Monday Morning WIP Thread—New Counter-Tops

What I've been doing this week, cutting down surplused lab tables to make new butcher block kitchen counters:

The kitchen before, overview:

On the left you can just see the edge of the breakfast bar. Center, the desk. Right the dishwasher counter. Note that the last does not come all the way to the trim and that the ledge shelf is a different wood and has no end cap.



After, overview. Unfortunately taken from a slightly different angle, but more features will show in the close ups.



During, pre-oiling, you can see that the dishwasher counter comes over to the trim here and the end capping as well as the uniform construction:



This is what the lab tables looked like:



Dishwasher before:



After:



Unoiled:



Halfway there:



Old breakfast bar (oak plank)



New (unoiled) You can't see much difference—mainly the 45 instead of rounded edges—but it's really night and day:



Old desk (white Formica, bleah):



New (w00t!):



I still need to do the two tiny counters and cut down and build the sink counter, though that won't get installed till late October. Still, since these are all actual oiled cutting blocks we've more than doubled the working area of the kitchen. So what about y'all? What's on the agenda for the week.

Smart Things

Jeri Smith Ready talking about the different levels of editing that go into a novel.

Jeremiah Tolbert: five lies writers believe about editors.

Lilith Saintcrow. On not responding to reviews. On truth in fiction, I'm less sanguine on this one, but I can see it's validity on some levels. On the fact that, yes, if you want to be a professional writer they are going to be judging you. On the stages of deadline acceptance.

Julie and Julia

I went and saw Julie and Julia with my now on sabbatical wife yesterday. We biked up to the theater and got in about two minutes into the movie, thus possibly missing something. Overall it was a fun sweet movie.

The thing I liked the most about it was it got the little moments of publishing exactly right: The hit in the gut as you prepare to open what you're sure is going to be the umpteenth rejection for something you love. The sheer jubilation of an acceptance or seeing that first book. The little happy spurt from fan response.

Yay for all that.

The thing I liked the least about it was the perpetuation of the stereotypes of the neurotic, self-absorbed, and/or clueless writer: It had the "I'm not a writer if I'm not published" freakout. The complete clueless wild-ass-guess about typical advances. The complete lack of clue on figuring out how to deal with publishers ahead of time. Etc.

Now, those stereotypes work because an awful lot of writers are subject to one or another of them, and a lot of writers do learn about business the hard way by signing bad contracts or doing stupid things with their careers, or totally relying on the Cinderella faerie godmother mode of success to whack them upside the head with the publishing stick. At the same time it has never been easier to learn how not to do those things. There are a million and one resources on the web for learning about the business of writing and understanding what is and is not likely to happen.

Someday I would like to see an aspiring writer who has done their homework and who understands what they're getting into portrayed on the big screen. I think it would be simply lovely to see some story about the writing life that didn't rely on the same old conflicts and stresses.

Which is not to say that I didn't like the movie—I did, quite a lot, actually—just that it didn't cover a lot of new ground.

Friday Cat Blogging—Cats and Shadow Edition

Why Kirby Is King

Today would have been Jack Kirby's ninety-second birthday. To honor the day, my brother and I asked comic book creators from the Mid-Ohio-Con family and beyond to answer the question "Why is Kirby king?" Our second annual Kirby tribute appears today at midohiocon.com.

Over and Out

I sent two hard copies of Dust and Steel, along with synopsis, off to my agent on Monday. This means that for the first time in over a decade the book is officially, finally off my desk and, more importantly, out of my head.

Yes, I said “over a decade.” This book, which began at a breakfast counter in Juno, Alaska, and ended on a cluttered desk in St. Paul, MN, has been with me longer than my children (and at times has proven even more unruly). It has endured four moves, numerous jobs, unemployment, the birth of two children, voluntary and involuntary hiatuses, a leaky roof that killed the computer it was on, a pretty serious rapier addiction, and heaven knows how many other distractions. I have told more people that I can remember about the book, so that now the only thing I can remember for certain across all that time is that no one seemed to think I couldn’t do it. That alone is pretty special, and should D&S ever see the light of day, I am going to be kicking myself for not being able to name every person who showed me even an inkling of support over the years.

It is often said that a first novel is a learning experience. This is true. I have learned, for example, that I never want to take ten years to write a book EVER AGAIN. I will buy a gun and single bullet first. There are very few people, real or fictional, I would want to spend that much time with, day after day. I married one of them (real person) and had two as kids (mostly real, but some days I’m not completely sure): but the characters in my book? I think we could agree none of use signed up for this, and I’m sure they were as happy to get out the door and in the mail as I was to see them go. I also learned that while I am still a fairly organic writer (“Plan? We don’t need no steenkin’ plan!”), and that I am a strong enough writer of character and action to pull off the occasional story gaffe with equanimity, I don’t necessarily like to have to do that, let alone go back and fix it in revisions. And speaking of revisions, I learned that trying to revise an organic novel that was written in fits and starts over ten-plus years is a royal (and logistical) pain in the ass. The target is now roughly a year per book (not counting summer vacation, which is a wash for me writing-wise). And yes, this means outlines and “a plan.”

Oh, and I learned some stuff about craft and plot and character and commitment to one’s art and all that, too. :)

I learned that a good writer’s group is worth more than it’s weight in gold, diamonds, uranium, and any other precious commodity you care to name. When it comes down to it, writing is a lonely gig, and even talking to supportive non-writer friends and one’s spouse (sorry, J) isn’t quite the same as spending time with a like-minded group of geeks who hear voices in their heads and put stories on paper and rip their hair out (metaphorically, in Kelly’s case) on a fairly regular basis.

I learned I can write places other than my office. This was very freeing, since I can now adjust my locale based on the mood (and muse) of the day. I also learned that sound-blocking headphones and surf music can be my friend at times. I always knew I could write into the night, but now I know I can get up early to write if I have to, or that I can grab half an hour in the middle of the day if there is no other time.

I learned that commitment can be stronger than inspiration. You need the inspiration to get started, and you need it to keep going, but there are days you can put down perfectly good words when inspiration refuses to come calling. Those days are harder, but if you only do it when it’s easy, you’ll never write THE END.

I also learned that writing THE END isn’t the end of it. I knew this, of course, but there is a difference between knowing something and living it. Lawrence Block refers to revisions as “washing garbage”, in that it is something he neither enjoys nor particularly wants to do. But still he does it. And even after washing my own garbage and boxing it up, I know it still isn’t over. Should D&S sell, it will be back on my desk for editorial revisions, copy edits, and so on. But that will be then, and it will be with a signed contract in hand. And there will be a deadline. One thing I didn’t have to learn is that I am much better under a real deadline (fake or self-imposed ones don’t work on me). College taught me that one.

So, now I sit, itchy fingered, waiting to get back to work on my other book, which is at the half-way point. That will happen in two weeks, once the guys go back to school. So in the meantime, I will catch up on other things, do a little on-line gaming, work on my web site, and lay in bed at night and try not to think about Drothe and Bronze Degan and a plot that is plotted and a book that is done. But I think I will now and then, anyhow. After all, we have a good bit of history behind us.

(This post origianlly appeared on my LiveJournal, and has been forwarded here after an appropriate boot to the head to remind that, ya know, it's about writing and stuff...)

Smart Things

Continued very light blogging from me for at least another week or two. In the interim I've been reading other folks saying interesting things. A sampling:

Big discussion on Jay Lake's blogs about the Kindle: Part 1a and 1b and 2.

Lilith Saintcrow. The Hack Manifesto. As another "hack," this one warms my heart. Genre and Compression in which she discusses the idea of genre and the problems some have with as well as the internal pressure one feels to dive deep into a work, especially when it's new and shiny. You need more than a good book to make it in this business. Friday five, the physical act of writing, story as arc and three more nice bits, though I'm not sure I agree with 3.

Justine Larbalestier on aspiring writers asking the wrong questions, I'm not entirely in agreement with this one or the post it riffs off if, but it's still a smart piece of work.

Whatca' Reading?

A long time ago, back when MiniCON was big, I attended a panel that Alan Steele was on. I no longer remember what the panel topic was, but I remember him talking about how he had these tremendous periods in output (writing) followed by a cycle of input (reading.)

Well, even though I'm still in the middle of writing my young adult novel, my input valve must be stuck or something because I've been reading like CRAZY. I've just narfed a bunch of graphic novels in the manga series HIRAKU NO-GO (about a bunch of kids, a ghost, and professional "Go" playing in Japan) and I finished a novel by Australian author Bernard Beckett called GENESIS (hardcover, Houghton Mifflin Harcort, 2009). (I have a long extended rant... er, review of the book over at my alternate personality's LiveJournal blog. Warning: SPOILERS. I put them under lj-cuts, but I don't know if they'll be there if you go via my link. So sheild your eyes. :-)

Anyway, that always leads me to wonder... what are the rest of you reading these days?

Monday Morning Open Thread and WIP

Hey all,

Getting ready to go help Laura unload the physics department today. Unluckily for us the building is ready for move-in this week instead of next when Laura's sabbatical starts. When they kick us out at 11:00 this morning I'll come home and cut and mount some more replacement trim before collapsing in a heap with my laptop and some editing on the trunk novel. How about you?

Friday Cat Blogging

You don't seriously expect me to pose, do you?



Look, even I get tired of the camera sometimes



Lazer cat hates ragweed season.



You have found my secret lair, now I must burn you with my eyes.



Cuteness overload.



Hey, Tahoe cats look kind of funny...

Off Topic: Tornado

Yesterday afternoon, I was lying on the bed thinking I should either nap, meditate (which is really, for me, just guided napping,) or start writing. Since I could barely keep my eyes open I went for meditation/napping. I settled in on the bed, plugged in to my mp3 player, but I paused because I heard the sound of a train rattling in the far, far distance. I thought: "Huh, a train," because, a train passes quite close to our house and we can often heard it rumbling through the neighborhood. Two seconds later the tornado sirens went off. Mason and I scurried off to the basement, but as it was only just pitter-pattering rain, I still didn't make the connection. And, honestly, because it was Wednesday, if I didn't have a weather radio that automatically tells me if this is a weekly drill or a real advisory, I probably wouldn't even have hurried us off to the basement.

I'm glad I did.

The tornado that touched down was quite a distance from us. Across the river and in the Portland Avenue and Downtown areas of Minneapolis. But, you know, that's much closer than I really ever needed to be. My sympathies go out to everyone directly affected.

Killing the Muse

Jim Butcher recently joined Twitter. Encouraged by many of the people I already "follow," I checked out his tweets. His very first one was strangely profound. He wrote something to the effect of "Author kills Muse. Film at 11." Subsequent posts made it clear that his reason for "killing" his Muse is that he's behind on his deadline and he can no longer afford to wait for inspiration to strike. He's just got to knuckle down and write.

Like I said, I found that surprisingly insightful.

I always thought that someone in the stratosphere like Jim Butcher had the luxury of waiting on his Muse, you know? I know that the rest of us down here scrabbling in the dirt have to write whenever we can squeeze in time at the computer. But, I guess I thought that once you kind of "made it" you could just sip martinis poolside and wait for that shining Goddess in white to appear and smack you upside the head and say, "Time to write! I've got a great idea for you, pal!"

It's kind of nice to know that's not true. I guess I remember reading in Stephen King's book about writing that he thinks it's a good idea, if possible, to sit down at the computer at the same time every day so the Muse knows where and when to show up -- even if She doesn't deign to come every time, his point is that if you make it a regular habit, eventually She'll get the invitation and appear. But I also sort of thought that "Stevie" (as he calls himself throughout the book) was kind of just saying that for us lowly not-yet-as-great-as-he sorts.

Maybe not. Maybe everyone struggles with writing when they don't want to.

Huh.

Cool.

Quick Hit—Interview Cat and Muse

The always fabulous Jackie Kessler's lead character, Jezebel is interviewing my Ravirn over at Cat and Muse. These are always a lot of fun.

Link Salad

The Smart

At SFNovelists S.C. Butler, author and all around good guy, talks about writing the next book as the best possible use of an author's time.

Also at SFNovelists Kate Elliot talking about field of vision, and breaking into the publishing biz. I think that she's right that this is important, especially for newbies, though I have to admit that I don't do it nearly as much as used to our ought.

I recently discovered that Lilith Saintcrow is a terribly smart writer, especially on the subject of writing, so I've been slowly digging through her blog and will be posting smart bits as I find them. Here's the latest batch:

Hidden hinges or plot pivots.

Writing in the scary places—I'm not going to be very good at describing this one because it's simply not how I approach writing and I flat don't agree that it's true for every writer, but it's certainly true for some. She's talking about emotionally grounding the story in the things that really matter to the writer (which I do agree with) in a way which is often painful for the writer (which is where we part company). I'm firmly of the opinion that you don't have to bleed to write good stuff. Which is not to say that I never do, just that I don't think it's necessarily and always a good idea.

On writer priorities. A fabulous post on making a writing a priority and how that balances with the rest of your life. It was inspired by this fabulous post by Keri Arthur on achieving the dream.

The Important

Jim McDonald at Making Light talks about "Robert M. Fletcher, Literary Scammer" parts I and II. Part II is the more interesting read and is not dependent on having read part I.

Another exciting episode of read the guidelines and check your agency info to make sure that...oh, the agency hasn't moved. This one from Kristin Nelson.

The Cool

My google alerts twigged me to this one. A site that does literature maps showing who an author is close to in reader space. This one is for me and I haven't played around with the system at all, but I imagine it can be made to work for any writer you're interested in mapping.

Monday Morning Open Thread and WIP

Good morning all,

What's everybody working on? I'm playing around with trunk novels and recovering from a bunch of house stuff done over the weekend.

Smart Things and Silly Things

Lilith Saintcrow on writers and social media dos and don'ts.

Peter Cooper guest post at Nathan Bransford's blog. Rejecting the Hobbit.

The Intern on writing retreats.

Joe Queenan at the NYT on the joys of bad books.

Friday Cat Blogging—Bolt Upright Out of Bed When You Realize It's Saturday Edition

Iz breakfast bar, right? So, where my breakfast?



Don't even think about making me move.



Just slide the bed back under the hutch and nobody gets hurt.



I was just say---Squirrel!



You will be mine, oh yes, you will be mine.

Writing Biorhythms

Do you have a time when your brain is better suited for writing?

I know I do. As a professional writer, I've trained myself to write any time, any where. However, the fact remains: I write better during daylight hours, preferably between 9:00 AM and noon.

Yesterday, I took Mason to the beach for three hours. We played and played and I thought for certain he'd be tired by the end of the day after all that healthy sunshine and exercise. He did get to bed at a reasonable hour, but then guess what? I was tired too! I did get a bit of writing done after hours, but I have to tell you, writing at night, for me, is just plain HARD. I can do it, but it's not "natural" for me, you know?

Strangely, I think I got in the habit of writing during the day when I had a regular job. I was the world's worst employee. I tell my friends in business: "Never hire me." Because I'm the consummate slacker. I get only enough done not to get fired, and I spend the rest of the time stealing your office supplies and writing my novel on company time. I wrote five novels while "working" full-time that way. Bad. And, like I said, the 9 to 5 mentality still infuses my writing brain. My brain thinks: office hours = writing hours. After hours = play and sleep. Now, with child at home, that's reversed.

It's hard to retrain the brain, though it can be done. I've now written nearly as many novels at home with small child as I did with a regular job. Many a midnight oil has been burned. But... I still don't like it. Even after years of writing this way (although now, only during summer,) it's still a bit like pulling teeth.

So how about you? All things being equal, when do you write best?

A Part, Yet Apart

blogging on how being a professional writer has changed my relationship with the congoing experience over at SFNovelists.

Off Topic, But...

Sir Terry Pratchett being very eloquent on the right to die with dignity.

Public Service Announcement

Back up your work.

Send it as an attachment in a web-based e-mail.

Put in on a flash drive and keep it on your key chain.

Send a copy to a friend.

Back it up to an external hard drive.

Burn a DVD and keep it in your car/at the office.

And don't just do one of these -- do several.

I just discovered the mostly-revised version of Dust & Steel on my flash drive (which is where I usually keep my working copy) became corrupted. Ditto the copy on my computer. Fortunately, I had also sent myself the latest version as an e-mail as well before whatever happened happened. I am a much happier writer than I might have otherwise been because I was paranoid enough to have done a double-fail safe.

So, yeah: back up your work. Lots.

Monday Morning WIP

Mason's big plans for us today includes a trip to HalfPrice Books to look for "Loony Tunes" DVDs and then some kind of adventure/outdoor hiking. My job during summer vacation (which, for us, is thankfully only the month of August,) is to wear out my six year old during the day, so that I can get some writing done in the evening.

Currently, I'm working on Tate's young adult vampire novel ALMOST TO DIE FOR, which, according to Penguin USA will be out in August 2010. I recently approved back cover copy for it, which goes like this:

On her sixteenth birthday, Anastasija Parker’s present winds up being the shock of a lifetime. When her mom referred to her absentee dad as a deadbeat it was actually half true—he’s a vampire. And a king, no less. A king who wants his daughter to assume her rightful position at his side. But, thanks to Ana’s mother, the blood of a witch also runs through her veins…

Too bad vampires and witches are mortal enemies.

With her parents gearing up for an all out brawl over her destiny, Ana’s about ready to scream. But things get even crazier when a male witch and a brooding bad boy vampire start vying for her affection. Then the barely leashed tension between the vampires and the witches starts to boil over, and Ana has to figure out once and for all if she wants to become heir to her dad’s throne. And deciding your eternal destiny is a pretty big deal for a girl who just wants to get through high school.

I've also rebooted my much-behind-schedule Archangel Protocol prequel, RESURRECTION CODE for the umpteenth time. I'm hoping to get that to the publisher by Christmas.

Off to adventure!

You're kidding, right?

At Tor, there is a discussion of an anthology titled "The Mammoth Book of Mindblowing Science Fiction" that includes not a single female author or author of color. The discussion include links to an outstanding post by Angry Black Woman on the same subject. As a straight white male science fiction and fantasy author (SWMSF&FA for short) I can't begin to tell you how much it pisses me off to see anthologies populated entirely by white male science fiction and fantasy authors. More than that, I am utterly appalled by the reflexive (some might say kneejerk) defense of such things. Take for example the one by Paul Di Filippo which the Angry Black Woman takes apart so beautifully in her post. It makes me want to turn in my SWMSF&FA union card. Oh, and footnote 29 in the Angry Black Woman's post is made of awesome.

A Dash More On E-reading

Not to distract from the Friday cat blogging, but I wanted to post a brief follow-up to J. Steven York's post on ebook readers, linked yesterday by Kelly, while the topic was still fresh on the blog.

Per Wired magazine, it seems that Dell and Intel are looking into launching a tablet reader program akin to what we now see in the cell phone industry. That is to say, you would get a "free" (or possibly very affordable) tablet reader when you sign up for a unspecified subscription period, just like you can get a "free" cell phone when you sign a two year contract with most service providers. The tablet model seems to be based mainly on electronic news sources at the moment, but I easily see how a regular, cheap supply of tablets could lead to on-line books subscription programs (akin to what Mr. York posits for book clubs), not to mention direct-to-tablet sales from publishers and, yes, authors. And, of course, there are lots of other things that could be streamed that way as well, for a price (movies, videos, etc. and so on).

A lot will depend on the capacity and capability of the tablets, whether the subscription material can be copied or transferred to other media or storage devices, and how readily the modern publishing business model will transfer over to the tablet format, but it's not something they will be able to ignore for long. I still prefer the feel of a solid book (or newspaper, or magazine) in the hand as much as the next Luddite; but that doesn't mean easily available tablets won't have their place at the table -- or even sit at the head of that table some time down the line. I learned long ago that now matter how much I may wish it were otherwise, it ain't all about what I want. My tactile preference for paper may not make it to the next generation or two, at least on some levels.

As for the Kindle and the Sony Reader: this should be a wake-up call for them as well. Or a death-knell. Either way, the paradigm of print will shift even more, and that is something we writers will need to keep an eye on.

What are your thoughts on the matter? Would you switch to a tablet for news? Reading? General entertainment? And how do you think this will impact you as an author down the line?

Friday Cat Blogging + Bits of Travel Zen

Five little kitties all in a row



No, I wasn't licking your toothbrush, why do you ask?



You...again?



I'z ready for my closeup!



What do you mean I no fitz in box?



I'z not fat, I'z big furred.



Kitty-made bio-hazard symbol? You decide:



Now that's what I call heavy reading.



“I, for one, welcome our new robot overlords...”

More of the Smart

Laura Rede of the Death Pixies saying very smart things about Writers of the Future.

J. Steven York on the future of ebook readers.

Today Neil Gaiman linked to a couple of earlier posts about letting go of a piece, or when is a story done. 1 and 2, both a bit down the page.

And, just added, Mike Briggs (Patrica Briggs' husband) saying incredibly smart things about copyright. Snurched from Kat Richardson.

Baen's Universe Closing

Another loss for short SF publishing: Jim Baen's Universe is closing.

More Smart Things + Follow Up

First the smart things follow up: By coincidence* there are a bunch of folks talking about time and persistence and writing and sacrifice this week, not just Scalzi. Via Jay lake**: calendula_witch on practice, the Boston Globe's article on Grit, and one of Jay's own older posts on psychotic persistence. Also, over at the Death Pixies, Robbie Knutson on procrastination.

Next up, J. Steven York with a very smart post on agents.

Dean Wesley Smith has a smart new entry in his life without series on the catastrophic results that would follow the sudden*** destruction of copyright.

Finally, Agent Kristin Nelson has an interesting post on treating writing as a business, that I find to be both good advice on some levels and something I violently disagree with on some levels. The discussion in the comments is something I want to watch, which is a good part of why I'm linking it here. In particular, the poster who points out how very little control a writer has over the big things and in their career and the people arguing with them on the basis of believing the myth**** of self-promotion as panacea for success.

*It's actually probably the case that given the size of the internet and the number of writers out there blogging that there are always quite a few talking about this and the coincidence comes in at people I'm aware of talking about this level.

**Who talks about it as well.

***Big emphasis on the sudden there.

****And yes, I do think it's a myth that self-promotion***** can have that much impact. I know too many stories of self-promotion that failed and of books that were not self-promoted that did fantastically. I'd love to know how much self-promotion J.K. Rowling did on the Harry Potter books in the first year or two, and especially whether her publisher did a big promotion push before they started to hit or only really pushed her out on the interview and signing trail once they got going.

*****As opposed to publisher driven promotion, which is a very different animal that with a budget and publicist attached.

Smart Things--A Bunch

Nola J. Moore saying smart things about collaboration.

Michael Damian Thomas saying smart things about in-group slapfights, a post triggered by this smart post on the same subject by Cristalia.

John Scalzi saying smart things about making the time to write. I'm not wholly in agreement with him on this one, but I think his is one good way to look at the issue.

Justine Larbalestier saying smart things about how you judge your own success. She picked up the topic from Maureen Johnson's excellent post on not judging your success by the numbers.

This last pair hits a tender spot for me right at the moment in that I'm feeling a little bit stalled as I wrap up WebMage without yet having sold any of the other books that I've written. I have high hopes for several of the series I've got out on submission at the moment, including the one that I hope will be continuing my relationship with Ace and Penguin, but none of that has happened yet and books that I was sure would have sold years ago are still hanging in space. Don't get me wrong, I'm delighted with the quality of work I'm doing for WebMage and simply having books in print and the opportunity to write more is a huge privilege, but some days I still feel that I'm hitting a wall. I've written several books now that are simply better than the ones I've currently got in print and it's sometimes very frustrating to know that they haven't yet seen the light of day in any significant way.

Of course, hitting a wall and then hitting it again and again as many times as it takes until it falls is a pretty good description of how this business works in general. It's just that sometimes the bruises that generates weigh more heavily on the mind, and for me this is one of those times. Which makes what Justine and Maureen have to say all the more important for me personally at the moment.

Quick Hit—Interview

Just a quick heads up: I'm myshelf.com's author of the month for August which means that they did an interview with me. IMHO this was a particularly good interview.

Monday Morning Open Thread and WIP

Hey all,

Finally back from my travels. 3 trips, 4 time zones, 8 states, 15 days. I'll write up a trip a trip/meeting/con report in a couple of days including cool stuff and a Smart car on the road report. In the meantime, what's everyone doing?

On the writing front: I'm still in the limbo between turning the last book in and hearing back from my editor/proposing the next book. So I'm thinking about writing a new first 3 chapters to my 2nd book (silly fantasy ala Pratchett) so I can move it from basement storage to agent and active submission. I'm also thinking about pulling out the opening chapters of what would have been my 4th book (high fantasy) if I hadn't shifted to short stories, and seeing if I can't turn it into a book proposal that Jack might be able to sell. I'm feeling a little under-productive after a month off writing and that would give me 8 series out under submission as well as soaking up some of this downtime between Ace projects. Oh, and I have to get the final polish on Eye of Horus but that's only got one pass left to make so it'll only eat 2-3 days.

For the rest of life: The house needs to be restored to it's pre-July state. The gardens have weeds. I've gained back 4 of the pounds I'd lost, which means I've now 15 to go in getting back to my high school weight of 185. Originally it was 35 so I'm still doing all right, but it would have been nice to not have gained any at all during the trip season. The cats are in need of much reassurance as to their position at the center of the universe. I have about a million emails to deal with and I'm sure there's other house stuff that I've forgotten about beyond simple restoration.

How about y'all? Oh, and consider this an open thread as well. If you're new to the blog and want to say hi, or if you have writing questions, or whatever, this is a good place to do that.