Like Ice

So…  I missed posting last week.  I really missed all posts last week.  The First Friday Photo post I made to my name blog?  I had that scheduled a week before.  I knew I’d be busy last week doing house shopping and planning our move; I simply had no concept of how much that process was going to take away my brain and ability to write and create.

I will say this much…  I feel like I have a blank slate mentally in some ways.  Things that I was obsessing over in my stories now just don’t seem to matter at all.  Maybe house shopping in New Jersey is the commercial equivalent of setting one’s manuscript in the drawer for three months?  😉

The good news about last week’s adventure?  We have a signed contract for a house.  It wasn’t the house we really wanted, and it wasn’t one of our top 18…  Through freezing rain and below freezing temperatures, our realtor  took us out to house after house, some that were much closer to what we wanted (only to find out the next day that someone had already bid on the place or that it had gone into foreclosure and we would need to wait months more than we had before the bank cleared it for sale…).  We even found a house filled with brand new carpets that squished and soaked our shoes when we entered it…  in the dark because there was no power on.

It was definitely an adventure, but for almost a week and a half, I’ve gotten almost nothing done on my goals.  I kept abreast of the ROW80 blog (mostly),  and I got a bit of my library reading done during the drive back from Jersey.  Diet was a disaster… as was exercise (getting in and out of the car and walking around properties doesn’t burn that many calories).  And my head was so full of house details, schools data, town ordinances and phone numbers that my poor characters couldn’t even snag my attention at night during dreams (when I did sleep).

I’ve started back into writing and chatting with my characters.  Mostly it’s been through reacquainting myself with the stuff they’ve already told me and asking for clarification on things.  Thank goodness they don’t seem to feel snubbed and have happily started sharing things already.  Then again, they’re a pretty awesome group who know what it means when “stuff just needs to be dealt with.”  ❤

That’s about all I have for my ROW80 check-in.  I do have a WIPpet for you, if you’re game to stay for a few more paragraphs.

WIPpet

Since all I’ve been able to get my head into is checking for typos and grammatical errors (creativity has been out the door), I give you seven small paragraphs from the story I’ve been doing that to, my crossover fanfiction The Dots.  I’m sorry there’s no lead in to this scene.  It’s just where I stopped off trying to edit things last night.

The intended day of their departure, Alanii awoke to silence. Next to him, Atyriia lay curled next to the rumpled, stuffed bear she’d been bringing to bed of late. He smiled for a moment, looking over her, with the blankets gathered about her shoulders, stolen from his side of the bed somewhere in the night.

He didn’t bother to gripe, knowing it would do little good. Besides, he was too curious as to what had caused her to join him. He brushed her cheek with a kiss. “Nassil?”

Her cheek felt like ice.

Alarmed by both the chill and her continued silence, Alanii mentally reached out his mind to hers.

Faint, momentary glimpses of her sleeping thoughts drifted past him. Drugged glimpses, a miasma of images, both comforting and horrific at once. He pulled away before he too was drawn into the drug’s pull.

She is alive. He allowed himself a moment to think of what he should do. A moment of delay…it could mean both of their lives.

Poison… He unwrapped her from the blankets to see if he could see the method of entry.

I hope you enjoyed that.  Interested in seeing more?  Head over to the WIPpet linky and visit some our other awesome members.  And if you’d like to join us for the WIPpet, just add your link to the linky.  Make sure your snippet follows one simple rule…  use the date somehow in your choice of word, sentences, paragraphs, theme, and you’re set.  We’d love to see you.

WIPpet Wednesdays are hosted by Emily Wrayburn at Letting the Voices Out.

Why Would I Want…

Remnants of a Paint & Sip

Another Wednesday… well, Thursday, but you know what I mean, hopefully.   I did plan out this post Tuesday, and if I’d been on the ball a bit more, it would have gone out yesterday the way I’d intended.

Oh, well…  at least it’s being posted now.  Still in time to get in a ROW80 check-in and post this to the WIPpet linky….

It’s also the last day of November, which means the last day of NaNoWriMo 2017.  I didn’t win, and that’s OK.  I didn’t go into this year’s challenge with a goal of 50K words for a new story.  My goal at the moment is to finish a 20K proposal for the Golden Heart Awards by Dec 9th.  I’m not really on track for that either, though… and I’m not as okay with that.

Fortunately, I can submit a rough draft into the contest, because a lot can happen in a month, and I’m not that far behind with that goal.  I’m not even that far behind in most of my goals. The ROW80 website probably could use a bit more love than I’ve bee giving it, but… except for a sponsor-post image courtesy of Shan Jeniah, and some more help with sponsor visits (Thanks, Beth, Kim, Alberta, Mike… and everyone), I’ve not had the backup with keeping things growing the way I’d hoped. We’re a great group, but…  well, I knew things would be rocky this Round, and guess what?  They were.

This isn’t to say I’m upset.  Things were rocky, but not insurmountable.  The unsteady progress of this Round of Words highlighted  one of the great things about our group.  Life happens, and we all know it and deal as best we can.   We don’t point fingers, we just move forward.  Because things may not have moved forward the way I’d hoped, but they did move forward.

So, for this upcoming week, my goal is my RWA entry and the maintenance on the ROW80 blog but little else.  I can do that.  🙂

And now…

Today’s WIPpet maths are on the weird side, mostly because I really wanted an excuse to post these six small paragraphs. 😉  So here we go…  This post was planned and  set up on the 28th, was supposed to be posted on the 29th, was tweaked and posted on the 30th: three days with two involving actual work…  2 x 3 =6

This excerpt comes out of my fanfiction, the Odds.  (Yep, I really rock these filenames, don’t I?)  In trying to capture some of Alanii and Atyr’s less romantic playful sides, I’ve put them together after a long estrangement into a sandbox with a “BBB” (Big Bad Boss) and another BBB (Big Bad Bureaucracy).  Somehow romance still seems to follow them though….  jut not in this snippet.

More sterile surroundings. Alanii considered the office, his brow rising uncomfortably. The room was teeming, and not all of the wilderness was paperwork.

He nearly sat on a small, brown house mouse that was munching away at the cushion of the chair Atyriia had directed him toward, a solid straw pad once in a long distant past.

“I see you don’t get much work done here, my lady.”

She was nonplussed by his dry tone. “Most of this concerns matters I’ve already dealt with. These are simply records. Paperwork and filing.”

“Ah.” He scanned the room again. “You need a computer in here then.” At her cocked brow, he hastened to explain. “To store these on.”

“So it will be neat and more organized?” She smiled. “Why would I ever want to do that?”

Enjoyed that?  Then why not head over to the WIPpet linky and visit some our other awesome members. A huge thank you to Emily, our gracious host. 😀

Yes, it’s Thursday. So…

Yesterday was The Boodle’s birthday.  That’s why I didn’t post, wasn’t really even on Facebook, let alone writing up my progress for the ROW80 or setting out my WIPpet.  I pretty much spent my day at Dave & Buster’s at Crossgates (w/ lunch at Unos with the Boodle and his friend Sammie) and at my in-law’s house..  and the less said of the later, the better at the moment.

ROW80 and stuff

In my copious free time yesterday…  I did some journaling and doodling and reading.  I’ve been reading The Improbable President by Vincent O’Leary, which actually has nothing to do with our recent elections.  I picked it up on a random shelf-search at the Feura Bush Library when I’d mistakenly stopped in, assuming that this little treasure of a library was part of our bigger county-wide library system (it’s not).  For people who love libraries and old-fashioned libraries especially…  it’s old books and old wood and love.  😀

Next on my reading list is Studs Terkel‘s Coming of Age and Working People Talk…  I’m on a bit of a biography, interview, non-fiction craze now.  In think it’s because I find myself so regularly disconnected from the views of people around me.  I’ve always been one to imagine other worlds.  I love that about myself, but in doing so, I fear I’ve lost touch with this one.

As for the rest of my ROW80 goals…  I’ve been writing daily, thanks to the return of the #teamsprinty crew (not that we’re actually using a hashtag so far, but a set daily “writing appt is a very helpful thing).

I’m slowly getting better with my maintenance of the ROW80 blog.  Slowly…  Have to say, if it wasn’t for my left-hand on FB (Shan Jeniah, who posts the linky to the FB people), that progress would be slower.

Research has been going incredibly well.  The internet takes, but it also gives freely.  Here’s an example, a cool link in the NanoLand Facebook group about genetics: How can two blue-eyed parents have a brown-eyed child (not counting the obvious ways)?

WIPpet

Do I have a WIPpet for yesterday?  Actually, yes…  based on the fact it was my son’s b-day and Women’s Day, I have a small piece from the Unnamed Story.  It involves Atyr and Vant (her son).  Eight paragraphs for the 8th of March

Vant winced at the shrill end to his mother’s rant. He didn’t want to believe those sort of things of his uncle. Didn’t want to, but did.

He’d seen Valistii Mirniia’s most recent psychological profiles. A razor fine edge stood between leaving the man in his Blacks and throwing him in protective custody for the safety of everyone around him.

Vant didn’t want to be the one to make that arrest; though he wouldn’t hesitate if it were necessary. Clenching his jaw, he looked at his watch and did a quick run through what his week entailed.

It was worth it.

Reaching out, he touched his mother’s cheek. “I don’t know what to say, Mother. It’s later than I thought though. I’ll sleep on the couch. Just let me change the sheets and you can take my bed. Tomorrow, I’ll bring you to the House.”

“What about your lesson?”

He shrugged and started typing in a message that Lan would receive as soon as his alarm went off. “When Father announced his Meditation, I became eligible for a month’s leave. I didn’t want to waste it moping and worrying, so I asked if I could save it for closer to the end. I’m putting in for it now.” He made a quick scan of the message body, set the trigger and closed out the note. “And before you ask, no, it’s not a problem. Lan knew I might need to take the time off on a moment’s notice.”

His mother smiled. Then, with a featherlight touch to his own cheek, she leaned over to kiss his nose the way she used to do when he was still small enough to sit on her lap without hurting her. “I’ll take your word for it. Will you call ‘Mara and tell him I’m fine and that you’ll be bringing me home in the morning?”

If you enjoyed that, why not head over to the WIPpet linky and visit some our other awesome members.  Glitter and ice cream to Emily Witt, our gracious host.