If Not Now, When?

 

My posting has been sporadic, but hey, pandemic, now it's summer, things are opening up again (at least for now), and I'm considering some life changes. I'm not going to say now because I'm only in the thinking stage, but no, I'm NOT going to:

Move.

Give up writing.

Enter a nunnery.

Divorce the hubs.

Join a biker gang.

Renounce all worldly possessions and live off the land.

Fly into space.

Sometimes, we need change; it wakes up the emotions, makes us feel vital, gives us a needed charge, or gets us out of a stale situation. Drop in and check up on me. 

In the meantime, do something for yourself, I'm sure you deserve it. 

Char 

You, You, YOU BLOG TROLL!

It's not nice to call people names, but sometimes insulting someone is better than wishing evil things on them.

I'm talking specifically about Blog Trolls. You know these types of people; they leave comments to get free advertising. When I did a post about finding the right chair to work at my desk, I got a number of 'comments' thanking me for my post- and then listing their business which happens to be selling chairs. Of course I delete them. Sorry, if you don't buy my book or give me free advertising, you can't ride my blog coattails for your stuff.

But the worst are those trolls from other countries. When they respond in poor English, followed by a message in a foreign language, I get the feeling they are up to no good. Between all the phishing scams, hackers, and just crazy people out there, I'm taking no chances and blocking you.

And yet, they still keep trying to post.

A recent spate concern me; they are written in Arabic and with the world situation, last thing I need is the FBI or CIA or Homeland Security showing up at my door demanding to take my laptop. I'm already on their radar (or I was) when I did research for my Blonde OPS novel about guns, the First Lady, the Secret Service, Italy, and poisons (well poisons were for another novel). So you can see why I might be of interest to them. (And especially since I had my browser shut down more times than I could count.)

You can call me paranoid, and maybe you might call me racist, but if a reader responds- multiple times- in a foreign language, I'm taking the extreme precaution of deleting and blocking them. So whoever you are, you might as well STOP TROLLING ME. Stop wasting my time and pissing me off, or I will ask karma to find you and set your computer on fire (better yet, I wish for YOU to get hacked and have it held hostage so you have to send gift cards to get control back).

(Photo courtesy Pexels, Pixaby)

Internet trolls are uglier than gargoyles. 

And, nobody likes you. (If your mother knew what you were doing, she'd pull your ears.) So leave me alone, go to your room, and find more constructive ways to live your life. 

Rant over. 

Char

A Clean Slate...

I missed my Monday post because frankly, I was exhausted. I cleared out my attic and my basement. I needed to bask in the joy of EMPTY space....

This room was PACKED, stuffed up 5 feet with twin bedroom sets, tables, books, etc. Now just these two couches plus the foosball table so my son and his friends can chill. The other half of the basement has empty plastic bins which I'm going to use when I go through all my Christmas stuff, which will then be neatly stacked on shelves. Then my attic will be truly empty.

Why am I telling you this? Because the clutter was a constant nuisance. Repairmen had a hard time getting around to service the furnace, A/C, read the water/gas meters, etc. I couldn't focus on writing and revising because every time I went in the basement for supplies, or a vase, or whatever, I had to navigate the maze of STUFF.

There are times when distractions, even seemingly minor ones like too much stuff, make you realize you need to do something. Obviously if it bugs you, like the clutter bugged me, you can't ignore it. So that means do something about it.

I cleaned out. Then with the 4th and parties and BBQs, and cleaning up from them, I'm exhausted. This weekend I'll chill, enjoy the pool, read a book (!) and not even think about my writing. (Right now I'm thinking about a nap in the hammock....) But come Monday, when the boys and hubs are at work, it's right back to the laptop and the revisions.

Now it's time to clear the clutter of unfinished writing projects.... And that will be my summer.

Stay cool, stay focused, and stay in touch

Char

Summer Writing

I'm swamped with family things, getting ready for a huge yard sale to clear out the clutter, and I've got several writing projects that I want to get done this summer, so this post is going to be short and sweet- (not to mention that I've temporarily run out of ideas for posts.. something will come to mind by next week when everything calms down).

Here are my thoughts:

I'm crazy busy. I'm taking today off. Enjoy cute pic.

Photo courtesy of Pixels, Inc, Pixaby

Char

Staring Down the NaNoWriMo Deadline...

Well, NaNoWriMo is almost over. I have 4 days to write 14,622 words, or 3,656 words a day.

I probably won't make it.

But I'm not going to sweat it. I'm not giving up on my project, and I'll give it a shot. Here's why I'm not going to beat myself up if I don't make my goal:

1- Who the heck picked November for NaNoWriMo? Between Thanksgiving and Christmas and other end-of-year holidays, it was insanity to pick this month. Sometimes I feel it's a bit of an unfair challenge, like only people who 'really' want to finish their novel will succeed. Why didn't they choose March? Nothing going on in March but snowstorms and nasty weather, and everyone hoping for an early spring. That makes much more sense. So, with all the other time requirements I have to fulfill, I can only squeeze in so much more.

2- I'm going to finish this project. Just because I don't finish it in 30 days doesn't mean a thing. I've written a number of novels in 30 days, so I know I can do it. I just don't have to.

3- When a novel is written, that's only half the story. There are plenty of novels sitting in drawers or closets (and I'm guilty of that), that need a complete overhaul. NaNoRevMo (revision month) is in June. JUNE???? When there are graduations, weddings, vacations, yard work? Seriously some people planning this whole thing are calendar-challenged. If NaNoWriMo was in March, the NaNoRevMo would be in October. Perfect. Am I the only person to think of this? Revising in December is also hard, but to finish off my NaNoWriMo novel? I can totally do that, I only have 14,522 words to go.

4- If I choose to finish this novel later, it's because I have several projects in the air and if one of them comes to fruition, it's going to take my time and attention. I'm querying agents, doing blog posts, doing book events. If my one big project comes through, all those listed above will go on a back burner, along with family dinners. So, it's a matter of priorities.

5- There's always next year, if I feel so inclined, but I usually don't wait until NaNoWriMo to write the next book, I'll write it after and before November. I do NaNoWriMo for fun, to challenge myself and cheer on others. I'm not going to let it give me heartburn or sleepless nights.

Next post, I'll let you know how I did. In the meantime, I'm encouraging you not to give up, as I won't. Some will succeed, some won't, but in the end, it all depends on finishing the novel, not how fast you got it done, and polishing the novel, not just sitting back after the writing.

Char

Don't Get Too Comfortable...

It's Monday. Sometimes I like Mondays because everyone's out of the house and I enjoy the serenity and chance to work (mostly) undisturbed.

But it's Monday. That means I have to drag myself to the pool.

Swimming and writing evoke the same feelings for me; I love to do both, but each one has aspects that make me a first class procrastinator. For swimming, it's getting out of my toasty, pillow-soft bed. Creaking elbow and aching (formerly broken) toes are telling me that it's okay to miss one day. And that first dive into the water, when it's snowing and freezing outside? That takes a bit of masochism to do it three times a week.

With writing, it's the revisions. Once I know what to do it's not a problem, but forcing myself to sit and think about a plot problem (currently) is worse than going to the pool. But procrastination for avoiding sitting at the desk to fix edits can be good. While I turn over the problem in my head, I clean, do laundry, run errands (because gardening when you still have almost a foot of snow on the ground doesn't make sense), and talk to the cats. (Sometimes that helps!). When a great revelation hits, though, and I know it's going to require going through every last damn sentence (numerous times, ugh), I procrastinate (like now although Mondays are new blog post days, so I'm not really procrastinating, right?).

Logically I can reason that going to the pool regularly is good for my health (summer's coming! bathing suits, ack!) and I sleep better because I'm exhausted. So getting the edits done means I can work on sparkly new project(s).

It's just that I'm so comfortable... not going out in the cold/not sitting at the desk.

But no one ever got anywhere important by staying comfortable. So I'll get my cup of chai latte and tackle those edits.

What do you need to get 'uncomfortable' enough to achieve?

Char