Sunday Update - Week 28

Well, here we are again.  Twenty-eight weeks in and on the downslope of 2021.

I finished the first draft of Untitled Fantasy.Thursday night.  Yeah, still don't have a title.  I'm thinking about Shroudlands for the series (umm, since I'm already thinking about the next book, I guess I have myself another series here), but for this book... no clue.  It topped out at 97552 words.  It will expand and contract when I put it under the heat of editing, so who knows where it'll end up.

In marketing news, A Model Curse will go on sale Tuesday.  Sleeping Ugly will be free for 5 days and the other two (Ugly and the Beast and Cinder Ugly) will be 99c/99p each.  So, three books for $1.98.  

With the writing being done for now, I hopped into some reading.  

On the baking side of things, I made cake cookies and pizza.  It's really getting too hot to bake much.

I started the week out pretty good with the activity thing.  Then I fell down.  (Figuratively, not literally.)  I was back at it yesterday, though, so I had 4 active days this week.  I'm up to over 17 miles on the exercise bike.  Woohoo.  And the weight is slowly coming down again.  Weight: 183.6.

Speaking of being on the bike, I've been putting old tapes on to listen to while I ride.  The last few times, it's been Icehouse - their first self-titled album that I dubbed off an old boyfriend's tape and then dubbed again onto a different tape so side B would be the Icehouse 'Man of Colours' album.  Well, when it got to the end of the tape, I was riding along and didn't feel like getting off the bike to change tapes and I just let it play itself out instead of fast-forwarding to the end like I usually do.  A strange thing happened.  It sounded like there was something on the end of the tape.  I stopped the bike and turned the volume up, wondering what the hell it was.  And I heard a baby.  It wasn't crying or anything.  Just cooing and making standard baby noises.  And then I realized it was Owl.  I stopped the tape and went to go have a cigarette.  Then I went back, rewound the tape to the end of the music and sat down to listen.  At one point, I did say her name, so that verifies I did, in fact, tape my baby.  For the most part, though, there was no sound on the tape other than Owl.  And maybe a TV in the background.  I don't remember doing it.  I'm sure I never listened to it before last night.  But there it was.  I wonder if I did that on any other tapes.  Are there more tiny time capsules?  Who knows.

We've decided to sell our boat.  Since we bought it, we've only used it 3 times.  It was fun, but not FUN-fun.  It's just taking up space in the garage.  Plus, I prefer bank fishing, since I get motion sick and have to where those wristbands.  :shrug:  So, I've been going around putting up flyers at various places.  Hubs' ad goes out in the paper on Thursday.  

Oh, I almost forgot.  I got a wild hair the other day and decided to try drawing my concept of a beast I created for the fantasy.  So I sat here and looked at some photos of things I'd said the beast looked like - panther body, bat ears.  Considering I haven't drawn anything in years, it's not too bad.  It's not cover art worthy by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm pleased.  I have to finish it, but yeah, not awful.  And since Hubs could see what it was I was trying to do - bat kitty beast? - I'm calling it a win.  (BTW, I'm calling it a mistmorph.)  Maybe if I finish it, I'll be brave enough to scan it and share it.  Don't hold your breath, though.

Okay, that's probably enough out of me this morning.  How'd your week 28 go?

Sunday Update - Week 17

 Seventeen weeks into 2021 and it's getting weirder by the day.  By the way, it's National Zucchini Bread Day.  As if it wasn't weird enough to have that day in freakin' April, I went looking for info on it and one site says zucchini bread was invented in the '60s by hippies.  Umm...  I think my grandmother was making zucchini bread way before that.  (It also said that's when banana bread was invented.)

Anyway, it wasn't the best writing week I've ever had, but writing did happened, so that's a win.  4332 words for the week.  And then I hit a mental block.  I figured it out last night when I should've been sleeping.  I need to delete the end of that last scene and the block should disappear.

I tried to do some marketing, because the Model Curse books are on sale, but I got crickets and then I got discouraged.  Then I went crickets.

Only one book read last week, mainly because I'm still working my way through that NF.  

It was kind of a baking bonanza, though.  I make drop biscuits, oatmeal raisin apple cookies, and chocolate walnut upside down cake.  

I did something active 6 days out of 7, but not hugely active things.  Spot cleaning, some yardwork, a little gardening, and fishing.  Weight 184.6.

Tuesday we got snow.  Heavy, wet snow. 

I was out there in it trying to knock snow off the cedars and the bushes and my plants, because the snow was heavy enough to drag everything toward the ground.  I got super wet and freakin' cold and it was an exercise in futility.  Although, I think it saved the peonies, so that's something.  All of our black walnuts trees are hurting.  Their new leaves couldn't take the cold and nearly all of the leaves are black and curled up/crunchy now.  The big trees will survive.  The little trees?  Time will tell.  

My container garden was inside, so it's all good.

I finally got my filing done.  I don't think I filed anything after the chaos started, so there were months worth of bills in a stack on the top of my printer/scanner.  I can see the top now!  Yay.  

The windows still aren't finished.  I did another third of them and then my arms said 'oh, hell, no'.  I'll get the last three windows done today - the spare room and Hubs' bathroom.  Then I can cross that off my to-do list until Fall.  

And I'm still playing poker.  I'm around 42 million now.  

I think that's it.  There may have been other stuff.  I'm kind of manic right now, using busyness to avoid the news and the world.  

How are things going for you?  

Sunday Update - Week 43

Blerg.  I'm running late today.  Again.  Anyway...

In writing news, I got all the proofer notes in and input.  Friday, I fixed the last few things and started the formatting.  Then I fell down (figuratively) and didn't get anything else done.  Today.  Today I really need to get ahold of myself and get stuff done.  

In marketing news, I have a sale starting tomorrow for all the genie books - 99c each.  Get all four for less than $4.  I haven't set up any advertising, so this will be all FB posts and stuff.  Fingers crossed.  In a perfect world, I'd have the CU stuff done so I could put links in the backs of all the genies books.  This is not a perfect world.

I had a good reading week last week.  Yay.

I did something active every day. Once again, not active active, but active is active, eh?  Weight: 180 even.

Yesterday, I went a little goofy and started the day making apple-cranberry bread.  Then I made beef stew.  Then I got a wild hair and made homemade drop biscuits to have with the stew.  All that mixing and chopping and stirring... my arms are kinda ouchy today.  On the upside, we have loads of homemade stuffs to eat.

Also, yesterday, I saw a golden-crowned kinglet.  So cute!  They're a winter visitor here and it's nice to see them back again.

A new buck came to the yard yesterday.  One of his ears is flopped over, so he'll be easy to identify in years to come.  Hubs named him Lear.  (Short for Left Ear, but it fits with the kingly names theme this year.)  Arthur is looking well and his face is healing nicely.  Lumpy and the twins are also fine - although one of the twins is getting independent and not always right with mom when she comes to feed.

I think that's it.  I got up late, and the coffee isn't kicking in quite like it should yet.  What was up with you last week?