Shrinking Violet Promotions: And From Up North: A Trip Through the Greenwood (Bookshoppe, that is!)
Check it out. Nice write up, and an intriguing blog!
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Oops!
I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I was supposed to be telling you all about the year of hell -- last year. However, THIS year dove in and got interesting, and so I stopped writing here.
I did tell you about the computer meltdown. THAT was too much fun and way too exciting for me. But in the midst of all this, I actually sold a couple of stories for an anthology -- and we writers decided to do it up fine. So we organized a book launch. THAT is what has been taking all my time and focus. I feel like I'm getting ready for my first date or something.
Here's a copy of a poster one of the writers made. And you can see my name, at the top of the pile. Yay for "B" and alphabetizing!
One of the other writers managed to set up a TV spot for us, and it's been downloaded to You Tube
So, two more days, and I get to attend my own official launch. Yeah, it's for an anthology -- but that's just fine. My words are being published, and I've been having a laugh riot.
By the way, if you want to buy a book, but can't make it to the launch, go to the Absolute XPress website (it's under "Flash Fiction"), and buy it through Amazon. And I thank you!
I did tell you about the computer meltdown. THAT was too much fun and way too exciting for me. But in the midst of all this, I actually sold a couple of stories for an anthology -- and we writers decided to do it up fine. So we organized a book launch. THAT is what has been taking all my time and focus. I feel like I'm getting ready for my first date or something.
Here's a copy of a poster one of the writers made. And you can see my name, at the top of the pile. Yay for "B" and alphabetizing!
One of the other writers managed to set up a TV spot for us, and it's been downloaded to You Tube
So, two more days, and I get to attend my own official launch. Yeah, it's for an anthology -- but that's just fine. My words are being published, and I've been having a laugh riot.
By the way, if you want to buy a book, but can't make it to the launch, go to the Absolute XPress website (it's under "Flash Fiction"), and buy it through Amazon. And I thank you!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Let me tell you what happened...
I was getting lazy. I knew it. I was doing nothing but posting pictures here, because, well, pictures/1000 words, you know the saying.
I would get back to writing about my adventures, I promised myself. Soon.
Then, my computer stopped computing. In fact, it stopped doing anything. All I got was white, with a picture of a file in the centre -- a file with a great big question mark in it.
I always thought that the blue screen of death (something I encountered with great regularity when I was dealing with PC's) was the worst screen to get. I was wrong. The white screen -- the one with the file and the question mark -- that's the worst.
I did what little I could to regain control, then packed my computer up and took it to my neighbourhood Mac store. "Fix it," I said.
"What was it doing?" asks the fresh faced young man behind the desk.
I described what I saw, and the mock look of concern deepened to something resembling -- well, real concern, I guess.
"Could be the hard drive," he mumbled, writing furiously. "Leave it with us, and we'll fix you up."
Then he looked up from his writing. "Do you want us to attempt to recover your files?"
"If it comes to that," I replied. I was still feeling all right. I had my machine in the hands of the experts and they had not let me down yet. "Sure. Why not?"
What a difference a few days make.
I was out of town when I got the bad news.
"Your computer is on the roof," my husband said.
"What?" (I didn't get this reference. Not at first.)
"Your hard drive is fried. They'll replace it. But they couldn't save anything."
"What??" (I didn't get this reference either. And you can now call me thick, if you want. I didn't WANT to get this reference. I knew, in my heart of hearts, what this referred to, and I didn't want to hear it. Not in the least.)
"I'm sorry." (And he was. He knew I had to come home eventually, and then he'd have to deal with me face to face.)
So, there it was. My computer died, taking everything with it. Luckily I had most of my writing saved elsewhere, but I lost all my pictures. Everything taken in the past two years. This included all the photos I'd taken of the renovation.
So, now I will have to go back to my words to finish this tale, because I don't have anything else. But that's all right. It's a bit like the man who took a city slicker out in a canoe to see whales. The whales were coming up right beside the small boat, blowing water up into the air in rainbows all around them, leaping from the water gracefully and generally having an overwhelmingly good time around the small boat.
"I wish I'd brought a camera," said the city slicker.
"Why?" asked the man. "Do you think you're going to forget this?"
I am not going to forget this reno -- not unless I do so consciously, just to save my sanity. So, I will go back to my words, and paint pictures that way.
Oh, and the "on the roof" reference? It's the punchline to a bad joke about a guy whose mother died.
"Mom's on the roof." Hilarious.
I would get back to writing about my adventures, I promised myself. Soon.
Then, my computer stopped computing. In fact, it stopped doing anything. All I got was white, with a picture of a file in the centre -- a file with a great big question mark in it.
I always thought that the blue screen of death (something I encountered with great regularity when I was dealing with PC's) was the worst screen to get. I was wrong. The white screen -- the one with the file and the question mark -- that's the worst.
I did what little I could to regain control, then packed my computer up and took it to my neighbourhood Mac store. "Fix it," I said.
"What was it doing?" asks the fresh faced young man behind the desk.
I described what I saw, and the mock look of concern deepened to something resembling -- well, real concern, I guess.
"Could be the hard drive," he mumbled, writing furiously. "Leave it with us, and we'll fix you up."
Then he looked up from his writing. "Do you want us to attempt to recover your files?"
"If it comes to that," I replied. I was still feeling all right. I had my machine in the hands of the experts and they had not let me down yet. "Sure. Why not?"
What a difference a few days make.
I was out of town when I got the bad news.
"Your computer is on the roof," my husband said.
"What?" (I didn't get this reference. Not at first.)
"Your hard drive is fried. They'll replace it. But they couldn't save anything."
"What??" (I didn't get this reference either. And you can now call me thick, if you want. I didn't WANT to get this reference. I knew, in my heart of hearts, what this referred to, and I didn't want to hear it. Not in the least.)
"I'm sorry." (And he was. He knew I had to come home eventually, and then he'd have to deal with me face to face.)
So, there it was. My computer died, taking everything with it. Luckily I had most of my writing saved elsewhere, but I lost all my pictures. Everything taken in the past two years. This included all the photos I'd taken of the renovation.
So, now I will have to go back to my words to finish this tale, because I don't have anything else. But that's all right. It's a bit like the man who took a city slicker out in a canoe to see whales. The whales were coming up right beside the small boat, blowing water up into the air in rainbows all around them, leaping from the water gracefully and generally having an overwhelmingly good time around the small boat.
"I wish I'd brought a camera," said the city slicker.
"Why?" asked the man. "Do you think you're going to forget this?"
I am not going to forget this reno -- not unless I do so consciously, just to save my sanity. So, I will go back to my words, and paint pictures that way.
Oh, and the "on the roof" reference? It's the punchline to a bad joke about a guy whose mother died.
"Mom's on the roof." Hilarious.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Off with the old, continued
You need to see a couple more photos, because these REALLY give you an idea what it was like inside the house. Truly. (And yes, some of these ARE from the inside of the house.)These are my skylights. I had ten of them. Imagine all the light they let in. I don't have any, now. Imagine the light I don't have anymore.
We decided to wait until later to add some, if we needed them.
I miss the light. But not the heat, and the cold, both which streamed in through these things.
This is the loft, after both the outside and inside skin were removed. Those points of light you see is sunlight streaming in through the roof. (and I wasn't kidding about the bookshelves, and books. There they are, THAT close to the elements. Only hole filled plywood keeping it back...)
It was really quite pretty. My own private lightshow. Until it rained....
When it rained, those beautiful rainbows turned into tiny rivers running in my house. Everywhere.
Including on my TV, which is hanging in the kitchen. I think "The Outer Limits" was playing at the time, which only made sense. Yes, we used an umbrella, and it worked quite nicely, thank you very much.
We decided we couldn't have the rain pour in our house anymore, so we went and found the biggest tarp we could, and put it over the house. This is about half of it -- the rest is hanging over the front of the house.
When we stretched that tarp out in the back yard (before we put it over our house) it stretched the full length of the garagemahal. A little further than that, in fact. I was bumbling around ov er my raised bed garden while getting organized. Must have been another laugh riot for the neighbours, is all I can say.
When we finally got it draped (and nailed) over the house, went inside to see if it was doing any good. It was -- and the nailholes in the loft were now streaming blue light through the house. However, by that time, I was pretty tired of taking pictures of nailholes. I just wanted them covered. And not just by a tarp.
As you can tell by the final photo, H has started putting the metal on top of the house. (It is the spot at the top of the house that appears to be blending into the sky.) This in itself was a long, horrible process for H. He would cut the triangle, climbing the ladder to see if the piece fit, cursing to high heavens and clambering back down the ladder to trim the same piece of metal when it didn't fit (and it often didn't) then climbing back up to recheck. Then, and only then could he screw it down.
Oh, and I didn't mention that he landed a HUGE contract (plus a few small ones) that started about the time the renovation started, did I? Well, he did. So, he was gone. A lot. And when he was home, it rained. Or the wind blew. Or something that drove the work to a crawl.
Next time, I'll tell you what I did while he worked off site.
I'll call it "Next Year's Renos" because that's what it was.
Sigh.
By the way, the link in my title is to my website -- and one of my original pieces about the renovation. Just so you know.
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Off and out with the old skin....
Sometimes, only a series of pictures will do.
This is the beginning of demolition to the outside skin of the house. See those nice fluffy clouds?
Watch them through the rest of the series of pictures, and you'll know how our summer went....
You can really see how round our place is, in this picture. Our slave is posing on the top of the house.
Both master and slave, ripping and tearing. My, those clouds are getting biggish, aren't they?
And more shingles go the way of all good things. Clouds beginning to threaten...
And now, even the master realizes it's time to get in out of the rain. (OK, so it's not raining. Not yet. But trust me, it was getting close.)
So, we moved inside.
We started at the highest point of the house, in the loft.
Notice the plastic we'd put up to protect the rest of our house from dust, etc. We honestly thought it would help. Ah, we were babes in the woods, weren't we?
And more of the inside skin, disappearing. See the black bits of nastiness on the wood? That would be water damage... One of the big reasons why we decided to do what we were about to do.
And then we get down to the main floor. Yes, we were tearing out all the outside walls.
And here we replaced a couple of triangles of plywood. If I'd been quicker on the draw (in other words, taking pictures instead of working) I could have caught the outside streaming inside. Just sunshine at this point, but in the days that followed, rain would follow the sun.
And the wind. And hail, and thunder and lightning.
As you can see, some of my plants are still upstairs in the loft. What you CAN'T see is all my books, still in their bookshelves, all over the place up there. This was one of our "labour saving" ideas that still haunts me to this day. However, we had almost all of the inside skin gone, and were working diligently on the outside.
Now, the outside we were working on a little more carefully than the inside. We had decided that we would remove sections, and replace them with the metal bonded to insulation. H had everything set up in the Garagemahal, because, of course, every one of those metal sheets had to be cut into triangles, then transported to the top of the house, and attached. Because, you see, we had to make certain that no more rain made it into our house than absolutely necessary.
Yeah. Right.
This is the beginning of demolition to the outside skin of the house. See those nice fluffy clouds?
Watch them through the rest of the series of pictures, and you'll know how our summer went....
You can really see how round our place is, in this picture. Our slave is posing on the top of the house.
Both master and slave, ripping and tearing. My, those clouds are getting biggish, aren't they?
And more shingles go the way of all good things. Clouds beginning to threaten...
And now, even the master realizes it's time to get in out of the rain. (OK, so it's not raining. Not yet. But trust me, it was getting close.)
So, we moved inside.
We started at the highest point of the house, in the loft.
Notice the plastic we'd put up to protect the rest of our house from dust, etc. We honestly thought it would help. Ah, we were babes in the woods, weren't we?
And more of the inside skin, disappearing. See the black bits of nastiness on the wood? That would be water damage... One of the big reasons why we decided to do what we were about to do.
And then we get down to the main floor. Yes, we were tearing out all the outside walls.
And here we replaced a couple of triangles of plywood. If I'd been quicker on the draw (in other words, taking pictures instead of working) I could have caught the outside streaming inside. Just sunshine at this point, but in the days that followed, rain would follow the sun.
And the wind. And hail, and thunder and lightning.
As you can see, some of my plants are still upstairs in the loft. What you CAN'T see is all my books, still in their bookshelves, all over the place up there. This was one of our "labour saving" ideas that still haunts me to this day. However, we had almost all of the inside skin gone, and were working diligently on the outside.
Now, the outside we were working on a little more carefully than the inside. We had decided that we would remove sections, and replace them with the metal bonded to insulation. H had everything set up in the Garagemahal, because, of course, every one of those metal sheets had to be cut into triangles, then transported to the top of the house, and attached. Because, you see, we had to make certain that no more rain made it into our house than absolutely necessary.Yeah. Right.
Monday, February 02, 2009
April, 2008 -- how it started
Why did I change the name of my blog? And why did I decide to begin using it again? It's simple, really. I've decided that I'm tired of only my family getting good laughs about my year of reconstruction, and so, over the next few weeks, will be posting here, so that any of you who want to, can laugh along with them.
My husband (I will call him H, to protect his delicate constitution) and I decided that it was time to upgrade the old abode. We'd moved into our dream home 9 or so years before, and it was time to do something about walls that had an r value slightly less than the windows (which had no r value whatsoever), lots of unusable space (note r value situation for the reason why), and interior walls that were crumbling due to high humidity and cold. (Go back to r value explanation, one more time.)
We had already added a high efficiency furnace (a laugh riot all on its own, due in no small part to Alberta's boom, a change in the federal government, my husband's pickiness, and an inspector who nearly invited himself over for Christmas dinner. But I digress.) but decided that in order to REALLY make our carbon footprint smaller, we needed to deal with the insulation issue.
In a regular house this is no small feat. However, we do not live in a regular house. We live in a geodesic dome. Yes, you read that right. We live in a dome. All very cool, until you actually try to do anything reconstructive to it. Especially when you (and this is aimed directly at my dear sweet husband H) you aren't quite sure how the place stays up.
He's smart, my husband is, but he prefers 90 degree angles and squares and things. We don't have many of those in our house. Not many at all. Plus, the insulation that we were trying to replace is embedded in the triangles which compose the inside and outside walls of our house. A bit of a situation, all the way around.
However, he scratched his head, and set to work building computer models etc etc, until he felt he was finally on the right track. This is what he decided was the right track: He decided that in order to really do a good job, we needed to remove the shingles (on year 9 of a 25 year guarantee) and replace them with metal shingles. However, these metal shingles needed to be bonded to insulation, in order to actually make a difference, R wise. Also, these "shingles" had to be cut to fit lots and lots and lots of triangles. So, the usual "hiring of an expert to do the job" wasn't going to happen. (I've found that the "experts" like 90 degree angles and squares as much as my husband does.)
Finding and ordering and getting those chunks of metal from somewhere Alberta to our driveway is a story unto itself, but suffice to say we finally found them, we finally got them, and with them safely stored in our garagemahal, we felt we were ready to begin work.
Oh, did I mention that it had been decided that at the same time that we were tearing off the outside skin of our house, we would tear out the inside skin, because the drywall was cracked and separating -- and because we had done such a crappy job of "fixing" it when we moved in? (Oh, and did I mention that we bought a "fixer upper" and had been at renovations since the day we stepped into the house? No. I didn't think I'd mentioned that. Worth remembering, though.)
We hired our nephew, who was attending Grande Prairie College (majoring in Volleyball and minoring in interpretive dance, I think. I could be wrong.) to help, (because we had had enough contractors look at us as though we were slightly insane whenever we requested a quote for something we wanted changed, and so had decided to do the reno ourselves.) and set the beginning of May 2008 as our start date.
Look at the picture, and add a thousand words. Most of them swear words.
The first official day of reconstruction. Our work slave is trapped in Grand Pairie, due to the same snow storm. We are having fun now!
Here's a funny thing. I was reading this over, and realized that I had hidden the fact that we had decided to do this massive renovation ourselves in the middle of the second last paragraph. I'm still in denial that this was all our own fault.
But it was.
My husband (I will call him H, to protect his delicate constitution) and I decided that it was time to upgrade the old abode. We'd moved into our dream home 9 or so years before, and it was time to do something about walls that had an r value slightly less than the windows (which had no r value whatsoever), lots of unusable space (note r value situation for the reason why), and interior walls that were crumbling due to high humidity and cold. (Go back to r value explanation, one more time.)
We had already added a high efficiency furnace (a laugh riot all on its own, due in no small part to Alberta's boom, a change in the federal government, my husband's pickiness, and an inspector who nearly invited himself over for Christmas dinner. But I digress.) but decided that in order to REALLY make our carbon footprint smaller, we needed to deal with the insulation issue.
In a regular house this is no small feat. However, we do not live in a regular house. We live in a geodesic dome. Yes, you read that right. We live in a dome. All very cool, until you actually try to do anything reconstructive to it. Especially when you (and this is aimed directly at my dear sweet husband H) you aren't quite sure how the place stays up.
He's smart, my husband is, but he prefers 90 degree angles and squares and things. We don't have many of those in our house. Not many at all. Plus, the insulation that we were trying to replace is embedded in the triangles which compose the inside and outside walls of our house. A bit of a situation, all the way around.
However, he scratched his head, and set to work building computer models etc etc, until he felt he was finally on the right track. This is what he decided was the right track: He decided that in order to really do a good job, we needed to remove the shingles (on year 9 of a 25 year guarantee) and replace them with metal shingles. However, these metal shingles needed to be bonded to insulation, in order to actually make a difference, R wise. Also, these "shingles" had to be cut to fit lots and lots and lots of triangles. So, the usual "hiring of an expert to do the job" wasn't going to happen. (I've found that the "experts" like 90 degree angles and squares as much as my husband does.)
Finding and ordering and getting those chunks of metal from somewhere Alberta to our driveway is a story unto itself, but suffice to say we finally found them, we finally got them, and with them safely stored in our garagemahal, we felt we were ready to begin work.
Oh, did I mention that it had been decided that at the same time that we were tearing off the outside skin of our house, we would tear out the inside skin, because the drywall was cracked and separating -- and because we had done such a crappy job of "fixing" it when we moved in? (Oh, and did I mention that we bought a "fixer upper" and had been at renovations since the day we stepped into the house? No. I didn't think I'd mentioned that. Worth remembering, though.)
We hired our nephew, who was attending Grande Prairie College (majoring in Volleyball and minoring in interpretive dance, I think. I could be wrong.) to help, (because we had had enough contractors look at us as though we were slightly insane whenever we requested a quote for something we wanted changed, and so had decided to do the reno ourselves.) and set the beginning of May 2008 as our start date.
Look at the picture, and add a thousand words. Most of them swear words.
The first official day of reconstruction. Our work slave is trapped in Grand Pairie, due to the same snow storm. We are having fun now!Here's a funny thing. I was reading this over, and realized that I had hidden the fact that we had decided to do this massive renovation ourselves in the middle of the second last paragraph. I'm still in denial that this was all our own fault.
But it was.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
It's been a year
It has been a year since I've touched this blog. Sorry to anyone that is still out there. Like I said (nearly a year ago) I've been putting more effort into my website, and just never get back here.
I don't know if I'll use this again. I've linked (I think) to my website, so, if you care, you can go to it and find out what's been going on.
In short, I had a death and taxes kind of year last year. Throwing in a huge amount of renovations for good measure.
I don't know if I'll use this again. I've linked (I think) to my website, so, if you care, you can go to it and find out what's been going on.
In short, I had a death and taxes kind of year last year. Throwing in a huge amount of renovations for good measure.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Too long away!
It's been a busy couple of months. I've been keeping up (a bit) with my website, but it seems I don't get back here to my blog as often as I should, anymore.
I have been on a roller coaster ride lately. (Feels like a lot more downs than ups lately, but whatever.) More rejections. More "thank you for rejecting my work in such a timely manner," from me. (Which feels a bit like thanking someone for hitting me, but whatever.) More thinking I just might make it this time -- but no brass ring. Or cigar. Or even a sniff of cigar smoke. Darn it all anyhow.
However, other parts of my life are moving along very nicely. My daughter moved into her nice new condo at the beginning of this month, and is now living her "Sex in the City" lifestyle. I'm one of the two people in the world who haven't actually watched that show, so I'm not quite sure what she means by that. However, I think she's having some fun, and she looks great! Way to go, Girl! Keep up the fantastic work.
She and I went to a black tie event -- 2nd anniversary of "Alternative Trends" this past weekend -- and had a good time. We both looked fabulous, if I do say so myself, though I believe she beat me in the glamour department. That's all right, though. Ran into a bunch of people I haven't seen in a while, into people I didn't know would be there (small world thing going on) and a huge number of "beautiful people." Didn't know there were that many of them in Edmonton. And you should have seen the shoes and purses! Purses are my weakness, and I saw a couple that blew my mind. I have to figure out where they were purchased! Could have asked I suppose, but the search is half the fun. Anyhow, enjoyed ourselves, and decided we would have to find outings like this, so we can dress up and schmooze. I personally love that idea. So, bring on the invitations!
Didn't win the 3 day. Didn't even make it on the top 25 or whatever. (See? Not even a whiff of cigar smoke!) A friend of mine said it best. What are they looking for???? Ah well. Am now getting to work on it, to get it down (or up) to a more publishable length. And then back out into the fray. Sigh.
OK, enough! I have writing to do! (And TV to watch. Started Season Four of "The Wire" last night. Yahoo for DVDs is all I can say. Will give an update on my website when I'm done. Suffice to say -- it's a good series, if a little testosterone laden. (Like the rest we've watched this season aren't! Have you checked out "Rescue Me" lately? Ever? How about "Deadwood?" If you haven't, do. Just be warned. Cover your ovaries. (Except some of the women in Deadwood are starting to show some real backbone, which is great.))) (OK, that was cool. I managed to end that little tirade with three -- count 'em three -- parentheses. Cool, if a little convoluted.) I'm almost glad for the cold weather, this year. These programs have been a lot of fun, and with the writer's strike stopping most of the decent programs being produced (and there was little enough of that, now wasn't there?), we needed these. Am always on the lookout for others, however, so if you know of any, please let me know.
OK, now back to it, really. I'll try to be back more often. I really will.
I have been on a roller coaster ride lately. (Feels like a lot more downs than ups lately, but whatever.) More rejections. More "thank you for rejecting my work in such a timely manner," from me. (Which feels a bit like thanking someone for hitting me, but whatever.) More thinking I just might make it this time -- but no brass ring. Or cigar. Or even a sniff of cigar smoke. Darn it all anyhow.
However, other parts of my life are moving along very nicely. My daughter moved into her nice new condo at the beginning of this month, and is now living her "Sex in the City" lifestyle. I'm one of the two people in the world who haven't actually watched that show, so I'm not quite sure what she means by that. However, I think she's having some fun, and she looks great! Way to go, Girl! Keep up the fantastic work.
She and I went to a black tie event -- 2nd anniversary of "Alternative Trends" this past weekend -- and had a good time. We both looked fabulous, if I do say so myself, though I believe she beat me in the glamour department. That's all right, though. Ran into a bunch of people I haven't seen in a while, into people I didn't know would be there (small world thing going on) and a huge number of "beautiful people." Didn't know there were that many of them in Edmonton. And you should have seen the shoes and purses! Purses are my weakness, and I saw a couple that blew my mind. I have to figure out where they were purchased! Could have asked I suppose, but the search is half the fun. Anyhow, enjoyed ourselves, and decided we would have to find outings like this, so we can dress up and schmooze. I personally love that idea. So, bring on the invitations!
Didn't win the 3 day. Didn't even make it on the top 25 or whatever. (See? Not even a whiff of cigar smoke!) A friend of mine said it best. What are they looking for???? Ah well. Am now getting to work on it, to get it down (or up) to a more publishable length. And then back out into the fray. Sigh.
OK, enough! I have writing to do! (And TV to watch. Started Season Four of "The Wire" last night. Yahoo for DVDs is all I can say. Will give an update on my website when I'm done. Suffice to say -- it's a good series, if a little testosterone laden. (Like the rest we've watched this season aren't! Have you checked out "Rescue Me" lately? Ever? How about "Deadwood?" If you haven't, do. Just be warned. Cover your ovaries. (Except some of the women in Deadwood are starting to show some real backbone, which is great.))) (OK, that was cool. I managed to end that little tirade with three -- count 'em three -- parentheses. Cool, if a little convoluted.) I'm almost glad for the cold weather, this year. These programs have been a lot of fun, and with the writer's strike stopping most of the decent programs being produced (and there was little enough of that, now wasn't there?), we needed these. Am always on the lookout for others, however, so if you know of any, please let me know.
OK, now back to it, really. I'll try to be back more often. I really will.
Monday, November 12, 2007
I miss you, brother
Watched some of the November 11th remembrance stuff on TV. Bit of a downer. So we pulled some Christmas stuff out to try to get the house looking a little more festive. Looks more like Christmas vomited on our house.
Will have to tidy it up, so we don't go crazy before the actual season.
Missing my brother always sneaks up on me -- like touching a scar I was sure was healed and having drip just a little more blood.
No, it's not quite that bad. Not anymore. But I still miss him.
Will have to tidy it up, so we don't go crazy before the actual season.
Missing my brother always sneaks up on me -- like touching a scar I was sure was healed and having drip just a little more blood.
No, it's not quite that bad. Not anymore. But I still miss him.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Back from Saratoga Springs
Got back from the World Fantasy Convention on Tuesday morning, and it was a wild ride! Met authors and artists and editors, went to good and not so good panels, tried to keep up with the professionals re parties and such (I couldn't) and generally had a pretty good time. Didn't come home with the big prize (that would be that six figure multi book deal ha ha) but did see how it's done. And that was good.
My daughter went to London before I went to the States, and as I was flying into Toronto, she was getting ready to take the train to Paris. I couldn't help but keep thinking of her, off on her own, taking the first (I hope) of many trips like that. She loved Paris, even though she got lost (really lost. One of those scary lost situations which could easily have thrown me over the edge.) and had to rely on her rusty French to get her back on track. However, it all worked out, and she's got tons of pictures and neat little trinkets to remind her of her trip.
She's much better at the trinket buying than I am. I think about picking a few things up, but get involved in whatever the heck I'm doing, and don't remember to head back out until I'm at the airport. Took a lot of flack for picking up chocolate at the airport for my family units the last time out. Apparently the chocolate is made quite close to us. I didn't need to go to TO to get it. Sigh.
My husband is great at buying, too. When I got home, there was a new washing machine in my house. I didn't think I needed one, because the one we had was OK -- a few quirks, but nothing I couldn't handle -- but this new beauty is fantastic! Lots of bells and buzzers, and when it spins, it actually gets the water out! Apparently that was what my old machine was missing. Who knew? Apparently, my husband. (all of us are now mesmerized by the spin cycle. Dog cat, me -- I need sleep, I think. I don't know about the other two.)
I had planned on taking many many pictures down there, but it was not to be. I did all the right things -- charged my rechargeable batteries, remembered the darned camera, the whole works, but when I got to the hotel and turned it on, it turned on for about a minute, then shut itself off. Batteries, dead. So, I thought I'd pick up some batteries when I went out to buy trinkets. (You see where this is going, don't you?) No pictures.
My dog didn't give a good rat's ass whether I brought back trinkets or not, thank goodness. He was just happy to have me home. (Actually so were the rest of them, though I think they wouldn't have minded a treat or two) I should consider getting him on meds when I'm out of town. It's not so much fun, have a dog with depressive tendencies.
Now I'm trying to return to life, but it's hard. I was so geared up for this trip -- and then having one of the agents I contacted asking me for my full novel 10 days before we went -- well you can see why I'd start the "multi book contract, holy crap this is actually going to happen" thing. The fall was short but brutal. (I didn't hear back from her, and didn't even see her anywhere, and I looked.) So it's back to paper and electronic submissions, getting back into the groove again.
People that I talked to shook their heads and said she probably hadn't read the book yet. I'd like to believe that. In fact, I might just try to hang on to that, as I dive back into the morass that is getting my first book published.
Or it could have been the driving. Shudder. Not ready to talk about that yet. Might never be ready to talk about that. Check out the mileage for a Saratoga Springs, London, Toronto jaunt. That's what we did. Will tell you that story when, as I said, I feel up to it. But not now.
My daughter went to London before I went to the States, and as I was flying into Toronto, she was getting ready to take the train to Paris. I couldn't help but keep thinking of her, off on her own, taking the first (I hope) of many trips like that. She loved Paris, even though she got lost (really lost. One of those scary lost situations which could easily have thrown me over the edge.) and had to rely on her rusty French to get her back on track. However, it all worked out, and she's got tons of pictures and neat little trinkets to remind her of her trip.
She's much better at the trinket buying than I am. I think about picking a few things up, but get involved in whatever the heck I'm doing, and don't remember to head back out until I'm at the airport. Took a lot of flack for picking up chocolate at the airport for my family units the last time out. Apparently the chocolate is made quite close to us. I didn't need to go to TO to get it. Sigh.
My husband is great at buying, too. When I got home, there was a new washing machine in my house. I didn't think I needed one, because the one we had was OK -- a few quirks, but nothing I couldn't handle -- but this new beauty is fantastic! Lots of bells and buzzers, and when it spins, it actually gets the water out! Apparently that was what my old machine was missing. Who knew? Apparently, my husband. (all of us are now mesmerized by the spin cycle. Dog cat, me -- I need sleep, I think. I don't know about the other two.)
I had planned on taking many many pictures down there, but it was not to be. I did all the right things -- charged my rechargeable batteries, remembered the darned camera, the whole works, but when I got to the hotel and turned it on, it turned on for about a minute, then shut itself off. Batteries, dead. So, I thought I'd pick up some batteries when I went out to buy trinkets. (You see where this is going, don't you?) No pictures.
My dog didn't give a good rat's ass whether I brought back trinkets or not, thank goodness. He was just happy to have me home. (Actually so were the rest of them, though I think they wouldn't have minded a treat or two) I should consider getting him on meds when I'm out of town. It's not so much fun, have a dog with depressive tendencies.
Now I'm trying to return to life, but it's hard. I was so geared up for this trip -- and then having one of the agents I contacted asking me for my full novel 10 days before we went -- well you can see why I'd start the "multi book contract, holy crap this is actually going to happen" thing. The fall was short but brutal. (I didn't hear back from her, and didn't even see her anywhere, and I looked.) So it's back to paper and electronic submissions, getting back into the groove again.
People that I talked to shook their heads and said she probably hadn't read the book yet. I'd like to believe that. In fact, I might just try to hang on to that, as I dive back into the morass that is getting my first book published.
Or it could have been the driving. Shudder. Not ready to talk about that yet. Might never be ready to talk about that. Check out the mileage for a Saratoga Springs, London, Toronto jaunt. That's what we did. Will tell you that story when, as I said, I feel up to it. But not now.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
I have been remiss!
Turned my back and months had gone by! I've been editing and re-editing Seeing the Light, trying to figure out which version of Manhood Road to use, and have been trying to get myself together for the World Fantasy Convention at the beginning of November. Actually emailed agents etc., to set up meetings, and a couple of them are looking over some of my work. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
Life has been hectic here. Daughter is gearing up for her trip to London (England), I just got back from my trip to London (Ontario) and am gearing up for New York, and my husband is getting testy. He swears both of us are already on our trips -- we both look at him blankly whenever he asks us a question about anything. I think he's right!
Renovating is still going on. Does it ever stop? Nope. We are getting new stairs and handrails downstairs -- the last holdover from the original house. They are going to look great -- whenever we get them done.
Am using our new and improved home theatre. It's gorgeous! H did a great job down there. We are now watching the first season of Dexter, whenever there isn't anything else on. Which can happen with great regularity, even with baseball still going on (go Cleveland) and hockey starting again (go Oilers) and the new TV season starting. (A whole lot of nothing. Too bad. I had high hopes.)
And sorry, this is going to be short. Am running off again very soon (getting my hair done, isn't that exciting?) but will try to remember to get here more often.
Remember:
Amber Haywood (The Healer) is in town for a reading of her new book "Darkness of the God." She's at Volume II, in Edmonton, on October 29th. Go down and support a local author! And see you there.
Life has been hectic here. Daughter is gearing up for her trip to London (England), I just got back from my trip to London (Ontario) and am gearing up for New York, and my husband is getting testy. He swears both of us are already on our trips -- we both look at him blankly whenever he asks us a question about anything. I think he's right!
Renovating is still going on. Does it ever stop? Nope. We are getting new stairs and handrails downstairs -- the last holdover from the original house. They are going to look great -- whenever we get them done.
Am using our new and improved home theatre. It's gorgeous! H did a great job down there. We are now watching the first season of Dexter, whenever there isn't anything else on. Which can happen with great regularity, even with baseball still going on (go Cleveland) and hockey starting again (go Oilers) and the new TV season starting. (A whole lot of nothing. Too bad. I had high hopes.)
And sorry, this is going to be short. Am running off again very soon (getting my hair done, isn't that exciting?) but will try to remember to get here more often.
Remember:
Amber Haywood (The Healer) is in town for a reading of her new book "Darkness of the God." She's at Volume II, in Edmonton, on October 29th. Go down and support a local author! And see you there.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
She's Here! Errr... She's There!
Cheryl Kaye Tardif, bestselling Canadian author, is at my website as we "speak!" Go to eileenbell.com, and see what she had to say to those who gave her questions about writing -- about her books -- about her movie deals -- about everything!
See you there.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
First ConVersion 23, now Cheryl Kaye Tardif
Haven't been here in a while. Sorry. It's been a pretty busy summer -- and I've been devoting a bit more time to my website than this blog -- which isn't great, but I only have so many hours in the day. So there you go.
As a matter of fact, I snitched this entry from the blog on my website to get you up to date on what's going on. And because I REALLY want you all to check out my website on Thursday, August 23, 2007 -- because I'm having a guest, and I'm massively excited about it.
Read below for the details:
Suddenly things are moving at light speed. Isn't that nice? I just get back from a fantastic convention (see my website, www.eileenbell.com for details), and I have a stop scheduled (on my website) for Cheryl Kaye Tardif's Virtual World Book Tour!
A little bit of background, for those who are not familiar with her:
Cheryl Kaye Tardif is a best selling Canadian author who self published her first three novels, (Whale Song, The River, and Divine Intervention). She has so much marketing savvy, she was able to do something that many small presses have trouble doing. She got her books into the big book stores, like Chapters/Indigo. (The first time I met her, she was doing a book signing in Chapters South Point. (I believe it's the biggest Chapters in Edmonton, but don't quote me.) And she never stops. Since I've known her, barely a week goes by that she is not doing a book signing or presentation somewhere. On top of that, she is the creator and one of the ongoing organizers of Author's Row at the Women's Show, held at the Northlands Agricom every spring and fall. She amazes me.
The truly amazing thing is she somehow was able to turn up the heat marketing-wise, when Whale Song was accepted by Kunati Inc. Book Publishers. (See my links.) She is a human dynamo who is unbelievably enthusiastic about not only the writing process, but marketing herself and her books. She is an inspriation to me personally, and should be to every other writer out there.
Thanks to everyone who sent in questions for Cheryl. She will be answering as many as she can -- and perhaps I'll be able to convince her to come back and visit again, if she isn't able to answer them all, or if her stop generates more questions. (You know how that is. You get home from meeting an author, and realize you didn't ask the BIG burning question.)
Mine is not her only stop, so go to her website (in my links) and check out where else she's been/will be in the next while. But be sure to show up on Thursday! I know I'm dying to find out what her answers are! (She snuck in there earlier and answered one for me all ready. Now I know her work garb is pajamas. Just like me!)
As a matter of fact, I snitched this entry from the blog on my website to get you up to date on what's going on. And because I REALLY want you all to check out my website on Thursday, August 23, 2007 -- because I'm having a guest, and I'm massively excited about it.
Read below for the details:
Suddenly things are moving at light speed. Isn't that nice? I just get back from a fantastic convention (see my website, www.eileenbell.com for details), and I have a stop scheduled (on my website) for Cheryl Kaye Tardif's Virtual World Book Tour!
A little bit of background, for those who are not familiar with her:
Cheryl Kaye Tardif is a best selling Canadian author who self published her first three novels, (Whale Song, The River, and Divine Intervention). She has so much marketing savvy, she was able to do something that many small presses have trouble doing. She got her books into the big book stores, like Chapters/Indigo. (The first time I met her, she was doing a book signing in Chapters South Point. (I believe it's the biggest Chapters in Edmonton, but don't quote me.) And she never stops. Since I've known her, barely a week goes by that she is not doing a book signing or presentation somewhere. On top of that, she is the creator and one of the ongoing organizers of Author's Row at the Women's Show, held at the Northlands Agricom every spring and fall. She amazes me.
The truly amazing thing is she somehow was able to turn up the heat marketing-wise, when Whale Song was accepted by Kunati Inc. Book Publishers. (See my links.) She is a human dynamo who is unbelievably enthusiastic about not only the writing process, but marketing herself and her books. She is an inspriation to me personally, and should be to every other writer out there.
Thanks to everyone who sent in questions for Cheryl. She will be answering as many as she can -- and perhaps I'll be able to convince her to come back and visit again, if she isn't able to answer them all, or if her stop generates more questions. (You know how that is. You get home from meeting an author, and realize you didn't ask the BIG burning question.)
Mine is not her only stop, so go to her website (in my links) and check out where else she's been/will be in the next while. But be sure to show up on Thursday! I know I'm dying to find out what her answers are! (She snuck in there earlier and answered one for me all ready. Now I know her work garb is pajamas. Just like me!)
Monday, August 13, 2007
Want to talk to a real live author?
I have a problem. I'm not an interviewer. I thought I could pull it off, I really thought I could. But I can't.
On August 23rd, author Cheryl Kaye Tardif will be visiting my site, which is one stop on her "virtual book tour," a concept I thought was pretty cool. However, I am supposed to interview her. And I don't have a clue what to ask.
So here's what I want. I want questions for her from you. She has self published three books, and recently published a reprint of "Whale Song" with a conventional publisher, Kunati Press. So, she's seen both sides of the publishing industry. Writers out there -- any questions you want to ask her about any aspect of her career?
Readers -- any questions for her? Like how she comes up with her ideas, any more plans for the "Divine" series -- does she REALLY work in her pajamas? Ask away, she's ready to answer any and all questions (up to 5. Sorry, I only have her for one day!)
If you don't know her, and need to aquaint yourself, please go to my Links page and go to her website, and check it out.
But don't forget to come back and ask some questions. I -- and she -- would love to hear from you!
And you can probably come up with better questions than I can!
I'm counting on you!!
On August 23rd, author Cheryl Kaye Tardif will be visiting my site, which is one stop on her "virtual book tour," a concept I thought was pretty cool. However, I am supposed to interview her. And I don't have a clue what to ask.
So here's what I want. I want questions for her from you. She has self published three books, and recently published a reprint of "Whale Song" with a conventional publisher, Kunati Press. So, she's seen both sides of the publishing industry. Writers out there -- any questions you want to ask her about any aspect of her career?
Readers -- any questions for her? Like how she comes up with her ideas, any more plans for the "Divine" series -- does she REALLY work in her pajamas? Ask away, she's ready to answer any and all questions (up to 5. Sorry, I only have her for one day!)
If you don't know her, and need to aquaint yourself, please go to my Links page and go to her website, and check it out.
But don't forget to come back and ask some questions. I -- and she -- would love to hear from you!
And you can probably come up with better questions than I can!
I'm counting on you!!
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
What I didn't tell you about
I forgot to mention! Manhood Road's gone to its next potential home, and I sent out Sins of the Mother to a magazine editor who will be at the World Fantasy Convention.
And Seeing the Light is done. Finished. Complete. I used the first 8000 words for the writing workshop I'm going to down in Calgary in a week, but unless there are HUGE revelations down there, I'm not changing a word. I REALLY like the way this story is put together now, and a few readers (just readers, not writers, and theyr'e in my market, so yahoo) came back with "I read it in two days, couldnt' put it down, and when will you be finished the 2nd one?" So, yahoo to that too. Man, love to hear those words out of reader's mouths!
See? I have been doing writing type work. Just not lately. So, it's off to visit Billie for my "get over yourself" speech, and then I can get back to work.
Really.
And Seeing the Light is done. Finished. Complete. I used the first 8000 words for the writing workshop I'm going to down in Calgary in a week, but unless there are HUGE revelations down there, I'm not changing a word. I REALLY like the way this story is put together now, and a few readers (just readers, not writers, and theyr'e in my market, so yahoo) came back with "I read it in two days, couldnt' put it down, and when will you be finished the 2nd one?" So, yahoo to that too. Man, love to hear those words out of reader's mouths!
See? I have been doing writing type work. Just not lately. So, it's off to visit Billie for my "get over yourself" speech, and then I can get back to work.
Really.
How I'm Spending My Summer
Not much going on in the writing front right now. I have 8 manuscripts on my computer that need to be critiqued, a novel that's half finished, research to do for my upcoming convention in November -- and I'm not doing anything about anything. Hmm. Looks like I needed a break.
Actually, life's been busy. We've almost finished the TV room (THAT turned into a bigger deal than I thought it would, and why is it that I never remember how much work renovations are?), are still fighting the weeds in the garden, and since our daughter moved back home (doing a little regrouping) we've had the chance to use a BBQ. (Hers came home with her. And I like it!) I've just shut down for a bit in the writing department.
Am thinking about going into the 3 Day novel contest again. Just nibbles around the edges of my brain right now -- if I'm going to do this thing this year, I'm doing it right, with a full outline and the whole bit -- so we'll see. If no good idea comes to me, and no outline, I'm not doing it. I will just cheer on Billie and Christina, two writing pals from Edmonton who have decided to give it a go this year.
I've alway wanted to write a story about a secret society that developed at West Edmonton Mall. Will have to give this a bit more thought. There might be something there.
Am making plans to go to London Ontario in September. It is Ryan's (one of the Banffers) turn to have us all to HIS house for a retreat. We will be planning our World Fantasy Convention foray. (See 1st paragraph for work I SHOULD be doing on that, and am not) It should be good. Will talk my husband into going this time. He has people in Southern Ontario. He can visit his group while I hang out with mine, and we can do some touring after. I haven't been there in years. (A 3 day crime prevention conference doesn't count. Didn't see anyone but "the good guys," and didn't talk about anything but CP. I need to do better than that!) This will be a way to do that.
I don't know why I'm not writing right now. It's scaring me, just a little bit. I think about opening the file and starting the story I'm working on again, and I get tired. That's not good.
It's time to get back at it. Just not today. Today I go visit a friend, and contribute to her outside art wall. (Billie can turn anything into art! It's amazing.) Maybe she can talk me into picking up a pen again.
I hope so. I need a big push, and it looks like I can't do it myself this time. Darn it.
Actually, life's been busy. We've almost finished the TV room (THAT turned into a bigger deal than I thought it would, and why is it that I never remember how much work renovations are?), are still fighting the weeds in the garden, and since our daughter moved back home (doing a little regrouping) we've had the chance to use a BBQ. (Hers came home with her. And I like it!) I've just shut down for a bit in the writing department.
Am thinking about going into the 3 Day novel contest again. Just nibbles around the edges of my brain right now -- if I'm going to do this thing this year, I'm doing it right, with a full outline and the whole bit -- so we'll see. If no good idea comes to me, and no outline, I'm not doing it. I will just cheer on Billie and Christina, two writing pals from Edmonton who have decided to give it a go this year.
I've alway wanted to write a story about a secret society that developed at West Edmonton Mall. Will have to give this a bit more thought. There might be something there.
Am making plans to go to London Ontario in September. It is Ryan's (one of the Banffers) turn to have us all to HIS house for a retreat. We will be planning our World Fantasy Convention foray. (See 1st paragraph for work I SHOULD be doing on that, and am not) It should be good. Will talk my husband into going this time. He has people in Southern Ontario. He can visit his group while I hang out with mine, and we can do some touring after. I haven't been there in years. (A 3 day crime prevention conference doesn't count. Didn't see anyone but "the good guys," and didn't talk about anything but CP. I need to do better than that!) This will be a way to do that.
I don't know why I'm not writing right now. It's scaring me, just a little bit. I think about opening the file and starting the story I'm working on again, and I get tired. That's not good.
It's time to get back at it. Just not today. Today I go visit a friend, and contribute to her outside art wall. (Billie can turn anything into art! It's amazing.) Maybe she can talk me into picking up a pen again.
I hope so. I need a big push, and it looks like I can't do it myself this time. Darn it.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
I'm not lazy. Not really
Didn't want you to think I was just being lazy, having the same entry for this blog and my website. I was having trouble with the website, and wanted to make sure the words found a home somewhere (because they were especially good, this time. You know, every word it gold, etc.)
Am still hacking and pulling (like weeds, only worse) at all those flabby words. Then comes the next bit of work -- making sure all my sentences still make sense. The Seek and Destroy button is fun, but can ruin the flow of a good sentence if not used properly -- and I'm certain, by the end, I was just tearing words out for the sake of tearing them out. We will see, anyhow.
Harold and Jess (that would be husband and daughter) start working together today. I hope this works out. They are going to a kid's park to fix the water feature. Hey, kind of neat way to start out! The only problem is -- they go when the kids aren't there, so Jess's first official day of work with her dad starts at 8 tonight. Welcome to the family business, Kiddo.
Am still hacking and pulling (like weeds, only worse) at all those flabby words. Then comes the next bit of work -- making sure all my sentences still make sense. The Seek and Destroy button is fun, but can ruin the flow of a good sentence if not used properly -- and I'm certain, by the end, I was just tearing words out for the sake of tearing them out. We will see, anyhow.
Harold and Jess (that would be husband and daughter) start working together today. I hope this works out. They are going to a kid's park to fix the water feature. Hey, kind of neat way to start out! The only problem is -- they go when the kids aren't there, so Jess's first official day of work with her dad starts at 8 tonight. Welcome to the family business, Kiddo.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Numbers
This has been a week filled with numbers. Some of them good (6 innings of softball) and some not so good (557 "justs"). But let me explain.
I've started editing Seeing the Light after getting it critiqued by a wonderful bunch of people (thanks everybody!) and one of the big things I had to do was pull flabby words from the work. Ryan was pretty straightforward. "Get rid of all the justs! They drive me crazy!" (Or something. Paraphrasing, due to horror induced by the suggestion that any of my wonderful words could drive anybody crazy.) Bille was kinder. She gave me a list, and suggested I get rid of most of them because they are "tentative words that neither Farley nor Marie would use."
Here's the list:
quite,
nearly,
almost,
just about,
mostly,
very close to,
usually,
even,
try to
I thought they were both being a little delicate. I don't use tentative flabby words much. I KNOW I don't. I would have noticed them. And then I used the seek and destroy button. Holy crap! Maybe Farley and Marie wouldn't use them, but I would. And do. A lot.
"Just" was the big winner, but "even, nearly and almost" were right up there. I may have to add a chapter, just to get my word count back up! (Kidding about that, but it was a real eye opener.)
So now mostly all of those words are very close to almost being gone. If I try to do just one more go through, even though it feels almost right and nearly all flabby words are nearly gone, it should be just about ready to go. (I LOVE those words! Help!)
When this big clean up is done, I can get to the other nits. And they are, generally, nits. This thing is almost complete. Again. One more time into the breech. But I still don't know the market. I thought I had it, but I was told (again by my wonderful critiquers) that I don't. I will keep trying to figure this out.
But I really LIKE calling it my paranormal chick lit murder mystery sort of a thing! At least I get people to look at me and say "What?" Then I can explain... Sigh. I'll keep working at it.
The other number, the six innings of softball -- that was a bit of fun, and I didn't get hurt which makes it even better.
Went to watch my daughter's softball games on Wednesday night, and I could see that they didn't have enough players. I looked at my husband and said "Let's just stay in the car until game time." I didn't want to be pulled on to the field -- well that's a bit of a lie. No-one actually pulls you onto the field. You don't get shanghaied -- not really. I have a little difficulty saying "no" when someone needs some help. Like filling a spot on the field so my daughter's team didn't have to forfeit not one, but two games.
The manager/coach/pitcher stormed by our truck, and I looked steadfastly at the floor in order not to make eye contact. They were down 3 players, not just 1, so I wasn't going to be enough help, anyhow. And two games -- that's nearly 5 hours of softball. I didn't feel up to it. (I was better prepared than the year I was asked to play and didn't have a bra or running shoes OR a glove, but that's another story.) I wanted to WATCH softball, not play. (Or hold a place. That's really all I do, because I've never actually played the game for real.)
The coach/manager/pitcher stormed back a short time later, three players in tow, and they started the game. I breathed a sigh of relief and creeped out to the bleachers to watch. I felt like a whimp, but I really didn't want to hold a place.
It was a pretty good game, all things considered. My daughter pitched that game, and only gave up a couple of runs, but an error filled fourth inning (which started off with her left fielder being tripped by a rabbit as she ran for a fly ball, I kid you not) lost her the game. The interesting thing was, at the end of that inning, the opposing pitcher went out, threw one pitch, grabbed the pitching rubber, and picked it up, in pieces. It had literally fallen apart during my daughter's inning. They fixed it, and when Jess went out to pitch the next inning, she struck out three in a row. Made me wonder.
Anyhow, the game was over, and the three players trundled back to THEIR games (the coach/manager/pitcher had talked them into leaving their own games and coming to play ours. She has excellent skills in that area, which should explain my grovelling under my seat when she went by before the game. I can't say no to her!) and a couple more players from Jess's team showed up. (They were coming from Calgary. To play two games of softball. Wow.) But that put her team one person under.
That's when I was called up.
"I don't have a glove," I muttered. This hasn't actually ever gotten me out of filling a spot, but it felt like a good gambit, none the less. Like pulling the goalie in the frantic dying seconds of a hockey game already lost. "And I'm left handed."
The coach/manager/pitcher gave me a look, stormed over to the other team's dugout and came out with a glove. "It's Jim's" she said. "You have it for the whole game."
Jim is the coach for the other team. Jess has played for him off and on through her career. I thought he liked me.
I had a quick warm up smoke before the game started -- could see no real point in actually throwing a ball or anything, because I hadn't picked up a ball in two years. Then I took off all my jewelry and handed it to my husband, who was trying to give me last second advice on how to play the game, put on the glove, and went and stood out in right field.
The ball diamonds look pristine when a person is sitting in the bleachers, but out there in right field, I could see how a rabbit could hide. There were divots and ruts, and I was suddenly afraid that I'd take two steps, fall flat on my face, and embarrass my daughter. (I was way past embarrassing myself. I'd already done that by stepping out on the field in my CSI hoodie.) But, as I watched the other team try to hit it out to me, and watched our pitcher try to stop them from doing that, and tried desperately to remember what the heck a right fielder is actually supposed to do (watch for overthrows at first base, and get the ball back in as quick as you can, if the ball makes it out to you) I felt all right. No hyperventilation, none of that stuff. It was a quick half inning, and it was our turn to bat.
I batted last. Didn't surprise me or anyone else there. The coach/manager/pitcher's only advice to me for my first at bat was -- "Maybe try to take a walk."
Good advice. But the pitcher had to throw balls for that to happen, and she KNEW I wasn't the heavy hitter on the team. She knew I was the mother of a heavy hitter, and not worth fooling around with. So she threw 2 quick strikes. Then I surprised her (and me) by fouling off the next pitch. There was no way I was sitting down after only three pitches. No way.
I sat down after 4 pitches. And then we were back out in the field, and I watched them try to hit it out to me some more.
By the end of the game, even the opposing team's back catcher was trying to help me out. "Just put your bat right in the middle of the plate," she whispered. I think she was planning on getting the pitcher to hit the bat with the ball for me, which would have been a wonderful thing. However, the pitcher wasn't having any of that, and after I fouled off another ball, and managed to get the count up to 2 balls 2 strikes, she threw an inside pitch (really inside) then one down the middle for the out. Pretty basic stuff -- but man! I'd cut up watermelon for that kid when Jess played on her team! She shouldn't be throwing the ball at me like that!
As I went to sit down, I realized all I needed to have done was lean in, just a teeny bit, and she would have hit me, and I would've been on base. (This is the same thinking that comes over young men after they watch a testosterone filled action movie. They are convinced they can do everything they just watched, if they could find someone to fight.) I hung on to that thought for about a minute and a half, then let it go. I didn't need the pain.
We lost the game -- but they did get to play it, and I didn't make one error. In fact, I didn't touch the ball at all. Well, except for the two I fouled off. So, I survived, and Jess is taking me out for lunch today, to thank me for helping out. Cool.
I've started editing Seeing the Light after getting it critiqued by a wonderful bunch of people (thanks everybody!) and one of the big things I had to do was pull flabby words from the work. Ryan was pretty straightforward. "Get rid of all the justs! They drive me crazy!" (Or something. Paraphrasing, due to horror induced by the suggestion that any of my wonderful words could drive anybody crazy.) Bille was kinder. She gave me a list, and suggested I get rid of most of them because they are "tentative words that neither Farley nor Marie would use."
Here's the list:
quite,
nearly,
almost,
just about,
mostly,
very close to,
usually,
even,
try to
I thought they were both being a little delicate. I don't use tentative flabby words much. I KNOW I don't. I would have noticed them. And then I used the seek and destroy button. Holy crap! Maybe Farley and Marie wouldn't use them, but I would. And do. A lot.
"Just" was the big winner, but "even, nearly and almost" were right up there. I may have to add a chapter, just to get my word count back up! (Kidding about that, but it was a real eye opener.)
So now mostly all of those words are very close to almost being gone. If I try to do just one more go through, even though it feels almost right and nearly all flabby words are nearly gone, it should be just about ready to go. (I LOVE those words! Help!)
When this big clean up is done, I can get to the other nits. And they are, generally, nits. This thing is almost complete. Again. One more time into the breech. But I still don't know the market. I thought I had it, but I was told (again by my wonderful critiquers) that I don't. I will keep trying to figure this out.
But I really LIKE calling it my paranormal chick lit murder mystery sort of a thing! At least I get people to look at me and say "What?" Then I can explain... Sigh. I'll keep working at it.
The other number, the six innings of softball -- that was a bit of fun, and I didn't get hurt which makes it even better.
Went to watch my daughter's softball games on Wednesday night, and I could see that they didn't have enough players. I looked at my husband and said "Let's just stay in the car until game time." I didn't want to be pulled on to the field -- well that's a bit of a lie. No-one actually pulls you onto the field. You don't get shanghaied -- not really. I have a little difficulty saying "no" when someone needs some help. Like filling a spot on the field so my daughter's team didn't have to forfeit not one, but two games.
The manager/coach/pitcher stormed by our truck, and I looked steadfastly at the floor in order not to make eye contact. They were down 3 players, not just 1, so I wasn't going to be enough help, anyhow. And two games -- that's nearly 5 hours of softball. I didn't feel up to it. (I was better prepared than the year I was asked to play and didn't have a bra or running shoes OR a glove, but that's another story.) I wanted to WATCH softball, not play. (Or hold a place. That's really all I do, because I've never actually played the game for real.)
The coach/manager/pitcher stormed back a short time later, three players in tow, and they started the game. I breathed a sigh of relief and creeped out to the bleachers to watch. I felt like a whimp, but I really didn't want to hold a place.
It was a pretty good game, all things considered. My daughter pitched that game, and only gave up a couple of runs, but an error filled fourth inning (which started off with her left fielder being tripped by a rabbit as she ran for a fly ball, I kid you not) lost her the game. The interesting thing was, at the end of that inning, the opposing pitcher went out, threw one pitch, grabbed the pitching rubber, and picked it up, in pieces. It had literally fallen apart during my daughter's inning. They fixed it, and when Jess went out to pitch the next inning, she struck out three in a row. Made me wonder.
Anyhow, the game was over, and the three players trundled back to THEIR games (the coach/manager/pitcher had talked them into leaving their own games and coming to play ours. She has excellent skills in that area, which should explain my grovelling under my seat when she went by before the game. I can't say no to her!) and a couple more players from Jess's team showed up. (They were coming from Calgary. To play two games of softball. Wow.) But that put her team one person under.
That's when I was called up.
"I don't have a glove," I muttered. This hasn't actually ever gotten me out of filling a spot, but it felt like a good gambit, none the less. Like pulling the goalie in the frantic dying seconds of a hockey game already lost. "And I'm left handed."
The coach/manager/pitcher gave me a look, stormed over to the other team's dugout and came out with a glove. "It's Jim's" she said. "You have it for the whole game."
Jim is the coach for the other team. Jess has played for him off and on through her career. I thought he liked me.
I had a quick warm up smoke before the game started -- could see no real point in actually throwing a ball or anything, because I hadn't picked up a ball in two years. Then I took off all my jewelry and handed it to my husband, who was trying to give me last second advice on how to play the game, put on the glove, and went and stood out in right field.
The ball diamonds look pristine when a person is sitting in the bleachers, but out there in right field, I could see how a rabbit could hide. There were divots and ruts, and I was suddenly afraid that I'd take two steps, fall flat on my face, and embarrass my daughter. (I was way past embarrassing myself. I'd already done that by stepping out on the field in my CSI hoodie.) But, as I watched the other team try to hit it out to me, and watched our pitcher try to stop them from doing that, and tried desperately to remember what the heck a right fielder is actually supposed to do (watch for overthrows at first base, and get the ball back in as quick as you can, if the ball makes it out to you) I felt all right. No hyperventilation, none of that stuff. It was a quick half inning, and it was our turn to bat.
I batted last. Didn't surprise me or anyone else there. The coach/manager/pitcher's only advice to me for my first at bat was -- "Maybe try to take a walk."
Good advice. But the pitcher had to throw balls for that to happen, and she KNEW I wasn't the heavy hitter on the team. She knew I was the mother of a heavy hitter, and not worth fooling around with. So she threw 2 quick strikes. Then I surprised her (and me) by fouling off the next pitch. There was no way I was sitting down after only three pitches. No way.
I sat down after 4 pitches. And then we were back out in the field, and I watched them try to hit it out to me some more.
By the end of the game, even the opposing team's back catcher was trying to help me out. "Just put your bat right in the middle of the plate," she whispered. I think she was planning on getting the pitcher to hit the bat with the ball for me, which would have been a wonderful thing. However, the pitcher wasn't having any of that, and after I fouled off another ball, and managed to get the count up to 2 balls 2 strikes, she threw an inside pitch (really inside) then one down the middle for the out. Pretty basic stuff -- but man! I'd cut up watermelon for that kid when Jess played on her team! She shouldn't be throwing the ball at me like that!
As I went to sit down, I realized all I needed to have done was lean in, just a teeny bit, and she would have hit me, and I would've been on base. (This is the same thinking that comes over young men after they watch a testosterone filled action movie. They are convinced they can do everything they just watched, if they could find someone to fight.) I hung on to that thought for about a minute and a half, then let it go. I didn't need the pain.
We lost the game -- but they did get to play it, and I didn't make one error. In fact, I didn't touch the ball at all. Well, except for the two I fouled off. So, I survived, and Jess is taking me out for lunch today, to thank me for helping out. Cool.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
What's driving me crazy, part two
I want to complain. I love this city. I really do. It's one of those little underappreciated places that's a heck of a lot of fun to live in, but there are a couple of things about it that bug me. City planners who can't quite wrap their heads around the "planning" part of their jobs, and moveable advertising signs.
I'm going to leave the city planners alone, though. The signs are what are driving me crazy, today.
These signs are everywhere in this city, and they look like hell. In fact, if you drive in from the south on Calgary Trail (or whatever they're calling it these days), you would swear that the whole city is one big garage sale. It's embarrassing. Monumentallly embarrassing.
I remember a few years ago, it was decided that companies would be allowed to advertise in flower beds on certain sections of the Whitemud freeway. I was ready to be REALLY pissed off, because this felt like more of the same. However, they were tastefully done, quite pretty, and well kept up. But from the uproar, you would've sworn that these companies had dumped huge truckloads of cow manure on the Whitemud -- and because of the outpouring of disgust by the good people of Edmonton, they were discontinued.
Now those mounds of dirt are , well -- weed infested mounds of dirt. No one did anything more than tear out the advertising, and the flowers. To me, they NOW look like big piles of cow manure. But I guess no one (except me) minds about that. After a while, you just don't see the crap.
However, I do. Every year I watch more and more weeds grow on those mounds of dirt, and more of those frigging signs pop up, more and more of them, like a dandelion infestation that just never stops. (at least dandelions go away in the winter!) They are ugly and garish, and make our nice little city look cheap.
We gotta get rid of them!
Any ideas? Or am I the only one who sees how ugly they are?
Thanks for letting me vent.
I'm going to leave the city planners alone, though. The signs are what are driving me crazy, today.
These signs are everywhere in this city, and they look like hell. In fact, if you drive in from the south on Calgary Trail (or whatever they're calling it these days), you would swear that the whole city is one big garage sale. It's embarrassing. Monumentallly embarrassing.
I remember a few years ago, it was decided that companies would be allowed to advertise in flower beds on certain sections of the Whitemud freeway. I was ready to be REALLY pissed off, because this felt like more of the same. However, they were tastefully done, quite pretty, and well kept up. But from the uproar, you would've sworn that these companies had dumped huge truckloads of cow manure on the Whitemud -- and because of the outpouring of disgust by the good people of Edmonton, they were discontinued.
Now those mounds of dirt are , well -- weed infested mounds of dirt. No one did anything more than tear out the advertising, and the flowers. To me, they NOW look like big piles of cow manure. But I guess no one (except me) minds about that. After a while, you just don't see the crap.
However, I do. Every year I watch more and more weeds grow on those mounds of dirt, and more of those frigging signs pop up, more and more of them, like a dandelion infestation that just never stops. (at least dandelions go away in the winter!) They are ugly and garish, and make our nice little city look cheap.
We gotta get rid of them!
Any ideas? Or am I the only one who sees how ugly they are?
Thanks for letting me vent.
I've been gone a month!
Hi there good people. Lost track of time -- will happen to me in the spring -- not because I was sitting around and watching the mosquitoes carry the dog off every night (well, I have been doing that, and it's terrifically entertaining) but because I've been busy writing. That's right. I've been busy -- writing.
Just finished a pretty good edit of a rewrite (again) of Seeing the Light, and I like this version. A lot. Have it with readers, and am expecting responses the end of June.
Started coming up with some options for a minor clean up on aisle four. That would be Manhood Road, with a second chapter that sucks the big one, and that needs to be fixed.
And I've started working on Virago. Again. This novel is driving me nuts, and I can't figure out why. Howeve,r must keep hacking away at it.
Had to take my big computer in for a tune up. I'm not so dedicated when it comes to learning how to care for my computer. I'd rather pay someone to do it for me. I was silly enough to ask the guy who tidied what he had done, but faded to black almost immediately when he began describing, in great detail, what I could do to make my Mac run faster. Guess that means another tidy session is in this computer's future. Ah well, it's working just great now, and I'm happy about that.
Am preparing for a trip to Winnipeg the end of this month. I'm going on a four day writing retreat, to spend time with my Banffers, and am really looking forward to it.
Concerning hockey -- which I started the blog with, way back in June of 2006 -- the less said the better. The Senators got their asses handed to them in the last game (caught the last period. I'm not quite so dedicated when it isn't the Oilers) Boys, you have to pull up your socks. You looks like duffers out there. And you aren't causing any riots on Whyte Avenue, and those kids will use any excuse to riot. Won't they? I thought I read that somewhere. Pick your newspaper.
And concerning my "makeover." Yes, I've decided it's time to look like someone to be reckoned with, and am taking the appropriate steps -- which for me was hiring someone to help me, because I'm so pathethic with this stuff. (Read I don't really care, just as long as the clothes are clean (mostly), which does NOT give a great first impression.) We've done my hair, and my make up (don't even start with me about this! I'll figure it out, really I will.) and then moved on to clothes.
First she gutted my wardrobe. I was shocked, looking at some of the stuff I had hanging in there. I honestly thought it wasn't THAT bad, but looking through someone else's eyes for a moment sure clued me into the fact I hang on WAY TOO LONG. So, the dress that I wore to my daughter's high school grad is now gone, plus every other dress bought in that era. The only one she let me keep was my funeral dress -- and that's only until I can replace it. My god, I wasn't even doing funerals right! Gack!
Then we went shopping. I was almost immediately pissed off and overwhelmed, but she gently smacked me in the back of the head, told me to get over myself in her sweet way, and I managed to pick out a bunch of really nice things that I can wear just about anywhere. (Except the garden. I got to keep those clothes.)
It's funny how a person's mind works, though, isn't it? Before the buying but after the wardrobe gutting, I went to one of my daughter's ball games, and dressed in every rank and ancient piece of clothing I could find. I didn't really think about it -- just kept the (disgusting) blue jeans on that I was wearing that day, and the tee shirt, pulled my hair into a ponytail, and put on the coat I always wear to her cold games, because my mittens are in the pocket. (That coat has to be ten years old. At least. And a Zeller's bargain basement purchase, to boot.) I picked up my daughter, and after she told me about her day, she really looked at me.
"How did you get to keep those clothes? she asked. She is following the overhaul with a great deal of interest.
"I didn't show her these clothes," I admitted. "Big deal, though. It's just a ball game."
"Turn left," she demanded.
We'd reached the intersection that would take us either to the ball barn, or to my place. I didn't turn left. But I should have. She was right. I looked like crap.
I sat through two ball games, knowing that THAT was the way I looked to people when I don't give a thought to what I put on before I leave the house. After I took her home, I threw away the coat (after rescuing the mittens from the pocket) promised myself the jeans would never see past our fenceline again, and that I'd find a better way to do my hair. I can't keep doing that to myself. I deserve better.
Just finished a pretty good edit of a rewrite (again) of Seeing the Light, and I like this version. A lot. Have it with readers, and am expecting responses the end of June.
Started coming up with some options for a minor clean up on aisle four. That would be Manhood Road, with a second chapter that sucks the big one, and that needs to be fixed.
And I've started working on Virago. Again. This novel is driving me nuts, and I can't figure out why. Howeve,r must keep hacking away at it.
Had to take my big computer in for a tune up. I'm not so dedicated when it comes to learning how to care for my computer. I'd rather pay someone to do it for me. I was silly enough to ask the guy who tidied what he had done, but faded to black almost immediately when he began describing, in great detail, what I could do to make my Mac run faster. Guess that means another tidy session is in this computer's future. Ah well, it's working just great now, and I'm happy about that.
Am preparing for a trip to Winnipeg the end of this month. I'm going on a four day writing retreat, to spend time with my Banffers, and am really looking forward to it.
Concerning hockey -- which I started the blog with, way back in June of 2006 -- the less said the better. The Senators got their asses handed to them in the last game (caught the last period. I'm not quite so dedicated when it isn't the Oilers) Boys, you have to pull up your socks. You looks like duffers out there. And you aren't causing any riots on Whyte Avenue, and those kids will use any excuse to riot. Won't they? I thought I read that somewhere. Pick your newspaper.
And concerning my "makeover." Yes, I've decided it's time to look like someone to be reckoned with, and am taking the appropriate steps -- which for me was hiring someone to help me, because I'm so pathethic with this stuff. (Read I don't really care, just as long as the clothes are clean (mostly), which does NOT give a great first impression.) We've done my hair, and my make up (don't even start with me about this! I'll figure it out, really I will.) and then moved on to clothes.
First she gutted my wardrobe. I was shocked, looking at some of the stuff I had hanging in there. I honestly thought it wasn't THAT bad, but looking through someone else's eyes for a moment sure clued me into the fact I hang on WAY TOO LONG. So, the dress that I wore to my daughter's high school grad is now gone, plus every other dress bought in that era. The only one she let me keep was my funeral dress -- and that's only until I can replace it. My god, I wasn't even doing funerals right! Gack!
Then we went shopping. I was almost immediately pissed off and overwhelmed, but she gently smacked me in the back of the head, told me to get over myself in her sweet way, and I managed to pick out a bunch of really nice things that I can wear just about anywhere. (Except the garden. I got to keep those clothes.)
It's funny how a person's mind works, though, isn't it? Before the buying but after the wardrobe gutting, I went to one of my daughter's ball games, and dressed in every rank and ancient piece of clothing I could find. I didn't really think about it -- just kept the (disgusting) blue jeans on that I was wearing that day, and the tee shirt, pulled my hair into a ponytail, and put on the coat I always wear to her cold games, because my mittens are in the pocket. (That coat has to be ten years old. At least. And a Zeller's bargain basement purchase, to boot.) I picked up my daughter, and after she told me about her day, she really looked at me.
"How did you get to keep those clothes? she asked. She is following the overhaul with a great deal of interest.
"I didn't show her these clothes," I admitted. "Big deal, though. It's just a ball game."
"Turn left," she demanded.
We'd reached the intersection that would take us either to the ball barn, or to my place. I didn't turn left. But I should have. She was right. I looked like crap.
I sat through two ball games, knowing that THAT was the way I looked to people when I don't give a thought to what I put on before I leave the house. After I took her home, I threw away the coat (after rescuing the mittens from the pocket) promised myself the jeans would never see past our fenceline again, and that I'd find a better way to do my hair. I can't keep doing that to myself. I deserve better.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)