*Crickets*

I was all excited back in August and September. I thought I’d really jumped on board this whole “regular blogging” thing.

Yeah. I’ve been wrong before.

So what have I been up to since the blogging train derailed and the crickets took over my site? Glad you asked.

Continuing Transition. Please Stand By.
(Actually, keep reading…)

I’m a homeschool mom, so the beginning of the school year hit. It took a few weeks, but we’re settled in a more stable routine than we’ve had since we first started homeschooling three years ago.

The last web design projects that I accepted back in March or so are STILL in progress. But there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Three of the projects are scheduled to launch later this month or the beginning of November. Just two to go. Oh, wait. Three.

Been reading a bit more than usual. Some good stuff. Star of Justice by Robynn Tolbert, Storm Front by Jim Butcher, Urchin of the Riding Stars (Book 1 of the Mistmantle Chronicles) by M.I. McAllister.

Really enjoying the flash fiction from DailyScienceFiction.com. And the devotionals from Lori over at Deeper with Jesus in Rhode Island.

Watching a few TV shows: Alias, Grimm, Doctor Who, Sherlock. Watched one episode of The Dresden Files but decided it wasn’t for me.

Saw the sci-fi movie Oblivion last night. Enjoyable. Watched The Avengers with the kids (first time for them) last week, and they thought it was the greatest. So fun to see them get excited about the characters. Really looking forward to Ender’s Game, planning to see that one in the theaters (a rare thing for me). I don’t see how they can do it justice as a movie, but cannot help but hope for the best.

Came across the Getting Things Done concept by David Allen. I think it’s going to help immensely. How I missed it back when I was in the corporate world, I’m not sure. I remember all the Franklin Planner approach and such, but it seemed to fall apart once I was home full-time and juggling such a mishmash of “personal” and “business” to-do items. Allen’s approach seems to take this into account and acknowledge that our lives today have an enormous amount of crossover and complexity. It gives me hope that he’s got an answer that will work for me. I’ll keep you posted. Oh, wait — no, I won’t. If I say that I will, then I’m just making another commitment that I’ll have to remember and fulfill later. Better to leave it alone. If I blog again about it, great. If I don’t, that’s okay, too. See how that works?

Writing

Yes, yes, I’ve been writing. But mostly fleshing out backstory and doing research. A few scenes and lines of dialogue here and there. Using resources from a wide variety of folks, but especially Roz Morris at Nail Your Novel and my library of great books by James Scott Bell.

Some major revelations about the characters have come up, things that will definitely impact the plot. So it feels like all this wandering about in the wilderness is getting somewhere.

I’m praying that all this prep means that when I sit down to write, the story itself is gonna pour out like a flood. It generally does, once I know where I’m going.

Just purchased Rise of the Machines by Kristen Lamb (on what writers really need to know about social media and their online platform) and Wired for Story by Lisa Cron (about using our understanding of how the human brain is wired to write stories that keep readers’ attention). Looking forward to reading those. Anybody else already read them? Opinions?

Might be doing NaNoWriMo. Not sure yet. Any of you planning to participate?

How About You?

How is your Fall going so far? Plans for the rest of the year? Drop me a comment and fill me in!