Good morning!  Welcome to this writer’s workspace.  Here’s what’s happening liiiiiiiiiiiiiive at Miranda’s desk:

Yes, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted a Writer’s Workspace – mostly because it’s been awhile since this writer has had much time to work.  Between excavating in Honduras for several weeks, traveling to Readercon, and preparing to move into our new apartment, writing time has been about as scarce as tropical seabirds on the ice planet Hoth.

Still, even though tomorrow is the day of the Big Move, I am determined to carve a little me time out this morning.  After all, there’s not much packing left to do.  We’ve gotten rid of 85% of our furniture, thrown out half our clothes, and donated half our books.  I even parted with a beloved Le Creuset pot on the reasonable grounds that, though it is beautiful, I never use it.  All we have left is a couple of chairs, a bed, a mountain of self-replicating cat hair that was living in the back corner of the closet — and, of course, my workspace.

What I’m working on: with limited time, I’m doing something easy — working on entering edits I made on my hard copy of ABSENT while in Honduras.  Creative?  No.  Necessary?  Yes.  As the example below illustrates, I am a Wordy McWordschmidt when I draft.

Snippet from the screen:

Nick shoved his gun back in its holster, stepped forward, and wrapped his arms around her.  Emily went limp, clutching him, her gloved hands gripping fistfuls of his jacket and .  She was panting, her breath coming fast and her breath was hot against his neck.

They were still standing like that when Reid came tearing tore up to the top of the ridge.

“I heard a roar,” he said.  “And screaming.”   His face was white wild with fear and concern.

On the iTunes: The Dog Days are Over by Florence and the Machine

Keeping me company: Mr. Ramses is deeply unsettled by all the kerfuffle in the apartment of late.  Where, he wonders, is the furniture he so lovingly marked with this drool?  What has happened to all his good hiding places?  And, if we’re throwing out everything else, can his Friskies be next?

Out the window: I don’t know why I always think it’s going to lovely and summery in New York.  Three years here should have taught me better by now.  It’s near 100 degrees and humid enough for me to think I never came back from Honduras.  I’m sure our movers are going to Super Enthusiastic about lugging our boxes in this weather.  I know *I’m* sure looking forward to it!

A little procrastination never hurt anyone: first up, here’s an interesting post from N.K. Jemisin about the limits put on womanhood in the fantasy genre.  Another fun post worth a look is Amy Sundberg’s discussion of the reasons writers are like superheroes.  Finally, Writing Excuses recently did a podcast about writing query letters.

Well, I’d better seize my opportunity to do a bit of writing and editing before the packing gremlins whisk my computer away!

What are YOU up to today?