writing

Sheryl Crow said it best

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It’s a super sunny Tuesday, though a cold one, it’s only 20 F right now, and I have changes on my mind. Big changes, small changes.

Changes.

Maybe it was the election that got me thinking about them; maybe it’s because Thanksgiving is around the corner, which means New Year’s Eve isn’t far away.

But sometimes we need changes. For variety, because circumstances dictate. I’m an adaptable person but slow to change. I have to give myself a push to shake things up. Last week when I was sick, I ran out of yogurt, my usual breakfast.

I did not enjoy it.

But life itself is always changing, and either it can change around us or we can dive in, headfirst.

Well, don’t dive in headfirst unless you know exactly how deep it is, because we’re talking change, not recklessness.

I don’t know yet what my change will look like, the form it will take, it’s shape or depth. Only that it’s time to try something different, take on something different.

To evolve.

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing

#MondayThoughts on, surprise, a Monday

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I am finally, finally on the road to recovery from that new plague. I worked out this morning (yay!) only to discover another favorite trainer is leaving Daily Burn (boo! But good luck to Cece, she deserves only good, she’s worked hard and is amazing and I hope this opportunity is wonderful).

Last night, my DVR recorded absolutely nothing, there was some kind of glitch with it, so all the things I’d looked forward to, including my much beloved “Doctor Who,” were everywhere but in my queue. Bummer.

Luckily we live in a magical age where I can watch everything I missed today through various glorious means. Nowadays no TV shows are lost, only transformed.

Also you have to wait a day, but I already did that.

As for NaNoWriMo, my lack of writing over the last week and this weekend would definitely imply that I’m out. This year just wasn’t my year. Am I going to stop working on my project?

Nah.

And who knows how the words will shake out in the end. But sometimes the world gets in your way, and that’s just how it is. It’s OK.

Anyway, happy Monday all. I hope you’re off to a nice fresh start.

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing

NaNoWriMo: The Final Decision

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No hesitation about the second cup of coffee today. It’s brewing as I type.

And it’s done. After a whole lot of thinking, I’m in for NaNoWriMo this year! But I’m going to be a rebel about it.

Not sure that this decision bodes well, given I spent half an hour trying to find the banners on the site, and then finally gave up and just used my BFF Google, who found them immediately. I’m sure there’s a lesson in it.

That lesson could be Google knows all.

But back to being a rebel. Traditionally for NaNo, you start a new novel on Nov. 1, fresh and clean.

And I would have liked to do that.

But I’ve decided words are words, and I will finish up the one so I can start the next. Is it a perfect NaNo?

Probably not.

But.

Letting go of things having to be exactly right and exactly perfect is a big part of this year. Because most things aren’t even marginally right or in the same universe as perfect.

Why not NaNo?

Are you doing NaNo this year? Let me know!

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing

The Work of Writing 11: Inspiration

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I was looking for a topic for the blog this morning. I had one, one of those genius ideas you think you’ll never forget until you do, and so when I sat down to write, I was blank.

So I thought I’d go with a random word generator to spark something. My first word was “strategic.” OK, I thought, I can work with “strategic.” Until I saw the photos for it, which were all chess pieces, and I don’t play chess and do you want an entire post about how I don’t play chess but it’s a metaphor?

Didn’t think so.

My second word was “subject,” which was such superb trolling from the universe I had to share it. Is there any word that could be less useful to spark a blog post than “subject?”

Isn’t that what I’m looking for?

Word 3: Funeral.

Um, no.

Word 4: Courtesy.

Eh.

Word 5: Basis.

Yes. Really. Basis. “Subject” and “basis.” I spoke too soon about subject being the least useful word.

Word 6: Cell.

Huh. That could do it. Cell. Biology. Phone. Prison. Cell has options. Hmm. Cell. But maybe the next one is better.

Word 7: Threat.

Is the random word generator getting annoyed with me? That one has bad mojo. Maybe I should go back to cell.

Word 8: Crouch. Umm.

Word 9: Will. Now I can’t help but wonder if this goes along with “threat” as in write your. Or will power. Will or cell. Will or cell. Interesting.

Word 10: Cable.

I was going to stop at 10, but cable? CABLE?! What?

Word 11: Knot.

Well played, universe. Well played.

Sometimes the tricks to get us moving work. And sometimes, they kind of don’t. The motivational helper that un-KNOTS the CABLE (what? People say that all the time) one day might not do a thing the next.

And that’s fine.

Sometimes there’s inspiration in the failure.

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

#MondayMood: Beast Mode

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Still reeling from my workout, it was something else this morning. Good, but tough.

Fine.

This week is about buckling down, and that was a heck of a way to start it. Not over at Daily Burn; no, there, the week is about self-care. But aren’t they kind of the same thing?

Here’s a reality. I want to do NaNoWriMo. I know what I want to write for NaNoWriMo. But to get to that, I have to finish a manuscript that hasn’t gone anywhere in a while.

The thing about writing is you just have to do it. There’s no other way for the story to get from inside your head to a page, virtual or otherwise. At least not yet.

Though Aunty Ida would probably have a method, if she weren’t fictional.

Probably fictional.

There may be a universe out there with an Aunty Ida. How terrifying is that thought?

But I digress.

So we’ll so how this week goes, right? I mean it’s easy to say big things on a Monday while still in the aura after a killer workout. The proof is in the #AccountaClub.

Time to put my typing fingers where my mouth is. But only figuratively because that sounds gross and kind of unsanitary.

Any big plans this week?

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

Ten word photo prompt: Unknown

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photo of person walking on deserted island

Photo by Tom Swinnen on Pexels.com

It’s that time! Using the photo above, write a ten-word story, here in the comments, on your blog, wherever. If you do blog it, please leave a link so we can find you!

Titles are OK, but not too long, and I hate having to say this aloud, but nothing that denigrates anyone or their experiences. Let’s keep this fun. Even if horror is your thing, which is fine.

OK, here we go:

She strode from eternity, unsure if life would yield again.

WHEW! This week was a tough one!

Is it just me or is it Wednesday?

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I kinda feel like Wednesday blogging is when I hit a lull. Of course, some blogging weeks are tougher than others, but it seems like, for a while now, I get to Wednesday and wonder hey, what do I have to say today?

Hopefully something.

Let’s keep going and see.

There’s no doubt about it, sometimes things are more of a slog than other times. No rhyme or reason, really, either, it’s more like the entire energy of the universe is different solely because the universe feels like it.

We’re all entitled, I suppose.

But it’s a moody, moody universe.

I’m trying to get out of my head and back into my head, which sound kinda like contrary concepts, but I need to clear out the fire and the gloom and the urgency of the world so that I can get back to my pretend worlds with their own fire. As you know, that’s a huge struggle for me. I’m still trying to figure it out, but I’ve got to get it done.

So that’s where I am right now, here on a Wednesday. Present but not present.

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

Ten Word Photo Prompt: Yikes

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pexels-photo-210226.jpeg

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

It’s Thursday! Time for a photo prompt and a ten word story! I thought we were all adults here, but apparently we are not. This is supposed to be fun.

Fun.

But if your story is disrespectful to any group in any way, I will delete your link or comment, replace it with my own and block you from the blog.

Sound draconian? Well people are currently being bombarded with hatred and bigotry and questioning of their very humanity. That’s not going to happen here. We are kind to one another here. We are supportive to one another here. We do not mock other people’s pain here.

Cool?

Cool.

Do we like the double image? Is it annoying? Let me know.

OK, keeping that in mind, write a 10 word story using the above image, which I think is one of the creepiest pictures so far. Maybe you don’t. Maybe you think it’s adorbs.

Craft your story as you choose! Titles are fine, but don’t go overboard.

Here’s mine:

Finally, the lid popped. They scattered, trailing their nightmares behind.

When horses fly

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Yesterday, I went to the Art Institute of Chicago, where they were placing a new sculpture somewhere requiring a crane for the transfer. A huge skeleton of a horse, the artwork was headless, the head already placed in its destination.

In the cab of the crane, the operator waited to start the move, his foot casually propped up against the door frame. Like this was nothing. Like operating that enormous piece of equipment–and it was enormous–was nothing.

The other workers grabbed the heavy chains and tightened straps to hoist the sculpture. And then, finally, when it seemed they would never lift it, there it floated into the air with a grace unexpected from metal. And the crane operator vindicated his nonchalance.

It wasn’t a sight I expected to see yesterday. In fact the whole visit was full of new things and surprises: a textiles exhibit; a collection of Islamic art; the work of Hairy Who?, an art collective from the 60s.

Did it change what’s happening in the world?

UH, no.

Did it make me not think about it for a while?

Definitely.

There’s a little bit of escape in finding the new within the old. Fresh eyes. Fresh perspective?

Not this time.

But I can say I’ve seen a horse skeleton hoisted high against the Chicago skyline. And that’s something.

Like my political side? Read my opinion pieces here.

Check out  my full-length novels: 

Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only)   

Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) 

 Her Cousin Much Removed

 The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management.

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

Peruse Montraps Publishing.

Rewind: Candidly; The Work of Writing Two: #AtoZChallenge

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By Wilson Afonso from Sydney, Australia (Just browsing Uploaded by JohnnyMrNinja) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

It’s time for a blog rewind! A replay of a previous post, originally published during the A to Z Challenge on April 4, 2017. Enjoy!

Again.

(More Work of Writing Posts.)

 

Once again, this account is completely and totally fictional which means it never happened and is not true and is made up and is fictional.

And definitely not true.

Ah. New day. A good day. A good day to get some real work done. Some serious work. Serious work. Ser-ee-ous.

Let’s just move that remote off of the coffee tabl–DAMN IT!

I’ve never seen a glass spin like that. End over end. I barely tapped it. Barely. And now it’s everywhere. At least it’s only water. Only water, it will dry. And the glass didn’t break. Good. Back to it. Wait, need a little paper towel to blot it up. OK. Blog post then editing.

Blog post. Right. Blog post. Blog POST. Bloggity blog blog blog. Post.

Some more decaf? Yep. More decaf. Ah, that looks good, just blot the bottom of the cup, looks like there’s a little coffee there, and–DAMN IT!

It’s fine, it’s fine, the coffee did kind of jump out of the cup, but at least it didn’t go IN the toaster. A little under, sure but a quick wipe and, yep, we’re ready to go.

Cofffee is set and stable (ha! So funny. I’m a spiller! A spiller who can laugh at herself. Hmm. Maybe write that down). Time for some real work. Serious work. Ser-ee-ous.

Right after I make sure there’s no more coffee under the toaster.

Check out  my full-length novels,  Her Cousin Much Removed,  The Great Paradox and the Innies and Outies of Time Management and Aunty Ida’s Full-Service Mental Institution (by Invitation Only), and the sequel, Aunty Ida’s Holey Amazing Sleeping Preparation (Not Doctor Recommended) which is now available!

And download Better Living Through GRAVY and Other Oddities, it’s free!

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