Another autumnal Humboldt morning

 "The sunrise is not relevant to the treeline or the marine layer." What I said to my husband at 6.57 a.m. today referring to when I was going to feed the hens this morning. I'd checked my phone for the time, announcing said time, but he thought that was when I was heading out to feed the chickens. Nope. Far too dark in our slice of the North Coast for such activities, in part due to the sun isn't rising until seven thirty and because of the treeline which obscures it as well as the marine layer that darkens the horizon.

A tad grainy but true colours to what I saw this morning.

Might I say that when I woke a little after five today the sky was CLEAR! Stars sparkled, Jupiter rose proudly, the Big Dipper lingering over the western edge of the landscape. Those clear skies lasted until well after six o'clock, maybe as late at six thirty. By then I was having breakfast, not gazing at the heavens. When I did glance at them, welp, the marine layer had muscled in, I could hear its haughty laughter. You want clear skies, it teased. Nothing doing, nothing doing.

I finished the read aloud edits on Deadfern yesterday, finding a TYPO on the last page, LOL! Laughter is spelled with a t, not laugher as I found, ahem Word Document. I also changed.... Something else, though now I can't recall what it was. Huh. Not going to fret over it, my memory is what it is and there we go. Except now I HAVE TO KNOW, ARGGGGG!

Hmmm.... Just read the end, didn't see more than the correct spelling of laughter. Well o-kay.... Anyway, that's done and I added the Liner Notes after it as well as About the Author, but no chapter of a forthcoming sequel because The Deadfern Miracles HAS NO SEQUEL, hah! It's a standalone, not many of those in my wheelhouse these days, and I'll release it sometime early next month. Yup, not going to query it, what I decided yesterday, or maybe on Sunday. Regardless of the date I made that choice, it stands and I'm good with it. My writing isn't meant to be more than what makes me happy, laughter with a t notwithstanding, and at sixty years of age delving into the world of agents and traditional publishing is for those with different life journeys.

I'm thrilled with clear skies, the pesky marine layer, and happy endings. The Deadfern Miracles definitely has a HEA (happily ever after, which I only learned in the last year, that's how far off the beaten authorial path I dwell). It also has much of my heartspace in it, a novel written with MINIMAL notes taken. In fact, some of the notes I did scribble weren't used in the story, LOL! Ideas that didn't come to pass as chapters flew from my brain into my fingers onto the virtual page that didn't seem to grasp that laugher isn't laughter. That's fine, I found it, whew! I also found, as the sky brightens but not enough for me to pause this post to feed the hens, that when necessary I can set down a work-in-progress even without copious notes written, then return to crafting a manuscript without trouble. And I don't need overt smirking involved to make a similar point.

So. Much. Smirking in the first draft. Like how the marine layer asserts itself after clear skies greet the very early still dark day. Fine marine layer, smirk all you wish. I'm not bothered because peace whirls through your gray clouds, hehehe. I'm not troubled by solving the query question, relieved actually. Yet now I have a cracking synopsis written, a fabulous tag line waiting, and no pressure upon my aging shoulders. I am SO GRATEFUL to release my own books, and even more pleased if someone finds them enjoyable. We're here to make each other's lives easier, thank you Mary Ann Evans. And with that, it's time to close this up, finish my tea, then feed the hens. Have a wonderful rest of the week, steeped in peace and plenty of laughter with a t!