Shower Plotting

My poor kiddo --  all the public schools are closed due to the bitter cold and slick streets, but she goes to a private school and thus, must attend classes.

*Bwahahaha*

*cough, cough, ahem*

Bless her heart. Plus she has swim this afternoon even though the pool where she swims is in a closed public school.

Double Whammy!

I'm so glad the holidays are over.

It's not that I don't love my family and enjoy having them around, I do.

But it's because I thrive on routine. And one thing that is disrupted when everyone is home is routine.

I'm also one of those people who hit vacations hard (sightsee, rides, and a list a mile long of things to do) that I need to come home to relax. . . after all the laundry is caught up, of course.

Last year, I managed to waste my writing time by having no focus and dithering my time away.

This year, I don't want the same thing to happen. I have to make a plan for my days, but it has to be flexible.

For example:

Today is bitterly cold with some ice and snow still on the road and there's no way hubs will be driving his car in this weather, so . . .

1) I have to take the kiddo and the hubby to work.

Since it's so cold, I'll postpone my walk until I take my kiddo to swim this afternoon. I don't need to run any errands or have any standing appointments with my mom, so I'll . .

2) Take a quick shower--by then the hot water will be replenished--and think about the plots of my stories. Cleaning is also good to help get the juices flowing.

Though my judge shows are on, I'll fight the urge to watch them, which will give me time to figure out my 'sagging middle' of FIRE and give me a chance to figure out what happens to the other three stories. I know how they will end, but it's the journey along the way that isn't making sense!

Especially for EARTH. I have no idea what is happening with this story, except the beginning. I have no idea how it will intertwine with the other stories, or . . .

Nope. NOT A CLUE. Maybe I can find someone to brainstorm with before I have to pick my kiddo up from school.

Since I gained so much weight over the holidays (and before!) I doubt if I'll be eating much lunch. Cottage cheese and salads will be calling my name!

So that gives me, roughly . . .

3) 5 to 5.5 hours to figure out these darn plots!

Gotta put on my woolies to take the family to school.

Later, Peeps!

Learning to Plot

So a few days ago on Facebook, I mentioned one writing tip is to NOT do what I did to get to this point in my writing career.

Writing, like weight loss, is a journey. None of us have the same path to travel. Some writers have an easier path than others, whether it's due to talent, perseverance, or just simply good luck.

While other writers seem to hit their head on the wall every single time they type on the keyboard, stare at mountains of nonsense notes to try to write a cohesive story, or simply are too stubborn to look beyond our own inability to realize other writers might actually know what they are talking about.

I'm one of the latter group.

Over the years, I took classes, read books, belonged to clubs as I wrote my first few novels, but I never could find the magic. I had convinced myself that I was a pantser type of writer, in other words, I had a basic idea for a story outline, but I chose to let my characters direct my path, Which meant I learned about my characters while I was writing.

But after 13 years of writing this way, I knew I needed to shake things up a little. . . especially if I wanted to do justice to my Elemental stories.

This particular set of story lines touch upon the other novels in the series.

So I'm learning how to PLOT a story.

I found a really good website (I'll post the link later if it really works for me!), and I'm going to review what plot is all about.

I have four sheets of paper and a handful of colored pencils on my table to figure out how my stories cross. I could probably do this with my new fangled touch screen computer, but I'll opt for the old fashioned way for right now as I'd have to learn how to actually USE the computer tools.

But THE FIRE WITHIN has a short synopsis, which means that it's mostly plotted, but I'll need to add a few points along the way. I'll use that story as a guide for how I want these stories to touch upon the other ones.

Wish me luck! I know I'll need it!

Later, Peeps!

Happy New Year! . . .and Goals

To borrow the Google doodle --

I hope y'all had a wonderful New Year's Eve! We farmed our daughter out to a friend's house for a sleepover, so it was just me and the hubs.

Leftover spaghetti, hot tub and two bottles of champagne later, I turned in . . . 30 minutes before midnight.

Well, it WAS midnight in New York City!

We just party hard, don't we?

So this morning, I was feeling a mite puny even after a couple cups of coffee, which is why this blog is a tad late.

I finished my blog housekeeping yesterday, and everything important should be hyperlinked under the tabs.

After my hubs persuaded me to rethink removing my stories from Amazon, I'm putting all my books under the Kindle KDP select program. I really don't make any money with these books, but I guess a couple of bucks a quarter is better than none. I doubt if I will actively promote these titles over the next year. I had thought about trying to get these works onto paper, but decided I'm tired of messing with the same stories over and over again.

So how did I do with my 2013 goals?

Truthfully, not very well. Kind of like the way my bullet points worked out .. .  I have no idea how to fix them, so after putzing around with them for the last 15 minutes they will be posted as a mess!

• ·         Continue healthy lifestyle by portion control, more fruit and veg, and walking--I lost my way toward the end of the year.
• ·         Live in the moment--technology can wait, but family and friends can’t--I surfed the Internet more, but with no purpose, which means I wasted more time doing nothing than I did when I played Farmville.
• ·         Judge 3 contests (name, # in category, date rec’d) -- I actually did this one, as I judged 5 contests--to the detriment of my writing. Plus one contest that was for published authors, which meant I had to read a completed book and not just 5,000 words.  
• ·         Crit when needed -- I critiqued for my friend Cyndi, but I don't know how much help I really was since she has tons of people wanting to crit her work, plus an editor!
• Write memoir -- How to Lose Weight While Eating Bonbons --  done--short version that I self published

  ·         Write middle grade Kyte Webber story -- Dragon Days of Summer -- Nope

  ·         Write new Adult element story -- The Fire Within -- Nope

  ·         Write cozy mystery -- Chocoholics Anonymous -- Nope

  ·         Write suspense -- Untitled Archaeology story -- Nope

  ·         Wrote picture book--Go away, Piper!

  ·         Wrote picture book -- Goblins Don’t Squeak

  ·         Wrote picture book -- Gnome Without A Home

  ·         Read 50 books--keep log--DONE-- I actually read 64 books.

 

Onward to 2014 Goals!

 

Many of my goals are similar to 2013, with the exception of actually accomplishing some writing.

 

I will post Weighty Wednesday and Foodie Friday blogs as the mood strikes me, along with various other blogs. Blogging take time and creative energy, which doesn't leave a whole lot for real writing.

 

I would like to write the Mystic Elementals stories. If nothing else, I'd like to get a rough plot for all of them.

 

Kyte Webber needs her next story written. I keep messing with the first 50 pages which means I'm not going anywhere with this story. I need to get some action started!

 

I might write a picture book or two, but I tend to add more words than is necessary and since I'm not an artist, these books will never see the light of day.

 

So what does that leave?

 

It leaves me to focus on some new stories. Stories that I want to write, not to publish, but simply for ME.

 

That's it for this year. I'll be writing to make me happy, not for anyone else.

 

 . . . I couldn't do worse than I did last year when I accomplished absolutely nothing on the writing side of things.

 

So think about your goals, not resolutions, you already know my thoughts about that term!

 

Later, Peeps! 

 

 

 

What Did You Get for Christmas?

So . . . what did y'all get for Christmas?

I've noticed that the older I get the less I want, or need, for Christmas. If I really need something, I just buy it. But then again, I'm fairly low maintenance and, now that I don't have an expensive hobby (owning a horse), I don't buy much of anything.

And I hate shopping, which means the hubs usually tells me to go buy some clothes when I need something for a special occasion, or because he was tired of seeing me wear the same thing over and over again.

So, what does a IT geek get his spouse?

A new computer, of course!

Here's my old one:

The actual computer is the black box on the left of the 24" monitor.

 

 

This computer is in the base of the 27" touchscreen monitor.

 

 

This computer also has Windows 8, so I'm experiencing a bit of a learning curve, along with figuring out the new low profile keyboard.

 

I like the look of the computer, very lean and sleek, but my fingers haven't figured out the keyboard yet. I have to stretch my right pinkie finger a little differently to hit the backspace key instead of the equals sign.

 

I also got a new pair of walking shoes . . . which have put holes on my heels. The blisters burst and started bleeding. Guess they won't accept bloody shoes at the return desk. I'll just have to break my feet in.

 

I also got a wicked looking knife from Williams-Sonoma. It looks like it will be a great chopping knife once I start cooking again. I haven't been cooking because I have a refrigerator full of food that needs to be eaten first!

 

This week I intend to do a little updating on my blog. I'll change a few things around and link the Weighty Wednesday and Foodie Friday blogs to the tabs.

 

I'll also be working on my goals for the year. Remember, goals not resolutions. Resolutions tend to get broken, while goals give you something to strive for!

 

Later, Peeps! 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

 

 

Ice Storm 2013

This was actually the second ice storm of the winter season. The first storm was sleet with the snow following close behind, but the roads froze into an icy mess. Schools were out for days because the school buses couldn't navigate the neighborhood streets.

This ice storm was a little different. It was freezing rain, which meant it rained but froze on all the exposed surfaces. Luckily the ground temperature was still warm so the road were just wet, until they freeze-dried over night.

Though ice-coated trees are beautiful they pose hazards, namely branches breaking when the weight becomes too much for the tree.

The pretty . . .

Our wrought iron table had about 1/3 inch of ice on it.

 



My spider was seriously coated. . . I should have trimmed my roses back before the storm. Oops.

Harry Lauder's walking stick tree

A wee bit of sunshine peeked through the grayness.

Miniature Heavenly bamboo bushes. There are six small ones here, but they had fused together into one mass.

 

And the not so pretty . . .

Our sad, sad river birch. If the fireplace wasn't there, I think we would have lost this trunk.

Pin Oak was nearly touching the ground, but the hubby trimmed some branches off to lighten the load.

Another view of the river birch.

Another view of the pin oak.

The other oak is to the left and we lost numerous branches on this one.

 

The loblolly pines in the back were the worst hit as the 2007 ice storm had done previous damage to their limbs. The piles of green on the ground on the far side of the pool are the broken branches.

My hubs trimmed some of the low branches to ease the weight on the trees. We'll still have to climb the trees to trim the branches that broke high up in the tree.

As soon as the ice melts, I know what we'll be doing. Yay! . . . not.

Later, Peeps!



Foodie Friday -- Bread Pudding with Warm Bourbon Sauce

Yes, I already have a bread pudding under my Foodie Friday tab, but I was telling my swim mom buddy, Margaret, about this recipe and promised to send it to her . . . three days ago.

Yikes! I hate making promises and then taking so long to make them happen, which is why I tend to drop all other work to judge contest entries. . . maybe I have things a little skewed in my head.

It's been known to happen.

Okay, this recipe is the one I made for this last Thanksgiving--it's a big pan, so I tripled the recipe! It's the dessert in the pretty blue pan. Sauce is not shown in this picture. The reason I like this recipe is due to the fact it's made from raisin bread--I don't like raisins, but I do like raisin bread!

 

 

Bread Pudding with Warm Bourbon Sauce

4 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1 cup whipping cream

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

4 cups day-old cinnamon raisin bread with crusts, cut into 1/2-inch squares

1/2 cup pecans, chopped and toasted

 

Butter 8-inch square baking Whisk, first 6 ingredients in medium bowl. Place bread and pecans in prepared dish. Pour milk mixture over and let stand 5 minutes. Push down bread into custard. Refrigerate 2 hours, pushing bread into custard occasionally.

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place bread putting in large metal baking pan. Add enough boiling water to baking pan to come 1 inch up the sides of the dish with the bread pudding. Bake until pudding is puffed and golden brown on top, about 50 minutes. Remove dish with bread pudding from water and cool slightly.

 

Cut into squares. Serve bread pudding warm with sauce.

 

Bourbon Sauce

 

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1/2 cup sugar

3 Tbls. whipping cream

2 Tbls. bourbon

Pinch of salt

 

Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in remaining ingredients. Simmer until thickened, whisking often, about 3 minutes. Cool slightly.

 

Tips & Tricks:

• make sure you have two pans, one that fits inside the other one before you start making this pudding. Yes, it has to have the 'steam' factor so it doesn't over cook on the sides and bottom
• I bought fresh raisin bread, but cut it up and let it dry in the baking dish for a few hours before making this. I would toss it occasionally to get all the pieces dry.
• you can refrigerate the unbaked pudding in the refrigerator overnight, instead of only two hours, and bake it in the morning
• place the pudding pan into the empty steaming pan and place on oven rack before you pour boiling water into the steaming pan. This way you don't take the chance of sloshing the water into your pudding or on yourself while getting it into the oven.
• Bourbon sauce is GOOD! *nom, nom, nom, slurp*
• Use a high quality of whiskey and the flavor will be outstanding. I used Devil's Cut Whiskey. Actually, I use this whiskey to make caramel and my chocolate truffle filling. It has the best flavor!

Enjoy, Peeps!

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