July 10, 2011

Leave no dish unwashed

Over the past week I have realized I am in desperate need of a time machine. I concidered cloning, honest I did, but decided it was too messy and unpredictable. Nope, time machines are the only way to go.

Unfortunately, they're awfully scarce in Ohio. If you find one in working condition, please let me know.

On another note, I still haven't had a chance to do more then read over chapter twenty-seven and make notes as I've been on a one woman rampage to finally get my apartment in order. So far my livingroom, art studio/study/guinea pig room, and the tiny spare bedroom(read: large closet sized room) are all looking pretty snazzy. The bedroom and the stairwell outside our door is another matter. However, it's too hot to work on the stairwell and our cat, who isn't feeling well, has taken over the bedroom. Since I don't want to disturb her I'll be pulling out my laptop and curling up in the livingroom to get some serious work done at last.

Or at least that's the plan.

There's apple crisp cooling on the stove and my hubby is waiting for me to serve it up(why he won't serve himself until I cut it first is beyond me, lol), so I better get cracking. Bedtime will be here soon enough and I have work in the morning.

I was serious about that time machine, by the way.



~Sun and Moon

     

July 3, 2011

Loving life

Today is a lazy day. 

Or rather, it was supposed to be. Instead I cleaned my kitchen, did all the dishes except for one(it really needs to soak for a bit, trust me), vacumed, swept what little hard floor we have, gernerally picked up stuff, and did some laundry. I had some good music blasting and sang along as I scrubbed, rinsed, swept, and basically put things to rights. 

Oddly enough, it was awesome. 

I now have a clean house for my husband to come home to. There's time for a nap, and even some artwork before he gets home....well, maybe not the nap. 

As you've probably guessed, I've finished chapter twenty-six. The new ending is still a little raw, but all my betas who have read the new ending love it and that's good enough for me(I can always tweak it later). 

Today is also the last day of my usual three day break between chapters. Tomorrow it's back to work, and I'm hoping the new changes I've made are the right ones. It'll all show up one way or another when I buckled down. This will be my second attempt to finish chapter twenty-seven. I have to admit, I'm a little nervous, but excited too. 

I'm almost done. 

That's right. There are just three chapters after this one and none of them need the kind of rewrite twenty-seven does. With a bit of luck, I'll spend maybe a week on each of them. 

For now, however, I'm still on my three day break and I've been working pretty hard. It's time to go slip into my little art studio for a bit and get lost in lush color and clean lines....or I could try for the nap. 

Hm...choices, choices... 



~Sun and Moon

June 27, 2011

Time is flying away

Another week come and gone, and I feel like I'm standing still as it blows by.

I woke up this morning to realize it was monday and I hadn't posted a single word for my Sunday blog post. I haven't been late in a while, but I have a good reason. Or rather, I have a reason that makes sense to me.

Actually, its two reasons. 

First of all, I lost a guinea pig last Monday. She had been sick and I'd been trying to get her to pull through with no success. The last of my breeding stock, her death put a definite end to my small breeding operation. I now have a small herd of five guinea pig misfits I either can't bear to sell, or simply won't because I don't trust anyone to understand their quirks like I do. My website died out last year and the online ad I maintained was deleted just yesterday. I'll miss waking up to new babies running around the cube and coroplast cages I built, but its time to let go and just enjoy the ones left to me.

And my other reason for slacking off and forgetting to post yesterday? Well, I had the most amazing day with my husband goofing off and talking about everything and nothing at all. There was a wrestling match(I won), video games(I lost), steak for dinner, and a movie to round out the night.

It was awesome.

I even got some editting done, and chapter 26 is slowly coming together as a new character makes her debut just as things wrap up. It still needs lots of work, but I have the time.

And on that note I think I'll turn in. My pillow is calling my name and I'm about to fall asleep at the keyboard.

G'night folks


~Sun and Moon
 

June 19, 2011

Progress at last

Things are finally starting to look up around here. I've managed to fixed a scene that was bothering me and even started on working on a new ending for chapter twenty-five. There's new artwork on my desk tonight waiting for a final touch up before it gets a mat and a frame, and I have tomorrow off with my husband for the first time in a long while. 

I even managed to get a full night's sleep last night. 

Yeah, things are definitely looking up. I'm still stumped on how to rework the ending of chapter twenty-six, but I figure I'll come to that when it's time. Until then I have plenty to think about as one of the books I've been putting off while I work on this trilogy has decided to drop some new facts in my lap. Thank goodness for notebooks kept by the bed and the street lamp outside my window. 

For now though, it's time to get back to work while I can. Here's hoping all this forward progress doesn't come crashing to a halt anytime soon. I'm enjoying this ride too much to be getting off now and I have more stories to share then just this one. 

And on that note, I'm out of here. Chapter twenty-five is calling my name and I need to get to work. 

Later :)


~Sun and Moon 








P.S. Happy Father's day :)

June 12, 2011

One step forward, two steps back

"Take your time. I get paid by the hour."

That's what I tell people when I've just finished ringing them up and they can't seem to find their cash/check book/credit card. And it's true. I do get paid by the hour. That's not why I say it though. 

You see, when those words pass my lips the customer usually smiles or chuckles and then goes back to looking. However, now they know the pressure is off. They know I'm not standing there wishing they'd gotten everything ready while I was ringing up their groceries. And I've discovered that when they're more relaxed they tend to find that elusive cash/check book/credit card a lot faster.

Don't worry, there's a point to all this rambling.

If you look in on my blog regularly, you'll know I've been having problems with the chapter 27 rewrite. Well, maybe "problem" is a bit of an understatement. Its been the most frustrating chapter so far and then some. But in the rush to get it done and out of the way, I didn't realize the real problem.

Sometimes you have to go back in order to go forwards.

There were a couple spots I wasn't truly happy with in chapter twenty-five, and again in chapter twenty-six, but since I was in a hurry to get them done, I brushed them off and ignored that nagging feeling. 

Well now that neglect and rushing has come back to bite me one. Just like those folks who were in such a hurry to get to the next store that they just tossed their cash/check book/credit card in their purse or pocket instead of putting it were it belonged, I tossed some words down and ran on to the next chapter. Now I've wasted a week fumbling for the words I needed when my characters are still waiting for me back in chapter twenty-five wondering where I left my brain.


Nothing makes you feel stupid like your characters giving you the silent treatment. Trust me, it sucks.

So after I tracked down my brain and groveled to my characters for a bit, I returned to chapter twenty-five. I still feel stupid, but at least my characters are talking to me again. Tonight I go back to chapter twenty-five one more time to a proper polish on it before heading to take another look at chapter twenty-six. With a little effort, I should be back to chapter twenty-seven by the end of the week.


Nothing is for sure, of course, but hopefully I've learned my lesson. Unfortunately, only time will tell. In the meantime, have you seen my wallet? I seem to have lost it again.


~Sun and Moon
 

June 5, 2011

I didn't forget, I swear

It's that time of the week again and for once I can't seem to think of what to say. I would just post a cute picture of some sort and call a night, but I don't have any cute pictures to post.

Shameful isn't it?

So for lack of a cute picture, here's one one of our cat Nikkie. One of the few ways to get her to stay still long enough to take her picture is to pet her until she flops down on the floor and starts batting at your fingers. 




  

I didn't lose any fingers taking this pic, but she did swat my foot when I went to walk away. That's right folks, don't let the innocent look fool you. After all, it's the quiet ones you have to watch.




~Sun and Moon

May 30, 2011

Slow and steady does it

As I'm working on chapter twenty-seven(and wondering how long it's going to take to get it finished so I can move on to chapter 28), I keep hitting these snags. I've probably rewritten the fourth page half a million times already, and it's still not quite right. Part of it is the piece of me that clings to the original words because they've been there so long and they're comfortable. The rest is me just wanting it to be perfect as possible and refusing to settle for less then the best I can do.

After working on the same page for nearly a week, I feel like it's nearly there. Like it just needs the right words, the right push, and it'll all fall into place for me. So while I probably have at least another week's worth of work to put into it until I can call it close to ready...I'm making progress.

It's hard not to rush ahead, though. Because while I'm making progress, it's taking me longer then I thought it would. Plus I keep thinking about the fact I'm just three chapters away from being done with edits. I keep getting all excited....and then I start screwing up and it's back to square one.

I have to admit though, I've peeked ahead a few times. Mostly to reassure myself the last three chapters won't need work quite on the scale this one does. So far, so good, but I've said that before and been wrong, so we'll just have to wait and see.

In the meantime, there's a new scene to fit into chapter twenty-five, cover art for "New Beginnings" to finish, and my apartment could do with a good cleaning. I took a break from edits today, but tomorrow its back to work on chapter twenty-seven. Hopefully I'll be able to leave page four behind at last and move on to something new.

Keep your fingers crossed for me, ok? I'm off to get some sleep. Goodnight, folks.


~Sun and Moon