Month: July 2012

Some questions for you

Summer seems a good time for blog maintenance, so I’ve got some questions I’d like to throw out to you, dear Reader.  If you’d take a few moments and leave your thoughts in the comments, I’d really, really, REALLY appreciate it!

Over the last year and a half, I’ve blogged about a range of topics – including:

Of these topics and features, which do you like best or least?  Which would you like to see more of and which make you groan when you click through to the blog and find them at the top of the page?

I’ve also considered adding new features to the blog.  Maybe weekly writing prompts or link roundups, for example.  What kinds of things do you wish I was blogging about that I don’t?

How often do you read the blog and how regularly would you like to see new posts?

I’d also love to know a little bit about you.  How did you find my blog in the first place?  Who are you and what interests you?  If you have a blog you think I should be reading, include a link!

Overall, I’d just love to hear what you’re thinking.  What do you enjoy about the blog and what would you like to see change?

A day in the life

On deck for today:

5:30am: I wake up to the sun, groan, roll over and attempt to go back to sleep

8:30am: husband throws cat into the bedroom. Mayhem ensues. I get up.

8:30-now: Tea.

9:30am: make chocolate pots du creme and chill for tonight’s dinner party

10:30-noon: Write, you fool!  Write!

Lunch – chicken and black bean burritos or sandwiches of Serrano ham, Manchego, and quince paste?

1pm: More writing

2:00-3:00: go to the Y and fling self around pathetically on the elliptical machine. Weigh self. Cry.

3:00-4:00: clean up the apartment

4:00-7:00: prepare dinner (antipasti of grilled marinated artichokes, cornichon, marinated mushrooms, and olives; Thomas Keller’s fried chicken; beet, potato, and soft boiled egg salad with mustard dressing; Schramsberg Reserve champagne; and the aforementioned chocolate pots du creme)

7:00-onward: dinner party!

later: clean up 😦

So, yeah.  That’s my day.  What’s yours like?

Writer’s Workspace: 7/5

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

What I’m working on:  I’m waiting for a few last critiques on the 2nd draft of my archaeological time travel novel, ABSENT.  Once they roll in, I’ll begin collating and processing the feedback so I can start revising.  In the meantime, though, I’m pressing ahead on my newest writing project (a dark Urban Fantasy set in the Pacific Northwest that I’ll refer to henceforth as PROJECT AWESOME).  I’m about 16k in on PROJECT AWESOME and pretty happy with where it’s going.  My protagonist has just lost everything important to her (or so she thinks) and is hell-bent on some ill conceived revenge.  Here’s…

…A snippet from the screen:  “The fireplace was dark and soot-stained, the walls charred.  Someone had righted the dining room table, though, and as I walked around it I saw a spray of blood stained one of the legs.  I tried not to look at it, but that was like asking a dog to ignore its own shit.  I sat down on the floor, legs splayed out, shoulders slumped, and I ran my fingers up the table leg.  The dark pattern of Daniel’s blood looked almost beautiful against the grain.”

On the iTunes:  I’ve put together a new playlist of generally downbeat, mournful, angry, or depressing songs to help get me in the proper mindset to channel my main character’s bitterness and rage.  Playing now?  Everybody Hurts by R.E.M.

Photo: Ramses celebrates the 4th like he does everything else: asleep.

Keeping me company: Mr. Ramses, H.R.M. King of Cats, has ascended his throne and settled in for his morning/afternoon/evening/nighttime nap.  Until his royal belly starts to growl, I anticipate hearing little more from him than the occasional sleepy-kitty sigh.

A little procrastination never hurt anyone:  LIES!  Sorry, not going to share distracting links with you today, dear Reader.  I have been burning in a fiery pit of procrastinatory you-know-where lately and I don’t wish that on you.  Go and be productive, or take a walk in the sunshine, or read a book…but don’t procrastinate on the internet (she says as she checks Facebook again…).

Worth 1000 words

Whether it inspires a story or just serves to make your day more interesting, here’s an image to start the morning with:

The Polish Frizzle