the return of the time traveler

This month my goal is to write 300 words a day. Ok. I've been doing that but I can't seem to stick with one story. I started out good, writing a murder mystery one, but I soon strayed from it and begin writing other stuff. Which isn't to say that's a bad thing, but I ended up writing something different each night. So here I am, March 12th, and while I have the word count quota, I don't have anything else worth keeping.

Now I know you'll say that at least I was writing, practicing my craft, but I would at least like to have something I can come back to at a later date and edit into something that might one day be published.

So I've brought back Mac, my time traveling teenager and her story. I wrote about 20 single spaced pages about her and her friends Freddy and Tessa last month. I'm hoping they can get me out of the funk I've been in this month. 

I want to use Mac's story for the short story contest sponsored by The Writer I mentioned in an earlier post. I think this will be what I need to actually write something, edit it, then send it off for a review. I hope I can do it.

Happy Birthday to my MOM

My mommy is 69 years old today.

Thanks for your love and wisdom and encouragement and cooking lessons. 

I want to be just like you when I grow up.

two dead bodies in less than 1000 words

I'm pitiful. I've written less than 1000 words so far (970 to be exact) and I've already murdered two people. Haven't decided how they died or why, but one body has washed up on the beach and another was found in his home, I think. LOL

I'm writing a new story and just going with the flow. I have six new characters and no idea what to do with them. I've got a doctor (GP), a veterinarian, a maid (dead body #1), a cop, the cop's father (dead body #2), a housekeeper and someone else I can't remember right now. Too many to keep track of already. I guess I need to drag out the character list I use with NaNoWriMo and start writing them down.

I finally made my cookies tonight. I was mixing them up yesterday evening and found out that I had no brown sugar! Well, no brown sugar that was usable. All of if was hard as a rock. So I had to buy new stuff today. It's all in the fridge now, waiting for me to come home tomorrow. I cant' wait.

Happy Birthday Gabriella Moonlight!!!

First off, you gotta change your age on your blog to 41, like I did!!! MUHAHAHAHA

G (she's behind the All Who Wander Are Not Lost blog) and I have been friends for a few years. She worked in an adjoining office, which is where I met her a couple of years ago. Then she changed jobs and moved upstairs. But now she's back downstairs in the best department on campus!!!

She's been a super quick study and has picked up the knowledge needed in a few short months to do a very demanding and mentally exhausting job. She's also working on finishing her master's degree in Humanities. She inspires me everyday to be a better person. I hear her talking on the phone with students and I realize how 'cold' I've become in answering questions from students. I rarely get a call now I haven't heard before so the job has become a little mundane. It's been refreshing to see the job through a new person's eyes that makes me appreciate the job I have.

She sits in the cube beside mine, in what you would call a "corner" office - we're all in a cubical farm and she has one of the corners. I used to have this space, but I wanted a smaller one so I have her mine after she was hired. She brings humor to the office and is a willing participant when I get in one of my moods to pull a practical joke.

Luckily for me, she is taking Monday off to celebrate her birthday. An entire day, home alone. How wonderful is that??? It's great. For me. MUHAHAHAHA

Yes, practical joker that I am, something will happen to her cubicle while she is out of the office. Fair warning G! Be prepared for a surprise when you return on Tuesday. I'll post an update when she returns.

8,357

I again met my goal of writing at least 200 words each day during the month of February. 

My highest word count day was Wednesday, February 4th. I had 1,203 words that day. That was the snow day I took and I wanted to write at least 1,200 words that day.

My lowest word count day was another Wednesday, this time February 18th. I managed to pull out 201 words. And the words for that day are in no relation to anything else I wrote this month. I just wrote miscellaneous descriptions of some knitting I wanted to do. 

my list for the weekend

I'm working on a list of things to do for the weekend. I have a lot to accomplish and a short amount of time.

1. Write my last 200 words for the day. I'll post my February total on Sunday.

2. Make some homemade chocolate chip cookies. I follow the recipe on the Nestle bag of chocolate chips but I also add more chips. I then keep the dough in the fridge and bake cookies whenever I want them. Hot cookies, straight out of the oven, anytime I want. LOL

3. Decide on the story idea for my March daily writings. February has been about teenage time travelers visiting the RMS Titanic before she sinks. One of them runs away and tries to save someone who died during the sinking, which is a no-no.

4. I may have to kill a couple of people in the March writings. I've only killed one person since November and NaNoWriMo. I hate to say this, but I miss that part. I like writing about crimes and how they are solved. The kids on the Titanic have a dead body there now. Guess I need to wind that up and move on to a few more bodies. MUHAHAHA

5. Sew some more napkins. I'm going through a crafty phase right now. My sewing machine is now fixed so I'm going crazy buying fat quarters (usually an 18"x22" piece of material) and turning them into napkins. Trying to be more environmentally friendly. The picture is of my newest purchases. Two of each will be added to my collection.

I just had to share.....

...this photo of my very first napkin!!! Yes, I'm a geek. I'm so excited to finally be able to sew. I tried years earlier, much like my writing, and never got very far. I have the determination now to start a project and finish it. This napkin will be the first of many, following in the steps of the writing exercises I'm working on now. Practice makes perfect, or at least makes the writing a habit, which I believe is what I've needed all along.

How does this pertain to writing really? I've inspired myself to dig out a story idea I was working on about 15 years ago. I'd seen an article in a newspaper about a woman who made wedding gowns by hand. My character was going to be exactly like this woman. She would be one of those old fashioned seamstresses we hear about. She can make anything, from wedding gowns to suits to napkins and table runners and Halloween costumes. But there's something in her past that haunts her. A murder? A jilted lover? Who knows. But now that I'm inspired to work on the story again, I'll soon know the answers.

Happy Birthday Lisa!!!!!

Special birthday wishes are going out to one of my BFFs - Lisa (aka miseenplace) today. You're getting closer to me everyday year. LOL

Lisa runs the All About Alton blog, about Alton Brown. She claims to be his #1 fan, and I totally believe her.

Lisa and I met during the Fall 2002 in a Humanities class called "Historical Studies" where we both work. At the time Lisa wasn't working at my school (yet) but we became friends in the class we will forever call "the class from hell."

Fast forward a couple of years. I see Lisa when she comes in for class sometimes. We chat, exchange pleasantries. Then she is hired to work in the library of the school I work for. How great was that???

I talked her into applying to the University of Tennessee's Information Science (Library Science) program and we both were accepted, taking classes via the Internet since neither of us could leave our jobs beginning in the Fall 2006, when our friendship took off. She finally completed the program last August, earning her 2nd master's degree. (I dropped out due to death and illness in my family.)

I got her hooked on the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC and we made several trips. She introduced me to Alton Brown and his show Good Eats on the Food Network. We've both joked that we could be sisters, with the amount of stuff we have in common. When we went to orientation for the UTK program, I talked until I was hoarse, finding all the things we both liked (cross stitching, photography, architecture, research, etc) and had great fun on the trip.

So, in order to show her my appreciation for our friendship, I found something out about her favorite TV chef. I found a magazine today, premiere issue. I've included a photo of it here at the bottom of the post. I've also purchased you a life time subscription to it. 

Here you go: Happy Birthday Lisa!!!!

W

A

I

T

F

O

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I

T

HERE YOU GO:

MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

So much for my little reward dinner

I left work early to give myself a reward tonight. I'd finally gotten caught up with everything in the office and decided to eat at a little diner in my hometown on the way home. Well, lets just say I should have stayed at work.

The meal wasn't that bad. I had a ham and bacon club sandwich on toasted bread. Plain. Yes, you heard me right. I am not a veggie person. I do not eat lettuce, tomato or mayo on my sandwiches. I like them plain. No problems there. Even the fries were half way decent this time. Usually they haven't been cooked long enough, but tonight's were better.

What I didn't like was how the ordering process went. I don't blame the waitress at all. I don't think she saw me come in, nor the guy about five minutes after me. I came in, sat down and opened up my book. I'd received Lethal Legacy by Linda Fairstein today from Amazon and I so wanted to get into this one. Fairstein is one of the few writers I buy in hardback. I immediately started reading. Everyone knows to come in and sit down, the waitress will get to you.

I'd been reading for a few minutes when this guy comes in and sits down at another table adjacent from me. A few more minutes and the waitress comes over to the area where we are. And you know what??? She goes to his table first!!! WTF??? That wouldn't have been so bad (not her fault she didn't know who came in first), but he goes ahead and orders!!! He didn't even look over to ask if I had been waited on. He just immediately orders!! 

So she takes his drink order then leaves to bring it back. Then she comes to my table to get my drink order. She leaved and brings it back. Then she takes his meal order, then mine. His food is also brought to the table first. GRRRR. I was kinda ticked off. But who to be mad at the most, the waitress for not knowing better, or the guy who should have had the decency to ask if I had been waited on already, since I didn't have a drink on my table or a menu or anything. 

Now some of you may be thinking, why didn't I speak up? And why did I get mad when I didn't speak up in the first place? I'm just not that type of person. One, I don't want to embarrass anyone in public, so I usually keep my mouth shut and just stew in silence. If someone cuts in line, I just think about ways to kill them painfully in the pages of my stories. That usually helps alot. I did write down what I wanted to say in a post while I was sitting there waiting on my drink. Couldn't help myself. LOL.

The tip I left was ok (20%) since the food was good this time, but I'm the type of person who gives great tips, if the service warrants it. Most waitresses there either work there full time or are going to school so I'm happy to give extra. The girl who usually waits on me usually gets a nice BIG tip. Where was she tonight?????

So how does this relate to writing? Well, right now I don't know. I'm sure the experience and scene will work its way into my writings some day.

February 4, 2009 snow day

It doesn't look like a lot of snow, but it is to someone who has to drive 40 miles to get to work.

It wasn't an official snow day, but I took a vacation day anyway. After driving home the night before, I wasn't going back out on the roads again until they were clear.

The snowman idea was a bust. The snow was not the right kind to make one. So my dog will have to suffer. LOL

I did, however, write 1,203 words that day. I think I took a nap, too. It was just a great day to be home and not have to worry about driving.

I also want to send out birthday wishes to my friend Cliff. Hope you had a great one. And now we're the same age again. MUHAHAHA

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Snow day plans

Is it wrong of me to wish for a lot of snow so I can stay home? I work in higher education and rarely do we get a day off for weather. 

Oh, I've gone home early or taken a vacation day for high water, power outages and previous snow squalls, but it has been well over 10 years since the entire university closed down because of the weather, until last week that is. I had already called in that I was taking a vacation day. I live 40 miles from where I work and I was not going to drive slick, dangerous roads just to have to drive home again eight hours later.

If tomorrow is a snow day, I plan to build my dog a snowman. Scooby needs the company. Doesn't he look like he wants one? For once I finally got him to sit still long enough to take a front view picture. I'll add one with the snowman if I stay home.

If tomorrow is a snow day, I plan to write 1000 words. I'm currently writing at least 200 words a day for this month, but since I can sleep later, nap and play with my dog, I will write more too.

I used the list of names from a post on my other blog, Beat the Block, to start this month's writing exercises, much like I did last month with my vintage resale shop story. My main character for this new story is a butler named Peabody. My other characters are Jane, North and Marcus. So far I have two scenes. I'm mostly free-writing, if I can call it that. I do not think about what I'm going to write. I open up the document and just start writing. Most of the time I am surprised at what comes out. I do not consciously think about what I'm going to write. And I usually put it off until right before I go to bed. Sometimes writing under "pressure" leads to better writing.

5,138....

....is my total word count for the month of January. I met my goal of writing at least 100 words a day. Some days the creativity was flowing fast and furious. Others felt like I pulling chewing gum out of my hair - I felt like I was never going to finish. 

My highest daily word count was 663 on January 4th.  The lowest was 100 on January 18th. I tried not to look at the word count as I wrote. It seemed when I did look, and saw that I had met the quota, my muse said bye-bye and I had to stop.  

February's goal is 200 words a day. I should have at least 5,600 words by the end of the month. Planning will be needed. On some nights I would wait until 11:50 to write. Deadlines are great for me. Spurs the creativity. But the more I plan to write each month, the earlier I will need to start.

I wrote my words over three different stories. Two of them look promising for the short story contest in The Writer. I need 2000 words for that project.

Twilight

I finished rereading Twilight (by Stephenie Meyer) this evening. I started the novel again on January 1st and I've tried to read a little bit each evening. Oh, I'm reading other books, like the knitting mystery series by Maggie Sefton, but Twilight was read before I went to sleep almost each night. 

Right now I'm waiting on FedEx to deliver the USGS topographical maps of the Forks, WA area. I'm that obsessed with the series. I usually buy topographic maps as souvenirs of places I've been - Harper's Ferry, Blennerhasset Island, Cass (all in WV) along with Cape Hatteras, NC and Asheville, NC to name a few others. As soon as these new maps get here, I'll be ordering the ones for the Port Angeles, WA area. 

I'll admit I'm not someone who has been a fan of the series from the beginning. I only just discovered the series last summer. I was so engrossed, that after I read Twilight the first time, I immediately ordered New Moon and Eclipse and pre-ordered Breaking Dawn.

New Moon and Eclipse were set to be delivered on June 20th, which is a state holiday in WV where I live. State workers had the day off, a three day weekend. I still had to work, since this is one of the holidays taken during Christmas at the university where I work. I checked the delivery schedule. I was planning to hunt down the books as soon as I saw they had been delivered. 

I was outraged to discover that UPS wasn't going be delivering them. The comment on the tracking page said closed! I immediately called the local UPS office and asked if I could pick up the books from them, that my university was not closed that day, just regular state offices. I had an entire weekend to read these two books and I wasn't going home without them. They said fine, so I dragged a co-worker, Amy, with me and went and picked up my books. She laughed at me for being so eager to get them. She has now read them and understands my need to get them ASAP. 

So now I'm trying to wait patiently until March 21st when the movie is released on DVD. I'm biding my time by rereading all the books. And looking at my maps, as soon as they get here.

Golden Ticket

I have a Golden Ticket in my office. No, I'm not going to see Willy Wonka. What I have is a ticket to get technical questions answered by one of my friends. Maybe.

If you can't read the fine print, it says: "Not valid on PC or PC-related equipment. Offer good only in even numbered years only. Not applicable on days ending with the letter 'Y'."

Birthday greetings

I would like to thank G and everyone for their birthday greetings. Today was great. Time spent with family and friends is never wasted. 

I've started on a new decade that I hope will bring good things to my life. 

Thanks to L for the super funny e-card she sent me. Luckily my cake real cake didn't have any candles on it this year so there was no need to call the fire department. LOL

Also a special thanks to my friend Cliff for this card. I forgot to get the mail on Saturday so I actually "received" this card on my birthday. You can read the inside here. But remember, Cliff, your birthday is only a few days away. Muhahaha

Short story contest at The Writer magazine

The Writer is sponsoring a short story contest. The deadline is May 31, 2009 to enter. You can click here for more information.

Let's see if I can get something ready to submit.

new year's writing resolutions NOT

Officially, I didn't make any resolutions this year. But one thing I have tried to do is write at least 100 words a day. So far I have kept to that. For me, this is what I needed to do all along - write every day. I needed to turn the writing into a habit.

I try not to think about what I am going to write. I either open up a document I've been working on, like the vintage resale shop idea, or I start something new, like I did last night. Here is part of what I wrote:

The park was silent this time of night. Mothers and their children were safely tucked inside their homes, safe from the monsters. I watched one particular child sitting in her bedroom, reading a book. She thought of me as her protector. Was I? Or was I one of the monsters I kept warning her about?

I am what is known as a grotesque, or sometimes called a gargoyle. Since I do not funnel water away from a building I am not a “real” gargoyle. Whatever you call me, I am a monster. Children should run screaming from me, yet this one doesn’t. She is happy to be around me. Does she see me differently than adults do? Does she believe I am some sort of magical creature who will save her?

Her name was Anna. She had two older sisters, Daphne and Valentina, who knew of me also, but they stayed away. They were getting older, and as older children do, they tended to not believe in the same things as the younger children do. Which was fine with me. I had Anna all to myself.

The resale shop has kinda hit a a brick wall. I know what I need to change, but I need to think about it some more. I hate to delete whole sections, but I seem to have written myself into a hole and I desperately need a way out so I can continue the story. I have no clue where I'm going with the story, but I know I want to work on it badly enough to keep thinking about it and making notes on scenes to eventually add.

I am also finding myself writing in first person. I HATE to read first person stories, though I loved reading Stephenie Meyers' Twilight series. I think from reading the four novels of the series (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn) from Bella's point of view has somehow changed how I write, at least for these 100 word exercises. I just discovered her last summer. 

Another series I've been reading in the first person is the Alex Cooper books by Linda Fairstein. If you like Law & Order: SVU you will love these books. Her books are an automatic pre-order from Amazon when I find the book available to order.

A note to fans of L&O:SVU - Stephanie March is returning for six episodes, beginning February 17th. I loved her character, Alex Cabot. I haven't been watching lately, but I will definitely be turning in for these new episodes.

Vintage clothing resale shop

I picked this item from my first list of what I call story starters at my (new) other blog, Beat the Block. I've been collecting lists of things for some time, and decided to start posting them in order to help other writers get over writer's block. I can't say for sure if I've ever had the block before. I'm just a lazy writer.

Here's the first paragraph of the new story:

I saw the sign out of the corner of my eye. I looped around the block and came back, catching a black Mini Cooper pulling out from directly in front of the store. I pulled in and turned the bike’s engine off. Amanda’s Vintage Clothing Resale Shop was the place I had been looking for for the last ten minutes. I needed a one more piece to complete my costume for the Halloween masquerade in two weeks. I stepped onto the sidewalk and took the helmet off. I hate how the stupid thing messes with my hair, but I wore mine every single time. I wanted to live to ride another day.

My goal, since the first of the year, has been to write at least 100 words a day. Now that doesn't sound like a lot, but to someone who doesn't write REGULARLY, this seems like a huge amount. So far I have 1,186 words, all based on the phrase "vintage clothing resale shop." Should I follow my own advise, I may not need NaNoWriMo anymore to be able to say I've written a novel.

A new modem

IMG_4795
Originally uploaded by mysterywriter

I didn't realize how much time I actually spent online until I couldn't. I had to have my old modem replaced as well as part of my line (water inside - don't ask me how) so I can now surf from the comfort of my chair.

Now back to researching how to commit murder. Just kidding.