The Girdle of Melian

nother NaNoWriMo under my belt! I didn't get quite as many words as I'd like -- was hoping to have the final action scene written already, since I find those difficult. Then I can reward myself with the fun of writing the Happily Ever After epilogue! But hey, at least I don't have to type it all up! I've been getting better at drafting straight into the notes app on my phone. It's more intuitive than drafting on the computer (which has way too many distractions) and comes closest to the feeling of falling into the story that writing on paper gives. Paper actually has other limitations for me -- I'm more inclined to slack off and write silly things, especially in dialogue, and to start writing in note form rather than complete sentences, to the detriment of the story. I've just spent a few minutes hunting for a snip to share. They all seem confusing or sappy or too mysterious when out of context, but I think the moment when Rory's ex-wife re...

hotos! I'm all out of brain power -- and so far behind in visiting other blogs! -- in the last two weeks of school. Not to mention that NaNo is going strong. I'm juggling the pacing of the end of the story at the moment, trying to save myself a lot of rewriting later. Although I've left a trail of too many "insert this scene" and "figure out this murder plot" notes behind me. No one ever said that planning a murder investigation was easy! Hope you enjoy these photos of a recent weekend visit to Thun, a town near Interlaken in Switzerland:  Thun marketplace  Signposts! Showing the distances to Rome, London, and many other places  Interesting mural on the steps up to the castle  View from the hotel room!  Paintings inside the church on castle hill  Church and castle  Views over Lake Thun from castle hill  16th century house on castle hill  Playing in autu...

ound of Words in 80 Days update! We have 35 days to go in this round. These were my initial ROW80 goals (shared the same day as my cover reveal !): September: Learning: Keep up with graduate school work! Performance: catch up on the September X on the Forum and finish entering all edits for The Charm of Time October: Learning: Keep up with graduate school work! Performance: send The Charm of Time to betas, work on two short stories with a view to submitting them places, (re)learn how to crochet! November: Learning: Essays for school Performance: NaNo! Time to work on the sequel to The Charm of Time, which I've been calling A Handful of Time (which is the title of one of my favourite YA books, by Kit Pearson) December: Learning: Keep up with graduate school work! Performance: Take a break! Time for a reading holiday. Probably with some crocheting, too. I'll also be busy compiling my year-end books read posts and statistics. As is the nature of ROW80, th...

laylist! It occurs to me that I haven't shared a story playlist in a while. Usually, my playlists are directly related to songs that my characters are listening to or love. This collection, for The Charm of Time and A Handful of Time , is a bit different, as it's mainly songs that remind me of what's going on in the story, and some of the emotional arcs that need to be resolved. Although the second song is one of Christianne's favourites, and Rory is a grunge rock fan... Hope you like them! The Smiths, Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want Roxette, The Heart-Shaped Sea Neil Finn, Second Nature (the song from his new album, Out of Silence, that most reminds me of Rory and Christianne is Love Is Emotional, but that one's not available on YouTube) Whisky Trench Riders, Some Memories Don't Fade Alice in Chains, Would? Alice in Chains, Jar of Flies (album) The Carter Family, The Storms on the O...

ini book reviews are back! Kait Nolan has a new book out this week! Good old, reliable Pru. Of the four Reynolds sisters, Pru is the natural choice to take on custody of the girl their late mother had planned to adopt. At thirty, suddenly becoming the mom of a teenager means big changes, but Pru's ready to do whatever it takes to adopt Ari. Before she settles down, though, she wants one thing for herself. Enter Flynn Bohannon, the sinfully sexy Irish musician in town for her sister's wedding. He's led the kind of free, vagabond life Pru can hardly imagine. Definitely not the kind of guy she should be dating, but he's the perfect guy for a crazy fun fling before her life changes. When Pru proposes a brief, no strings affair, Flynn's not about to say no. But when unexpected complications endanger the adoption, the two find themselves in a phony engagement. Now they have to convince a sharp-eyed, skeptical social worker, a teen who's too smart for he...