the rest of the year

I've come up with a plan for how to approach the rest of the year, in life and in writing. I've spent a lot of time thinking about how I approach my productivity, and I've reached the conclusion that it's time to try something different. So for the rest of the year, I will have two weekday evenings for writing and music, and two for housework and freelancing. One evening will just be for fun (Monday pool league!). On the weekends I can try to do all the things both days. I think this will help me feel better about things because I'll have longer stretches of time to spend on things instead of doing a tiny bit of everything every day. And I'll have a shorter to-do list most of the time.
For the writing, I'd like to knock out the rest of the eye-stabby first draft in the next ten days, max.  All I have left to draft is the climax and the end, so that is (hopefully!) doable. The second half of the month is for fixing Demon Child and for powering through the rest of the first draft of Janny. Then December is for revisions and finding beta readers, and for revisiting the ghost/witch novel to sort out revisions on that.
Basically, I'm trying to finish things. It's been several years since I really properly finished a writing project, and it's time to get my ass in gear with this stuff. Nobody can write my books but me. Nobody can submit my books but me. I need to get over the fear and DO IT.
Anybody want to do mutual cheerleading? Give me a shout! Doing NaNoWriMo? Hit me there as Thistlewicche. Tell me what your goals are for the rest of the year, kittens. I'd love to have some productivity company. And Happy belated Samhain!

fall is in the air

Hi, everybody. The day after tomorrow will be September already. This summer really flew by, and I have say, I'm ready for autumn. Give me crisp mornings with brilliant sunny afternoons; the sweet tang of woodsmoke curling through the air; zucchini bread and pumpkin pie for breakfast; red, yellow, orange leaves shivering in the breeze; drinking tea and watching rain fall outside.... I am really over this summer, obviously!

I've gotten stuck on the novelette. I know what needs to happen for the climax emotionally but not action-wise, so I'm spinning my wheels. Maybe I should switch back over to the eye-stabby novel for a couple days.

What are your creative goals for September? I'd love to hear about them! Mine are to finish the novelette and to make some really solid progress on the novel. Play my clarinet more.

I've got some vacation time left this year, so I'm contemplating a staycation. Sounds nice, right? I also want to go apple-picking in the next few weeks. 

On the activism front, I'm taking a class in emergency bystander first aid, and I've gone to a couple protests. How about you, kittens? What action are you taking?

That's it for me, I have to get to work. I hope you're all taking care of yourselves and making your voices heard in whatever way you do that.

Blood and kisses!

am i drinking this bottle?

I feel like a broken record this year. Still busy, still stressed. Done with band until the fall. Done with my second draft. This month:

• brainstorm about new novel
• work on one short, and query letter and synopsis
• proofread a book
• dig in to a copyediting project
• spring cleaning/purging

I think that's enough. Don't you?
Two books:
7) Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. I really enjoyed this one. First book in a YA paranormal trilogy, but the narrator's a boy, and he's normal. There was a lot to enjoy about this one. Some really fun characters, Civil War history, and a different take on witches. It was also refreshing that there were no vampires or werewolves. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.
8) The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by Gordon Dahlquist. This book . . . I can't honestly tell you whether I liked it or not. I'm not sure. I really enjoyed some of the snappy writing. But sometimes I felt like it was winking at the reader. A look-how-clever-I-am sort of feeling. I liked the main characters. I liked the sumptuous feeling of the book. But I was a bit confused occasionally (which perhaps is due to my lack of consistent reading time) and don't really feel compelled to seek out the other books in this series.
As most of you probably already know by now, my purse was stolen on Sunday while I was playing my pool match. I've mostly taken care of things at this point; I really just need to replace my driver's license still. But I lost two writing notebooks when my purse got taken, and that really angers me. It's been two days now, and I still have a lot of emotion about this. Not to be dramatic, but I feel violated. Some asshole felt like he had the right to take my things and do what he wanted with them. Some asshole took off not just with my money, cell phone, and driver's license, but with two notebooks containing ideas, bits of poetry, friends' email addresses, autumn leaves, titles of books I want to read, etc. And I'm sure those notebooks (not to mention the purse) just ended up in a trash can somewhere. Which infuriates me. (I'm not even going to delve into what a mess I was yesterday between dealing with replacing stolen things and watching the coverage of the bombing at the Boston Marathon. Some days human society just completely disgusts me.) And it'll take me a while to feel comfortable at that bar again, which sucks because it's not their fault and because I'm there regularly for pool.
Hey, Universe, you think you could take it easy on me for the rest of 2013? This whole year so far has been pretty stressful, and I'd like it to ease off a bit.
Back to work for me, it's a busy day. I'll write again soon.

let them wash away

Happy April, everyone. How's it treating you so far? Mine is busy. But good. The word of the year is still balance, for me. In light of that, my April goals are going to be about the same as my March goals were, since I started but didn't finish most of those. Two freelance projects. Revise my novel. Work on my apartment. To add to that, I think April is a good time to start taking better care of myself, so I'm going to hit the dentist and the doctor, and try to cut back on the partying vices. (We'll see how that goes; wish me luck!)

There are a couple of events coming up that I'm trying to talk my partner-in-crime into. Dead Can Dance is touring, and I've never seen them perform, so I'd love to see their show. Also, there's a crazy party here in the city commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Titanic. A costume ball with live music and crazy performers. I really want to go to that. Maybe I will with or without the partner-in-crime!

I saw The Hunger Games last Thursday. Now, any of you who know me know that I am skeptical about adaptations. They're so hit or miss. And I LOVE this trilogy, so I went into the movie with some trepidation. But I have to say, I'm pleased with the film. It stayed very true to the spirit of the trilogy. The visuals were stunning. And I was pretty happy with the acting, too. I cried a couple of times--mostly moments involving Rue or Prim--and I don't remember the last time a movie made me cry. This was an intense film, with rapid-fire pacing and lots of tension. Jennifer Lawrence was solid as Katniss; I really appreciated how she let Katniss's emotions shine through. Like the way she shook just before the games began, and her unabashed weeping at Rue's death. Watching this made me want to reread the other two books in the trilogy. I enjoyed this enough that I may go see it again. And I will, in all likelihood, buy both the soundtrack and the sings-inspired-by albums, which if you know me is not surprising.

Have any of you seen any movies recently that really blew you away? Or read any books that did so?

And now, plenty to do, so off and running in the office. Blessed Be!

she broke your throne

This morning is colder than it's been for the last couple weeks, and it makes me happy. The colder it is, the better my mood is? Sometimes . . .

Two books for you:

8) Norse Code by Greg Van Eekhout. This book was a fun urban fantasy. I appreciated the Norse mythology; it was a refreshing change from all the usual British Isles fairy tale/folklore fantasies. I liked the characters, particularly Mist and Hermod. Ragnarok was deftly dealt with, and the underlying question of whether or not we have a hand in our own fate isn't overly pushed. I would definitely recommend this to other fantasy readers.

9) The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. I love this book. Love. First one in a while that made me cry at the end. It's about a boy named David who takes refuge in books as his family life falls apart, and ends up traveling to a magical kingdom. It's rather like a fairy tale; David begins his journey with help, but as he goes along there are three perils to overcome and by the end of his journey he is both alone and well on his way to growing up. There are many fairy-tale references included, and it is very touching to watch David grow into himself. Anybody who likes a good read should check this one out. It's a keeper for me, and not only that, I'll be looking for other John Connolly books to read.

Zoe continues to settle in well, although she's still quite skittish with my partner-in-crime. I wonder if she was abused by a man in her previous home, or if she had some rough male doctors at the ACC. But we're working on that. They had a good moment together on the couch last night. And as for Zoe and me . . . she follows me around. Especially when I'm the only person home, Zoe is right behind me far more often than not. It's pretty adorable.

A brief check-in on my March goals:

Cat? Check.

Finish apartment? Well, I've made progress. I have some paperwork to go through. After that I think it's just art and knickknacks.

Freelance projects? I'm on my third one. So we're good there.

Edit novel: I've started. I haven't made the serious dent I was hoping to make, but at least I've begun. After the freelance project I'm working on now I'll really dig into the novel.

And now, to work. There's plenty of it, and I am determined to make time to clean out my office in the near future.

since i could say

It's been a while. Sorry about that. There was too much work and too little time, and then a long weekend in Vegas to visit my sister and our grandparents. It was a great visit; sunshine, antique fairs, sleep, good food, four kitties, triominoes. I do feel a little recharged. But it was hard to force myself to go back to work. I think I'm still a little burned out. I know I'm still working on the concept of balance. Work, freelance, music, writing, relationships. Finishing the apartment. That's a lot to have going on all the time. And hopefully I'll get a cat in the next few days, there's that too. Word of the year: balance. Word of the month: frugal. Or maybe simple. I need to tone things down a bit. My goals for March are to make a serious dent in editing my book, do a couple freelance projects, finish my apartment, and get a cat. perfectly reasonable, attainable goals, I think!

I've been dreaming a lot, but not retaining much of them, which is frustrating. Bits and bobs here and there is all. Lorrie's birthday party, at a pool in a Vegas hotel. Moving into a weird interesting house with a skinny low-ceilinged library room in it, knowing there was a demon coming, and wishing that Buffy, Willow, and Xander were there. Playing in a clarinet quintet only I was sick and really struggling to make it to rehearsals. One I remember more of: I was in a car being driven by someone, we were being chased by evil wizards, I was throwing energy detonations at them with my hands out the window. We got to this huge mall-like building and ran inside. There was a grocery store, and I was prowling the aisles, stocking up on things like bread and ground beef that I could roll into balls to ground my energy bombs in. Samantha was there too. Then I remember heading into confrontation in a long hallway.

so, that's that. Strange dream snippets and short vacations and month goals. Next time I'll talk about books I've read, but for now I need to get to work. Happy Thursday!

May musings

May already. I had way to much on my plate on Sunday to manage some online time, so I'll say it now: Happy Beltane, everyone! Beltane is one of my major holidays. It's a celebration of spring and fertility. My partner-in-crime and I had a nice dinner and then a good long ritual.

I've decided that May is spring cleaning month, on more than one level. Not only do I want to get our apartment really clean and sorted, I want to take care of all the things that have been hanging over my head this year. Finish my bag of handwashing. Send out my VP application. Wrap up my agent research and submit the superheroes novel. Clean out my office at work. Catch up on my correspondence. Get Internet at home so I can work on my online presence. Etc. None of it will do itself. And if I can manage it, I'll feel a lot better about the rest of this year.

I can't wait for summer hours! They start in just a couple weeks, and I am going to enjoy the hell out of the Fridays I have off. I'm going to do a lot of writing and reading. And, come hell or high water, I'm finishing Buffy this summer. It's ridiculous how long that's taking me!

After a couple weeks of not remembering much of my dreams, I've had several stick in my brain this week. Here they are, in no particular order:

In one, I was hanging out with a couple of my friends here in NYC. We were lounging on a huge sectional couch, watching a movie in our pajamas. My cat, Abigail, was there, and at one point my niece was flitting in and out of the room.

In another, I was hanging out with my friend M. We lived in a city that looked more like Paris than New York, all beautiful and old with huge apartments. She was upset because her husband wasn't paying any attention to her, so I convinced her to go out to a restaurant down the block with me. But she was unhappy there, too, because a couple guys hit on us, and were jerks about it, so we had to run away from the restaurant.

In the third, I just have a vague memory of wandering through room after room in an old Victorian house, and the whole place was filled with piles and piles of antiques. Furniture, quilts, books, old baby carriages, birdcages, whatever you can think of, it was there. I was heading for a room in the back of the house (the kitchen, maybe?), and either my mom or my sister was with me. I found the room, and shoved some vials full of mysterious liquids into my shoulder bag, then headed out the back door. For some reason I thought there would be an airplane waiting there, but instead, the porch just trailed off into a marsh, with safe paths indicated by two-by-fours laid on the ground, so I was wandering through the marsh, family member still in tow, trying to find my plane, and there was someone coming after us from the antiques house.

Fourth..., I know you're going to laugh. And that's okay. I guess. I dreamed that I was in some sort of big performance group, and we were away somewhere for a competition, and Daniel Radcliffe (yes, I know, haha, Harry Potter) was in the group too. We were all staying in this one gigantic room that had a couple fireplaces in one wall and a ramp that went along the opposite wall to get in and out of the room. At some point, we were away from the room to get food, I think, and then our chaperones/adult minders/whoever came running and told us that our room was flooded and it was Daniel's dad's fault, somehow, because he was in the room above us. We ran back to the room, and stood at the top of the ramp watching the water drip from the ceiling down onto the sodden rug and the soaked piles of our belongings. We held hands, feeling like we were holding each other up, and then slowly walked down the ramp to survey the damage beneath the indoor rain.

In the fifth dream, it's all very hazy and jumbled together in my head. But basically my sister J was taken hostage by a drug lord and kept in his big beautiful house. She had the run of the house but couldn't use the phone of the internet. Somehow I managed to get in to visit her, she was very unhappy but said she couldn't leave because she didn't know what the drug lords would do if she tried. But I snuck her into a car and we fled. I know there was more to it than that, but I really can't recall. There was a kitchen, and J was upset, and she was wearing this fancy silk robe... That's all I've got on that one.

Last night's is vague and jumbled too, but I know I was at my friend K's place, or we were staying somewhere together, and I think she wasn't sick in my dream. And my grandparents were there at some point also. Oh, and JP, and he hurt his hands somehow, so we were helping him bandage them.

Anyway. I really need to go get some work done today. Happy Wednesday, everybody!

2011 goals

Short and sweet, two lists of goals for this year:

Writing goals

• write Emmelina novel
• write Witch/Ghost book I
• write two short stories
• edit 2010 shorts
• brainstorm on Caged novel
• submit Superheroes

Nonwriting goals

• less freelancing
• more exercise
• take better care of myself
• finish watching Buffy
• bigger apartment
• read fifty books

I know that some of these are from my goals for 2010. But I feel really good about this year. I can really make things happen, if I focus. And at the same time remember to take it easy on myself!
What about you guys, out there in the internet-verse? What are your goals for 2011?

hazy Friday

Fall is finally in the air, and I'm loving it. The humidity has dissipated; the last couple mornings have been cool and crisp and just a little blustery between a perfect robin's-egg blue sky. This sort of weather makes me feel better, even though I am totally overwhelmed with commitments right now, between personal goals, freelance work, and shared projects.

• submit Nor -- DONE (although I could do it more, with different agents)
  
• write superhero novel -- done. It took me a month longer than I wanted it to, but that's just fine. I still finished draft zero in four months. I'll start editing it shortly. Still hoping to wrap this one up entirely by the end of the year.
  
• write first novel in urban fantasy series -- this will happen in the fall. At this point, I doubt I'll manage an entire draft, but I think I can make a good start.
  
• outline entire urban fantasy series -- working on it. I've got partial ideas for each book, but need to come up with the underlying big story. I'm going to really spend some time on this in October.
  
• write three short stories -- one done, one partially written, one outlined
  
• edit the two shorts I wrote last year -- one done, one two-thirds done
  

Getting there. I think I can manage it all, if I don't hold myself to finishing the first book in the UF series. I'm fine with making a good start on it.
And now, on to the weekend. Happy Friday, everyone!

mid-January already?

How did that happen? And here I was resolved to be a better blogger this year . . . Well, it's never too late to start, I suppose.
So, a little late, but here are my New Years resolutions:

• more writing
• less freelancing
• more time outside
• be more healthy (re: food and drink)
• more music
• finish watching Buffy
  

I think that's doable. There's also a list of writing goals for this year:

• submit Nor
• write cupcake truck Western novel
• write first novel in urban fantasy series
• outline entire urban fantasy series
• write three short stories
• edit the two shorts I wrote last year

Also doable, if I stay really focused. I'm already partially done editing one of the shorts from last year, have done some brainstorming on the novel, have an opening for the cupcake truck, and am only days away from submitting Nor. So. Here's hoping that this is a year of artistic productivity!
There are several books I read toward the end of last year, but didn't manage to blog about as work and freelancing were both moving at a breakneck pace. To get caught up, I'll try now to just list as many as I can recall and say if I liked it.
Splendor by Anna Godbersen: LOVED it. The concluding book in the Luxe series. So good, with a brilliant wrap-up to everything!
Poems of Anna Akhmatova: Interesting Russian poetry from around WWI. Good stuff.
Persepolis: brilliant graphic novel memoir. She was so ANGRY, and it just made such perfect sense.
The Bestiary by Nicholas Christopher: a slow starter for me, but by the end I was utterly entranced and inspired to do some reading on medieval bestiaries.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman: Just utterly fantastic. Need I say more? I love that man's way with words.
Can't recall any more now, so I'll do the rest sometime this week. I ended the year at 52 or 53 books, which is great, so I'll set the goal of 50 books again for this year.
And now, editorial work is beckoning, so I'm off. Happy New Year everyone, and I'll be back soon!

Post-Election Entry

I'm sure that there are hundreds of thousands of bloggers out there who are covering the election in detail, and have been for months, so all I will say is this: Thank the 'verse that Obama got elected! I'm excited to see what the future brings.
And on that happy note, I present to you some whining. I know, nobody really reads blogs just to listen to someone else whine, so I'll keep it brief. I started looking at plane tickets to go home for Christmas, and the cheapest one is FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS. And that's before taxes and fees. Which is just awful, for a poor girl like me. But I'll suck it up and do it anyway. No way am I not going home for the holidays. and it's looking like I might be there for Yule, which would be great! I could do ritual with my friend A again. It's been years. Far too long. But ouch, that five hundred dollar ticket is going to hurt. . . .
Finished a book yesterday: The Dead Travel Fast by Eric Nuzum. It's fun reading, sort of
a cultural history of vampires, if you will. I enjoyed it. But it's not a keeper. Somehow I expected a little more out of it, I think. I wanted a little more analysis, a little more serious discussion, and this book was pretty light-hearted and anecdotal. Still, it's definitely worth a read. Reading it did make me want to go out and find a serious study on vampires in modern-day culture, or throughout history, or something.
Oh, and a big sigh of relief: I finished editing my novel. Well, I finished the first go-round of editing. Now I just have to type in all the new sections and email it out!
Anyway. I haven't done this in a while, but I thought I'd toss up some goals for November:

• read four books
• nail down the first two movements of Musczynski's Time Pieces
• type in all my edits and get my novel out to my readers
• two freelance projects
• get started on Yule gifts

I think that's plenty, don't you? I do!
I'm sure there was more I wanted to say, but it was time to go home ten minutes ago, and every time I get the blank screen in front of my my mind turns to jelly, so I'll just say ta for now, and I'll ramble on again sometime soon.

Sorry

I apparently am just a sporadic blogger at heart. Maybe it's that I only blog when I really feel the urge. Maybe it's just that my time is already overcommitted so I just don't get around to this very often. . . . Well, regardless, I do apologize. July was not the best of months in the history of me. There was a bad sunburn, and a nasty cold, and one of my books at work turned into an utter nightmare. Now I am just thanking the stars that July is over, and looking forward to having a happier, more productive August. So, without further ado, here are my August goals:

• finish editing my novel
• finish (re)learning the Debussy
• get my kitchen organized, and start on my bedroom
• get caught up at work
• read three books

There, that's not so bad, is it? I do also want to make it to the flea markets again this month. That hasn't happened since, oh, mid-June, I think. And there may be another beach trip in there, and I know there are a couple parties coming up, etc. So August will be packed full. How is it that the appeal of summer is those warm, lazy days at home, by yourself, where you do whatever you want, whenever you want, yet so few of those days actually happen?
Last night I talked to What-If Boy for a good half hour. And it was one of those perfectly comfortable, lovely conversations where we both laughed a lot, we talked about work, about family, about books and movies and just random things. It made me miss him. We used to be so close, and last night made me feel like we still are, even though we don't talk as often. It was really nice. Lately I've been rather anti-phone, but I'm glad I finally caught up with him.
I think I'll save the book reviews for next time, since I should get cracking on my pile of work today. Happy Wednesday!

Autumn

Autumn is desperately trying to reach New York City right now. It happens in fits and starts. A chilly morning here, a rain squall there. It's creeping in, slowly but surely. And it's lovely.
I've been feeling pretty anxious over the last couple of days. Somehow half of October has slipped past me and I haven't DONE hardly anything! There's so much I wanted to do with this month, and I just don't think that there's the time for all of it now. I suppose that's what I get for being an overachiever, but still, I'm disappointed with October, so far. And I foolishly accepted a freelance project for this weekend (I've got to learn to say NO!), so there's not much hope of working on things in the next couple of days either.
What else is there to say? Things have gotten all twisty and complicated in my head and my heart. I'm pretty confused, and a little scared of the intensity of what's in my mind right now. I'm seriously contemplating some pretty big changes. Hard changes. We'll see.
On a lighter note, I did manage to visit my sister, and learn the Saint-Saens Sonata, so that's at least a little progress on my to-do list for this month. And a friend of mine just got a new job at Simon & Schuster that she's going to love. Congrats, D!
There's a lot more that I'd love to say, but right now I just don't have the time or the words. And since I'm sneaking time at work, I'd best get to it . . .

Busy, busy

Obviously it's been a busy couple of weeks. I keep meaning to write but somehow the time just slips away from me and it keeps not happening. I also no longer have internet at home, so I must sneak in my blogging time at work. Poor me, poor me . . .
This last weekend my boyfriend and I went upstate to visit my sister before she moves to Las Vegas for her fabulous new job. We had a great weekend, I think. A long bike ride on a couple of stylish Del Sol cruisers, an afternoon shopping in Kingston (across the water in Canada), a long walk, a two-hour boat ride on the St. Lawrence River. I have something terrible to admit, however. I would have had a better time had my boyfriend not gone along. Now, I promised myself when I started this blog that I wouldn't be one of those bloggers who only talks about her love life, and I intend to stay true to that. So I won't go into details. I will just say that it would have been even more relaxing and fun without the testosterone present.
That said, I'm very excited for my sister! This new job is a great opportunity. It's closer to our family, focuses on a number of things she's very interested in, the pay is better and so are the benefits . . . There's really no downside. Thank goodness for Las Vegas!
I've been lacking in motivation lately, and I can feel it. I've been a little sluggish, a little nonproductive, and that tends to make me cranky. So I've made an ambitious to-do list for this week, and a larger one for the month of October. Can I do it? Who knows! But I'll do my best, that's for sure. Last month I accomplished some of my list. We'll see if this month I can do a little better. The current list, as it stands:

--write forty pages
--brainstorm the plot for the rest of my book
--learn the Saint-Saens Sonata on my clarinet
--visit my sister
--clean out the drawers in my old map-drawer roll-top dresser
--make two collages
--submit my book to Tor and Simon & Schuster
--learn three new songs on bass, and work on my slap technique

Did I post my September list? I honestly can't remember right now. If I did, then it's obvious that there's some overlap between months. But we'll see what I can do.
And now, I should run home so I have an hour to myself before the partner-in-crime arrives . . . But don't worry, I won't be so neglectful in the future. No long silences, no absence from my cyberhome.