Terry Odell's Blog, page 56

Are You a Cook or Baker When You Write?

Are You a Cook or Baker When You Write?

Image by Alexandra A life without animals is not worth living from PixabayThere’s still time to put your name in the hat for a box of mystery books. Don’t wait too long. Time’s running out.

 

Yesterday, at the Kill Zone Blog, PJ Parrish had an interesting post about the difference between cooks and bakers. In writing terms, cooks are pantsers (or variations thereof), and bakers are plotters. Baking is chemistry. You can’t mess around with measurements and...

Giving Away Books

Last week, my marvelous narrator, Steve “Captain” Marvel sent me about half the audio files for Deadly Options. This added another task to my days, as I have to listen to them, checking them against the text of the book. There’s not really much one can do to speed up the process. If a chapter is 10 minutes long when narrated, it’s going to take me 10 minutes to listen to it. Longer if there are places where I have to leave him comments.

And, as I pointed out earlier, my deadline for my next Blac...

Reminders or Repetition

My turn at The Kill Zone Blog again. Today, I’m talking about the fine line between reminding readers about things they may have forgotten, and repeating things they don’t need to read again.

When I was finally able to travel after my vaccinations earlier this month, I visited my mom. She’s 95 and has cognitive issues. Carrying on a conversation with her is a challenge. She’ll ask a question, you’ll answer, and a minute later, she’ll ask the same question. It doesn’t take long before you feel li...

Back to Writing

Back to Writing

Before I left to visit my mom, I knew I wasn’t going to get any new writing done, but I did bring a printout of as much of the novel I’d finished. I did a lot of reading and editing on the planes, but there was still enough left to allow me to feel as though I was “working” when I had some free time, such as when Mom was resting. However, since my trip was to spend time with her, and there were countless other issues to deal with, I didn’t feel guilty for not writing.

When I got ...

Getting Back

Getting Back

I’m back on my mountain again after a visit with my mom. I was impressed with the safety restrictions at the airports I traveled through, as well as the planes. Or course, those precautions mean everything’s different from the last time I flew well over a year ago.

Very little food served in airports, and many of those that do use QR codes to scan menus and place orders. (Prices haven’t changed much!). On board the flights—which in my case were short—you’re handed a disinfectant wip...

Getting Away

Getting Away

After more than a year, I’m able to travel. It’s been a month since my second COVID vaccination. My mom, who just had her 95th birthday, has recovered from Covid and was given the antibody infusion. Her caregivers have all been vaccinated. Her doctor says it’s safe to be with her. So, I’m taking a long weekend and winging my way west to visit. Hubster and the Feebs will hold down the fort up on the mountain.

 

The post Getting Away appeared first on Terry Odell.

Hunting a Killer

Hunting a Killer

(No, I haven’t forgotten that it’s St. Patrick’s Day. More about that at the end of this post).

Thanks to stumbling across a friend’s post on Facebook, the Hubster and I discovered a new project. We’d gone the jigsaw puzzle route, but this was something different.

What are we doing? Solving a murder. It’s called Hunt A Killer. What is it? A detective game. You can play alone or with others.

For how it works, and what we’ve done so far, hop on over to The Kill Zone Blog.

 

As ...

Sometimes It’s All About Hindsight

Sometimes It’s All About Hindsight

Our weather was supposed to bring piles of snow this weekend. However, I learned a long time ago that the best way to know what the weather will be on Monday is to wait until Tuesday. Hindsight, so they say, is 20/20. So, when we didn’t wake up to the predicted blanket of snow on Saturday, it wasn’t a surprise. The snow was light, off and on most of the day, with little accumulation except on the north side of the house.

We were disappointed, not because we wan...

Followup to Life’s Interventions

Followup to Life’s Interventions

I’ve discovered that mentioning a company on Twitter (using their handle) often brings much faster results than contact forms on websites or sitting in line for the next available representative on the phone. The computer company in question was no exception, so I figured I’d give them one more chance. Another set of questions and answers, including another remote session with my PC. The problem was, in part, that we don’t speak the same language–and I’m not talk...

Life Intervenes

Life Intervenes

The writing slowed over the last few days, not for any ‘writerly’ reason. It was one of those “life intervenes” situations where I spent an inordinate amount of time on the phone without getting anything accomplished.

First, I was dealing with tech support for a computer issue. I’ve dealt with the company before, and normally their techs are competent, but this one didn’t seem to know what she was doing. She spent over twenty minutes poking around my computer before telling me it...