Tag: Coffee and Ghosts

Weekly writing check-in: done!

JoI went on a bit of a writing tear this weekend, and I finished episode two of Coffee & Ghosts Season Four! It came in at ~24,000 words, which is a nice length for the middle novella in the season. 

Just one more episode to go, and season four (and possibly the series) will be complete. 

I’ve also decided I’m going with my original (pretend) title of Misty Sandborne and the Vampire Husband. Just because I like it, and it’s fun. And if you can’t have fun, why bother.

Also? It won’t be the title for season four. For that, I’m using the title from episode one (The Ghosts You Left Behind). When naming the seasons, I’ve used the episode title that matches the season thematically. 

I mean, as far as Coffee & Ghosts has a theme. (It does, actually, but that’s not the main point of the stories. They’re meant to be fun.)

So no one will be giving Misty Sandborne and the Vampire Husband the side-eye on Amazon when they’re searching for books to read. Although that sort of title might pull in a definite reader demographic, I’m not sure there’s much crossover with Coffee & Ghosts.

This coming week, I hope to get the framework for episode three underway. I already have so many ideas for it that it will be more along the lines of corralling cats than figuring out what happens next. 

Weekly writing check-in: words and herbs

Still with the slow and steady progress. Somedays, I wish I could write faster, but at this point in time, this is how fast I’m going. It is what it is.

But it’s spring! So now when I end up stalled in the manuscript, I can step outside and do a little gardening.

Some people take their gardening very seriously. Us? Not so much.

Yesterday, my daughter and I bought a bunch of random plants at the garden center and had fun finding them new homes. 

As you can see, the dogs helped too.

Weekly writing check-in: a little spring cleaning

IMG_4336Due to a little spring cleaning, I missed last week’s check-in. Make that a lot of spring cleaning. So much so that by the time Sunday rolled around, I didn’t have the energy to boot up my laptop, never mind wrestle with the new block editor.

I am making slow but steady progress with episode two, so I’m pleased about that. And spring has actually sprung here. I even have some forget-me-nots sprouting up from where I sprinkled a packet of seeds our energy company sent us last year. Sprinkled very late, I might add because … COVID.

I also have some oak leaves and weeds I should do something about. But in the meantime, I’m enjoying the progress I’m making with flowers and words.

Weekly writing check-in: in search of a title

I’m making progress on episode two on everything but a title. 

Generally, my Coffee and Ghost titles are ghost-related plays on words and puns. You know, like Ghost in the Coffee Machine or Nothing but the Ghosts (a play on the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth). 

And yes, clearly, I’m often the only one who finds them amusing. 

I’m stuck on what to call this particular episode because the only thing I want to call it is:

Misty Sandborne and the Vampire Husband

Which is really quite literal for me (and the story in question). So I’m pondering how to work ghosts into the title (because there will be more than vampire husbands in this episode, absolutely). 

I’m sure something will occur to me sometime before I’m ready to format this thing. Otherwise, I may just go with:

Misty Sandborne and the Vampire Husband Plus Some Ghosts

Weekly writing check-in: April-ish

I did swim this week, oddly enough. True, episode two still doesn’t have a title. But it has a framework (i.e., outline), and I’ve started the actual writing. I’m pleased. I’m very pleased because I wasn’t sure I’d make it this far.

In other news, it’s very April-ish around here. It’s spring! No, it’s still winter! Wait, here’s spring. Ha, fooled you, pull on your wool coat.

I expect by the end of the month, things will have settled down.

In other news, I’m still missing the classic editor. I won’t tell you how long it took me to write out this post, but suffice to say: too long.

Weekly writing check-in: The Haunting of Whiskers and Willow

I finished the short story I was working on. It will be part of the Coffee & Ghosts world. It clocked in at 4,600 words (give or take), and I’ll be sending it out to my newsletter as part of the launch of Season Four.

Mind you, I don’t plan on straining any muscles launching Season Four. I’ll get it out there into the world and then carry on with something else.

So now I turn my attention to episode 2, which doesn’t have a name and only the barest whispers of a plot. But I’m printing off all my notes and diving in.

I’ll let you know if I sink or swim.

Weekly writing check-in: Hello, April! Farewell, classic editor.

The very latest update to WordPress has removed the classic editor I loved so much. True, there’s a kind of/sort of version of it that I’m using right now, but it’s not the same.

I’m not sure how I feel about this.

In other news, we’ve had a lovely Easter weekend, unseasonably warm and lots of sunshine.

I also did some work on a short story that may be part of the Coffee & Ghosts world, a mini-episode between 1 & 2 of Season Four.

But … I’m not sure how I feel about that either.

Weekly writing check-in: tree be gone

I’m sure everyone’s been waiting with bated breath about our tree issue. I’m happy to report that our friendly neighborhood tree service had it safely down in less than twenty-four hours (along with another nearly-dead pine, and they limbed some of our oak branches as well–trees, we have lots of trees).

In writing news, I compiled all my notes into one (searchable) document. I’m feeling pretty good about the overall worldbuilding for the last season. It still feels like I’m going painfully slow. However, I’m truly wrapping up the series with this season. There are so many threads, large and small, to consider. Not to mention those 230,000 words that came before.

That’s a lot.

I didn’t work on the framework for episode two, but I did do some work on a short story that comes in between episode one and two, something that I think will be mostly stand-alone. Or so I hope.

So for the coming week, my plan is to work on that.

Weekly writing check-in: off on a writing tear

I spent the weekend on a “Jo March” writing tear.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the hat.

I do have many draft words.

I didn’t log onto the internet (except for a quick check of my mail and to sync my file).

I thought about booting up my desktop and writing my update on Sunday.

Clearly, that didn’t happen.

But I can see the end of this new draft, and that’s a good thing.

Weekly writing check-in: spills and chills

So way back in the day, I had a weekly paper route.

Those of you of a certain age may remember the weekly shopper newspaper. It was a small publication of mostly ads held together by a few human interest stories.

For three or so years, every Tuesday, I would diligently deliver these little papers in the neighborhood next to mine.

Fun fact: this neighborhood was the neighborhood from the Betsy-Tacy books.

The neighborhood contained several hills (and still does, to my knowledge). One hill, in particular, was particularly brutal. Each winter, like clockwork, my feet would slip out from under me, and I would smash my tailbone against the ice-slicked asphalt.

Even after I’d relinquished the route, I made it a practice to slip on the ice or the steps at least once a year. It wasn’t winter until I took a tumble and bruised my tailbone.

Well, last Sunday, I renewed that tradition. I’m fine, but I went down hard on some ice in our driveway.

After that, I was in no mood for the internet, never mind booting up my computer.

And yes, my tailbone still aches.

But I am making good progress on Coffee & Ghosts. So there’s that. I mean, it’s currently -9 right now. It’s not like we’re going to pull on our boots and take a hike.

I’d probably just slip on the ice anyway …