I have not blogged here since 2021, so kinda not in forever. Lots has happened since then. I’ve been working on writing, but in the last couple of years, I’ve been working more on moving from Arizona to Oregon. (There are lots of reasons, but the main ones are that two-three months of unrelenting 100°-plus temperatures are intolerable, and absolutely asinine water policies are, well, asinine.) Here in Oregon, it rains a lot. But it’s a relatively kind and gentle rain (and this being late December, we’re still hoping for snow). We can see Mt. Hood from our front window, which makes up for a lot.
I’ve been a member of Willamette Writers for a couple of years now, and enjoyed a lot of their monthly presentations, which I attended from Tucson by Zoom. (Even though I live here now, I’m still attending by Zoom because driving at night in the rain seems counterintuitive.) A couple of weeks ago, I signed up for what I thought was a lecture about productivity and goal setting. Turns out it’s a group! We share our writing goals and encourage each other to reach them. It was just what I needed. Since then I’ve been on a roll!
Husband-man (I’m respecting his privacy with that appellation) put up a shelf under the chalkboard in my office, so I could keep my own books handy. When I brought a boxful up from the garage (we are nowhere near fully unpacked yet, despite having been in the house since October), I wondered why there weren’t as many as I thought there should be. Aha! It’s because eight of them are still on the computer, in the revision stage. Of some I should have proof copies (from Kindle Direct Publishing), but I have no idea where that box is. None of them were ready to approve and publish, though.
In the last week I’ve requested three proofs! When they come, I’ll have to read through them all and make whatever corrections and changes I mark on their pages, but editing and proofing are much easier for me when the ms. look like a real book. There are five others I’m still reading through on the screen. Only because one of them is still full of tedious notes (like what’s this guy’s name? or add some here about these two characters) have I torn myself away to update my website. My new “accountability group” meets weekly, so I’ll be breaking my long-term goals into seven-dayers. That’ll help me pace myself, always a good thing.
It’s good because I use my writing/editing time as a refuge from current/oncoming politics, and I think a carefully-planned schedule will help me avoid panicked plunges into obsession with any one aspect of the writing/editing process. (Some cover design is in the mix, too. For years I’ve been taking pictures I think I could use as covers, and that’s been working pretty well. However, I can spend two-three hours – or more – messing with a cover without noticing the time passing.) Another “always good” thing is our rule that I work and Husband-man watches “icky stuff” only until about 5 p.m. (I get to finish sentences or paragraphs before I quit for the day, and he gets to finish interviews or other segments on CNN or MSNBC. He doesn’t get to check in on any news after that, but I do get to leap up and jot down ideas.) So in the evening, we watch calm shows and enjoy our preprandial* cocktails, snug in our “new” livingroom, sometimes even enjoying the streetlight-through-rain view outside.
I will be mentioning website and blog updates to my new group, and they will, I think, keep me honest and true to my intent to not only be “baaa-aaack,” but here more often.
Happy the rest of your holidays! May your passion be present in your life!