amediting

#TuesdayThoughts: Possibly?

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It may be December but the gray remains persistent. Still, all the holiday lights up sparkle and pierce the gloom. It’s pretty.

In winter, it’s like Chicago is an entirely different place, stripped of all of its warmth, the wind a badge of honor to survive. And yet the people are the same. We look at one another and we know.

We know.

I spent hours on the phone dealing with health insurance yesterday, and the whole process exhausted me in a way only bureaucracy and automated phone systems can. Still reeling today.

So much so that editing sounds like fun. LIKE FUN.

And I’m going to get to it. You have a terrific Tuesday.

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 quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

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#WednesdayWisdom: Onward

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It’s definitely chilly today, with the kinds of clouds that mean snow if it gets any colder. Coats with fake fur of all varieties abound.

Here we go.

Still, it’s quietish. Kind of like the hush before the battle.

It happens every year. Yet somehow it’s a surprise.

I admit I’ve been slow on the editing recently, and wow am I happy not to be doing NaNoWriMo. This week, particularly would be a tough one with that pressure.

Slow and steady, right? That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Have a great Wednesday!

#TuesdayThoughts: Mixing it up.

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So I’ve had a change of scenery today. I’m sitting in my parents’ place, waiting for a fridge to be delivered.

Good, good times.

Nothing’s that different but the view, and the furniture, of course. But I’ve got a nice little corner set up and I’m torn between the delivery coming quickly and it taking its time.

Not that I have to clear out, but like the rest of the world, I’ve got Stuff to Do.

Ironically I thought I’d get away from hammering, as there’s hammering at my place, but it turns out they also have hammering.

Long live the hammer.

It’s a beautiful day, though, with big fluffy clouds, and it’s almost as though the weather forgot all about the snow.

Let’s not remind it.

So I’m going to take advantage of my cozy spot to edit, while you go and have the best of Tuesdays.

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 quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#TuesdayThoughts: Marshmallow Fluff-Based Lifestyle.

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Not that I’m living one. But I’m definitely considering a marshmallow fluff way of life.

In all honesty, I considered adding some to my coffee this morning. Not sure if it would work, but I’m kind of willing to give it a shot.

It’s good, that’s all I’m saying, and much easier to make than you might think.

What is this, a cooking blog?! Very food-obsessed this morning. Although I guess my rambling is my rambling. Today it’s floating in fluff.

It’s gray again and I’ve heard we’re supposed to get snow this week. I guess it’s that time, but I’m not ready. That won’t change the weather, though.

It’s great for cozying up with a manuscript to edit, and that’s what’s ahead of me. Have a fantastic Tuesday.

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 quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

#TuesdayThoughts: Left unintentionally blank

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Oops. Started out with nothing after the colon. So that’s the kind of Tuesday I’m going to have.

The editing has begun. Barely, but I’ve started.

Usually my first pass is largely reading, but when you hit those sentences that stop you in the middle with a loud “clunk,” you’ve got to fix them on sight.

I had something sticky on my keyboard, likely from the pluot I was eating. All fixed now. And spellcheck apparently has never had a pluot.

Poor spellcheck.

Bright and sunny here today, though lots of sirens for some reason. I see no evidence of their need; they could be miles away for all I know.

I have settled into Fall, and Fall has settled into me, the fresh cooler temperatures feeling like they make sense. Only one cup of coffee so far today, though.

We’ll see what happens with that.

And I am off to edit. Eventually. Have a great Tuesday.

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 quick and weird and FREE!
Peruse Montraps Publishing
See what I’m writing on Medium.

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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Monday comes around again.

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bengal tiger half soak body on water during daytime

See this tiger? It has eyes. EYES OF THE TIGER.  Work with me here, people. Photo by Flickr on Pexels.com

Having a little bit of chocolate with my Monday morning coffee. Because why not? For all we know, some unseen asteroid may be hurtling toward us at this very moment, or a certain orange despot wannabe might try to change the conversation in a big big big way, and that square of chocolate could remain uneaten.

No one wants that.

Basically, I’m eating it for the universe. And because chocolate and coffee are the BFFs that put all other BFFs to shame.

Take that, Monday.

I’m still wearing my workout leggings because they have flowers and stars and they’re ridiculous and I love them, and why not? I haven’t quite settled into the day, though the morning is nearly over, so let’s not even get started on the week.

I think I’ve finally shaken a very persistent migraine, though, so I score that as win.

And here we are.

Still sticking with Daily Burn, which I love. I’ve started doing the live workouts, and it’s a fantastic way to begin the day, an accomplishment right out of the box. This week, they’re talking about setting goals.

Ah goals.

So my goal today is to do some editing. Some messy, tedious, exasperating editing. If I could handle this morning’s workout, 30 minutes alone in a dark alley with my manuscript should be a breeze.

Happy Monday! Have a goal you want to share? Please feel free!

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.

#AccountaClub Friday and #JUkNOWuCanDoIt! June 22, 2018

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Well, it’s that time again, our regular #AccountaClub Friday here and week 3 of #JUkNOWuCanDoIt!, the carry-on from #MAYkingItWork over at Donna McNicol’s blog. I don’t see her update posted yet, but it’s been a tough week for everyone, and hopefully she’s doing well.

So, if you don’t know, Fridays we gather to talk about how our work is going, whatever work that may be. I’ve been editing a manuscript; if you’ve been here at all this week, you probably can guess, given what is happening in the US right now, my attention was…elsewhere.

I did manage my political column, so at least there’s that, but that’s not a surprise, of course, in the context of the above.

How about you? How did it go? And if it’s “badly,” as did mine, that’s fine too.

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.

#AccountaClub Friday and #JUkNOWuCanDoIt! June 15, 2018

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Well, it’s that time again! It’s Friday, so it’s #AccountaClub and #JUkNOWuCanDoIt! #AccountaClub is a weekly feature here, and #JUkNOWuCanDoIt! is the fun support group over at DB McNicol’s blog!

So let’s catch up and talk about our weeks. Or week, since we all lived the same one. Probably.

Whatever.

My ongoing goals are to finish a first draft and edit a finished manuscript. I’ve also added a political column once a week over at Medium, it’s an outlet I’ve really needed. And as circumstances demand, I’ve given myself the freedom to write there more often.

The finishing of the first draft is nowhere, as I’ve realized when editing it’s awfully tough to switch gears. But we’ll see if I can get more balance next week.

Political column, check, and the editing is going. Slowly, but it’s happening. I hope I can make filet out of this mincemeat eventually, we’ll have to see.

How’s it going for you?

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.

#AccountaClub Friday and #JUkNOWuCanDoIt! June 8, 2018

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So here we are, with Donna B. McNicol’s (D.B. McNicol’s? Which do you prefer?) #JUkNowuCanDoIt (though I don’t know if I can punctuate it properly, it’s a challenge within a challenge for me) which is a no-pressure support group for our work during the lovely month of June. Which just so happens (not that we planned it or anything, winky face winky face) to coincide with #AccountaClub.

How convenient is that?

If you don’t know the drill, tell us how your work is going, or even how your week is going if it’s been that kind of week. And we love good news and progress too! Drop a comment or write a blog post, it’s entirely up to you.

And on to my own reporting.

I’ve definitely been editing. There’s no question I’ve been editing. But it slow-going. I haven’t worked on the first draft, as my mind is on fixing the completed manuscript, so maybe that’s just what I need to be doing.

I wrote an extra political piece this week when the mood struck, so I count that as a bonus. I’m still going to stick to my Thursday opinion piece on Medium, so far it’s working.

I’m not flying, but I’m not standing still either. How about you?

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.