In A Bookish, Quilty Mood

The colours in this shot are referred to within my book. The birds aren't, but they are a nice touch. Photo from July 2024, taken at Humboldt Bay, California. Okay, so this is MOSTLY novel chatter, but a heads-up: my latest fictional WIP, written in late summer 2023, seems to possess much ado concerning our current political climate. I can't escape that as I read over three chapters each morning, making me wonder if I should release it sooner than I had planned. Current launch date is for March seventeenth. Maybe writing this post will clarify that decision. Or make known to me something other than outside noise; I've been trying to engage in beloved pastimes. With writing, all I can manage are revisions, which is as necessary as the drafting of said manuscripts. And I am TRULY GRATEFUL to have books at which to poke, not merely for the distraction, which isn't how I usually approach my writing. It's never previously resembled a distraction; for years (nineteen of t...

Capitola, California on 12 September, 2012, not long after I had finished writing Splitting the Sky . All I have to go on is a manuscript and a playlist. Huh.... Happy new year! I hope you enjoyed whatever made you most content, and little of what pained. My thoughts are with those in New Orleans, Las Vegas too, and of course so many other places on this planet mired in conflict. As well as all the rancor within hearts, and while I spent much of yesterday prepping for more paper-pieced hearts, the first post of a new year concerns writing. Or what happens when one writes a novel, shelves it, decides it's meant for the hard drive only, tosses all physical proof of its background, leaving only a playlist, the manuscript, and a few meanderings in a personal blog right after it was written. Because that's what happened with Splitting the Sky , and I'm kind of flying blind-ish as I polish the story, wondering why I chose this character name or that plot point, other than the few...

Ice Cream Soda block in progress. While it's awesome to visit with family, home is home for a reason. We're back and happy to be here, and with most things unpacked and laundry spinning, it's time to consider what's next. LOL. But seriously.... My shoulder feels good after several days without sewing. The Alexandria quilt will be my focus this evening. After I finish an Ice Cream Soda block (pictured above) that I started over the weekend. Okay, I did a wee bit of stitching. I supervised (or helped build) Lego constructions. Gingerbread house constructions. Craft constructions. Played several card games, including Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza , which is MARVELOUS! If you're looking for a last-minute gift for any age, and aren't averse to a cool game of Slap Jack, it's a winner. But SERIOUSLY.... While I didn't do much sewing, I caught up on edits of my next novel, Splitting the Sky . Always great reading a book on one's phone for that published fee...

  A Red Sky at Night block in progress. I've been engrossed in the third novel of my current series , finding it required a good looking-after, lol. The story is fine, mostly, though I need to read it again to confirm when one character is first mentioned by another character to make sure I didn't mess up later events, ahem. That's one level of competence, in that when a novel is written on the fly, occasionally plot points don't meet up at correct angles. I have also discovered minor examples of prose requiring mild sharpening. That's fine, what revisions are all about. But it was startling to me to read a sentence, then immediately refashion it first within my head, then onto the document. Or deleting a sentence or phrase, making for tighter writing. Again, why edits are important, as well as time away from a manuscript so perspective can play its magical role in the process. I think of editing as the easy part of writing. Some may not agree, but for my method of ...

  Glimpses of a quilt-in-progress.... Taking a break this morning from reading The Hawk , although I have been racing through it, thoroughly caught up in the drama. Some chapters receive a minor tinkering, some are left nearly as is. At my current rate of more than two chapters a day, I might *finish* these edits by the end of month, whoa! Yet that is a story I wrote years ago. Nice that I still enjoy it, don't misconstrue, but what I am now longing to write is the continuation of my current series, and not merely one book. Inspiration has been flying through my mind as I hand-quilt the fabric WIP, which is coming along well. Binding is wholly attached, another round of hand-stitches to confirm the entire kit'n'kaboodle will stay as one remains. Yet in that repetitive work, my gray matter fashions plots, characterizations, people's hopes and dreams. These folks aren't real, although who is to say what constitutes the manner in which we live. Not to be overly etherea...

Reminding myself what I do, and how appreciative I am for the ability and time to do it; an excerpt from The Enran Chronicles Book 3 , my current revision WIP. Inside Squee’s ship, Sooz explained the Enran had permitted a small number of pods to encase what could called only a life force and not an Enran’s distinctiveness; it was those pods that people like Squee used to extend their lives. “Although,” Sooz smirked, “I think the last time Squee was revitalized it was with an Enran wholly compatible with Squee’s nature.” Noth carefully drummed his fingers along the console, not wishing to accidentally activate the vessel. “So the Enran aren’t bothered with that, but they won’t protect the most vulnerable people.” “It’s complicated, but we’ve lived with the Enran for so long that….” “Are you like Squee?” “No,” Sooz growled. “I am not like Squee.” “When did Amora die?” Noth spoke softly, not having planned to mention Sooz’s daughter. Yet he couldn’t help wonder if there had b...

A mock-up for my next Ice Cream Soda block; looking forward to sewing this as another yarn is spun. Starting a new book today, but it's not even seven in the morning and I haven't eaten breakfast and, and, and.... And this novel, originally slated in the number five spot, has moved up considerably. Now it's the prologue, ahem, requiring a little more gravity than previously. Previously it was an addendum, fleshing out a character that emerged offhandedly in Book 3, but much like Seth Gordon in The Hawk , this character has turned into a key player. Stories are funny like that, but I need to go with the flow and see what happens. Well, I know what's gonna happen, or I think I do, lol. I've also decided that instead of publishing this series starting this year, I'm going to wait. I won't release it like I did The Hawk , piece by piece as it was written. This series will emerge much further into its creation, even if the novels are presented in a kind...

A very Kaffe Fassett block for my Flock of Stars quilt. Since my last post I've had a brainstorm amid the lull between storms where I live. Physically I reside on the North Coast of California, but lately I've felt adrift between Earth and some far off galaxy where my novel also takes place. Flitting back and forth between these realms has been fine, but I've also been hurled against how to present my stories, and now as the flat gray sky breaks into streak of blue, I'm grateful to be back on the indie publishing train. It's truly the only way for me. Releasing my own books isn't flashy. It is self-satisfying. Independent publishing demands a lot of work, or not, depending on how much visibility an author wishes to obtain. Self-publishing is a term I'm not fond of because I don't do this by myself. Yet if pressed, that's what it is. I publish fiction on my own rather than shove novels in a drawer or leave them cloistered in a hard drive, languishing ...

  For Christmas I received the above pictured journal. It's not my typical decorative choice, but I saw it in a local bookshop and pointed it out to my husband, who took note of my affinity for it. I didn't know what I would write in it, but something about it called to my heart, and suffice to say my hubby was glad for the gift idea. After we returned from our Christmas sojourn, I scribbled a few entries, nothing more than trying out various pens and pencils. It sat to my right on the sofa where I hand-sew, quietly trying to muscle its way into my evening routine. It wasn't having much luck until I started my nightly edits on The Hawk , where I decided to loosely keep track of the revisions. Magical realism figures heavily in this book, so this particular journal seemed perfect for the task. Those edits are going more quickly than I first imagined; a couple of nights I've read through three chapters, merely because the story is so captivating, lol. I haven't read t...