Up to date

I’m not going to lie. I’m not terribly busy these days, or no more than usual. The kids seem to be quicker to destroy, but I have learned to just let them have their fun and pick up at nap time or later in the day. No sense in running myself ragged trying to keep the toys picked up every moment of the day. Not to mention the sudden changes that seem to keep happening in my life. It looks like I will need to set new career goals, as I may never make it back into the graphic design business, which has had my mind pretty occupied. I've decided I need to get serious about my writing hobby and try to turn it into a profitable job if possible. So then why have I still not finished my WIP? Well, I’m down to the last few chapters, but I just don’t like anything that I write. It’s just not fitting as I thought it would. So I keep WF pulled up on the side, and work on other things. I have been outlining Heads or Tails, reading about writing, and reading fiction as the great Stephen King says if you don't have time to read, you don't have the tools to write.

I spent a day learning how to make Scrivener, a wonderful writing software, work for me. I even went as far as reading David Hewson’s book on how he uses Scrivener. He even has a great template you can use, regardless if you buy his book or not. I’m in hopes that maybe this program will help me outline and organize so that in my next WIP I wont run into the same problems I faced in my first WIP. You live, you learn.

In other news, my brother may be staying with us for a while until he gets back on his feet. It will be nice to have family here. My mother-in-law and nephew will be here this weekend to stay for a month, so I have a week to deep clean my house. I’m super excited to finally get to see them again! Looks like it will be a full house this month.

Last week I found out that I may not be doing Nanowrimo after all. It looks like I may be flying solo for a few months while my hubz deploys. Such is the life of a military wife. Having deployed before myself, I have it a bit easier than the majority of other wives. I know what to expect. Although, the other wives don’t have to worry about their hubby signing up for every convoy he can get. So how am I dealing? With a deep breath and a silent prayer. There is little I can do, so I just have to sit, wait, and see what happens.

So you see, my mind is a little jumbled with all that is going on this month, but I plan to make every hour count this week. I want to put in 1k words a day this week, in between all the cleaning of course.

And that is me, up to date. I hope all is well with all of you! Until the next chance I get to blog!

Ta!

A.McBay

P.S. Please say a prayer for the latest tornado victims in Joplin. I'm praying there are no more this year, but it looks as if there may be chances today... 

Revenge of the WIP

Writers write. I’ve been told this over and over again since starting the adventure of writing through the various writing books and friends, but I always find excuses to not write. The kids are screaming, the neighbor’s dog is yapping, I can’t concentrate, I don’t have the time because I have to clean the house or change the diapers, and yada yada…

I think it’s something all beginning writer’s go through, but it’s not time or quiet that keeps us from doing what we should, it’s fear. We are afraid that we aren’t good enough, that our stories will fail, and that we will only walk away from our first draft feeling that if we were to share it with the world we would be ridiculed.


Newbie writers are perfect procrastinators. We blog hop, facebook, and tweet all the while claiming our procrastination to be beneficial to our writing life. In truth, we are hiding from our WIP, hoping it will understand when we finally come slinking back to jot down a couple of paragraphs.


This morning my modem died. One minute it was working fine, I was wasting my time on the internet, and then suddenly the net was gone. After calling our internet provider and finding out that it will be Monday before a technician can repair our modem, I was bummed. My first instinct was to plug in my smart phone and continue on with my dilly dallying, but I resisted the urge and instead pulled out my WIP, a few books, and my Kindle (Ol’ Kindie likes to watch.) I wrote. It wasn’t great or stuff of legend, but it was words to page. It was progress, something I haven’t had for months now.


So I decided it was time to make time to write. Only allowing myself a certain amount of time for net time, and remaining unplugged (a term I will borrow from Tina over at TPR) for the remainder of the day. As for the kids, cleaning and yappy dog? I will have to learn to work around the kids, get the cleaning done early in the morning, and feed the yapper a benedryll hot dog (j/k I would never…)


I’ve yet to get a good routine, but I’m hoping to manage one in at least a week. If I want to be a writer, I’m going to have to get serious, pick up my pen (or lappy top, or smart phone) and write.


For those wondering how I managed to write up this blog with no internets, I have an app on my phone for blogging…


Well, back to my WIP. It’s forgiven me for my absence and is treating me very nicely today.


Happy writing!


Ta!


A.McBay

Coffee Zombie

I wanted so bad to change my schedule around so that I went to bed earlier and got up earlier to write. Some nice quiet time before the monsters wake and the screaming begins. This is an impossibility for me though, because I can't do anything before I have my coffee. I stumble around, hair in a mess, pillow lines across my face, and seem only able to articulate in groaning noises. I'm a coffee zombie! Dun dun duuuunnnn!


I suppose I will have to continue on with my night writes, sitting up until midnight every night. Suppose that would make me a writing vampire? I usually can't get to sleep until around 11pmish anywho.

What times work best for your creativeness? How do you schedule in your writing times?


Well, I'm starting to lose that zombification feeling, so I had best get some work done while the house still sleeps.

Ta!

A.McBay

Massive Mother's Day Weekend

Friday morning we woke up excited to be picking up my mother from the airport. We hustled around, getting dressed and ready to go, only to end up waiting over an hour before it was actually time to pick up Dramaw. The waiting was excruciating. There is a very special bond between my mother and me, as I have blogged about before. She’s not just my mom, but my best friend. The one person I confide all in.

We arrived at the airport early with plenty of time to grab a couple of muffins while we waited for her plain to taxi in. The kids were ecstatic to see Dramaw. They both ran to her, throwing their arms out and around her as she stepped out of the gate. We had waited months for this visit with only video calls with them web cam to wet our appetites. It was so good seeing her in the flesh, being able to wrap our arms around her and plant big kisses on her.

When we got home Mom dug out the gifts for the babies, tons of Avatar action figures and a motor car. That wasn’t near enough spoiling for Dramaw though, and we set out looking for the best deal on outdoor play sets. It took hours of driving around trying to find just the right one, but at last she finally found the one that had everything she had envisioned for her babies. The hubz spent the rest of the day putting it together while she and the kids splashed around in the kiddie pool she had bought on top of everything else.

The next day while Bubby napped we had a nice girls day checking out a few stores at the mall then picking up a few things at Wally-World then heading back home to enjoy the new swing set before the sun set.

Yes... that's the Dane in the sand box >.<

Mother’s day was blissful. We spent most of the day laying out in the hot sun (I have a nice burn to show for it) and playing with the kids. The Hubz coordinated the kids into giving us cards and gifts (mine being a books-a-million gift card) then put the Bubbers down for a nap while we played out in the yard, and gossiped about all the things that had not come up in our nightly calls. Topics such as my Granddad falling in love with my Grandmother all over again and proposing that she marry him again. How awesome is that! That sparked a long conversation of all the things we would like to do for their second wedding. This kept us distracted from the glare of the sun until we were both crispy critters and we ooched and ouched to the showers.

Then Mom watched the kids and the Hubz and I went out for a date (the first in a very long time.) We took the bike out for a ride until the heat and wind became too unbearable for my allergies (I’m still paying for it today) then he took me to the bookstore to spend my gift card where I found yet another book on writing and a young adult book that should keep me reading for quite some time, and finally we enjoyed subway by the lake before returning to our little monsters. To most that may not sound like much of a date, but it was wonderful for us.

I dreaded getting up today because we had to take Dramaw back to the airport. Where did the weekend go? It went by so darned fast! I harassed Mom to stay with us just a few more days while she packed, and threatened several times not to take her to the air port. We had a few hours to spare and killed those eating pancakes at Ihop, where I continued to badger Mom not to leave. There just wasn’t enough time, it was just a teaser.

Finally we gave in, and made our way to the air port where we saw off Dramaw, giving her plenty of hugs and kisses.

Although I’m dog tired today, I still can’t figure out where my weekend went. It sped right by! I didn’t get ANY writing done, but my super short visit with mom has filled my inspirational cup somewhat, and I feel as if I have just enough to maybe finish WF.

How was your mother’s day? Did you do anything special?

Here’s to the fantastic mamas out there! Hope you had the best day!

Ta!

A.McBay

My Pretties…

Why is it that I can sit at the computer for hours trying to find the words I need to finish WF, only to be hypnotized into stupor by that cursed blinking cursor, but I can suddenly find those shinny little gems of great new story ideas just laying all over the place. I'm at odds right now with which of the three stories I'm going to start outlining for Nanowrimo this year. True, I still have to finish WF before I can allow myself to work on anything new, but my new shiny pretties are screaming for me to pay them attention.

One came to me while writing my morning pages. It's easy for me to relate to, has everything I love (horror, ghosts, yadayada) and just looks to be a fun write. It's about a mom that vows she will always be there for her children, even in death. How long will it take before she learns to let go? This is more of an adult book. I see many funny moments in it, but also several tear jerker.

Then my mom gave me one of her dreams to add to my novel idea folder. It's about alien abductions, where they take their captives to a concentration camp and make them into slaves. It's a more gruesome adult book and though I'm not sure I'm ready for all that entails, the story interests me.

Art copyright of

ELENADUDINA

The third came to me just this morning in a fantastic dream. I think I was writing it in my dream, because I even had the title for it. The story was a young adult modern retelling of the little mermaid and in my dream I had named it Heads or tails. A lot of my ideas come from dreams, but this one was one that nagged at me long after I had gotten up. It demanded to be put to page, and so I got to work typing out the basic storyline and plot. I love it when an idea comes fully formed!

At the moment my mermaid story is looking like the best candidate for Nano this year. Not only is it the newest, shiniest, and most interesting, but it has a fully developed plot, several subplots, will be easiest to outline, and the most intriguing characters.

What story sounds the most interesting to you as a reader?

Many apologies for the lack of updates here on the blog, but as I said I'm trying to finish WF. It's not going so well. I lost the end somewhere. It's stuck in hell somewhere fighting to get out… I'll be posting more as I break through the last few chapters and Nanowrimo rounds the corner. Yay! Nano! Yay! Excitement! *cough* yeah… anywho!

Ta!

A.McBay