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Month: May 2019

Settling In, Dreaming of a Green Garden

Before we go any further, I should point out that Siri is the gardener around here. I’m just a dabbler, and will likely remain so–especially since most of my backyard is concrete, and the only water in the backyark is a faucet with a hose so rusted I can’t remove it, that runs to not-good irrigation for two citrus trees, a place a citrus tree was, and leaves out two citrus trees. My kid is certain the concrete is covering up a pool someone didn’t want to bother taking out properly. I don’t know, but it’s one more reason (the other being weeding) to just leave the concrete where it is instead of pulling it up to put in a garden. So yeah. Container garden. The roomie and I have long entertained wistful thoughts of a container garden. Or just growing a few herbs, the ones we love the most. We can’t grow herbs in the house, you see. The cat eats plants, and all the places (presumed to be) safe from the cat are already taken up with my beloved houseplants. Also the kitchen is a cave with no windows, so goodbye pleasant dream of a windowsill herb garden. We’re probably going to put a skylight in the kitchen eventually, but not yet. And there still won’t be a windowsill. So a container garden, out on the concrete. Where the faucet can’t be used. Excuse me a moment while I run and put “penetrating oil” on the join to…

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Thank God for Physical Therapy

Well, of course it’s a Godsend after having foot surgery. I’m getting my mobility back, one step at time. But did you know that PT is really good for writerly brainstorming? We do mostly the same things every time—strength building, weight bearing, massage. At the end, I get “stim and cold pack” which just means using a TENS unit to give me electrical pulses and putting an ice pack on my foot. So there’s about fifteen minutes where I’m literally doing nothing but thinking. Or resting. Or zoning. Sleeping, no. Not yet, anyway. <grin> So I hit a wall in The Vanishing, my work in progress. Reaper Girl #3. Due in August. (No pressure.) I couldn’t figure out how to get from one place in the plot to another. Everything I thought about felt lame and too easy and contrived. I’d last left Leliel and Rick at their favorite diner, sharing breakfast and discussing the <something spoilery> they found. They needed to discover the next plotty bit. I was tired of not writing (Sunday doesn’t count because Game of Thrones finale) or writing just a few hundred words (deadline) so I started poking my muse and asking her questions. And while I am still a bit shaky on the what, I do have a bonus why. I figured out quite a lot in that short fifteen-minute period. I have literally had no other time to really dig into it. I was planning on doing a freewrite—which I still might do—but…

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The Hibernator

Surprise, it’s me again! Kit had to bow out this week, so you’ll get her twice later on instead. It’s been a tough spring around here. The weather has been cold and wet for months (my day-job boss made a crack about how we seem to have moved to Vancouver — think Seattle if you’re American, or Scotland if you’re British), the world continues to be a dumpster fire in new and exciting ways, and all I want to do is hibernate. So I’ve been hibernating. Aside from the attempts at nesting I told you about last time, I’ve been reading more, watching Netflix (our new favourite show is The Good Place), and getting constantly sucked into Facebook. Some of those things are healthier coping mechanisms than others, I will admit… On the nesting front, we’ve also been tinkering with recipes. Most recently we’ve worked out: an excellent salad — arugula, cherry tomatoes, walnuts, some kind of cheese (blue, goat, Brie, Camembert, you name it), and homemade vinaigrette (based roughly on this) our new favourite brunch dish, huevos rancheros — our somewhat inauthentic version involves layering cheese quesadillas, BBQ pork or beef (fried up with some vegetables), and fried eggs, with maybe some hot sauce on top roasted beets — why do we never think of buying beets? Roasted in the oven with a little oil drizzled on top, they’re so flavourful, as it turns out! Perhaps helped along by all this delicious food, I’m gradually coming out of this…

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Misadventures in Decorating

I’m a firm believer in the importance of what I call “creative cross-training”–doing creative things that are not your primary hobby (or calling). It’s good for the brain, and it’s relaxing in a way that, say, writing a sequel isn’t. *ahem* But that doesn’t mean there are no challenges. Have you ever watched a home decorating show or flipped through a decor magazine? They make it look so easy. And yet… My spouse and I have been trying to turn our attic into a cozy sitting room / writing retreat space. It’s been a multi-year process. First the room had to be finished and refloored, then climate-controlled. Initially it was going to be a workout room that doubled as a guest room. We bought a daybed, a padded bench, curtains and storage, a decorative wall mirror that was also big enough to check your form on yoga poses. That worked for a while, but it wasn’t getting used enough in either capacity. The next plan was to create an at-home writing retreat. The rest of our house is fairly utilitarian or at least halfheartedly/haphazardly decorated, so I was excited to make one space that looked deliberately designed. I hopped on Pinterest and pinned a ton of cozy cabins and home libraries, lots of wood and an old-fashioned vibe that made me think “fantasy world”. Then the plan met reality. Even the scaled-down version turned out to be wayyy beyond our capacity to actually create. Did I mention this version of…

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Sun Touched

a free serial set in the Fey Touched universeby Erin Zarro Part 5 Get caught up: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 DAY 2 – Continued                 The hallway was strangely quiet as we walk-hobbled. I kept waiting for more rogues to materialize from the shadows, but none did.                 “How do we get out of here?” I asked Ry. There were several doors on both sides of the hallway, but nothing jumped out to me as the way out. It reminded me of an old, creepy castle.                 Ry took a deep, rattling breath. I remembered that tomorrow was day three. If I didn’t heal him…he would die.                 Tomorrow.                 It felt like a sucker punch. I wasn’t even sure I liked him. I wasn’t sure I was going to heal him. But the thought of him dying clearly did something to me. Something I didn’t understand.                 And I didn’t want to think on it too deeply.                 “There’s a door on the left that leads to another hallway. We take that all the way down, turn left, and we’re there.” Ry coughed.                 “Sounds pretty easy,” Tanya murmured.                 “Oh, but it might not be. Not if I have anything to do with it,” a voice said. It was male, and it was coming from in front of us, but no one was there.                 “That’s Andre.” Ry coughed again. “He’s mastered the art of hiding behind illusions. C’mon, Andre, show…

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