhausting self.

I am enjoying my new Sony e-reader. Alternating between reading a book on it, and reading one of my backlist TBR books. I have caught up on my RITA books. Finished them off, unless I'm asked to do a second group, and can read stuff just for fun. Or from my TBR Challenge list. I have Sabriel off the shelf, sitting on my desk... Okay. After I finish Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand, I'll read that one.

Oh, and I have two articles to write this week, and a list of interview questions to answer. The first article is due Wednesday (I think.) The questions need to be answered before next Tuesday, and the second article is due next Thursday. Need to doublecheck on the newsletter topic.

AND, I need to get a newsletter out to my newsletter subscribers. New Blood is out NEXT WEEK. How did it get to be almost March so fast? Ack!

Okay. Off to work.

Valentine's Mardi Gras

Galveston celebrates Mardi Gras. Not quite as big time as New Orleans--but it's not nearly as large a town. Even before Ike washed away about half the population. So you wouldn't expect it to be quite as wild, or as big. But it's plenty big enough for me.

Saturday was Valentine's Day, but we mostly did Mardi Gras. There were three parades on Saturday, all down the seawall on Seawall Blvd. One at noon (Krewe of Aquarius, I believe), one at three (the Firetruck Parade) and one at 6 p.m. (Krewe of Gambrinus), complete with fireworks over the gulf at the 37th St. Pier. I was invited to ride in one of the noon parade entries--a convertible, not a float--and throw stuff at people. We had candy, beads and college promo freebies like keychains and rubber bracelets to throw.

There was a time I could throw a softball or baseball pretty well. But that was a LONG time ago, and I wasn't sitting in a car while doing it. Now--I basically suck at throwing. I have no arm, and I'm a klutz anyway. So I took on the job of throwing bracelets. I had to take each bracelet out of its little plastic zip bag, because if you threw them in the bag, they would plummet to the asphalt about a foot from the car, but if you took them out, they had a chance of flying a ways out, at least to a spot safe to pick it up. However, you must take into account the fact that I was throwing them.

Some of them flew right to the folks I was aiming at. Some sailed over their heads. Some sank like a rock. Some hit the balloon tied to the side mirror and went in strange directions. Some went practically behind the car because my arm got all contorted into a crazy side-arm sort of throw... Anyway, the bracelets were very popular, perhaps because they were different. Not your usual bead.

Saturday was a rainy day on the island. It sprinkled lightly while we were waiting for the parade to kick off. It cleared up right as we were heading out (we were about 30 minutes into the parade). Then it started sprinkling again harder when the parade was almost over. We ran out of stuff about 54th St. The parade went to 59th. Oops.

We went back to our house afterward--at about 2:30--to have lunch and warm up. It wasn't that cold out, but when wet--I had hot chocolate. It was wonderful. :) And while we were eating our homemade soup (I didn't burn it!) for lunch at 3 p.m., just as the firetruck parade was starting, the sky opened up and the rain POURED down. It rained really hard for about 20 minutes, then just rained for another half hour or so.

And after a little nap, we went back out to watch the evening parade and fireworks. We walked. It's not far from our house to the seawall. But we walked all the way down past 45th St. so we could see the fireworks. The rain had stopped, but it was still foggy and cloudy. I thought they were going to do the fireworks after the parade, but they started shooting them off before the parade reached us (which admittedly, was an hour and a half after the parade started). They looked very cool lighting up the clouds. We walked back to 45th St., met some friends and their kids and grandkids, and watched the parade with them.

The floats were fabulous, the people all dressed up on them, and I caught a lot of beads. Or rather, I picked up a bunch from the ground in front of me. I actually caught one strand. But I had beads up almost as high as my ears... And I danced with a member of one of the bands marching by. As former band members, we were hollering and cheering for the bands, so when this one--North Forest High School out of Houston--stopped right in front of us, and the tubas and drums took over the music, the kid took my hand and we boogied till he had to march off again. It was hilarious, and no, the fella did not get the camera out of his pocket fast enough to get a picture. (Thank goodness!) But it was fun. Then we went over to our friends' house for a glass of wine and some stuffed grilled jalapenos. Yum.

We have pictures. I'll try to remember to download and upload them when I get home.

We also finally found and ordered a sofa to replace our old ratty white one. We've only been looking about 2 years to find something we liked. It will be a while before it arrives, but not another year, which is probably how long we'd go before trying to shop again... We still need lamps and end tables and recovered chairs and... Lots of stuff. But not today.

I'm up to p. 33 on the book. Better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, right?

Mini adventures & random thoughts

Went back out walking this a.m. on the beach. Did not take the dog. The weather was cloudy and windy, and a bit rain-spitty. But I wanted to walk on the beach, so I drove down, rather than spending so much time just walking up there and back. I climbed down the stairs at a place where one of the stair rails was broken off the concrete stairs and three-quarters buried in the sand. The part that wasn't buried stuck out of the sand at an angle, like some drowned spar.

Anyway, where I climbed down, they hadn't put any additional sand down. They're replacing sand washed away by Hurricane Ike, but hadn't done it yet in that area. However, they'd piled sand up on the other side of the next jetty, clear to the top of the jetty. I climbed up on the rocks, from "my" side, but I wanted to walk down by the water, where the sand would be harder packed, and--well, the sand is piled up so high, it makes a little cliff. Higher than I wanted to jump down with my wonky knees. So I walked down the jetty to where the tide had washed the sand down.

Except it had washed the sand underneath, between the rocks, and not on top of the rocks, and when I was standing on what I thought was sand over rock, turned out I wasn't. I was standing on sand with a hole under it. And my entire left leg crashed through the sand into the hole between the two big jetty boulder/rocks. Next thing I knew, I was sitting sprawled on the sand-covered jetty, with my leg down a hole. Didn't hurt me. Had on long pants and walking shoes and socks. The sand made a kind of cushion, so no bruises. Just a big surprise. And a lot of sand down my leg, in my sock & shoe.

But getting up and down those jetty rocks was a lot of work. So I hiked down to the next set of stairs --past the next jetty-- and climbed up and walked back to the car on the seawall. And got rained on, a bit. It's cloudy and windy, but not cold, today. Until the Gulf washes more of the sand down, and makes that edge not so cliff-y, I'll probably stick to seawall walking for a while...I do need to go take a picture of it, though, so you can see what I'm talking about...

Now, we come to the random thoughts section:
I did see 15 pelicans flying out to fish. And did I mention that the seagulls have their black heads back? It will soon be the season for seagull love...

The boy and I watched "300" again last night. And there was a scene with a bird sitting on an abandoned spear (from one of the dead, I think). And when the bird flew away, it made a seagull cry. Except--seagulls can't sit on spears. Their feet aren't right. They're webbed. So they can't perch. They can sit on pilings and broad flat posts and roofs and stuff, but they can't perch. It would be like a duck perching on a narrow branch. Ain't gonna happen. So now, I'm criticizing the birds in movies. (sigh)

Took Dolly to the vet this a.m. after my walk. Turns out, she not only has allergies like the rest of the family (her "white" eye is really sensitive), but she has a wonky knee like her Gigi. That's why she limps sometimes, because her kneecap keeps sliding out of position. Knees, not hips. We got ointment for the eye--it got infected from the allergy irritation--and shots, and she's in great shape otherwise. She was SO excited at the vets. Wanted to sniff at all the smells and play and sniff and play and... I think she scared an elderly dachshund's elderly owner, running up to sniff and play. The dog was a little affronted, but the owner looked alarmed. So we took her out the other way. Dolly, not the dachshund.

Went to see TWO (2!) movies this weekend. Taken and Push. Liked both. Becoming Jane and Hancock came in from Ntflx. Jane came in twice. I reported that it hadn't come (they mailed it from Houston, and it didn't get here in a WEEK. I can drive to the far side of Houston in 2 hours...)(Plus, we got the other movie, watched it and mailed it back before the 2nd Jane came.) so they sent another one. And now I have 2. I will mail it back. I have enough clothes to fold for a movie watching marathon tonight.

I have written 7 pages so far of HARRY & ELINOR FIGHT MONSTERS. I am going to attempt to write this on the computer. We will see how it goes. If I don't get my page count up, I may go back to the longhand...except that I probably wrote a LOT more pages than I have left, since I started, and started over, and over again multiple times. When I write that in longhand, I still have the scratch-outs to show that I actually wrote more. I am saving some of the deleted bits--and have already used some over again--but it's still not as much as the saved. Anyway, I'm getting to the more exciting stuff, so maybe it's going okay...

As if I needed another Reason to Read Books

I am joining a book reading challenge, the TBR 2009 challenge. You try to read 12 books (one book a month) off your backed up shelves. I want to get some books off my To Be Read shelves. I have a lot of them. Plus the books under my bed. Plus... well, I have a lot.


So. This is my TBR challenge list. I'm going to mostly go by the suggested genres.

And I just remembered--I have a lot of RITA books I need to read, since I was on deadline and put them off till I finished writing a book. Anyway--I can read the TBR books too. Especially since I don't have to read them in the particilar months. I'm just going to list them in order of the suggestions.

To be honest, my TBR pile is full of things that aren't necessarily romance, because I read the romance first...But I will toil manfully away at my pile and try to whittle it down.

1. THE TEXAS RANGER by Jan Hudson - Harlequin American Romance (the only series romance on my shelf)

2. SABRIEL by Garth Nix. This was recommended by a friend of my son. That counts.
The suggested topic for February was a book bought because of an AAR DIK review...but I almost never visit AAR, so that's no good. I just picked something that's been sitting around on the shelves a long time...

3. LOVE AND HONOR by Randall Wallace - Historical novel w/romantic elements (I hope.)
It's been sitting around a long time too.

4. EVE OF DARKNESS by Sylvia Day. I've been meaning to read this one a LONG time and really want to. Urban fantasy (I think. I know it's fantasy of some kind.)


5. P.S. I LOVE YOU (don't want to go back and look at the author.) The suggestion is for Friends to Lovers - Don't know if I have any of those, but this one seemed maybe close.

6. GALE FORCE by Rachel Caine - Urban Fantasy - I usually don't let those sit around too long, but I think that one's been sitting the longest. It's August of last year. The suggestion is "Tortured Hero or Heroine" and I think Caine's heroine fits--but she's mostly tortured by Rachel Caine, not her past...
Okay, in here? I'm going to be coming down to the line on my next deadline. So what I'm going to do is list what the suggestions are for and do what I can to get them done.

7. WHAT A ROGUE DESIRES by Caroline Linden. Wrongfully Accused, or Just out of Jail (???)

8. GET A CLUE by Jill Shalvis Specific authors. First of all, this is the last month before my deadline. I doubt I'll get anything much read. (Though I did read 2 books this past month while on deadline, so one never knows.) But second, I don't own any books by any of those people (Nora Roberts, Mary Balogh, Julia Quinn, etc.) that I haven't read. What? Are you nuts? I glom onto them instantly. I'll pick something from the stack.

9. THE SMOKE THIEF by Shana Abe. This is one of the authors on the list. I've been told that it picks up after the prologue, so I may just skip the prologue, because, honestly? Every time I start at the prologue...I put the sucker back down again. This will be after my deadline, and I'm hoping I'll be able to read it then.

10. Horror! Hate horror. But I have some RS books that scare the pee-waddin out of me, so maybe I'll get through Colleen Thompson's HEAT LIGHTNING this time. (It scared me!) And hopefully, there won't be any hurricanes...

11. TRUE DECEPTION by Patricia Waddell. Because it looks interesting. (Thanksgiving theme. Ha! It's a SF romance)

12. LOVE OVER SCOTLAND by Alexander McCall Smith. It was in the closet at the newspaper where they put the books people send for reviews for whoever wants to to read, and it looks light and fun, so while it's not Christmas theme, it's not Heavy.

Don't know if I will have a new deadline. I'll need to get back to work on my big historical novel, if I have some time in here, so...

Maybe I can move a few more books off my shelves.

Dancing in the streets!

Okay, actually, there's no dancing. Just lying around and reading books and playing videogames. I took a whole day to do absolutely nothing but what I wanted to do. Why, you ask?

Because I FINISHED THE BOOK! (Snoopy dance) Finished it. Cut out all the boring stuff (I hope) and cleaned it up, and sent it off to the agent and editor. It came in at 576 manuscript pages. One page more than New Blood. Just over 135,000 words. New Blood has just under 134,000 words.

Today I played. Even went out and walked along the seawall--but didn't go down on the beach, because they've piled the sand up 4 feet high (or so) and it requires climbing down a cliff to get to the hard-packed sand, and I didn't want to do that. Maybe if it's warm enough for my flip-flops tomorrow... The seagulls have their black heads back, so it's already courting season for them, or will be soon.

And tomorrow, I have to start the next book. Oak and Iron? Maybe I can do a hyphenated adjective to go with the noun of the title... Need something to go with both elements and with plants. Hmm. I also have to figure out the magic processes a little better. Wish me luck.

Today's count

Down to 586 pages at 9:04 p.m. CST.

Had Shrimp & Stuff dinners out and took time to watch Jumpers with the boy. Back at work. It's going to be do-able!

Edited to add: 11:39 p.m. Reached the end. I'm at 581 pages.

The last hundred pages was a lot tighter. It gets that way.

I have two scenes I want to thin out considerably--they're repetitious, padded, and boring. I'll do that tomorrow. Then--maybe--do one more read through and ship this puppy off.

New count

Down to 605 pages. My back is killing me.

Finished the Brockmann book last night. Going to bed early tonight. I sure hope I can get those few more pages cut.

Okay, off to text the boy and sleep.

Checking In

Down to 621 pages now!

I've got all the way through it, and am putting my changes (and making a few more) into the computer. I have picked out a couple more places that need to be chopped WAY down, but I just printed them out/set them aside and noted what I need to do. After I get all the way through again, I'll work on these specific places, making sure I get in the necessary information--or figuring out whether the info in them is really necessary.

I looked to see how long New Blood was--and it was 575 pages, so I don't feel so overwhelmed. I just hope I have enough action in Old Spirits. There's a LOT of action at the end of the book, but...

Oh well. Have to wait and see what the ed says.

Took today off from the paper to work on it. The fella is going up to the Panhandle (where it was well below freezing this a.m.) to pack the house up this weekend, but I'm staying here. Ordering pizza for supper tonight, and I'm making the boy pick it up. I guess I'll order it ahead of time so it's ready when he's on his way home. Except I didn't give him any money... Hmm.

I am going to take a break. I am suffering from severe fanny fatigue at the moment. I got Suzanne Brockmann's new book. Think I'll go see if I can get a little farther into it.

Countdown to Deadline

I've cut it down by 7 pages. Only 93 more to go. (ACK!!) I'm going to have to cut more stuff out. Lots more. But what???

I'll figure it out.

I've gone through to p. 358, and I've put in stuff up through--maybe p. 100? I don't know how many pages I have on the floor. I worked on it all morning, putting revisions in the computer and shortening things up. Pages that get put in get dropped on the floor. I'll go back to going through ms. pages tonight.

I'll save what I've done, 'cause I may have to start cutting out huge chunks of stuff I've already gone through.

Have to go buy dog food on the way home. Hoping the boy will take the hint and cook supper, but... At least I remembered to go to the bank today. I have $$. :)

Books and bylines

I actually finished the first draft--reached the end of the story--on Monday. Today, I have it all in the computer, and it is 637 manuscript pages. (Yeah, I know. I told you, I write long.) This means I need to cut at least 100 pages out of the sucker. Cutting is easier than adding--though I do have to add to weave the cuts together, sometimes.

Wish me luck.

In other news, I got my first byline in the paper today.

This isn't such a big deal, to be honest. I've written the whole entire paper back when I worked for those small town weeklies, (except for sports). And I had it in the paper once a week, when I was doing the society news column for the Clarendon Enterprise. But this was the first time I got a byline in this paper, so I was duly impressed with myself. Of course, they didn't put my byline on the article they posted online. Oh well. But that's the one I wrote.

So, I get to go home and print out the tome. Tomorrow, I can start cutting.

Of course, tomorrow, I also want to mess around with my new Sony e-reader and get it to working. (I haven't had time to even install the software that came with it yet.) And I want to go see a movie. And there was something else I wanted to do, but I can't remember what it was.

My mother's forgetfulness is already creeping up on me!

DONE!

Yes, I am DONE with the book. It isn't finished finished, but I have reached the end of it.

Now it is time to type it all in the computer. (Remember, I'm freakish throwback write-it-in-longhand person.) And then I have to whack out all the excess verbiage. I don't think there will be quite as much excess as there was in ETERNAL ROSE, but there may be a little more excess than there was in NEW BLOOD. I also have to make sure the story arc is an actual arc, rather than a... well, I'm not sure what geometric form would fit. My characters seem to take two steps forward, then one step back--and that can work, but I need to make sure it does, and isn't too jerky, and they're not behaving too jerkishly. Or that they're dropping their jerkishness (because a black moment tends to involve some of that) too soon. And then, I also need to make sure the action stays high... This one's more of a murder mystery, so it's more clue-finding than bad-guy fighting. I'm worried about that action issue...

Anyway, that's where I am. Literally. Working on the book. So I'm not here.

Whining ensues. If you don't want to read whining, then just skip this part. I'm only here now because the other community news person is back from going to the inauguration in D.C. I had read in the paper that she was going. (I know, I know, but her office isn't in the big bullpen-type newsroom, and I have to get up and go walk in there to talk to her, instead of yelling across the room, like I talk to everybody else.) But I forgot, and found out, the day before she was leaving, that she was leaving me this HUGE job--that I'd never done before. And it HAD to be done that next day. Had to.

So I came in to the paper at my regular time (after lunch), all worried about how I was going to get that done, AND my regular stuff, and discovered in the note she left me that she wanted me to come in early the three mornings she was going to be out of town, so I could cover all the other stuff she does. (She did do some of it, but there's a lot of stuff you can't do till the day of.) Thing is, if she'd talked to me before she left town, I'd've told her that I was on deadline with the book, and I really couldn't spare a whole lot of time to come in and work. I wound up coming in at 11 a.m. or so, and having lunch at my desk, and still wound up having to stay late, just to get stuff done. Anyway, she's back now. So I'm not running quite so fast. I'll get out of here before six today.

End of whining.

In other news, we have a contract on our house in the Panhandle, so we'll probably have to go up there to clean things out and sign at the end of the month. Which means I have to get the revisions finished, before we go. Or I could revise on the road. Anyway, it's a good thing, but a... complicating factor.

Okay. I'm going home.

Quick visit

Stopping by quick, quick to say--only 4.5 pages today, but I wrestled with some knotty issues and I think got them combed straight. Big battle is looming, almost at hand.

The fella and sundry relatives (including the boy) have gone to Austin to see one of the sundries get sworn in as a state representative. I have to finish this book. I would go to visit with all the relations, but I'm not into politics so much. So I wish them all luck, and get back to the book.

Go look at the pictures, if you haven't.

Pictures!

I have finally managed to download the pictures from my camera onto my computer. Yay! So this blog will be pictures of stuff I've been promising, and am finally able to share. First, the picture of Dolly in her pink sweater.

We have a few other pictures, but she's looking the most "pit-bull-ish" in this picture. It's really hard to take pictures of her, because when you go outside for any reason, she's all "Play! You want to Play! With MEEEEEEEE! Yes, play! Play! Play!" And it's really hard to take a picture when she's jumping all over you wanting to play. I had to recruit some help. You might notice that her collar is sort of vaguely pink also. I washed it after her great adventure, so it's even more vague now... (yes, her feet are pink too, it's not just reflection from the sweater. But the sweater does make them look pinker.)

Next, we have the smiley potato. I was peeling potatoes for mashed potatoes one night last fall, and discovered one with a smiley face. We thought it was funny, so we took a picture of it.

No, we do not still have it. We ate it. It tasted very good.

Now I have to think of other things to say to fill up the space next to the smiley potato picture so the pictures won't overlap each other. Um...

I'm getting closer and closer to the end of Old Spirits. Almost to the final battle scene. The main bad guy ought to show up pretty soon, and once that happens, the battle will start. Once the battle is over, the book ends, so...

Next picture--I took a couple of pictures of my editor, Heather Osborn, in her office in New York City while I was there. (See blog about visit.) I took two so y'all could see her "slush pile" (which actually isn't nearly as big as some slush piles I've seen) and the (tiny) size of her office. This is view #1.

I need more filler, don't I? So, today, I went walking down to the beach, and wished I'd taken the camera, because I saw bulldozers driving in the surf. They were scooping up seawater in their buckets and driving up to dump it on the sand-ramps they'd built for the dump trucks to drive down to the beach from the Seawall on, to tamp the sand down.

Okay, here's the other picture. You will notice she's basically in the same position, leaning her elbow on her desk. That means you can see how close these shelves are behind her. Much of what is on the shelves is not slush. I think those are mostly manuscripts from her authors. But I may have the piles mixed up. One set of stacks is slush, one is contracted work. Heather reads very fast. This is why she's not backlogged more than this. Oh, and there are a lot of books in those stacks, you will also notice.

More filler? Okay, so because there were bulldozers driving around everywhere, I didn't get to walk very far on the beach. Dump trucks were driving down the ramp quite frequently too, when the bulldozers weren't dumping water on it. I walked over toward 45th St., but couldn't walk too far that way, because of the plazas that push the rocks out toward the waterline. I did see five terns though. And several ringbilled gulls. The laughing gulls are starting to grow their black head-feathers back in. Spring is on its way. Yeah, it arrives pretty early in Galveston.

Two more pictures. I took a picture through the window of Dolly the granddog sunbathing. She knows a thing or two about relaxing and enjoying the sun, doesn't she. The items of clothing scattered around her are an old pirate costume of her boy's. She's been abusing those pirate pants (the red-and-black striped thing) for months, and they just recently got their first holes in them. Small holes. We play tug-o-war regularly with those pants. Still haven't split a seam. That polyester knit stuff is TOUGH. The shirt (black and white thing) hasn't held up quite as well. The black stuff doesn't seem to be pure polyester...

And I shall leave you with the last picture. A sunrise over my neighbor's house. Only in winter do I get up early enough to catch the sunrise...

Right between the Eyes

Yep, just got smacked. Another year got me.

It has been CRAZY chez moi. A day or two after Dolly's mega-adventure, her boy came home from college evac. He'll be back in school on the local campus in the next week or so. A few days after that, he went with me to fetch the parents, since I was NOT letting them drive through Houston. We got to see my baby sister for a little visit, and some nieces and nephews, and then we were off, zipping back through the heinous Houston traffic. (I took the tollway, since I didn't want to deal with downtown traffic, even during off hours.) And the parental units finally agreed that they really didn't want to drive through Houston. The traffic was scary and the signs and exits were confusing. Given that Daddy got lost inside my house (!), I think it was the best decision. He has spatial issues and motivational issues. Mama just can't hang onto events. She couldn't remember whether she'd made arrangements to have her chairs recovered. (I went with her to do it, so I know it happened.) That sort of thing. (I figure the writing is on my wall, so I plan to enjoy my next 20 years or so...)(A LOT.)

It was good to have them down for a visit, though. The older son came in Christmas evening with his boys and we had Christmas all over again. The grandkids made out like bandits--which is as it should be. The boys had an all-night movie-watching marathon, which got postponed because the electricity went out for about 4 hours. (We had a cold supper that night.) We played our new games and laughed like loons--one of the games we got required writing down things that belonged in sets, like "Things a lady should not do" or "Things you should not say to your mother," then guessing who wrote what. We had to repeat the things numerous times because Mama had trouble remembering what they were, so we got to doing them in a sort of shorthand. And of course, we decided that "Fart" could be a "thing" on most of the lists--and of course, boys being boys, "Fart" was the answer they gave a great deal of the time. And I got my tang all toungled repeating the answers so many times, and came out with "spart and fit" instead of what it was supposed to be, and made everyone laugh so hard I thought I might fall out of my chair.

You had to be there, I guess...

The little guys had to go home Monday morning, so I took the great grandparents home Monday afternoon. We had such a good visit. And then Tuesday, after I worked really hard on the writing and got lots of good stuff done, I went to the dayjob, and fell apart. The crud hit me so fast and hard, I was falling asleep over the computer, so I took my sore throat and icky feeling home and went to bed. I'm still coughing like I could lose a lung, but the ickiness is gone. The main problem was that the ick hit the brain.

I tried to write...one other day that week. Thursday--New Year's Day, maybe. And the writing was good, but I had an inspiration during the writing for how the blackness of the moment would resolve itself...and when I finished the writing, I couldn't remember what my inspiration was to make myself a note. Usually, I can remember, or at least reconstruct, but it was just gone. So I resorted to typing in/revisions for the next several days.

Today, I let myself get back to the writing, and it's coming nicely. I like what I got today. It flows--and the braindead writing worked too, believe it or not. I have 3.5 more weeks to get this finished, typed and completely revised. Wish me luck. I'm going to make it. Without too much panicking involved...

The next book, however...

Happy New Year to all y'all.

I'll try to post again this week, maybe about goals...