Monthly Archives: February 2008

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!