10.10.13

I’m somewhere over Toronto right now, and the plane doesn’t have wifi, which is a bit of a shock, considering the length of the flight. No big deal for me, I have to work, and wifi is a distraction, but I was hoping to post this blog tonight (last night? Not sure what day it is where you are!) Alas, it is not meant to be.

Listening to Beethoven’s Symphony in D Minor whilst working on the AAs, very inspirational music. I was hoping to be done by now, but this stage of the process is so nitpicky. I put a comma in. I take a comma out. It’s the very last chance I have to see the book before y’all do, so I want things to be perfect. And the people next to me are looking at me funny because I’m reading it aloud – under my breath, of course, but my lips are moving.

We switched seats with a woman and I think we’ve made a love connection with her new seatmate. Wouldn’t that be a hoot? Karma, chance, whatever you call it – the two of them have hit it off and seem quite taken with each other. In Finnish. Cute.

So I’ll sign off now, and post this when we land.

Sweet dreams!

10.9.13

What is it about trips? Suddenly nothing you have is absolutely perfect and you end up with a new wardrobe, new jackets, new shoes... and I am the worst about this.

Which is the vehicle for admitting I caved and bought a pair of Merrell waterproof boots. The Wellies I bought are simply too hot for all day wear, and look silly in restaurants, and take up a LOT of room in my carryon. Waterproofing my beloved nubuck boots was an option. And of course, there's the motorcycle boots that looks so fantastic with jeans... Yeah. I'm a boot whore. There. I said it.

But the Merrells are super stylish and waterproof, all in a gray leather boot with an unbelievably cushy footbed. And I didn't have gray leather boots. Gray suede... So from here on out, these will be my travel boots. Win win for all, right? 

I can justify most anything... 

Good news: THE FINAL CUT is on the NYT list for the third week - I am so incredible grateful for this! It's so exciting to think of so many people reading this book.

Spent most of the afternoon on the phone with Garmin, trying to get my European maps to work. Things aren't looking fabulous on this front; the download keeps crashing, so fingers crossed it will actually work. I don't particularly want to get stranded in Scotland with no GPS.

Tomorrow is WHEN SHADOWS FALL AAs, and we turned in the outline for YARD OF GRAVES. So... onward! 

Sweet dreams! 

10.8.13

I've always loved haystacks. Probably a leftover from growing up in Colorado, and a lingering fascination with Van Gogh. I love that Tennessee has long, open fields with giant rolls of hay. And at sunset, driving by the green fields with their yellow haystacks, the sun dipping into the horizon, casting the gloaming mists -- I'm telling you, it's worth taking a drive to see. I was lucky enough to get caught in traffic on one such road this evening, and it was glorious.

Lots done today, some with the secret project, some on SHADOWS, which I now have back in its final form before it goes to print. One last chance to make sure everything is in agreement, makes sense, and there are no typos. Which we all know is futile; typos breed. But I'll do my best. We had a whopper in THE FINAL CUT, one of those head-smackers that was so egregious, we have no idea how it passed the censors. But it did, and I feel so silly. Alas.

Great yin yoga session with my beloved guru this afternoon. There was a discussion of the Buddhist concept of suffering, one I'm quite interested in. At its most basic, life is life. There are ups and downs. Bad things happen - it's inevitable. There is death, and illness. Things don't go our way. How we choose to deal with those inevitabilities is what suffering is about. We don't have to suffer. We can accept the inevitable and not turn into drama lamas. It's a fun concept, one I've been interested in for a long time now.  

Which made me wonder if it's just my temperament that attracts me to Buddhism. I am at heart a happy person. Happy because I choose to be. Happy because it feels better to be happy than it does to feel sad. I think my happiness is sometimes mistaken for extroversion, which is another interesting concept I need to meditate on. I feel like I am a classic introvert, but no one who meets me ever believes that. Something to think about.

Packing tonight. Which means I have to run, and fold about a thousand loads of clothes. But really quick, we went to see Queens of the Stone Age last night, and it was a wonderful concert. Loved it. Josh Homme is dead sexy, and the band was tight. Want a modern day American rocker, tattooed, smoking version of Jamie Fraser? Josh Homme's your guy. 

Sweet dreams! 

10.7.13

One of those odd days when you work and work yet it doesn't feel like anything was really done. I stared at the manuscript, fiddled with the outline, worried a plot point, none of which netted any actual words. Probably because of the overload Sunday, my poor brain isn't exactly ready to start churning out more new stuff. Which simply will not do. 

I've never been one to wait for the Muse to come visiting, I generally find her, pin her down and force the phrases from her lips. But today it just wasn't happening. So I did yoga, and laundry, and straightened the house, and took a long lunch with a book. 

Confession. I've begun reading OUTLANDER again. Mostly because of the Scotland trip, but also because, well, I do so love realistic heroes. Jamie Fraser may be the ultimate warrior poet laird, but he is also incredibly human, with tics and issues and weaknesses. Claire too is as real as it gets, a woman's woman, with her own massive flaws and acerbic wit.  

Which brings me to love. I was in savasana today (come on, admit it, you do yoga to get to savasana, don't you?) listening to Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah, thinking about how powerful women are. That our touch can draw a hallelujah from the lips of our lover. That we can love until it hurts, and be loved in return. That there is a perfect creature out there who will move hell and earth for us, who will bleed for us, bodily protect us, and hold us close in the night.

We misuse love. Take it for granted. We live in an easier time now, where our significant others don't need to take up swords and dirk to defend us in our homes, and much of our conversation revolves around what to pick up for dinner, and how cool last night's episode of HOMELAND was or what the kid's did in school today.

Have you ever stopped and thought about it? What your man (or woman, of course) would do for you? What you would do for them? How far your love goes? 

One of the things I adore about the OUTLANDER series is this question of love. What does it mean? How does it manifest itself? And how far will you go to protect it? It is our lifeblood, our tie that binds. It is our reason for living. Without it, life is a cold place. Be it the love of a good spouse, lover, a friend, a mother or father, even a child, love is the reason we do most everything.  

Tell him you love him tonight. Show him how much. See if you can wrench a hallelujah from his lips. And mark the day well spent. Sometimes, it's about more than just words.

10.6.13

Decent work day today, considering it's Sunday. Finished the copyedits on WHEN SHADOWS FALL - hit a small snafu so hopefully that will be worked out tomorrow. I do feel sorry for my Canadian copyeditors--if the amount of red is any indication, Southern speak must drive them up the wall. 

Copyedits are a tricky thing. Grammatically correct verbiage isn't necessarily right for the story, or for the writer. It's a constant push and pull for me, because what's technically correct isn't necessarily how people talk, think and sound. And commas. Dear God, the commas. I put them in when I wanted the reader to mentally pause. It gives a certain rhythm to the text. I think to this poor CE, it must have looked like I was just employing the Oxford comma at will.

And I am not a fan of the semi-colon, either. They should be used sparingly, only if absolutely necessary. There's still too many but thank goodness there's one more shot at the book before it goes to the proofers and printers. We'll be able to make sure that between the two of us we haven't screwed things up too badly.  No matter what, errors manage to make it into the finished product, which drives us all batty, because we try so very hard to make things perfect.

Wrote a synopsis, and updated my bio.  Contemplated the proposal for my next Sam books as well. I need to get that polished and sent in. I like the story, it will be a fun one to write.

Then was completely possessed with an unholy urge to lay out my clothes for the trip this week. What trip, you ask? Well, YARD OF GRAVES has a section set in Scotland, and intrepid writer Barbie must go do some research. It should be a fine week. There are several sweaters in the stack on my dresser. I do hope there's room for them all. 

Taped the game, don't know how my Titans did yet. DH had to run to his parents, so I await his return with breathless anticipation so we can watch. Sadly, can't watch my Broncos either, because I'll find out the score of the Titans game. Oh, the sacrifices we make...

Off to read and contemplate dinner. Sweet dreams!