Jennifer Crusie's Blog, page 61

This is a Good Book Thursday, January 19, 2022

I read a good romance last week, Helen Hoang’s The Heart Principle.

What did you read this week?

Working Wednesday, January 18, 2022

I had a work calamity that I still haven’t fixed: My laptop is stuck on a screen I’ve never seen before and can’t get out of. I tried for a couple of hours and then realized I was going to have to go to the mall to find a Genius Bar. And I didn’t want to go to the mall. So I had Apple overnight me a cheaper laptop as a backup (yes I am eating peanut butter for the rest of 2023 because I had to replace my iPhone, too), and I actually like it better. So I waited for the battery to run down on the old one–that takes forever on a Mac–to see if that cleared up the screen. Nope. I’m stuck with the Genius Bar.

But Bob and I got to 50,000 words on Rocky Start this week, so that was good. The week was not without disagreements–I want a Chinese restaurant in Rocky Start and he doesn’t–but we’re moving right along. See below for a brief look at how we’re doing.

Enough about me. What did you work on this week?

Then we had a minor disagreement about flashbacks (that happens about once a day):

Then we had a brief discussion about dialogue:

And then he tried to blame me for his health:

So you know, business as usual. But 50,000 words is pretty good.

Happiness is the Little Things

I have had a miserable week, so I came to write this post and almost wrote “Happiness is an illusion,” which would not be good. And then I remembered why we started doing these posts, way back on ReFab, it was to celebrate the small things that got lost in the trauma of big things, to force us to remember, no matter how fleeting, those moments where everything fell into place, even if it all fell out again in the next moment. So I started to mine the past week for moments. And I got . . .

• Mona falling asleep on my foot because she wanted to be close.

• Krissie and I discussing ice cube trays.

• Bob making me laugh in e-mail

• Talking to Mollie on the phone about a bank code, only for a minute, but I got to hear her voice.

• Realizing we were half done with the first draft of the new book.

• My agent telling me I was a brilliant writer in a phone call.

I mean, there’s more than that, and those were fleeting moments, but in those moments I was happy. I’m happy remembering them now. And I’ll be happy again, things will work out, everything will be fine, but still, I have to remember to dwell in those moments, savor them, not let them go by and miss how warm they make me feel. I am a very lucky woman because I have moments like these. And that makes me happy, too.

What made you happy this week?

This is a Good Book Thursday, January 12, 2023

The NYT recently headlined a column with “What Are Your Reading Goals for 2023?” and I thought, “People have reading goals?” I mean, sure the kind of goal that says, “I want to read the next Murderbot sequel,” or “When the next Rivers of London novel comes out, I think I’ll reread the whole series,” or “Whatever Loretta Chase publishes next, I’m in.” But the kind of reading goals where you say, “I want to read X books in 2023,” I don’t get. First of all, I don’t want to know how many books I’ve read because it shows how much time I spend sitting on my ass swiping through Kindle. I got a message from my laptop telling me that my screen time was down last week: Only nine hours a day. Yeah, the last thing I need to know is how many books I read, too. At that point, people could legitimately ask if I ever move.

Still it’s an interesting questions. Anybody here have reading goals, or are you just ripping through libraries and BookBub as fast as you can?

Oh, this week I liked Mhairi MacFarlane’s Mad About You. It’s closer to women’s fiction than romance, although it has a romance in it, but MacFarlane is just good, so she’s another one like Loretta Chase: If she publishes, I must take a bite.

What did you read this week? Was it part of a goal? Or did you just want to read a Good Book?

Working Wednesday, January 11, 2023

We’re finally far enough into January that all that end-of-the-year stuff is going away (What are YOUR resolutions for this year? To not make any resolutions, I have enough to feel guilty about already) and the after-Christmas sales are done. It’s 2023, let’s get to work. We’re settling into Rocky Start, regrouping for a new year and another three books. As Bob pointed out, the first one is the hardest because it sets everything up, which means we spend time trying to figure out people’s names, the settings (which basically are another character in our books), the weapons (Bob’s job), and the food (that would be me.) Our last negotiation was on the name of coffee shop/bakery next door to the heroine’s shop, which I had been calling the Coffee/Cake and which Bob had called something obscurely German. See below to see how that works.

Speaking of works, what did you work on this week?

You know, it occasionally occurs to me that posting excerpts of how we work is not a good idea because you’ll lose all respect for us. Then I remember this blog is almost twenty years old, and any respect for me went long ago. Go ahead, make mock.

Happiness is Great Ideas. Well, Okay Ideas. Any Ideas, Really.

We’re at the we-need-a-plot stage of the book, so we’ve been brainstorming, and that always makes me happy. Even when we don’t agree, there’s something about swapping ideas back and forth, watching a story take shape, that’s just fun, instead of torturous, which is what it’s like when I do it alone. So happiness is doing good work this week as something we’re making comes alive, or at least stirs in the undergrowth.

What made you happy this week?

This is a Good Book Thursday, January 5, 2023

Lots of Golden Age murder mystery rereads, especially Edmund Crispin. And of course, Rocky Start. We’re at that point in the writing where I keep cycling back to read the first act over and over and over . . . move on, Jenny. Also on the horizon, reading Nita again and FIXING it this time. Basically, I’ve been reading a lot of Crispin and Crusie.

So what were your first reads of 2023?

Working Wednesday, January 4, 2023

It feels weird typing 2023. Which is what I say about the new date every year in January, so ignore that. Bob and I are still bashing away at Rocky Start.

And he’s threatening me with zombies again. So how is your work going in 2023?

Just to be clear, there is no possibility of zombie pirates on an iceberg.

Happiness is a Fresh Slate

Okay, 2022 is done and now we have a brand new year in front of us. Anything can happen. Nothing but good times ahead, Argh People!

What’s gonna make you happy this year?

Happy New Year’s Eve; I Have Questions

I don’t believe in resolutions, they just spit all over the new year with obligation and guilt. But I do believe in looking back and taking stock. So here are five looking-back-and-taking-stock questions designed to make 2022 look better while you’re looking forward to 2023.

What was the best advice you got this year?
What was the best decision you made?
What was the best food you cooked/ate/bought?
What was the funniest thing you saw or read this year?
What’s the best thing to look forward to in 2023?

So here are mine:

What was the best advice you got this year?
Hmmm. Probably to stop obsessing and let Bob do the plotting. That was Bob’s advice.

What was the best decision you made?
To collaborate. Writing is fun again. Anytime I start to freak, Bob slaps me in e-mail and tells me to snap out of it. And I don’t have to plot.

What was the best food you cooked/ate/bought?
So many, but I think I’m going to go with the Chocolate Hazelnut Kouign Amann. It’s such comfort food.

What was the funniest thing you saw or read this year?
Possibly Oona Mae on WeRateDogs.com. Damn. I can’t remember the last time I laughed out loud. Must do something about that.

What’s the best thing to look forward to in 2023?
So many things, but probably my talks on the phone to my kid. We catch up once a month for a couple of hours and just natter away, no focus, just whatever we think of next. I love those talks. And also finishing another new book. And going back and finishing Nita. And having Krissie come for a visit. And . . . I am really looking forward to 2023.