The · Year · of · the · Second · Novel

Heat wave. Brain has melted. Writing seems like a far-off mirage in the quivering air. Reading in hammock is only option for survival.

Reading list:
Have read: Princess Ben and Wicked Lovely (enjoyed both, Wicked Lovely was really brilliant)
About to read: Princess Academy, The Book of a Thousand Days, Goose Girl, A Game of Thrones and Stoneheart, all fantasy books.
Have you read any of those? What did you think of them? I'd be intrigued to know!

Today I received a letter stating that I have officially been accepted as a member of the Writers' Union. I got lots of papers and forms to fill in with the letter, plus a booklet with a list of all the members. So many famous names... Names I grew up reading. I am one of them now. It's HUGE.
(You have to have published two works of fiction to be eligible for membership.)

Tomorrow we leave for the cabin. Until the end of July my blogging will be very sporadic, as we have no internet connection there. I wish that everyone I know will have a beautiful, serene summer.

Tonight's menu for my husband and me plus my sister and her boyfriend:

Whole artichokes with beetroot butter
Spring chickens with lemon-sage butter served with truffled new potatoes
Three kinds of cheese
Mint chocolate parfait with berries

I was thinking of starting off with champagne, then a lovely semillon/sauvignon blanc white with the chicken, and a tokaj with the cheeses and dessert. Espresso for dessert.
And yes mes amies, all made from scratch!

Hey, this myth-writing was fun! I wrote one more today. About the sun's mirror and how Thunderbird got his fire.
Now there might not be some writing for a while for me, I have to help my gran next week and that will take up at least four writing days. I hope it's not too difficult to get back into the text afterward.

1. I am expecting my god-daughter, her twin sister, their parents and the family dog any minute now. Lovely! I intend to treat them to home-made strawberry smoothies in the garden. It's sunny and warm for once.
2. The neighbour just informed me that I have planted my potatoes all wrong. Hmph.
3. I have made a fantastic mint chocolate parfait for when my sister and her boyfriend come over for a luxury dinner on Sunday.
4. Made a tiny bit more progress on the WIP today.
5. And... Um. Do I have a number five? Not really. Hope your have a great weekend!

Last week the work rolled on so easily - too easily. I got suspicious. And yes of course: this week I have been stuck. It felt like I kept needing to do more and more research, and suddenly the cosmology wasn't holding together at all. I made no progress.

Today I decided to tackle the cosmology issue and wrote a creation myth, so that I would know how and why things work the way they do. And it worked! I have the good basics of a myth which can be elaborated upon, I learned new things and at some point the myth can be incorporated into the story. I think I should get unstuck a bit now.

I've decided to take a break from my writing over the weekend - I have been doing so well, and my experience tells me that if I go too fast I tend to get stuck. But now it's five thirty Saturday evening and I find myself missing my main character...
I think I might sneak in a bit more writing later. Just a bit...

1. The dog probably has a bowel inflammation. She's started pooping on the floor at night. Poor little thing.
2. I hit the 30k mark today! *Proud*
3. The newly painted desk is finally all organized (see photos below).
4. Organizing all my papers went much more easily when I listened to a detective novel on CD.
5. It got very cold and rainy here. After a heat wave of 78 it's down to 42. What's wrong with this country??

Rolling along, 2500 new words today. Woo!

26k! And the story really hasn't even started happening properly yet.
Hm. I know I said I'd take this one slow, but maybe this is a bit too slow?

Your results:
You are Deanna Troi

Deanna Troi 65% Beverly Crusher 60% Geordi LaForge 55% Jean-Luc Picard 45% Chekov 40% Uhura 40% Will Riker 40% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 35% Data 31% James T. Kirk (Captain) 30% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 30% Worf 30% Mr. Scott 25% Spock 22% Mr. Sulu 15%

You are a caring and loving individual. You understand people's emotions and you are able to comfort and counsel them.

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Test

I did one more BAM-project! Definitely in the category Art. Inspired by lkmadigas last post on BAMing I dug out my old pearls and made this:

I also crossed the 20k-mark on my WIP today! Yay! It feels good. But also strange - the writing process is such magic! Just a few months ago this story was just a twinkle in my imagination, and now I am about a quarter into the manuscript. I know so much more about the characters, the setting, the story. How does that happen? Something is created out of nothing. I think it's the closest we can get to magic.

So I still don't have a userpic for this project. But at least I got started again today. I have done pretty poorly lately, most days I have gotten nothing written, but today I made a great leap with 1900 words. I do love wordmeters, but I have NO idea how long this project will end up.

Um, that's all, folks. Don't have anything else to say. Now it's gardening time! Many weeds await me.

I am going to the cabin tomorrow, so I am combining the traditional LJ Thursday and Friday themes!

I am thankful for:
1. Wolverine. Need I say more? No I need not.
2. The new inflatable kayak which has my hubby excited about something for the first time in a long time.
3. Everything finally, finally turning green here. Although, it could really turn warm, too.
4. Fresh herbs. I have planted a bunch in my garden. They are pretty and they are so good in cooking.
5. Wolverine shirtless. Yes, he needs two spots on my list.

Ok, so time to get back to my new WIP. I have sent in my manuscript and I have dealt with all other work-related deadlines. Yesterday I read through the 22 pages I have. It's been a month since I worked on it last and it was actually better than I remembered. Nothing like a little time to give you some perspective. Lots to fix and tweak, of course, but a good solid base to work from. And I will work on this novel differently: go back, re-read, tweak as I go along and NOT leave tons of stuff "to be fixed on revisions". Because last revisions were an awful mess. No, slowly does it will be my theme for this WIP.

But I do need a special userpic for this WIP. Hmm. I see a reason to waste some more time online...

Today I met a person I took a course with almost three years ago who said "I read your blog" (meaning the official one) and asked me about the manuscript I just turned in! I never get ANY comments on that blog and I just assumed no-one reads it... GAH! I gotta watch what I write there now...

I have been trying to faithfully be BAM-ing this week (BAM= blogging alternatives in May). My husband finished painting the shed but I have today given the door and windows a second coat of green paint. And while I was at it, I painted one of the two windows we didn't get to on the house last year. I have also taken out the sweater I begun knitting for my husband last summer. Now the shed would most likely have been painted, BAM or no BAM. And one of the rules was to do something one would otherwise not do, right Lisa? But the sweater I definitely wouldn't have touched if it wasn't for BAM. I have knitted while watching TV and listening to a detective novel on CD (not at the same time though!!). And it's nice! I am glad I did it. I won't have it done within the month of May, but maybe he can have a new sweater by the end of the summer.

OMG I really hadn't seen this one before! It kills me. Not a very clever dog.

I have just planted my first own potatoes! I love new potatoes. I can't wait to see if these grow.

Today I started one of my BAM (blogging alternatives in May) -projects (photos later, <lj user="lkmadigan.livejournal.com>!). First I weeded a flower-bed and planted some onions and lettuce in my garden. And after lunch I scraped and painted a wall on our garden shed, which is in desperate need of some paint. I will post before and after pictures later! I know this is not making Art, Lisa, but it was something that needed doing. I do find simple tasks like that focusing and satisfying - in a bit less than two hours I had a wonderful, shiny white result. I enjoyed weeding, too. The smell of the earth. The fresh bursts of scent as I bushed against the mint. The rustling of two beetles mating in the grass. The sun on my cheek. It was as close to a perfect moment as I can come nowadays. I also have some bright yellow pansies in an enamel basin on my garden table. I planted them today. I can see them through the window as I type this. Like splotches of concentrated sun in the twilight.