Okay, so maybe this thing is working out. Maybe.

I've spent the last couple of weeks trying to integrate a massive amount of backstory (mostly from the War) into the current story as a parallel narrative and, so far at least, it seems to be working.

Stain has a whole new opening, I finally got to write a scene from Albin Darril's POV, and I'm actually pretty happy with this!

This integration has, however, shown the need for massive restructuring of the middle of the book - including a different villain, er, assassin, er, sort of both and neither, and that too is coming along quite well. Now I just have to figure out how to kill someone(s) without Dubric getting (or at least being stuck with) their ghosts. ;)

Feel free to make suggestions. lol

Farewell to a Princess

Our Malaysia died this morning, hit by a car right in front of our house. She was three years old, had been a fabulous mama to a perfect litter of kittens, and was very much adored. She was also determined, ornery, spoiled, particular, and in all ways a Princess. Since we can no longer worship at her altar and bow to her many whims, I can only say goodbye my sweet princess. We loved you and miss you very much.

For a mere ten dollars

I meet with my writing group twice a month for lunch followed by much gabbing at Borders. We critique each other, support and encourage each other, and do our best to keep each other accountable because, let's face it, we're all mired with life upheaval. Grandkids. Grown children moving back home. Job changes. New romances. Illness and injuries and car trouble and, well, life.

In short, we've been slacking with our writing, all of us so we've devised a plan. Create a writing goal. Hit it, there's no penalty. Miss it, pony up $10 toward a writing retreat.

My goal is 8 more finished chapters of Stain by our next meeting (the end of this month). I'm CHEAP and there's no way I'll have to pay.

No freaking way.

Speaking of Stain, I'm working at integrating the Pavlis Accords and other important events into the narrative, not as flashbacks but as intersecting story. It's coming along really, really well.  :)

Gilby and Otlee

Now that all the house-stuff is done, I've been trying to focus on Stain. The current draft is mostly finished, length wise, but a real mess, content wise. That's okay, it's fixable.

But, in an effort to show that it's not all awful, I'm sharing a scene from about mid-book with Gilby and Otlee. Since Dubric, Dien and Lars are insanely busy with bigger problems, Dien has sent the boys to bring in a known drunk (Crith) supposedly for a minor offense, but actually because Dubric has been haunted by Crith's wife's ghost for a couple of days. There's been no time to investigate her murder because things in Faldorrah are a bit nuts to say the least, and Dien assumed it would be an easy and safe task to delegate.

Easy and safe in a tambo book? Um... no.

Anyway, the scene's below the cut. Hopefully it'll last through revisions because I really like Gilby. ;)

Yup, I'm 47. Not sure if I like it much.

It's my birthday today, and I'd like to say we had a big party and cake and gobs of presents, but that'd be fibbing. I did get to go out to lunch with Bill and Laura (which was nice), and we did a little shopping (also nice), but mostly we went through lists of postal sorting centers to filter out all the upcoming closings and places we really didn't want to relocate too (huge cities, like New York, Chicago, etc, and locations in the southwestern desert because Laura and I both burn like crazy) and then tried to pick our top contenders from what remained

Honestly, not a lot remained. It's shocking and quite worrisome how many postal centers are closing. We had twelve pages of centers, HUNDREDS to start with, and more than half are just gone or soon will be. Where are all their employees going to go? How can so many people relocate? Will they? Since Bill's only been a postal employee 5 years, will he even be able to find a place to relocate to? Hell, will he even have a job after October?

Very scary stuff. Neither of us are good with uncertainty and it's really dragging our psyches down.

Our house has been on the market for 2 weeks and no nibbles yet - not that we expected any this quickly - and we're having an open house tomorrow. Hopefully that will go well.

We really could use some good news.

Dermatological 2

The doc was really nice, if a bit rushed, and I now have new, pricey, super-gentle cleanser and am awaiting arrival of special, super pricey, must order it in because our pharmacy doesn't stock it, antibiotic lotion. Both of which must be used twice a day.

If they won't help, there's one more thing she can try, then it's off to laser surgery for me. So, hopefully this stuff will work.

I must admit, the cleanser makes my face feel 'happy'. I am rather encouraged if humbled by the price of all this stuff.

Dermatological

I'm biting the bullet - again - and going to a dermatologist to have my Rosacea looked at. I'm just tired of my face stinging all the time and people asking me if I'm okay, since I'm so red.

ARRGH. I don't want to go because it will almost certainly be a waste of time. I went to one once, years ago, a guy highly recommended by my regular doc, supposed to be the best in the area, and it didn't go well. He blustered in, confirmed that I did, indeed, have Rosacea, remarked that - oh! - I was allergic to tetracyclines, so here's some amoxicillin pills. Put some moisturizer on it and good luck. Poof, right back out the door.

Was with me all of maybe 45 seconds. We didn't have insurance at the time and it cost more than a hundred bucks. The amoxicillin helped my sinuses, but I was already moisturizing, and the visit was all just a big waste of my time and money. My regular doc has since tried tried a couple of things, but nothing's helped. It just is what it is, I guess.

Here's hoping next week's appointment helps, at least a little.