THE ALTON GIFT revises...

[deborahjross]

The first 4 chapters were slow and frustrating because I had to shift the emphasis, but once things were sorted out, the work has begun to flow. And with it, many new ideas, mostly interconnections and resonances. I loooove this part of revision! So I'm on Chapter 7, moving right along. Expect things to go well for a bit, then slow down again as I have to add sizable chunks of material. Hopefully, by then I'll really have a "head of steam" momentum.

Oh, and we had springish weather, and then a cold snap -- below freezing at night and snow at 1500' along Highway 9 -- and now milder weather again. Flowering quince and plum all over the place, acacia (of course), daffodillies and croci, explosions of camellia. Not ours, it is too shady but will catch up. One calla lily, now on our dining room table.

Oka is blowing his coat. German Shedding Dogs do that twice a year. If I were conscientious, I'd vacuum twice a day. Instead, I write.

stay tuned.

Comments

[cardigirl.livejournal.com]

Write -- it's much less futile than vacuuming when a dog is blowing coat. Cardis, unfortunately, shed year round with occasional full-out blows. If I vacuumed enough to keep up with them, I'd never get anything else done.

[deborahjross.livejournal.com]

Yes, that is so true. There will always be reasons to Not Write. It's much more productive to look upon vacuuming as a break in which to mull over plot problems, but only when I'm prepared to just leave the task undone as inspiration strikes. We have a small house and I can get the basic vacuuming done in about 15 minutes, so that's not entirely unreasonable. I like to think "My house is clean enough to be healthy and dirty enough to be happy."