Climbing Plot Mountain

10:47am: Happy birthday!
Best wishes to retrobabble! May the celebration last all year.

4:52pm: ::whew::
There. Kith and Kin, the rewrite thereof, is finished. A nice, clean version of the novel exists for sharing, so now's the time to speak up if you're inclined to read it. Canum would be pleased to make your acquaintance.

This is the second book in the series; the first book is with the agent, looking for work. I'm hoping that the lack of a follow-on novel is what stalled possible sales, and so the completion of Kith is a big deal for me. That, and I'm just plain tired of rewriting.

Oh, man, am I tired.

***

I also managed to get that flu shot on Wednesday afternoon by standing in line for two and a half hours to ensure I'd be one of the 1,000 people they had vaccine doses for. Well, I was sitting in line; knowing it would be a long wait, I brought a chair, my lunch, a bottle of water, and a book. (Elizabeth Bear's Carnival, probably my favorite of hers to date.) As with the regular seasonal flu shot I got in early October, this one has resulted in my neck being a little stiffer than usual, so I've been taking Tylenol and ice cream to remedy that. *g*

***

And now I have time to read. A trip to the bookstore is warranted, as several new books have come out recently that I've been wanting to read but could not, on account of (a) focusing on the rewrite and (b) tired. (That originally came out "ired," which fits, as does "mired.")

What have you read recently that you liked?

***

Here, have some seasonal color:



That photo was actually taken a couple of years ago, but it's pretty enough to be a keeper. If you like colorful leaves, you might want to check out the viburnum photo, too.

8:49pm: Wanted: a few good readers
I expect to wrap up the final handful of items in this rewrite of Kith and Kin before the end of the week, and I could use some eyes on the changes I've made. My primary concern is continuity and tone - I can promise a clean draft.

If you think you'd like to read this second book in the Canum 'verse, please speak up! I need some readers. I'll be happy to reciprocate.

9:01am: Flu shots
This week, I'm home on staycation, hoping to wrap up the spackling on Kith.

In addition, I'm hoping to get my H1N1 flu shot; I'm in what is normally considered a higher risk category as a result of chronic illness. What I'm finding, however, is that where vaccine is available, it's not being generally offered. My local health district is limiting the vaccine they have to pregnant women. The City of Richmond health district refers you to a specific coordinator, whose voice mail informs callers that they're taking appointments for higher risk people to get the H1N1 shot...but the voice mailbox is full. The person who gave me the number suggested it might be.

The state employees health group, into which I fall, initially said they expected vaccinations for state employees to begin in mid November. I find that unlikely.

I suppose for the moment I'll take comfort in knowing these limitations are being imposed because, for this particular type of flu, I'm not at the highest risk. I've already gotten my seasonal flu shot. But I'd really rather get the H1N1 shot.

Ah, well. An hour of the morning blown. Time to get at it.

2:48pm: For the visual amongst us
...as well as for the easily amused, I suppose; I forget how much I enjoy these, even while I cringe at the words that unintentionally get the largest font...such as Back, Like, and the ever-appearing One. *g*

3:12pm: Preference check: (a) Stone Dog, (b) Stone Boar (a/k/a Stoned Hog? Stone Bore?)

Details: tavern in a fairly large city set upon a stony plateau alongside a big river, athwart the major trade route from north to south. As I am not known for my humorous writing, it's safe to assume this is a dramatic novel in tone. *g* It's not a major setting, but who knows if I'll get to use it later, and it ought to be interesting if I can make it happen, yes?

I'm currently going with Stone Dog, but am willing to be persuaded otherwise.

***

The lemon tree has managed to escape indoor confinement for the past couple of days since it was sunny and in the 70s and 80s, but it's back indoors after tonight. Many of the back deck plants traveled to my office windows a week ago, since those south-facing stretches of glass effectively triple my plant overwintering capability without turning my dining room (with its south-facing sliding glass door) into a jungle.

(And which of us don't have memories of childhood homes turning into jungles over the winter? Tell me that isn't just me and my mom.)

***

I'm happy to report--late, but it's been a bitch of a couple of weeks--that staycation did indeed result in a finished draft in the sense that all of the structural changes to Kith got made. I'm now well into the next pass, where I fix all of the remaining "notes to self" patches that were only roughed in, if that, in the previous pass.

I'd have liked to have this rewrite done by now. Just assume the above comment about bitch of a week applies to the entire year to date, and you'll have an idea why that hasn't occurred. (Sorry, Lovely Agent.) Nevertheless, I am so very close to being able to prep a clean draft and figure out just how many pages this thing actually has grown to. My habit is to leave my notes in my draft, color-coding for their status (yellow for needs attention, green for handled, blue for really important to remember or really cool idea), and thus my current draft is bloated with rainbows.

I need to keep reminding myself, however, that the all but cover to cover rewrite of Break, the novel immediately following Kith in the linear sequence of this series, took eight very long months and I was about ready to die when I finally wrapped up that work. I don't need to be that exhausted with this one. November will be eight months, so really, I'm not doing all that bad. I just want to be done….

/whine

***

This weekend is the local highland games and celtic festival. (http://www.richmondceltic.com/) Hopefully, if the storm system about to overtake the eastern seaboard doesn’t arrive until late on Saturday, we’ll get a chance to attend. Maybe I’ll even get a chance to dress up (as such things apply to me)! It’s certainly as close as I’ll get to a Halloween costume party.

***

And now, nose back to the workaday grindstone. Have a great weekend, folks!

4:43pm: Coolness
This is too cool not to propagate further:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLwFKAzOO1w&feature=player_embedded

It's a two minute animated short with plot, by dog, and worth the time. (Besides, the animation's beautiful.)

***

This is just to note that early October up in the Blue Ridge Mountains gets damned cool, especially in the mornings, but the crispness of the air is worth it.

And also to note that I need a better pillow.

***

Would you believe that, as of this morning, my staycation effort to press forward on this unending rewrite has moved me inside of 50 pages from the end of Kith and Kin? It's amazing what a little peace and quiet, without impinging deadlines, can do for one's output.

I wonder if it's too optimistic to think I might finish it up this week?

Let's just see. *g*

12:06pm: Salutations!
And big happy birthday wishes to cpolk!

1:46pm: Hippo Birdie!
Please join me in wishing matociquala a very happy birthday!

7:25pm: Arrrrrgh!
I almost missed it! My day has mostly been spent outdoors, and I only just read LJ to be reminded that it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day! Woot!

I mean, Arrrrr!

I'll let Josh talk for me:

***

Midway through the process, the noise from on deck increased. Josh reached for a grip on the nearest cabinet when the ship tilted beneath his feet. Canvas boomed as it filled. The sweltering heat eased a bit with the movement of fresh air through the passageway outside the locker's door. Davy stood in the doorway, his attention stolen by his mates' labors.

Josh cleared his throat. "I said, Rosmarinus officinalis. That's rosemary."

The boy stared, mouth agape. "That merchantman's gonna pitch right over if her crew don't mind their sails better'n that."

Josh leaned closer. "Rosemary!"

Davy jerked. His head snapped back toward Josh. "Where? Lindh'll have her ass and the man what brought her aboard, too." He craned his neck back toward the deck, hunting for the nonexistent stowaway woman.

Josh sighed. He ran a hand across the sweat-soaked hair at the nape of his neck. "Go."

Davy stared at him, not comprehending. "But-"

"I'll do the remainder myself. You may go back to your duty."

12:33pm: In order to form a more perfect union
In the "About Damned Time!" category, today (well, yesterday, I gather) we have the introduction of the Respect For Marriage Act, which is expected to repeal 1996's offensive Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and return the determination of the legality of same sex marriage to the states. Huzzah, I say!

Link to the press release on Colorado Congressman Jared Polis's website: http://polis.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=144736

1:20pm: Today and today and today
I've just added a new book to my Keep shelf. This one's Amanda Downum's (stillsostrange) debut novel, The Drowning City. Forensic sorcery for the win! I like the coherency of the worldbuilding, the consistency of detail; this is a world that is as real as the one outside my workroom window. I'm very much looking forward to its sequel!

***

I decided, last weekend, that at the rate the Grimes Golden apple tree in my front yard was dropping apples (helped along mightily by birds and squirrels, damn it), if I waited until the remaining apples were the bright golden yellow they're supposed to turn I might have half a dozen, tops. So, as I was picking up the windfallen and chucking them into bags for transport to the compost pile/wasp bit-o-heaven, I set aside six or eight of the best looking ones, and Sunday afternoon I made apple crisp.

And was reminded, once more, that skin color is no predictor of ripeness. Want to know if an apple is ripe? Cut it open. If the seed coat is dark brown, it's ripe. The flesh might soften, and the skin might brighten, but it's ripe.

Guess what I've been eating for breakfasts all this week? *G*

***

I am at the top of the third of the three major changes I'm making to Kith. This puts me about 100 pages out from the end of the book. It also means that progress has slowed to a crawl while I work out what I need to change, what effects those changes will have elsewhere (in this book as well as the next, since they appear to want to be a duology), and how the themes of the book are best served by the changes.

It also means that I am better than two thirds done with this rewrite. I don't know about you and your rewrites, but man, I'm glad to be this far along.

And doubly glad that, in about 100 pages, I can put this damned thing down.

***

The current landscape design client has approved both the form of the redesigned courtyard garden and the plants to go within it. All that remains is transferring the details over to the vellum I drew the base plan on, finalizing the plant list, and making copies for presentation.

Woo!

***

I found an interesting new caterpillar on the lespedeza plant this morning. Photos to follow as soon as I get around to downloading them.

8:25am: Happy Birthday!
Best wishes for a beautiful day for mnfaure!

3:06pm: Fruit of the season
One of my favorite things is walking with the dog and seeing what's growing, what's ripe. This past Sunday's walk produced a handful of muscadine grapes. The vines sprawl across trees and shrubbery in the park, seeking the sun; when I was a kid, we would climb up into the trees we knew harbored grape vines.

The trick with muscadines, in case you have not yet made their acquaintance, is in the tartness of the flesh immediately beneath the skin. To eat one, you compress the grape in your mouth until the loose sac of flesh and seeds slides out. Press out the seeds, and enjoy the grape flavor of the middle. Then - carefully - press on the empty skin so the juicy bits stuck to the inside give up their tartness.

Behold, the beauty of late summer:

12:34pm: Oh, Wise Ones of LJ, please share your thoughts
If you had an elderly person, say, whose primary method of getting what she wants is to bully people, and one of the things she wants is to give a lot of the money that's keeping her and her spouse in a comfortable assisted living facility to a ne'er-do-well child, and the people she's bullying include her spouse and the child who's acting with Power of Attorney to arrange her affairs and pay their bills, how might you go about reducing the bully's access to the money?

(Yeah, this is real world, not fiction. I only wish it was fiction.)

This elderly person has had many strokes, some significant enough to seriously impact her ability to make sound judgments and decisions. Her spouse is also elderly and himself suffering from impaired memory and, as a result, judgment, and he does not know how to say no to her. The child with the POA is on the edge of breakdown dealing with the mess.

I'm not looking for sympathy (I am not, for instance and thank dog, the child with the POA), but rather some concrete suggestions or ideas you've seen be helpful in situations like this.

12:03pm: Woo!
Happy Book Day to stillsostrange and her novel The Drowning City, which hits Amazon today and will be in bookstores by Sept. 1. Like atmospherics, magic, and spies? Then you'll love this book.

11:56am: And further on that song-
I went searching for an audio version as sung by DCD. Youtube has a bunch of different versions of what appears to be an older Irish poem; none of them are DCD's version, but you can get a sense of the thing from these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_OUmcwuVfA&feature=related – Sinead O’Connor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klLguqi3pqY&feature=related – more Sinead, the lyrics a little more audible

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnfUpi0b-dU&feature=related – Abney Park, clearly enunciated and with a verse that is left out of the DCD version.

I'd say Enjoy!, but I'm finding the song haunting, myself.

8:59am: What the...?
On the bus this morning, I saw a passing SUV with a window sticker that looked familiar, as did the acronyms printed upon it. Then I actually read the sticker, and blinked. We've all see POW/MIA stickers, right? So what does a KIA/DOW sticker mean? I can guess that KIA is Killed in Action, but DOW is refusing to parse.

(ETA: I'm advised it's Died of Wounds.)

***

The Richmond Kickers (http://richmondkickers.com/) professional soccer team scored very, very late in their second round playoff match against the Harrisburg City Islanders to advance to the second division championship game, which will be held in Richmond on Saturday, August 29. Guess where I'll be? *g* And we are not taking odds as to whether I'll be able to speak on Sunday morning.

***

In discussing my great treasure trove of Dead Can Dance albums with stillnotbored, I realized that there were a couple that I did not, in fact, have. So I promptly acquired Toward the Within and fell into a new (old) obsession. If you have the wherewithal and like creepy songs, check out "I am Stretched on Your Grave." The lyrics (here: http://www.cduniverse.com/lyrics.asp?id=11416217) are only one level of creepy; the sonorous music perfectly counterpoints the agonized determination of the words.

And you may be assured that the song is memorable if I, who so rarely even registers the words of songs, was brought up short, cold and hard, when that tune first hit my ears.

7:22pm: And a one, and a two, and....
Here's some of what's been keeping me busy the past week. I picked up these clients just before I went out of town in July. Then there was measuring, and thinking, and drawing, resulting first in this version of the converted driveway area:




And then we met, and they decided they'd rather not have any parking area behind the current gate, so I thought some more, and drew some more, and have now proposed this:




All of the major structures are the same; the car gate (lower right corner, horizontal line between the border and the house) goes from a ten-foot-wide, double width gate to one that's five feet wide (or perhaps four, but it has to stay wide enough to accommodate the big rolling trash bins on their journey to the end of the drive on trash days). The barbeque grill area now has co-located seating (that's those cup-shaped half circles about midway down the lefthand sidewalk).

I have some ideas for plants - that's why there are a couple of circles near the former car gate - but at this stage it's mostly about shapes. Once they confirm that the shapes are what they want to see, we'll move into selecting plants and siting them.

8:04am: Busy. Busy. Busy.

This is to say, I haven't quite fallen off the face of the planet. All arenas of my life appear to have conspired against me having even a moment to contemplate the minutiae in which they're burying me.

***

August continues apace. When I go out to walk in the mornings, the stars are once again visible in the pre-dawn sky. Orion hovers just over the tree line, competing for attention with Venus. Soon the less brilliant stars will also be displayed as the days grow shorter once more. All around me, insects and birds and vegetation whirl frantically through the late days of summer. My lemon tree still has five lemons swelling on their stems (still green, of course). Blackberry season is waning, and the birds have stolen all but a few of my blueberries, drat them.

***

My slow forward progress in Kith remains slow, but progresses. Recent research has included the rituals associated with the Roman festival of Saturnalia, the naming patterns of various early religions' church buildings, and certain minor languages and cultures of northern Europe (as buttressing for my decisions of the spring regarding the Skyedeki).

***

My son's little beagle has taught my dog, Kay, to bark. I'm not sure whether to bemoan this break in Kay's normal quiet behavior or laugh when she does bark and sounds so bizarre. *g*

***

In the new house, my workroom is going to have doors. Soundproof doors. That is all.

8:14pm: Treading water
I look up, and it's been almost three weeks since I last posted. Oops. Thus goes my year - both this year and next, I'm very much afraid.

Two weeks ago, I and seven good friends descended upon a little fishing lodge in Quinby VA to take part in the annual summer garden tour sponsored by the Virginia Society of Landscape Designers, amongst whose number we all are. (Some of us are even still board members, though I retired from active director status this past February.) In addition to seeing lots of lovely gardens, we got to admire sunrises and sunsets, eat entirely too much fresh seafood, and enjoy each other's company. It was a very pleasant interlude that I'm glad I made time for.

You can see some of the best photos from that week over at my Flickr page, including a larger version of this one:



And yes, that's Venus playing the role of morning star, way up high along the upper right-hand border, just where indigo becomes midnight.

(I called my spouse and told him I hadn't bought any plants. He was wise and asked me what I had bought...and the answer was, a lovely print of a gorgeous watercolor, something like this one - http://www.artistsofmaine.com/Mimi12e.html - only with a lot more white space to balance the composition. Oh, the detail work! I will be admiring this one for a long while. It'll go in my workshop once I get it framed.)

(ETA: the artist's website has a soundtrack...the sound of lapping waves. I find it relaxing, but you may wonder where the hell the thing came from. Sorry about that.)

The day after I got back home, I was supposed to have taken the train up to DC to meet up with corrinalaw. I was beat, though, after five days away, so I chose to stay home, do laundry, rest and relax and catch up on email. It turned out to be a good decision. About 9:30 that morning, my husband's car was struck as he drove through a busy local intersection and totaled. (No worries - he's fine. Bruised and shaken up, but fine.) Both airbags blew and the front axle on his car was broken. The woman who hit him also lost her car and broke a couple of ribs, we're told. The police officer who wrote it up cited her for reckless driving. Cue trip to the rental place, long conversations with the insurance company, etc.

Work all week was busy, dealing with secretarial absences and court rule changes and stubborn equipment and budget worries. By the time Friday rolled around, I was exhausted.

And then, of course, my husband having sorted through the available cars in his price range in the area, he had to go look at the one he wanted to buy immediately after work on Friday. I knew how this was going down; he'd already gotten settlement figures and a loan pre-approval. We took my car to the dealership and, once he'd decided that yes, this was the car for him - a 2002 Honda Accord EX, white with tan leather interior and all the bells and whistles you could ask for in that year car - we did the paperwork and then I went home, leaving him to wait while the car was detailed and gassed up and readied for him to take delivery.

Then I went home and stared at the computer screen, too brain dead to do anything but read.

***

Believe it or not, I did manage to keep working on the rewrite of Kith while on vacation and even some this week (mostly at lunch, since by the time I got home and had finished working on or eating dinner my capacity for words had long since gone south). I'm about two thirds done now, working my way ever closer to the third of the three major plot things I am changing in this rewrite. I have, unfortunately, lost my grasp of the entirety of this book in all of the rewrites across the span of the four months it's taken me to get this far. I'm navigating by the light of the changes I made in book three of this series (Break) and hoping I don't strike a sandbar.

At any rate, I am still moving forward, which is the best I can ask of myself.

***

Green & Black's 60% dark chocolate with candied ginger bits remains the best chocolate in the world. Just so you know.

***

Nope, no conventions this year for me. I really, really wanted to attend WFC, which is in San Jose this year, so I could visit with spammagnet and spouse, who hosted a get-together in 2007 (I think). That is not to be, however; we're penny-pinching and paying off consumer credit of various sorts. (And arranging loans for the new car, but don't get me started on that.)

Next year, assuming the economic recovery cooperates, we should be moving and finding new jobs and building a house during the summer convention season, so no cons in 2010, either.

Keep your fingers crossed.

***

Oh, and I got a phone call not long before my Eastern Shore garden tour trip from a woman who wants to rework her back yard garden, and long story short I have a new client and a new design project on my drafting board. Since that money will go directly to paying the architect, I'm happy to have it coming in.

Come on, economic recovery. *g*

12:37pm: Hippo Birdie!
Best wishes for a lovely day, stillsostrange - I hope you get to spend it with all your favorite ghouls. *g*

9:24am: And yet more photos
I wanted to download all that was in my camera before this afternoon's client meeting, so here's another sempervivum photo, complete with rain drops--teeny rain drops, as this is a macro shot.

2:18pm: AKICILJ*
I'll take male bonding rituals for 100, Alex.

I know that Western military training of young men is steeped in the sort of blustering interaction that Western males, for the most part, seem automatically to fall into whenever three or more of them get together.

What I do not know, however, is if this is a cultural phenomenon or if it's something that, say, young Asian males also exhibit in groups. Anyone out there have evidence on either side of this question?

The military training portion of my statement is important for context, though I'm not sure it really matters to the question, so please don't feel you can't respond if your experience isn't military related.

(*That's All Knowledge Is Contained In LiveJournal, of course.)

***

This book is something like 400 pages long. I'm currently on page 211 of the rewrite, though that's misleading since there are lots of notes and highlighted things to fix embedded within it; I won't have an accurate page count until I clean all of that up, once the rewrite is done. At any rate, I am firmly in the middle of the book, in the second act of three, or however you might wish to measure such things. While there remains one crucial major change yet to be made, I am somewhat cheered by having this many pages behind me. The first part is where all the hard changes had to be made. *g* The part I'm in now is fixing echoes and tweaks.

***

Get a load of this really gorgeous German manor house: http://www.schloss-lohrbach.de/. Can't you see Canum looking out one of those third floor windows, watching the house's guards company drilling on the greensward below? (Yeah, this one's got a moat and Harlendon doesn't, but the form of the house is just so perfect otherwise.) You can click on the flag emblems below the image to change the language of the page and, incidentally, the image itself, which I personally find way cool. Check out the French version as well - an actual photo; yes, this is a real structure. ::covets::

***

Happy Fourth of July, everybody!

9:22pm: More on the photo front
Sempervivums are smallish succulent plants with really spectacular flowers. They look like cacti, but have no spines. I've long been interested in these plants, and this spring when I found myself working the spring garden show one booth over from Stone Crop Nursery, specialists in sempervivums, I bought five different varieties.

With my son's help - he works construction, and has brought me several loads of rocks of various sizes - I've been able to get the plants into the ground (along with the cacti that are part of his collection) and the rocks placed so that we have landing pads for feet interspersed with the planting pockets. I built in some elevation change, too, since a garden ought not be a flat plane.

As if to say how pleased it is with its new home, one of the sempervivums promptly flowered:


You can see the rest at my Flickr page.