Category Archives: Words Words Words

Crusade

I have issues with poor punctuation and grammar, especially on signage. Most of the time I can grit my teeth against it and carry on. Incorrect use of quotation marks, however, is something that drives me over the edge.

Neil Gaiman posted a link to The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks and made my day.

And just because, I’m including an Angry Flower comic that Lightspeedchick modified for me a few years ago. Bob’s Quick Guide to the Apostrophe is the original (which is also very funny because it is true); her modification for me is below.

Poetry Offering for Imbolc

I am somewhat late on the annual Imbolc post-a-poem-for-Brigid fest (but not really by my calculation, since the way I calculate things Imbolc began yesterday and carries through today, and indeed I celebrate it for about ten days), but here is my offering. It’s a wonderful poem that Pasley found and asked HRH to read at Tallis’ naming ceremony yesterday.

Advice from a Tree
By Ilan Shamir

Dear Friend,

Stand Tall and Proud
Sink your roots deeply into the Earth
Reflect the light of a greater source
Think long term
Go out on a limb
Remember your place among all living beings
Embrace with joy the changing seasons
For each yields its own abundance
The Energy and Birth of Spring
The Growth and Contentment of Summer
The Wisdom to let go of leaves in the Fall
The Rest and Quiet Renewal of Winter

Feel the wind and the sun
And delight in their presence
Look up at the moon that shines down upon you
And the mystery of the stars at night.
Seek nourishment from the good things in life
Simple pleasures
Earth, fresh air, light

Be content with your natural beauty
Drink plenty of water
Let your limbs sway and dance in the breezes
Be flexible
Remember your roots

Enjoy the view!

It was wonderful advice to give to an infant, and good for everyone to hear. (The ceremony was lovely; Tallis was the only one not crying. A success all round. More tomorrow.)

This poetry offering ties in to the ones being sponsored by Oak (who is carrying on the tradition begun by Reya), among others.

Hearthcraft Book Update

Total word count, hearthcraft book: 25,049
New words today: 2,048

That’s more like it. Now I’m where I want to be: past 25K and a day’s yield of 2K. I’m happy.

Having three days in a row to work really helps keep me focused. Adding the extra day at the caregiver’s every second week when the boy spends Friday with his grandma was brilliant. On these Fridays, HRH takes the car to work and drops Sparky off en route. This helps me immensely, as all I have to do when I get up is make tea, have some toast, help get them out the door, and then sit down to work. I get to the computer around two hours earlier than I usually do on this day because I don’t have to head out to the caregiver’s and run whatever errands need to be run on the way home, and the workday is longer because I don’t have to stop writing at four-thirty, when I’m on a roll.

I’m feeling a lot better about the project. I can see that it will really start to coalesce over the next couple of weeks. I’ll feel even better once it’s vaguely recognizable as a book, instead of a collection of unconnected thoughts and uneven sections.

Yay me.

Reissue News!

I just received a message from my editor at Provenance Press. She told me that The Way of the Green Witch is selling steadily (hurrah!) and that they’re reissuing it with a new cover!

I can’t tell you how thrilled I am about this. Hearing that a book is selling steadily is always good news, but to hear that the cover is being redone made my week. I am less than fond of the Way of the Green Witch cover; I was disappointed with it when they showed me the final version and suggested several other possibilities, including some of the very different original cover they proposed for it, but without success. The new cover is being finalised right now, and as soon as I have a picture of it I’ll post it. I’m so excited!

My editor is also pushing for a reissue of Solitary Wicca for Life with a new cover. Updates as events warrant!

Hearthcraft Book Update

Total word count, hearthcraft book: 23,001
New words today: 1,168

Close to the original magic number of 1,200, although far from the 1,600 I’m now using as my daily goal, and even further from the 2K I was secretly hoping to hit today to really get me going again. I’m very fortunate that the boy’s caregiver can take him an extra day every two weeks, giving me three days in a row to work twice a month.

Still: over 23K. That’s good, that’s good. There’s a world of difference between being one-third done at 20K, and half-done at 30K.

It’s been ages since I’ve had to teach anyone about wards. Gah. All my words on the subject are mysteriously AWOL and I’m left kind of waving my hand in the air at the monitor, saying, “You know, it’s like, well, that.” The fibro-fog I’ve been working in doesn’t help. An article I was reading on fibro today politely called it ‘impaired concentration/comprehension’, which is a very nice way of saying ‘I’m out of it and can’t keep track of a thought for more than a moment or two’. I’m told it takes about a week to get used to the medication that I begin taking tonight. I’m really, really hoping my brain sharpens up after that period of adjustment and I’m back to where I need to be.

The Day So Far

I have been geeking out over a scan of a hand-marked Vaughan-Williams score used by Stokowski, scribbled upon with red-pencilled notes after discussion with the composer. And I thought I marked my music up!

I think I may be one of the only people I know who isn’t sick of winter yet. Not that I want it to hang around; it just seems that others have reached the fed-up point much sooner than I have. Although looking at past history, I’m due for that ‘c’est assez!’ moment any day now.

I picked up my first month of medication this morning and laughed very hard at the $7.99 price tag. And to think we were worried! Since I got home I have been working on rituals and such (and rhapsodising over the Vaughan-Williams score, of course). I’m going to get up and stretch, then move into the hearthcraft book and pray that I connect with whatever it is I end up writing about today.

I am still very much enjoying buying gifts for people. I can’t do it for everyone, of course, otherwise I’d very quickly be in the ‘zounds where will we get the money to eat’ position again. But there are couple of people who have had positive impact on my state of mind and spirit this past year, and perfect things for them have been popping up in my path. I’ve also ordered some books on fibro for myself. I might as well learn as much as I can about it, as we may be living together for quite some time.

I’ve even eaten lunch already. Two meals before ten-thirty! And when this loaf of bread has finished baking, I will have yet another meal of fresh bread and roast beef and cheese!

This is what a pretty darn good day looks like. Except…