Tues. June 18, 2024: Trying to Stay Cool in the Heat

image courtesy of Jill Wellington via pixabay.com

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Waning Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Hazy, very hot, humid

This is the first week in nearly two years where there’s not a new serial episode going live! It feels weird. Good, but weird.

However, of course, I’m promoting something from the backlist: My short mystery “Personal Revolution.” You can watch a video about it here. Scroll down the page a bit, it’s not at the top.

It’s a fun little short mystery, set at an historical New England museum. It’s been around for a few years, so many of you probably have it. But the video’s new!

Life without constant serial deadline pressure takes an adjustment. But it’s the right choice. I will go into more detail about why in the newsletter, which drops next week.

If you aren’t signed up for the newsletter, you can do so here.

On Friday, I wrote 5 more pages of the weird idea screenplay whose working title is ALL FOR ALL. It’s shaping up well. I had a dilemma with a character who hasn’t yet been introduced, but is vital to the piece, and figured out how to handle it. I might have to shift a few scenes around in the next draft, but that’s what next drafts are for.

I also adapted several DD episodes into “A Stylish Death” which is the third short piece in MURDER BELLS.

That was a decent morning’s work.

I had to swing by the grocery store for oat milk, then pick up books at the library, mail some bills, and pick up a few things at another store. It rained pretty heavily on and off during errands, and was, in general, oppressive.

Home, turned around a script coverage, which meant I was done for the week. Although I didn’t hit my goal for the pay period, it’s respectable. And, I got scripts for Monday and Tuesday, so I have a solid start to the week. It looks like, from the email sent out about upcoming contest deadlines, that we’ll have a pretty steady flow the rest of the month and into July, which would be good.

Re-read Agatha Christie’s AND THEN THERE WERE NONE (for the Agatha Christie book club). It’s always interesting to re-read, but I kind of felt, this time around, that the epilogue was a bit of a copout.

Finally broke down and joined Threads, although it just makes me tired. In general, social media has felt like a drain and has been depressing lately. Fortunately, without the serials dropping all the time, I can take a bit of a step back for the summer (except to promote “Personal Revolution”) and then rev up again in fall, when I’m promoting the next round of releases, the Boiler House Poets Reading during the residency, etc.

I made fish tacos for dinner (yummy) and then got myself dressed up and in makeup to head over to the Clark for the opening of the Guillaume Lathière exhibit. They’d had a fancy catered reception for the big money donors before they let in the regular members, but, as always, the staff handled everything with grace and charm.

The big money donors? Not so much. They’d stationed themselves and their little friends so close to many of the major pieces, having self-involved conversations that had nothing to do with art, that people who were there for the actual art couldn’t get anywhere near it.

The exhibit itself is gorgeous and fascinating. I’m looking forward to spending some quality time with the individual pieces over the coming months, taking notes, and letting it generate ideas for material. I’m especially interested in the women who trained in his Paris studio over the years, many of whom went on to have solid careers, few of whom are now remembered.

I ran into one of the advisors for the capacity building program, which was fun, and we got to catch up. I know most of the staff, by this point, and they remember me, and we exchanged pleasantries all around. Events like this are hard damn work, and I appreciate them. I’m also so glad I don’t do this kind of work anymore.

The timing of this, when I’m adapting “A Stylish Death” which takes place at a gala, makes me laugh.

The catalogue is gigantic. It’s not a coffee table book, it’s the coffee table. I will definitely get a copy, although it will be after I return from New York; I’m not spending the money now, even with my member discount.

There were too many people in an enclosed space for my taste, so I went up to the terrace to listen to music, have some popcorn and a glass of wine, and enjoy the outdoors.  It was gorgeous outside, although there was a hint of a storm brewing over the mountain. Of course, someone jostled me, and wine spilled all over my dress. Fortunately, it was chardonnay, not red. (I know, I know, how often do I ever order white? Good thing I did, in this case). Even more fortunate, it was one of my favorite dresses that, although I’ve had it for years and it’s a lovely, summery green, spits out stains easily. A quick trip to the ladies’ room to splash some water on it, and, although I was a bit damp, the dress was unharmed.

But by then, I was done, and headed home. Stripped off the dress and gave it another anti-stain treatment (and will put it through the laundry next trip – it washes and dries like a dream; it’s kind of like Kinsey Millhone’s all-purpose dress, except it’s green). Scrubbed off the makeup.

Read some more. I’m almost finished with NORTH WOODS. I like it, and the mix of styles in the different sections is a tour de force, but I think sometimes all those different styles get in the way of the story itself. Still, it’s interesting, and I’m enjoying it, although I’m not over to moon about it the way many people are. I find myself more caught up in the technical brilliance than carried off by the story.

But I’m learning a lot.

It cooled down enough to get a decent night’s sleep, although the cats rousted me out of bed very early in the morning.

Adapted a chapter of  “A Stylish Death” and wrote 12 pages on the ALL FOR ALL script. Played with the short story idea that, if I’m going to make it work, needs to work before the end of the month and get out the door. The pages I wrote so far are kind of fun, but I need to pick it up to keep it in wordcount. I could write an entire novel on this premise. But it’s very much in my wheelhouse, and an awful lot of fun. IF I can pull it off.

Made a large frittata with vegetables for an early lunchy-brunchy thing before heading out to Pittsfield to the cohort workshop. Parked in the same parking slot I used when I traipsed down there for jury duty a few months ago.

The workshop was at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, tucked away on a side street. It’s a very interesting space – they made good use of the odd proportions. There were six people from our cohort, and about the same number from outside the cohort, including another writer I know from various arts whatevers around town.

It was four pretty intense hours. Good information. A lot of it is stuff I already do, and I need to figure out how to build on it. I left glad I went, but also feeling disquieted, and it took a few hours to figure out why.

There are several reasons why. One is that I ‘m looking for magic answers for my fears, and they don’t exist (what is known as a “me” problem). Another is the sense memory stress is still bubbling under the surface. This is the crucial week for it (the move itself was on the Solstice), and then the stress of those final weeks up to the 4th of July. It’s better this year, because I’m busy with work I enjoy and building new memories over that time period. But it’s still there, under the surface. When I acknowledge it, I can deal with it. If I try to ignore it, it comes back to bite me.

Another disquiet has to do with safety. We talked about this early in the session, and it wasn’t until several hours after the workshop was over that it hit me – it really was a safe environment to discuss things. Those attending the workshop will keep the commitment to the community agreement and honoring each others’ concerns, vulnerabilities, and sensitive information. In my previous location, people would have nodded and smiled and claimed to honor any agreement, and then weaponized any vulnerabilities they learned if they thought it would benefit them and caused problems for the person they hurt. Huge difference.

There were a lot of things people said that resonated with me, and I can mull those over at my leisure, and then decide what to apply.

There were also things I disagreed with, like the divide between “mission” and “career.” I’ve spent the past however many years working on a more holistic approach, rather than a divided approach. And this IS my day job; all of what I do as my work, whether it’s fiction or plays that I then submit or work I’m contracted to do (articles, copy, etc.) is part of the work. I don’t divide it up as “my work” and “day job work.” It’s all of a piece. Or, as is the case with most freelancers, many pieces that figure into the jigsaw puzzle of our lives.

Anyway, we have homework, and reconvene over ZOOM on the Solstice. I wish it wasn’t on the Solstice – I wanted to be with Wild Soul River for their celebration – but I made this commitment, and I will keep it.

And do my own celebration later in the evening.

Came home, cooked dinner. Was pleased that my new sideview mirror arrived, along with Deborah and Elisabeth’s EVERYDAY WITCH’S FAMILIAR ORACLE. Looking forward to working with that deck.

It was cool enough to sleep well, which I figured I should enjoy while I can, with the dangerous heat expected this week.

Up early on Sunday, did some follow up for the workshop. My eyes were bothering me, so I wanted to limit screen time. It was the last day of pleasant temperatures for who knows how long. There were many things I should have done, but I needed rest.

I did, however, make chilled blueberry soup for this week, and a batch of vegetable stock from the end bits of the first two weeks of CSA.

I did some household chores, and read a lot. Read a book by an author where I’ve read a lot of her books, and they’re fine, this one was just a little too cute. Read a book by another author, where I’ve read a book of hers before and wanted to try the next book in the series. The absolute contempt the author (rather than the character) has for anything out of the mainstream conformist system was off-putting, and I think I’m done with this author.

Did some ancestor work, which confirmed something I already knew. Not that it makes implementation easier, but at least I’m on the right track.

I had a few bad bouts of sense memory stress, but managed to get it under control. Being busy with work and art definitely helps, although this week, my body keeps remembering, and it’s about getting my mind refocused on the reality of the moment, not the remembered stress.

I made a plan for the upcoming week; I will flip my usual workday. While I may do writing very early in the morning, right after breakfast I will flip and do client work/script coverage, and then, when we decamp to air-conditioned spaces in the afternoons, I will go back to adaptation, etc. This way, I know I can stay on top of the deadlined work, without running out of steam.

I have a short story to finish drafting this week, and it will need revision either over the weekend, or early next week. As mentioned above, I have to crack on with the plot to fit wordcount.

Ordered in Chinese food. The local place from which we usually order has changed owners, and the food’s gone a bit downhill. I ordered a very basic dish, and the sauce was much sourer than it used to be (I think too much rice vinegar). A disappointment. But that’s the way it goes.

Sunday night was the last good sleeping night we’ll have in who knows how long, so I enjoyed feeling a little chilly.

Woke up Monday morning with a bad bout of sense memory stress, but got it under control. Got some necessary admin done in the very early morning. Got out some questions for some proposals on which I’m working. Trying to sort out some dates for next year.

Monday didn’t turn out quite as planned. I did a bunch of admin, I started watching an A4A workshop about authenticity in marketing that was excellent (Daniel Callahan). I had to stop to switch over to a live workshop with Sisters Enchanted that actually dovetailed quite well with the A4A workshops, got a reminder for Thursday’s A4A follow-up and homework, then did a script coverage, then finished Daniel’s workshop, then did the other script coverage, and the afternoon was gone. So much for turning everything around in the morning!

But it wasn’t too bad in the apartment; my office was a little warm, but the rest of the apartment was actually fairly pleasant. Although it got to 88 outside, it was only 79 inside, and not very humid. Watered everything first thing, including the plants outside. I change the water in the hanging birdbath daily anyway, but I might do it more than once a day this week.

But I didn’t get any writing done, and that left me feeling off kilter.

I did do a round of promos for “Personal Revolution” at the very least. And worked on some homework for the A4A workshops. The alignment amongst the three workshops today helped, and I managed to get out of my own way.

I put in my request for the coaching sessions. Hopefully, my requested coaches will have time for me.

Started reading Barbara Ross’s last book in her Maine Clambake series, which I’ve enjoyed since the first book, and I’ve interviewed Barbara several times over the years for various articles. I like how the characters grew and changed over the course of the series, instead of being in a time warp and staying the same, just with different murders. I think that was a really good choice. She stretched the formula a bit in good ways, and still kept genre readers happy.

Woke up around midnight, because the humidity increased. When I got up at 5, it was oppressive, and already about 78 degrees in the apartment. I didn’t manage to get it cooled down overnight.

But I got the fans going, so at least there’s movement, even with the heavy, humid air. Lots of hydration today, watering everything again first thing, changing the cats’ water regularly, putting in ice cubes if we decamp this afternoon.

I have two scripts to turn around (both set in winter, so maybe I’ll stay mentally cool). I have a workshop at 10 for an hour. Maybe after lunch, we’ll head out to the library, and then go to pick up the CSA at four and return. My mom thinks we can do another day here at home; I have my doubts. I think I will only do gentle yoga tonight; I just don’t have it in me to push.

I also want to get some writing in, hopefully on the short story.

We’ll see how the day shakes out. Take it easy, and take care of yourselves!