Prompts

 I had scribbled down an idea for this weeks blog.  All I remember about it is that I had used the edge of a piece of paper that had other stuff on it.  Of course, when I sat down to write this blog, I couldn't find the note.  It happens a lot.  A perfect line for the book I'm working on will show up in my mind and I will grab whatever is handy to write it on.  And then when I need it, it's lost in all the other random pieces of paper.

I do remember that it was something about working on the rewrite of the third book in the Crochet and Crumpet series.  I wasn't really happy with the title FALLING LEAVES and for now it is called  TEA YARN AND MURDER.  Since I can't find the paper, I'll just wing it.

Instead of editing what I have already written, I am taking bits of it and writing  the whole thing anew.  Ah, it just came back to me what I had scribbled on the piece of paper for the blog.  It was about prompts for writing.  The notes I scribble are just that, prompts for what follows.It's as if they open the door for me to write what comes after.  The ultimate prompt is coming up with the first few lines of a book.

I have new inspiration for the rewrite from my recent visit to the area in Indiana where the book takes place.  I had imagined dried fields of corn stalks and then there I was looking at several of them.  Other fields were empty waiting for the next years' crop to be planted just as I had seen in my imagination.

There is a barber shop in the book I'm working on.  I had imagined its location in the fictitious town of Franklin.  What a surprise when a real barber shop was in the exact spot in the real town that I used as a basis.  

I managed to deal with the frustrations that I blogged about last week.  I think I took care of the problem I had signing in for a video appointment.  This week, it worked.  The other issue with the settlement over AI stealing a bunch of my books also seems settled.  When I reread the email, I realized I had already taken care of the situation and didn't have to go through the painstaking effort of resubmitting a claim.  Now, fingers crossed that they do as they said and start sending out payments this month.

 I put all dark thoughts on hold and had my breakfast outside  in my yard.   It was warm and sunny and the only flaw was the smell and sound of the gas leaf blower in my neighbor's  yard.  I was glad to take advantage of  the last day of the sunny warm weather as tomorrow the temperature drops and rain is in the forecast.

Butt then it takes a rainy day to really appreciate the sunny ones. 

 

Hey, I'm Back!

You might not have known I was gone since I’d scheduled last week’s post, but I was on a trip to Indiana to be with my grandsons, son and d-i-l for Halloween. Fun, of course!

Then my husband and I headed to NYC as the next part of this almost annual trip. We went there for the annual Baron Investment Conference—especially the wonderful free entertainment they provide there! But who’s there is a secret till we get there. The lunchtime entertainers included Jerry Seinfeld, Nate Bargatze and Kelly Clarkson, but we got to see brother and sister Derek and Julianne Hough from Dancing with the Stars. Wonderful!

The main entertainment was Maroon 5—a good group, but too loud. Also, Elon Musk was a big presence there as he often is, and Kelli O'Hara sang a couple of introductory songs.

While in New York, we attended the Rockettes' Christmas show—wonderful! Santa also kept us entertained there. And we also went to the new version of The Fantasticks, and as a former script girl in our high school production (yes, that was many years ago) I could still mouth most of the words of the script and songs in many parts of the show.

I also met with my editor while I was in New York. Definitely fun! And I feel even more inspired with my writing now.

Glad to be home, though. And the dogs have been keeping us company all the time. They must have missed us. I definitely missed them!

Surviving Frustration

 It was a beautiful morning-chilly but with the promise of a sunny warm afternoon.  I was looking forward to working on Crochet and Crumpet book 3 now being called  FALLING LEAVES, TEA YARN AND MURDER or maybe just TEA YARN AND MURDER.  I just had to do a Zoom meeting first.

I have met with this person before with no problem with the logistics and was expecting it to be the same.  I like to do meetings in the room we call the studio which used to be the garage.  Instead of a dark enclosure, it now has windows and glass door that let in light.  The walls are white and it is nicely furnished and not a mess.  At the moment it is still decorated for Halloween.

I set up my computer and confidently clicked on the email to take me to the meeting.   It gave me two options to sign in and neither of them worked.  I kept going in circles, trying again and getting nowhere.  Eventually, the person I was meeting sent me a text and then tried to help me sign in.  Nothing worked and we set up another time and she gave me the number of their tech support since she had set up the meeting.

When bad stuff happens with computers, I always feel it is my fault.  Even though since this always worked before, it is either some change that Apple made or the place that set up the meeting.  I wasted way too much time and all I figured out was that it might have worked out on my phone.

It took a while to shake free of the frustration of going in circles and getting nowhere and then I  checked my email and there was another missive from the settlement  for my books stolen by the AI company.  It was long and hard to make sense of, but it seems I have to fill out  the same form I have filled out and then refilled out twice.  And I'm not even sure what it is that I need to change.  And I thought the email was going to be about the payments they are supposed to be sending out this month.  Again, it feels like my fault that I didn't fill out the form correctly even though there instructions were  hardly clear.

I was not up for dealing with it right away.  I needed to build up my tolerance to frustration that is sure to be part of filling it out.  

 Just the other day, my husband forwarded me an email about renewing a URL he owns.    It appeared to be an automatic renewal for three years and to have already been charged to a credit card.   There are too many scams out there and even though it looked legit in that it had his user name and some other information, I didn't trust it.  Instead of calling the number in the email, I looked up the Company's number and contacted them directly.  The email my husband got was not sent by the real company and there was no automatic renewal etc.  More time wasted, but at least  it was taken care of.

There are a lot of nice things about the Internet and being able to do virtual meeting.  But only when they work.  AI is nice when you can get an answer to a question you type into a browser, but not when they steal creator's work.  Even worse when they make it hard for them to get their compensation. compensation.

 Finally, I  just put in a load of laundry and was relieved when I pushed the on button and heard the water turn on.  Finally, success at something with no wasted time.  A cup of coffee and I will go back to Annie Sara and Gray's latest adventure. 

 

Happy November!

 Yikes, the penultimate month of the year has begun.

Not much different for me than things have been going, including promoting K-9 Evidence and working on the third book in my K-9 Crime Solvers series.

I’m still researching, and plotting, some other ideas I’ve had, but nothing much to relate yet about those. Sometime in the future, though…