January 1, 2010
Russ and I went for a nice long ride this afternoon. It was lovely out. But I have to tell you that it is colder than hell here now. We're supposed to drop down to about -20f (that's -28c) and we're just plain cold.
Last year I wrote 1,211,910 words. I think that's pretty much a record for me. I'm off to a slow start so far this year, but that's because Russ is still home and I don't want to waste the time I have with him by doing something I can easily do later.
So, with that in mind, happy new year. I'm off to spend the rest of the night with Russ.
January 2, 2010
Russ will be leaving first thing in the morning. It's been a nice week, except for this horrible cold weather. I'll be depressed to see him go again. I hope that we soon find a way to at least live in the same time zone, if not actually the same house.
Other than that, not much to talk about. Getting work done. Bought an electric blanket tonight which should really help me through the rest of this winter. I don't do bitter cold very well.
And now off to spend a few last hours with Russ.
January 3, 2009
Russ is now back in New York. Sigh. We had a good week, though. It was nice because he wasn't here to do something else -- teach classes or whatever. That gave him time to see some of his friends and still left us with quite a bit of time together. We watched shows. We at meals together. We went for long rides and came up with plans for things we want to do.
We're hoping that this year will be the last of the 'separated by the economy' years. Things will change.
But now... trying to get back to the idea of working on stuff. I didn't do a lot of writing when Russ was home. Even the first two days of the year have been very light. But I'm ready to leap in now and do some serious work.
Yeah, it passes the time. But at least it's good that I have something I want to do.
Off to work now.
January 4, 2010
It's cold. It's white. I am having trouble concentrating on anything for very long, though I at least got a couple things done today. I think I need to just sit back and relax a little. Figure out what I want to eat, rather than just munching on things.
I am working on the rewrite and edit of Silky 3. The opening is looking far better. I hope that I can keep it going this well all the way to the end.
It looks like it's going to be a long year. Sigh.
January 5, 2010
It's a bit late tonight. I've been working on giving people access to the 2YN class and getting all kinds of things set up there. I've also been able to do some writing between times, so it's actually gone pretty well.
We're looking at another massive cold snowy white miserable stupid storm heading our way. Can you tell I'm tired of winter already? Ugh. Make it go away. (Looks out window) Still white. Still DEEP.
But that's about it for me right now. I'm going to bed to read in a few minutes. Then tomorrow -- start over again with more work, more writing, more reading. I hope to have this book done by the end of the week. I think that's going to be the high point since Russ left.
Though I am trying to do more art again, too. I think I need that.
It's snowing. Right now.
I'm going to bed. Tell me when spring arrives.
January 6, 2010
The weather just keeps getting worse:
* Wind Chill
Values... Wind Chills Of 25 To 35 Below Zero Will
Develop Later Tonight... And Continue Through Midday Thursday.
Wind Chill Readings Will Plunge To 35 Below To 45 Below Zero
Thursday Night Into Friday Morning.
I'm going to bed now. I'll be back in the spring.
January 7, 2010
It's not as bad today as I thought it would be. Oh, it's miserable outside, but it turns out the height of the snow is helping to protect the house from the cold and wind. So it's not as cold in here as I feared it would be.
I am not going outside, though.
Right now it's -7 with a -34 wind chill. I think it's going to get worse.
I'm going to ignore it.
An old fog picture
January 8, 2010
Not quite as cold as it has been, but still not great. The house didn't warm up today at all, which is unfortunate. It's still going to be cold tomorrow, but better on Sunday. Yay.
I do not want to see more snow. I think that I won't get that wish, though.
But ... surviving. Got leaky water fixed today. Hired a kid to scoop the snow. That counts for good on both of them. Now I want to get some writing done, though, before I go crawl into bed again.
So, off I go. Didn't really have anything interesting to say anyway!
January 9, 2010
The view this morning was lovely. I took a number of pictures:
http://zettepicaday.blogspot.com/2010/01/frosty-morning.html
I got some work done, and I'm almost done with the book I'm reading. So things are good, over all. Writing is going well. I'm just... tired. Very tired. Going to post this and crawl off to bed!
January 10, 2010
I finished reading my book today and even wrote a review of it for LibraryThing.
http://www.librarything.com/work/617902/reviews
I think that should link to it. It was the most work I probably got done today. But I have to say that I was far happier today since it was -- and still is --warmer than it has been for quite a while. It's warmed up tonight and it's 26 now. Does that mean it will be above freezing tomorrow? Melt some of the snow? I don't know if that's good or not. It might just freeze into ice then. At least you can scoop snow away.
But it's late. I was already in the bedroom and ready to sleep when I remembered I hadn't done this part yet. So now it's done, and I'm going to go sleep!
January 11, 2010
Long day, during which I got virtually nothing done. Don't you just hate days like that?
I am now writing up a list for tomorrow and I will get at least some of the stuff done!
Other than that, weather is better. I am happier for it. Fought a headache off, but I think that's done and now...
Now it's time to sleep. Work tomorrow.
January 12, 2010
Very long day. Lots of problems with odd things, but I finally got some writing done tonight.
And tomorrow I start over. I'm sure there's something wrong with this.
But right now... tired. Which is always good. I like sleep. Just a little more reading and then I'll just fall over asleep . What a nice thought.
The book I'm working on now is going very well. I'm about 17k into the rewrite, and about 30 pages into the final edit -- the rewrite moving ahead of the edit quite nicely.
And that's about the most interesting stuff I have to say at all. Yawn. Even the cats are tired tonight!
January 13, 2010
I've been getting tired very early lately, but I can't say I'm really getting up any earlier in the day. In some ways, that's okay. It doesn't hurt to have a few days of good, long sleep. The electric blanket may be to fault for this. I'm actually comfortable in bed for a change. I like it.
The writing is going pretty well. That's always good and puts me into a better mood. And overall, I think most of the stuff is going well. My camera is making a few little odd noises with the telephoto, though, which worries me. I'm trying not to worry about it.
And I'm heading for bed! I'm about 100 pages into the Sumerian book, and I want to read a few more before I sleep.
January 14, 2010
I wonder how long it's going to be before I stop typing 2009 and get the year right. Probably about the time we change to 2011.
Long day. Not nearly enough done in some ways, but caught up on a lot of the extraneous stuff. So that's good. Trying to get the last little bit of writing done and then I'm going to crawl off to bed again. I had hoped to have the book on the Sumerians read by the end of this weekend, but I don't think I'm going to make it. Ah well. It's a good book, though!
Writing is going well enough. I hope it will be better tomorrow.
Time to sleep now, I think.
January 15, 2010
(Forgot to put this up last night!)
I have a new project. Actually, it's an old project that needs considerable expansion. So I'm doing some work on it as well as my other two writing projects.
Hey, at least it keeps me busy.
Oh, just thought of something to add to the story, too. Should make note of that right now.
The weather is better, but it's supposed to snow next week, though not much. I'm just going to go along like we'll have spring again some day....
They've started a dragon appreciation day on the Internet. I thought I'd join in.
I needed something different to do today. I put together an old drabble I wrote and a picture and posted it: http://www.zettesworld.com/LastDragon.htm
And now I need to get some real work done. Though it was nice to take a day 'off' more or less.
Back to work!
January 16, 2010
I got a considerable amount of work done today. That surprised me, since I didn't feel like doing anything at all. Not only writing on three projects, but some editing, the last of the Newsletter done, some clothes washed, dishes done and even a little art work in Carrara.
I don't know why it was such a good work day. It didn't start out as one. I didn't want to get up. I didn't care about working on anything at all. But, somewhere along the line, things kicked in.
But now it's late and I want to sleep. It sounds like a good plan to me!
January 17, 2010
I started out today with my 500 words on the
new novel and from there moved on to a submission to an agent.
Yes, sent it off already.
Now I'm back to writing on Silky 3 -- rewrite combine 3 and 4 and
final edit on the first part of what I've already written.
I've also started working on a massive rewrite of a contemporary YA mystery. So yes, my writing is kicking in and I'm finally moving pretty well. A bit late in the month, but that's all right. I'm happy with what I'm getting.
That also means I'm focused on that work and means there's little outside of it that is going to draw my attention for awhile, which is good in some respects. I don't notice the snow so much, for instance. Always a good thing. It does make it difficult to get other work done, but I'm managing it.
I am still reading The Sumerians by Kramer.
It's a slow book, but filled with fascinating facts about a
people who no one knew even existed 200 years ago.
The amount of written material they put out, on thousands of clay
tablets, is wonderful.
Other than that... writing.
Just writing and enjoying the process again.
I would love to just throw myself
into it for a few days and not think about anything else.
Unfortunately, there is always work that needs to be done.
I'll have to get back to it soon.
January 19, 2010
We had another lovely frosty day, but now there is a major ice storm moving in and it looks like it might be bad. I'm curious to see how badly we get hit before it's over.
I've had a couple days of work and work and work and very little writing. I'm hoping to get a bit more done tonight, but quite honestly, I'm beat. I don't know what I'll get much more done tonight. Maybe tomorrow. If the ice storm isn't so bad that I don't have power.
Life in the Midwest is far more exciting than people thing. (grin)
January 20, 2010
Yes, the storm hit. We've been lucky. If there had been any kind of wind, we would have had trees down everywhere. I can hear the creak and crack of ice outside. Now and then a huge chunk of ice hits the roof. It's unsettling, but that's been the worst of it. Well, except that I can't step foot outside because there is a quarter inch of ice everywhere.
That did not stop the Schwan's guy who wore spiked boots today and delivered food.
And I hear that we might have thunderstorms this weekend.
Odd weather. That's all.
January 21, 2010
Ice fell all day today. From the trees to the yard. From the trees to the roof. I thought I was going to go nuts before it finally ended.
http://picasaweb.google.com/LazetteGifford/20100121#
I am trying to get the last few things done because it's getting cold here. I want to go crawl into bed soon. I had hoped to get a book review written tonight, but I'm not sure I'm going to make it.
Ah well. It will be enough to get the paying work done!
January 22, 2010
I am just plain cold and tired tonight. I've gotten work done, though, so I'm good. Just waiting and hoping that Russ makes it back to his place soon and can contact me. Haven't heard from him all day, but it was a travel day for him, so that's not unusual.
Other than that, I can't say there's much going on. It's been breezy, cold and a bit icy still. It took me about five minutes to walk from the front door to the mailbox and back. Not good. I don't know when this is going to clear up -- except it's supposed to be in the 40's tomorrow.
I hope to get back on target for my writing this weekend. It's been a difficult few days.
January 23, 2010
I am not feeling all that great, so I've decided to get this done and up before it gets much later. I may end up just crawling off into bed at this rate.
So, as you can imagine, not a lot going on today. I haven't even begun writing, which I will do in a couple minutes. I don't expect to get far.
So... up this goes and off to work so I don't feel as though I've wasted the entire day.
January 24, 2010
Snowing, windy, cold.
We're back to winter.
I have gotten some writing done today on odd things. Tomorrow I'll do more. Right now, though -- time to sleep.
January 25, 2010
Cold, miserable stupid weather. That's all I have to say about it. I'm tired of this winter. Snarl.
I want somewhere warm. Not hot. Just comfortable. It could even snow -- as long as I am not cold. (grin)
I am working on a submission package. I need to get it done before I find a reason not to do it. So... off to work I go!
January 26, 2010
Do you realize how close it is to the end of the month? GAH! How did that happen again?
I have things and things and things to get done. But you know what? I'm going to work on my novel until it's done and ready to submit. I am over 300 pages into it, and I'm not stopping now.
Except to write this and get it posted. And maybe for dinner..
Back to work!
January 27, 2010
This is late. I was getting it, and several other things, finished when we had a power outage for no reason at all. So I forgot to redo and post.
I wasn't saying anything except complaining about the weather anyway.
I am almost done with my rewrite of Kat Among the Pigeons. That, I hope, will be completed today.
Back to work....
January 28, 2010
Ugh. Fighting headache all day. Got my editing done, but having a hard time focusing on anything else at all.
Also having a hard time dealing with the fact that it is very nearly the end of the month.
I have gotten important things done, just not nearly enough of them. This winter is really dragging me down, I fear. But, with luck, we only have February to get through and then we'll start into spring.
I hope.
January 29, 2010
I finished reading Foreigner last night. What a great book! I am going to start the second one tonight. It's good to remember how much I loved these books right from the start. Since the 11th will be out in a few months, I might even get the entire set read.
Or maybe not. We'll see.
I was a bit slower on writing and editing today, but that's okay. It will pick back up tomorrow. I did get Kat Among the Pigeons done and a query off on it, so that's good.
And right now, I need to think about sleep. Yay.
Gah. Need list of things that I have to do before the end of the month. It's way too close now.
January 30, 2010
I have been suffering from a horrific headache all day. I can't hardly do anything. If I thought I could just curl up and sleep for the next few days, that's what I'd do.
In fact, I think I'm going to rest for a while as soon as I get this done and posted. Possibly my brain will come back after a bit.
Obviously, no much to talk about!
January 31, 2010
It looks as though I've survived the first month of the year. Not well, but still, I made it. The writing is fair, the rest of it is okay. I got submissions out -- more of them than I probably did all last year. Time to get back to work on stuff and stop messing around.
Right.
So, here we are going into February. Short month. I can't decide if that's good or bad!
But at least I'm heading into it with an almost good attitude this year.
Except that I'm damned tired of the snow. I doubt we'll lose it before March, though, so I guess I'll have to live with it. More coming tonight. Snarl.