Okay. Mini-blog day. Internet is out. Don’t want to use up all data. No pics or links. I’ll edit later. Great writer’s meet tonight so it must be Monday. Okay, I quit. Hope you are all staying healthy. Find you fun.
Archive for April, 2020
Day off of writing. Knitted a bit. I just can’t decide how long I want to make the cuff so about the time I think I’m ready to remove it I add a little more cuff and like it better. I think I’ll give it another inch. But gosh it feels good to knit!
Do you feel like you have more days of nada? Okay, I did have a game in my hand on my cell phone. Is that what I’ve become? That makes today a black hole. I do realize it is Sunday as we watched CBS Sunday Morning. But not getting to sleep until 4:30 this morning. Nighttime seems awake time. Day time is distraction time. Total immersion in everything. I didn’t even think this stuff was bothering me. Nothing is different for us, the retired couple for ages before the weird. But weirdness. Especially on shopping days. Though my husband and I don’t go being the oldest here. But my brother and son go. Guilt that they are going, and risking for us makes it harder. Worrying that we might not clean good enough or that they might have caught something while out. So from Friday on through the weekend the stress wipes me out and hits on my ADD so that I am hyperfocused on anything but the craziness.
Oh, and shoot! I just lost my daily posting goal. I didn’t know it was so close to midnight. So yeah. Monday. #WDIIA
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “practice/practise.” Use it any way you’d like. Have fun!
Practice makes perfect. I used to believe that. I practiced my heart out and became a less than mediocre pianist. Not only have I practiced piano until bloody, but I have also written novels until I am crazy. I admit I am not a natural talent in either art. I do have talents, but I can’t do those things anymore for various reasons. The passions are there.
That said, maybe I have been too hard on myself. There is still hope, and I need to lower my expectations for a while. Aiming for perfection during a pandemic seems a lot more stress than I need to put out there. So if I want to hit 50K, I am going to extend my goal through next month. I will write every day as much as I can. But I can’t handle the stress. Writing Pandamapocalyps helps express and explore thoughts on the virus and letting my imagination play with it. But I need to keep it fun as a stress reliever. That way, I can play with the Pandas.
By the way, my word count is at 27,047. I’ve had the laptop in my lap all day. I barely made over a thousand words more. But as I left yWriter, I was having fun in the story, so I can’t quit. I just want a little less stress. I miss knitting! I need more of that in my life.
So that is my #A2Z version of the #SoCS and CampNaNo report.
Wow! How did we get here already! It’s already Friday! It’s been so long since I have been inside a business. Somewhere on this blog, I talked about taking my Kali to the vet for her shots. Somewhere on this blog, I told about going and getting temporary fillings. By the way, they are still there. I hope they will continue to hang on. <–My first “O” word! I think it was the beginning of March. OMG! It seems like forever ago. It seems like yesterday. It reminds me of how we have always remembered common dates. We ask, ‘What were you doing when JFK was shot? Or ‘Where where you when we heard about Bobby? And the not distant past asks, Where were you working on 9/11?
This one is different. Maybe it goes like this: What was the last real day before lockdown?
The thing is, I never went anywhere before. As retired folk, we can’t afford to go anywhere. Often the bones were hurting, and I didn’t feel like going anywhere, Now, I feel like hopping in the car and just driving forever. I’ve always been a bit of a hobo, I like to travel. And fibro put an end to that. Too tired. But now I think I have rebellion working overtime. The body is still complaining. I barely have the energy to walk around the yard. But not being able to, enforced by the wicked virus, is crazy-making. Right?
So that is what day it is. Anyway, Word count that was caught up yesterday on CampNaNo. Behind again. Ouch! So I must leave you and get over to yWriter and see what I can do to fix it. My characters are having dance parties in the middle of the Pandamacalypse. And today is the day on Grey’s Anatomy that O’Malley dies. O’Malley! {See what I did there?}
, 
Not Today
I woke with the sound of Arya Stark’s voice. I am no longer in love with Game of Thrones. The ending was atrocious. But sometimes a good GoT quote is called for. “Not today” is what we all should be saying. But then again while in the midst of this stuff and losing track of what day it is, all we need is one more day we can’t claim.
Trash is out so I guess it’s Thursday. No Grey’s Anatomy, except all the Netflix ones I’ve been watching. But I’m still pretty sure it is Thursday. Another week has gone to blurry.
Nothing is better than a call from offspring. That makes today very special. I got to touch base with the adultrens. Everyone seems to be fine, calmer than the last time we spoke even though there are new nerve-wracking situations in each of their lives. They seem to be holding it together and keeping on a healthy path. I feel better. I’m still mom and worried but their voices help me take a breath and be grateful.
As of last night, I was 31 words ahead of goal on my CampNaNo. National Novel Writing Month started way back in 1999. I think. I read Chris Baty’s book, No Plot, No Problem I think in 2001. I have written a NaNo every year and sometimes twice a year ever since. I love writing like that. Others may never read my novels but the adventure that flies from my head through my fingers is more fun than any other novel out there. Who but me knows what I like to read? Anyway, I should let Chris Baty speak for himself.
But speaking about novel writing I have 3 and 1/2 hours to get another 1,667 words in to be on track. I have dragons and hippos fighting and an angry virus that is sentient. It doesn’t matter how big you are when it is the smallest things like atoms and viruses that can destroy everything. I hope my characters figure it out better than the government is doing it. Deep Breath. Control what you can.
By the way, What Day Is It Anyway? is a prompt from Linda G. Hill
This URL is where to learn about the A2Z Challenge
Learn more about NaNoWriMo here.
I woke up with that running around in my head. I decided that had to be the One-liner.
Mahna Mahna
Because today the letter of the day is:
I still have about 40 minutes to continue writing on my CampNaNo. Instead of talking about that, let me share tonight’s Sunsets. I am so happy to have other things to think about than the norm. Sunsets and mornings with muppets singing in my head. That’s my miracles and mirth.
I hope you all had miraculous days or found some magic out there.
A to Z Challenge
Let’s see, what day is it, anyway? Last night we had coyotes in our yard. Scary, yes. scared them so Kali could do her thing. But that doesn’t help know the day. Before that, I laughed with, I think, nine lovely lady writers. From my home, I went to a writers group. Oh, how I miss meeting with other writers. Especially in real life. But this will do. So Easy Writers meet on Monday. That makes today, Tuesday.
Listening to other writers meet the prompt of the day. Same prompt everyone got but a different take with each personality. I think that is so cool! As I sat trying to meet the challenge, I think, oh, my stuff will be boring, or I bet I say the same thing as everyone else. Yet, when I read my bit to them, I felt it okay. Maybe it was even funny as they laughed. I don’t think they were laughing at me.
Another way I can tell the day is math. I do the math every day to see how many words I need in my CampNaNo. The equation works like this: date times 1,667 equals how many words I should have by the end of that day. Guess what was the answer for today. 23,338. I got 23,454. I am finally ahead by a tiny little bit! That means I’m
I watched a bunch of Prompt NaNo YouTubers and it got me the storyline that helped me get caught up. The story has been kind of boring, I had even spent a day talking about my grandparents. But that didn’t help my characters or the story. Suddenly my character becomes a panda and sits and talks with the pandas. Remember the title of the book is Pandamapocalypes. Okay, so I changed it once again. But it is about the sentient virus, in a world directed by a sentient planet. So Pandas from China are important to the story. Here is my character sitting with her new friend. I’ll probably use this picture in a couple days when P is the letter of the day.
Did you know that pandas know how to change faces? When they get emotional they frown and they call that changing face. And when they laugh it sounds like an earthquake growl. April loved laughing like a panda. They are my favorite beings in the Havenverse. And they know things about the virus. The story moves forward.
Reign of Monsters by S.M. Reine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Who doesn’t enjoy a were-squirrel? Shatter Cage is one of the most fun characters in Sara Reine’s worlds. He is determined. His heart seems in the right place, for a thief. And he seems to have more energy than most folks.
With all that is going on, it was a nice fantasy to get lost in. We visit other places and characters from Reine universes. The setting of this one wasn’t Reno like a lot of them but it is a place we recognize. I don’t want to give much away but I think many will love the world-making and character depth that Ms. Reine puts into all of her beings. Again, she is the most prolific author I know of!
If you like fantasy especially urban fantasy that uses real places and remade to her characters’ purposes. Though this is the second book with Shatter, I find that by having read all the books from the beginning, Seasons of the Moon series starting with Six Moon Summer. In fact, this book gave us a nod or two to that beginning. Please enjoy!
Happy Easter
See? I did know what day today was. So I hope you all had a marvelous day in spite of how this one presented itself.
That was where my spirit was. The body had a whole other thought of this day. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. Knocked down with no energy at all. I think I am in a fibro-flare. Ugh! I even think I know why. After feeling Spring for a couple days Winter decided it wasn’t done yet. Last night was so cold and I just laid there in a tight knot and shivered. I finally saw that my husband had even pulled on his blanket so I knew it wasn’t just me. I turned up the heater and finally got some real sleep. But by then the bones and joints were feeling broken.
So fibro brain kept my writing to the minimum. Which shall be the case here, too.
Today was brought to you by the letter
#WDIIA A Prompt by Linda G. Hill
#A2ZChallenge –click on URL to see how that works. Fun!
Hope you all had a great day!
Per Linda:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “joint.” Use it as a noun, an adjective, or a verb–use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!
When I saw the prompt, Joint. I started singing a song I relate to old cartoons. But I couldn’t remember the words except “This joint is jumpin'” Googled and found this YouTube. I’m sure older people or kids who were more aware of their parents’ music remember this song.
Isn’t it a bit weird that we are so far from the freedom of that song? Well, sometimes as we try to make the best of the moment, we dance as if no one is watching. Many have taken up the occasional joint. Can you believe I am a child of the 60s and never had a joint? I do like my CBD though and since all this happened we haven’t been able to go to the city and our little green-cross shop to get the stuff. It does help with a more painless sleep at night. You know, all that pain in the joints.
Though I am caught up on my CampNaNo, well I was last night and I have written half of today’s words. But still, today has me asking What Day Is It Anyway? Because there is just so much going on while the joint is jumping and nothing is the best part of it. When nothing happened, it means we are still healthy and happy. Just knowing that makes you feel like jumping. Singing with joy. Just saying. So back to my writing so it isn’t midnight when I finish. I’ll catch you up on the word-count tomorrow.
Darswords 
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