Devon Ellington's Blog, page 73

Tues. Jan. 3, 2023: Getting Started For the New Year

image courtesy of Engin Akyurt via pixabay.com

Tues. Jan. 3, 2023

Waxing Moon

Uranus, Mars, Mercury Retrograde

Foggy and freezing rain

I hope you had a lovely holiday weekend, and that you took off yesterday as part of it, too.

I’ve spent so many New Year’s Eves being unhappy that a quiet one was just what I wanted. I did some noodling on two projects as I try to find out if they are viable. I uploaded what I feel comfortable sharing with my 2023 Goals, Dreams, and Resolutions over on that site.

I cleaned the house, vacuumed, changed the beds, did the dishes, mopped the floors, cleaned the bathrooms, granite counters (with its special cleaner) and stainless steel (with those special wipes). I like going into the New Year with a clean house.

I made devilled eggs and small rum cakes with rum glaze. I was worried I’d put in too much rum (I tweaked the recipe), but it came out just right. I put the rum IN the mix and the glaze, rather than soaking the cakes later. I like it better the way I did it.

I’ve been asked, over the years, why I bother putting up a lot of decorations and doing big meals and cleaning for the holidays when I don’t have lots of people over. I do it for us. I do it because the years I haven’t done it, I was unhappy. Making the places festive for various holidays makes me happy, so why not do it? Why must everything always be for someone else?

I made the salmon with cumin glaze, and we had sweet potatoes with it, for the Eve meal. We stayed up, watched the ball come down in Times Square (to think, I used to be able to watch from my apartment window, I lived so close; glad not to be in that madness now). It was very discouraging to see all those people crammed in there unmasked.

I stayed up until a little after one. Tessa was delighted. Charlotte and Willa were confused. It is lovely to live somewhere that locals aren’t setting off illegal fireworks in the streets and putting us in danger.

Up early on the Day. Did the fire and ice ritual. Noodled a bit on the two projects with which I’m playing.

I made traditional Eggs Benedict for breakfast, which was good.

I set up the new, small inkjet printer. Finally. It took 3 damn hours. It should have taken 20 minutes, but the printer drivers wouldn’t load properly, and the laptop wouldn’t recognize the printer, even though it was connected by USB. What a nightmare. It’s such a lightweight piece of lousy plastic, I’ll be lucky if it lasts a week. But the scanner works well, and it’s better than not having a printer at all.

I printed out the last three chapters of THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH, so at least that’s all in the binder, and I can put it aside to rest for two months, while I work on other things.

I had to rearrange my office space to fit the second printer (the big laser printer is sitting there like a lump until I can get someone over to fix it). At first, I hated the rearrangement, but now I kind of like it. I still have to find a convenient place to put the file folders I need regularly, but I can make this configuration work.

Started reading a book that I hoped would be wonderful, by a Very Prominent Author. The premise sounded great, and it started off well. Then, a few chapters in, for no discernable reason, it switched into present tense and stayed there. I hated it, so I stopped reading.

So much for the first book of the year holding deep meaning. I thought I’d chosen so well!

Started reading one of the books I received as a holiday gift, and that was fun. Read the next book for review, which was interesting, but completely shifted genres for the last third of the book, and structurally couldn’t support the shift.

I have a few scripts in my queue to start the week, but not enough, so I hope more will come in.

Slept in a bit on Monday. Technically, it’s a holiday, but I needed to get some work done.

Many of the businesses and organizations around here close for the first two weeks of January, and I fully support that. Everyone is tired. It’s winter. We need rest.

I did some work in longhand on two projects: one I’m writing the actual story, and the other, I’m making outline notes. The second is pulling to start “writing into” so that I can finish the outline, but I want to do the other one first.

Posted the “Intent for the Week” here. Polished the Ink-Dipped Advice post that goes live tomorrow, and the Process Muse post that does the same, and wrote the Process Muse post for next week. It’s up and scheduled.

Did a quick round of the social media sites.

Revised, polished, uploaded, and scheduled Episodes 49 & 50 of Legerdemain, which go live next week. They needed a good bit of work, as, I believe, the next episode will.

Swung by the post office to mail a few things, and then the liquor store to stock up. In the afternoon, I turned around a script. In the evening, we had the online soup class with Chef Jeremy. Good thing it’s online, with the number of attendees who “got COVID for Christmas.”

Class was fun, and there are techniques I can and will use when I make the bouillabaisse later this week.

Did not sleep well, because Charlotte woke me up every two hours (including throwing up in the bed at 2:30). So that was a lot of cleanup and comforting her. I tried shutting her out of the bedroom, but she had a panic attack.

I had a series of weird dreams – in one, I was lost in a large school in which I’ve had dreams before; another was about writing a rent check to a person I know only from online, because I was subletting from him; the third was kind of a mess; a fourth had to do with an important scene for the outline I’ve been working on in longhand (which I wrote up this morning).

Which meant I overslept, and am getting a late start this morning.

The plan is to work ahead on Legerdemain today, first. On the social media rounds, I will post links to the regular Tuesday material, including the episode of Legerdemain that drops today, and one of the Topic Workbooks. I also have to work on some interview questions that need to go out this week for an article, create the episode graphics for the episodes that uploaded yesterday, and turn around two scripts. I hope I’ll get out a few LOIs, too. I have to swing by the library, but it’s just a quick drop off/pick up, nothing major.

I need to buckle down and focus today. Which is difficult, because I’m sleep-deprived. But we keep on keeping on, right?

Have a good one.

Tues. Jan. 3, 2022: Getting Started For the New Year

image courtesy of Engin Akyurt via pixabay.com

Tues. Jan. 3, 2022

Waxing Moon

Uranus, Mars, Mercury Retrograde

Foggy and freezing rain

I hope you had a lovely holiday weekend, and that you took off yesterday as part of it, too.

I’ve spent so many New Year’s Eves being unhappy that a quiet one was just what I wanted. I did some noodling on two projects as I try to find out if they are viable. I uploaded what I feel comfortable sharing with my 2023 Goals, Dreams, and Resolutions over on that site.

I cleaned the house, vacuumed, changed the beds, did the dishes, mopped the floors, cleaned the bathrooms, granite counters (with its special cleaner) and stainless steel (with those special wipes). I like going into the New Year with a clean house.

I made devilled eggs and small rum cakes with rum glaze. I was worried I’d put in too much rum (I tweaked the recipe), but it came out just right. I put the rum IN the mix and the glaze, rather than soaking the cakes later. I like it better the way I did it.

I’ve been asked, over the years, why I bother putting up a lot of decorations and doing big meals and cleaning for the holidays when I don’t have lots of people over. I do it for us. I do it because the years I haven’t done it, I was unhappy. Making the places festive for various holidays makes me happy, so why not do it? Why must everything always be for someone else?

I made the salmon with cumin glaze, and we had sweet potatoes with it, for the Eve meal. We stayed up, watched the ball come down in Times Square (to think, I used to be able to watch from my apartment window, I lived so close; glad not to be in that madness now). It was very discouraging to see all those people crammed in there unmasked.

I stayed up until a little after one. Tessa was delighted. Charlotte and Willa were confused. It is lovely to live somewhere that locals aren’t setting off illegal fireworks in the streets and putting us in danger.

Up early on the Day. Did the fire and ice ritual. Noodled a bit on the two projects with which I’m playing.

I made traditional Eggs Benedict for breakfast, which was good.

I set up the new, small inkjet printer. Finally. It took 3 damn hours. It should have taken 20 minutes, but the printer drivers wouldn’t load properly, and the laptop wouldn’t recognize the printer, even though it was connected by USB. What a nightmare. It’s such a lightweight piece of lousy plastic, I’ll be lucky if it lasts a week. But the scanner works well, and it’s better than not having a printer at all.

I printed out the last three chapters of THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH, so at least that’s all in the binder, and I can put it aside to rest for two months, while I work on other things.

I had to rearrange my office space to fit the second printer (the big laser printer is sitting there like a lump until I can get someone over to fix it). At first, I hated the rearrangement, but now I kind of like it. I still have to find a convenient place to put the file folders I need regularly, but I can make this configuration work.

Started reading a book that I hoped would be wonderful, by a Very Prominent Author. The premise sounded great, and it started off well. Then, a few chapters in, for no discernable reason, it switched into present tense and stayed there. I hated it, so I stopped reading.

So much for the first book of the year holding deep meaning. I thought I’d chosen so well!

Started reading one of the books I received as a holiday gift, and that was fun. Read the next book for review, which was interesting, but completely shifted genres for the last third of the book, and structurally couldn’t support the shift.

I have a few scripts in my queue to start the week, but not enough, so I hope more will come in.

Slept in a bit on Monday. Technically, it’s a holiday, but I needed to get some work done.

Many of the businesses and organizations around here close for the first two weeks of January, and I fully support that. Everyone is tired. It’s winter. We need rest.

I did some work in longhand on two projects: one I’m writing the actual story, and the other, I’m making outline notes. The second is pulling to start “writing into” so that I can finish the outline, but I want to do the other one first.

Posted the “Intent for the Week” here. Polished the Ink-Dipped Advice post that goes live tomorrow, and the Process Muse post that does the same, and wrote the Process Muse post for next week. It’s up and scheduled.

Did a quick round of the social media sites.

Revised, polished, uploaded, and scheduled Episodes 49 & 50 of Legerdemain, which go live next week. They needed a good bit of work, as, I believe, the next episode will.

Swung by the post office to mail a few things, and then the liquor store to stock up. In the afternoon, I turned around a script. In the evening, we had the online soup class with Chef Jeremy. Good thing it’s online, with the number of attendees who “got COVID for Christmas.”

Class was fun, and there are techniques I can and will use when I make the bouillabaisse later this week.

Did not sleep well, because Charlotte woke me up every two hours (including throwing up in the bed at 2:30). So that was a lot of cleanup and comforting her. I tried shutting her out of the bedroom, but she had a panic attack.

I had a series of weird dreams – in one, I was lost in a large school in which I’ve had dreams before; another was about writing a rent check to a person I know only from online, because I was subletting from him; the third was kind of a mess; a fourth had to do with an important scene for the outline I’ve been working on in longhand (which I wrote up this morning).

Which meant I overslept, and am getting a late start this morning.

The plan is to work ahead on Legerdemain today, first. On the social media rounds, I will post links to the regular Tuesday material, including the episode of Legerdemain that drops today, and one of the Topic Workbooks. I also have to work on some interview questions that need to go out this week for an article, create the episode graphics for the episodes that uploaded yesterday, and turn around two scripts. I hope I’ll get out a few LOIs, too. I have to swing by the library, but it’s just a quick drop off/pick up, nothing major.

I need to buckle down and focus today. Which is difficult, because I’m sleep-deprived. But we keep on keeping on, right?

Have a good one.

Mon. Jan. 2, 2023: Intent for the Week — Ease into the New Year with Grace

image courtesy of  Frank Winkler via pixabay.com

New Year’s is usually a struggle for me, so I try to keep it as quiet and calm as possible.

So often, we fling ourselves into the New Year that we overwhelm ourselves and burn out by the end of the first week or two. This year, I want to ease in with as much grace as possible.

The “grace” part will be a challenge with the current retrograde.

But I will try.

What is your intent for the week?

Fri. Dec. 30, 2022: Happy New Year!

image coourtesy of Oleksandr Pidvalnyi via pixabay.com

Friday, December 30, 2022

Waxing Moon

Uranus, Mars, and Mercury Retrograde

Cloudy and mild

Yesterday was about getting ahead on various blog articles. I spent far more time than I planned on them, which means this afternoon, I need to focus on getting the next episodes of LEGERDEMAIN uploaded and scheduled.

The first batch of contest entries arrived, but no inventory sheet; I’m hoping they sent me one via email, so I can check in the books and see which ones I need to download. I will get started on those this weekend, probably. Those that arrived as print submissions look good, and I’m excited to get started on them.

I did some planning work/notes/noodling on a project. It’s going to be fun, and I think I’m going to set in in Northumbria, one of my favorite places. I’ll create a fictional town between Morpeth and Bamburgh. I’ll get to have some fun in London locations, too.

The Artists Working Group has been disbanded, which is one less stress on my monthly schedule. As much as I had hopes and liked the people I met through it, it felt like organizations were coming in looking for free labor for their projects and events. My own work comes first; once I’ve done my own work and filled in client work to meet the financial needs for the month, THEN I can volunteer on other people’s projects. Not before. Getting guilted into putting other people’s work first and doing free labor for them under the guise of “building community” or “for the good of the organization” is part of the reason I was so unhappy on Cape Cod.

Charlotte decided to sleep in a chair in the office last night (after doing another Catzilla through the Christmas village), so at least I got some sleep until 4 AM, when she decided to come and wake me up for attention. I got up a little before 6, coaxed out of bed by the smell of coffee and Tessa’s complaints.

I went to the laundromat (we do not start the New Year with dirty panties in this house), and got two big loads done and back and put away. While the clothes did their thing, I wrote about 1K of a project on which I’m writing my way in to see if it’s viable. So far, so good. After a few more chapters I’ll sit down and write my Writer’s Rough Outline, and then decide where it can fit into the schedule. It’s flowing well, and I like the characters and situation.

Once I came home, put the laundry away (or hung up what needs to air dry), and had breakfast, I headed back out again. I went around the corner to drop off some mail that I been misdelivered to me. I headed for the grocery store and bought what we need for the weekend’s festivities.

Tomorrow night, I’ll do the salmon with cumin and orange glaze that’s become a New Year’s Eve tradition. I like to make a duck for the Day, but they were hard to get this year, and I don’t have the energy to go dashing around. Instead, I’m doing a roasted chicken sausage with kale, apple, and cranberries. We will, of course, have a traditional Eggs Benedict for the day (pork before noon, my friends, is a family tradition).

On the eve, another family tradition is to have herring before midnight. Not a big fan, but hey, whatever brings luck, right? I’ll also make some devilled eggs, and there’s an orange and fig spread and an assortment of cheeses. Plenty of prosecco for the Eve and the Day, and a bayberry candle to “burn to the socket to bring cash to the pocket.”

New Year’s Day will start with the Fire & Ice ritual, but overall, both the Eve and the Day will be quiet. I spent many years working on the Eve (working in theatre means you work nights and holidays). When I worked on Broadway and lived a block off Times Square, even if I got out of the show before midnight, I couldn’t get to my apartment, because the streets were sealed off. So I was forced to go to an overpriced restaurant or someone’s party. Even if I was with people I liked, it was too much, and not the way I wanted to start the year. After a few too many years of that, I started taking New Year’s Eve off work and going upstate to a yoga/meditation retreat, and that made a huge, positive difference, even if I had to race back down to the city to work a show or shows on New Year’s Day. Now that I don’t work backstage anymore, I can create the quiet, reflective New Year tranSItions and traDItions that work for me, and I’m much happier.

Monday is a day off, and then I plan to EASE into the year, instead of trying to race into it and overload myself at the beginning.

What are your plans for the transition? Whatever they are, I wish you joy.

Peace, my friends, and Happy New Year.

Thurs. Dec. 29, 2022: First Draft of THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH is Done!

image courtesy of Dom J via pexels.com

Thursday, December 29, 2022

Waxing Moon

Uranus, Mars, Mercury Retrograde

Partly sunny and mild

Finally, there’s a new post up over on Gratitude and Growth!

To say I am unhappy about a FOURTH Mercury Retrograde this year is an understatement. I need a full year with NO Mercury Retrogrades (yeah, I know that won’t happen).

I did some work on some of the websites yesterday morning. The Devon Ellington Work website is missing a bunch of material I’d uploaded over the past months, which is disturbing. I managed to add the Serials page and rearrange a few things that weren’t working. I need to take down and re-upload the slide show on the landing page. I did some fixes on other pages, but also have to add in more buy links, since additional markets opened for some of the releases. I did some work on the Legerdemain website, but not enough. I wrote the blurb for ANGEL HUNT, and came up with the logline, which I will add today.

When all that was done, I sat down and worked on THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH. By the end of the first 2K, I knew I was only a couple of chapters away from the end. So I kept going (thank you, Paula, for the encouragement along the way). I wrote a total of three chapters, around 6K, and finished this first draft. Phew! I made my goal of finishing the draft by the end of the year.

It came in just over 68K,which is a little low for this genre, but it leaves me room to layer in more period detail, integrate it better into the story, and maybe put in another red herring or two as I revise.

Now it can sit for two months, before I start working on revisions. Before I revise, I also have to spend some quality time in the library archives with newspapers from the months the book covers, for more color and detail. I’ll have to see, on the schedule, if I need to book library time the prior week, or if that’s part of the “start of revisions.” It will depend how the rest of the schedule shakes out.

I noodled with some ideas I’m playing with. There are a couple that seem viable, but until I write my way in for a few chapters, I can’t be sure.

I should have worked on downloading the rest of the software and getting the other Gmail accounts up and running again, but I didn’t. No doubt, with Mercury Retrograde again, they will be a PITA. I shouldn’t be forced into 2-factor authentications for email. It has nothing to do with “security” and everything about collecting and selling my information.

I received the next two books for review; I hope to get them done over this holiday weekend, so I can submit the reviews and invoice for this last bunch. Since I took the time off from script coverage (not that anything was even coming in), I want to be able to invoice for at least a little bit at the top of the month. I have bills, plus things like another Chewy order coming up.

Brainstormed a bunch of ideas for The Process Muse, Ink-Dipped Advice, and the Goals, Dreams, and Resolutions blog, so now it’s about sitting down and doing some batch writing this week and next week. I’d like to get a little ahead, in case of more technical difficulties.

I read THE FORTUNE TELLER by Gwendolyn Womack last night. Wow. That was an intense book. If you like tarot, old manuscripts, and adventure, it’s a good read. I’m going to track down and read her other books, too.

Up early this morning, to the glorious smell of freshly brewed coffee. It’s amazing how much that small indulgence improves the start of my day. Charlotte kept waking me up all night, wanting attention, so I don’t feel particularly well-rested.

I wrote early, a few pages in longhand, playing with one of my ideas. It’s going well (in spite of the pages written at the busy laundromat last week, which don’t really make sense). It was difficult to stop and switch my focus over to meditation group, but I did, and I’m glad I did. Charlotte was thrilled to be back up on Zoom again.

This morning, I’ll probably do a little more work in longhand, before doing some more work on LEGERDEMAIN and ANGEL HUNT. I also want to work on ahead on some posts for next week, typing up the answers to the GDR Questions for 2023, and posts for Ink-Dipped Advice and The Process Muse.

I also hope to have time to make some specific notes on another project I’m noodling. Basically, I’m noodling three (or is it four?) different projects to see which is viable and can be fitted into the schedule, as I work on the writing schedule for this year. There’s a lot I want to finish and get out the door, and I also have to leave room for new work, work that’s coming out of stasis, and new opportunities. As I get an idea of how everything is earning its keep, I can make decisions on how much and what kind of freelance work to take on month-to-month.

Instead of being a roadmap, this year’s plan is more like a big lake of writing, and then I need to see which rivers of words are the most viable on creative and financial levels, and put my energy there.

Mercury just went retrograde, and I’m already over it. I dread putting up the new printer, but I need it.

And I’m finished a bunch of admin work and clearing file space, so I can put AWAY the old year, and make room for the new, with all its opportunities. I dreaded the turn of the last year, much as I wanted 2021 to be over. I feel like the internal work I’ve done this year is getting ready to affect the external portions of my life in 2023, and for that, I am grateful. I’m still a little afraid to be hopeful, but I’m grateful.

Have a good one, my friends.

Wed. Dec. 28, 2022: Back in Communication From the Home Office

image courtesy of Pexels via Pixabay.com

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Waxing Moon

Uranus and Mars Retrograde

Mercury goes retrograde tomorrow again

Cloudy and a little warmer

The computer is back and sort of running, so I’m able to do most things from home again. Missed you!

The latest Process Muse dropped this morning. If you haven’t subscribed yet, I hope you will. New musings release every Wednesday. The subscription is free.

Yesterday was a little chaotic. I got the errands done that I didn’t do on Monday. I returned 15 books to the library and posted the blog for the day from their computer. I also sent out the two reviews I’d written first thing.

But it was well into the afternoon by the time I got back, and I had nothing left in the tank to give to THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH. Or anything else, for that matter.

The laptop returned mid-afternoon, supposedly repaired. What they did was reload the operating system, but nothing’s been done to fix what caused the problem in the first place. It took 3 hours to upgrade again to Windows11, get Google up and running, and get Office back in place. It doesn’t look like I lost anything from the hard drive itself except for the downloads, which is fine.

Scrivener won’t download, so I have to try that again. And I have to get DramaQueen again. Not sure what to do with Discord, since it caused so many problems, and I’m keeping McAfee off. All those attempts to uninstall it didn’t work, but now it’s uninstalled, and I plan to keep it that way. I also have to get the other Gmail accounts loaded back in, which will be a major PITA. I shouldn’t be forced to do 2-step authentication.

But I’ll turn my attention to all of that AFTER I’ve written.

The laser printer decided it no longer wants to work. Again. I wonder if it has something to do with the laptop? It was fine with the old Macbook. So, again, AFTER I’ve written, I will set up the new printer.

In addition to THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH (and maybe some work on LEGERDEMAIN), I want to work ahead on posts for Ink-Dipped Advice and The Process Muse. But I don’t know if that will happen today.

The first box of contest entries is also supposed to arrive today, so I’ll have to do the administrative work on those, and probably start reading this weekend. I’d also like to do some freshening up on all the websites.

So much for a week off? Well, last week was my forced week off a lot, sort of.

I’m coming up with a new social media plan for the first part of next year, anyway, that should streamline the daily process and also make my time in each space a better experience for myself and for those with whom I interact.

I’ve made notes on Process Muse posts to early June. I’ll block off some time to batch write posts and schedule them, in case there are more technical difficulties, so I don’t need to worry. And I want to get way ahead on uploading/scheduling LEGERDEMAIN and ANGEL HUNT posts.

Time and energy management are key, going into 2023.

The plan today is to stay home and get everything working again – AFTER I’ve done the writing I want to do. Protect the work. Make sure the writing comes first. That, too, is my key to a creative 2023.

Peace, my friends, and it’s nice to be able to be in contact from my home office!

Wed. Dec. 27, 2022: Back in Communication From the Home Office

image courtesy of Pexels via Pixabay.com

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

Waxing Moon

Uranus and Mars Retrograde

Mercury goes retrograde tomorrow again

Cloudy and a little warmer

The computer is back and sort of running, so I’m able to do most things from home again. Missed you!

The latest Process Muse dropped this morning. If you haven’t subscribed yet, I hope you will. New musings release every Wednesday. The subscription is free.

Yesterday was a little chaotic. I got the errands done that I didn’t do on Monday. I returned 15 books to the library and posted the blog for the day from their computer. I also sent out the two reviews I’d written first thing.

But it was well into the afternoon by the time I got back, and I had nothing left in the tank to give to THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH. Or anything else, for that matter.

The laptop returned mid-afternoon, supposedly repaired. What they did was reload the operating system, but nothing’s been done to fix what caused the problem in the first place. It took 3 hours to upgrade again to Windows11, get Google up and running, and get Office back in place. It doesn’t look like I lost anything from the hard drive itself except for the downloads, which is fine.

Scrivener won’t download, so I have to try that again. And I have to get DramaQueen again. Not sure what to do with Discord, since it caused so many problems, and I’m keeping McAfee off. All those attempts to uninstall it didn’t work, but now it’s uninstalled, and I plan to keep it that way. I also have to get the other Gmail accounts loaded back in, which will be a major PITA. I shouldn’t be forced to do 2-step authentication.

But I’ll turn my attention to all of that AFTER I’ve written.

The laser printer decided it no longer wants to work. Again. I wonder if it has something to do with the laptop? It was fine with the old Macbook. So, again, AFTER I’ve written, I will set up the new printer.

In addition to THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH (and maybe some work on LEGERDEMAIN), I want to work ahead on posts for Ink-Dipped Advice and The Process Muse. But I don’t know if that will happen today.

The first box of contest entries is also supposed to arrive today, so I’ll have to do the administrative work on those, and probably start reading this weekend. I’d also like to do some freshening up on all the websites.

So much for a week off? Well, last week was my forced week off a lot, sort of.

I’m coming up with a new social media plan for the first part of next year, anyway, that should streamline the daily process and also make my time in each space a better experience for myself and for those with whom I interact.

I’ve made notes on Process Muse posts to early June. I’ll block off some time to batch write posts and schedule them, in case there are more technical difficulties, so I don’t need to worry. And I want to get way ahead on uploading/scheduling LEGERDEMAIN and ANGEL HUNT posts.

Time and energy management are key, going into 2023.

The plan today is to stay home and get everything working again – AFTER I’ve done the writing I want to do. Protect the work. Make sure the writing comes first. That, too, is my key to a creative 2023.

Peace, my friends, and it’s nice to be able to be in contact from my home office!

Tues. Dec. 27, 2022: Holiday Catch-Up

Tuesday, December 27, 2022

Waxing Moon

Uranus and Mars Retrograde

Chiron Direct as of December 23

Sunny and cold

Hello, my friends, and I hope you had a lovely holiday weekend.

Hopefully, the newsletter went out properly last Wednesday, and you enjoyed the holiday tale, “Comfort, Then Joy.”

I am still waiting for my computer, although supposedly it is repaired and on its way back. So my posts on all the blogs will be erratic this week; which is kind of okay, since I planned to take this week off anyway.

We had a big storm come in late Thursday, before the holiday weekend. It poured with rain all day Friday. I was very glad I didn’t have to go anywhere. I have the new, big coffeemaker set up, and I admit that waking up to the smell of coffee in the morning is glorious.

I did manage to get a whole lotta laundry done on Thursday morning, before the storm came in. I brought some ideas with which I’m noodling, but there were Other People there, so it wasn’t as useful a work time as it usually is.

I’m able to keep up with my email, for the most part, on the phone and the tablet, but when the storm came in, I shut everything down, to avoid power surges and other issues.

I started reading some mysteries, but didn’t like the writing and the protagonists definitely fell into the “too stupid to live” category, so those are going back to the library, and those authors are crossed off the list.

It snowed for a little bit at night, and quickly changed over to rain.

Rained all night. Friday, it rained all day, and it was windy. Chiron went direct during the day — Chiron is about the Wounded Healer. I definitely feel like a lot of this year has been about healing, or at least recognizing where healing needs to happen, and letting go. Pretty much feel like a limp dishrag from the work.

I played with several story ideas on themes I’ve worked with for years, but never quite made work. We’ll see.

I worked on my answers to the 2023 Questions on the Goals, Dreams, and Resolutions site. If you’d like to take a look at the questions to help you with your own musings, here is the link.

I read, a mystery by someone whose first book I liked, but thought this one was “meh.” I’m giving this series one more shot; if book three doesn’t work, I’ll give up. Book Two is problematic, no matter what.

I read the first book in another series that was a lot of fun. It’s Diane Vallere’s first Costume Shop Mystery, A DISGUISE TO DIE FOR, and I enjoyed it. I look forward to reading the rest of the series, and she has several more series that sound like fun, too.

Christmas Eve, got up early to zero degrees, but at least a white Christmas. We were lucky; the power held. Wrapped presents. Read. Did some tidying up. Wrote a bit, in longhand, playing with some ideas.

Our big Christmas Eve dinner was a cod, mussel, and scallop paella. If you saw the photos on social media, it looks very dark. That’s not from squid ink; it’s from all the spinach in it. It took several hours to make and get done properly, but was worth it. Very delicious. Plenty of leftovers for the week. It’s a dish that needs time and care.

Willa is always fascinated, and loves to watch me cook.. She either sits on the bed in my mother’s room, which is off the kitchen, or on a kitchen chair. It’s hilarious.

We opened presents after dinner, which is always fun, and enjoyed the tree and the candles.

Christmas Day, we were up early (to the glorious smell of coffee and the prodding of the cats) and enjoyed our stockings. I made scrambled eggs to go with the panettone. The panettone was disappointing this year. I have a feeling I might need to learn how to make that, too.

Had a leisurely day. Read BORROWER OF THE NIGHT by Elizabeth Peters. How have I missed the Vicky Bliss series all these years? It’s a lot of fun, and I look forward to reading more.

The big Christmas Day meal was Coq Au Vin — another one that takes hours to do, because of the layering of flavors, but it was very good.

Honestly, I feel like I could just stay in bed and sleep the rest of the week. If I could afford to, I’d like to sleep through the entire upcoming Mercury Retrograde. We had four of the damn things in 2022, and I am over it.

Coffee and cats got me up early on Monday.  I got some writing done, in longhand, and finished a short story, and planned a couple more. I hoped to take care of a few things, but got caught up trying to download the photos out of iPhoto onto a backup device. I got about half of the photos moved, and then the old Macbook just wouldn’t let me copy to a device or even export to the machine’s own hard drive I have them on Time Machine; I’m just not sure how to get them off time machine and onto something I can use.

I have the original SD cards from everything I took with a camera. Maybe I’ll get a reader/adapter for the laptop and then download all of them onto flash drives and the external hard drive.

Another digital camera is on my list for this year. I HATE relying on the phone. I’ve lost so many photos thanks to the phone. I have an SD card in the current phone, thank goodness, but still.

Anyway, that took longer than I’d hoped, so I decided to put off the errands until today.

I did some work on LEGERDEMAIN and on ANGEL HUNT instead (gotta love flash drives and Word for Mac). I wrote thank you notes. I planned future posts for Ink-Dipped Advice and The Process Muse.

The first 44 episodes of ANGEL HUNT (22 weeks’ worth) are ready for the final polish and upload in early January, so the launch on the 25th should work. I won’t get the live link to the serial until the day it debuts from Kindle Vella, so I can’t work ahead scheduling the episode graphics to drop. What I CAN do is upload at least the first 2 months, and then create the episode graphics, so that when it goes live, I can just upload and schedule.

I also need to work ahead further on LEGERDEMAIN, and upload/do episode graphics and get ahead on that. I’m also working on a prize package giveaway for it, and looking at buying some ad time for it, probably later in January, or early February, and buying ad time for ANGEL HUNT in February, too.

I’d like, this week, to work ahead a bit on some of the blog entries, so that next week is more about uploading them than creating them.

I deleted a bunch of stuff from the Kindle, old contest entries and books I reviewed that I don’t need to keep, to make room for the incoming.

I’m trying to finish the first draft of THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH this week, too. Not sure if I’ll meet that goal, but I’m giving it a go. I drafted Chapter 29 yesterday, just a smidge under 1900 words. I’m about to start the climactic sequence. Not sure if that will be three or four chapters. If I keep showing up at the page steadily, I should be able to get it done. Then it can rest for two months at least before I start revisions. I also need to do some more research before I start revision, to layer in more period details.

In those two months of rest, I want to finish the revision on CAST IRON MURDER and get the submission materials prepped. There are two, possibly three publishers to whom I want to query it, in addition to the small publisher who’s handled some of my other work.

I need to spend some time this week to sit down and really look at what writing projects NEED to get done this year, and mix them with the writing projects I WANT to get done. If I get THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH finished before January 1, I will have written only one novel this year, and that’s not sustainable. LEGERDEMAIN’s done decently (both creatively and financially), and I licensed some radio plays and wrote some other plays and short stories, but I didn’t have a real plan this year, and it shows. I need to come up with something more sustainable for 2023. This year was about healing and settling in to the new location. I did some good healing work (although there is much more to do) and I’m content and often happy here.

Now, I need to come up with a sustainable plan for the fiction, so that it’s in balance with the nonfiction and other writing-related work that I do. Everything has to earn its keep, and I need to get back into the 13-in-Play concept, where there are always at least 13 pieces out on submission.

This morning was about the errands I didn’t get done yesterday (and digging out the car from this weekend Was Not Fun). I also had to mail off a bunch of stuff at the post office, drop off books at the library, and upload all of this at the library. I wrote two book reviews and sent them off, and I’m waiting for my next assignments.

The plan for the afternoon is to write Chapter 30 of THE TREES WHISPERED DEATH and see how far into the climactic sequence that gets me. I don’t really like writing fiction in the afternoon, but that’s the way it shook out yesterday and today, so I’ll go with it.

The repaired computer is to show up sometime this week, and I figure it’ll take a half-day to get it set up again properly. I’m sure I lost a few things, but we’ll set up what we can. I was pretty good about regular backups, so I’d only have lost stuff from sometime in November that I hadn’t backed up anywhere else.

The first box of contest entries should arrive this week (I’m judging three categories this year). I’ll log in the physical books first and then start downloading the digital entries. Depending on how many are entered this year, it should be a busy reading time between now and May, between books to review, contest entries to judge, and the script coverage.

Which means the morning writing has to be focused and productive.

Hope you’re having a great “Betweenmas” as Dianne Dotson calls it, and enjoying some rest.

Wed. December 21, 2022: Blessed Solstice (and Upcoming Holidays)

Wednesday, December 21, 2022

Day before dark moon

Chiron, Uranus, Mars Retrograde

Sunny and cold

Yesterday, I did some more cookie deliveries and uploaded a few things at the library. I picked up a couple of last minute items, and now I just have to wrap.

There are a couple more cookie platters I want to give out, but I haven’t been able to reach the people, so it might be next week.

I might not have needed that extra batch of oatmeal currant cookies, but we’ll eat them!

I started playing with one of the new ideas, to see if it will be feasible. Wrote about 1600 words yesterday and nearly 1000 words so far this morning. It relieves the stress of the deadlined projects, and it’s in longhand.

I did a few more drafts of “Comfort, Then Joy” and another two drafts this morning. It’s going in the newsletter, and, hopefully, the newsletter will go out while I’m at the library, without too many errors!

I’m doing a grocery shop and then I’m in.

It’s Winter Solstice today, so I’ll do my ritual of sitting as it gets dark, and moving around the house, putting on all the lights and candles. I’ll also take the big iron cauldron out on the back balcony and burn greens from last Solstice.

Dinner tonight is Cornish Hen, and we’ll use the stock I’ll make later in the Coq Au Vin on Sunday.

It’s the day before dark moon, my lowest energy day of the month, but too bad for me. I’m back on iron supplements, because the anemia is rearing its head again. There’s still more decorating to get done before tonight, and we switched over from flannel sheets to fleece.

I should have gone to the Laundromat first thing, but it was 8 degrees. It’ll be in the 40s tomorrow, so I’ll go then, even though it’s supposed to be a mix of snow and rain.

This will probably be the last post I do until sometime next week — the laptop is still in computer hospital.

I wish you a joyful and peaceful Chanukah, Solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and everything else you celebrate.

Tues. Dec. 20, 2022: Quick Catch Up (Especially on the Baking)

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Waning Moon

Chiron, Uranus, Mars Retrograde

Partly sunny and cold

This won’t be our usual long Tuesday natter, because I’m limited in what I can do on my devices and where I can upload what.

The storm that came in at the beginning of last weekend wasn’t as bad as predicted for us, but I was still glad to stay home. I was in by mid-day of Thursday, although it didn’t start until about 11 PM on Thursday night.

But once I got home on Thursday, I stayed on the couch and read. And Friday, same. I was on the couch, alternating between watching the snow and reading. Because we are at an elevation (being in the mountains) and on the second floor, it’s lovely to watch the sky.

Saturday, I dug out the car. But, mostly, I baked. I made another batch of the brown sugar maple cookies with maple glaze. But the big thing was the Dresden Stollen.

Stollen is a big deal in my family tradition. There used to be a variety of bakeries on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and even in Westchester County, where I grew up, that made wonderful stollen. But they went out of business over the years. We used to order it from Swiss Colony, but it was mediocre. We tried several other places, including Vermont Country Store, but it just wasn’t that good, especially for the price. And the price makes sense, when you realize just how much goes into making it.

I use the Dresden Stollen recipe from Mimi Sheraton’s THE GERMAN COOKBOOK. It takes eight hours, so I have to put aside an entire day to make it. There’s an initial rise with only a few of the ingredients, and then two extra rises that should take an hour to an hour and a half each, but can take more.

This recipe makes 3 giant stollen loaves that are between 3 and 5 pounds each. When you look at the prices on store bought stollen, that’s usually hard and stale and about $30 for a single pound, it makes sense to make it, if you like it and don’t mind blocking off an entire day.

Even though I have a mixer and dough hooks, I don’t have a standing mixer, so it takes a decent amount of effort to get it kneaded properly.

This year, I decided that, instead of making 3 giant loaves, I would make 6 smaller ones. The yeast bloomed very well, which meant the rises worked well. So well, that, for the second rise, even though I had it in the biggest bowl I own (which is a party bowl/tray I bought on Cape), it rose so high and so fast, I was afraid it would overcome the bowl and start crawling across the counter.

I monitored the baking time closely. Again, with the 3 large loaves, it tends to over bake the edges, making them dark and crispy, while the center under bakes. With the smaller loaves, I could control the bake better, and the interior crumb was perfect, and the outer edges baked just right.

It tastes really, really good.

Dresden Stollen doesn’t use marzipan, which some of the other recipes do.

Sunday, I baked the orange rye rolls we like so much (from Marion Cunningham’s THE BREAKFAST BOOK). The recipe makes one loaf plus 10 small rolls; I usually prepare it so it makes 10-16 larger rolls.

We finished decorating the stairs on Sunday, with the garlands and lights on the banisters. We also put up the lights across the kitchen window in the back. We still have to set up the Santas; only the new Santas are out right now. And put up the lights on the front porch, before the Solstice tomorrow.

Monday, I had a slow start, but eventually got going. I dropped off a cookie platter at the college library next door, and they were thrilled. I went to the library and uploaded some material I needed to. Had trouble getting into Substack, and Gmail claims the password for the Devon Ellington account is wrong, which it’s not. I can’t change that password again until I get the main computer back, or everything in that account will be inaccessible.

But I got what I needed to done, and dropped off/picked up books. Then, I swung by the place where I get the car serviced, and dropped off cookies. They were thrilled.

I stopped at a store to pick up a few stocking stuffers, but found some other stuff I needed, including the Dutch oven I need for the coq au vin for Christmas Day dinner. It’s a gorgeous blue creation, heavy as heck, but I am madly in love with it.

Yes, this year is cod paella for Christmas Eve and coq au vin for Christmas Day.

I brought everything home, packed up the cookie platter for the post office, and took that over. They were thrilled, too.

Stopped at the dollar store, on a hunch, and, after some digging through stuff, found more cookie bags (I’d run out). Since I was over that way anyway, I stopped at the liquor store for what I needed for the holiday meals through New Year’s.

Hauled that all back, got it unpacked and sorted.  Sorted out a new password for Substack, so I can get into it independently, and not using my Gmail.

Packed up the cookie platters for the neighbors and delivered them.

Worked on the short stories for a bit, and played with some ideas that I got in the past few days for pieces that would be fun to work on, but are a little out of my wheelhouse. I’m going to write a little bit into them in longhand to see if any of them are viable; if they are, I have to figure out how to fit them into the schedule.

This morning, I was up early. I should have gone to the Laundromat, but I couldn’t get my act together, so I will do it tomorrow.

Had to bake another batch of oatmeal currant lace cookies. I have a few more platters to deliver today, some work at the library, and then it’s about polishing the short story.

The newsletter goes out tomorrow (we hope), so if you haven’t yet signed up for it, you can do so here.