A LITTLE BIT OF THIS. A LITTLE BIT OF THAT

Incredibly my last post was six months ago. But every time I consider blogging, I just feel that it will steal from novel writing.  And why would I want to do that? Anyway, I've decided to try something new which is to journal a little nearly every day and then post it once a week.

MONDAY (hanging with Dad, squirrel hunting - the 2 are unrelated)

Our family met with Dad last night to explore options for keeping him in his home as long as possible. There are 8 of us to share the responsibility/pleasure. Dad's always been a doer and a server. Now it's his turn to be cared for and he's handling his lack of independence gracefully.

Dad serving coffee to his children a year or 3 ago.

I can write from his home, read, and do online research. Today I'm tweaking a squirrel hunting scene that gets to the heart of my character's story. I watched some "how-to kill a squirrel" clips on YouTube. But I much prefer watching  squirrels scampering in our backyard as I did from my deck this morning.

TUESDAY(work-in-progress)

I called the local history museum to ask if they'd gather research materials for me on local schools and moonshine in 1941 - not that the two have any thing to do with each other.  I'm working on a novel proposal and wow, at a minimum I need 3 chapters and an outline.  Chapters are easy for me.  Sort of.  I have 11 written but um, uh, um now what?  I have a general idea where this book is going but the whole idea of plot is scaring me a smidge. 

Hubby suggested I get in NaNoWriMo mode and just write like mad, rather than trying to plot this out. Speaking of which, I love this plotting post by Jami Gold.  Beat Sheets For Plotters, Pansters, and Techophobes.  And yeah, I'm kind of working with her 4 major story beats rather than a full on outline.

WEDNESDAY (eating avocado seed)
We had coffee on the grill this morning since we woke up to no electricity.  Which also meant no internet which isn't such a bad idea once in a while. Hubby and I chatted more than usual and he listened while I brainstormed my work-in-progress.  Electricity returned and I ate an avocado seed, pulverized in a smoothie. It's bitter but the taste can be masked with just the right ingredients.  I'll let you know what those are when I figure it out.  Nut butters seem to work well. 


SATURDAY (Whatever happened to Thursday and Friday?)
Apparently Thursday and Friday evaporated into thin air.  In fact, I just now realized that I totally forgot to show up at the history museum to use the materials they agreed to gather for me. I can tell you I was with people mostly. And I mostly did not write.  But I did spend some time thinking about characters and also working on incorporating the build up to war (WWII) in my story.

We had rain which we desperately needed and everything turned gorgeous on us. I am so struck by the sight of golden wheat against the backdrop of greenery. And no, this picture does not do it justice.

Today, I anticipate doing yard work. Right after spending time with the 2 grands who stayed overnight.