Fri. Dec. 1, 2023: New Short Story Published!
image courtesy of Tumisu via pixabay.comFriday, December 1, 2023
Waning Moon
Neptune, Chiron, Uranus, Jupiter Retrograde
Sunny and cold
Happy First Day of Opening Advent Calendars!
One of my short stories, “The Forest Library” was published by DOES IT HAVE POCKETS magazine, and goes live today. It’s a strange little piece that I totally love (and loved working with the editor on), and you can read it here.
Today’s serial episode is from ANGEL HUNT:
Episode 90: Astral Beach Hideaway
With Kegan’s help, Lianna survives.
Tomorrow’s serial episode is from DEADLY DRAMATICS:
Episode 40: Jake’s Business
Jake tells Nina how he got caught up in all of this.
Meditation was fine yesterday. As I suspected, the teacher says she’s keeping the Thursday virtual group going, but not every Thursday. I have a feeling it will trail off. But I learned a lot, and I will do my early morning meditations and join the group ones when I can. It frees up a big chunk of my Thursday mornings after mid-December. Prime writing time.
However, yesterday, I didn’t write. I spent most of the day on script coverage, which was a good way to burn out and certainly not as financially rewarding as it should have been for the work involved. But I needed to get in as much as possible before the pay period ended.
What wasn’t script coverage was backing up my Gmail and Photos and stuff, so I can free up some space. Very frustrating.
Double yoga session, and I was just cooked by everything by the time I got home. Ate dinner and just sat around until bedtime.
Charlotte woke me up a little after 3 AM – out of dreams about zombies, but still. As I tried to get her to let me sleep and get back to sleep, a screenplay idea dropped into my head. By a little after 5, I got up, fed the cats, and went to the desk. I wrote the first 19 pages, about the first act of it. Which is why the blog’s going up late.
It’s not something I expect to get produced, but it will be a good writing sample for all kinds of opportunities, because it shows an understanding of trope and genre while also turning some of it inside out.
And it’s fun to write, and is, in many ways, a love letter to New York City.
But I’ve already put in a full day, and I have a lot more to get done.
I need to work on Legerdemain. I think maybe, MAYBE I’ve figured out how to get myself out of the corner I wrote myself into a couple of weeks ago. I have to do the clip sheets for “The Forest Library” story. I have to pay the rent, and go to the library and go to the grocery store.
I have a LOT of script coverage between now and Tuesday. I’m grabbing what I can to make as much money as possible going into the holidays.
This weekend, I have to finish the decorating. Get ahead on Legerdemain. We are writing the domestic cards on Saturday, packing the packages on Sunday, and everything goes to the post office on Monday. Next week, the baking happens, and I hope to get it done early enough so that I can get the cookie platters out the door Thursday and Friday. If not, it may need to spill over into the beginning of next week. Next weekend, I have to see if I have to make more pieces for the big project I’ve been working on, and I have to make the stollen. And do Ornament Hospital. After that, it’s Solstice and Christmas and Boxing Day and New Year’s. It’s happening fast. And I want to actually enjoy it. I was so burned out last year.
Oh, I tallied up the word counts. This was lighter on the new writing and client work than most months, and heavier than usual on the editing.
New material written (my own): 42,416
Edited material: 44,217
Client work: 14, 820
Video creation hours: 6
Marketing rounds hours: 12
If I’d taken on Nano, I would have had to write 50K in addition to those 42K, because those were all words that had to be written anyway across a range of projects, and nothing that could have worked for Nano. So I’m glad I skipped it this year. And I need to up the marketing. 3 hours/week isn’t getting it done.
I’m going to track December and January, too, to see how they compare.
Have a good weekend, and I’ll catch you next week!
