another brick that i laid

So far this week has been pretty rough, because I have been trying SO HARD to do ALL the things so I can get caught up at work. Between my efforts and our new in-house freelancer, I'm really getting somewhere! But the consequence is that by the time I get home, I'm Zombie-Lauren. That's not fun. And it means there's no writing happen, which also isn't fun! Today will be my last zombie day though. I have to rest up Wednesday/Thursday nights, because this weekend I'm attending Mary Robinette Kowal's Short Story Intensive class, and I have to be awake and functional for that. I'm really looking forward to it! Hopefully it'll inspire some great short story work for me.
What do you all think of short stories? Love them? Hate them? Any favorite short story writers?
Onward and forward; there's housework and writing in my near future. Blood and kisses!

like a slow burn

March already. I can feel the shifting of the seasons every time I venture outdoors. I wish we could have a bit more winter! I enjoy being so connected to the earth and the cyclical nature of things. It's a grounding feeling. And I'm happy to see the back of February as it departs; that was a rough month for many people, for many reasons. Here's hoping that March is better for us all! For me, it means a return to my writing. I won't be freelancing like crazy like I was last month. It also means gardening time, and more reading time.
Are any of you reading anything great?
---
I typed the above last night on my phone, on my commute home. I didn't get around to posting it. This morning I found out via Facebook that someone I was close to in college passed away in the end of February. I keep trying to write, to read, to focus on something, but I'm distracted by thoughts of him. He and I hadn't spoken in several years. I'd been thinking that during one of my visits home I would reach out and we would go for coffee, catch up. Now I'll never get to do that. What a strange thought that is. I'm sad for him, that he had to leave the world at a young age, and I'm sad for the gaping absence now in his family. I'll grieve for him as best I know how: I'll put him in a story. Sam, yours was a hard road, and you did the best you could. I hope your next road is easier to walk.

progress!

Just a quick entry to say that my writing weekend was lovely, and on Sunday after returning from Philly I had brunch with two good friends and then finished two freelance projects. And then last night . . . (drumroll please) . . . I finished my restructure/rewrite draft of the ghost/witch novel! YES!! I'm sending it out to beta readers momentarily. And then digging in to my next freelance project. And spending fifteen minutes plotting out some of the changes I'll be making to my middle grade book. And cooking a veggie thing for my lunches for the remainder of the week. Productive!
What are you all up to these weeknight evenings?
Blood and kisses, everyone!

this is that missing post!!

GUYS. Today this post magically reappeared in my drafts. Computers are weird, weird things sometimes. Anyway. Here's that blog post I wrote that I was pissed about when it disappeared:

Anybody else think this has been a weird winter so far? The weather has been strangely warm in NYC, except for about two weeks of cold and one snowstorm. Which was a hell of a snowstorm, true. But it's the last day in January and it's 52 degrees out. Something is NOT RIGHT, I tell you!
Anyway. I'm happy to be moving on to February. I did take a few freelance projects for this month, but I'm determined to keep writing regularly. And I might take a week off; I have those rollover vacation days that need to be used up, so why not, right?
I've made some good writing progress so far this year. The most important thing is that I have three pretty regular writing dates now, which is AWESOME. Dedicated work time. I do occasionally use that time for other things (like right now, this blog post!) but it's so nice to have that time set aside every week for not-freelance, not-housework stuff. I'm super close to sending the ghost/witch novel out to beta readers for a last go-round with feedback and further editing. Just a few instances of (ADD XX) or (CHECK THIS) to deal with throughout the manuscript! And I've started to rewrite the entire first section of Emmelina. Everything until the quest begins. It really wasn't working before; Emmelina's character wasn't consistent, the reasoning for the quest wasn't ringing true, etc. I think it's going to be much better with the changes I'm making. And I've done a smidge of writing on Janny. Not a lot, but some is better than none. And I've been spending some time thinking about what scenes I still need to write and how to stitch everything together. Overall, a good writing start to the year!
Let's all think good thoughts for February; it's got to be better than January, right? January set a pretty low bar, after all.
And now, back to the writing.

Back to today. I'm in Philly for a writing day for a couple of friends. It's so nice to not be in the city, to not be distracted by house and work and etc. etc. etc. I'll be finishing a couple projects today, and making progress a couple others. So in an effort to not be distracted from accomplishing things, I'm going to get to it.
Blood and kisses!

seriously?

That moment when you realize your computer ate the whole long blog post you wrote the other day. 
UGH.
This is indicative of how my year feels like it's going, so far. Damnit. I don't even remember what I talked about. Blah blah, writing process, blah blah books I'm reading, blah blah work is intense so far this year. That probably about covers it.
DAMNIT. I'm too frustrated to write a real blog post right now. I'll try again in a few days.

enough already!

When David Bowie passed away earlier this month, I wrote a blog post about it. And then Alan Rickman died. And the I scratched my cornea. And then a coworker passed away. And then I got a nasty winter cold. For each of these things, I thought about writing a blog post, and just never got to it. And now all I can really say is, what the hell, 2016? You're supposed to be better than your predecessor, but that was a pretty shitty start! The rest of this year better be an improvement. The bar is low. You can do it, 2016. SHEESH.
At least I'm feeling good about the writing end of things. I have two weekly online writing dates, plus the critique group, plus all my VP and WtO classmates to talk writing with/swap crits with/etc. Slowly but steadily, I do feel like I'm creating the life I want to be leading.
I've been doing a lot of cooking. Kale pesto, spinach pesto, banana bread, homemade granola, soups, vegetarian enchiladas . . . I'm trying really hard to use all the farm share produce and all the food my roommate brings home from her catering gig. It's been a little intense! But I'm really enjoying spending more time in the kitchen. There's something meditative about it, and it's totally different than anything else I've been doing.
And on that note, it's late, I should go to bed and hope tomorrow is an improvement, healthwise. Blood and kisses, everyone!

a new blog post for a new year

Well, here we are. January, 2016. Last year went by in a blur. I’m not going to dwell on 2015; there were a number of things about it that were not good. But there were some other things that were good. It was a year of transition, and those are always difficult. Now I’m choosing to look forward. The transition year has left me poised to move ahead confidently in the direction of my art, and I’m excited to do so. I don’t really do New Year’s resolutions, but I like to do goals, so here are my (vague) goals for 2016: Take better care of myself. Write more. Freelance less. Give myself more down time. 

How about you? What are your goals or resolutions or dreams for 2016?

I will tell you one highlight of 2015: my partner-in-crime and I adopted a kitten. We still have Zoe, our smart, beautiful, antisocial girl who is now almost nine. And now we have Isabel. She's a delightful terror, and is eight months old. I'll post some photos at some point, I promise.

I read a lot more books than I blogged about in 2015. There’s not time to discuss them all, so here’s a list of some of my favorites from last year that I haven't mentioned previously: Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley, The Archivist Wasp by Nicole Kornher-Stace, Chimes at Midnight and The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire, Uprooted by Naomi Novik.

I’ll leave you with links to two blog entries that I read the other morning and found inspiring:

https://mariadahvanaheadley.wordpress.com/2015/11/06/taking-writing-risks-new-adult-novel-sold-to-fsg-and-more/

http://pacificrain.blogspot.com/2016/01/2016-new-direction.html

Blood and kisses, and Happy New Year!