Category: Snippets of the Everyday

These posts don’t deal directly with my writing life, though of course, inspiration comes from everywhere.

For the Love of My Laptop

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laptop

So, for about two weeks, my laptop has been sick. For some unknown reason (*coughcough Laptop is really old coughcough*), it choked and died on me, leaving me dependent on my desk top computer for any kind of progress on WIP2. Which wouldn’t have been a bad thing or an inconvenience, really, except that half of my house was still under construction. So, the husband and I had to sleep in my office while the master bedroom was being dolled up with new…well, everything. (No worries, my office is a roomy bedroom, so it fit our bed comfortably. It just happens to house my desktop computer, hence the term “office.”)

Anyway, because desktop computer was also in our makeshift bedroom, I couldn’t exactly make a lot of progress on WIP2. Or, any computer-ing, really, like blog posts and visiting other blogs. For some reason, the hubs can’t sleep with a glowing screen on at night, and waking up to the clickety-clackety-ing of a keyboard in the morning makes him kinda murderous. (Crazy, right?) But, since I love my hubs, I wanted to accommodate him. Therefore, I shifted my normal writing routine from crazy early in the morning (or really late at night, depending on your perspective) to around 7 or 8 PM (basically, when I get home from the paythebills job) till 10 PM (when we go to the gym).

I’m happy to report that as of a few days ago, we moved out of my office, and into the master bedroom. And, as of Thursday evening, I have my laptop again! ^_^  *frabjous day* *callooh callay*

Throughout all this, I learned a few things.

First, “save early, save often” is meaningless if the computer on which I’m saving my files dies of a heart attack and I have no way of retrieving those files. I thank God every day for Dropbox. I don’t know where I’d be without it. Thankfully, hubs was able to recover and save ALL my files, but what if he couldn’t?? ALL my work, all my files would have been lost to me. My only hope would have been that my alpha readers had *some* kind of copies of WIP2. Since The Incident, I’ve backed everything up on a flash drive, and have DVD backups, too, just in case.

Second, I learned to grit my teeth and make the most of the resources that I had, even if the situation wasn’t ideal. I hand wrote pages in the morning. I transcribed them onto the desk top at night. I made excruciatingly slow word count progress on WIP2. All the while, I kept thinking, man, if I were on my laptop, how many pages would I have finished by now? But you know what, I still made progress despite my cramped circumstances, and for that win alone, I will celebrate.

Third, I now have a new appreciation of the freedom that my Laptop gives me, OH SO MUCH. I appreciate the freedom I have to sit in My Chair in the living room and type type type into the wee hours of the morning (not unlike what I’m doing now…;) ) I appreciate having the screen right here instead of at an awkward height/angle like my desk top. I love how my fingers don’t freeze up because Laptop keeps me warm (helps with the typing speed, fo’ sho’). And, I love how FAST I can type on it. I wrote more than my required four-pages this evening without even feeling it.

Anyway, it’s a great luxury for my writing life to have Laptop back in my life again. (Heck, I’ve even made the rounds of my fellow campaigners’ blogs this morning.*) But, I’m happy to know that if a situation arises in which I *can’t* use Laptop again (please oh please let that happen a long time from now, when I have money to replace Laptop), I know that I can continue on with my goals, albeit at a slower rate, and be all right with it.

Speaking of progress, time to add more pages to WIP2. ^_^

*Thank you to all my fellow campaigners for your patience. I have subscribed to ALL the blogs in the groups I’m in via Google Reader, and will have my dystopia/post-apocalyptic group linked and posted with my YA All Genre group on my Campaign page by next week (most likely sooner, of course). Also to my non-Wordpress colleagues, I *just* discovered that I can be a part of that Google Friend Connect thing-y via my Twitter account (I know, kinda slow, but I never bothered to click on it before because I thought I’d need a blogger account!), so as I comment on new blog posts, I’ll be sure to “Join” your site.

**Still so unbelievably happy with Laptop. *pets Laptop* *loving sigh*

Blog Titles and Other Thoughts

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Dandelion clock

Random picture. We can pretend it means that time is ephemeral and fleeting, like dandelion fluff held aloft in the breeze. But really, I just thought it looked cool.

Do you ever wonder what meaning or story a blog title may have? Most titles I guess are straightforward, like “So and So Writes!” or “Books Books Books!” or “How To ___.” But, there are those other ones (you know what I mean, I’m sure) that are either titled or domain-named (can that be a verb?) kinda randomly. Or, am I the only one that wonders about these things? Like I’m reaching to find a story where none really exists.

At any rate, I started thinking about bloggery things, and inevitably, blog titles/names since I chatted with a group of lovely writer friends last night about blogs.*

Previously, my blog title was simply, “Reading Makes Me Happy.” (In fact, some wordpress correspondence still shows up that way, which kinda throws me.) Obviously, I love books, I love reading, so BAM! Easy title! (My focus quote was: “I read to find a ladder to heaven.” W. Strieber.)

Well, sometime last year I had an epiphany, and I won’t go into details about it here (feel free to click on that link, though :)), but I realized that my unacknowledged dreams of writing a book and being a published author was in fact attainable, and it was only seemingly unattainable because I made it so. I did nothing to get me toward writing a novel, so why was I surprised that “gasp! I didn’t have a written novel, and I never will, and this will never happen for me.” *wonk, wonk*

All I needed to do was break down my dream (published author) into a more manageable goal (write novels), and break down the action steps to get me to that goal (develop and hone my writing skills, find a feedback/support group, read a lot, etc). With a paythebills job (sometimes, two!), balancing my goals was sometimes tricky, but I never let the “I have no TIME!” be an excuse for me to fall back on. (I have the same 24-hours that Edison, Einstein, and all those guys had! Surely I can “find the time” to write a book!)

“Find solutions, not excuses” is a mantra I embrace, and I’m also someone who responds well to accountability exercises and goal setting. (It’s the Achiever in me.) I wanted to make the most of the time that I have been given, and not just impulsively do things in the moment. I wanted to really create value in the now that I have. Thus the title, “Redeeming the Time.” (Also, it sounds pretty.) 🙂

“Redeeming the time” reminds me to focus on the things that I do control, like working on the craft of novel writing, so that I can eventually see my dream realized. It also reminds me to simplify and let go of those things that distract me from my goals. Sometimes it’s tough, but I don’t count it as a sacrifice. At this point, I find I feel freer because I’m not owned by other time-wasters. I have more ownership and control of my time, and guard that time zealously.

With all that said, I really want to incorporate reading back into my writing schedule, and even though I’ve said that I don’t really do book reviews, I at least want to put a few in rotation. (I plan on posting a book review page soon). Now, the reviews won’t be as fancy or engaging as most out there, but like this blog, it’s mainly just to keep me accountable to reading all the beautiful stories that find themselves in my mailbox or inbox. If my love for a book inspires someone to go out and read it, well, I’ll look at it as a bonus!

Plus, it’s a shame to get ARCs or egalleys and not give at least a little pre-release blurb about the book. Heck, even sharing a “new to me” title would be delightful. Great stories are meant to be shared and loved. The writers who wrote those stories should know that their sweat, tears, and sleepless nights have created worlds for readers to live in.

For a little while, both the reader and writer share the same dreamspace, and that is an experience worth cultivating.

So Tell Me: Any story behind your blog title? Do you like or care when someone blogs (non-spoiler-y) book reviews?

*The other friends I chatted with were:

Mail Surprises and Thanks!

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I interrupt my writing time to share the pleasant surprise my mail(wo)man just delivered to me: ARCs of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, by Laini Taylor, and Putting Makeup on Dead People, by Jennifer Violi.

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HUGE HUGS and SQUEES and THANK YOUS to my lovely friend, Carol for her thoughtful gift!

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Ok, now back to my writing cave ^_^

This Past Week…

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A lot of random things popped up all in the same week that I thought were quite memorable, so I thought to share some of these snippets. I know that normal weeks begin with Sunday and end with Saturday, but I have the privilege of not working a set schedule, thanks to my paythebills job, and Tuesdays generally mark the beginning of my “weekend.” So, without further ado…

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Thanks for lending me the book, Kayla! Also, I think the cover has changed since this ARC, so don't be confused!

I spent last Tuesday (and into Wednesday) immersed in other worlds, namely, Fran Billingsley’s Chime and (the ARC of) Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

Both of these stories were incredibly written and beautifully characterized. I wanted to wrap the words around me, and live in these worlds. Seriously, these books are what I aspire to as a writer. Unfortunately, Daughter of Smoke and Bone is not available until this fall, but Chime is available now!

I unfortunately missed out on a chat that writerly friends of mine were hosting Wednesday night, but here is the archive of that chat. I think we decided to make it a monthly chat, on the second Thursday of each month.

The next few days after that, fueled by insomnia, caffeine, and the raging desire to work on something fun, I fleshed out a chapter of a story (the snippets of which I wrote back in January) and continued to sketch out “next chapter plots.” I was so proud of myself, this song played in my head all day Friday (thanks to my awesome twitter friend, Michele Shaw, aka @veertothewrite, for tweeting me this link, so I can share the madness with you all):

(You’re welcome.)

Then, thanks to my lovely friend, Carol, I got these books…

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Carol, next in line!

…signed by John Green! (Please visit her blog post, here, where she also shares The Man in Truck incident, and her experiences at WisCon.)

Though I loved getting all three of those books signed, I really appreciated listening to what he had to say about the relationship of the reader and writer, and what he felt was his responsibility as a writer to produce stories that were both helpful and beautiful. Also, we got to hear bits from his new book, the title of which will be released next week. (UPDATE: John Green has announced that the new book’s title is The Fault in Our Stars. He will be signing all pre-ordered copies! Go order one today!)  The book itself comes out in nine months, and from what I heard, I will DEFINITELY be lining up to buy a copy (which will hopefully be signed, too, one day!)(UPDATE#2: Since JG announced he would be signing pre-ordered copies, mine is already signed, but I don’t mind getting it signed again!) 😀

Throughout the week, too, I accrued a pile of titles to be read, even though I promised myself that I would only get one book at a time. What can I say? I’m a book junkie.

So, (thanks to my library), I’m currently reading Julie Halpern’s Don’t Stop Now and Neil Gaiman’s Anansi Boys (via audiobook. What an efficient reader I am! ^_^). Also in my special library bag (what, you don’t have one?), I have:

  • The Lake, by Banana Yoshimoto
  • The Year of the Flood, by Margaret Atwood (audiobook)
  • Claire de Lune, by Christine Johnston
  • Rot and Ruin, by Jonathan Maberry

Actually, the last two were because of the galleys waiting for me in my inbox. Thanks to Galley Grab, I have their sequels (Nocturne and Dust and Decay, respectively), along with Wildefire, by Karsten Knight, The Unwanteds, by Lisa McMann, and Fury, by Elizabeth Miles. (I don’t usually do book reviews on this blog, but I will pass along titles of books I thought were AMAZING! *coughcoughdaughterofsmokeandbonecoughcough*)

So that was my week (which, if you minus the John Green thing, and add a little more insecurity tugging at my “I Can Do This” exterior, was pretty much a typical week).

What Have You Been Up To??