I went on another art adventure this week, this time to the Minneapolis Institute of Art. It’s been ages since I’ve been, and I really need to go again later in the year. I want to revisit the Otto Dix War Portfolio before it leaves in August.
For some reason, this painting by Eugene-Louis Boudin caught my eye, so I went in for a closer look. It’s called Vacationers on the Beach at Trouville. It is also the first painting purchased by the MIA after it opened in 1915.
This Van Gogh. That’s all. This Van Gogh.
Also, apparently, the MIA thought I was in the market for a new writing desk because they kept offering up a variety of options:
In writing-related news (without a fancy new desk), I’ve been working on that second plotline for The Marigold Miracle. Some of the scenes are actually debriefing transcripts, so they’re dialogue-heavy with some sound effects. They’ve been challenging and fun to write.
The sun is out today, the temperature is a balmy 35 degrees Fahrenheit, and I’m going to keep this short and venture outside. People are (or will be) out walking, so I’m going to freshen my Little Free Library with some new books, maybe take the dogs on a sniff walk around the yard, and otherwise enjoy being outside without the air hurting my face.
So, we have a cold front coming this week, a brutal one. I always hope February will be kinder, maybe because it’s sitting next to March, which is (almost) spring. Okay, here in Minnesota, March is absolutely not spring. Still, I expect February to be more compassionate.
Sadly, my expectations are often dashed.
Luckily, I do not need to leave the house until next Saturday. I have all meals planned, plenty of coffee and tea, a new series to binge (Paradise on Hulu—two episodes in, and I’m enjoying it), and plenty to read.
In writing progress, I’ve made it all the way through the manuscript (y’all, it’s 103,000 words) with Pansy’s plotline. Now, I plan to do a first-cut revision and weave in the second plotline, which deals with the character of Marigold in The Marigold Miracle. So, at least I have writing to distract me from the cold as well.
If you’re dealing with any kind (or not-so-kind) weather this week, take care!
This week, an errand took me across town. And since I was across town, I decided to visit The Museum of Russian Art. It was a great way to get out of the house, offline, and into the world. The visit was the perfect antidote for a week of fire-hose news blasts.
The crowds were light enough that you could take your time at each work of art, but there were enough people that it felt companionable.
Plus, if you’ve never seen a display of 1,000 nesting dolls, I highly recommend it (my iPhone 8 doesn’t do any of the art justice). In writing, I’m heading into the last part of book 2 (The Marigold Miracle). I won’t be officially done when I reach the end because I have a second plotline that I need to weave into the story. Parts are there, but it needs to be more robust. Still, getting (closer) to the end is pretty exciting.
Last week, Anno asked what I was working on and whether it was the series about Pansy (she of the sentient umbrella).
And yes, yes, it is. I’m writing the entire series. Or rather, I believe it’s the entire series, three books with a companion novella. I’m writing the whole series first before publishing any of it.
I’m doing this for a couple of reasons. First, I simply want the joy of writing it without any external expectations. If I publish the first book and it’s nothing but crickets and tumbleweeds, that can make the subsequent books more difficult to write.
If the first lands and finds its readership? Well, that could make the subsequent books even harder to write.
Right now, I’m in my writing bubble and having an immense amount of fun, and I don’t want to give that up.
Second, I think the series will be better for it. I’ve already refined the world-building by writing book two. I’m keeping notes of what I want to change in book one. Small things, a sentence here or there, backstory that needs a slight rephrasing. I could probably get away with not doing this, but I really enjoy doing this sort of work. To borrow a word I used a few blog posts ago, it feels like a luxury.
Last but not least, I believe that, in the long run, it will take less time to publish the entire series. There was a three-year gap between Coffee and Ghosts books three and four. Part of that was circumstances (oh, hi, pandemic). Part of it was I had to figure out how to bring back (spoiler) the entity. The entity is Katy’s foil. The series doesn’t work without the entity sticking its nose into things—not that the entity has an actual nose.
I will start publishing once book three is drafted and I feel secure about the content. Not all at once, but readers will know the series is complete.
So, during this first month of full-time writing, I reached ~91,000 words in book two (yes, these are long fantasy books). I’ve written close to 20,000 words this month. Considering I’m still recovering from burnout, I feel that’s significant. It feels like a win.
We’ve been in hibernation mode this week. Kitty, of course, secured the coziest pet bed.
But it’s not like the dogs are suffering. We have more pet beds than pets and lots and lots of fleece blankets.
See? Plenty of blankets.
But it was definitely a week for hibernation.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been consistently writing every morning, and the story is in my head a lot more these days, but I had a book three brainstorming session this week as well. The sort that really does feel like a storm, where you’re typing notes as fast as you can because the ideas just keep coming.
Up until now, book three has been essentially a blank canvas. I know the (many) story threads I need to tie together, but the what and how and when could be summed up with one word:
Shenanigans
True, book three is all about shenanigans. But now I have an idea of what those shenanigans might be. This is a good thing since I’m getting close to the end of book two. I’m not only relieved, although I am that. But I’m excited as well. I’ve been trusting my intuition and subconscious to work things out while I’m busy elsewhere, and I’m pleased that’s happening.
This coming week is bringing us some warmer weather. However, I predict Kitty will still claim the best bed in the house.
So this week, I headed downtown to meet with my accountant to do writerly business-y type things. I discovered that the office was one block away from the statue of Mary Tyler Moore.
This felt fortuitous, so I had to stop to take a picture.
You’re going to make it after all.
My morning routine hasn’t really changed since I started this full-time writing thing. I pushed my wakeup time forward by half an hour. I don’t know if this is my optimal wakeup time, but it feels close.
It’s true I no longer rush in the mornings to get an hour (or less) of writing done. The other thing that’s changed?
I don’t go online until noon. This is starting to feel like a routine now. But at first? It was like I was breaking some sort of rule. After all, being accessible was part of my previous job.
It’s not like people can’t contact me in case of an emergency. I don’t silence my phone. But I don’t get a lot of calls or text messages to begin with, so I don’t need to. I also don’t have social media on my phone (10/10 would recommend not having social media on your phone).
I obviously need to be online for this writing thing. And there’s a lot I like about being online, friends, interesting things to read, and hey, look, I’m writing this blog.
But it’s also abundantly clear that there’s a billion-dollar industry that’s intent on capturing as much (all?) of our time and attention. Not giving into that feels like an indulgence, a luxury.
And that has given me pause this week.
If you’re dealing with the polar vortex this week, stay warm!
So, one week into this experiment, and so far, so good. It’s been both wonderful and surreal. Last week, I had a short bout of the Sunday Scaries. It was as if my body didn’t believe I wasn’t logging on Monday morning and opening up email, Microsoft Teams, and Jira. (Oh, Jira. Do I miss you and my many filters? No. No, I do not.)
I was a little worried Monday morning that I’d open the manuscript and be completely blank—both the page and my mind. But I wasn’t, and I haven’t had a writing week like this in a very long time.
Accidental library and bookstore book haul
I also finished the Trapped in a Gothic Novel course with some help from that accidental book haul. I found The Haunting of Hill House creepy but interesting and not as scary as I expected. A Haunting on the Hill was very creepy, not to mention scarier. I like gothic fiction, but I’m not really into horror (at all). A Haunting on the Hill is about as scary as I can tolerate. I already had the last book, Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan, on Kindle (and it appears to still be at $2.99 as I write this if you want to go grab it).
Now it’s on to the other two books in my accidental book haul. Because reading (for pleasure) is absolutely part of my job these days.
I’ve alluded to an “exit strategy” on the blog previously, back in October. Over the past couple of months, I’ve been able to put it into action. As in:
As of January 3rd, I no longer have a day job.
I wouldn’t call myself officially retired, mainly because I plan on writing fiction full-time. Whether that amounts to an actual income stream is not something I’m necessarily banking on. I hope so, but it isn’t crucial.
So there you have it. I am now a full-time fiction writer, and the thought is both exhilarating and scary.
I’m still adjusting, obviously. You can’t work somewhere for twenty years and not need to adjust once you leave. Also, I’m in some pretty serious burnout, burnout I couldn’t get myself out of while working my previous job (I tried; oh, how I tried.).
I do not want to bring this burnout into my writing, so I’m committed to recovering, taking things slow.
But for 2025, I do hope to be blogging more, chronicling this new adventure. And yes, I hope to be writing and publishing more as well.
Right now, it’s enough to be able to take a full breath again, to have the time to do things at a natural pace, to feel that ten-ton weight lifted from my chest.
Right now, it’s enough to close the page on one chapter and start another.
Y’all, how is it 2024, and I’ve never done one of these?
Between watching the movie and reading all the witty comments, I didn’t have a chance to make any of my own (witty or otherwise; I’m not sure how the others kept up). My favorite of the night, in reference to the hero’s brother, Captain Tilney:
He’s handsome in that I-eat-live-scorpions-for-breakfast kind of way.
Up next is A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand, the authorized follow-up to Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House. Which would be fine, except …
I’ve never read The Haunting of Hill House because back in eighth grade, I read “The Lottery” and subsequently noped out on all things Shirley Jackson.
I’m not sure I can do this, but I’m going to dive into the reading this week … and hopefully not lose too much sleep.
Writing Wrongs 