Tag: snow!

A study in contrasts

This week, Tuesday morning:

This week, Wednesday morning:

There’s still snow on the ground, but the roads are clear and dry enough for walking. And most importantly? No patches of ice. And while there’s a wintery mix in our future for Saturday, this week looks amazing for walking. I’m planning on doing a lot.

Also? Daylight Saving Time. I used to hate losing that extra hour of sleep, but now I’m so grateful to have more sunshine later in the day that I don’t mind so much.

In writing, I worked on those debriefing transcripts I mentioned last week. It’s almost like I’m a fly on the wall, listening in. (I mean, assuming flies care about eavesdropping and not simply their next meal.) There are plot points I need to address. But I also want these conversations to unfold naturally, depending on who’s doing the debriefing.

In other news, I have embarked on spring cleaning. Wish me luck.

Bracing for the cold

Snow before the cold

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!

Snow and solstice

I love how often we get one of those bright blue days after a snowstorm. It’s one of my favorite things about winter. And when it corresponds with the longest night of the year, making everything just a little bit brighter? Even better.

I can pretend I’m in a ski lodge, drinking hot chocolate and eating sugar cookies. Mind you, I haven’t been skiing in ages. The last time I remember was when I was living in Germany, and a group of us took a trip to Salzburg over a long weekend. And even then, I didn’t ski. My eyes were all wonky, so I spent the time lounging outside (it was warm enough in the sun), drinking that hot chocolate, and eating the Austrian version of sugar cookies.

So today, I’m going to pretend I’m at that ski lodge, although I’ll stay indoors. I have hot chocolate. I have sugar cookies. I have a good book.

I hope your Sunday is filled with such things as well.

Weekly writing check-in: the one with all the snow

snow

This was the week with all the snow. Well, a foot of snow, anyway. It was a good week for doing some revision.

At first, I didn’t think I did that much work. Then, I added it up.

I revised The Ghost That Got Away, did a content edit/light revision on The Wedding Ghost, and for the sake of story/world building continuity, reread Ghosts of Christmas Past.

Um. Yeah. That’s close to 90,000 words total.

That’s a lot of words. And a lot of ghosts.

This upcoming week I hope to put the final touches on The Ghost That Got Away and unleash it into the world. Stay tuned.

Writing Work:

  • Coffee & Ghosts, Season Two: Revision/editing, etc.
  • Photoshop tutorials

Submissions:

  • Knight in the Royal Arms

Rejections:

  • Knight in the Royal Arms

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 17 from snow to sun

Week 17! Last week it was all snow. Now? We have sun! We’ll be inching toward eighty degrees here today. It’s a little surreal.

Even with the revision work, I wrote something new, if short, this week. I got my submissions in, even submitting something new along with a re-submission of another story.

Writing:

  • Long Walk Home~ 1,000 words.
  • Revisions on Speechless, edits up to chapter nine, new scenes added (and some deleted). In total, I’ve added 4,400 words to the manuscript. Because I’m “aging” it (from tween to teen) this is a good thing. The book can go a bit longer without any worries about it being too long.

Rejections:

  • None

Submissions:

  • Leap of Faith
  • Just a Matter of Time 

Acceptances:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 16 the one with more April (snow) showers and rejections

Week 16! And what a week is was, was it not? Glued to the news, two and a half hour commutes thanks to an epic April snowstorm, and those are just the things I remember.

The rest of the week I revised and I wrote a … well, let’s call it another episode of what I’m thinking of as Pansy’s story. I sent out another new story this week, although for this coming week, I may go with a re-submission of a story that has been making the rounds. I have enough on my writing plate that revising another short story might be more than I can handle.

Writing:

  • Downpour ~ 4,500 words.
  • Revisions on Speechless, book map, new calendar, and the first two chapters revised. Yay!

Rejections:

  • The Patron Saint of Lost Things
  • Fellowship award I knew I wasn’t going to get

Submissions:

  • The Weight of Secrets 

Acceptances:

  • None