Practical #Scrivener tips. Labels on the Fly #amwriting #ASMSG #IARTG #MFRWauthor

 

I've been polishing up Merry Christmas, Baby (book 3 in my Under-Cover Knights series) and I used the flexibility and color of Scrivener labels to help set goals for the revision process. Above you see a screenshot of MCB after one pass through. During the previous pass, I determine what stage the scene is in - needing to be revised (pink), incorporate or move text elsewhere (aqua), a scene that needs to be written (red) and one which might need to be deleted (always green). (I also use green highlight or revision mode green for possible deletions.)

Setting the goal. I know on the next pass I have to start from the beginning but this time I'm concerned about my deadline and getting through the text thoroughly so I create a label called Today in orange. I planned to have the revision on this novella done in six days. At 28k that's around 5k a day, allowing for scenes that have to be written and the normal growth that happens in revision. So I select the number of files that add up to around 4-6k and apply the orange label. (If you don't know this, as you select a group of files in the binder, the word count is displayed at the bottom of Scrivener editor for the selected files.)

Here's what that looks like. Now the files I need to revise today are orange. I renamed the 'Done' label  'Do final pass' and as I finished each scene I applied that label. (On my last book which was 82k I selected 10k at a time and gave that a label that said 'Revise by Tuesday'. I knew it would be more trouble to rename all the labels if I got behind so it kept me on track until at least 75k was complete. )

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When I'm finished all the files will be pink and labeled 'Do final pass' at which point I compile them with chapter headings and send them to word so I can read it in a different format and prepare to put the completed manuscript in Vellum.

The point is, the labels can do or be whatever you need them to be. They can label plot points, pov, villain appearances and love scenes during the writing process but that doesn't mean you're done with them during revision. I hope this gives you some ideas about using labels. 

If you use them in a unique way, please tell me about it in the comments.

Look for a cover reveal on Merry Christmas, Baby the first week in December. And be sure to sign up for my newsletter on the homepage to get a chance to win the ASUS tablet for Christmas. 

DON'T FORGET He

#Nano and GE. Ugly transforms into beautiful. #ASMSG #IARTG @nanowrimo

 

"Ideas are scary, messy, and fragile, but under the proper care, they become something beautiful."

Interesting, fun, intense, thrilling and ugly. That's how the first draft of a manuscript often feels whether it's during @Nanowrimo or not. I was thinking about the current Under-Cover Knights book I'm writing and how these emotions have bounced around. Then during that fabulous Saints football game last night (sorry, you know I have to get my Saints thumbs-ups in when I can) I saw this again. It's a perfect description of a new creative work - or perhaps a career.

When you're in the middle it's messy, and yes, very scary, and then hopefully, the magic happens and it transforms into something you're not ashamed to put your name on, a piece that gave you joy to create and a sense of satisfaction to see the finished project. You do know that we are all creative beings.  Where does your imagination take you if you're a mechanic, a fisherman, a football player, a doctor, whatever. The mind is magic isn't it?" So says the GE commercial. Haven't seen it? You're in for a treat.

Kudos to GE for this ad that has so much truth in it. 

W is for Workspace #A2Zchallenge

 

Isn't that just the neatest work area you ever saw? I can't seem to make that happen, :)

My workspace below on the right and that's a close in view of where I am actually working right now.

With my day job workload so heavy for six or seven months out of the year, I had to come up with a way to eek out the words to finish book 4 in the Destiny Paramortals series. It's a multi-level approach.

January through March this year were complete loss, then I opened my seasonal business in late March and took a hard look at where I could get time to write and how to accomplish it. I get up early but there's the dog and the hubster and breakfast and anything that can be done on the internet has to be done before 8 which is when my bandwidth is limited in speed and volume. Then once hub leaves to go do his maintenance at SBP, I review my last page of work and decide on my next move.

Then I head to the bathtub with my little 5x6" notebook and my smooth writing navy blue pen. This is where I do my critical thinking. Who am I kidding? I just fill it with hot bubbly and the characters are standing there waiting to fill my head with the next scenes, the next book, or something new. I can usually brainstorm where the story is going or write forward for about 30 minutes (if the water's not too hot). I'd post a picture of that but it's not a fancy tub or tubdesk or whatever. Now, that gets me around 550-1000 words depending. Then I get out, get dressed for work and head out for my 40 minute drive to work. Now I have to preface this by saying, it's a long rural drive with fairly straight roads and I can mostly do this without looking... So I spend the middle thirty minutes of the drive writing further on my scene. Sometimes I can accomplish 1500 words in these two little jots of time. If I don't, I can't count on getting anything done at work or when I get home because it's usually after 8 and I'm exhausted and there's the dog, and the hubster...

So this week using this system I've written (I think around 6000 words, 38 pages of small college ruled handwritten notes. More on how I organize those scenes, get them into Scrivener later. Where do you do your writing?

Bad News Winters

I apologize for being absent for so long. I kind of unplugged to get some serious writing done.

It's been the coldest Louisiana winter we've seen in a while. We sometimes get one ice/snow storm every 7 years or so and it lasts a day and we're back up to the 80's for Christmas.

This year was different. Three storms in three weeks. The first one was brief but brought an inch or two of snow and had us all out watching our pets and children play in it. Temperatures rose a bit, then the next one hit. This one put an ice mix down that closed the schools and government offices but not the Mississippi River bridge which turned out to be a mistake because we're not set up for it and NO one around here knows how to drive on it. And besides who can drive on ice? Experience just tells you to stay in, not drive. After a semi spun out on the bridge the local law started handing out tickets to anyone out snow-seeing.

It wasn't just these three storms. We've been in the 30s and below for most of the winter. We're talkin' lows, people, Louisiana remember?  I know you're saying 30's! That's not cold. Well, when your winters are usually in the 50s with an occasional 30 and you have butane or small electric heaters, you never get warm.

I've spent the winter in ski skins and sweat clothes. Thank God for generators which we needed for three days during the last cold front when we got a couple of inches of icy rain and 20 degree weather which froze everything. Trees and limbs were coming down everywhere with booms and cracks. It was scary. But beautiful. Take pictures and pray an iced up spanish moss laden tree doesn't come down on your house.

DH kept coming in and telling me I needed to move to a different room in case the tree over the living room came down. I figure where ever you are, if it's your time, a plane can come through the ceiling, so I stayed in my comfy recliner, writing...

Well! It wasn't all bad. I got a LOT of writing done. Starting with Nano and going straight through until now when I'd planned on opening our snowball stand March 1st. I didn't really want to and it's early but decided people are usually ready so I'd just open early. Of course, I didn't consult the weather man. I did check the Farmer's Almanac and it said, first two weeks of March, colder and wetter than normal. I still didn't pay attention. But I did keep on writing.

The result four books in revision to be published every month beginning in June. And I have a new cover designer I'm giving the whole series to.

So bad news I froze my tail off, but it was great writing weather.

Was this a good news, bad news winter for you, or all bad news? Don't worry, Spring is on the way. It says so on the calendar at least.

Livia

Twelve Step Guide to Getting Published

So you wanna write a book. Want to see your name in print on the spine of your book in the local Walmart or on the pages of Amazon. 

Think you can be the next J.K. Rowling, Nora Roberts, Peter V. Brett?  

How do you go about it?

Well, get your pad and pencil, I’m fixin’ to tell you how…   

1.              First, decide how much you’d like to make in a year. (This will determine how many novels you must turn in to your publisher per year.)

2.              Make a projection when you’d like to quit your day job. (I suggest you give it at least three months.)

3.              Pick a genre that sells. (How about men’s fiction - Crime Fiction or Thrillers. Those thriller writers make big bucks – Harlen Coben, David Baldacci, Vince Flynn, Dan Brown! Yeah, okay, men’s fiction.)

4.              Next, you need a plot.  Hey, here’s the beauty of men’s fiction. Just go to the Washington Post or USA Today or any local paper and pick a headline.

5.              Now tweak it. Change the names, add some extra conflict - you know, fight scenes and such. Oh, and a good no holds barred love scene, or three.

6.              Don’t have a computer? (It’s a great time to go get the Ipad you’ve been wanting, and hey, Peter Brett wrote his entire first book on his cell phone!) Either go buy one or simply right it long hand. You must use your very best handwriting though, for a publisher to take you seriously.

7.              Get a friend to look it over for spelling since you won’t have the benefit of spell checker (which completely eliminates the need for proof reading).

8.              Oh, length. It needs to be long. About 300-400 pages. (That’s about 2 composition notebooks.)

9.              Just remember, if you chose Romance, to be sure to get your hero and heroine together at the End for their happy ever after.

10.          Okay. You’ve finished the book and you’re ready to send it. How to decide on a publisher. Take a couple of your favorites and look at the publisher on the spine, or on the copywrite page. And before you prepare your cover letter, you might consider contacting your favorite author and asking him or her if you can use them as a reference with the publisher. Just assure them, they will NOT be sorry.  Promise them a recommendation or blurb for their next bestseller.

11.          That’s it. (You know a little light spray of perfume might make it stand out from the crowd in what they call the slush pile.) So, box it up, mark on the outside of the box - Attn: Next Bestseller! and mail it off.  In about a month, you’ll have your answer. <Cough> Or sooner.

12.          Now sit down and plan how you’re going to spend the money.

Did I miss anything?

 How many times have I heard from a friend or someone in the family –

“They didn’t buy your book at the conference?”

“How long are you going to write before you give up being published?”

“Are you still working on the same book? Just send it off."

Okay, reality check here!

The truth? 

Writing a book with the intent of getting it published is one of the hardest things to accomplish.

Many, many - make that three manys - of your favorite authors, the majority in fact, write into the wee hours after long hours at work and/or taking care of their families. Many published writers have written for numerous years and numerous manuscripts before getting ‘the Call’ and then…they still work, write late or on lunch hours, and take care of responsibilities. The Call (and I haven’t received mine yet ) isn’t some magical Disney ‘blinnggggg’ where life changes. Most published authors I know haven’t bought a private plane, appeared on TV, or even hired maid service.

Writing is a challenge, a dream, a passion.  I’m reminded of the lyrics by Shania Twain, 

“If you’re not in it for love, you’re outta here.”

The bottom line?   Writing is a labor of love.

I’m curious. How does this translate into your writing experience? What part of the writing passion calls to you the most? What were your biggest misconceptions when you began your career? Have you died laughing over some question or comment about this pursuit?

Poetic License

So what is poetic license? Where did the phrase come from?


According to Wiki it's also known as narrative, historical or dramatic license, ' used to denote the distortion of fact, alteration of the conventions of grammar or language, or rewording of pre-existing text made by an artist to improve a piece of art.' 


I was reading Blue Bloods by De La Cruz yesterday and found an example. The author took a figure from American history, Miles Standish, and gave him a new name for his third life as a vampire leader. Do you have any favorite examples? How about from your own work?


The reason all this came to mind? My search for a pair of silver shoes. 


What's the connection? 


This shoe. Made by Poetic License. 

I've always loved shoes but having a very small, very narrow foot I've never found many that actually fit so I've concentrated on boots for the winter since I can buy a size six and it will stay on my foot with a sock. ;) I do have lots of shoes but mainly, okay here comes the rationalization, I get them on sale and they are half a size too big and I hope they'll work but most don't. 


I can't really relate to paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a shoe. But this shoe... what am I to do? I can visualize myself in these shoes at the conference. Would it give me more confidence (I'm also shorter than most people I meet) to be eye to eye with writing professionals? Call me crazy but yes.


A better question. Can I walk in them?


I can't help myself. These shoes are calling out, "order me. How can you lose? There's free shipping. It's only two days pay and you should be able to wear us more than once." Arrrgh!


I'll just have to buy more grey and silver clothing to wear them with.

It's my Process and I'll Cry if I want To

Did you miss me? I've been... 'defining my process' - don't want to have to burn the book. I've heard the term for years but only recently have I discovered how it applies to me. How did I suddenly wind up with so many manuscripts in need of revision? You know how you set wips aside to work on much later (or bury them in your neighbor's backyard) then you have some epiphany that causes you to start thinking of ways to resurrect it?

I just finished the first pass through TR, my paranormal/romance/ mystery/ psychological crime thriller. Just kidding! Though it does have all those elements. Last week I mentioned that I've been listening to some great workshops on re-writing, revising, replotting, by any name, you get the gist.

Having arrived at a certain point in my writing - a few finished manuscripts under my belt, a couple contests entered, some submissions, (and um, rjs) I was looking for the next step. How to make those stories stronger before resubmitting to another publisher or agent. With the Moonlight and Magnolias conference coming up in October, I want to make the best of my opportunities. Some process besides just reading it and re-reading, doing line-edits, hoping for some inspiration to hit.

Writers have different ideas about rewriting the rough draft or revising stale manuscripts. Some go right at the plot, tweaking the story, scene by scene, looking at Goal, Motivation and Conflict. Some think the gramatics (is that a word?) or the prose is the key. But no matter the genre - romantic suspense, fantasy, screenwriting, inspirational - or the writer, Anna DeStefano, Michael Hauge, Jim Butcher, Lisa Gardner, Linda Hall, or Bill Kirton, I found threads of wisdom running through each of their processes and advice.

Characterization makes the plot sing. My words but that's essentially it. Anna DeStefano calls the re-working of the rough draft re-CRAFTING. 'Planning the characters in advance allows the writer to know how the characters will live the plot'. She says the secret to re-crafting the rough draft lies in understanding the characters better. 'Re-craft the heroine.' She suggests going through the manuscript for one or two features at a time like POV of the Protagonist. Read just those scenes. Do you understand the entire story through the Protag's viewpoint? She should either be in a scene or reacting to another character's scene.

Bill Kirton said 'stories rely on credible characters'. Donald Maass' book The Fire in Fiction is a study of character motivation.
Hauge talks about the Desire of the character driving the story forward and the five stages of the plot. Lisa Gardner looks at turning points, making sure the story is progressing at each point. Linda Hall says 'the story boils down to one line - The Heroine (Protagonist) has a problem.' ( CREATE MORE OBSTACLES. Know your characters' internal conflict.)

This all reflects my own gut feeling about my manuscripts - I need to know my characters better. So I'm delving back into the character work via the little Snowflake program which has a great character questionaire. Then I'll re-readn to see what other paths they take with my new understanding of their desires and motives.

One of the most encouraging things Ms. DeStefano said was, "It's all part of the process. Even a cruddy first draft. Get used to it." She said if you don't love your baby, you won't want to spend the time with it required to make it great. Again, the re-writing should be creative and not a chore - you are still in the imagination phase of the project. I like that.

Why am I doing this?

I'm sure you've asked yourself that question at some time. I try to stay in denial so I can maintain my positive (read that - head in the sand) perspective when it comes to delivering the mail. There were probably a thousand substitute mail carriers asking themselves that very question Monday. The Monday or Tuesday following a holiday is always a nightmare.


It seemed like the only thing I didn't have to load was a saddle for the mail pony.

Substitutes get mostly the heavy mail days and since we aren't paid by the hour but by estimated average time to deliver the route, it's easy to get discouraged. Some substitutes wait for 5, 10, 12, or even 17 years to become a regular with a regular route, benefits, annual and sick leave, and their own personal slave (known ever so fondly as the sub). The regular gets their choice of a day off during the week. I'm just lucky that my carrier likes Saturdays off because Mondays are hell.

There are a lot of misconceptions about delivering the mail which I will address in a separate blog. But something more urgent on the horizon is the talk about eliminating Saturday deliveries.

While that might seem like a great idea for the postal service's budget, there are serious problems with the concept. Think what those Mondays would be like with no Saturday delivery. I can tell you the word would be IMPOSSIBLE. If they eliminate a weekday, then the businesses who depend on mail during the week will be unhappy and their schedules disrupted. Once they eliminate a day of delivery, the current system of categorizing routes and scheduling employees collapses.

The whole postal delivery system depends on a bank of part time/on call 24/7 employees called substitutes to make sure the mail goes through. We know that. We know we will get the bad days, the heavy days, the inconvenient days. We know we can be called in the day before, the morning of, or in the middle of the regular carrier's route. We know we are expected to use our own vehicle and pay for all our expenses out of the usually insufficient gas allowance. We know that until we get on regular we will work every holiday, every Thanksgiving, every Christmas.

What kind of job is that? Why do we do it? Remind me again?

Is it to get a regular forty hour a week position as a regular which will probably never happen (I'm so far down on the totem pole)?

Oh that's right. The pay is good and it allows me to write.
Well, okay then. Bring on the mail.

BIAW - Back in the Saddle Again

Finally, after months of inactivity due to the crawfish season, I'm writing forward again. Looking back I can see that those long trips to haul crawfish allowed me to brainstorm the characters, their world and the genre. Something was missing. This was to be a contemporary romantic mystery and I'd already written about 15k. When I decided it needed a paranormal twist, the twist took on a life of its own and now, it's an entirely different book.

Barbara White Daille's Book in A Week, BIAW, which is offered one week out of each month, began this week. If you're interested you can contact Barbara at BIAW@barbarawhitedaille.com.

I had never participated before because I thought it was like Nano, only allowing you to write a new story, all new material. Barbara cracks a gentle whip and encourages writing forward but also allows revising/editing, outlining, though no research, blogging, tweeting, etc. which makes sense since those activities are such time hogs.

It felt good when I began the week with 11,000 words in three days. Once I'd completed a synopsis/rough draft, I had to stop, split my scenes up in scrivener and then create my outline from those scenes. That took a day. Then I was able to write a couple scenes to wind up with around 12,500 words for the week.

If I hadn't joined BIAW would I have been as productive? I don't know for sure but doubt it. I readied myself for the starting gun. If not for the Monday goal, it may have been Wednesday or next week before I stopped researching and planning and started writing.

It was wonderful to be creating again. Even better than singing for a small intuitive audience who loves guitar and ballads. With singing, the feeling comes from fine tuning the sound or in rendering it in a new way. I don't write the songs. Writing is a newer passion. It's hard. And it's pure joy!

Have you tried BIAW or BIAM. How did you find these shorter programs in comparison to NaNoWriMo.

Writing Sprints

Wow, I'm brain dead. Been writing since 8 this morning. This was the day I planned to get back on the RCM/paranormal. I signed up for BIAW and was determined to get my research done in time to move forward.

Then our DSRA chapter sent a post that they were sprinting. Cadence and Cora and I had heard about their sprints from Delilah and I was looking forward to trying the timed writing. They open AIM and go 45/15 all day, depending on what everybody has doing. Delilah finished editing a book she wrote yesterday on a sprint!

I managed 5,552 words today. First words I'm written substantially in a couple months because of crawfish season. I'm soooo happy with that. It's very rough at this point because after Nola Stars I decided to drop back and reevaluate what I'd written, paying closer attention to the character motivations and turning points.

I'm not finished with the research. A fellow writer and blogger of May Contain Nuts, Michael Malone, a talented poet and writer, sent me a link to an online Scottish Dictionary. I've been trying to come up with the names for the towns in the book. So today, in order to keep moving, I just had to put three Xs for one town, 4Xs, 5 and so forth. Tomorrow I'll try that suggestion Michael gave me for naming the area.

I figured if I wrote awhile the plot would help me defind what some of the characters need to be and whether I need more of them. I do.

If you're struggling with finding time or getting the words down, you might want to try timed writing. To stimulate your brain, pop new ideas and push the work forward. I'll clean it up and go in more depth with what I wrote tomorrow then try it again when I'm ready.

Firsts

My friend, Leah Braemel, was blogging over on Coffee Time about Firsts. I commented that one of my firsts is writing a paranormal. I was referring to my current WIP but I discovered recently that I'd written one when I was a kid that I'd forgotten about how freckles came about.

It involved a mad Greek god, Persephone and a pomegranate.

Where's the pomegranate?

Satisfied Feeling

I know you've been there. You know you have a good idea for a story but there's some indefinable something that you're hung up on. Been scratching my head over my wip, RC ever since taking Delilah Devlin and Elle Jame's Blotting Bootcamp in March. Bad timing. I was about 15k in the story, trying to figure out what to pitch for the Nola Stars conference.

After taking the class I realized I didn't understand the characters well enough to move forward. Since I've been bogged down in crawfish season anyway, I've used my infrequent snatches of time to look at characters, plot ideas, writing new beginnings, a few new scenes, gradually getting closer to what I wanted.

All along, I've thought, if I could just figure out the twist that would make this more than just a contemporary romance mystery. I had an agent and a publisher request it after I pitched it on the spur of the moment, but I knew I needed an extra spark.

Last week I decided to place the story in Louisiana, after all, I know the area and I'd been looking for another region that had alligators and swamps. Then...Sunday morning I dreamed about RCM. A scene popped into my head that has changed the entire complexion of the book. It will be a paranormal. Now, I'm excited about it. Looking forward to moving forward.

My goal had been to do that yesterday but now I have to revamp my Scrivener file to allow for new research, consolidate old files, and do the research on some of the changes. I finished the mechanics in Scrivener of pulling the files together, now I have to read through it all again and figure out what is going to work and what to trash. Tomorrow, it's on to Big Town to use the high speed internet and do my research. Hopefully, by end of week or Monday next, I'll be back on track. Yes!

Spring restoration

After the terrible depression that winter brings it is such a relief to sit by the bayou finally and listen to birds chirp, squirrels chatter, hummingbirds hum, the breeze ruffle the leaves. The new chimes lend a soothing melody to it all ranging from just single ringing tones to a light musical clang.( And then there's the crop duster in the background dusting the soybeans - mostly - with fertilizer and insecticide. Ugh!)

I can't help but think of the Psalm - "He leads me beside still waters, it restores my soul." I'm not sure I could ever move away from the beauty and peace that living near the water affords. If you know that I grew up in a subdivision 8 miles from the D.C. line, you might think that strange. Guess it just goes to show how flexible we are. I never would have thought I'd be shooting snakes, watching for alligators and working for my husband in his crawfish trailer either. But then I never had dreams of how my life would turn out to be after I lost the big one - getting to the moon as the first woman astronaut.

That is not until I gave in to desire to write. Someone asked on a blog or twitter somewhere what you would do if you won the lottery. How would your life change? What would get rid of, where would you live, what would you keep?

I'd live somewhere cooler, probably South Carolina, closer to my favorite Navy Guy, and to prime fishing for hubby. Build a house on a lake and WRITE full time.

What about you?

Eliminating Writer's a**

I've often wished there was a viable solution for working while treadmilling. I'd seen pictures like this on the net.

This week, Robin Kaye wrote about her experience with a new treadmill setup over at the Casablanca Authors blog.

She must have a pretty handy hubby. If CFM and I attempted to recreate this, not only would the desk and treadmill be unusable but we would be divorced. We nearly got one over a simple doghouse.

I'm anxious to see how it works for her. I can see the benefits in fitness and creativity. Surely there are a few hundred writers who would spring for one, enough to make the manufacture of it worthwhile.

The Age of Inspiration

A friend of mine told me yesterday that her son who is 8 is writing a series of books. When they are complete he wants them to be sold together like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, etc. He killed the main character off in the second book and his son took over.

His mom said, "Honey, that might be kind of violent for a children's book." He said, "Then I'll sell it to teens." Whew. Smart kid. No doubt an author in the making.

It made me wonder when I first began writing fictional stories. I was so steeped in reality and mom rules when I was growing up that I didn't allow myself to write fiction. I read facts about the human body and astronomy. I journaled from the time I could read. I observed, kept track, but didn't comment - that wasn't allowed.

My first time was ten years ago at a creative writing class at the local college when I wrote about our alcoholic home during my teenage years.

When did you start writing fictional stories or to achieve a goal?

What do you do?

When you're away from your office, your computer - how do you move forward with your writing? You have to attend a game with your kids, wait on them at school, help your husband with a project (i.e. sit and watch him do something because he wants company but, of course, isn't interested in talking, just wants a body nearby).

I'd been frustrated that I wasn't able to carry my laptop to the crawfish shack to wait on customers to show up. I decided to carry my notebook, digital recorder, my current read on craft, and a hard copy of some other project. That way when those little spurts of time happen (like while I was waiting on the guys to come in from the field with the crawfish to load) I pull whatever strikes me out of the tote and work on it, make notes, write synopsis, or revise with a red pen and highlighter. Or during the eight hour drive listen to a book on tape and record notes for study later.

What do you do to make use of the small slots of time in your personal life for your writing?

Word for the Day - Inertia

It's bad. I spent the last couple days defining my goals for the year, month, week.

And today, I couldn't make myself write, outline, revise, or even read anything I've written. Now what? Will I just wake up tomorrow or the day after and be 'in the mood', inspired, ready? Can I do something to shake myself loose from this inertia that's grabbed me. I feel like a broken down railroad car, rusted to the tracks, going nowhere.

I have so much that needs to be done and RoDiWriMo begins in two days. How do I begin again?

Maybe I should go back to the way I started out. Longhand, the familiar and comforting feel of the pen in my hand, words free-flowing into a fresh notebook with the title written across the front.

But what title am I going to write on the front? What WIP is calling me? My inclination is to say none but that answer is unacceptable.

River and Writing Update

Last night I dreamed that I was in danger of drowning in muddy gushing water. Every night since the river's been approaching record levels I've worried, dreamed, planned.

I alternately feel silly and terrified. Why aren't more people concerned? Why isn't everyone loading up and moving their stuff when someone who's been working on the levee says 'It's not looking good' and the radio announces emergency information on their website and instructs people not to panic.

I know - I'm the one who's been looking for bulletins, levee conditions, projections so I can plan what to do. Now, I'm just overwhelmed. And I understand why people aren't moving out. Why they continue to move about their day like everything's normal. Because where else would they go, en masse? Where can a third of a state just go, take their belongings, household, children, pets, vehicles and just wait in case something happens. Most don't have the resources to move preemptively.

The people here have lived within these levees for much longer than me. They've seen the river rise to record proportions several times, dealt with back water floods though never a levee breach until that big one in New Orleans. That affected a city. If a levee breaks in the central part of the state, they say a third of the state would be underwater.

My fear is that the apathy that has become so ingrained in our society toward our global economy, the continuing deterioration of our resources, rising gas prices, food shortages, politics is actually what's driving the lack of response in this case. But perhaps it's just a matter of faith.

So, I've carried my absolute 'can't lose' stuff to Mississippi (higher ground). I've moved my SEP and NR and DG books to the top of my closet wrapped in trash bags. (Along with my other KEEPERS and writing books because I know my husband would say, 'You're NOT carrying any books.')I've made lists of what to take if we have any time at all to pack.

All of this is playing havoc with my concentration. But I needed about a week break on MOL anyway. Leah helped me regain my footing when I was about to give up. So, as soon as next week rolls around I'll get back on it.

Please pray that the river holds.

Life Interruptus

I was beginning to feel guilty and a bit worried that I haven't accomplished the revision of my partial manuscript or any forward writing on my other wips. But then I took a realistic look at what I have been doing the past three weeks.

The carrier I sub for got married a couple weeks ago and I had to cover for her, then work the remaining days for Crawfish Man, either at the stand or making the seven hour drive south to pick up crawfish. Had to find time - about four days worth - to gather tax receipts for annual taxes, get monthly sales tax together, work on budget, pay bills and straighten my office, do some critiquing.

Then I was called in to learn a new route, two days of training, two still outstanding, and today, I had to plant those flowers I bought last week before the freeze. I was just too frigging tired to do much after that, even read, so you know I was exhausted.

One more blip on the radar. Tuesday, I will spend a few hours of my previously scheduled writing time loading my car with stuff to take to Mississippi on Wednesday. We're hearing that the National Guard and Corps of Engineers are trying to maintain the levee in St. Joseph about 30 minutes away. Someone said, "It's trying to slide into the river." The river is supposed to crest in Natchez tomorrow at 57, a foot higher than it's ever been.

The thing is - you can't make a plan of action other than a priority list because we are nearly surrounded by levees and depending on where it fails you have more or less lead time to get out, and different exit routes.

So, just as a precaution, I'll take a computer, my external hard drive, guitars, keyboard, jewelry, pictures to high ground Wednesday. And we've made a prioritized list of what we'll grab depending on how much time is allowed.

Hopefully, I'll get some work done tomorrow and next week I'll get back on track.

Alien flowers

I have proof that at least one alien woman has been here. No earthling bred this flower!






Went to pick up more tomatoes for Crawfish Man to plant and when I saw all the pretty flowers I just had to have a few - $50 worth to plant around my writing space by the bayou.

Gorgeous impatiens, a new orange daisy, petunias in pinks and reds, an azalea that blloms three times a year and this little outerspace flower. Isn't it cool?

Fortunately for my writing schedule we have another cold spell coming tonight and tomorrow night so I won't get to plant them until later in the week. I'll update my bayou pictures when everything blooms.

Today I have to worry about chapter 2 of MOL revision and writing something new, probably RCM. I'll report my progress later.