Dribs & Drabs ...

So in my last Blog Entry ("Hello Visitors!") I had promised to not only be more regular with my Blog entries, that I would also start posting links on the Website to some more relevant material, starting with an older When Words Collide session notes, as well as a snippet from my novel Best Laid Plots, Book the First!, which is currently enduring a round of deep editing.

So, appropriately enough, I finally posted the link to a session I presented at the 2018 When Words Collide, titled "Manage Your Time, Not It Manage You". About a week after I said I would. So this one is a combination of my speaker's notes and the Power Point I used. If you check it out hopefully you will find it at best helpful in some way, and at worse mildly amusing! I enjoyed revisiting it so much, I am thinking about offering it at the 2021 WWC (which will be either online again or in person, depending on where we're at with the pandemic by mid August).

As for the snippet of BLP-BtF! - well. To be honest (and I usually am!) I have been dragging my heels on tackling this round of editing. I really don't like editing. But I'm quite the Wordy Wanda when Writing (but not usually so alliterative!) and even if I don't "change" much story-wise, I really need to wield the scalpel to trim things back. So, after posting the Time Management session I opened the story file up and dug in. And by the time I got to the end of the first chapter realized that I didn't like how LONG that first chapter was. Ugg. Well, that's all part of the editing process. Once I get that first one divided into two, I'll post the first part. It'll still be a draft - but it'll be a start on giving you a taste of what the book as a whole will be like. I hope.

One other bit of writing news - I've been working on putting together an anthology called Two Sides of the Coin, which will feature short stories and novellas in pairs, with one telling a story from one point of view, then the second telling the same story from a different point of view. I've got one story with its two halves ready to go, one other with one POV done (and thoughts on how which POV to use for its partner story), and another story still in development. Might also be able to talk Amanda Witow into providing a pair of stories set in her world of Legends Legacy! The two of us have also been trying to come up with a story where we would each take on one of the POVs, to round the whole thing out. So far no luck in working out what that story might be, but we'll keep at it!

It's going slowly, but it does feel good to be a bit more productive then I have been of late. Maybe not up to NaNoWriMo level of productivity, but a good start. Now if I could just put into practice the advice I give in "Manage Your Time", I will be a truly Happy Camper!

Till Next Time!

Well - I got an interesting surprise today. Apparently, people are actually popping in to check this Blog out! Wow! Who knew?

When I first started this Blog back in August, I expected a bunch of visitors as a response to the sessions I facilitated for the online conference When Words Collide, as I had posted links to my speaking notes as well as some handouts. And I did get lots of visitors, for that purpose. Over a 100 in August, less in September (but still lots!). October the number of visitors dropped again, and so far for November we've had around 22 people dropping by.

And I can't help but think - these are folks who are just popping by to see what, if anything, new stuff I have added since their last visit. And that fact has really blown my mind!!! That there are people out there actually interested in checking out what's new on this Blog, and what new thing has been posted - Wow!!!

So part of me is definitely doing a double take - what the??? Really???? And I kind of feel bad that so far, other than the stuff from the conference, it's mostly been a once a month stream of consciousness ramble ... So maybe people are actually digging that (you're welcome :) ), but more likely visitors are looking for content that is more relevant. This is, afterall, supposed to be the Blog Site of a writer, with content related to writing, both of my own stuff as well as things to help other writers hone their craft.

Ok then! Starting today I will be taking the existence of this Blog Site a bit more seriously, with more frequent postings (going to shoot for once a week, instead of once a month) and more relevant items that I will share with you. These will include writing snippets of my writing, postings about writing itself, with tips and tricks and some actual content you can sink your teeth into! As for Dribs & Drabs - I will try to break it down into categories and follow a bit of a more coherent process when putting stuff in here.

So later today, once my tech guy gets home and can assist me in the process, I will be posting a link to the session notes for something else that I did at When Words Collide, probably from 2019. And later this week (Friday?) I will also post a snippet from my novel currently in editing called Best Laid Plots - Book the First!

If you've visited here and so far have been enjoying my ramblings, please feel free to drop me an email saying so! If you think I'm totally whacked ... well, I'm not quite up to that yet, so hold your criticisms until I can get my self-esteem feet under me!

But Thanks for visiting! Hope to be offering you some more interesting stuff in the future :)

So it's November. Good things happen in November. My birthday, for one. It's always good when you can celebrate another successful tour around the sun. Snow usually makes its first serious appearance, something I rather like (probably because I've come to associate that first snowfall with my birthday ... ) We just had ours - over 15 cm of snow dumped on us over night. So for the 7:15 am trip to take the hubby into work we tossed into the van extra mitts, scarves, some shovels and his winter boots. In case we got stuck en route. We didn't. And the usual 12 minute trip only took about 20 minutes, so not bad at all, considering. The city 2.5 hours north of us got so much snow they pretty much shut down for today. Were calling for people with snowmobiles to pick up stranded motorists, particularly health care workers. That's alot of snow. We've had that much in one go in the past, so I definitely empathasize. It's why we took the precautions of preparing for having to dig either ourselves or someone else out of a drift a bit too much to handle. But it was all good, for us anyway. But once I got home I did put in a call and booked an appointment for good winter tires. My appointment is next week, and I figure it'll be money well spent, because the all season Radials currently on my van just don't cut it in slippery intersections.

What else happens in November? Well - many writers participate in NaNoWriMo, that annual "festival" of non-stop binge writing. I even know someone who completed it one year - she's got the certificate and everything! (That would be Amanda Witow, if anyone wants to check her writing out!) As for myself, I've never tried to do NaNo - I've always been "too busy" with my other hobbies and life responsibilities. Which always seem to eat up so much of my time. So for me, instead of going hard with the writing one month of the year, I figure I'd be better served to try to work out how to fit in regular daily (or even weekly) writing, every month. And then stick to whatever schedule I come up with. Because I really don't have the "spare" time to devote to writing 60,000 words in a 30 month period. But those stories aren't going to finish themselves, more's the pity. I've left them sitting for long enough to know they need a bit of a helping hand from me. But NaNo as a concept is something to celebrate, on behalf of those who are able to do it, or even just work at it.

One other good thing in November - the birthday of my middle child :) I don't see her very often - well, technically not at all considering she lives on the other side of the country. Not counting the sporadic chats via zoom (way too sporadic for my likes - we've done two in the past year). So a mother worries and frets and tries to restrain herself from bombarding poor daughter with countless texts. She's very independant and I'm very proud of her ... but it would be nice to hear from her a little bit more often. How to encourage that without nagging or hovering (I'm OK with appearing to be desperate in this case) ... ahh, the eternal parental dilemma once the chicks have tumbled out of the nest. At least with the two chicks that stayed here I see them at a minimum of once a week, as we've started doing weekly family meals on the weekends - sometimes a supper, sometimes brunch. Usually at our house, with me cooking (which is just fine - I like to cook). This past weekend they surprised me by arriving with all the fixings and did all the cooking :) Did I mention that November is my birth month?

So, I think I've rambled on long enough for this visit. Who knows what my next topic will be? Or when I'll visit the blog again? Something else to fit in to that theoretical schedule of mine I guess. So - until next time - stay warm!