Category: The cat

Weekly writing check-in: reading pillows and dictation

So tomorrow is the big day. My BookBub featured deal for the first season of Coffee and Ghosts goes out the door (or through the email server) bright and early.

To say I’m nervous is an understatement. In fact, I’ve been dreaming about the featured deal. I’ve been checking obsessively to make sure that the book is still free everywhere. So far so good.

If you haven’t grabbed a copy yet, you should, you really should. Because, again, it’s free everywhere.

To follow up on my cryptic note from last week about productivity, I’ve decided to try dictation.

While I am hoping it will help me write more, I’m not sure if I’m going to use it to dictate actual stories, or if I’ll just use it to brainstorm notes, outlines, and things like that. But the main reason I’m looking into this is that I want to future-proof my writing.

Last year on Mother’s Day I woke up with my upper back, my neck, and my right arm completely seized up—and it hurt like you wouldn’t believe. I could barely move. I really couldn’t write, and I could barely do my job.

We just finished up a huge software update at work, and I was starting to head down that path again, and that’s not a place I want to go. Despite doing all of my physical therapy exercises, it’s still a little iffy at this point.

I did write this week, but not as much as I wanted to. So. Dictation. I’ve been reading up on it. I’ve been practicing. I’ve also made some classic mistakes as well, like jumping into my work-in-progress and trying to dictate that.

Pro tip: don’t do this.

New reading pillow: what’s mine is hers.

I’ve discovered I can’t look at the screen when I dictate, and a lot of the advice on dictation echoes this. Looking puts you into editing mode, and I think it’s even worse than editing while you’re drafting on the keyboard.

I think my ideal set up is going to be to walk and talk. Right now I’m just trying out a recorder app on my phone. I don’t want to spend a lot of money on a system that may not work for me. On the other hand, I did dictate last week’s blog, and right now I am dictating the draft to this week’s blog.

True, I need to do a little editing, but a lot less than I expected.

And now, I’m going to go reclaim my reading pillow.

Weekly writing check-in: an outline in the bag!

I have an outline for the first story in the fairy tale series in the bag (along with a cat). Not only that, but I have an inkling of what might happen in the other books, and how I’ll go about accomplishing that.

Well. More or less.

I might start writing the draft this week. I want to do a little more brainstorming of the entire series, get something more concrete than “bad stuff happens here” and things like that.

That’s about it for this week. I think I got a rejection (checks submission tracker … yep, I did), which I’ll look to sending out in the next few days or so. Otherwise, I’ve been focusing on the new series and getting everything ready for the Coffee and Ghosts BookBub in May.

Weekly writing check-in: quiet holiday reading and writing

Things slow down once school is out for winter break, and the dance team is on a break as well (that sound you hear is my sigh of relief). So it has been a quiet week.

Well, except for the cat, that is. It took her until the 22nd, but she finally claimed the tree. She didn’t stay long. I suspect now that she’s older, it isn’t as much fun.

I did get some writing in this week and made progress on the fairy tale project. Plus, I hit 90 books read for the year (so far). Even though I’m on vacation, I’m not sure I can make it to 100 books by the 31st. That being said, I think I’m going to try.

Writing work:

  • Series work (structure, brainstorming, research)
  • Truby masterclass
  • Fairy Tale Project
  • Writing ~4,300 words

Submissions:

  • None

Rejections:

  • None

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • None

Weekly writing check-in: cat and mouse and keeping time

At the last minute, I decided to sign up for a flash fiction course. It’s very short–two weeks with assignments every other day. So far I’ve written three flash pieces. I thought today we might get a rest. But no! The instructor just posted today’s lesson.

Also? I need to write my last essay for the fairy tale class. I will need to get my writing on, once again.

A couple of rejections this week, but–hey!–I sold audio rights to Keeping Time.

And in a few weeks, I should have several more stories to submit.

Assuming I go get my assignments done.

Writing Work:

  • Planning/researching new series
  • Story planning and notes
  • Fairy Tale class/Folklore class
  • Flash Fiction class (!)

Submissions:

  • None

Rejections:

  • Fire and Ivy
  • The Way Home

Acceptances:

  • Keeping Time (audio)

Publications:

  • None

Weekly writing check-in: the one with the animals

Tortoise

For the second weekend in a row, we’ve done something fun with my daughter’s Girl Scout troop. This time, instead of volunteering at a walk, we raised money and completed the walk. Her troop raised ~1,500 dollars for the Animal Humane Society and we had a blast at the walk.

We also met this gal. She’s a youngster, only twenty years old.

The only thing left to do is bridge the girls to senior scouts (!) and eat some cake. Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s going to involve cake.

In the writing world this week, I’m doing something to shake things up a bit. I’m following along with A Story a Day in May. This week, I ended up with six short stories. I took one day off to work on edits for a story that’s in a forthcoming anthology, but otherwise, I got it done.

Now, granted, one story was a drabble (exactly 100 words), but those can take more time than you might imagine. I ended up with two stories that involve dragons, one that features a succubus, a vignette, one told entirely in text messages, and one that can only be described as crazy.

It was a good week.

Writing Work:

  • Writing: ~ 5,000 words in six short stories
  • Craft work (reading, video lectures, etc.)

Submissions:

  • Like Bread Loves Salt

Rejections:

  • Like Bread Loves Salt

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • None

Weekly writing check-in: the one with the Merry Catmas

Triple xmas catQuiet holiday week here. I did a lot of baking and a little cleaning and even got some writing work in as well.

I finished up the revisions on the story I was working on–I added about 3,000 more words total. A few new scenes to round out what I was hoping to do with the story.

Next step is to proof it and maybe send it out for a beta read.

We didn’t have a white Christmas, but we did get some snow yesterday. Enough for sledding, which made my daughter very happy.

Also, I spent a fair amount of time tugging the creature pictured above out of the tree. We now have several cat-sized holes in the branches.

Writing Work:

  • Writing work: ~1,000 words
  • Short story revision
  • Design reading

Submissions:

  • Gretel and Hansel

Rejections:

  • None

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • None

Weekly writing check-in: the one with the Memorial Day Challenge

alphacatI started this blog post with the cat on my lap. Then she moved to my desk. I made the mistake of standing up and she stole my chair. Now she’s sleeping in the dog bed.

Clearly, there’s no winning this game if you happen to human and/or a dog.

It’s kind of like the submission game this week. Three rejections! Boom, boom … BOOM. That’s the way it works sometimes. But I sent two right back out again, so there’s that. I also kept up in class, started a new one (because I’m crazy), and ended up with 4,000 words on a new Coffee & Ghosts story.

So, I’m pleased.

Writing Work:

  • Narrative Design class
  • Calvino Class
  • Writing ~ 4,000 words

Submissions:

  • Gretel and Hansel
  • Knight in the Royal Arms

Rejections:

  • March Madness
  • Gretel and Hansel
  • Knight in the Royal Arms

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

Weekly writing check-in: the one with détente

dogsandcats

So, this illustration of dogs and cats, living together, only took +7 months or so. But at long last, we have achieved détente.

This week, I finished up the Description class–so now I know how to describe things–kept up with the other class, and even wrote some non-class related words. I also sent out two submissions this week as well. So, a pretty good week.

Writing Work:

  • Description class
  • Narrative Design class
  • Writing ~ 4,000 words

Submissions:

  • Knight in the Royal Arms
  • March Madness

Rejections:

  • None

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • None

Weekly writing check-in: the one with oh never mind, I’m too tired

Last dance competition of the season last night. So. Tired. And I’m not even the one who danced. We rolled into the driveway at about 11:30 p.m., which I’ll have you know is way past my bedtime. And the dog’s bedtime. And the cat’s bedtime. Everyone was just a bit off their game due to this schedule change. If sleeping can be called a game, that is. In the case of our pets, I think it can.

Kept up with my course work. This is the last week of the Description class, and while I’ve enjoyed it, I’ll be glad not to have the extra homework to do. Otherwise, I made two submissions this week, had one rejection, and one story short-listed.

And now, I’m just going to go read or nap or something that doesn’t involve moving.

Writing Work:

  • Description class
  • Narrative Design class

Submissions:

  • Incriminating Evidence (reprint market)
  • The Life Expectancy of Fireflies

Rejections:

  • The Life Expectancy of Fireflies

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • None

Weekly writing check-in: the one with a flash honorable mention

I’m keeping a nice, easy pace of about 1,000 words a day. I need to send out a few stories. I haven’t done that for a while, which I’ve mentioned before. But I have at least four or five I could send out into the world, including the one below. So either before the end of the year (after the holidays) or at the start of the next.

And, because it’s the holidays, I give you this:

catmastree2012
Oh, Catmas Tree

 

Writing Work:

  • Writing ~ 7,104 words

Submissions:

  • None

Rejections:

  • None

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • None, but The Life Expectancy of Fireflies received an honorable mention in the WOW! Women On Writing flash fiction contest (although they called it The Life Expectancy of Butterflies, which is a fine title in and of itself–as long as the Amazon gift certificate works, I’m not complaining).