Thursday musings…

Weather: High:  48º & still WINDY! (Soo cold, ZOMG!)

So  I’ve been trying to work out the outline for my NaNoWriMo offering for this year and it’s slowly coming together.  Somewhere in the last few weeks, my writing style slipped back to more Urban Fantasy and less Paranormal Romance.  I tend to walk that tightrope of  Visceral Gore/Tragic outcomes  vs. Sexy Sexiness/Happy endings (no pun intended) very carefully. But lately, I think the push to make my writing one or the other has been to the detriment of the work.
I need to get back to just serving the story and not worrying so much about how it will be categorized/marketed when it’s done.

On the totally frivolous TV-watching front, I’ve been totally sucked into Sherlock (a BBC production, being shown on PBS here in the states). I just love what Moffat and Co have done with the series. Setting Sherlock Holmes in the 21st century without altering much of the personalities & story lines? Brill.  I love that Sherlock calls himself  “A highly functioning sociopath”. It fits.  I wish I could write dialogue this clever. It appeals to me on so many levels. So yeah.  Consider me a flaily fangirl.

This season, I’ve kinda quickly dropped new shows, as I often do. I’m still enamored of Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, Sanctuary & Castle. I’ve added The Event & Stargate: Universe to my weekly watch list. That’s pretty much it, with added helpings of Luther & Sherlock on the weekends. (Doctor Who & Being Human are between seasons)  Heavy on the genre shows, I guess. But then, I do like anything that stands in well scripted opposition of Reality Television.
This weekend is my last free bit of time before the madness that is NaNoWriMo kicks in. I’ll be blogging in the duration and posting my word count.  Hopefully I can get the Second book in my trilogy done now. It’s been a while since the words have flowed. Book #1 is done, but I’m tweaking elements to put a little more flow & darker edges on it.  I’ve been inspired reading & listening to a lot of better wordsmiths than myself. Makes me want to strive for better prose that what I’ve been producing.

Off to meet my husbeast at the parking garage to drive home.

BTW– Got the new Abney Park CD and it’s  fantastic! Go to their website to order yourself a copy.

EEK! NaNoWriMo is looming!

Weather: Still WindPocalyptic! High: 60º & WINDY!ZOMG!
Well,kept my promise to work out this morning, albeit not as long as I’d wished. Managed a good 20 minutes of aerobic movement. Not bad for a start. I also have my daily 2 mile hike to and from the office. (2 miles round trip)

Hopefully I can start disciplining myself into working out a full 30-45 minutes in the morning. It’s difficult to work it in,  considering my morning schedule, but it’s not impossible.

Just realized with a rather harsh jolt that NaNoWriMo starts on Monday! ZOMG!  Since I decided to completely trash what I had for Book #2  and reboot the story, at least I have fresh material to work on, and won’t be in violation of the “rules”. Nice thing is, I’ll be taking some vacation time in November, so I’ll have NO excuse not to make my wordcount. 🙂

Indulging in my Foodie tendencies today. Had lunch at Hannah’s Bretzel, which is a Chicago only sandwich shop (so far)  which specializes in organic, vegetarian & sustainable foodstuffs. They have a literal WALL of CHOCOLATE, which contains all sorts of high end, fair trade & organic chocolate offerings. Today, I got their Apple, Thyme & Brie sandwich, a Clementine Izze sparkling juice and a couple of Vosges Chocolate bars (One is for the Husbeast. Because I’m a good wife. 🙂

Speaking of the husbeast, this weekend is our fifth wedding anniversary, which is still low on the married years list. But if you consider that I’ve known the man for 15 years, and we’re still not bored of each other yet? Yeah, I consider that a fantastic milestone. And he’s still as wonderful as he was the day I met him. ::hands out insulin shots for everyone:: Yes, I tend to gush when I speak of him, but that’s what crazyLove does to you. 🙂

The TinyBuddha twitter feed offered up this gem today: “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” ~E.E. Cummings

A few of my friends were commiserating that the statement is even more pertinent as you get past your thirties, or even into your forties (where I am).  My comment on this quote was that at some point, when you get a little older, you shake off the dross of others expectations and become who you really are. And yes, it takes courage to do that. Especially if who you truly are as a person flies in the face of parental expectations or familial & cultural mores.  The first hurdle is accepting that you’re an adult. Seems easy, but I don’t know one person who didn’t balk at the idea. Second, you have to truly not care what others think. You have to let people’s opinions roll off your back like water.  Honestly, the easiest way to be who you truly are, is to BE WHO YOU TRULY ARE. As in, start living your life the way you want: Dress the way you feel comfortable, eat what you like, live where you want to live. Yes there might be constraints of a legal nature, as in, if you’re most comfortable in a thong & high heels…and nothing else? You might find yourself at odds with the authorities if you were, say, walking around the supermarket like that. But you know what I mean.

I knew I was an adult, and had embraced who I was when, at 24, I moved to Boston with no money, no job and a bare foothold on an apartment. EVERYONE said I was nuts. Well, except for my friend, Terri, who was moving with me.  But I did it. Terrified, flailing and unsure of what to expect, I just did my best to make it work.  Got a job, and started spending most of my free time writing. Now, it was “finesse your craft” time, and I didn’t try to get anything published, but I embraced the writer in me & threw myself into the deep end to try and make it work on my own. I partially succeeded. I ended up moving back to Indiana, but I brought a stiffer resolve home with me. I got an apartment, got a job in Chicago and the rest is sort of history. It took me until I was almost 35 to figure out that other people’s opinions were just that, OPINIONS. And even longer, into my 40s before I stopped trying to apply traditional models to every aspect of my life.  I stand here, at 43, on the brink of getting published, and moving away from everything that is settled & safe (Well, excepting the Husbeast… He’s coming with!) . And I’ve never felt happier or more fulfilled at the prospect. I just wish some days that I could go back and let my 20 year old self know. It all works out.