January 15, 2016

Life has a way of happening in a way that is not according to plan. I believe in scheduling my time, but that’s all right with me.  Who wants a life you can map out to the last moment, anyway? That would mean no surprises.

This week my husband’s birthday required homemade cheesecake, a special gift, and lots of attention. He had a nasty cold, so I wanted to spoil him. This took extra time, but I figured I’d be able to catch up on my writing during the rest of the week.

And then I came down sick.

I had to postpone launching the Literary Wayfarer podcast until my throat stops hurting and I can talk without sounding hoarse. Right now I’m drinking lots of tea and have a scarf wound rather elegantly around my neck. This vocalist’s trick from my opera days actually works well to ease a sore throat and shorten its duration.

Writing Projects

At the end of last week, I only had three chapters left to edit in Sojourner, (Tales of Faeraven, book 3).  I hit some snags in the form of scenes that gave me fits while being rewritten, and so far I’ve only pulled 30 of the 50 hours designated each week for writing. Yep, I’m still editing. At least I’m on the final chapter now.

I’m hoping to pull some writing marathons over the next couple of days to use as much of the remaining 20 working hours as I can. Since I’m still sick, the reality will probably fall short.

One scene in DawnSinger (Tales of Faerven, book 2) describes Weithen Faen, a fenland with the ruined stronghold of Pilaer at its heart. As the heroine and her protectors journey toward Pilaer, it seems to endlessly retreat. 

This feels a lot like that.

Blogging

I cut way back on blogging this week but did send out an email to the crowd at Live Write Breathe, the website where I teach writers to live a passionate writing life, write well, and remember to breathe.

I reasoned that sending an email with links to past posts would save time. As it turns out, revamping older posts actually takes longer than writing a new one. Still, I like being able to take writers deeper into a topic through hand-selected articles. Plus, reviving older posts keeps them from being buried.