Author Archives: Autumn

In Which She Wonders What To Do Now

This morning after I dropped the boy off I did some banking, picked up a few things like milk and juice, searched fruitlessly all over for the toy car Liam’s chosen as his next potty goal, bought a linen skirt and shirt with the gift certificates/credit notes from Christmas gifts that didn’t fit, and searched equally fruitlessly for dark coloured t-shirts that aren’t handkerchief thin. I’ve been fighting an odd throat cold for the past five days. I had no voice at all on Thursday and Friday, one that rasped and faded in and out on Saturday and Sunday, and isn’t much better today. While I was out I found a Tylenol product for aches and dry cough, so I’ll be taking those to help me sleep. We’ve been running the humidifier but my throat is still spasmy and tickly at night. I’m hoping these help suppress the dry cough.

When Ceri was over on Saturday she teased me by asking what I was going to jump into next, and course I had nothing officially lined up. The first few days post-book are always odd: I want to give myself a break, but I’m restless and keep trying to think of things to do. There’s a box of cello books that will be here tomorrow or Wednesday, but that’s not soon enough. I usually leave the reference books associated with a particular project by my desk for a while too, but by late Friday afternoon I’d cleared all the hearthcraft ones away and was left staring at an empty space on my desk. I turned around to look at my shelves and saw my Vivaldi biographies.

Guess what’s starting up again in my brain.

I realised that for some reason I’d never made a themed notebook for my Vivaldi research, so while the boy napped on Sunday I opened my file and browsed through the images I’d saved a year and a half ago as inspiration, then searched for one or two more for landscapes and such things. I resized some and put them through a sepia filter, printed them out, and tried a couple of layouts. I have one I’m happy with, so I may try to transfer it to my notebook this afternoon. The last time I did one of these it didn’t work as well, though; the ink ran and soaked through the paper. I may have to test different glues and varnishes first so I don’t ruin it.

Evidently I was tapping in to a worldwide Vivaldi movement in October of 2006, because there are an unusual number of books and documentaries being released and filmed now. There’s nothing along the lines of what I’m writing, though, so I’m going to try slipping back into it.

Not that I may have much time! I have a meeting this coming Friday morning with the company for whom I did language consulting work last spring, to talk about the sequel project.

Weekend Roundup

Thank you everyone! Your enthusiastic comments were such a wonderful way to begin my first Monday morning post-book.

We had a fabulous weekend. Not only was the weather glorious, but we spent time with family and friends (both planned and unexpectedly), and picked up some things we needed.

Saturday morning we headed out to the bookstore, because the boy’s latest potty achievement was to be rewarded with a new train. He and HRH played with the train set on display while I wandered lazily and tried to remember what books I’d been diverting onto my wish list. I found Ophelia by Lisa Klein and The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James, neither of which had been on my list at all. Then we went upstairs “to see Mama’s books”, which means checking to see if they’re on the shelf and signing them if they are. Every month when I stop by there’s another half dozen that are unsigned, so they’re selling through steadily enough. I gathered them up and brought them to the nearest staff terminal and said, “Hi, I’m an author and these are my books you have in stock. I was wondering if you’d like me to sign them?” (See how far I have come!) The clerk looked at me and blinked, then said, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.” “I wrote these books,” I said, smiling. “They’re your shelf stock. Would you like me to sign them?” She blinked again, and then suddenly clued in. “Oh! Oh, wow! Oh, yes — I mean, I think so, let me just call a manager and check.” So she called and got the okay, and offered me her pen. I signed them and handed them back to her, and she said, “Wow, this is so cool. You know, we do signings too — if you have a new book coming out you can just call Mike, our manager, and he’ll set you up and everything.” I thanked her and used her name (hurrah for nametags), shook her hand, and wished her a great day. As we walked away I heard the other clerk at the terminal with her say, “Wow, I’ve never met a real author before.” HRH and I giggled all the way down the elevator. Ah, yes; I remember that time, back when I was still new in the book business and I didn’t know authors were Real People too, who lived in the neighbourhood and had families.

We ran into Jeff and Tallis on our way along the sidewalk to visit the pet store, taking a walk while Paze did some shopping. We took them along with us and all said hi to Derek, a former animation classmate of HRH and Jeff (yes, such a wonderful industry, that has talented artists working in pet shops). Then we went back home to have lunch and a rest before Ceri and Scott came over for the first barbecue of the season! We had burgers and potato salad, and Ceri brought brownies for dessert that we ate with ice cream and strawberries. It felt so good to be out in the sun on such a gorgeous afternoon. As they left the full moon was rising right between the two houses opposite our front door, a luminous apricot in a faintly lavender-grey sky, and it was breathtaking.

Sunday morning we went out and did a round of errands. The boy got his next car seat, one that uses the car’s seat belts, as well as a new cap to replace the one that’s swimming with the ducks, new running shoes (size eight, good gods), and a red t-shirt with a Canadian flag on the front to replace the one he outgrew last summer. (He had pleaded to wear the one HRH was wearing last Thursday night, you see.) After the nap we went to the south shore to take a look at the second-hand Saturn Ion we’d been eyeing and reading up on. The original plan was to drop him off with his grandparents but his nap had begun and ended late (we’d had to wake him up, in fact) so in order to get to the dealership before they closed we brought him with us. He enthusiastically helped us examine the car. The first place we looked was in the trunk, because let’s be realistic, if a cello isn’t going to fit there’s not much point. We popped it open and our jaws dropped at the size: it’s bigger than the trunk area in our current station wagon. “But this is too big for us!” the boy exclaimed. We assured him that it wasn’t, and took a look at the interior. He very seriously crawled all over the back and tested each seat there, and even pulled the shoulder belt down and tried to fasten it, making sure it worked. Meanwhile HRH and I were exploring the front and marvelling at how open and roomy it was. While HRH looked under the hood I sat in the driver’s seat and Liam came to stand in the middle of the car, balancing one hand on each headrest as he looked at me. “Mama,” he said earnestly, “this car is too big for us.” “No, it really isn’t,” I said. “Do you like it?” “Yes,” he said. “I can sit there now?” So I let him sit in the driver’s seat and feel important while HRH and I talked with the saleswoman about taking it for a test drive.

On our way back to our car the boy pulled me over to a Pontiac Wave and said, “See, this car is perfect!” “It’s nice and compact, I said, “but a little too small for what we need. Do you like the black one?” “Yes,” he said. “I could have my new car seat in it?” “You could,” I agreed. Then we all went to spend the rest of the afternoon with HRH’s parents and have a delicious dinner. I had completely exhausted myself by that point so wasn’t very good company, but it was lovely to just sit and be quiet while the boy played with all his toys and the afternoon sun streamed in the front windows.

Knowing the book had been finished and the beautiful warm and sunny weather went a long, long way towards making the weekend wonderful.

Ta-Da!

Gentle readers, the book tentatively titled The Way of the Hearth Witch: The Magic of Hearth and Home is finished.

All chapter numbers have been corrected, both in chapter headings and in the text; all the proper coding and formatting has been inserted; I caught some things that I had to handle; I took some things out, popped others in, and made sure my bibliography actually listed the books I suggested people read. The final word count stands at 60,141. (There are 6,328 words languishing in my file of deleted material, to give you an idea of what’s come out in the past few days.)

Now I will write my cover letter, and send it off to my editor. And then I suspect I’ll wander around the house aimlessly for a couple of hours, because I do not remember what Life Without Book is like.

ETA: I just sent it all off. I love this book again; I no longer hate it. And you know, I don’t think there’s ever been a book I’ve handed in where I wasn’t wibbly about whether they’d like it or not. I am proud of it; that is what matters this time. And I think they’ll like it.

Erm…

… I think I just finished the book.

Not Finished-Finished, as in ‘I can send this off to the editor now’, but finished-finished in that I think it’s all basically there, and I just need to go through it to insert/check formatting code and scan for highlighted areas where I left myself notes to tidy up or explain or insert things.

There are the rough patches and bits where my argument kind of stops and needs a better summing up before moving on to the next topic, but I’ll leave those for the editors to point out. I can always keep looking at it on my end and fix them when the first rewrite comes back. (I am still twitching obsessively to a degree, but it’s only taken me five books to learn that it does not all have to be perfect in the first draft. Mostly perfect is acceptable.)

And then there’s the search for references to chapter numbers that I have to find and correct, thanks to the new chapter 2.5 (soon to be Chapter Three!). The new chapter is only ten pages long, which is about half the size of an average chapter in this book, so I suspect I’ll be asked to move other material into it or create something the editors feel is missing there. Right now I am too fried to look for it, and the other stuff takes precedence.

So yeah: Finished-Finished tomorrow. Wow. After officially beginning in November and living with the subject for five months, I am definitely at the point of the relationship with this book where I need time away. (it’s not you, book, it’s me, please don’t take it personally.)

It has been a very good day.

A Very Good Day So Far, And More To Come

I’m feeling terrific today. It’s sunny and going up to 21 degrees C (woo!). I did a pile of groceries after dropping a cheerful boy off at the caregiver’s, bought myself an Iced Cappuccino on the way home, and sat on the front balcony in the sun to write sixish pages of ritual and new chapter material. Go me! And I did it in a tank top and rolled-up jeans, too; it was that warm and sunny. Evidently I need capris, and soon. Maggie sat in the sun with me, and Cricket complained until I let her out too, at which point she tried to run away from home by jumping to the neighbours’ balcony and down to their front porch. I came inside, put my shoes on, and went out round front to pick her up. She fought me every step of the way home. She wouldn’t last half a day out there, and I told her so, but she wouldn’t listen, the ungrateful thing.

Also in the day’s good news column, I was contacted to reprise my consultant position on a sequel project by the company I did two-ish months of in-house work for last spring. My first thought was, “Yay, I can meet Ceri and Scott regularly for lunch, and do group lunches with like-minded individuals every once in a while!”. My second was, “They liked me, they really liked me!” And the third was, “Yay, excellent and regular income!”. Then I remembered that I was looking forward to being home with the boy again once the book had been handed in and only sending him to daycare two days a week, and I was a bit sad, but work is work. I’ll negotiate working a day at home every couple of weeks. The contract is just a contract and won’t be forever, just another couple of months.

Naturally, because I have just foreseen an influx of money, I have just queried my favourite on-line cello supply store about half a dozen books of sheet music and essays and the associated shipping and handling. I am incorrigible. I am also hoping Shiny New Books will inspire me to practice more. That may be problematic if I’m working full-time. Ah well, books keep.

Now to transcribe all the handwritten material from this morning and see what kind of state Chapter 2.5 is in. And I have more handwritten stuff from last night to insert in the final chapter as well. Hmm. I have piles of paper all over my desk, and I can’t tell what’s what as I used the backs of the printed chapters as scratch paper… except where I used them to expand upon what was on the opposite printed page. This could be interesting.

The Hat Drama: Resolution

It’s now been a day and a bit since the boy lost his hat. He has asked us dozens of times what happened to it, not because he doesn’t remember, but because he’s making it sure it all happened and learning the story by heart. After yesterday’s nap, we have decided that ducks are going to use it to make a nest.

Last night at the dinner table he said, “My hat fell in the water.”

“Yes, it did.”

“The ducks are going to make a nest in it.”

“That’s right.”

“And they will have sweet dreams in it.”

That part was new, and all his own. HRH and I exchanged startled but touched glances and agreed that yes, any duck who slept in a nest made from his hat would have very sweet dreams indeed. The boy is very satisfied with this, and we are, too. He’s a good-hearted kid.

Eleventh Hour

I just realised that the book is missing a chapter.

*facepalm*

No, no, it’s not that I miscounted and in fact have two non-existent chapters to assemble; only Chapter Ten needs the rits and such, which is what I’m working on today. I was scanning the four pages of random notes I’d been typing in at the end of the file when they suddenly clicked for me, and I realised that there really needs to be a separate chapter addressing how one works with a spiritual hearth.

This is not the staggering crisis it may seem. The fourish pages of notes tie together quite nicely, and there were threeish pages in Chapter Two that I’ve just moved into what I’m currently calling Chapter Two Point Five. The material really needs its own focus instead of being shoehorned into Chapter Two. Suddenly things are falling into place, and I’m somewhat relieved because I was always vaguely unhappy with the whole nebulosity of this particular element in the book.

It is, however, a minor crisis in that I now have to smooth out/link/expand another chapter when I thought I was all done but for the final chapter. Chapter Two Point Five has just been scheduled for Friday in place of obsessively scanning the MS.

This is a good thing. It’s not such a good thing in that I’ve just created more work for myself, but the book will be the better for it.

Sigh.