pals (but no kisses)

writing, dressage, kayaks, and appletinis

The bigger, more official writing retreat weekend had to be rescheduled due to my own lack of control of calendar-keeping, but this morning husband and kids took off for the seashore and this afternoon one writer friend is coming to help infuse the house with writerly energy and joie de vivre.

In preparation, I went to the local ABC store for appletini ingredients, and came out stuffed to the gills with freebies. I had forgotten to check a recipe for appletinis before leaving home, so the amazingly helpful employee looked online for me and printed out 6 different recipes from which to choose. I was so astounded at her helpfulness I blathered on about how much I love our town and county, and ended up talking for half an hour. (this is why my children say to me before we go anywhere - mom, you CAN'T TALK)

When she bagged up my items, she stuffed in a bunch of those little airplane bottles of all kinds of things, plus a T-shirt!

I had no idea ABC stores were giving away such cool stuff.

On to the grocery store, where it was a bit calmer, and then back home where I opened the mailbox to find Toni McGee Causey's signed copies of Bobbie Faye's Very (very very very) Bad Day and the ARC of her newest novel, Bobbie Faye's (kinda, sorta, not exactly) Family Jewels. I loved the first one and am eager to read this new one before it even hits the stores! Toni blogs at Murderati on Sundays - go check her out.

CORRECTION: Toni's new book IS in stores, so... if you haven't read her first yet, lucky you! You can buy both and have two good reads without the wait in between.

After stopping to look at the books, I unloaded the car and headed out to get horses set up with hay and fans and some fly spray. Salina has one tick which she refused to let me get off (I'll do it when she gets her evening spray with the hose) and Cody has a 3-inch cut on the inside of his hind leg. Fortunately not too deep and it was already scabbing, so I sprayed on some Banixx and left it alone.

D. is bringing kayaks and the big dressage show Grand Prix musical freestyle is tomorrow night, so assuming we don't get hit by thunderstorms, we'll have plenty to do to stimulate the artists' flow.

And D. has assured me she loves mucking stalls. What better house guest can one ask for? A writer, a mucker of stalls, a bringer of kayaks. Photos at 11. (maybe)

An update: D. arrived, tick was removed during evening shower, and Rafer Johnson has added yet another member to his fan club. He gave about 15 donkey hugs to D. and Chase the Corgi has also adopted her as his personal ball thrower and Person to Tail quietly in the house.

Appletinis are incredible, the company stellar, and we are set to read pages for critique at 10:30. Heaven!

why is it...

that when you reorganize bookshelves, removing nearly every title and putting them back in a better way, you end up with more books than shelves?

I have two tall stacks of friends' books, most of which are signed, that I was planning to shelve separately, but there are no shelves left. I also have two stacks of "moving on" books that won't fit on the one bookcase I designated for just this category.

And three stacks of contemporary lit fiction that simply have nowhere to go.

this and that

Not much time for blogging this week.

I've been editing like crazy, reorganizing my bookshelves (why? no idea... except some odd need to get the favorites right by my chair, in some semblance of order), and enjoying horses flexing between the first day of fans on in the barn (yesterday) and hard, steady rain accompanied by very cool temps (today).

We've been doing some barn updates. Switching to solar-powered fencing from electric, adding an additional fan (these are big, industrial rated fans that take some muscle to get up and down), and working my way toward hay storage outside the barn.

Today I got sidetracked with the untimely death of the lovely and big-hearted eventing pony Theodore O'Connor. We met his breeder Wynn Norman several years back and have followed Teddy's career ever since. Ironically, around the time of his death today we were outside playing with our own special pony, who was doing the most incredible pirouettes, levades, and huge floating trot extensions.

Condolences to everyone who knew and loved Teddy.

more novel process

Toward the end of this week my editing slowed down, not surprisingly as I reached the point in the novel where the final action was gearing up. I struggled with it for a couple of days, and then out of the blue...

NOT the solution or a revelation for the edit, but the full-blown idea for an entirely NEW book.

I had to laugh at this development. It has become my pattern. Just when I'm closing in on finishing one, a new one bursts into being and screams for my attention. On the surface, you might think it's an avoidance technique. Leave the difficult work of that final edit behind and go for the new, sparkly idea that is just whirling with possibility.

But on a deeper level, it's actually a gift. I am loath to finish a novel without having another one to leap into. Granted, at this point in my writing life I have a number of first drafts awaiting my attention when I get this one sent off. But I always seem to need a NEW one.

This particular new one has been bubbling under the surface for awhile. A vague premise, with nothing much to flesh it out. This week it fleshed itself out for me, so I've been making notes but not allowing myself to get too caught up.

Meanwhile, I decided to dig into the struggle with the current edit and see if I couldn't sort things out. I found myself going back to the beginning and working on the first 20 pages. Suddenly, I saw what I needed to do in that first section, and if you're a writer, you probably understand why working on the first 20 pages is a surefire solution to fixing the last 20. I forget this about my process as well. I have to bump into it anew each time.

It feels just as exciting as it did when I discovered it with the first novel.

And now there are SIX.

(and I'm popping back in to say that pretty much the instant I hit "publish post" I had to grab the pen and jot down the revelation about the first 20 pages that suddenly came to mind... the first domino that sets everything in motion toward the end.

I used to think I should know this when I wrote the beginning, but I now know that I can't write the beginning until I get to the end. And often enough, I have to go back and forth a number of times to get those final dominoes in place.)