Day: July 12, 2015

Patio – Writing Garden Update

I am officially on vacation. My vacation plans for this year are to sit on my patio, stare at my writing garden and write.

Unfortunately, my plans didn’t come together quite the way I envisioned.

For starters, the patio extension still isn’t complete. Even after I told the Vanishing Landscaper I needed it done by vacation time.

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And the writing garden still looks mostly like a mud hole where a pool used to be.

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But I do have new patio furniture, and today I purchased plastic wine glasses for patio use. A couple of weeks ago, I purchased three solar lights for the area. I found citronella candles in the basement. I’m ready.

I’ll make do–because it’s summer and warm and sunny and my current work-in-progress is flowing almost faster than I can type it. But the patio – writing garden fantasy persists.

Me Time

Lately I’ve felt overwhelmed. Too much to do and not enough time. Every day I murmur a prayer of thanksgiving because my children are grown and gone. If I were still doing the mom thing . . . I can’t even contemplate it.

It’s not all bad. I’m realizing my lifelong dream/ambition of being a published author. It’s the peripheral obligations that are getting me down.

One of my goals for this calendar year is a monthly date with myself. Too bad I haven’t had time to do that. I barely have time to get in a weekly session of yoga. My second quarter goal is to add another half hour of exercise into my week. But exercise isn’t me time. It’s a peripheral obligation that takes away from the writing time.

I’m in serious need of not only a date with myself, but some substantial me time.

  • I’d like to go to a baseball game.
  • I’d like to do some real cooking on the weekend.
  • I’d love to go to a movie with my husband.
  • I have several ideas for custom music mixes I’d like to work on.
  • Reading without guilt would be so nice!
  • I’d like to sip a glass of wine and relax when I get home from Day Job.

I would also like writing time. Writing is my dream. Something has to give.

Another one of my goals this year is “say no.” Don’t be surprised when you start hearing me say it more often.

WIP Wednesday: Lilas Taha

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Today’s WIP Wednesday guest is author Lilas Taha. Welcome Lilas! Tell us something most people don’t know about you.

LT: I like horror movies.

MJ: What’s the top book on your TBR pile?

LT: The Bamboo Stalk by Saud Alsanousi, winner of the 2014 Booker Prize for Arabic Literature.

MJ: If you didn’t write, what would be your creative outlet?

LT: Sketch with charcoal.

MJ: If you had a theme song, what would it be?

LT: “Broken Wings” by Mr. Mister

MJ: What do you normally eat for breakfast, or do you skip it and get straight to work?

LT: Home made fruit and vegetable smoothie. Whatever is there in the fridge.

MJ: Describe your ideal/dream writing space.

LT: Under an umbrella by the sea shore on a breezy early fall day.

MJ: Name one writing-related website you use a lot.

LT: Thesaurus is my companion.

MJ: What book do you wish you could have written?

LT: Wuthering Heights.

MJ: Do you listen to music when you write? Explain.

LT: Sometimes. Soft Jazz or classical music. Sometimes Opera, and most often Arabic classical songs.

MJ: Do you collage your story before writing? Explain.

LT: I don’t. I just start writing and once I have the characters down the way I want them, they take me through the story. It’s not the most effective way of writing a book, but that’s how I’ve managed so far. The method, if you can call it such, works well with the way I plot my stories.

MJ: What do you love most about your WIP hero?

LT: His strive to be a better man.

MJ: What do you least like about your WIP heroine?

LT: Her struggle to find her inner peace.

MJ: How did you come up with your hero and heroine’s names?

LT: In Shadows of Damascus: I chose “Adam” to represent his humanity with all its shortcomings and beauty. I chose “Yasmeen” to represent the flower of Damascus, which translates to “Jasmine”.

MJ: Do you ever base characters on people you know?

LT: Yes, but not entirely. I may use character traits from different people in one character.

MJ: Okay, now it’s time for the lightning round. Addams Family or The Munsters?

LT: Addams Family

MJ: Last movie you saw in a theater?

LT: Begin Again

MJ: Favorite TV show?

LT: Law and Order SVU

MJ: Coke or Pepsi?

LT: Pepsi

MJ: Introvert or extrovert?

LT: I think I’m somewhere in between

MJ: Favorite ethnic food?

LT: Indian

MJ: And now for the main event: will you share the first few sentences of your current work in progress with us?

LT: This is from the work tentatively titled The Sand Storm.

Sami Amara planted his feet on the hot ground and gripped the top of the Mercedes to maintain his balance. The asphalt under the soles of his shoes felt viscous. His glasses fogged, and he took them off to check he wasn’t sinking into the molten street. He used his tie to clean his glasses, adding smudges with the damp silk. This was a mistake. He shouldn’t be here. Even the environment rejected his intrusion.

MJ: Great hook! And I understand you have a current release. Where can readers purchase it?

 

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LT: Shadows of Damascus is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

MJ: And how can readers stay in touch with you?

LT: Many ways–my website and my blog, my Facebook page, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ or Goodreads.

MJ: Thanks again for stopping by, and good luck with your books!

 

From Pool to Haven Pt 3

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The first week or so, work on the transformation of my back yard from ancient-above-ground-pool-to-sanctuary progressed steadily.2014-09-28 15.09.06

Cleaning out the sand and gravel was a slow, messy job.

 daisy

 Daisy-like flowers appeared. This is good. I love daisies.

zen

Then ornamental rocks found their way into place.

Focus for meditation? I like to think so.

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Then the beginning of the patio extension started taking shape.

The pool was here when we moved in as newly-weds. My children, Y & X, have never known anything else.

I can’t wait. I can smell next summer’s fresh herbs already.

Pet Peeve: It’s Time for Change

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Time for another of my pet peeves: receiving change when I make a cash purchase.

Many decades ago, when I worked in retail, I was taught to count back the change to the customer, starting with the coins.

Example: The individual made a $2.42 purchase and paid with a five dollar bill. Change was counted back like this:

  • “Forty-three, forty-four, forty-five,” while handing back three pennies.
  • “Fifty,” with a nickle.
  • “Seventy-five, three,” with two quarters.
  • “Four and five,” with two one-dollar bills.

The change went into the palm first.

That is not how it’s done these days, and it irks me. The cashier plops the bills on a person’s open palm, followed the the receipt, then the coins, which slide off all that paper.

Seriously? The old way is better.