Sunday, January 19, 2014

Sunday Update - Week 3

Hello again!  Time for another update on what's going on here and what y'all are doing out there.

As of last night, Wrongful Termination is up to almost 34K words.  That's 13K added for the week, and I took last Sunday off.  I still don't know if I'll have this rewrite done by the end of the month, but there's hope.  Of course, 13 days and a whole half a book might be setting my sights too high this time.  Let's say Valentine's Day and call it good. 

Thinking about it now, I'm pretty sure I'm either sitting at the 10th anniversary of the day I started my first completed novel or I'm pretty damn close.  This is the year for milestone anniversaries, I guess. 

Also as of yesterday, I completed Trail 3 in the trail-making project behind the house.  Three separate trails leading from the yard to the bottom of our property, with two connecting trails through the middle and one across the bottom.  All I need is to finish taking the second auxiliary trail through from Trail Three to Trail One and I'll be done.

While I was out there raking trails, I came across some interesting rocks.  (Our land has a boatload of rocks.)  Looks like petrified rock, which I think is neat.  I also found a few with little geodes in them.  I know it's totally nerdy, but I'm thrilled.  Hubs just laughs when I bring another rock inside, but he indulges me. 

Oh, and I haven't been posting updates on my reading here - they're over there - but according to Goodreads, I'm 3 books ahead of schedule.  Right now, I'm reading an old paperback I got at the thrift store - Gorky Park.  (Anyone remember the movie from the 80s?)

Also, at the thrift store, I got the neatest art pieces for the house.  One is an old etched metal map of the world (the original is from 1655, but the repro I got is from 1982).  Another is a print of a little girl and her dog - but the dog looks a lot like the one we had when I was a kid.  And the third is for our smoking room - pintail ducks in flight.  =o)

Like is good at the Sanderson household.  How are things with you?  Remember, you can talk about any happenings in your life, but try to find one positive thing.  K?

15 comments:

  1. Glad to hear the third trail got done, B.E.! And I totally get the rock thing - for the longest time (when we were here first), it was seashells. I have glass vases I purchased at the thrift store full of seashells. Then, it was beach glass - more vases! Now, we've set about collecting an interesting rock from everywhere we go to have a picnic - I have a lovely wooden bowl on the TV console that has that collection! Where are you putting your rocks?

    I, too, did some artsy stuff for the house. I took one of my pictures from the Scotland trip and had it made into a poster (16 x 20 - great promo at our local photo lab). Bought a relatively cheap frame and now it's just waiting to be put on the wall. I absolutely love how it turned out (I'll post a pic this week).

    Other than that - we're snowed in this morning. The place looks beautiful!

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    1. LOL, I have seashells, too, but I bought them at the thrift store. Right now, the rocks are sitting on the front porch's bannister until I can muster the will to clean them. The rocks I'd picked up before are on my bookshelves, so that's probably where these will end up. Unless I can find a small shelving unit next time I go thrifting.

      Ooo, I bet that's pretty. I need to do that with some of my pics. RIght now, I can only print 8x10"s of my pics.

      Sorry about your being snowed in, but at least it's pretty. =o)

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  2. I'm jealous of your rocks! :o) I collect fossils--among other things.

    My good news is that I finished two raised beds of the fourteen planned. The 4' x 8' boxes have been moved, leveled and filled with good soil and compost. Our weather has been mild so I'm getting everything ready for spring planting.

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    1. Me, too, Maria! Growing up in Michigan, I found fossils everywhere. I still have most of them in a shoebox that's traveled everywhere with me.

      OMG, that's a lot of work. I thought we did a lot with our project last summer, but 14 beds is way more. I hope they turn out well and grow lots for you. =o)

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  3. We are still in the dead of winter here. So, no clearing trails or getting things ready for spring. But I'm glad those things are happening somewhere. This week I had coffee with two people I went to high school with, one I'm sure I hadn't seen since the day we graduated! So much fun. Out for supper the next night with extended family and out again yesterday afternoon with friends. So glad I started an elimination diet this week, which I stuck to miracles of miracles. And we replaced our old ugly stuck in the '70's gas fireplace which it turns out was no longer safe with a new improved version. Love it.

    Have fun trailblazing. Here's hoping you unearth more treasures! We love interesting rocks and I love Janet's idea of collecting rocks from picnic sites. We need to start bringing home a rock from each camping trip!

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    1. We're just in a weird weather pattern right now, I think. This is our first winter here, so I can't say for sure. I hope winter gives you a break soon, Karyn.

      How awesome that you got to catch up with old friends, and that you managed to stick to your diet, too. And yay for the new fireplace. I saw it on your blog and it looks lovely!

      Trailblazing's always fun, and I could study the rocks here forever and still not get to them all. Janet's idea is awesome. You should try that. =o)

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  4. One day you will have to host a writers retreat at your house =) I think that would be pretty neat.

    Not much to report for me. We're slowly trying to get our lives back to normal after the first two tragic weeks of January. DH went back to work and I sat down to write. I'm currently in second place for Celtic Hearts sprint (only 500 words behind, muah hahahahah), and I've done a lot of work on the 2nd draft of AHR. I've also made it to stage 2 for a possible online job I've found (I'm keeping it hush hush for now though lol), and I found the hubby a lot of new jobs to apply for. My cousin and I have discussed dates for my trip back home in June, and my parents are looking at booking their February trip here today or tomorrow =)

    That's really about it, here. Trying to stay positive!

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    1. A writers' retreat?! Here?! :scurries and hides: I think they have a writers' group up in Springfield, but I'm a happy hermit.

      I'm so glad you're getting life back on track. :hugs: Hurray for being in 2nd place. Now kick some butt and get into first. And yay for the job hunt! My fingers are crossed for you both. And yay for visits! I know you've got to be missing your folks and home.

      Staying positive is the only way to get through life. Keep at it. :hugs:

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    2. No, no, I meant just your close friends for a few days =)

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  5. It was a good week for me. No more broken water pipes (haha!). But I'll have to be diligent this week. Temps are forecasted to drop into the negatives again.

    I also got nearly 6000 words written! That's the best I've done in a LONG time, so I'm super happy. I will get this book finished soon. I WILL!!

    No news on a new release date for my book, but as long as I keep busy writing, I can't dwell on it. It will happen when it happens, and then I'll be dancing! :)

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    1. Ugh. I'm sending positive thoughts for your pipes and for warmer temps. Yay for 6K! You can do it!

      I'm sorry you haven't heard about your release date yet. Keep busy and stay positive. I'll be dancing right along with you. :hugs:

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  6. Happy Anniversary!
    You're rolling right along with the rewrite. Good for you!
    I remember liking Gorky Park when I read it decades ago. Does your book have the black cover with silver lettering?

    I've started actually writing the sequel for Nearly Departed. It's due 2/14. Wrote 2284 today, so not a bad start.

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    1. Thanks, JB! Yep, the rewrite is rolling right along. I posted another snippet for Teaser Tuesday, so we'll see how well it's received. ;o)

      Yep, black cover, silver letters. It's a 1982 release, I think. It's interesting wrapping my brain around the Russian place names, etc., but a cool book so far.

      SQUEE! Not a bad start at all. You can do it!

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  7. Great news all around! I really need to work at getting on-line on Sundays so I can keep up. LOL

    My Goodreads app won't update on my site. :( This makes me very unhappy. Of course, I'm also doing RITA judging and can't really talk about/rate the books I'm reading. I'm with Natalie. I love the idea of a weekend writer's retreat at your place. LOL Just a few of us kindred souls.

    I swear I'm going to write this weekend. I haven't done anything but snippets since Christmas. This is bad. Iffy looks more like a demon child every day. Speaking of, did you see the videos of the movie promo in NYC? They put a robotic demon baby in a stroller and left it on the sidewalk. Then they filmed people's reactions. Pretty funny. (I saw it on the news--but no perky newscasters. *bwahaha*)

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    1. Eh, stop by whenever you get a chance, Silver. You can comment on my posts anytime.

      I think your widget is working again. This morning it was at 9 books. And oh, no. No writers weekend at my place. Hubs would kill me just for thinking about it.

      You better write this weekend, or I'm going to kick your butt. (Virtually, of course.) I saw part of that video of the demon baby. Maybe we can make the demon baby eat the perky newscaster.

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