Weeks 38 & 39 - Running Late/Periods (and commas)

 

Yeah, I know—I got busy last week and before I knew it two weeks had gone by without a blog post. So another double-up. Most of it will be updates, followed by a brief tutorial in the correct usage of periods and commas. Nothing else. That title is just to get your attention. I’m experimenting with promotional techniques for when I’m ready to start marketing books. And now, on to the updates.

Week 38 update – this was the better of the two weeks. I had it all going on. I got a new paid assignment and worked on the detective book and was able to balance my work day with time left over to do mundane stuff like buy groceries and cook dinner. Okay, so the yard work took a serious hit. I’m okay with that, though my neighbors are a little honked off.  I kept the yard mowed. The summer yard season’s almost over now anyway. There’s always next year.

The best part was how easily the words flowed in my fiction. I’m supposed to be typing up the longhand, but I found myself rewriting most of the scene, and the story’s much better because of it. The parts I’m typing now were written two years ago. That’s really too long to let something sit, but the break paid off: I know the story and the characters much better now, and can add depth to the scene while cutting out the crappy bits. Also, plot holes I wouldn’t have noticed before now leap out at me, but so do solutions for fixing them. It’s a pity I went into post-writing depression and didn’t write two or three other books while this one was sitting around. That’s the way a writing career is supposed to work, if you’re really serious about it. I’ll be addressing that in a future installment.

Week 39 update – Here’s where things almost got out of hand. The first read-through on the paid assignment took longer than I planned for, because the writer had issues with proper punctuation usage, causing me to fix periods, commas and semicolons on practically every line of a 150-page file. Making readable sense of run-on sentences also slowed me down, though not to that extent. The biggest problem, though, was the unexpected quirks brought on by Windows 11. Or maybe it’s a hardware problem in the new laptop. I still don’t know for sure. All I know is, I went to move the cursor and it decided to move on its own and click on something without permission, and all of a sudden my paginated work file had no more page breaks or running heads, and I had no idea how to restore it. Imagine turning in a work assignment with the note: “Edits are done, but you’re going to have to reformat the whole thing. Sorry. My bad.” Luckily I did some experimentation and found what went wrong. One click undid the cursor’s damage and I had page breaks and headers again. However, the Table of Contents got messed up in the restoration. I included a warning note when I sent the finished assignment back. My next step will be to head up to the local library, which has a free computer lab for us old geezers who didn’t grow up with home computers, so I can figure out what the hell’s up with my cursor and how I can get it back under control. At least it doesn’t zoom the pages in and out any more.

I didn’t get as much of my own writing done this week, but the assignment’s done and gone back to the publisher and currently there’s nothing else on the docket. That means I get to write now. Unless the weather clears up (it’s been rainy all week) and I decide to take one last shot at the yard work. We’ll just have to see what happens.

$$$$

And now, a brief tutorial: Proper Use of Basic Punctuation.

This is the period (.). It means “stop.” It goes at the end of a sentence. This is the comma (,). It means “pause, more is coming.” It’s also used to separate dialogue from the rest of the sentence. Example: Marcus turned to Laila and said, “If you don’t get dinner on the table right now, I’m packing your bags and sending you home to your mama.” “Okay,” she replied, “but I can pack my own bags. Hope you’ve got the number for DoorDash.”

Here's a (made-up) example of what I had to deal with last week:

“I can’t take this any more.” He said and took out his phone. Laila watched impassively he dialed. “Don’t forget you’re allergic to soy sauce.” She reminded him walking out of the room her ass swaying suggestively in her too-tight pants causing Marcus to misdial. “Acme Hardware.” Some teenager’s voice cracked over the phone. “Hello?”

It was like that on almost every page. Sometimes almost every line. I’ll leave the writers among you to figure out what the problems are and how to fix them. Just like I had to; that’s what took me so long. I understand this is category romance and a lot of these people are writing a book a month so they can get more royalties. There isn’t time to let things sit and do a better draft. But you can do your copy editor and proofreader a huge favor and do a cleaner one. Our eyes appreciate the courtesy.

Interestingly, I’ve noticed that no matter how many typos and punctuation errors there may be in the rest of the book, the sex scenes almost always are typo-free and clean as a lewd whistle. This is true for every author and every sub-genre. I think we know what the writers’ beta readers and proofers are spending most of their time on. There must be somebody somewhere out there reading these for the story. Maybe I don’t need to worry so much about that part after all. I’ll keep it in mind when I start cranking out my own book a month. See y’all next week.

Week 3 - Stallouts and False Starts

 

Here I am again. I wish I had something to tell you. Anything that wouldn’t sound like an excuse. But the fact is, I did next to no writing this past week on either of my projects, because 2023 and all its bad luck wasn’t quite finished with me. Yes, the car is fixed now. Yes, I got to celebrate my birthday the way I wanted to. And then, as I reported last time, I got sick. Here’s where our update begins.

I thought it was a 24-hour virus because the nausea and the fever only lasted 24 hours. The dry cough and the lack of appetite decided to stick around. I also developed a scratchy throat and sporadically runny nose. I’d be fine for hours, then suddenly start coughing and sneezing. Then I’d lie down and take a nap. Assuming I could, because when I tried to lie down the phlegm would drip into my throat and I’d start coughing. I could hear it making liquidy sounds whenever I took a breath. That’s bronchitis, which I’ve dealt with before, only it wasn’t as intense. It was kind of bronchitis lite. The fever, the night coughing, the sleeplessness and fatigue only lasted a day or two each. The problem with bronchitis, though, is that there’s no shot or medicine you can take to relieve it. You need to stay in bed and ride it out and let it run its course.

Caveat: yes, I did try Nyquil, during my last bout of full-blown bronchitis back in 2020. It did knock me cold and suppress the coughing so I could sleep through the night. The trouble happened after it wore off. I’d get wide-awake, standing-up catchup coughing fits so bad I could barely breathe. For two of them I had ringing in my ears and thought I was going to pass out. One was in public. The one where I almost passed out happened right in front of my house, with nobody around. I count myself extremely lucky that it didn’t get any worse. I will never take Nyquil for bronchitis again. Your mileage may vary.

Back to the story. It’s now Monday night, and we’re having an overnight snowstorm.

Not too bad. Three fluffy inches. But I don’t have anyone to dig my car out for me, and I needed to get to the store because I was running out of food and Kleenex. (Thank Chuck, God of Supernatural, the Tylenol held out.) So sick l’il me went out—twice, had to shovel in stages because I got tired—and cleared off the car. That was Tuesday. I’d sleep as well as I could and drive to the grocery store in the morning.

Woke up Wednesday morning, put on my glasses, and discovered I had double vision.

Luckily this is something else I’ve dealt with before. It first happened to me after a really bad week of computer game addiction, when I wasn’t eating right, if at all, and not getting sufficient sleep. Simple enough to manage: take a nap, eat decent meals, and it goes away on its own. Which it did, eventually. By the end of the day I was seeing single again…but only in the house. I got into the car and realized outside was a whole different animal. Y’see, with my form of double vision, everything close is in focus. The farther away things are, the more likely they are to double. Imagine the two-lane road running past your house is now a four-lane, and half the cars coming at you in the opposite lane(s) aren’t real, and you can’t be sure which is which. Or if the lane you’re driving on is an actual lane and not somebody’s lawn. Or somebody. And you still need to get to the store if you want to eat breakfast tomorrow. (I can always blow my nose on toilet paper. I always have plenty of that.)

If I’d been dizzy, or nauseous, or fatigued, I would have just gone back in the house and toughed it out until morning. But I’ve done this before too. The store I was aiming for is only two miles away, on a straight, clear main road. I drove most of it with one hand covering my right eye (the blurrier of the two). Each eye was fine on its own; it’s trying to look through both at once that was causing me problems. I got to the store with no problems. Coming home, the double vision had even cleared up but now I was driving into the sunset. Sometimes there’s just no winning no matter what you do.

Thursday. Woke up with double vision again but it was gone by the end of the day, for good this time. The coughing is more liquid now; whatever I’ve got is starting to break up. The shoveling I did Tuesday has resulted in sore back muscles, so walking around is a bitch. And guess what, we’ve got another all-day snowstorm scheduled for Friday…

Which I survived, obviously. I didn’t need to get supplies this time, so I basically took Friday off to let my back recover. Some neighbor with a snowblower did all our sidewalks, so all I had to do was dig out the car and my mini-driveway. I did that in stages on Saturday. Sunday I didn’t do bupkis. Napped, ate, read. No writing beyond flash.

That’s where we stand. Three weeks into January and I’ve barely written squat. Can I write a book in a month? The question remains unanswered. Or else the answer is, “Not this month.” Or maybe it’s, “Next month.”

Though I have established one positive habit while possibly extinguishing a bad one. I’ve now written and posted a blog four weeks in a row. I haven’t done that in years. I wish the content was better for you guys. I’ll work on that next. Also, I’m not sure of the exact date, but I think it’s now been at least a full month since I stopped playing computer games. I know that ended sometime before New Year’s. I even had some momentum going for a couple of days there before life tripped me up again. I survived. Hopefully I learned something. Hopefully whatever I learned may be useful to some of you attempting your own New Year’s journeys. I do not recommend driving while sick, or with double vision. Stick that one under the generalization, “Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.”

Now to post this puppy and get back to work. See you next week.

Week 1 - Trial Runs and Helpful Hints

So here we are—one week into my personal challenge of writing a book per month for the duration of 2024. How did I do?

Not too bad. Not perfect, but not awful enough to plunge me into despair and self-doubt and make me give up within twenty-four hours of the start of the new year. I did that with my resolution to eat better. Went out January 2 for supplies and bought Mounds bars and Cheese Doodles and other unhealthy stuff, which I binged on over the rest of the week. This is not how diets work. Still, it wasn’t a resolution per se, so I can let it go. I just have to be careful not to do that again. Or not do it too often. Maybe I can sneak up on a healthy diet and then give up junk food for Lent. Kind of a practice run. Like the way I’m sneaking up on exercise. I leave the house and move around every other day. Once the weather gets better it’ll be every day. As I phase out the junk food (in particular bakery goods and candy bars with all their processed sugar) the pounds will drop off slowly without undue exercise. By the time spring rolls around and temperatures start to rise, I won’t be hauling around as much body fat and will actually want to move more. I’m slowly getting myself up to the point where I can stroll around stores without using a cart as a walker.

Slow, incremental changes appear to be the key, at least for me. I’ve tried self-challenges and resolutions in the past. My biggest problem seems to be piling too much on my plate at once. Then I get overwhelmed, give up in despair, and go back to my old bad habits. I do this with writing, too. It’s part of the reason I went on an unshakeable block for most of last year. Girl, relax. Build up those muscles, physical and mental, a bit at a time. Every day you do something instead of nothing is a win. Pretty soon the habit muscles will strengthen and you can push yourself a little further. I want to lose five pounds by the end of the month. That’s doable. Losing too much weight too fast isn’t good for you anyway.

I will not be giving up pizza. Just cutting back. My plan there is to treat myself to pizza every time I finish a book. That’s not too bad. Every time I sub something, I’ll have pizza and a soda. Yeah, there’s my motivation.

You’re welcome to try this approach as well, Keep in mind we’re all different, so your mileage may vary.

And now, the Week 1 update, positive division. I started work on a shapeshifter romance, and continued work on the original side project, which is currently in its second draft. I’ve been able to write at least a little something on one or the other, sometimes both, every day. I haven’t had to resort to flash fill-ins at all. I haven’t touched any computer games since at least three weeks before the start of the new year. My attitude has been upbeat, for the most part. I’ve been sleeping better. The fact I’m able to write and post two blogs within a week is a major triumph in itself. All this is while I’m working on a paid assignment which is due this Friday. See that? A couple deep breaths, a reduction in sugar consumption, and miracles can happen.

Things I need to work on: My resolve does tend to peter out as the week wears on. More than once I caught myself slipping back into my well-worn procrastination habits. They’re mainly tied to the laptop (that’s where the internet and all its siren distractions live) but I’ve got a couple of tricks to get me through. For one, I can write longhand, where the Web can’t get at me. That’ll work for the romance, but not for the other one. That one’s already longhand; I’m trying to type it into the system, rewriting as I go. For that I just go for a music channel and tie up the WiFi while I type on the hard drive. Once I get going I don’t have a problem. It’s the “get going” part where I stumble. If things get really bad I’ll just unplug the WiFi. I’ve found if I don’t write first thing in the morning, other obligations start getting in the way and I never get around to the manuscripts. Those are the days I end up frantically scribbling flash scenes right before bed. That cropped up a couple of times this week. Fortunately, I was able to scribble scenes from my works in progress rather than random flash. Eventually my lazy subconscious will realize it’s not going to win and back off. I wanted to write this post two days ago, but the bastard kept distracting me. And yet here we are. Take that, asshole!

Finally, a simple tip I got from Dr. Google is helping me tame my insomnia. Being old, I tend to go to bed early (average bed time, 10 pm) and get up at least once, sometimes two or three times, to clean the pipes. All too often I find I can’t fall back to sleep. That’s when the negative thoughts creep in. Every mistake I’ve ever made, every bad thing that’s happened to me, comes blasting back like a crappy rerun on TV Land. When I do finally fall asleep, I wake up afterwards feeling like shit on toast. Naturally, my attitude is in the hopper. You can imagine how my writing goes.

 The worst time for this is between 2 and 4 am. How do I know? Because I’ve been checking the clock. Dr. Google’s solution: don’t check the clock, especially if it’s one of those digital ones with the glowing screen. Not only does seeing the time stress you out, the blue light messes with your sleep hormones and helps keep you awake. So last week I stopped checking the time when I got up for my pee breaks. And son of a poodle with a litter of puppies, it worked. I do my business, crawl back into bed, lie there for maybe a minute and then drop right off. When I do wake up and look at the clock, it’s around 5-6 am and I’d be getting up anyway. If you’re having sleep problems, give this a try. Again, your mileage may vary.

This week I’m going to see about shutting down the laptop at 7 pm because I’ve been having off-and-on problems with falling asleep to begin with.  You’re supposed to avoid screens at least an hour before bed. I already blew that one today because I wanted to write this blog, so I’ll have to kick that off tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it works out. See you next week!

 

  

That Was the Year That Was

 

Ah, New Year’s. That magical time when everything changes. Twelve sucky months behind us, twelve fresh, untouched months of opportunities and new beginnings ahead. One click of the minute hand past midnight and we’re primed and ready to become thinner, richer, happier, healthier, more successful and less constipated (for us older resolution-makers). Most of the resolutions won’t last beyond a week or so, but at least we’ll still have around fifty weeks of possibilities ahead.

I hope so, because I’m one of those unfortunate folks who got the sucky 2023.

If you recall, I was going to write a book a month this year. That didn’t happen for various reasons, chiefly depression and my video game addiction. One tends to lead to the other, I’m never quite sure what triggers which. All I know is that both together gave me a crippling writer’s block. Recently, though, I got a handle on both and have started writing again. January 1 sounds like the perfect day to reclaim the mantel of writer.

Indeed, I pretty much have to, due to the other reason 2023 sucked so badly for me.

The year started out fine, with me feeling upbeat and ambitious and truly stoked over challenging myself to write a book a month for an entire year. (Keep in mind we’re talking romance e-books here, where anything over 25-30K words can count as a “book.” Even if you only write a thousand words a day, you’ll have a draft by the end of the month. I didn’t say it had to be a completed, polished, ready-for-subbing book. But a draft is far better than nothing.) Financially I was in a good spot. The paid assignments had fallen off, but I could still meet my monthly expenses. I had savings in the bank and Social Security every month. But having a little extra income never hurts, which is why I turned to the writing. I asked myself, “What can I do to bring in some extra cash?” and since I’d always wanted to be a writer and now had plenty of time, having aged out of the job market and all, I decided to give it a go.

Then, beginning in March, everything went to shit.

First it was the unexpectedly high ($700) tax bill. Then my one tooth got infected and needed a root canal. Then I started bleeding from my lady parts, almost twenty years after Aunt Flo ceased her monthly visits. Trust me, ladies and gents (especially ladies), that’s never a good thing. Something went wrong with my right eye, causing mild double vision which made driving an adventure. And let’s not forget the $200 to have a guy come out and trap the groundhog that moved in under my mobile home. Skunks are fine, but groundhogs burrow. They also chew through wires, putting my electricity, plumbing and especially my gas heating system at risk. Yeah, Chucky had to go.

So went 2023: one expense after another, with no warning and no letup. I dealt with the tooth, then learned I needed surgery to stop the vajayjay bleeding, which had tested positive for cancer. (I’m fine now, by the way.) Then I had the car in the shop twice, once for a new timer (that one needed the tow truck), then to fix a loose connection that was draining my battery. I discovered that one when I got in to drive to the eye doctor and the car wouldn’t start. I had to reschedule; when I did get in, over a week later, I learned part of the gelatinous mass in my eye had detached, causing the double vision. An expensive operation would fix it, but there’s no guarantee it wouldn’t recur. It’s got a slowly-growing cataract anyway. I can live with it, but I’ll need new glasses. I put that off until next spring. I also canceled a dental checkup to save money (they want to do expensive x-rays Medicare won’t cover). So it’s eyes and teeth again next April. I haven’t even started getting the hospital’s charges for the operation yet.

Meanwhile, the number of paid assignments keeps dwindling, while my basic expenses keep rising. If you were wondering why I got depressed and turned to video games and stopped writing for several months, wonder no further.

But all is not lost. The hysterectomy may have finally shaken me out of my complacency. I went cold turkey on the games and started moving around more (doctor’s orders in that case) and eating better (lack of money there; I only have so much to spend, so junk food had to go). My bank was stupid enough to send me an offer for a Visa card, with no interest charged for eighteen months. Even more foolishly, they approved my application. Now I can splurge on stuff like lot rent and utilities and groceries while waiting for the big bills to come in.

I have a reprieve, for the moment. There are still expenses a’comin’, but I can plan ahead. And now that I’m writing again, I can pick up where I left off last year, and write a book a month. This time I intend to go through with it because I’m running low on options. I have to be careful taking outside jobs because I’m only allowed to earn so much before Social Security starts penalizing me. Luckily writing’s an iffy profession, with payments spaced out over months or even years sometimes. If I get even a trickle of extra income, great; every little bit helps. If I hit it big, Social Security isn’t going to matter. I have other stuff I can do, like clean out the Book Room and sell the comic collection. If I can get cash, I don’t have to declare it on my taxes. With the Visa card to tide me over, I might just pull this off.

So here we go again, folks. I’m going to write and sub books. This time I really mean it. It’s a matter of life or financial ruin. And anyway, an article on Yahoo said 2024 will be a lucky year for Capricorns because gloomy proto-planet Pluto is finally moving out of our sign. Normally I don’t put much stock in astrology, except when I want to believe in it. After this shitpile of a year, I need a break, so I say Yahoo and the stars aren’t lying and it’s all turning around. Starting right at midnight tonight, there’s nowhere to go but up.

Although the fridge has been making weird noises…and so has the furnace…and Marvel Comics killed off my favorite character and is showing no signs of bringing him back. But I’ve got ideas and I’m definitely motivated. You’ll be seeing me here on a weekly basis as I chronicle my journey back to financial solvency. Unless, of course, the laptop crashes. Yeesh. Is it midnight yet? Happy New Year, everybody!   

 

 

Grab Bag

So much for the weekly blogs. The writing, on the other hand, has actually begun to pick up. Too bad there’s about to be a break again. This post will be a selection of what’s been happening, what’s about to happen, and what I hope happens afterward. Hang on, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.

$$$

First up, my medical issues. Any of you of the male persuasion reading this, proceed with caution; I’ll be discussing the downsides of owning a female reproductive system. Ladies, stick around. This could be of help to you at some point in the future.

On September 22 I had a number of tests, including a D&C, to determine why I’d been bleeding from my uterus off and on since March. My reproductive organs had retired well before I did, way back in July of 2004, the date of my last period. Any time you have blood leaking out of your vajayjay after going through menopause, get it checked out. Especially if said menopause happened almost twenty years ago. I wasn’t told this directly by the doctors, but I think mine was due to polyps in my womb. That’s usually what causes vaginal bleeding after the bulb burns out in your Easy Bake Oven. One of the things they planned to do down there while gathering test samples was remove any polyps they found. They must have found some and removed them, because after four-five days of pseudo-menstrual bleeding following the surgery (this is normal and no cause for alarm), everything dried up and I’ve been fine since. Not even spotting on the undies, which was a major pain.

All of which became irrelevant, because the doctors told me they found cancerous/pre-cancerous cells in the tissue samples they removed. There’s also a growth on one of my ovaries that showed up during an  ultrasound. That could be benign, or not. Doesn’t matter. Given my age and the fact the Easy Bake Oven ain’t ever going back to work anyway, there’s no point in further tests or chemo treatments. Easiest, cheapest and safest solution is a total hysterectomy—uterus, ovaries, whatever other cancer cells they may find down there. My regular doctor mentioned this when I got my initial tests and said it usually takes care of the problem. My doom-and-gloom neighbor said there might be additional chemo (she had her hysterectomy back in her 30s). I’m hoping that won’t be necessary.

So, come Tuesday, I’ll be getting spayed. I never bothered having kids so I’m not stretched out enough, so they’ll be removing the equipment through my stomach instead of through the vaginal area. This means a couple of days in the hospital. Luckily my most recent paid assignment is due the day before, so no work conflicts. I’ll have to take a notebook and some pens in with me so I can write longhand during my stay. I did that during my hernia surgery back in 2004 and it worked out fine. Be interesting to see what I produce while under the influence of pain meds. As long as I don’t have a talkative roommate, this may work out pretty well.

Once my non-functioning reproductive system is removed, I’ll no longer be biologically female. Some states may not allow me to use the ladies’ room any more. On the other hand, with that and the adoption of the proper pronouns, I may now qualify to be a writer at Marvel Comics. There’s a silver lining to everything.

$$$

About the paid work mentioned above: that’s been another stressor these last two weeks. In addition to doctor visits, I got two assignments in the same week, the second due the day before surgery. The first is done and out; the second will be taking up my weekend. Bet I don’t get a thing for the rest of the month. This is good; it gives me time to work on my own stuff. This is bad; the paid work’s been helping me cover expenses, and would really help out with the medical bills that’ll be headed my way shortly. Hope I get something in November. I really should have been writing instead of playing computer games over the past two years. Yeah well. That’s on me. This entire summer has been a wake-up call. Hopefully after this I won’t be interrupted by yet another medical issue.

$$$

Finally, some good news. Not only did the sampling surgery catch a life-threatening problem before it could escalate, it jolted me out of a dangerous rut and got me writing again. And the writing’s taken off. I’m still on the Twilight Zone detective novel, but with all the changes I’ve been making to that slapdash pantser mess that was the longhand first draft, it’s like an entirely new story, and a far better one. I know the characters better now, what they’ll say and how they’ll react. It’s all coming to life. This always happens when I write a book, especially at my slow pace. By the time I get to the end, the beginning has aged long enough for me to see the flaws and come up with solutions. New ideas have had a chance to develop and can be folded into the plot to the betterment of everything. This sucker’s gonna be good.

One of those ideas surprised even me. My subconscious and I aren’t always on the best of terms, but this time it gave me a bonus. Towards the end of the first draft, written last year, I decided to include reference to the detective’s girlfriend, who he’d loved and lost two years before the story opens. It only occurred to me recently (I’m talking within the last month) that her name is an almost-perfect anagram of the name of another character who’s vital to the resolution of the current story. I can’t go into detail without divulging the plot and wrecking the ending, but it’s totally logical in context and makes perfect sense to the story. It had to be that way. I didn’t even see it and I’m the damn writer. Some readers are liable to pick up on it and figure out the twist, but I’m confident a lot of them won’t. Hell, I figured out the twist of The Sixth Sense from reading a non-spoilery review. Didn’t stop me from enjoying the movie. Wish I dared congratulate myself for being so clever, but then my subconscious would start grumbling and plotting what kind of a writer’s block to throw at me next. We really need to learn how to work together. And on that note, back to the grind. Enjoy your day.