Month: June 2015

Dessert & Discussion

 

ocpl flyerThe public library system in the city in which I live recently reached out to me to kick off their adult summer reading program, Dessert & Discussion. I was thrilled to accept. The first program is on the topic of romance. Not only am I a romance author, but I am current president of Central New York Romance Writers, a chapter of Romance Writers of America.

So, if you’re in the Central New York area on Tuesday, June 30, I’ll be hosting a discussion on the romance genre at the Paine Branch Library on Nichols Ave in Eastwood. We’ll be starting at 6pm. Stop by to share your favorite romance titles and hear what other readers enjoy!

 

AlphaSmart: The Writer’s Dream Machine

In 2000, I bought a miracle machine. It was called an AlphaSmart. It was a portable key board with memory for 100 pages in 8 separate files. It ran (forever) on 3 double A batteries. It weighed next to nothing. The screen showed only 4 lines at a time, but could be read outside. It came with cable to hook to a computer to upload what you’d written into a file. And you didn’t have to worry about hitting a save button. “Alph” automatically saved everything. The unit was more portable than a laptop.

alphasmart

Other authors discovered AlphaSmart. In the Reno airport in 2004, after the RWA national conference, I overheard an airport employee saying he’d never heard of them until that week, and it seemed all these women were traveling with them.

I used Alph for years. I had to replace a couple of keys, the space bar, and the batteries, but entire books were written on Alph. Eventually the LCD screen popped a vessel or something a couple of years ago and the liquid crystal bled across the viewing window. The plastic holding the metal springy thingy for the spacebar broke. The “B” key split in half and fell off. The company had been sold, the new owners no longer sold replacement parts, and discontinued making the Writer’s Dream Machine. After nearly 10 years of slave labor, my original Alph had to retire. My $200 investment had been a great one.

Last year, one of my critique partners was cleaning out her office. She had an AlphaSmart she’d rarely used and offered to give it to me. I hemmed. I hawed. Eventually I caved.

Why did I hesitate for even a second?

I can pound out a page before I leave for work in the morning; another page is written on my lunch hour–all without waiting for my laptop to boot up. There’s no Internet distraction. I can sit on my patio-in-progress and just write. I still have an index card I wrote out years ago with a page conversion table on it: 0.6 Alph pages = 1 “old-fashioned” 250-word page; 1.2 = 2; 1.8=3; and so on.

Other authors I know still use their AlphaSmarts. I’m glad I rediscovered the joy of mine.

 

Happy First Day of Summer!

Last week, I posted about lack of progress on my back yard retrieval project. My above-ground pool has been gone since September. A few plants were put in around the perimeter of the pool’s footprint. We also wanted our patio extended a bit. And work slowly progressed throughout the autumn.

For some silly reason, I thought spring would see the end of the project. That I would have a larger patio and a writing garden for this summer. I finally texted the Vanishing Landscaper earlier this week: “Let’s talk about basil, parsley, cilantro and the patio.”

The next day, I came home to this:

basil

Several kinds of basil

Patio in Progress

Stones for the extended patio

Herbs

Parsley, basil, and (I hope) cilantro

And he was at the house the day after that when I came home for lunch. He did a lot then, too.

Patio in Progress

Prepping to set the patio stones

I may have my patio by my July vacation.

I sat outside  with Alph yesterday, and envisioned it all in between writing many sentences. I decided to call it my writing garden. I hope it comes to pass this year.

 

Tiffany!

Sometimes I’ll mention “Tiffany” in my blog. Maybe I should explain who–er, what–“Tiffany” is.

Many years ago, I’d picked up my children from day care and was driving home when Y-Chromo–about 3 years old at the time–asked me about that “holiday after Christmas.”

“New Years?” I asked.

“No. It’s one Christians celebrate.”

He kept trying to explain the holiday to me, but my work-drained brain wasn’t making connections. And X-Chromo (8 or 9 months old) might have been fussing, too. This went on for several blocks. The he popped out with, “Oh! I remember what it’s called. Tiffany!”

Considering he was only three at the time, I was pretty darned impressed he was discussing Epiphany.

Several years later, I shared the story with my writing friends. They thought it was adorable. (I thought so, but I might be the tiniest bit biased.) And from that moment on, whenever one of us has a breakthrough while plotting a book, writing, or anything else in life, it’s a “tiffany.” The mispronunciation/misunderstanding has become so much a part of our language, we use it without thinking, forgetting other people might not know what we mean.

I had several tiffanies over the past weekend while I was on a two and a half day writing retreat.

Early morning on Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in upstate NY.

Early morning on Owasco Lake, one of the Finger Lakes in upstate NY.

My WIP, the next book in my Toke Lobo and the Pack werewolf series, is just flowing. When one is typing along and a plot point or incident you hadn’t consciously planned falls into place and it all makes sense–Tiffany!

How Does My Garden Grow?-June Version

I have chives!

chives

Aren’t they lovely? I used some in a pasta salad a couple of weeks ago.

I transplanted some basil, but I don’t think it’s going to make it.

basil

What I’d really like is my patio. And the lawn. I have a week off in July. I had dreams of sitting outside writing. Doesn’t look like that’s happening any time soon. Not happy about that at all.