For the rest of the year, here’s what I need/want to write:
Novels:
- Forgotten (Ghost Tales #1)
Novellas:
- Contemporary Romance (under pen name)
- Tales of the Scorned Lady, Season 1
Short Stories:
- A Princess, A Lizard and a Boatman
- The Lonely Child
Other Projects:
- Advent Story #2
- Podcast Tales, Season #1
- Record Horseman
I’m sure this will change, but this is what I have right now.
Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.
No writing yesterday on Forgotten yesterday, but I wrote all the emails I needed to (now I just need to actually send them) and wrote the back cover copy for Spells, which I also need to email. By the time I got home yesterday, my hands hurt so badly that I took some muscle relaxants and watched the Red Sox win their 4th game in a row (yay!) before going to bed.
Today, my hands still hurt, but I’m going to see what I can write. I’m listening to a podcast now, and then I’ll do my Daily Pages (I need music to write to that) and then work on the plot summary. Later today, I’ll type up the poetry and stuff for writer’s group tomorrow.
Such is the life of a working writer. Glamorous, no?
Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.
I’m trying to make myself a little more accountable lately. Hopefully, this time, the change will stick.
Miles walked today: .87 (I walked 1.07 miles yesterday, so I’m not sure where I am. I’ll figure it out for tomorrow’s blog.)
Morning Pages: Day 63 – I’ve done two full months, and I think it’s finally become a habit.
Words written: 300 words on the Forgotten plot summary, and one and a third handwritten pages on the Time Travelers story.
Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.
I hate Daylight Savings time. Just sayin’.
Also, I can’t update my website from work. Nor can I look at Pinterest anymore (dammit!) and I can’t read my G+ stream. I can post from my Google Reader to my G+ stream (don’t ask, our firewall is WEIRD) and I do have my phone, so I might hop on Twitter or Facebook from work on break, but it’s not a lways on. So please, don’t think I’m ignoring you. I’m not – I’m just busy.
However, I’m finally starting to settle into a routine. I’m getting ready for Balticon (yay!) – I’ll be helping run the Needleworker’s Tea there again, and we’ll be launching Spells and Swashbucklers – with pirates! And rum! I’m also doing a LOT of crocheting – lots of babies coming this spring! It was a fertile late summer/early fall, apparently.
Finally, I’m writing. I’ve done my daily pages for 44 days straight so far, and I’m working on several projects. Forgotten, mostly, but some other things as well that I’m pretty stoked about. More later, as I can.
Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.
Starting Word Count: 6966
Ending Word Count: 7568
New Words: 602
Starting Lines:
“That happened in the crash?” I wondered how fast she’d been going when she hit the tree.
Ending Lines:
It hadn’t been; Marguerite herself came out to apologize for the lack. “It usually comes around 9 am, but for some reason, it’s late today,” she said, putting the glass of juice in front of me. “I’ve put a call in to Neil, asking him to bring in a few copies when he comes in. He should be here soon.” She smiled down at us. “Now, what would you like for breakfast?”
Darling:
The oak table, scarred by generations of diners, dominated the room. It was lit by a stunning silver chandelier, and our chairs faced the large bay windows that looked out over a formal garden. Two places had been set with sturdy stoneware plates and mugs, and a thermal carafe was set between the settings. David reached for it hungrily, even though I knew he’d already had at least one cup of coffee in his room. I’d woken up to the aroma wafting in through the connecting bathroom.
++
Finished Chapter 1, and on to Chapter 2. Also, apparently I didn’t have the word count widget set up right in Scrivener. Oops. Still, 7.5k isn’t bad.
Sapph is NOT going to be happy when she finally gets that newspaper, let me tell you.
Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.
Starting word count: 2326
Ending word count: 2903
New words: 577
Starting lines:
He leaned on his cane, looking down at me, wry amusement and pain warring in his blue eyes. I didn’t recognize him, but he apparently recognized me. “Really, Sapph,” he continued, not bothering to extend a hand to me as I just gaped at him. “You’re getting wet.”
Ending lines:
She’d been pretty, once. Now, with half her face covered by a bloody curtain of hair and her teeshirt in scorched shreds, her right arm hanging uselessly at her side, she was a horror.
Darling:
I snorted. “I don’t believe in angels. Or demons, or anything else like that.” My fingers curled around the door handle. I didn’t want to turn my back on him, but I had to see what, if anything, was still inside.
“It doesn’t really matter if you believe, Sapph.” He walked over to the other side of the car, not noticing the slick mud. “Their existence has very little to do with anyone’s belief.”
++
You know, I’m not writing a zombie story, but damn, that ending line sort of looks like I am.
Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.
Even when you don’t get home until 3:30 am from a ghost investigation – it’s still a day of rest. A day to catch up on Once Upon a Time (my new favorite show, next to Castle and Bones), write, do laundry and dishes, and just renew myself. I really do like this new schedule – I feel more alive. And the words are coming again.
The words are coming because of a few things: I’m doing the daily pages every day at 750words.com, I’m taking the time to do things like watching TV again (a few selected shows only), and I’m reading again. I just finished The Between, by LJ Cohen, and now I’m reading Hard Magic, by Laura Anne Gilman. Because of that, and the fact that I’m on the right schedule, I’m getting words.
Which is good, because I’ve set myself a goal of finishing the first draft of Forgotten, the book I’m currently working on. I haven’t talked much about it here, and I won’t for a while, but it’s a totally different world than the Horseman books. Ghost stories, in fact. I love ghost stories, and now, I’m free to write the books I want to read. So, first draft of Forgotten is on deadline for May 30th.
I need to post a honey do list for this year, but I’ll do that later. The big things on it, though, are Forgotten, the first draft of Schrodinger (whatever the title will be) and getting both Spells and Swashbucklers and Last Rites onto the shelves. And, in non-writing stuff, I need to redesign the website. Badly.
But today, I have just a few things to do:
- vacuum the living room
- empty the drainboard
- empty the sink
- Daily pages
- 500 words on Forgotten
- Update the calendar in the living room
Lots to do today, and daylight, as they say, is a-burnin’. Good news is, I don’t have to get up at 6 am tomorrow.
Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.
Lazy Sundays haven’t been cold lately, but they are today. Luckily, I have a wood stove and lots of wood, along with two cats who are willing to keep me warm with snuggles. Sadly, I have to go home later today. Which means going out in the cold!
There’s a to-do list, of course. It wouldn’t be a Sunday without one! But this one is less than my normal to-do list, and it’s got some important things on it: time for me. Slow-down time. It has been pointed out to me that somewhere along the way, I switched from a Type B personality to a Type A. And I don’t like being a Type A. So, I’m reclaiming my Type B – with a bit of a twist. Lists and schedules help me be more laid back. No, I don’t understand it either, but trust me, it does. Maybe because when I have the schedule, I don’t worry about what I’m supposed to do? Maybe. I need to dig out my planner and start using it again. Or really update my phone with Google Calendars. Maybe that’s the way? I dunno.
Anyways, here’s the to-do list:
- Dishwasher run NONE! They sucked last weekend!
- Morning pages
- Pick up and pack laundry
- Cut out coupons
- Grocery list
- Grocery shopping
- Make cranberry-orange muffins
- Make baked pasta for the week (mmm)
- 500 words on Forgotten
- lavender-scented bath and chamomile tea before bed
Time to get moving!
BTW, I’ve done my morning pages every day this month so far! Even Friday, when I had to do it at 11:30 pm to make it!
Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.
I’ve been absent. Sorry about that. Life has been…well, it’s been life. But I have been writing! I even have metrics for today!
Starting Count: 0
Ending Count: 1421
New words: 1421
Starting line:
“Jesus Christ, Sapph, what the hell are you doing?”
Ending line:
A shudder walked across my skin at that thought.
Darling:
“Car’s fine,” David said, opening his door and shattering my concentration, sending whatever I’d been about to remember fleeing into the recesses of my brain. I scowled at him as he slid back into the car. “What?”
Things we’ve learned: Sapph and David are so not playing well together. And Sapph travels in tailored pants and silk blouses.
More later!
Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.
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