Is there anybody out there?

Hey guys,

 

It's been years since I've been on here, but I'm still writing(and still unpublished), and now I'm curious to see if this is still a viable platform for connecting with...well...anyone.

 

I'm not saying I'll be back to blogging more than maybe once a week, but I might give it a shot if there's any interest in my ramblings(no, I'm not expecting there to be any, lol).

 

For those who might be curious, here's an update:

 

 I'm still a stay-at-home mom. We now have a house of our own, another little person running around, and two crazy dogs. I ended up regulating New Beginnings to the shoebox due to massive plot hole issues and a need to focus on my family. I actually stopped writing for a while, and then in 2017 my current ms Beast(a B&B retelling with a fae twist) exploded out of my pen over the course of eight months of frantic writing. Beast is on it's fourth revision, and I expect to be doing one more revision after this one to trim some of the word count and generally tighten things up before I start querying it. My next book, set in a different world for a totally different story, is already a fourth of the way written and has a sequel waiting in the wings.

 

There's loads more that's happened since my last post, but time isn't my friend this morning, and I'm not even sure anyone out there really cares, so I'm keeping things short and sweet for now. Maybe I'll return to this after all, you never know. Until then, I'm off to get started on the day.

 

 Later, guys.

~H. Hounshell

Not quite there yet...

I honestly thought I'd be back to blogging right now...

I'm not dead, or anything else drastic, but I do have a very mobile toddler now. And I mean a "let's climb every height and get into every forbidden place" kind of mobile. 

I have been able to carve out just enough editing time to reach chapter twenty-four, though. I'm about halfway done with it, which is awesome. Except for the fact that all the chapters from this point on are very...sticky. 

The three plot holes I've discovered still need fixed(if I go back before this round of edits is finished I'll never be done), and I still need to cut a good sized chunk from my word count. I am getting closer, but it's taking a while. I've learning my lesson about keeping everything balanced. It means I work a lot slower, but as long as my progress is steady, I'm fine with slow.

Anyhow, I have a lot to work on, so I better get on it. I'll try to catch you guys next sunday. 

Unless, you know....life happens. ^_^


Later, guys!


~Sun and Moon 

I want the number of that bus...

Man, I'm getting my butt handed to me this holiday season...

Juggling family messes and holiday drama while chasing a newly mobile toddler is wearing me out. Add my husband changing hours AND departments at work as he gets ready to go back to school for his job...well, let's just say if I was a coffee drinker I'd be seriously considering an IV for the stuff.

Coffee makes me pretty sick though, so instead I'm cutting back on everything I can to allow me to be less zombie-like and more functional. I won't be posting again until the end of January, but once I am, I should be back to a regular schedule until summer. At that point things are going to get crazy again, So I'm not sure if I'll be able to maintain a regular blogging pace, or not. 

I will probably keep posting at my art blog on wenesdays as I'm working on clearing a serious backlog of artwork in my studio. Plus, I'm hoping to bring in a little cash to make things easier for my family while we navigate these next few years of crazy job stuff.

That's not me complaining, by the way. The opportunity and possibilities have me pretty well floored, but while I'm excited to see what's going to happen...I need my quickly vanishing free-time to help keep me level. Art and writing fill that need nicely, but it means I may not have many chances to blog here.

 No matter what happens, though, I'll definitely keep writing. For now, I'll see you all in a few weeks. Bye!




~Sun and Moon

I think I need a map...

Ugh, so many links!


Um, I mean, I'm sorry I've been so absent. You see, I'm working on getting my art blog/site up and ready to go. 

While chasing a toddler.

And trying to find time to write.

Busy doesn't even come close to the chaos of my life right now. It's a good chaos though, so I'm not complaining(even though it may sound that way....sorry), but it means I have less time to blog if I want to have dinner ready when the hubby gets home and still be silly with my little one. 

Priorities are good things, am I right?

Anyway, I'm already running late on fixing dinner and the toddler just woke up from napping. Since my brain is kind of like so much mush after weaving the web of links and posts I need to make my art blog/site work, I'm going to sign off.


Erm, and yes I know it's not sunday, but yesterday was more nuts then usual. So yeah....have a monday post instead.  ^__^




~Sun and Moon

A quick fix is never quick...

If I ever say I just need to do a quick fix on a chapter, or even just part of a scene, feel free to laugh. 

It's never a quick fix.

I dipped back into chapter twenty to do a "quick fix" two weeks ago. I'm just now making some headway, but I'm also still thoroughly mired in a scene barely two pages long. It's a tricky bit I've considered cutting out, but I need some version of it for the character's romantic relationship. 

My problem is I've over complicated it and I need to simplify things if I'm going to make it work properly. But how to manage that is beyond me at the moment, so I just keep plugging away at it in the hope that something will smack me upside the head and all the pieces will drop into place.

Hey, it could happen!

In the meantime, I need to get ready for my permit test this week. I finally wrangled some time to study the darned booklet and the time has come to see if any of it sunk in.The online pre-tests went well, so here's hoping!

Catch you later, guys. 

Hopefully with good news, one way or another. 



~Sun and Moon

Fading days...

Summer is almost over, and fall(my favorite time of year to write and be creative in general) will be here soon. This past week I've been getting woken up by the school bus picking up the kids living in the apartment downstairs. The nights are chillier too(finally!), and soon I'll have to seriously try to convince my toddler to wear shoes.

Right. Somehow I doubt that'll go well.

As always, the changing seasons have sparked the need to clean up the apartment and reorganize stuff. I'm trying to tidy up all my loose ends, like old art projects, edit notes, and a fanfiction I wrote, finished, and never completely posted. The catch is trying to track down the finished bits when I have a laptop, two desktops, and several usb drives to check. I've narrowed it down to my laptop(which makes sense seeing as I do most of my writing on the darned thing), so hopefully that will get taken care of today.

Provided I don't spend a chunk of my time fishing a toddler out of the cat's water fountain like I did earlier this week. Nothing like washing soggy food bits and catnip of your wiggly baby, who happens to think splashing all the cat's water out of her fountain is great fun and must be repeated....yeah. It's blocked off properly at the moment, but with an ever more mobile toddler on the loose, it's only a matter of time.


 For now, there's a lull in the usual craziness and I'm off to take advantage of the quiet...or rescue the cat. Again.

It's a good thing kids are cute, right?



~Sun and Moon

That chaos called life

I'm not dead, just really busy with a mobile toddler who won't let me write for very long before climbing into my lap and stealing my mouse. 

I'm two-thirds of the way through my edit notes, but I still haven't had a chance to go in and fix my plot holes. You see, I've not only had a mobile toddler to adjust to, but a new diet change as well. I've had to go grain free thanks to my body throwing a tantrum if I didn't, and that means a lot of time online just looking for recipes that won't break the bank. I'm getting better, but this running after a crawling kid and making sure all the babyproofing actually works? Yeah, it's a little time consuming.

Anywho, I better get going. It's already noon and I haven't had breakfast yet. There's coconut flour in my freezer, and bacon in my fridge. Some scrambled eggs, "muffins", and bacon sound amazing so I better get cracking while my little squirt is occupied sorting my post-it notes. 

I might even be able to squeeze it in some edits while I eat....hmmm...



~Sun and Moon

...[insert nifty title here]...

Well, my daughter will be six months old in a few short weeks and I'm finally getting back to writing. I'm making decent progress on edit notes now and I hope to be sifting out the last few plots holes sometime shortly after the holidays. This will be my first unemployed holiday season since...I think it has been eight years? I'm not sure. 

Nope, I lie...it has been a whopping ten years. About seven of those were in retail and man, it was bad.

Of course, this is also my first holiday season with a little one running around. So things ought to be interesting if nothing else.

I'm going to regret saying that, aren't I?

Anyway, I better get moving. I can hear my daughter starting to wake and the last time I tried to write a blog post with her in my lap she attempted to eat the keyboard.


Later, guys.




~Sun and Moon

Not a cloud in sight....almost

Man, it's been a while...

*blows dust off her keyboard*

I'd love to say that I spent my whole time away from my blog working hard on my book, but I'd be lying. Since honesty is a good thing(or at least that's what I hear...), I'll just come clean and admit I haven't so much as looked at my notes since May.


You see, life has been a whirlwind since that last blog post. I spent most of May trying to get my apartment ready for my daughter's arrival and was shocked when I actually went into labor on time(my family never does...ever). Since I had expected to have at least another week to get ready, this set off a frantic scramble for the things we hadn't had a chance to get.

You know, like diapers. I hear they're kind of important and stuff.

 Anyway, what I'm trying to say is I flaked big time and I'm just now getting to where I can once more think about my story. As I now have this tiny person to take care of, I don't know how quickly I'll get thru the last of my edits. Blog posts won't be back to a regular schedule for a while, and I'll be lucky to wrangle an hour from my day for book work. Is it possible? Oh yes. Will I manage it every day? Heck no, and not because I don't want to, but rather it'll be because some things are more important.

Like my daughter.

So while I will strive to get my edits finished and return to regular blogging, it's going to be some time before it'll be an everyday thing. My poor laptop is covered in dust and tufts of cat hair(thanks, Nikki), and my notes have been brushed off my coffee table so many times that I need to sort them back into some kind of order before I get started. 

It all boils down to the simple fact that iife is messy, especially when you add a tiny human to the mix. I'll be working to rearrange what I can to get back into my groove, but until I manage that you can find me in my comfy, beaten up chair...rocking my daughter to sleep.


Later, guys :)

 

"Babies Don’t Keep"

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

~ By Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

~Sun and Moon

Blog hiatus in progress

Well, I have about a month and a half before my rainbow baby is earthside and I'm not sure how often I'll be on here between now and then. I know I'll very likely be MIA for several months afterwards while we get into the swing of things. 

In the meantime I'm splitting my time between art, writing, crafting, and cleaning. I have a couple blog drafts I may tweak and turn into posts if I can find the time and energy, but I can't be sure as I'm just that darned busy. Even though I'm very much unemployed these days, there still isn't enough hours in the day for everything.

It sucks, but what can you do?

While I'm likely to vanish without warning in the next couple weeks or months, if you want to get a hold of me a comment, note, email, or text are all good ways to do that. I will say I'll check in on messages and such even if I don't post anything. The week of my daughter's birth is very iffy(I'll have a lot to learn and on very little sleep, no doubt), but barring that....I will be poking around every couple days or so.

I have managed to finish edit notes for chapter seventeen and I'm picking away at the notes for eighteen as my energy levels and time itself permits. I have about four notebook pages full of notes for this one, so it'll probably take me a good bit. As long as I don't screw it up. If I do, I'll probably still be working on it by the time I go into labor. 

Yeah, let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Well, that's all I have to say for today. I'm working on cleaning up the last disaster area of my apartment and it won't improve any further with me typing away at the computer.

Later, guys.




~Sun and Moon

Surprise, surprise

Life is forever dropping new things in my lap long before I'm ready for them. My book was one(I was twelve and in no way good enough....it was a train wreck), my son was another.

The latest curve ball was a long time coming according to my husband, but a unpleasant surprise to me.

I am currently jobless.

Yup, this past week I was let go from my job of over six years thanks to a lack of compassion stemming from the loss of my little boy. I still haven't decided if I'm going to try to find a new job, or take it as a spiny gift and move on. The sudden change has charged my husband and I see him becoming more in a way he never has as he shoulders the responsibility this new turn of events has left him with.

In the meantime I've been forging ahead with art, jewelry, and writing. My book is in no way ready yet, but only time and work will change that. So while we wait to find out if our efforts to get my husband a better job will bear fruit, I've been hard at work doing what I can. I may vanish from the blog for a while, but I will still be writing.

I've found a couple of new beta readers and a person willing to heavily critique the romance element between several characters(don't worry, no heavy duty love triangles here). In between cleaning, organizing, and artwork I'll be hammering out those pesky edit notes and figuring a way to map out the main plot along with the subplots without turning it all into a tangled mess. 

I've been peeking ahead to books two and three in this trilogy and I can't wait to work with the characters there, but I need to lay the ground work now, and I need to do it right. So if I'm a little quiet over the next couple months, know that I'm not abandoning my blog or my writing, but rather I'm working hard on finally moving my story into the place I want it to be. Until I get it there, the blog is going to have to wait. I may be out of a job, but I still have a lot of work to do.

Wish me luck. :)


~Sun and Moon 

Remember....

Today one year ago, my son passed away in my womb. He was born sleeping March 25th, 2013 at 3:25am.

Today I remember my little boy and celebrate the new life his little sister has brought me.

Today I would like you share with you my grief, my sorrow, my healing, and my joy.

Michael's foot and hand prints in plaster with my seven month baby belly

Remember the little things, honor the pain, and rejoice in the new delights life has brought you. It is okay to laugh and dance again. Those who have passed would not want you to follow them so soon, or mourn all your days. Live, laugh, and let yourself love....be happy. It is the best gift you can give their memory and their sacrifice.


Remember...


~Sun and Moon

Not MIA...not really...

Sorry about the lack of posting, but I've been neck deep in life messes and edit notes. It's kind of tiring, which is why I haven't been posting.

I'll explain more later, I swear.

Right now though I'm just going to announce that I finally finished chapter sixteen edits. I changed several things, but I think I did okay. Only time(also known as beta readers) will tell. Until then, I'm off to start in on chapter seventeen and get some well deserved rest. The weather might be nicer, but I'm still feeling the need to hibernate.

Later, guys :)



~Sun and Moon

The stuff that matters

It's not the page count that matters, but rather the word count...when you're editing, anyway.

I mean, I personally try to keep my pages per chapter hovering around twenty pages, but it doesn't always work out that way. For instance, chapter five in my book clocks in at about thirteen pages while chapter twenty-five hovers around thirty pages(maybe more...edits and all that) . I cringe everytime I look it over, but I haven't gotten to the point of truely knowing what to cut to make it more compact.

This is where research comes in.

I've learned a few tricks since last time I tried to trim chapter twenty-five, but seeing as I'm still working on wrapping up chapter sixteen, it'll be a while before I can tackle it again and put those tricks to use. Sixteen is taking so long because it too needed a trim(the original word count escapes me at the moment, but I'm pretty sure it hovered around 7k), and a scene transplant. It's looking better now and I'm just about finished, give or take about seven pages.

I spent most of last sunday working on it while freezing rain coated the world outside my window in a slippery coat of ice. Which is why I neglected to post a blog. I was elbow deep in edits.

To be honest, I probably should've been elbow deep on soapy dishwater. Dreary days make me want to either clean, write, or work on artsy stuff. Last sunday writing won out over the other two(shocking, I know), but this sunday I'm back in the kitchen trying to create a little order while a pot of spagetti simmers on the stove and a chill wind rattles the windows.


 All in a day's work, right?



~Sun and Moon

Balance is everything

No, seriously....it is.

And right now, its been a little hard to come by for yours truely. You see, the last few years of working on my book had a kind of forced balance. I decided it would be so annd to hell with anyone who objected.

Yeah....that's not balance and after changing so thoroughly over the past year, I can't ignore the mess it causes. Ignoring the important stuff in life so one can finished hammering out a new chapter or finish a round of edits is not good for anybody. Its bad. Like eating a whole block of chocolate because you can(yes, I speak from uncomfortable experience....it was a BIG mistake I won't make again), it'll come back to bite you worse then you know.

So when I found myself agonizing over starting my writting back up hard core, and keeping the awesome changes in my life from an untimely death, I turned to my husband. He has agreed to be my balance(a.k.a. peel me away from the computer when needed) as long as I will listen when he speaks up(another bad habit I don't miss was me ignoring his requests to take a break and spend some time with him instead of my writing). Thus far its gone well, in part because I haven't been doing much editing thanks to messy winter weather and the paniced shopping it generates at my place of employment, but I'm sure that'll change soon.

Today, infact.

Its a mess outside, but we're nice in cozy here in the apartment with plenty of soft blankets and a cat who is all too eager to warm your lap. Provided you're prepared to pet her constantly while you work(which is why its a good thing she's my husband's cat and prefers his lap to mine). Have you ever tried to type with a cat on your lap? It takes too much skill for me thanks. 

Um, so about balance(which also happens to be a theme in my book....go figure), I guess you could say I'm definetly working on it. Will I manage to do better? For sure. Will it be easy? Probably not, but nothing in life worth having is ever easy, right?.

Right.

Okay, back to work. :)



~Sun and Moon 

Bring me that chisel, please

Well, freezing temperatures seem determined to not only wear out their welcome, but flatten it too. The only upside of this is most folks have taken to staying home instead of rushing to my place of employment and buying every scrap of food in sight.

I'm so tempted to join them.

On my bed is a glorious down comforter and a set of flannel sheets. The cozy flannel I snagged on sale years ago, while the comforter was a gift from my mom when I still lived at home. Together they make a pile of fluffy, warm goodness I am loathed to leave on a cold morning.

So, of course this means I keep putting off getting up for work until I have to scramble or be late. My husband is even more reluctant to leave the warm blankets as his job requires him to be out in the mess of ice, snow, and frigid winds. This means we've been getting home, thawing out, scrounging something edible for dinner, and then crashing a couple hours later. I've opened my laptop every night since my last post and almost every night I've closed it back down without having touched so much as a word of it.

Frustrating is an understatement.

Now, I did manage to apply the edit notes written out for it and do a rough going over, but that's all. It's still a mess of scenes marked for disposal and mending. Several just need to be smoothed out, but as I was falling asleep at my laptop, it didn't seem like a good idea. I've done edits while half drunk on lack of sleep. It's not pretty.

Anywho, I better go before I burn something. I've got leftover chicken fried rice heating on the stove and I prefer it stay charcoal free. Also, the kettle is screaming and I ought to put it out of its misery before it steams off all the hot water for my tea. With how cold and nasty it is today, I'm going to need it all to tackle these pesky edits. 

Wish me luck....and energy....and warmth, and--

Er, nevermind. *heads for the kitchen*




~Sun and Moon

Where's my red pen?

Something I've learned over the past few years? 

Life is a lot like writing. 

I mean you can't go back and tighten up the squirrely bits with an edit or two, but its full of twists and turns. It has its ups and downs, humorous moments framed by heartbreaking sorrow and amazing triumphs. I could go on for sometime, but I think you get the picture. 

Life is unpredictable, but wow....what a ride. As a writer, artist, wife, mother, sister, daughter.....friend, I've had this brought to my attention so much in the few couple years. Oh how I wish I could go back with a red pen and scratch out the unsightly bits, the painful and embarrassing, the moments of doubt and bull headed stubbornness where trust and an open mind were needed. I've learned a lot about myself and most of who I am is here to stay, for better or worse.

 Like a book thats been written, peeled apart, edited, and thrown back together a time or six before getting that last smoothing polish, I've been torn down and rebuilt in so many ways. Was it painful? Oh yes, very much so. Would I change anything? Well, I'd be lying if I said no...the passing of my son wrought some much needed changes for the better, but it was so hard to see that thru the pain of lossing my contrary little boy. I see it now and am a better person for it, a better everything.

Like the threads of my life, the threads of my book are finally starting to weave themselves into something a less chaotic. While my new writing pace will likely be slower then molasses in January, it too is better off. Losing such a precious gift as a child puts many things in perspective, from the large to the small. 

I've found new eyes with which to see my story and I'm almost appalled at the stuff I somehow missed trimming on the last go-around. It makes my fingers itch to set it right, but I have to finish this round of edits before I can let myself tackle those wayward bits and trim the excess from my pages. 

Of course, first I need to actually get a move on with said edits. These past couple weeks were busy with my husband's birthday and several other important things, so my writing is being neglected for the moment. That'll probably change today, but for now its all looking a little dusty. And that note, I better go. I can hear my laptop calling my name and there's no time like the present.

 I'll catch you later, guys.




~Sun and Moon  

Maybe I spoke too soon

Remember how I said I'd survived the holiday season and implied I would no longer be squished on a daily basis?

Yeah, well....I take that back.

You see, we have had incredibly crappy weather this week. As in snow and freezing temperatures. Lots of snow. And there's supposed to be even more on its way. Awesome, right?

This has had the happy and predictable effect of sending most of my area into a panic, and then driving those same folks to buy food as if the apocalypse is about to occure.

Seriously, it's that bad.

Indeed, on average its been taking me almost an hour to escape my register(I'm a cashier in retail) and go clock out for the day. If there is anything edible stocked on our shelves come monday, it won't be for lack of customers, that's for sure.

So instead of curling up with my husband and working on edits for chapter sixteen this week, I've been trying my level best to survive the chaos. Which means getting home, scarfing down some food, relaxing for about an hour, and then passing out as the day hits home like a baseball bat to the back of the head.

Oh well, at least I'm sleeping really well. 

In the meantime, I'm also trying to clean up my apartment of the results of  post-holiday neglect(happens every year no matter what I try), so editing is going to be sluggish at best. On the other hand, my art is at a complete standstill, so at least edits are going somewhere instead of gathering dust.

Anyway, I better wrap this up. There's snow falling outside my window and a huge mug of tea waiting for me in the kitchen. After such a long work week, I'm determined to relax. It's time to enjoy good food and even better company while the world outside my window gets a fresh coat of white.

Care to join me?      


 
~Sun and Moon

Another holiday season come and gone....FINALLY!

That's right, I survived. 

Not sure how....

Anyway, I'd like to apologize for the complete silence...I tried, I really did, but family time and sleep came first. I did manage to get finished with the last bits of editing for chapter fifteen, though.

Book three has been blessedly silent, but I now have yet another scene for book two on paper. It needs lots of work, but it's nice to write something fresh. It's also nice to be reminded that you won't get things right the first go around...that's what edits are for. Something I've apparently forgotten as I struggle to finish wrapping up my edits and trim excess word count.

On a happier, but strange note....my number one key and "v" key are working again....and I have no idea why.

Figures.

Well, now that I'm not being squished on a regular basis, I hope to get back into the swing of things. Hope being the key word here, but I should be back to regular posts by the end of this month. If I manage to stay on top of things, I may have edits finished as well and be getting ready to work on book two....which still doesn't have a name.

Okay, in all honesty it does, but I'm not sure if it still fits seeing as things have changed so much in my world building and plot lines.

Anywho...I promised my husband I'd keep this one brief, so I better wrap this one up. I'll be back with very good news in the coming weeks if all goes well. Until then, I'll be picking away at edits and trying to keep the cat from smothering us both in fur(it's a long story, lol). 


Later guys,



~Sun and Moon

 

Um, so about that....

Yes, I know....I missed another sunday. Normally if I post on wednesdays, there's a picture involved, but not today.

Well, maybe one picture....




 

More pastels...can you tell I'm addicted? :3

Anyway, I just want to let you guys know that the holiday season is hitting me like a brick and posts are going to be sporadic at best until New Years day. There are several reasons for this, and I'll explain them all....eventually. Until then, know that I'm really trying and I'm still writing. I'm just doing it between really long naps(also known as passing out on the couch while trying to do edits). 

With a little luck, I'll have this round of edits finished by the new year and I'll be able to share bits. No promises yet though. I was jotting down notes at work a couple days ago and realized a certain element needs to be woven through the plot a little deeper then it is now.

It never ends, does it? Oh well, at least it never gets boring either.

And on that note, I'm off to grab a mug of hot cocoa. Our downstairs neighbors did something strange that stunk up our apartment and I've had windows open most of the day. The windows are closed now and the heat is back on, but my feet are still blocks of ice inside my boots. 


Brrr...now where's the milk?



~Sun and Moon  





P.S. Apparently blogger wants to be mean. Go here to my gallery to see this art without the funky thing blogger did to the eyes. Geesh, got to love technology....>_>