I have to admit that I've been doing more reading than writing this past week. Reading is one of the few things we can get away with when it's slow at work and it kind of spilled over into my after work time.
Amongst the other books I read, I re-read the Katie MacAlister vampire series (five books in all). Even if you don't like vampire romances I highly recommend them. They're very well written and never fail to make me laugh.
There was a time when I wouldn't do a lot of reading if the writing was going well. In fact, the more I'd read the less I'd write and vice versa. It appears, however, that I've overcome this hurdle. I'm still plugging away at my own writing, even though I've been doing so much reading this week.
Driving Into Forever started out as an experiment of sorts. It was my first attempt at Nano, where you have 30 days to write a 50,000 novel. Because I wrote it so fast I left out a lot of the necessary detail. I fell short on my word count and now I'm having to make up for it.
The more I work on it, the more I'm able to refine the story. There's much more to it now than just 'boy meets girl under unusual circumstances'. There's a whole adventure, espionage line on top of the romance, and I'm even finding the back story that explains the characters motivations.
In otherwords, I'm starting to enjoy working on it. This is the way writing should be. It's not the word count that matters, it's the words.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Saturday, February 2, 2008
More Friend Stuff
I used to think that with today's technology, namely computers, that it's easier in this day and age for parted friends to keep in touch than it was say 15 or 20 years ago.
I'm willing to admit I was wrong.
Thirty years ago, before computers, my closest friend moved away. For more than a decade she moved all over Ontario, yet we never lost touch. How, you ask? Good old fashioned snail mail. We became champion letter writers - large missives filled with the minutiae of our daily lives.
Fast forward to the present where a single stamp is almost a dollar, but everyone has a computer. And if you don't have one of your own, it's easy to get access to one. E-mail accounts are free of charge. Even my computer phobic husband has a hotmail address.
You'd think this would make it easier for friends to stay in touch, even when they move, but you're forgetting one very important thing. Friendship, like any relationship, takes work. You have to make an effort.
My friend and I have progressed to e-mail but we're still friends. We still keep in touch. We still make the effort.
Maybe if we all made a little more effort the world would be a friendlier place.
I'm willing to admit I was wrong.
Thirty years ago, before computers, my closest friend moved away. For more than a decade she moved all over Ontario, yet we never lost touch. How, you ask? Good old fashioned snail mail. We became champion letter writers - large missives filled with the minutiae of our daily lives.
Fast forward to the present where a single stamp is almost a dollar, but everyone has a computer. And if you don't have one of your own, it's easy to get access to one. E-mail accounts are free of charge. Even my computer phobic husband has a hotmail address.
You'd think this would make it easier for friends to stay in touch, even when they move, but you're forgetting one very important thing. Friendship, like any relationship, takes work. You have to make an effort.
My friend and I have progressed to e-mail but we're still friends. We still keep in touch. We still make the effort.
Maybe if we all made a little more effort the world would be a friendlier place.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Answer
Okay. Does everybody know what they would have done in Ava's place?
It might be noted that Ava's fiance was living with her. She also has cats and dogs and a son. I would expect her home was already crowded.
But without hesitation, Ava told Bee she was coming home with her. There was plenty of room in the basement to store her stuff and Bee and the kids could squeeze in upstairs. Even the animals were welcome.
I think of my friends, both close friends and not so close friends, and I wonder if I could be as generous of spirit as Ava. What about you?
This move took place one week before Christmas. Bee and the kids are still living at Ava's and everyone is getting along great. Well, except Ava's fiance, who moved out just after Christmas.
Oh, did I mention? Ava and Bee have been friends for all of two years.
It might be noted that Ava's fiance was living with her. She also has cats and dogs and a son. I would expect her home was already crowded.
But without hesitation, Ava told Bee she was coming home with her. There was plenty of room in the basement to store her stuff and Bee and the kids could squeeze in upstairs. Even the animals were welcome.
I think of my friends, both close friends and not so close friends, and I wonder if I could be as generous of spirit as Ava. What about you?
This move took place one week before Christmas. Bee and the kids are still living at Ava's and everyone is getting along great. Well, except Ava's fiance, who moved out just after Christmas.
Oh, did I mention? Ava and Bee have been friends for all of two years.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Tuesday's Question
One of the reasons I gave up my other blog (which I don't even remember the name of now) was because it had really degenerated into a pity party of which I was the only guest. Although granted there has been some whining in this blog, I hope there's been more to it than that.
My point? Well, no point really. I just wanted to get that off my chest. And maybe to re-state my promise to keep the whining to a minimum (which some days is much harder to do than others).
Now that that's over with, I want to tell you a story. This is the story of a couple of girls I work with. Let's call them Ava and Bee. Ava and Bee are friends, best friends as it were.
Things were going good for them. Though both divorced, with children, each had a man in her life. Ava was engaged and Bee's man had her and the kids move in with him.
Time passed. Bee's man had a change of heart. He couldn't deal with her three teenagers after all. Bee found a new place to live and Ava and her fiance were drafted to help her move.
Moving day came and Bee unlocked the door of her new home . . . only to be greeted by a flood of water. While the house had been empty the water had been turned off. Add to this a cold snap and you get burst pipes.
This is the part I want you to think about. What would you do, not in Bee's place, but Ava's?
Remember that Bee has three teenagers. She also has three cats, two kittens and two Alaskan Malamutes.
Would you calculate how much room was in your basement and offer to take Bee and the kids in until she could come up with some other solution?
Would you offer to lend moral support to Bee as she drove back to the boyfriend to tell him it would be awhile before he was rid of her?
Would you hesitate only briefly, until Bee's crying got to you, and offer to take her and the kids in?
Would you breathe a sigh of relief that the insurance would pay for Bee and her family to stay in a hotel while the repairs are made to the house?
Or would you do something else? Think about it. I'll tell you what happened on Friday's post.
My point? Well, no point really. I just wanted to get that off my chest. And maybe to re-state my promise to keep the whining to a minimum (which some days is much harder to do than others).
Now that that's over with, I want to tell you a story. This is the story of a couple of girls I work with. Let's call them Ava and Bee. Ava and Bee are friends, best friends as it were.
Things were going good for them. Though both divorced, with children, each had a man in her life. Ava was engaged and Bee's man had her and the kids move in with him.
Time passed. Bee's man had a change of heart. He couldn't deal with her three teenagers after all. Bee found a new place to live and Ava and her fiance were drafted to help her move.
Moving day came and Bee unlocked the door of her new home . . . only to be greeted by a flood of water. While the house had been empty the water had been turned off. Add to this a cold snap and you get burst pipes.
This is the part I want you to think about. What would you do, not in Bee's place, but Ava's?
Remember that Bee has three teenagers. She also has three cats, two kittens and two Alaskan Malamutes.
Would you calculate how much room was in your basement and offer to take Bee and the kids in until she could come up with some other solution?
Would you offer to lend moral support to Bee as she drove back to the boyfriend to tell him it would be awhile before he was rid of her?
Would you hesitate only briefly, until Bee's crying got to you, and offer to take her and the kids in?
Would you breathe a sigh of relief that the insurance would pay for Bee and her family to stay in a hotel while the repairs are made to the house?
Or would you do something else? Think about it. I'll tell you what happened on Friday's post.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Serious Sunday
I think I need to come up with themes for the various days of the week. I haven't posted since Tuesday, but that's because I haven't really been doing anything exciting. Maybe having a theme for each day would help inspire me.
I woke up today in time to enjoy a thick, but softly falling, snow. It's sunny now so it's probably going to melt away, but it was really beautiful at the time. I find that my mood for the day tends to be set within the first hour or so of getting up. So today colour my mood good.
The writing is . . . going. I can't say it's going really well, but it is going. I've been working on Driving Into Forever, doing some serious editing. So far I've added about 1,000 words to it. One thousand down, nineteen thousand to go.
One thing that is really helping with the writing, I figured out how to disable the touch plate on my laptop. In theory the touch plate is a good idea. However, it's centered just below the keyboard and my thumbs keep dropping down and accidentally hitting it. I'll be typing away and then suddenly I'm typing in a completely different place. It's like the cursor had a mind of it's own. Now, we're good to go.
I woke up today in time to enjoy a thick, but softly falling, snow. It's sunny now so it's probably going to melt away, but it was really beautiful at the time. I find that my mood for the day tends to be set within the first hour or so of getting up. So today colour my mood good.
The writing is . . . going. I can't say it's going really well, but it is going. I've been working on Driving Into Forever, doing some serious editing. So far I've added about 1,000 words to it. One thousand down, nineteen thousand to go.
One thing that is really helping with the writing, I figured out how to disable the touch plate on my laptop. In theory the touch plate is a good idea. However, it's centered just below the keyboard and my thumbs keep dropping down and accidentally hitting it. I'll be typing away and then suddenly I'm typing in a completely different place. It's like the cursor had a mind of it's own. Now, we're good to go.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Coincidence? Or is it?
Several years ago I went to a Tarot reader who was a friend of a friend. I don't remember much about the reading, other than the fact she was pretty accurate about several things.
On the way out the door she gave me a quote she had taped to her fridge. After reading it she told me to keep it because it was "meant" for me.
Fast forward to the present day where I re-discovered the quote in a pile of papers I was sifting through in my office:
A Challenging Perspective
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the Glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Marianne Williamson
A Return to Love; Reflection o the Principles of a Course in Miracles
Interesting coincidence, isn't it?
On the way out the door she gave me a quote she had taped to her fridge. After reading it she told me to keep it because it was "meant" for me.
Fast forward to the present day where I re-discovered the quote in a pile of papers I was sifting through in my office:
A Challenging Perspective
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the Glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we're liberated from our our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Marianne Williamson
A Return to Love; Reflection o the Principles of a Course in Miracles
Interesting coincidence, isn't it?
Monday, January 21, 2008
WTF!?!
Okay, I want to know what happened to all that "good luck" that was supposed be be headed my way? Today was certainly not an example of good luck. In fact, the expression if it wasn't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all comes to mind.
The customers today were getting a jump on the full moon. Everybody wanted discontinued promotions, and when they couldn't have them they kept chatting anyway, jacking up my chat time. At least I didn't get the woman who chatted in to technical support asking how she could meet people. I kid you not.
My longest chat of the day came just before quitting time. I was 20 minutes late leaving. But I made it to the railway crossing just in time for a humongously long freight train that was inching along the tracks. When it came to a complete stop I turned around and cut through the industrial park. When I got back onto the road on the other side of the tracks the train was still sitting there!
I got supper made just under the wire and sent the husband off to bowl. Then I decided to check out what I've been missing on the internet. Oh, did I forget to mention I couldn't get onto the internet yesterday?
Remembering my cognitive therapy I turned a negative into a positive. Instead of looking at it as not being able to surf from the living room, I looked at it as not being able to fritter my time away on the internet when I should be writing. And lo and behold, I got some writing done. Not a lot, but more than I've done lately.
Tonight I came down to my office and plugged directly into the lap top. Still no internet.
No biggie, I used to work tech support. I powercycled. No connection. I checked my settings - everything was perfect. No connection. I checked the cables to make sure everything was plugged in tightly. No connection. I bypassed the router and plugged directly into the modem. No connection. As a last resort I switched ethernet cables (no mean feat in itself as it involved crawling around under the dark, cat-hair filled desk). Finally, I got a connection.
Why am I hearing the Beach Boys singing ". . .let's go surfing now . . ." in my head?
The customers today were getting a jump on the full moon. Everybody wanted discontinued promotions, and when they couldn't have them they kept chatting anyway, jacking up my chat time. At least I didn't get the woman who chatted in to technical support asking how she could meet people. I kid you not.
My longest chat of the day came just before quitting time. I was 20 minutes late leaving. But I made it to the railway crossing just in time for a humongously long freight train that was inching along the tracks. When it came to a complete stop I turned around and cut through the industrial park. When I got back onto the road on the other side of the tracks the train was still sitting there!
I got supper made just under the wire and sent the husband off to bowl. Then I decided to check out what I've been missing on the internet. Oh, did I forget to mention I couldn't get onto the internet yesterday?
Remembering my cognitive therapy I turned a negative into a positive. Instead of looking at it as not being able to surf from the living room, I looked at it as not being able to fritter my time away on the internet when I should be writing. And lo and behold, I got some writing done. Not a lot, but more than I've done lately.
Tonight I came down to my office and plugged directly into the lap top. Still no internet.
No biggie, I used to work tech support. I powercycled. No connection. I checked my settings - everything was perfect. No connection. I checked the cables to make sure everything was plugged in tightly. No connection. I bypassed the router and plugged directly into the modem. No connection. As a last resort I switched ethernet cables (no mean feat in itself as it involved crawling around under the dark, cat-hair filled desk). Finally, I got a connection.
Why am I hearing the Beach Boys singing ". . .let's go surfing now . . ." in my head?
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