Tag: Writing

Briefly

Brief update today, as I’ve seemed to have picked up a slight summer cold.

  • Admin day worked well this past week. I ended up scoring another Chirp deal, and I’m pleased about that.
  • I (nearly) finished the revision of the bonus novella (which has a name: The Capstone Conundrum). I have one or two notions that I want to add, but then I’m moving on to The Pansy Paradox.
  • Because … I’m thinking I can publish both The Pansy Paradox and The Capstone Conundrum this October. Fingers crossed.

And, of course, a duckling check-in. Look how they’ve grown!

Mama duck and her growing ducklings!

Make way for admin days and ducklings

This week, I tried something a little bit different. I decided to take an admin day during the week, one where I didn’t write, but used that morning focus time for writing and publishing-related tasks instead.

Usually, I’d tackle one or two of those after my writing session. But you know what? After my writing session (about 3 – 4 hours of deep work), my brain is done. I don’t want to sit at the computer and do more stuff. It’s enough to clear out my email, comment on a blog post or two, and then head outside.

So, I thought, why not try an admin day during the week, use that focus time to knock out several publishing and personal admin tasks. Not only will I get things done (that need doing), but I can bring fresh energy to the tasks.

Additionally, if I schedule the day mid-week, I can also let my subconscious do some story simmering as well.

I think this might work. At any rate, I’m going to experiment with one admin day per week this month and evaluate the results once July arrives.

In other news? Well, ducklings!

Mama duck and all her ducklings, in a pond along the park/nature trail

The wisdom of weekends

I’ve been experimenting with time management and how I want my days to look like now that I can set my own schedule.

One thing is becoming clear:

There’s wisdom in taking weekends and time off.

Back in January and February, I was writing seven days a week. I was so darn excited to have the time and head space (especially the head space) to write. Book two was simply waiting for the cognitive overload from my corporate job to clear out so I could write.

Then, I needed a break. I know this about myself. I’m what Becca Syme calls a bread machine writer. In her article Why Isn’t This Easier, she writes about bread machines (the writers, not the appliance):

Your brain is wired like a bread machine, so the easier books to work on are the ones where you’ve had more time to put all the ingredients inside the machine and let it sit for a long time. But when you become a professional writer (even if you’re not writing full-time), you don’t get to spend years thinking about a book, unless you’re GRRM. So, when you take away part of the way your brain functions creatively best, it becomes more and more difficult to complete the process.

I need time to think, both long term—hey, I’ve been musing on The Pansy Paradox and the series for a decade, y’all—and short term.

So, maybe it’s an afternoon when I head to the garden center and look at all the plants (I know, I know; I’m running out of space.) Maybe it’s a trip to Half-Price Books to restock the Little Free Library.

In any case, I’m taking a conscious look at my schedule. I’m questioning why I do things when I do them and considering whether there’s a better way for me to do what I want and need to do.

Today? The siren song of the garden center is calling my name. (Can you hear it? I can definitely hear it.) Yesterday was the Guthrie Theater and Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap.

All in all, not a bad weekend. (And would you look at the Mississippi. We got a lot of rain last week.)

Rainy days and Sundays (never get me down)

So in the past few days, we left behind the false summer and time-traveled back to early spring. It’s rainy and cool and that’s okay because we desperately need the rain around here. Along with the heat, there were wind and fire warnings.

Bring on the rain. (And the writing: it’s a good excuse to stay inside.)

Speaking of rainy days, here’s a view of a couple from Florence:

The Ponte Vecchio is always amazing, even in the rain (and it was raining, hard).

Il Caffe del Verone is on the top floor of the Istituto degli Innocenti. This view, even in the rain. So worth it. Also, the cappuccino didn’t hurt.

Tiny burst of joy

In a week of meetings, appointments, getting my daughter’s car to the shop, there was this:

Ruby-throated hummingbird

This tiny burst of joy showed up in less than twenty-four hours after I put out the hummingbird feeder. Not sure they’re nesting yet. However, one did do a hover and hello when I was working in the garden this week.

Speaking of the garden, that’s where I’m headed right now to uncover—or plant—other bursts of joy. So I’m keeping this check-in short today. My writing this week was slow, steady, and positive, although not very flashy.

Four months in: reality check

So, it’s been four months since my last day of work, which is as good a time as any for a reality check.

How’s it going?

When I first started to think about this milestone, I believed I hadn’t done enough. What was “enough”? Oh, I don’t know. How about completely drafting my series, publishing book 1 and the companion novella, not to mention reacquainting myself with Photoshop for covers and images, and …

And that was a totally unrealistic view of things. But it’s the sort of toxic productivity mindset born from: if you’re not hustling and grinding eighteen hours a day, what good are you.

What I actually did:

  • Finished the draft of book 2
  • Sketched out the content and structure of book 3
  • Contemplated another bonus novella
  • Cleaned out the bedroom closet
  • Spring cleaned
  • Planned and took a dream trip to Italy

This doesn’t include what I did this past week: I jumped back into book 1 to refine and edit based on changes from drafting book 2 and the trip to Italy. Also? Add in some bonus gardening.

Then, on Thursday, I learned that my former workplace conducted another layoff two and a half years after the one that set me on the path to burnout and had me quitting.

That previous layoff diminished the department by at least 50%. Mind you, the work did not decrease by that amount. Now? I doubt the work is going away. (Unless they plan to use GenAI, in which case, good luck with that when it starts hallucinating.)

But I wondered, would I have been caught up in the layoff this time around, like (at least) one of my friends was? Or would I’ve been retained and watched my workload quadruple?

Would those extra four months have been worth a severance package?

And I realized, no, they wouldn’t have been. Even with the current economy, which I won’t lie, is making me very nervous for various reasons. I wouldn’t have the draft of book 2. I only started making progress after I quit. I wouldn’t have the structure and content of book 3.

I wouldn’t have taken a dream trip to Italy. Or, if I had managed to, it would have been shorter and constrained by having to check work email on the regular.

I don’t know what the future holds. But in this particular instance?

No regrets.

I’m back!

Hello everyone! I. Have. Returned.

But wait! Where was I?

Well, for the last few months, my daughter has been working as an au pair in Italy. Several weeks back, I was at my desk, staring at the bleak view out the window, and wondered: Why on earth am I sitting here in Minnesota?

Good question.

So, I started researching whether I could swing a trip to Italy. Turns out that I could. I found a reasonable flight, a bed and breakfast in Pisa (a quick train ride for my daughter and near many of the places I wanted to visit). Then, I made the fateful decision to click Book Now.

And perhaps it’s a coincidence or a bit of synchronicity, but there are portions of The Pansy Paradox series that take place in Italy. I’m beginning to suspect my subconscious knew—long before I did—that I needed to walk the ground for some of those portions.

I’m hoping to write more about my time there. Not so much a travelogue, which sounds boring to read, never mind write. But the odd and unusual and fun. Things that relate to the series I’m writing. Things that made me see something in a different light.

But first, some firsts:

First photo in Europe:

Sunrise over Frankfurt, Germany as we made our descent

First photo of Pisa:

View of Pisa along the Arno River

First flower:

Pansies in a container along the Borgo Stretto in Pisa

Yes, pansies were everywhere in Pisa and Florence. I took that as a sign.

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.

Another art adventure

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.

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!