Diana Pharaoh Francis's Blog, page 23

Wahoo!

Whisper of Shadows went back to my editor today. At long last. It took me forever to revise. It’s lucky my editor is patient with me. I do like it and I hope you will, too. There’s a lot that happens. We start right where Edge of Dreams left off and then run forward. You’ll get to see more of Riley’s dad, her family, Touray and of course Price. And then Arnow and Dalton were back. I can’t wait for you to see it!

Finishing also means that I can and *need* to dig into holiday preparations. So tomorrow I have to hit the ground running. We still have to decorate the tree and I have wrapping and baking to do. Plus I have to send some things and still shop for kidlets. I didn’t get the knitting done I’d wanted to. I just couldn’t pull it together.

I am annoyed. I tried to make an order from Teavana. They were doing a big discount, and then if you bought so much bulk tea, you got an additional discount. Only for me, the additional discount wouldn’t come through properly. So I emailed customer service with the explanation. After several days, the reply was, hey, sorry, but you should call us. We have people who can help you. Um. I emailed you because your website said you could help me. And I couldn’t seem to manage to remember to call during their open hours. I was, afterall, working. Sigh. So I was screwed out of that discount and I’m irritated. Both at the so-called customer service, and the crappy website.

 

 

 

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Bake fail

I made cinnamon rolls, which were tasty, except they didn’t cook all the way through. I’m not sure what happened. I don’t know if my oven wasn’t cooking properly, if the pan I used (which was an insulated jelly roll pan) was wrong, or something else. I did use convect, so maybe that’s the problem The tops cooked well, but it seems the bottoms and betweens didn’t get cooked all the way. I need to try again, but not sure how to fix it.

I also managed to clean my wood floors yesterday, but already I need to clean them again. Thanks to the rain, the dogs, the kids, and oh, everything else.

Watched Cake Boss this a.m. Now I want cake.

It continues to rain here and it looks like there’s a lot of snow dumping in the mountains. This is good. We’ve been in a drought with a lot of fires of late, plus the lakes and reservoirs have been awfully low and maybe things will fill up. It would be very nice. That said, I’d like a lull so we could go get the tree without getting soaked. I doubt that will happen. Good thing for soaker tubs to warm me back up again after the fact.

I really want to go out to the coast to see the waves, but the roads are a little dicey out there right now. Sinkholes and mudslides.

I have to take the girlie shopping for performance choir clothing and I am afraid we won’t find what we need, which amounts to a lot of black. She’s adult-sized, despite being only 11, so it’s hard to find age-appropriate clothes and though black seems like it ought to be easy to find, turns out there’s a lot of color that gets splashed around.

Had a lovely visit from friends last night. They had to leave far too soon.

I need to start wrapping things and get things sent to people. That’s  must-do for this week. And yet I still have so much other work to do . . . I’m going a little bit nuts. Or a lot.

 

 

 

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Gah

This may come across as vaguebooking. I just want to say that being a mom some days is harder than I feel like I can manage. I feel I’m down in a hole I can’t climb out of. As a result I’m not feeling in the holiday mood and I don’t really know how to get there. We also went to cut a tree tonight, but the place was closed. I guess we’ll get it later.

Other than that, I keep trying to start this one knitting project and it isn’t working. I think the yarn is wrong. I’d better change it. Or just do something else.

I think I forgot to mention that Trace of Magic and The Cipher are on special $1.99 sale on Kindle this month.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Holiday prep

Is everybody else behind on holiday prep? Because I would totally like to think I wasn’t the only one. We meant to get a tree today, as the weather isn’t going to be cooperative any other day, but because of kid needs, we didn’t. I did do a major errand and laundry and bed changing, but did not dig into the cleaning I had planned. Otherwise, I am quite ill-prepared for anything holiday related. At all. Plus there is a ton of rain coming through and I have no idea if or when we’ll get outside decorations up. Am considering trying to get some into the windows to compensate.

I need to find a knitting pattern for mitts that I like. I want them to make up quickly and I’d rather they were on circulars than double points, but either is good. The thing is, and I probably won’t explain this well, but I want a separate thumb. The previous mitts I made I did in such a way that I increased for the thumb and at a certain point I closed the thumb off and finished the palm area of the mitt. That leaves a hole behind and I don’t want to do that. I want to do the thing where I put the thumb on waste yarn and finish it after. I don’t suppose anybody has suggestions?

The San Bernardino shooting hit me hard. Especially after Umpqua. I don’t have much I want to say about it now. I’m so sad, so disappointed in the people of this world, of America, of haters. I’m so sad for everyone.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Confused

There are lots of opinions on illegal immigrants and so on, but I read this article in the paper today about the problem of so many children of illegals being American citizens for being born here, and that if the parents are deported, they either have to take the children or leave them, but can’t stay with them. It’s actually probably more complicated than that and the article was about lawsuits and the supreme court and all that, but here’s my confusion. You know as an illegal person in the US, that your child will be born a citizen and that you may get deported.

So why do it? Okay, I know why. To give your kid a hope of a better life and the benefits of being a US citizen. However, you know you’re taking a big risk. That you could be deported. That this question will come up sooner or later. So in this article there was a lot of gnashing of teeth and lamenting and so on, which I get, because these people are used to living here, mostly have been good citizens and hard working, and often fill out our labor force in important ways. They may have been here for decades and there’s nothing in Mexico or wherever they are from to go back to.

At the same time, this is the law and it hasn’t changed for a really long time. Surely they knew it could happen. Surely they had a plan of action? Or did they just hope for the best? That the laws would change? That’s what confuses me. What do they do to prepare for the eventuality that they’ll be caught and deported? It’s the parent in me wondering here. Also because I’m updating my will and we were talking about godparents, since there have been changes since the last time we put that in (divorces and remarriages and family fights and so on). This brings up the concern of how would our kids be cared for if we were no longer around.

Anyhow, that’s what’s been running through my mind today.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

Back again from the great beyond

Okay, was in California for the last week. Not so great beyond. We went to visit family and friends and had a lot of fun. A lot. And ate a ton plus did a lot of cooking. Long drive both ways, but we are home again and so happy to be so. The dogs especially. They are now collapsed on the couch acting like they’ve been run ragged. Yeah. Not so much. We came home with a bunch of mandarin oranges fresh out of the orchard. So yum.

I had a thought though. When I was researching a sociopath character for Blood Winter, I read that 1 in 25 people are sociopaths and fewer are psychopaths. A lot of researchers say they are the same, and others argue there are differences). I’m in the differences camp. That doesn’t mean they have to be serial killers or criminals. Just people who lack conscience, empathy, or remorse, to put it in shorthand. Apparently, a lot more people are psychopaths or sociopaths than we think. The question is, which ones? The thing about these people is that they are very good at disguising themselves and mimicking real life, particularly psychopaths. I think I know one. Rather, I think I’ve identified one in my life. I didn’t realize it until this week. Lack of empathy, lack of remorse, manipulative, charismatic, and totally self-centered. They often lie, have superficial charm, and tend toward impulsiveness. This person fits the bill. I just never realized the lies before, or the manipulation. S/he also mimics real emotion well. If this is true, it means that I have to reevaluate how I deal with this person.

It’s fascinating on one level and really disturbing on another. Read this:

Imagine – if you can – not having a conscience, none at all, no feelings of guilt or remorse no matter what you do, no limiting sense of concern for the well-being of strangers, friends, or even family members. Imagine no struggles with shame, not a single one in your whole life, no matter what kind of selfish, lazy, harmful, or immoral action you had taken.

And pretend that the concept of responsibility is unknown to you, except as a burden others seem to accept without question, like gullible fools.

Now add to this strange fantasy the ability to conceal from other people that your psychological makeup is radically different from theirs. Since everyone simply assumes that conscience is universal among human beings, hiding the fact that you are conscience-free is nearly effortless.

You are not held back from any of your desires by guilt or shame, and you are never confronted by others for your cold-bloodedness. The ice water in your veins is so bizarre, so completely outside of their personal experience, that they seldom even guess at your condition.

In other words, you are completely free of internal restraints, and your unhampered liberty to do just as you please, with no pangs of conscience, is conveniently invisible to the world.

You can do anything at all, and still your strange advantage over the majority of people, who are kept in line by their consciences will most likely remain undiscovered. From The Psychopath, the Mask of Sanity.

Do you know anyone like this? And are you sure? Because remember, they conceal and mimic. I’ll have to go back to my research and investigate how to interact with a psychopath. See what happens.

Did you have a fabulous Thanksgiving? I hope so.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

As the Writing Turns

Does your life ever feel like a soap opera? Mine, too. But not so much this last week. More like a bad comedy. I write in my office downstairs in my house. Last week, in the morning (of course) the smoke detector on the ceiling outside my office began to chirp ever 30 seconds or so. Loudly. Closing my office doors did nothing to help. The unfortunate thing is that the ceilings are really high in the house and I needed a ladder to change the battery. Unfortunately, neither of the two ladders we have were accessible to me without doing damage to myself. Since I figured a trip to the hospital would be far more aggravating than the the chirping, I tried to put music on to cover it (fail!) and kept going. Later I decided that maybe the hospital trip would have been worth it.

So the very next day (no, the cat didn’t come back) I’m in my office working, with my daughter home sick, and I hear, you guessed it, another chirp! This time is was the smoke alarm in my bedroom, which is upstairs and around a corner. It echoed. Same problem as before, so I thought, shut the upstairs door. That should take care of it. Sadly, those things are much louder than probably the alarm itself. I couldn’t get away with closing my office doors because my daughter wanted to be able to shout for me if necessary, so again music, but not so loud I couldn’t hear the girlie, which meant I could hear the chirping loud and clear, All. Day. Long.

Vexed. Vexing. Both. A word not used enough but really, so perfect.

Now I’m in blissful quiet. Maybe I’ll actually make serious progress today.

In other news of the slightly odd, I discovered that Fred Meyers, a local grocery/everything-else-on-the-planet store has a tradition black Friday sale on socks. And I can’t be there. Now this probably wouldn’t excite other people, but the Boy of Size, who is only 15 years old, wears size 13 shoes. Did I mention he has yet to have a growth spurt? Anyhow, finding socks for him isn’t easy. Especially quality socks that don’t fall apart in two washings. So this week I meet a friend in the FM Starbucks to talk knitting and writing, and after decided to glance around the sock aisle. And found socks for him. Which cost $15 for three pairs. Ouch. This makes the Black Friday sale look beguiling, since it’s a 50% off all socks sale. Only I can’t go this year, because of Thanksgiving plans. Damn! I could have stocked up for the entire big-footed family that we are.

I also combed out the dogs this weekend and trimmed doggy toenails. Viggo lost an entire dog’s worth of hair. WTF? It’s November. Why is he shedding? I’m still getting hair tumbleweeds around my kitchen from him. Voodoo, on the other hand, was in it just for the tummy combing. He would only lay on his back with his legs splayed out in sexy play-dog fashion, and rolling him over was next to impossible.

I finished a book that I’m trying to decide if I really liked or not. You know how it is when the book is a page turner because you want to know what happened, but not necessarily because the writing’s good or the characters are engaging? This one had some serious ups and downs, but the mystery was good and decently complex. I’ll probably review it here soon. Along with a bunch of others I’m behind on.

And now, my friends, must go scribble some more. I hope you are all happy, healthy, and safe.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

The Ghost Job

I’ve just sent my newsletter out with the first chapter of The Ghost Job. This post is for anyone who might like to visit and comment. I hope you enjoyed!

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

What a week it’s been

The sick continues. Last night was . . . hell. Girlie woke me up at 11:43 having explosively vomited. She’s got quite the messy room and didn’t make it out of bed, so yeah. First it was clean up in order to clean up. Since I don’t get sick around other people’s vomit (as do the man and the boy who tried to help), I did most of it. So there you go. The glory of momhood. Ah well. The girlie is feeling crappy still, but she hasn’t been sick again. She hasn’t developed diarrhea yet, which hopefully means this is something besides food poisoning.

Meanwhile, the rest of us are improving, but definitely aren’t at 100%. But moving the right direction, I hope.

In the meantime, I’ve been working on some writing. Attempting nano words, but it’s slower than I like. On the other hand, I’ve been making excellent progress with the revision of Whisper of Shadows (DCM book #3). Are you eager for that one? I hope? I can tell you it’s exciting. I can tell you Riley’s dad is front and center. Dalton is back. So is the lovely Agent Sandra Arnow. Remember her? You get to meet more of Riley’s family, and also some really cool stuff happens. Well, cool bad stuff. Really bad.

The Ghost Job is getting closer to publication. I’ve named the series Mission: Magic. I can’t wait for you to read some of it. In fact I plan to send a chunk out in the newsletter very soon, so if you’re not signed up, you should so that you can see it first! I’ll probably send out this week.

I’ve been doing reading without reviewing. Some of it is just meh. But I have read something awfully fun, so I’ll report on that soon. In the meantime, I suppose I should put words on my own book, yes? Oh, and also figure out a replacements for MS word, because apparently the one I use (2008 version for the Mac) doesn’t play well with the latest operating systems of the Mac and I’m having significant issues. I kind of am interested in the word 2016, but 1, I’m not a fan of the yearly rental, and 2, it’s expensive, and 3, I hate the ribbon. HATE it. That’s why I’ve been so glad to cling to the 2008 version. It doesn’t have it.

I’m hoping to get into the holiday mood soon. Going to see the family at Thanksgiving, and hopefully friends too. I just haven’t been in the baking/party mood. I have to find that. Maybe food poisoning is the reason. Hmmm. Possible.

 

 

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.

When the flu is not the flu

I reported the other day that the man had come down with the flu. The boy and I came down with symptoms and all of us continue to be plagued by them. I called to let the boy’s school know he wouldn’t be there, and the secretary said, “you didn’t eat at Chipotle, did you?”

Um. Well, yes. Friday night. By Sunday we were all getting sick. But our Chipotle isn’t closed and supposedly wasn’t supposed to have been touched by the e-coli that closed stores in Portland and Washington. Since our symptoms fit an e-coli timeline and the list of possible symptoms (the man has ALL the possible symptoms), we decided to go to the doctor. Well, they went. I’ve been feeling better (but suddenly am not right at the moment) and so the upshot is it’s possible and they had stool samples. We will maybe know more on Friday, maybe not. Also, they didn’t properly do the sample (apparently they were supposed to take samples from three different stools, and they didn’t. Goes to show I should have been in there for the instructions). I hope it’s good enough.

Once I got home, I decided to call county health to let them know, and to notify Chipotle. Both responded quickly and hopefully if there’s a problem at this restaurant, it will get shut down and cleaned before others get sick. At this point, my husband who has not had a sick day in 3.5 years at this job, and probably another two or so years at least in the previous job, has now taken two days off and will likely take off tomorrow. He’s miserable. The boy is also miserable and I’m terrified it will trigger a flare-up of his other illness, which it very well could.

In the meantime, I started to feel better for a day, and now am feeling worse. Do. Not. Like.

Originally published at www.dianapfrancis.com. You can comment here or there.