Home 2018 (Page 2)

Year: 2018

Random Stuff in My Head

Usually I can come up with a subject to blog about fairly easily, but today I feel like everything I came up with was repetitive or boring. So I give you this, a random mishmash of sh$% inside my head. You’re welcome. 🙂 Random thought #1: Last night, I dreamed I was in a room and there was an earthquake. The entire room shook (and maybe the whole city?). In the dream I screamed, and in real life, I screamed too. I woke my husband up and he held me for a bit. Say it with me: “Awwwwww.” Random thought #2: I made a very odd yet intriguing discovery last night around 12:30. I had a horrific TN pain attack and needed a painkiller, and I wondered idly if it was tied to my hormonal cycle. I remembered reading something about that before. So because I’m a bad ass and have an app and a log of all my pain for the past two years, the information was literally at my fingertips. I did a quick cursory glance so I don’t know about all of it, but from what I read so far, there is definitely a correlation. I’d like to eventually put it into a spreadsheet or graph or something so I can see it all together (one day, she says. One day when she’s not slammed with work). Random Thought #3: I just landed two new clients, yay! Both are amazing and awesome and I am so happy.…

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Over-commitment October

Good morning, friends! It’s my favorite month of the year, October, which means, as usual, I have committed to too many things. Stupid month of possibility, letting me think I knew what the heck I was doing. Bah! (Actually, I made the same mistake with September, so maybe it’s fall in general. Or maybe it’s me.) I think I told you guys about the programming class. It ends at the end of the month, and I’ve reached a point in the subject matter where I just don’t quite understand what’s going on. It’s early in the week, and hopefully some of the other assignments will clarify things, but it’s still a bit frustrating. I’ve got a major edit for a repeat client. I’m almost a quarter of the way done, and probably won’t be completely done until mid-December. English isn’t his first language, though he’s spoken it for quite some time, so there’s a lot of little fiddly things to keep an eye on. Rehearsals have started for the Christmas show at my local church/community theater. I’ve been trying out for years and never getting anything except general ensemble, so you can imagine my surprise when they put me both in a small group and gave me a solo. Admittedly, I’m pretty sure I got said solo because of my range (I can sing tenor fairly comfortably) and not because of voice quality, so that’s a thing. I’m feeling pretty awkward about the whole thing, which hopefully is just cuz…

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Writing Retreat vs. Real Life

Last week I was away at the annual writing retreat that my critique group holds. We rent a cabin on a lake (called a “cottage” in these parts), bring our laptops, take turns cooking, and sit around typing in companionable silence all day, with breaks for long walks and swims (well, not this year, too cold) and talking about craft and publishing. It’s also my Internet and news detox week for the year. I’ll read books, but that’s all. It’s always wonderful. (I wrote a first draft of a longish short story that you’ll get to see early next year, fiddled around with an edit of a different story, started brainstorming some new stuff, and even wrote some poetry.) My absolute favourite place to write is on the deck surrounded by forest, or down on the dock, or somewhere on the wooded slope in between. This year was mostly too chilly for that. But on several of the days it was crisp-not-cold, nice enough for long walks through the changing leaves. It’s like magic. The mental and physical clutter of daily life is gone. Normally I have wrist issues and confidence issues. Somehow, on retreat, the one gets managed* and the other just…vanishes. *Okay, it’s not a mystery. I managed by being very careful. I took lots of breaks, switched between my laptop keyboard and my external keyboard, did lots of stretches including solid 15-minute sessions of yoga each day, and also switched to Dragon dictation software at the first…

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Curiosity Killed the Cat – Part 2

Curiosity Killed the Cat A free fantasy serial by KD Sarge Part 2: Before a Closed Door (Read part 1 here) Jhi Bo heard a muffled shout and just knew it wasn’t the child she sought. It was Srivasi. He’d found trouble again. Somehow. Heaven’s truth, she thought, she should just leave him to the consequences, but she was already running as she thought it. The farm girl saw Jhi Bo running and shouted something, her face joyful, as she ran to intersect her path. Jhi Bo ran past her. The girl’s feet thudded behind her; the goats with their bells trotted after. In the middle of two stone-marked circles—multiple warnings, right there, that this place was important and should be left alone—in a dome of marble and glass surrounded by circles, Jhi Bo found nothing of Srivasi but the fading scent of his fear. The dome was glorious; the floor was smooth dirt, patterned and braided as if a river had run over it. In the center of the room stood a twisted pillar of marble with writing chasing over every surface. To Jhi Bo, it was another warning—probably go away, written in a number of scripts—but she knew it was just the thing to attract foolish Srivasi and his all-devouring curiosity. But then why wasn’t he still poring over it? The girl, Gerda, came into the dome, her eyes on the soaring pillar. The goats, wiser than their human, stayed outside. Gerda said something in a questioning tone. She might…

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Looking at Trees

In Western Pennsylvania where I grew up, you do not have to go out of your way to look at trees. Just on the farm my parents owned, a large blue spruce grew on one side of the driveway, and a stand of aspen on the other. In the front yard was a walnut tree, on the hill a black cherry tree, on another hill, three plum trees. Also on our thirty-five acres stood thirty-seven apple trees. (You might understand that as a child I learned to be picky about my fresh fruit. But this post is not about that. This post is about trees.) Ahem, yes. Trees. I grew up with trees everywhere. Though we had fields and pastures on the farm, they were divided by lines of trees. And the eastern half(ish) of the property was all trees. Real forest, that had been there forever–maples and oaks and elms and beeches and crabapple and choke-cherry and sassafras and– Trees. I loved them then. Now that I live in Southern Arizona, I love them more. Trees are so restful. Green and quiet, making the sunlight shimmer, home to birds and bugs and cute furry animals… I’m luckier now than I’ve been many times. I have mature, beautiful palm trees in my front yard. I have dwarf citrus trees in my back yard. I live across the street (practically) from a park with lots of big trees. That’s “lots” by Arizona standards. By Pennsylvania standards, that’s a pasture. So Sunday…

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5 Lessons I’ve Learned From Freelancing

I recently hit the year anniversary of my layoff, July 28th. I was sitting in the dentist chair and I remembered how scared I was that my life was changing in a major way. I no longer had a job, a job I’d had for the past sixteen years. I grew up there—I was just twenty-five when I was hired. I was forty-one when I was laid off. So, if you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you’ll know that I made the decision to work from home. Freelance editing and virtual assisting were my two main niches. I am now looking at freelance writing as a possibility, too. So what have I learned this past year? #1 Fear is a part of the process. There’s no way around it. It’s a huge change. I’ve spent hours just looking for clients with the ever-present threat of not having enough money to pay our bills. I’m happy to report that that has not happened yet. But the fear is real. Just not going to an office was an adjustment, too. Most people say we’re lucky. And we are. But after twenty years in office work, I literally had to relearn how to work. There are always distractions and things I never thought about because I wasn’t home. Now, things are different. Not bad. Just different. I was scared that I’d never be able to make the transition. That I was so hard-wired for office work that my brain wouldn’t be able…

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The Best Laid Plans

Oh, friends. I was so excited for September. The trees are already starting to turn and autumn (the best season, fight me) isn’t far away. Plus, for the first time ever, all my responsibilities will be in school, at least for part of the week. Free time! ahahahahah Or, at least, that was the plan. I made a list of all the writing things I was going to get done in September. It looks something like this: -Children’s books -Nonfiction series -Finish draft -Write anthology story -Edit first chapter on submission novel -Work on Sekrit Project II Admittedly, that is a lot of stuff. But I have guaranteed free time! For the first time in years! ahahahah Unfortunately, two things have combined to destroy all my writing plans. The first is that I have decided I need a change in day job. Admittedly I’m not really day-jobbing on a regular basis at the moment, but it turns out that editing/working on other people’s stories kills my enthusiasm to work on my own. So in a few years all my responsibilities will be at school full time, and I can go back to work in an industry that is creative, but differently creative. So I’m learning how to program. I picked out a course on Coursera and am about halfway done with it. But man, does it take a lot of work! More than I’ve spent working on my freelance and contract jobs in recent years. That by itself is eating…

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Farewell to Summer and Good Riddance

This is the way my summer has gone… I worked all summer, and most of the weekends were either miserably hot or rainy (or both!) so I didn’t get out and about very much. I sort of feel like I missed the summer. I did get some glorious long weekend afternoons on my shady back patio. We sprang for some good-quality patio furniture a few years ago, and that was an excellent decision — I swear that couch is more comfortable than the one in our living room (though my spouse would beg to differ). The vegetable garden was fairly minimal, but delicious as usual (more about that next time, probably). Writing was also fairly minimal, but better than it had been in the previous half-year, so that’s something. I have stuff in the works now that you’ll be seeing at TDP in 2019…stay tuned! Springtime here is usually grey and rainy, and I’m solar-powered, so I always wait for summer to arrive and my mood to perk up. Except this year, that last part didn’t happen. I think I’m pulling out of it now, but that was a long haul of just hanging in there. I’m looking ahead to a very busy September. That’s due to some happy events that I’m really looking forward to (including family stuff and my annual writers’ retreat with my in-person critique group!). But right now I’m still in the “all the prep aaah” stage. I strongly dislike winter, but as long as I’m…

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Coat of Scarlet: A Clockpunk Tale, Part 2

by Siri Paulson Read Part 1 first! Two days after the visit from the airship pirate, Marius was engrossed in the tiny stitches of a buttonhole when the shop door darkened. There was Niko again, frowning at the vest Marius was holding as if it had personally offended him. Today he wore a blue damask justacorps coat, snug enough through the torso to hint at his muscular shape, then flaring over the hips to end at the knee and show his finely turned legs in their white breeches to best effect. The fabric and cut of the coat were high-quality, Marcus saw, but the gold trim and other finishing details were not nearly as fine as on the coat he had left for mending. “What is that?” the pirate demanded, gesturing elegantly towards the vest. Marius realized he’d been staring. He set his needle hand moving again. “It’s a commission. Something for a party, I understand.” He’d been lucky to get such a complex job. Maybe, just maybe it would lead to more, extravagant outfits with details like cuffs and pleats and lots of fiddly little braids, or even a mantua for a lady, where he could really shine… “And what of my coat?” Marius looked up, blinking as his concentration fell away. Niko looked as imposing as he had the first time they had met, and he moved with an ease that implied that Marius’s stitches on his injury were doing their work well. But something about the way…

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Slumgullion

According to my research many moons ago, “slumgullion” is a stew kept on the back of the stove in a military kitchen. All the leftovers are tossed in, and someone who misses a meal because they are out on patrol or whatever can always be sure of a hot, if somewhat mysterious, filling meal. At least, that’s what I remember. I’m not looking it up. My point would be, oh look, KD is late posting again. Also, KD couldn’t think of anything to write about. So you get a slumgullion of hopefully tasty pictures from my phone to show you some of what I’ve been up to lately. (Except none of the work pics, because honestly, you don’t want to see the dripping ceiling or the broken door or the window or the wall or the–) So. I found this book at the library! It’s an Obama-Biden buddy mystery! The acknowledgement page said, “Thanks, Obama.” Heres a baby swallow who was hanging out at my work. He just decided he didn’t really care for this flying business, he was going to hang out in the shade on the ground, thank you very much. Eventually his parents did persuade him to try again. We can’t have a catch-all post without cat antics! Cat in a bag on the sin bin. Cat in the sun, like the glorious creature she is. Cat awaiting the Opening of the Door. It’s so cruel–she was locked out for perhaps two minutes while her human got…

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