Tag Archives: flash fiction

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Noveling Action Plan, Revised May 20,2013

April Camp NaNo -

Novels awaiting completion:

  • Sima Garo Provides -Rough draft completed at ~110,000 words. Target attained!
  • Blood and Breath – WIP Rough draft – 86,072 of ~100,000 words. Complete by June 1. On target.
  • To Be or Not to Be – WIP Rough draft – 110,019 of ~200,000 words (double novel). Complete by June 30. On Target.

Here’s what will happen.

In May:

Read through A to Z stories. On target.

  • I have read the first four stories, in alphabetical order.
  • Once all stories are properly filed, I will read the Spock and Niaan arcs separately. 

Move to Scrivener and revise. On target.

  • I have highlighted each story for later revision as I move them to their Scrivener files.
  • 4 of 26 stories in Scrivener.

Create rough plans for the rest of Spock and Niaan’s Trueborn Warp and Weft Genesis novels. Pending.

  • …these should carry both through the moment of truth when they choose their own destiny, by means of an act that cannot be revoked….killing Kaitiiraan, and accepting appointment to Starfleet Academy.

Complete Blood and Breath. On target- see above.

Continue To Be or Not to Be. On target -see above.

In June:

Reread and create To-Do lists for:

  • Chameleon’s Dish
  • Bounded by a Nutshell

Once the lists are complete for these three, begin prioritizing the lists, so that August and September can be used for mass editing runs….with lots of focus available.

Finish/polish plans for Trueborn Genesis novels.

  • Complete by June 30, for July Camp NaNo.

In July:

Sign up for Camp NaNo,

Write Trueborn Genesis novels.

  • Goal- 100,000 words during the month (remembering that things may slow down during Rock the Campground).

In August and September:

Edit using To Do lists – in this priority:

  • Chameleon’s Dish 
  • Bounded by a Nutshell

In October:

Create a timeline if not already done, and note gaps for late 2013 and 2014 work.

  • Virtual and physical timelines for entire scope of both series.

Also create a plan (idea to plan) for King of Shreds and Patches (the ST:TMP to STII:TWOK Spock storyline which partners with Sima Garo Provides).

  • Prepare this for NaNo.

Sign up for NaNo, and, if time permits, explore the gaps, and consider further the Kirana/Andrew and Tisira/Henry storylines….

In November:

  • COMPLETE a draft of King of Shreds and Patches….remember that it must fit around and through Sima Garo Provides. Goal: 100,000 words.

In December:

Wrap up editing runs (To-Do lists) for:

  • Chameleon’s Dish
  • Bounded by a Nutshell 

Begin canvassing for beta readers for these.

  • Try to place each with five beta readers by March 31, 2014
  • Possibly rejoin Critters (a good place for Chameleon?)

Sketch out plans for first half of 2014, which will include:

Beta readings of:

  • Chameleon’s Dish
  • Bounded by a Nutshell

Editing To Do Lists for:

  • Sima Garo Provides
  • King of Shreds and Patches
  • Blood and Breath – plan for partner novel. 
  • To Be or Not to Be – split into Spock/Niaan volumes.
  • Trueborn Genesis -Niaan
  • Trueborn Genesis-Spock

Flesh out explorations/ play with flash fiction for remaining “gap” novels.

  • Begin shaping into plans for 2014 NaNo drafts.

Rough schedule for the rest of 2014.

  • Note NaNo months, and be prepared with planned novels.
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Noveling Action Plan – 2013

April Camp NaNo – (April 1-30)

 

Novels pending completion (75,000 word goal exceeded) :

 

  • Sima Garo Provides – Complete!

 

  • Blood and Breath – Pending.

 

  • To Be or Not to Be – Pending.

 

In May:

 

Read through A to Z stories.

 

Revise, and create rough plans and story arcs the rest of Spock and Niaan’s Trueborn Warp and Weft stories….

 

  • These should carry both through the moment of truth when they choose their own destiny, by means of an act that cannot be revoked….namely, killing Kaitiiraan, and accepting appointment to Starfleet Academy.

 

Complete Sima Garo Provides, with a May 5 target date.

 

  • Completed!

 

Complete Blood and Breath, with a June 1 target date.

 

  • 86,072 of 100,00 words on May 15.

 

Continue To Be or Not to Be, with a June 30 target date.

 

  • 110,019 of 200,000 words on May 15.

 

In June:

 

Complete To Be or Not to Be rough draft.

 

Flesh out plans for the Trueborn stories (pending working titles); prepare for July drafting.

  • Spock’s story
  • Niaan’s story

 

Reread and create To-Do lists for:

 

  • Chameleon’s Dish

 

  • Bounded by a Nutshell

 

 

Once the lists are complete for these three, begin prioritizing the lists, so that August and September can be used for mass editing runs….with lots of focus available.

 

In July:

 

Camp NaNo, and plan to FastDraft (take the class before that!) both Trueborn Stories during the month (remembering that things may slow down during Rock the Campground).

 

  • Spock’s story: 50,000 words
  • Niaan’s story: 50,000 words
  • Total target: 100,000 words

 

Finish prioritized editing lists if not previously completed.

 

 

In August and September:

 

First Editing Run using To Do lists:

 

  • Chameleon’s Dish
  • Bounded by a Nutshell

     

 

In October:

 

Create a timeline if not already done, and note gaps for late 2013 and 2014 work.

 

  • The timeline should be both virtual and physical.
  • Brainstorm and explore projects that will fill these gaps, so that all portions of the saga will be in progress by the end of 2014.

 

Also create a plan (idea to plan) for King of Shreds and Patches (the ST:TMP to [near] STII:TWOK Spock storyline).

 

  • Collect existing scenes and experimentations, and possibly create new flash fiction for this novel.
  • Use this plan to create an outline.

 

Sign up for NaNo, and, if time permits, consider further the Kirana/Andrew and Tisira/Henry storylines….

  • Just play with these, for now…flash and freewriting.

 

In November:

 

COMPLETE a draft of King of Shreds and Patches….remember that it must ultimately fit around and through Sima Garo Provides.

 

  • I hope to complete what will essentially be a double NaNo…a complete 100 thousand word draft!

 

In December:

 

Wrap up Primary editing runs (To-Do lists) for:

 

  • Chameleon’s Dish
  • Bounded by a Nutshell

 

Sketch out plans for first half of 2014, which will include:

 

Beta readings of:

 

  • Chameleon’s Dish
  • Bounded by a Nutshell

 

 

Editing To Do Lists for:

 

  • Sima Garo Provides
  • Blood and Breath
  • To Be or Not to Be

 

Flesh out explorations/ play with flash fiction for remaining “gap” novels.

 

  • Use 750 Words, and a dedicated notebook.

 

Rough schedule for the rest of 2014.

 

  • Assess status of all existing and planned projects, and move forward with plnning.

 

WOW!!!!

 

That was a pretty comprehensive and exciting list! And now, I feel I have a direction to move in, and a focus.

 

Also, with the techniques I have learned, am learning, and will be learning, I believe this list is not only possible, but attainable with sanity…..and while blogging, working on Queen of My Infinite Spaces, and writing flash fiction and essays…..and while learning more about the business side of writing….and while continuing to be an active participant in the groups and communities that fit me, and while pursuing my other writing goals….

 

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Wait a While: ROW80 Update, May 8, 2013

Curious? Click here!

I’m getting back into a more relaxed rhythm, after the intensity of April. I’ve resumed charting time and activities, and creating daily goals lists.

I love lists. I tend to like things simple, clean, and uncluttered. My lists and charts, tidily stored away in a notebook, allow me structure, with room to adapt and change and play around. They keep me happy, and productive.

I’m not fully into the swing of things with social media and flash fiction. I am in a semi- metamorphosis, after so much doing and creating. I’ve mostly been dropping in to share. I don’t need more, just now, and I am trusting that instinct. It will be followed by another period of social activity, and then another lull…

Ebbs and flows – there is an ease in riding their waves that I never felt when I resisted, trying to do and be against my tides…

My diverse and plentiful goals allow me to sample, nibble, or devour. They give me structure I to focus and strive, and freedom to flow with my energies and inspirations.

How about you? Are you a planner, a pantser, or, like me, a little of both? How do you approach your goals?

 

White birches against sky…

And now, a look at this session:

Noveling:

Revise my noveling action plan and post by May 15.

  • Pending.

Complete Sima Garo Provides by May 5.

  • Target attained!

CompleteBlood and Breath by June 1.

  • Reread current chapter-in-progress and outline.
  • Planned 2 scenes.
  • Wrote Chapter 16, Sc. 3
  • WIP total: 82,208 words.
  • Pending.

Complete To Be or Not to Be (double volume) by June 30.

  • (Will net two complete WIPs).
  • Pending.

A to Z post stories -Complete by June 30.

 

Letting sleeping cats lie…

Place stories into Scrivener files as expandable scenes.

  • Pending.

Reread both; create to-do lists.

  • Pending.

Plan WIPS.

  • Pending.

Blogging:

shanjeniah:

The Unfettered Life:

 

Nascent Irises!

Continue throughout round:

Sharing posts from all blogs.

  • Target Attained!

Answering comments according to my posted schedules.

  • Monday’s comments answered, overlapping with Tuesday morning.
  • Target attained!

Completed by May 10:

Revise my blogging action plan and post.

  • Pending.

Revise and post my blogging schedule.

  • Pending.

 

Squeak and “Baby” Achoo napping.

Completed by May 15:

Create resource lists for all features, and add to them in an organic and ongoing way.

  • Continuing while creating weekly features.
  • Created a template for Sunday Sampler.
  • Pending. 

Begin reviewing Trueborn Jottings – bring into alignment with current vision for this blog.

  • Pending.

Completed by June 1:

Build scheduled posts two weeks ahead for each feature.

  • Pending.

Completed by June 10:

Have two more posts for each feature in drafts queue.

  • Pending.

Maintain as additional safety margin.

  • Pending.

 

Annalise in profile – not quite 9.

By End of Round:

Draft plan for website hosting expenses (where will money come from?).

  • I will be saving my personal s allowance, when not used.
  • Pending.

Networking:

Continue throughout round:

ROW80 updates and sponsor visits

  • Pending.

Check weekly updates for blogs I follow, two Mondays each month.

  • Checked on Monday…will save to a resource file and read in coming days.
  • Pending.

Check WANA Facebook Group each Wednesday.

  • Pending.

Comment on posts and share as inspired.

  • Pending.

Use in features where appropriate.

  • Pending. 

Create discussions around new thoughts.

  • Monday’s post inspired quite a lot of conversation. =)
  • Target attained!

 

Life and death…

Facebook and Facebook Groups :

I fell away from my groups over the last months. Reconnect, participate, share.

  • A bit more dabbling, easing in.
  • Target attained!

Twitter:

Visit each day; read, share, tweet, comment.

  • Sharing more than anything, still….slow reintroduction.
  • Pending.

Google +, LinkedIn, and Pinterest -

Visit each weekly for May, then evaluate by June 1.

  • Pending.

Have fun with these – and, if not, let them go! =)

  • Pending.

Real-life:

Continue participating in activities and connecting with friends. This tends to slide during busy writing times; take advantage of natural lulls to feed my social spirit.

  • Nothing yet – getting ready to ease back in…
  • Pending.

 

Strong and happy!

Return to WANATribe – by May 10:

Check back on WANA113 and Writing Moms class groups.

  • Pending.

Explore other groups I have joined there.

  • Pending.

Post to WANATribe blog, and update page – by May20.

  • Pending.

Visit WANA friends….invite more, as inspired.

  • Pending.

Other Writing:

Children’s Third-Quarter Homeschooling Reports: Due on June 1.

(Submit to district by May 25.)

  • Annalise’s Reading section completed. Writing/Spelling section in progress.
  • Pending.

Revise three flash fiction WIPs using Sarah Selecky’s Deep Revisions exercises: (Complete all by end of round.)

“A Splash of Red” :

  • Pending.

“Morning Coffee”:

  • Pending.

“Peach Liqueur Love”:

  • Pending.

 

My girl. =)

Queen of My Infinite Spaces (poetry volume):

Revise poems and end matter by end of this round.

  • Poems 3-6 of 31 highlighted for later editing.
  • Pending.

Canvas for beta readers.

  • Pending.

Complete Ursula LeGuin’s Steering the Craft(by end of round).

Do exercises, using existing WIPs where possible, for efficiency. Complete by end of round.

  • Pending.

There….I think that’s a pleasing buffet enough, for now. I will revisit in a fortnight, and see how I feel about them then.

My most recent fortnightly (or so) long term goals evaluation.

It’s a BLOG HOP!

Two formerly feral felines.. at home on my bed. Peace.

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Inaugural Time Machine Tuesday: April 9

 

Time travel cosplay, July 4, 2010

On This Day in History:

Highlights…

And, on a more personal note:

Here is an excerpt from that story:

~~She had been told, as all the women among the Soarers had been, that the Kingdom of Man Above contained marvels such as they had never seen; the chance for love and passion such as they, in their narrower, baser lives, could never know with the men of their own kind…..

Sarjyn had never found her life or the men she shared company with lacking, but it was not given for any Soarer to refuse the Summons, once it had been made.

And so she had gone, as she was expected to, as she had always been told she must, when her time came.

Up past the place where the clouds separated her from the welcome embrace of the harboring earth, to the heavy dwelling place made by the Men Above.

Above the clouds, it looked very different, without the glitter the sun and moon cast upon it from below, giving it a glistening and otherworldly framework made, perhaps, of air and clouds…~~

To read the rest of this story, click here!

 

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Trusting Changing Rhythms – ROW80 Update, March 6, 2013

curious? Click here!

Did these last few days seem to fly by, or was that just me?

On Sunday, the children and I went to a bookstore to meet up with Elizabeth Mitchell, a visit we’d talked about since sometime last summer. We had a pleasant and somewhat chaotic visit, as Sunday afternoon is not, apparently, as quiet a time to meet there as I had assumed it would be.

Shortly before bed, my neck began to hurt as though I had pulled a muscle in it. A hot shower, hot rice bag, and ibuprofen eased it. Monday was quiet. I did some hometending, and reading, and a bit of writing and planning. I took things easy.  Still, toward bedtime, my neck tightened up again.

It’s just now occurred to me to wonder if my neck isn’t tight in part because I stuck it out in my Monday Meanderings (name change pending!) this week…psychosomatic resistance, maybe?

Tuesday, I met Eden Mabee for our weekly workout. I modified my typical plan significantly, to nurse my neck. I avoided any weight machine that might stress it, and stuck to the three main leg machines. Then I pedaled 6 miles in just over 26 minutes on the recumbent bike, and called it good enough….still, by the time I got home, my neck was hurting again.

Things are settling, and opening…Photo by Kristen Lamb, courtesy WANA Commons.

Eden stayed a while, because Jim and the kids had gone out for the evening while we were away, to give me some time to be home alone – they returned 20 minutes or so after she left, so I really didn’t have much time to myself.

It’s Wednesday, now, and Jim has to work, and our family to a more typical routine (the kids are out playing in the yard, frolicking in the first promise of spring’s arrival, and I am hometending reading, and writing).

I may find fewer opportunities these activities, during the day, and I will resume being the primary hometender. However, Jim is leaving me a much tidier home, and I’ve gotten a lot more sleep, during his time off, so I feel ready for what’s next…

Have you had any major shifts inyour  normal routines during this round? Were they helpful in meeting your goals, or less so? Were you able to adjust?

ROW80  Update:

WANA113 – My BIG ONE:

  • I realized I made a mistake with my Word Cloud Grokking, so will be revising and reposting it – once I figure out how to make a folder!
  • I commented on 2 other word clouds.

Targets:

  • Read/comment on five word clouds.
  • Fix Word Cloud Grokking.
  • Begin Grokking #3.
  • Attend Thursday Webinar, and catchup on the first one.

Transitions can be lovely…Photo by Catie Rhodes, courtesy WANA Commons.

Sponsor Visits: Up to Date

Targets:

  • Continue on-time visits.
  • Sign up as a Round 2 Sponsor.

Reading: (slowing down some as I move into slack tide, and am writing more.)

Target:

  • Continue reading; do exercises in Steering.

Blogging:

Targets:

  • Introduce Wordless Wednesdays for The Unfettered Life
  • Introduce Sunday Sampler to shanjeniah
  • Blogging action plan next steps for shanjeniah and Trueborn Jottings.
  • Begin collecting material for posting queues – brainstorm ideas (this should have been first, but….).

Writing:

  • I am using the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge to write some exploratory flash pieces that alternate between Spock‘s and Niaan’s POVs, and will provide, I hope, approximately two to three sketchy chapters for each of the inagural books for the Trueborn Warp and Weft series.
  • I am also experimenting with deep POV, and first person narrative.
  • Thus far, I have rough posts written through H.
  • I am using the exercises in Steering the Craft to explore other moments in the epic series, as I have had a few ideas and nascent scenes rattling around waiting for the next High Tide writing spree.

Targets:

  • Submit “A Splash of Red” by March 10.
  • Compile QUOMIS. (will save editing for Round 2, so that I can focus on classes and other projects).
  • Continue A to Z rough drafts through  K.
  • Colorblock posts A-C.
  • Rough list of 2013 Noveling Projects and next steps for WIP novels.
  • Review six month goals, rough list for Round 2.

Beta-reading:

  • “Blow Me a Candy Kiss”- completed and returned.

My current evaluation can be found here.

Unfurling and shifting…photo by Catie Rhodes, courtesy WANA Commons.

As we move into the final weeks of the round, are you eager, or apprehensive? I welcome you to share your comments below – let’s get the conversation going!

It’s a BLOG HOP!

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Trusting my Truth – #ROW80 Update, 2/27/13

Curious? Click here!

I’m going to make a declaration here, today. I’ve made it before, in a wishy-washy way.

Now, it’s time to state it, loud, proud, and without shame.

 I write Star Trek fan fiction erotica.

Damned good Star Trek fan fiction erotica, too!

It’s not all I write, but it is vital to the worlds I have created, because my female antagonist was originally conceived to be the woman Spock deserved. As a Vulcan male intended to have a lifebond that is a rich telepathic connection, he needs a mate – a mate who can fascinate, accept, inspire, and challenge him, on many levels.

There is a lot of Star Trek erotica out there, and much of it seems to ignore character and canon simply to be lascivious.

That’s not what I write.

Characters matter, to me. Spock must be Spock, always. But there is so much more to him than is shown in the series and movies, so much that is left unsaid. So much passion that so often gets overlooked, so many possibilities not played with…

Publicity photo of Leonard Nimoy and William S...

Publicity photo of Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner as Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk from the television program Star Trek. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

And so, I go there. And I’m done feeling apologetic about it.

I will be offering my Trueborn double series, both Warp and Weft, in the form of flash fiction pieces, throughout April, as my contribution to the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge. These stories will be set in the childhoods of Spock and Niaan, when they first become aware of one another.

  • I hope that people will read them, and give me feedback.
  • I hope that claiming this part of my writing life wholly will free me in all parts of it….
  • And I hope that I will, at the end of the month, have created beauty, and a fuller vision of these characters and the story they share…three stories in, I think I have made a good beginning.

What I write may become the basis of the first books in the Trueborn series. I’ve never written Spock’s childhood at length before, and I’ve been debating what to do with the handwritten and typed manuscripts for Niaan’s girlhood (the original WIP, Trueborn, to be renamed), since I don’t have it on the computer.

Now, I’m beginning to know…I will write these stories, and the revision will be richer and more textured. Those drafts will simmer with the new flash fiction, and become something new…

Yes, it will be some work, and likely a long process. That’s OK. When I’m done, I will have a revised original novel ready for beta readers – and a fanfic novel to share freely ….

Which is a lotta good!

 ROW80 stuff:

My BIG TWO:

Homeschool reports:

  • I am happy to report that these are done and submitted. Three months now before the next quarter’s are due.

Goal attained! =)

WANA 113:

  • Completed raw word dump of my word cloud grokking.
  • Connected with most of the remaining class members.
  • On course to hit both targets.
  • Have begun the small but gradual incorporation of some class and conference ideas into my social media.

Targets: Word cloud grokking submitted by Sunday, March 3.

Connect with all classmates by Sunday, March 10.

Other stuff :

Reading slowed while I completed the reports, but progressed. The need for input is easing, and I will likely be writing more, and reading less, within the next week or two.

Queen of My Infinite Spaces -

  • Nothing new written.
  • I took a glimpse at the NaNoEdMo site. Since I plan to edit a poetry collection, I won’t officially register, although I will still focus on editing in March.

Targets:

  • Dedication and acknowledgments by March 1, which will give me a completed rough draft.
  • Look into NaNoEdMo by February 28, and decide if I want to participate.

The second target is complete.

750 Words -

  • Each day – exposition and fanfic (began A to Z posts and exposition).

Sponsor visits: I’m up to date on these.

Sponsor post:

  • The Imagery of Possibility went up on 2/25.
  • I’ve received several positive comments, and two Tweets of this post.
  • I’m feeling humbled and happy that it spoke to people, and a little shy about it, too….
  • I’m going to, in small steps, be sharing this post myself, in several places, and doing more of this type of writing…

What’s next…?

MY BIG ONE! =D

WANA 113 -

  • Connect with remaining classmates
  • Complete word cloud grokking and post.

QUOMIS -

  • Dedication and early acknowledgments.

Other stuff:

  • Continue reading.
  • Begin exercises in Steering.
  • Work on action plans for blogging and noveling.
  • Submit guest post and “something else” by month’s end….
  • Beta read “Blow Me a Candy Kiss” and return with comments (aim for March 1).
  • Adjustments and changes to blogs and social media will be gradual, but ongoing.
  • Continue with A to Z posts (using 750 words).
  • Sponsor visits.

Do you have any secret writing passions? =)

Lookee what I found at the Air and Space Museum! =D

It’s a BLOG HOP!!!

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In Grokking I Trust: #ROW80 Update, 2/10/13

 

Curious? Click here!

I am currently taking Kristen Lamb’s Blogging for Brand WANA113 class. Here is a portion of my first grokking – an accounting of my BIG WRITING GOALS. I am calling them “Grokkings”, because the words “homework assignment” trigger my flight instincts, while “grokking” makes me think of Heinlein, which is a far more pleasant and inspiring option!

What you see here is hardly even enough to be the tip of the iceberg. Hours, pages, and gallons of water for hot showers; wandering, pondering excursions into my inner terrain, and some hair twisting and swearing…..all were a part of the process, before I even started editing!

This vision I can see and feel, moving within me, waiting for me to deliver it into life, will be affecting just about everything in my writing life, now that I know its shape…so there will be some big changes to my ROW80 goals, at my 2/17 biweekly evaluation….more on that after the goal!

Morning glories in early evening, on a cloudy day…

MY BIG GOAL!

I am living what my father once called a pipe dream. It is very real! My name is recognizable within my niches, and my writing has a growing audience with a loyal core.

My writing life dovetails with my life, my family, and my inner truths. I am a writer, an author, a blogger – not as titles, but to my core. Writing is a joyful avocation, a delight, and a profitable business venture that provides revenue enough to support our needs and wants.

Through my writing, I share, connect, heal, and grow. I entertain and claim my life and my passions unabashedly. I chronicle our continuing family journey as we parent in school-free partnership with our children, so that others might dare to see the value, possibility, and wonder of a life wound inextricably around natural learning, and a way to have greater peace and connection with their own children. I will be active on unschooling forums, and at events and gatherings.

My words entertain, enlighten, and enliven my many readers, and I have the satisfaction and pleasure of finally seeing the Trueborn Weft series in print and selling well. I have embraced my love of Spockerotica, and found a home for the Warp series books, where those who wish can weave those stories through the Weft, at no cost, and know the whole of my conception.

I have published Queen of My Infinite Spaces (poetry); and The Last House collection (flash fiction short stories around a specific location and theme.)

 I promote my books through my blogs through personal appearances, and the media. I am innovative and assertive in my marketing; I am willing to take chances, and I have materials that reflect my professionalism and my personality.

Fall leaves, October, 2012….edited in Picasa.

I am capable and confident with administrative and business duties; I continue to learn and to improve. I am actively involved in professional and more casual writing groups – networking, learning, and offering support to other writers. My home office is comfortable and efficient, and I enjoy creating and tending my business there. It has room for visits from husband, children, and felines, and also a measure of privacy when I need that most.

I submit smaller, bread and butter pieces regularly, to publications that are eager to receive them and to share with their audiences, and which pay me well for my perspective.

I am a richer and more textured person, and a healthier one. I use my words as a tool for good, and strive to always approach my writing with compassion, most especially when the topic is difficult, such as child abuse or infant death.

I value all feedback (even the hostile), and know there is great opportunity for symbiotic growth and learning in it. Therefore, I respond promptly to comments, and find innovative ways to connect with my readers, and to reach new audiences who will find value in my sharing.

Corki at ease – Red dog under lilac blossoms, May 2012.

I am living my life with purpose, and my energy is devoted to those things that support that purpose. I know that these include things like reading, hiking, camping, gaming, gardening, music, travel, television, and lots of time to just be – with my loved ones, my chosen family, and with myself, wandering my own internal terrain.

Writing adds depth, scope, and understanding to my life, and I share my vulnerabilities, strengths, quirks, failures, successes, deep grief, soaring bliss – and the less intense moments in between….

And, in return for indulging in those gifts, people pay me generously enough that we may live our lives comfortably, and pursue our passions without financial constraints – everything from supporting Jim in his own business venture, to providing for the children as they grow, to SCUBA trips, a refinished bus or motor home, a log cabin, adventures, and even HORSES!!!!!

So, there we have it….

Siberian Irises, after the rain….May 2013..

ROW80 Stuff:

All other goals on abeyance while I attend to My Big Three…

Editing Finding Esta:

  • Editing complete and sent through Chapter 21.

  • I am 61% through the novel.

  • Target: 3 chapters/day, until completed. So far, so good.

Homeschooling reports (due 3/1/13):

  •  Annalise’s report is complete up to Foreign Language Arts.

  • That leaves only FLA, Health and Safety, Physical Education, and Attendance.

  • Her report won’t be done tonight, but will be by Wednesday.

  • I will begin Jeremiah’s report on Monday, with a goal to finish by the 20th.

Blogging for Brand WANA113:

  • I’ve completed and posted my first grokking.

  • I’ve read the next two grokkings,

  • I will be completing these this week, and connecting with my classmates.

I will catch up my sponsor posts during the next days, and post links with my 2/13 update.

Til then…..I have more musing, editing, and reporting to do!

Lights, shadows, tulips….January, 2012.

It’s a BLOG HOP!

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Truststorms #ROW80 Update 2/3/13

 

Curious? Click here!

It’s been a bit stormy and wild here, lately…dustups may be par for the course, over a series of windy days…

I completed editing Finding Esta, and sent the file off to Shah Wharton…or so I thought. Turns out I sent her back the same master copy she sent me. When I tried to send the version that I had edited, I couldn’t download it. So I searched my hard drive for the appropriate file…opened it – and, three times over, encountered a Runtime Error that shut down the entire Kindle Reader app.

URGHHHHH!!!!!!!

Fortunately, my mind sees words, so I have begun recreating the process via my LibreOffice program….I can copy and paste, or save to whatever system works best for her…and I can send a few chapters at a time, so she’s not waiting for everything another dozen days or so – I am aiming to complete three chapters a day…

There’s a lot of upheaval going on, in my writing world – good upheaval, but it makes for some stress and floundering as I work out how to fit in all the bustle…

  • The kids’ quarterly homeschooling reports are due on March 1, and I have joined Kristen Lamb’sWANA 113 Blogging for Brand Class. The first assignment has already posted, and I still haven’t gotten my contacts listed, or stopped by to say hello to my classmates.

  • At the end of the month, I will be spending a day with WANACon.

In non-writing stuff, we have two kittens to spay this month, before spring brings them into heat, and the male cats in the neighborhood sniffing and peeing around our door.

Deep breaths.

It will all settle, and there may be rainbows….

The skies will clear ahead…..

What I’ve done this week:

  • Finished editing Finding Esta (and begun again).

  • Finished my weekly blog posts, flash fiction, visiting, and reading.

  • Synopsis scenes and pre-rewrite notes for Bounded by a Nutshell.

  • Synopsis scenes, prewriting notes, and two new scenes forSima Garo Provides.

  • Wrote an introductory message at Blogging for Brand page, and poked around; read and began first assignment.

  • Edited sidebar and added to blogroll.

  • Finally managed to get to the Y with the kids.

  • Hometending, firewood, began Jeremiah’s bedroom in a tiny way.

Blogs I visited:

Sunday, January 27 Updates:

Wednesday, January 30 Updates:

Writing Article for this session:

Added to Blogroll:

Tumult can be beautiful and inspiring….

Blog entries for this week:

Write at least one post weekly for three major blogs (shanjeniah; TruebornJottings, and The Unfettered Life.

Trueborn Jottings:

shanjeniah:

The Unfettered Life:

What I will be up to next session:

  • Adjusting to the new projects for the month….this may take a week or two.

  • Blogging for Brand – complete assignment and get to know at least three other writers.

  • Kids’ reports, and keeping them from becoming a huge monster that sucks my time…

  • Work on editing Finding Esta, again…

  • Noveling, blogging, flash fiction stuff.

  • Researching spaying options…

  • Exercise and hometending.

That feels like plenty, for this tumultuous time….things will settle out, again, and then, there will be more…

For now, though, I am giving priority to the class, the editing, and the reports, and I will see where that carries me over the next days…

Kinetic art of the natural kind…light and shadow, together….

My bi-weekly in-depth evaluation

Are your writing skies cloudy? Clear?  Are you like me – hovering in the midst of it all….? 

It’s a Blog Hop!

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Shifting Tides: #ROW80 Update 1/30/13

 

Curious? Click here!

I had thought that writing three blog posts a week was going to be a large challenge, but I think that was because I was thinking of it as a huge deal, and now I see that these very long posts of mine may actually be getting in my way, losing readers who can’t keep up with those gigantic chunks of words I’ve been trying to force on them!

Now I get it….LITTLE posts….1000 words or less, is my target. After a bit, I may try to reduce it maybe a little more…

It’s good to remember these things, once I discover them! And this one is going to make it a simpler matter to meet the goal of three blogposts, without undue strain…


And, on a similar note, these updates tend to be so long that I often spend two days on them.

Two days during which I’m not spending very much time writing other things.

Two days during which I create behemoth reports that are daunting to read…

So, in another leap of faith, I am going to trust what I’m feeling…

These updates don’t need to be nearly so long. I don’t need to explain every detail…

And I’m not going to.

I will save the in-depth reporting for the every-other-Sunday evaluation, and, for the rest of the reports, I will simply (really, I do mean simply!) say what I am doing, maybe what I’m thinking, and then, get on about the process of actually doing, again!

Today, the kids and I went swimming. I am very tired…the lovely full wolf moon means I have been awake, writing, all night. The kids have been waking up about the time I’m winding down, so sleep has been – elusive…I’ve had about 14 hours of sleep, total, for the last three days. Now, I don’t need a lot of sleep, but my fatigued body and foggy mind make it clear that I need more than this!

So I may be sleeping more, and writing less, over the next day or two, as the ebb I was expecting finally washes over me.


Of course, my mind seldom stops, and so, if I sleep, I will dream, and that will feed my writing, later.

Lovely image art, for me, from Eden F. Mabee. Life chose this friend very well!

Here, in brief, is what I’ve been working on, during those lovely moonlit nights:

  • Finding Esta (for Shah Wharton) - editing 76% complete.
  • Sima Garo Provides (WIP) – pre-writing notes for Chapter 12, Scene 3. Added one scene to the synopsis.
  • Bounded by a Nutshell (WIP) – pre-rewrite notes for three scenes; added to the synopsis.
  • Sponsor Visits – Read “my fours”, and several other posts…will get back to actually comment tonight or tomorrow, depending on when sleep takes me..I will share at the next update.
  • Article Reading – Kristen Lamb‘sThe Most Powerful Social Media Tool for Building an Author Platform-Part 1 (a very good article, and I will be back to read the other parts!). It’s also good preparation for my upcoming class…
  • Blogging – I have three posts drafted and color-blocked (my first step in the revision process) – one for each blog. I have done more sidebar editing for this blog, and added to my blogroll.
  • Miscellaneous Stuff – clearing emails, answering comments, fan fiction, checking details for upcoming class, lots of Adam-12!

What’s on my plate for the rest of the week?

  • Finding Esta – Finish the edit, and get it back to Shah. Rough draft of book review.
  • Sima Garo Provides – Add seven scenes to synopsis; pre-writing notes for one scene; write two scenes.
  • Queen of My Infinite Spaces (poetry WIP) – Reread all poems, make notes for conclusion.
  • Bowlful of Bunnies (L.S. Engler) – Revise book review, schedule as next week’s post.
  • Sponsor Visits – comment on the ones I’ve read, read and comment on Wednesday’s .
  • Blogging – Revise and schedule pending posts; sidebar editing; blogroll; start rereading April posts.
  • Evaluation Sunday – Review progress and goals; consider goals and adapt as needed.
  • Miscellaneous – hometending; firewood restocking; email, comments, and very likely lots more Adam-12!

 

I took this one last January. We came out of the store, and there was that moon! =D

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Bounding Trust – #ROW80 Commentary, 1/27/13

Curious? Click here!

Have you ever written so much, with such intensity, so quickly that it exhausted and emptied you?  Felt the words flowing with the power of a tsunami?

This post is a hybrid –  something new I’m trying.  It’s part update, part something else…more or less, a stream-of-consciousness peek into a thin slice of my life…

Post-first evaluation goals

Goals, sans commentary

It’s a BLOG HOP!

First off, a little bit of 750 words musing, done in sections on Saturday, January 26. ..

~~A little bit of a personal challenge, for me, tonight, and maybe not straight exposition, even though my informal schedule says it should be.

I am trying to get my words in before this Netflixed ADAM-12 is over.

I am trying to revise The Last House.

I am editing as a kindness, and, although not panicked or committed, I know that I want to do it quickly, and well.

I have a kid project I was working on, and got sidetracked.

And I have my own things, and, liking a personal challenge, I want to do them all, now…

And thoughts are whirling around, swirling and melding.

Good things are fermenting. I am growing, composting, simmering, stretching…

I’m finding myself far more open, ready to move forward, and open to what awaits…

It’s learning to trust.

An eight year old Force of Nature we call – Annalise! Stillwater, NY October 2012.

Before I sleep, I am going to be posting my first bit of fanfic, just a snippet, listed as pending, because there well may be many changes, still, along the way…it may also be an alternate writing for Sima Garo Provides…

Or not.

I am blending stories together, and they are becoming more cohesive and symbiotic….and that is a very good thing.

As is the editing. Seeing the places where someone else gets stuck makes me a lot more aware of my own…and compassionate, and more able to see the quality through typos that would once have turned me off.

I’m at that point in my creative cycle where many things are in the middle, and there don’t seem to be nearly as many beginnings and endings as I would like. I like beginnings and ending, filled with potential or accomplishment.

I know the middle is supposed to be the easiest, but it isn’t, for me. I mean, yes, less effort is required, but also, more work with less obvious progress…

I know what comes next, and soonish. There will be some finishings, and that will make room for new beginnings, and, somehow, if it all doesn’t come out as I had hoped, it will at least come out well enough, with progress…

And, at some tipping point I can’t ever see from this side, the middle will slide into the ending, the beginnings will swell to the plateau of the middle, and the cycle will move along…

Warrior Jeremiah at age 8, Plymouth, MA, July 2010.

There might be a metaphor in there somewhere….

That’s the thing about writing this way, and living this way. I may have ideas, and a path in mind, but the jourbey – the journey is ever a surprise.

I don’t think I’d care much for life or writing if it wasn’t.

There needs to be time, and space, for discovery. I don’t want to always be able to predict what’s next, and so I don’t live a planned life, so much as a flowing one.

It works, for me.

Maybe that’s the thing. People keep coming to my blog, and commenting that I have so many goals, do so much, am so organized…

I used to protest that it wasn’t true – but, enough people have expressed the sentiments that there must be some truth in the perception.

What I’ve realized is that it is organized…in the best sense.

My writing life is organized – for ME.

I don’t have the type of system I can write out and teach to anyone.

In the typical sense, I don’t even have a system, at all.

What I have is a passion for writing that has been a constant through most of my life, and a love affair with language and imagery that goes back to my earliest baby memories.

And I have, with a lot of growth and awareness, learned to trust in that passion, and give it all the care and affection I give to my beloveds…

Me and my doppleganger muse….Iggy Jingles doll and photo by Robyn Coburn.

I set so many goals, because I love the symbiosis of a buffet, or a thick stew – the way flavors and textures and nutrients come together to make something new, each time.

So, whatever sampling I am enjoying today, it will not be the same as it was yesterday. One goal feeds another, and another, and soon ideas are whirling around like they are just now… and that is good, all around..

Organized….hmmmn….it wouldn’t seem so, and there are those who would laugh at the very notion. (719 words – almost did it!)

Until very recently, I was one of them….and now I’m not. Know why?

Because I am organized. I have arranged my life in the way of flowing water, or flame, which both suit my nature well. Things flow into others; ignite others, trickle off, subside into glowing embers…but, always, with the potential for something else to grow from them – a green pond; a leaping spark…

Like life….

Birthday chicken soup (I didn’t make this!)….January, 2012.

There are parts of that up there, written early this morning, before I slept, that are so true they give me chills!

I’m waiting out the next four minutes, just wanting to clear whatever is at the top of my head, and then I am going to go do a little hometending, come right back here…

And I am going to freewrite, for as long as I need, The Last House.

I’m not reading any of what I wrote last night first, just going in on my night of dreaming, and seeing what comes forth…after, I can roll things together, and see where I am, but for this session, I just write…

Okay, I got some firewood in, revived the fire, fluffed the laundry, roughfolded, and brought inside. I put some towels away, set up fresh dishwater, got some dishes in to soak, put a few away, and tidied a bit of kitchen clutter…now to go put lotion on my dry and uncomfy hands, then to write a story…

 

Partner in parenthood, accomplice in mischief. Lover, companion, and friend…the Mr. to my Mrs., and the skip in my heartbeat. (Also, a Henry VIII lookalike!).

So what was my writing week like?

  • I completed and posted two essays.
  • I completed two  flash fiction pieces – one was posted, and the other submitted.
  • I made notes and created timeline synposes for several chapters in two WIP novels.
  • I wrote two chapters in  Sima Garo Provides, and wrote prep notes for one.
  • I edited a blog sidebar and design elements.
  • I publicly posted  a piece of my Star Trek fan fiction (a passion for me since I was 13!). This is a first…and took a lot of nerve for a very short piece.
  • I am editing Shah Wharton’s Finding Esta –  this was a spontaneous decision, to help iron out some first-book wrinkles, and it has fed my own writing.

 

 

Me, in my elemental state. York, Maine, September 2008. Photo by Eden Mabee, my lifelong Syster by choice.

So, in this week, I threw myself into a major project, re-submitted a formerly rejected piece, allowed myself to indulge in alternate scene writing, and shared myself deeply.

 

I’ve claimed my passion for my fanfiction, bringing it out of the nether world of my writing life, and into a fresh, new, midwinter’s dawn…

 

It’s been a full-rich week of intensity, and now I am feeling the calm that descends after the storm….and so I will exhale, and allow the swells to subside as they will.

 

Are you in the surge, the ebb, or the space between?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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