Devon Ellington's Blog, page 25

Tues. Nov. 5, 2024: Election Day in the US

image courtesy of  Amber via pixabay.com

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Waxing Moon

Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde

Election Day in the US

Cloudy and mild

The stakes are enormously high today in the United States. Will we have any quality of life, or will the majority of us be turned into serfs?

We may well not know for several days, but it’s going to be difficult. The fact that there’s any support for the Narcissistic Sociopath is beyond comprehension.

If you didn’t get a chance to check out the Community Tarot Reading for the Week over on the Cerridwen’s Cottage site, you can do so here.

Back to our catch-up.

Friday, I did the grocery shop/library runs, and mailed the rent. Then, we took a jaunt down to Target. I wanted to take a look at something in person. Glad I did, because it turns out I didn’t want it. I stocked up on basics like toilet paper and toothpaste and the like. They no longer stock the refills for Palmolive, so I had to source that elsewhere, but I got everything else on the basics restock list.

Home, and just gave myself the rest of the day off. I re-read more of Rosemary Edghill’s Bast mysteries, and loved them more than ever. The new Chewy order arrived, with a giant bag of dry food and a new interactive toy that Bea immediately fell in love with, and tried to teach the other cats how to use it. Willa and Tessa are interested; Charlotte is a baffled princess.

I pondered a lot of things and tried to sort out, in my mind, a lot of things. I went back and looked up some things that were in conflict with other information I found, and now I wonder if I have to track down some of the players and ask, while they are still alive. I have to think about it and make some decisions.

Saturday was more reading, and running an errand to get the Palmolive that wound up being some spontaneous holiday shopping, since they had something I needed in stock, and I knew it wouldn’t stay in stock for long. So I grabbed it while I could.

Did a lot of reading. Attended a sigil workshop by a friend of mine In Williamstown that was really potent and wonderful, and also tied into some of the things I’ve been pondering.

The clocks turned back on Saturday night into Sunday. I always love it when we “fall back.” It energizes me. Sunday morning, I changed the beds and had all the Samhain decorations down and packed by 10 AM. I also finished bringing in everything from the back balcony, and tarped the bench with the bistro chairs stacked on it for the winter. I washed and disinfected one of the rugs, and the second one on Monday.

Throughout, I did the Ceremonies for the Dead every night. Tonight is the last – for those who have no one to mourn them.

I read a lot and thought a lot and played with the cats a lot and got housework done and tried not to stress too much about the election. I failed on the latter, but I also know I put in the work I needed for the cycle, and did what I could.

It was unseasonably warm through much of the weekend, and the plunged below freezing on Sunday.

I did not get a grant to which I’d applied. It wasn’t a particular surprise – they’ve never given me a grant. The first few years, it was “keep applying, we want to make sure we give it to people who keep doing the work and progressing in their career.” But when you look at their past grantees, none of them have done anything except take the grant money and not take the next step in their careers. They have no careers, and no credits. After the first few years of that, it’s always been “you have too many professional credits” even though I tick all the boxes they claim to want. Whatever. At least this time, the rejection was polite. Two years ago, their rejection was so rude I’d written them off for good, but this was a new grant that was a little different, so I figured why not try? I would have liked the money (and I certainly need it, especially with these new medical bills piling up) but I’m not surprised I didn’t get it. I will, however, write off this particular organization for good. It’s not worth putting the time into the grant application.

Woke up at 3:30 on Monday, fretting about work and the election and everything else. Finally got up a little after 5. Had a good meditation session (after feeding the cats, because nothing can happen until that happens).

There were three major contest deadlines on Friday, and only 3 small coverages came in, which worries me. We should be inundated with work. We should have been inundated since the end of August, and the fact that we haven’t been sends up red flags about the health of the agency to me.

There’s a lot that has to happen this week, and I had to dig in and do it.

I had a good meditation session, and a few things were clarified. I wrote the next chapter of VICIOUS CRITIC, just over 2K. I got the final proofs done on STRANGERS. It was a pain in the everything because sometimes the corrections didn’t hold, sometimes the formatting wonked. Fingers crossed it’ll go through correctly. It’s novelette length, and will be only in digital format, and for 99 cents. It will release the Tuesday before American Thanksgiving.

Don’t worry, I’ll remind you!

I do have the blurb and initial UBL link up on the Delectable Digital Delights page. I will have more information, links, and a video up in the next few weeks.

I then spent 5 hours doing the videos for TAPESTRY. It shouldn’t have taken that long, but Canva has changed how some things worked, and made things harder instead of easier, because that’s always what these places do when they pretend to “improve” things. If you want to see it, you can see the wide version here. I also did the TikTok and Instagram versions. Since the book releases next Tuesday, it was time. I still have to do the media kit.

I started working on the graphics for the STRANGERS IN THE SNOW video, but ran out of energy. I also have to do the ads for it, and do the ads for the whole group of holiday shorts. I need to print off some blank calendar pages so that I can figure out the timing of each and put it in the content calendar. From just before Thanksgiving through Twelfth Night, I will be pushing the shorts and the two Nina Bell mysteries that are releasing during that time. I hope I have enough in the budget to do some paid ads, but we’ll see.

I turned around three small coverages and panicked that nothing else was coming through.

I accepted both offers to return as a judge to different contests (one I’ve been doing for at least 10 years now, probably more). I was surprised that the organizations are so excited that I’m coming back. I’m glad to be valued, but still surprised.

Finally got out the planning meeting notes for the Boiler House Poets Collective.

I had a workshop that was a partnership between MASSCreative and Assets4Artists this evening. It was a good overview of how arts legislation moves through the state governmental process. I’ve been advocating with MASSCreative since I moved here, so I knew most of it, but some of placement of bills was new information. Based on some of the conversations, I have some ideas for workshops. Not sure if I’m the one to teach them, but I will write up proposals for A4A and see where we are.

We had a late dinner, and then it was about reading and playing with the cats. Both sewing room doors are open now, and the three older cats are bound and determined to teach Bea that all space is everyone’s space. Bea is not an aggressive cat, and she loves other cats, so she doesn’t really mind, but I don’t want them in her food or her litter box. She does want the door to the hallway closed when she eats breakfast and dinner, though, so that’s what we do. She doesn’t like it if the others can approach from both sides during mealtime. Of course, they’re busy with their own meals, but the possibility worries Bea.

Bea has taken charge of the entire large kitty condo, and she loves it. She’s starting to approach the humans a little more, although she still doesn’t really want to be handled. But I think we’re pretty close to petting time for Bea. She sees the others get a lot of affection, and it’s her natural wariness around humans battling with wanting affection, too. We’re letting her advance at her own pace (ignoring the advice to force her to submit to human handling and she’ll “get used to it”). Bea is different than a lot of other cats, and we need to let her be herself.

Reworking some plot points in VICIOUS CRITIC, pondering an idea that’s been trying to form for the last couple of weeks.

Today, I need to finish up some work for Assets4Artists, work on VICIOUS CRITIC, hope some coverages come in. I can read the next book for review, if I have time, and working on the STRANGERS video and the MURDER BELLS video would be a good idea, if I have time.

I’m waiting to hear about rehearsal. I’d like to at least go to Gentle Yoga tonight. I need it. Because I’ll be up tonight, wondering if we have a future to look forward to, or if it’s all going to be destroyed.

Have a good one.

Mon. Nov. 4, 2024: Intent for the Week — Deal with Election Stress

image by Gerd Altmann via pixabay.com

Monday, November 4, 2024

Waxing Moon

Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde

Cloudy and cold

Tomorrow is the US Election, both for president and a good portion of Congress. There is so much on the line for us — the rest of our lives, the next generations’ lives, the planet.

On top of that, it’s the last week of rehearsal before we record, I have a lot of other deadlines, and I have to fight because my mother’s supplementary insurance denied their portion of the MRI bill. While still fighting part of the hospital bill.

So I have a lot on my plate.

It’s hard to concentrate on anything except the election, but I have to dig in and get things done, and then deal with the consequences of however the election falls out.

Oh, and there’s ahttps://cerridwenscottage.com/2024/11/04/november-4-2024-community-tarot-reading-for-the-week/ Community Tarot Reading for the Week up on the Cerridwen’s Cottage site.

Fri. Nov. 1, 2024: Of (Metaphorical) Tracks and Trains

image courtesy of Thomas via Pixabay.com

Friday, November 1, 2024

New Moon

Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde

Rainy and warm

Another week gone, and we are hurtling to the end of the calendar year, while starting a new spiritual year (for some of us).

I forgot to mention that The Yuletide Tarot arrived on the 30th. It was recommended to me by my friend, writer Jamieson Wolf (who has even more tarot decks than I do). I’ve wanted it since last winter, but waited until this season to get it. It is gorgeous. Very different take on some of the cards, and some interesting spreads. I look forward to working with it.

Had to put together a bio for my producer. I teach how to have multiple length bios ready to go: 50, 100, 250 words. Of course, this one needed to be 80!

I got the book review written and submitted. I mailed a bunch of thank you cards my mom wrote for her birthday gifts. We were out of coffee and eggs, so that was a quick trip to the store. I’d seen some cute Winter Holiday cards at a local store last week at a good price, so I wanted to go back and see if they were still there. They were, I bought them, and we are set for cards. Which we have to start writing soon, at least as far as overseas go. We don’t have that many overseas cards, so we might just sit and write everything before Thanksgiving, and then mail them when we need to.

I turned around my small coverage.

I decided to do the big, two-deck tarot reading for the coming year in the afternoon, rather than at night as part of the bigger ritual. I wanted to make sure I could really spend time with the cards. I’m using the Norse deck as the action and the Celtic deck at the energy. I’ve had both decks since the mid-1990’s, and hadn’t used them in a long time, so it’s nice to get reacquainted. Tessa was there to help, because she always is, and Bea was curious, although she didn’t get too close.

I got some good information. It looks like there’s a tendency toward a conflict/disruption that begins in May and carries through August. My hope is that if I stay alert and aware, maybe I can diffuse some of that and make smarter choices, now that I have the information. September looks to be extremely busy, but a good busy, although it’s also winding up some of the aftereffects from those previous months. No idea what the details of all of this are yet, but at least I can pay closer attention. There’s ebb and flow in most of the other months, but it’s in alignment with some of the pots I have simmering, so as long as I stay organized and aware.  It’s about paying attention and doing the work.

Which is along the lines of the conversations I had with Laura and Daniel during my Capacity Building Program – for the next year and change, I have to add more to the bundle of sticks I’m carrying in order to be in a position to have the choices I want a couple of years down the road, and put some of those sticks down then.

There will still be unexpected obstacles and changes and opportunities (because that is how life works), but at least there’s a clear path that’s in alignment with the track I’ve been setting down this year. Track is there; time to fire up the engine and get into motion. 2023 was about finding support and taking chances within my new location. It was a good year, in many ways, and I was scared to let go of it. 2024 was about seizing opportunities and making the most of them, learning, transforming, and laying track. Now we build the locomotive and start chugging along.

Of course, every decision one makes from the moment of the reading can set off a domino effect for change. None of this is written in stone. This is all about possibilities; not definites. There’s room for growth and change from the moment of the reading on, which is kind of wonderful.

If you’re curious about the spread, there’s a post on the Cerridwen Iris Shea site that talks about how to set it up for yourself (I did not post my actual spread, as I had done an example spread for the post with those same two decks, not my personal spread).

I read and enjoyed myself and played with the cats in the afternoon. Charlotte is thrilled that I put the fleece blankets up on the chairs. It was a little warm for that – it got up to 75 degrees! Bea now alternates between various spots on the kitty condo and the rocking chair.

I’m re-reading Rosemary Edghill’s Bast mysteries, which ran parallel to a lot of what my life was like in NYC in the mid-90’s. Without the dead bodies, at least in my life.

I set up the altar for the ancestors with photos of family and friends. I remembered to turn on the little bat lights on our little Halloween tree. I lit the candles.

Bea was fascinated. Willa and Charlotte don’t really understand ritual and sleep through most of it. Tessa’s always enjoyed participating, and she’s training Bea. Bea is cautious, but she trusts Tessa. We’re all careful about keeping flames contained and safe, so no whiskers or tails are set alight. Bea is naturally cautious anyway. Although she has been taking princess lessons from Charlotte in her spare time.

The decorations and small tree are also good, gentle practice for the big tree we’ll put up for the winter holidays. As it is, early next week, I’m going to open the door from the sewing room into the hallway, meaning both doors will be open. It’s necessary to get used to that again. Since the big tree is in the doorway between the sewing room and the living room (and will be tied off even more than it usually is), having access through that other door is vital. I want Bea to have a few weeks to get used to it before we put up the tree.

Slept pretty well, although I had a weird dream. The alarm shocked me out of it (even though it’s a fairly gentle alarm). Got the cats fed and hauled laundry to the laundromat. It’s been a few weeks, and I wanted to get it done before the time change, because next week, they won’t have sorted out the door locks yet.

I rarely go to the laundromat on Fridays; there was a courtly older gentleman there at the same time, so we did our laundry in quiet companionship. Got everything done and was home just after 7 AM to start the day. It was raining when I left, but not when I returned, which is a good thing. Otherwise, the money for the dryer would have been wasted.

Let’s look at October numbers, shall we?

New material:               47,261

Editing/Revisions:      63,775

Client work:                   20,768

Marketing:                      8 hours

Misc.:                                20 hours

What do they mean?

The new material number is pretty good, even though it’s a little on the low side, especially since I was residency for a week. However, a lot of the work there was on the script for I WILL BE DIFFERENT and on poems. Those word counts are shorter, even though it often takes as much or more work as short stories or novels.

The editing/revisions number was where it should be, considering what actual writing was done this month and last month.

Client work was on the low side, but then, I only had 3 weeks of client work because I was in the residency for a week.

Marketing was the bare minimum. I need to do more, especially this month with TAPESTRY and STRANGERS IN THE SNOW set to release this month, and MURDER BELLS set to release next month.

The “Misc.” had to do with rehearsals and production meetings and client meetings. 20 hours is decent for all of that, especially since it was packed into 3 weeks, not four.

Even with (because of?) the residency, the month feels more on track than the last few. I’m in the process of upping the client work over the next few months, and then replacing one client who has become lower paying and inconsistent with higher-paid work from steadier clients. That will take some finagling, but I hope to get there in the next few months.

I’m going to take it easy today. I have some show stuff to deal with, writing to get done. I hope some scripts will come through. There were three major deadlines yesterday. I hope it doesn’t all pile on for the weekend, more than I could possibly take on. I’d like to spread it out over the next two weeks, so I can make a reasonable amount of money taking on a sane amount of work. I have to pick up some things at the grocery store and do a big library run. And mail the rent.

Tomorrow, I’m attending a workshop taught by a friend. She wanted me to come out tonight, too, but I can’t do both, so I’ll just do tomorrow afternoon. I hope I won’t have to do any coverage work, although I probably will at least on Sunday. The Chewy order arrives tomorrow, and I need to get down to Target to take a look at something in person. I just don’t feel like it today, although it makes more sense to go today.

It’s supposed to hit 70 today, then be in the 50’s for the weekend, then in the high 60’s early next week.

Worried about the election. It will change our lives. I just hope it’s for the better.

Have a good weekend!

Oct. 31, 2024: Blessed Samhain!

image courtesy of StockSnap via Pixabay.com

Thursday, October 31, 2024

Dark Moon

Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde

Cloudy and cold

Samhain

You can read about the latest on the garden over on Gratitude and Growth.

There’s a post about a special reading I do every Samhain for the year ahead over on the Cerridwen’s Cottage site.

I forgot to mention in yesterday’s post that on Tuesday, I also read the next book for review, because the review is due today.

In addition to a lack of sleep, yesterday was also the day before the dark moon, which tends to be my lowest energy day of the month. It feels weird to have Samhain on a dark moon instead of a full moon, but that’s the way the planets move. Literally.

I also forgot to mention what absolute PITAs both Charlotte and Bea were during Tuesday night’s rehearsal. Charlotte, of course, believes ZOOM is all about her, so she was all over the place – popping up behind me, sitting on my lap, walking back and forth so only her tail was visible on screen. She climbed on the tops of chairs. She tried to march across the fireplace mantel.  Bea was peeking to see what was going on, and then playing with her loudest toys and banging around as much as possible. Thank goodness for the Mute button.

I mean, it was kind of funny, but. . .

Anyway, I headed out early to the RMV (known as the DMV in most other states). I brought in my current car registration and had a huge file of insurance, lease, and other paperwork (because she with the most paperwork wins). Didn’t need any of it. I was in and out with my new sticker in less than five minutes. I know there are lots of RMV/DMV jokes, but everyone here is so nice.

Home, got to work on the tarot spreads/photos for the post on Cerridwen’s Cottage. Tessa “helped” and I had to use several backgrounds before I found one that worked. I really have to sort out uploading from the digital camera. DropBox screwed everything up, but I’ve gotten rid of it, so I should be able to do it. The camera photos will be better than those on my phone.

It was afternoon before I could turn any attention to script coverage, which meant I was in somewhat of a pickle, with so many on deadline. But I turned around the five coverages that were due first thing this morning, and I have one small one for this afternoon. If some more come in, and I can do another couple today without stress, good for me. I hope some more come in for the start of tomorrow’s pay period, although that will mean working through the weekend again.

Put in a Chewy order. Am debating whether to put in a Target order or go down there this weekend, because there are also a couple of things they carry that I need to see in person before deciding whether or not I want them. Things I’ve tried to sort more locally, but can’t. The Staples in Pittsfield is closing. Not a surprise, because they rarely had what I needed, and I couldn’t order from them because they insist that the CITY of North Adams is “rural” and want to slap a $13.95 “rural delivery” fee on everything. And you can’t order something to go to a specific store for pickup anymore. Nope, nope, nope. There is a Staples in Bennington still; otherwise I have to go to Albany or Troy.

I did not get the monthlong residency in Tennessee, which is actually okay because of some other stuff I have going on. I would have liked the money (it offered a stipend), but it also frees up a stretch of time to go after a couple of other longer-term freelance jobs I’ve eyed that may serve the longer-term plan better.

As I said to a friend lately, “throw the spaghetti at the wall, and see what pays best.”

To say I am worried about the election is an understatement, but so are a lot of people, so at least we can all lean on each other.

I went to bed early and slept for 10 hours, which means I feel more like a functioning human again.

Meditation this morning. Then some writing (and proofing STRANGERS, which came back formatted for its galley proofing), a couple of errands, writing the book review, and a small script coverage. If more come in, great. If not, I can concentrate on Samhain.

I didn’t want to put up an altar for the dead at the same time as my mom’s 100th birthday – that was a little macabre. So I’m putting it up today, for the ceremonies over the next few days. This Samhain feels like a big turning point on multiple levels.

I just hope next week brings the transformation those of us with brains and hearts want, and for which we’ve worked.

Have a good one.

Wed. Oct. 30, 2024: You Mean I Have to be a Functioning Human Being Today?

image courtesy of StockSnap via Pixabay.com

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Day Before Dark Moon

Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde

Sunny and cool

Phew! Yesterday was the best possible kind of whirlwind. Cards and calls and flowers delivered and presents. I’m very glad that my mom’s 100th birthday was a happy day for her.

The Clark Art Institute is expanding. A rich guy, former Trustee, left over 300 pieces in his collection AND enough money to build a new wing for it AND an endowment for the museum to employ people to care for it. So that will be interesting, over the coming years.

Got STRANGERS IN THE SNOW revised, proofed, and off for final edits/copy editing/formatting. This weekend, I will have to do some Nina Bell videos and a STRANGERS video. Time to get all that ready to launch.

Only managed to get 2 scripts turned around, not 4. That means I have 6 to turn around today, since they are due first thing tomorrow morning.

The Kindle Vella authors I talked to are mostly resigned (and a little angry) about the way the division is being shut down. The way they kept changing the payment structure indicated they were in trouble. Then in September, they cut the bonus pool by 50%, which meant even authors with high numbers were getting a pittance. It didn’t affect me, because I already got my final payment for the platform.

I’m glad I didn’t just “stick it out” the way some authors decided, way back last spring, when the changes were more and more anti-author, and there were more and more obstacles to authors promoting. I would have lost months’ worth of work time, and be scrambling now.

In the late afternoon, I went out to pick up my mom’s favorite cheesecake. We had a favorite roast chicken dish for dinner, and then I made stock.

Rehearsal began at 11:30 PM my time, and ran until a little after 1. The rewrites work, and the actors put in a lot of good work. It’s more about finessing and the details now. We may have another rehearsal next week (they hope to rehearse in person, not on ZOOM). And then, November 12 is our recording date. I have some production-oriented material I have to get to the producer today or tomorrow, and then just be on hand for whatever’s necessary in the final rehearsal and on the recording day.

I finally got to sleep a little after 2. I’d been up for 21 hours by then, and it was time to wind down. I woke up 6-ish, when I heard my mom feeding the cats, and then dozed off again, until just before 7, when the crows woke me up. There were hundreds of crows cawing in the area. It was like something out of Hitchcock movie. I looked up the street, toward the mountain behind Church Street, and it looked like the mountain heaved because there were so many crows in the trees. No idea what that was about, but I was awake.

When the RMV opens, I’m off to see if I can sort out renewing the car registration. That’s first on today’s agenda. Then, it’s mostly digging in to get the coverages done. I will probably nap on and off. I doubt I’ll make it to tarot this afternoon, but we’ll see how I feel and how much I’ve gotten done later this afternoon. I’m afraid the days of my operating on 4 hours of sleep a night regularly are over.

Tomorrow morning, I HAVE to get myself to the laundromat. Too much laundry has piled up.

I keep thinking it’s already November, but Samhain isn’t until tomorrow – so there’s still a lot to do over the next few days.

Have a good one!

Tues. Oct. 29, 2024: Happy 100th Birthday to My Mom!

image courtesy of MatissDzelve via pixabay.com

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Waning Moon

Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde

Cloudy and cold

Today is my mother’s 100th Birthday! She’s lived a century’s worth of history! I want her to have a very happy day. Plenty of people around us have pitched in to help, with cards and gifts and all kinds of fun. I made her a favorite breakfast and we opened presents.

If you didn’t get a chance to look at the Community Tarot Reading for the week, you can do so here.

The weekend was pretty good. I spent most of it feeling in limbo, waiting for the director’s comments on the rewrite. None came, and on Sunday night he sent it to the cast, so that was that.

Friday, I ran some errands and dealt with practicalities. Saturday was a beautiful day, and we wanted to take advantage of it. We took a jaunt up to Bennington, VT (which is very close) and enjoyed ourselves. On the way, we stopped at the Apple Barn, which has been around for decades, but was always closed when we came by. This time, it was open. We picked up several things, including freshly baked apple cider donuts which were amazing. After Bennington, since we were out and about anyway, we headed down to Pittsfield to run a few more errands, and then came home for a relaxing afternoon and evening.

I’d made our favorite salmon, sweet potatoes, and green beans for dinner on Friday. Saturday, it was turkey meatloaf and colcannon (using up the final CSA cabbage). Sunday, it was pork chops with mashed potatoes, red cabbage, and a red pepper and onion relish that was one of my mom’s birthday gifts. Plenty of cooking over the weekend.

And reading. Not much writing, because I was waiting for notes on the script, and didn’t want to get caught up in anything else.

Sunday was a nice, quiet day. I’d grabbed some scripts on Saturday, and turned around one Sunday, leaving two for yesterday.

I was very frustrated with some of the books. One book was by an author whose work I’ve read for years. I’ve interviewed her for articles. She has a long-running cozy series that I’ve read since Day 1. In this book, quite a few down the line, her protagonist uses the term “witch” as a derogatory against another woman, one who came to her for help.

Nope.

The writer knows better. The character has NEVER used the term (although, in the last few books, instead of maturing, she seems to be regressing). I felt as though the writer spit in my face. Pandering to the hard evengelical right the cozy mystery genre has taken.

I put it down in the pile as a DNF. Done with that author. It’s not someone with whom I’m close enough to have an honest conversation, and people write what they want to write (or, in the case of trad publishing, what their editors and publishers pay them to write). But I don’t have to support it.

The next day, I picked up a paranormal/borderline cozy fantasy that’s being heavily promoted, and had a long waiting list at the library. Warning bells started going off almost at once. There was a lot of kiss/slap in the early pages, presenting as though the character was inclusive/progressive, but in actually using language pandering to the right. Then, there it was – using the term “witch” as a derogatory against another woman – in a PARANORMAL, where it would make sense for there to be actual witches.

Nope.

The book went back into the pile as a DNF. The author is crossed off my list (first and last time I read anything by this one).

I’m really sick of this. The traditionally published cozy mystery genre, in particular, started taking its hard turn right after 9/11, but since the 2016 election, it has been out of control. The authors tend to be older white woman who run around claiming to be progressive and inclusive (because, you know, they have a supporting character who is BIPOC or LGBTQA who plays within the white people rules and is safe). The use of the term in this way in their books by their protagonists shows the hypocrisy. It would be one thing if the character used the term and then learned from it. But they don’t. Publishers don’t want them to use the term “bitch” (because that offends the right wing white ladies), so they substitute “witch” instead and think they’re being cute and hip. They’re not. They’re being jerks in the same way as if/when they still used “gypsy” when we all know better now and should be doing better.

In many cases, such as in the long running series I mentioned above, it is out of character with the way the character has been established and their growth arc. In a long running series, if a character is faced with extraordinary challenges and slips under pressure in particular book, or backslides in growth to serve a particular book and the story, and then grows, that’s one thing, and makes sense in the greater context of the series. But when they’re just being awful and we the readers are supposed to think they’re brilliant, it doesn’t work. Again, we all make mistakes, we all have moments when we are less than perfect, but in a story, it needs to serve a purpose for narrative drive and character arc. Instead, it illuminates the hypocrisy of the character, the author, and the publisher who pretend and present that they’re being inclusive to a wider audience, when they’re being the opposite. And such slips serve a different purpose in something like a cozy mystery than they would in literary fiction, where it would be a deliberate character reveal choice with a purpose that is then fulfilled in the story.

So not only is it insulting and hypocritical, but it doesn’t work in the overall structure of the series.

Then, of course, there were the incidents of WASHINGTON POST and LA TIMES owners refusing to allow the papers to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris. I mean, I think the editors should have defied the owners (since several resigned anyway, they had nothing to lose if they were fired). I’m glad the WaPo is losing subscriptions – I saw an estimate of 60K subscriptions cancelled in 8 hours, but have not been able to confirm that through what I consider a reliable source.  Yesterday, I saw another claim that it had gone to 200K cancellations. Again, it’s a number mentioned by someone else that I have not been able to substantiate to my satisfaction. People are talking about cancelling Amazon Prime and not ordering from Amazon. Whether they will do that, or do what people did on Substack, which is go quiet during the furor and then go back when they thought people forgot, who knows?

As someone who does not have Amazon Prime and rarely orders from them anyway, it didn’t have much to do with me. I was, however, planning to order a few things this weekend via Amazon, for convenience, but wound up sourcing everything elsewhere through multiple sources for almost the same price. Not that my tiny purchases make a difference, but at least I feel like I did my bit.

As far as those getting on their high horses to denigrate authors for continuing to be distributed on Amazon, I find it interesting that most of them are on Substack, which completely negates anything they have to say about the ethics of those who feel they have to stay on Amazon.

I am not on KDP or KU unlimited – I don’t like the contract. I am distributed through Amazon, because that’s unfortunately necessary right now. I don’t like it, but as Ana Marie Cox pointed out on Bluesky, “There is no ethical consumption under capitalism. We all make compromises to exist in this institutionally unjust system.”

I am also distributed through a myriad of other options, including Hoopla, which distributes to libraries.

There are options for readers who are adamant about not ordering from Amazon. I respect they don’t want to buy from Amazon; therefore, there are other choices.  If they refuse to buy through another vendor because I’m distributed on Amazon and that negates me as an author choice, I wonder if they apply that to all the books they claim to want to read, including library books. Since almost all of them are distributed by Amazon (even though libraries generally purchase through Ingram or Baker & Taylor), I highly doubt it. If they choose not to read me, that’s fine; there are authors I choose not to read for a wide variety of reasons (including using “witch” as a slur against other women). And people choose to remain on Substack, or start on Substack, and I choose not to read what’s there. We make our choices.

On top of all of THAT, there was the debacle on Sunday night at Madison Square Garden. Jamie Dolan should be ashamed of having such an event in his facility. Bad enough he ruined the NY Rangers. Of course, Dolan never feels shame, as long as he can profit.

Truly horrifying.

Pluto (the planet of transformation) isn’t messing around as it leaves Capricorn and goes into Aquarius.

Monday was cloudy and chilly. I bundled up and walked down to the bank to deposit a check (because why drive when it’s only two blocks). I’m worried that I haven’t received any paperwork to renew the car registration; I will go to the RMV tomorrow (only a few blocks away) and ask them what’s going on. I tried to find out online, but that was a bust; however, I was invited to join the focus group to make the MA.gov website better and I agreed.

I’ve also been invited to be a Scholastic judge again, and I’m debating. We’re promised that last year’s technical issues have been resolved. I need to think about it for a day or two. It’s for the month of December, and I’m not sure I want to take on anymore around the holidays. I have some serious deadlines by the end of the year. Last year, we were told it was pro bono, which was fine; but then they gave us an honorarium. This year, who knows? I think I did four categories last year. If I do it again this year, I figure I’ll just do two.

Did some promos for the week’s tarot reading.

Tried to focus on my own work, but kept getting distracted by things like the election. I’ve written postcards, I’ve talked to people, I’ve written letters. I’m in regular touch with my elected officials. That is more effective by me than posting on social media; there are people whose realm is SM who excel at that. I can boost and share their posts; I don’t need to mimic them. We’ve voted. Just keep doing the work through the election, and beyond. Because there’s plenty to do, even if the fascists don’t win.

Managed to get a good chunk of work done on STRANGERS IN THE SNOW. I’m still finessing the end, doing some additional layering. I don’t want to change the voice of it, but do want to have some actual tension/stakes there. It has to be done this week, because it has to go out for formatting and final proofs, or it won’t be available by Thanksgiving.

Kindle Vella sent out an email. They’re shutting down the division as of February. They managed to kill it. I’m not surprised, and I’m very glad I listened to my instincts and pulled the material I did earlier this year. They could have been at the vanguard of serialized fiction, earning money for the company and the authors. Instead, they chose to put up every possible obstacle for both authors and readers, claiming it was to “improve reader experience” which it wasn’t. I’m sad for the authors who hung in there and worked hard; glad I listened to my gut and got out when I did.

Some coverages came in. I turned around two medium and one small. I have four coverages to turn around today, and four tomorrow. Hopefully, more come in for the next pay period.

Today is about celebrating my mother’s 100th birthday, getting some work done, turning around some coverages. My “Effie” rehearsal beings at 11:30 my time, and will run until at least 1:30 tomorrow morning. So I probably won’t get to bed until about 3. Tomorrow should be interesting.

More cards, calls, and gifts are showing up, so I better go take care of it all. I am picking up her favorite cheesecake later this afternoon. Have a good one!

Mon. Oct. 28, 2024: Intent for the Week — Gentle Navigation

image courtesy of  Lars Plöger via pixabay.com

The last week of October is always my busiest week of the year. This week is especially busy — in addition to everything for Samhain and the immediate days after, my mother turns 100 tomorrow, I’m reviewing applications as part of my advisory job, and I have rehearsals. And we have the upcoming election.

Plus, you know, work to pay the bills. And deadlines.

My intent, therefore, is to navigate it all with as much gentleness and good humor as possible.

The Community Tarot Reading for the Week is up on the Cerridwen’s Cottage site here.

How do you plan to get through the week?

Fri. Oct. 25, 2024: When Colleagues Are an Inspiration

image courtesy of pixabay.com

Friday, October 25, 2024

Waning Moon

Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde

Cloudy and cold

We’re at the end of another week!

I got out of the house on time yesterday, and had a lovely drive down to Lenox. It cleared up, and turned into a lovely, crisp autumn day.

I’d given myself enough time so that, even with traffic, I didn’t have to stress. And it’s not like traffic here is anywhere near as intense as in NY or even on Cape. It was just more than usual, with school buses and people headed to work.

I still arrived at the theatre early, which gave me time to sit in the garden and read a book until the house opened. The House Manager was interested in what I was reading, and made a note of it (Janet Malcolm’s book on Sylvia Plath, THE SILENT WOMAN).

I had a great seat, and the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre on the Shakespeare & Co. campus is a lovely space. It was a 10 AM show, which we used to call, not-so-lovingly, the “brat matinee” meaning school groups. However, this particular school group was theatre-oriented, and engaged. They had some good questions after the performance, during the talk back.

The show itself, GALLILEO’S DAUGHTER, is wonderful. The writing, direction, acting, and design are all terrific. The attention to detail, the sustained connection between the actors in each moment, and the commitment to the work was a delight. It was both funny and poignant, and, as someone who spends a lot of time digging in archives researching women forgotten by history, I related to it on many levels, especially the ferocity of love the writer felt for the woman she researched. It’s the kind of show that reminds me why I fell in love with theatre in the first place, and chose it for my career.

If you’re in this area, I hope you go and see it. If you’re on the other side of the state, it will be at the Central Square Theatre in Cambridge for a short run in mid-November, once it’s finished here, in early November.

GO SEE THIS SHOW!

Everything about the experience makes me want to work with this theatre company even more.

I floated out of the space, delighted. The kids stayed to have lunch in the lobby, and were all excitedly chatting about different elements of the play, including tech, as I left. Which is cool – theatre kids! The future of our profession, and this group gave me hope.

Had a lovely drive home. Stopped at Adams Fresh Market to pick up a few things, including my mother’s favorite rye bread (baked by a Pittsfield-based bakery).

While I was out, my mother watered all the plants; one of them overspilled its saucer, which she didn’t notice, soaking the whole kitchen table. So I stripped everything off and hung it all up to dry. We used the bare table for the rest of the day. Everything should be dry by this morning, and I’ll put it all back after breakfast. At least it was water, and not red wine or something chocolatey!

No coverages came in, but an unexpected payment came through on something, which takes off some of the immediate pressure. There’s another contest deadline today, so hopefully there will be coverages through the weekend and into next week.

Still waiting to hear from the director if he wants more changes or will just send on through the script to the cast.

Did I get any writing done yesterday afternoon? Nope. I just floated on the pleasure of the production I saw earlier in the day. I wrote notes to the theatre company, telling them how much I enjoyed the show. A friend who is in Cambridge for a couple of months and I are trying to sort out when we can get together. I’m hoping she can come out for a weekend, once the show records.

My mom is getting a pile of cards for her upcoming 100th birthday from so many people! She’s very pleased. I’ve set up a folding table in the living room, so we can display them all. A long-time family friend also sent her a Harry & David box full of cheeses and meats and mustards, some of her favorite things.

Bea is racing up and down the big kitty condo in the living room, having the Best Time. She tried to get Charlotte to play with her, and Charlotte had no idea what was going on. Tessa is the Queen, Charlotte is a Princess, Willa is Court Jester, and Bea is the Knight.

On today’s agenda: writing, revisions, errands (bank, grocery store, library). Coverages if they come in. Reading. The weekend is supposed to be pretty nice, albeit cold, so we might take a short jaunt somewhere, an early birthday celebration.

Our next rehearsal will be either Monday or Tuesday, and probably start at midnight my time, so that schedule will be wacky, too.

Have a good one, and I’ll catch you on the other side!

Thurs. Oct. 24, 2024: Today I’m an Audience Member!

image courtesy of Holger Langmaier via pixabay.com

Thursday, October 24, 2024

Waning Moon

Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde

Cloudy and much colder

You can read the latest about the garden on Gratitude and Growth here.

Yesterday morning was spent rewriting “Effie.” Lots of tweaks and tightening. It wound up with about a page worth of cuts, throughout the whole piece (it’s a one-act, runs a little over a half hour, so it was only 30 pages to begin with). But it was a case of working beat-to-beat, rebuilding some of the beats, making cuts, rebuilding the beat, and so on.

Took a lunch break, then turned around the six small coverages.

Went back to “Effie” for some final tweaks, proofed it, saved it, saved it as a PDF, and sent it to the director. I’m waiting for his thoughts on either more tweaks, or if he’ll send it on to the actors.

Cooked dinner, read a little in the evening. Bea hung out close by, either on her rocker or in the kitty condo. Didn’t go to bed much earlier than usual, but slept well. The cats routed me out of bed at the usual time this morning, and I got going on my day.

I’m posting this early, because I have to be out the door a little after 8 AM to make a 10 AM curtain down in Lenox. I’m going to a morning matinee of WAM’s GALILEO’S DAUGHTER down at Shakespeare & Company. We had talked about me seeing the play back when we had our meeting in August as part of our “getting to know each other” process, and I’m excited to see their work. Because the rehearsal schedule for my show has to remain flexible, I figured I’d book a time when no one in LA would be likely to rehearse! So it all works out.

I’m going to eat something, get dressed, slap some makeup on, and get going.

Fingers crossed some script coverage comes in for the afternoon. If not, my attention goes back to finishing the revision of STRANGERS and working on the funeral scene for I WILL BE DIFFERENT.

Unless the director needs more work on “Effie” in which case, that will take priority.

I’ll start the next book for review, too.

It’s about 20 degrees colder today than it was yesterday, and it may rain on and off over the day. I think our stretch of beautiful autumn weather is done.

Have a good one!

Wed. Oct. 23, 2024: Rehearsals and Rewrites

image courtesy of Alejandro Torres Beristain via pixabay.com

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Waning Moon

Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde

Sunny and pleasant

And here we are, at midweek!

Yesterday was a head-down-working day. I put information on the Body Be Gone anthology over on the Anthology page of the Devon Ellington Work site, plus a post on the News page. I used the graphics to do a round of social media posts, which I will continue to do for the rest of the week. I put up the Instagram post and link for the week’s tarot reading on the Cerridwen Iris Insta. I did some Topic Workbook promotions.

Got a very nice note from an editor to whom I pitched late last week. There were 450 applicants for the writing job, and it’s taking her longer than she expected to sort through them. She wanted me to know she received the pitch materials, and would get back to me once she’d read through everything. Very nice of her, and shows she is someone I hope to get a chance to work with.

I dug in and did detailed revisions on STRANGERS IN THE SNOW. I have about another five pages to work on, and then the additional materials. I should probably name the diner, but I kind of like having the diner and the town both anonymous. (Heck, Anonymous might be a good name for the diner).

Made lunch, relaxed with a book for a little while, before returning to script coverage. Turned around four coverages (1 medium, 3 small), which means I have six small ones to do today (since they are due around 4 AM tomorrow morning).

Did not go to yoga. Would have liked to attend the food co-op’s annual meeting, but decided to stay home and work instead.

Once I was finished with work, I finished another Martha Grimes (I’d also read one over the weekend). Both were intricately and interestingly plotted. The one I read over the weekend had some geographic inconsistencies, which made me feel disoriented at times. The more I read, the more I think she is often doing a send-up on “types” in British crime fiction, and then deepening the core characters. It’s very interesting to read them, back-to-back, from a writing perspective.

Rehearsal began at 11 PM my time. It went well; the cast put in the work. I made notes on things that need work. When we got offline at 1, I sat and did another round of revisions, mostly cuts, tightening, and clarification. I gave the character of Don a different final line, which I think is more in tone with the piece. I’ll do a few more passes on it today before sending it to the director for his thoughts, before he forwards it to the actors (or I have to make yet more changes, per his request).

I finally fell asleep around 3 AM this morning. I was aware of the cats being fed around 6:30, and got up a little after 7, because Charlotte and Tessa were being obnoxious.

I have a feeling there will be a nap in my future today, although the sleep I got was good.

Right before rehearsal started, I got a disappointing email about a funded program to which I’d applied. Not getting it was, of course, a disappointment (especially the money). But the email puzzled me. I think it was supposed to be humorous? But it read as snarky and flippant and disrespectful to the applicants. It moaned about the high response to the program (huh? Aren’t they happy people were excited?) and how they had to pull in people to help go through the applications (who are qualified because . . .?) and made it all about them, instead of about the program and the applicants, which rubbed me the wrong way. Then, they tried to upsell us on another program. Red flags galore. Also, even though there were a lot of applicants, a general snarky email to their entire mailing list is, to me, inappropriate. The applicants who didn’t make the cut should have been told ahead of time, not had public jokes made at their/our expense.

I thought maybe I misread the email because I was tired and in rehearsal head space, so I re-read it this morning, after some sleep. If anything, it read worse in the light of day, and wildly unprofessional. So maybe I dodged a bullet? I’ll stay on the mailing list for a few more missives to see if this is unusual, or the way they operate. If it’s the latter, I’ll unsubscribe (since applying automatically subscribed me?), and cross the organization off my list. I suspect that I am not the right fit for them, and they are not the right fit for me. I will keep an eye on the work of those who did make the cut, and see if their work is in tone with the tone set for the program by this email (in which case I am not the audience for the work, in addition to not being a right fit for the program).

It’s a shame, in some ways (especially financially), because the application call made the program sound like a lot of fun. It was a short intensive via ZOOM across time zones, although it overlapped with the show for two of them. That might have created a problem, considering that being in production means that show is the center of my life until mid-November.

It also makes me appreciate the places to which I’ve applied who treated me with grace and kindness, whether or not I made the final cut.

Today’s agenda: I have a feeling the only writing I will get done are the “Effie” revisions. Maybe I’ll sneak in a nap. Then, I have six short coverages to turn around. Not going to tarot today. It’s a head-down working day.

Happy to see so many people early voting! Let’s get this done, because of the Narcissistic Sociopath gets back into office, anyone with a brain and a heart is doomed.

On that happy note, have a good one!