The Girdle of Melian

iatus! (thank you to Magali Studer for the drop cap!) Following my happy announcement from a few months ago, the due date is fast approaching! I'm going to be rerunning a few classic posts on the blog from now until January; I'll miss some Insecure Writer's Support Group posts and checking in for A Round of Words in 80 Days , though I may try to note some updates in comments. And my Books Read in 2018 post will likely be delayed! Meanwhile, I've been reading some good books! One is a classic, Catalina by Somerset Maugham. The other is a new release by Kait Nolan ! "Just a fling," she said... Tess Peyton wanted to do something fun and reckless and wholly out of character. A steamy weekend with a Scotsman seems like a plan. When her Scotsman turns out to be a good Southern boy, that's a minor deviation. Then one night turns to two, two turns to more, and suddenly she knows she's in way over her head. This is why one should always...

oals time already! (thanks to Magali Studer for the lovely drop cap!) We're entering the final round of A Round of Words in 80 Days (time flies when you look back!), so let's see how I did... Here are my goals for ROW80 Round Three , with the completed ones marked: Blog and craft-related goals mail completed craft projects -- done! complete current knitting project and send -- done! update list of books read catch up on blog comments! schedule advance posts for during vacation Open for guest posts! If anyone would like to write a guest post for this blog, please let me know! It's always fun having visitors, and exciting to see the comments coming in while I'm away. Current writing goals enter handwritten edits to first three chapters of Captive of the Sea and Out of the Water prepare synopsis and query letter for Captive of the Sea edit synopsis and query letter for Out of the Water enter handwritten edits to The Handful of Time (working t...

ere's another knitting project I've completed! Besides the one or two projects that have sat on needles for too long now, and have no hope of ever being completed, this means I haven't any knitting in progress at the moment. I'd like to knit some mittens for winter, and start a great big ambitious Fairisle project, but we shall see. (Thank you to Magali for the drop cap!) Besides, that wasn't part of my original ROW80 goals! Here's sort of how I phrased my September goals on thelitforum : Things I think about: Knitting -- I have ideas for two new projects, and one project that's almost completed. No pressure on this goal [g] Editing -- two novels ( The Handful of Time , Captive of the Sea ) still need to be worked on. Plus there's that short story anthology idea... Not a priority right now! Writing -- I should still be plotting Amelie's story in preparation for NaNoWriMo, but all I'm really doing is writing the new novel...

super quick post today, as things have suddenly gotten extra busy... Thanks again to illustrator Magali Studer for the drop cap! Today is Insecure Writer's Support Group Day! The optional question for this month is: What publishing path are you considering/did you take, and why? I've always considered traditional publishing, because I grew up in the era when self-publishing meant a fanzine photocopied at your parent's office or a book you'd had printed through an author-gouging vanity publisher. The landscape has changed enormously since then! I think self-publishing is an amazing option nowadays, for those who wish to control the entire process, and are able to employ the right editors, designers, copy editors, and so on that can help them get the book finalized. Self-published or traditionally published, there's nothing like the formal editing process for making a manuscript shine. I've been thinking all year of self-publishing a mini ...

am experimenting with a new drop cap today, from a gorgeous alphabet by a Swiss designer! I've got three recommendations to share, of a book, a film, and a blog post on how to kill your darlings (a phrase from Stephen King). The book is Handywoman by Kate Davies "Paralysed by a stroke at the age of 36, Kate Davies' world turned upside-down. Forced to change direction, Kate took a radical new creative path. Handywoman tells this story. This is not a book about Kate's triumph over adversity. Rather, it is her account of the ordinary activities and everyday objects that stroke and disability made her see differently. From braiding hair for the first time to learning how to knit again; from the lessons of a working-class creative childhood to the support of the contemporary knitting community; from the transformative effects of good design to developing a new identity as a disabled walker; in this engaging series of essays, Kate describes how th...

uick post! And quick ROW80 update, too. Mainly because I've dropped most everything else and am forging ahead on the short story/novella I started a couple of weeks ago (original 900+ word version is in my previous post below). Here are a few of the inspirational images I've collated on Pinterest: And here's a brief snip, added to the story since my last post: A hand reached down to take the snorkel, leaving me free to swing onto the ladder and climb up. It was Justin. He stood off to the side as I clambered onto the deck. I wrapped a towel around myself, debating. But there was nothing for it; I wanted to show off my photos and he was the only one not dozing in the sun or splashing around in the water on the other side of the boat. I could smell sizzling grilled meat and peppers, and one of the crew was laying a table for lunch. “I saw a seal,” I said casually. “Are you sure?” His question caught me off guard, and I paused in the act of swinging the camera...

ummertime! I haven't been quite working on my ROW80 goals, as it's very hot around here at the moment, but I have been writing, so not entirely prostrate and lazy with the heat. I've just written a short story that evolved from the August Writer's Exercise on the Forum , and it happens to fit the parameters of this month's Write...Edit...Publish challenge! Here are the details of both: Forum exercise: This month "we will write a travel-account, either based on a diary, an essay, a travel journal or a letter or a series of postcards. This is meant to be a fun exercise, so there are two options to choose from. A fictional type of travel-writing. Here I will give those who choose this option the name of a character. You'll take this character, imagine who he/she is and what they are like, and then you will send them on holiday. You can pick any style of travel writing you like: letters, essay, postcards, a literary account of the travel. It ca...