Good morning!
This morning the sun was shining and it was almost 40 F (4 C) when I went out for my early-morning walk. There are buds ready to open on the flowering trees, and in another week or maybe less it's going to be gorgeous.
Another day of writing, reading, household chores. And if my chronic pain is not too bad, maybe another walk.
Have a good one, friends.
#Today
#Today I skipped my morning walk to let my bad hip rest for a day, and now the rain clouds look like they're closing in. It's looking like a good day to stay indoors, do some writing, then retire to the recliner chair to read and cuddle Annie-the-Cat.
May your day include some cuddles.
I just revised 70 pages of manuscript because one of my characters insisted on being a young, rakish lady's man instead of the sober middle-aged merchant I had originally planned.
Would that such changes were so easy for the rest of us.
#Writing
@51fb1883@06d3112a
I'm fine with the 60 F weather, and I'll be out walking in the mornings in the 40s. It's when I'm out walking in the early mornings in the 20s that I start to get cranky.
#WordWeavers Oct 6 — Has your MC ever done anything contradictory to their values?
Not really, but sometimes values clash, leading to an ethical dilemma. For example, in one of my books, Cordwainer knows that a man murdered his disabled daughter because he saw her as just another mouth to feed and believed she would be dependent upon him for the rest of her life.
Cordwainer also knows that if the man is charged with the killing and executed, his wife and the rest of his young children will likely starve.
Should he charge the man with the murder or not?
#WritersCoffeeClub 6: Are you self-published or trad-published? How's it going?
I'm self-published, ebooks only. It's going quite nicely, thank you. I think I was able to find my audience because medieval mystery is quite a narrow niche, so it's not flooded with titles the way science fiction or fantasy or romance is. My sales go up and down in ways I don't understand, but there are always sales.
Well, that was quick and easy. The delivery guys came in, took the door to the laundry area off, removed the old dryer, installed the new one, and put the door back on. All in a half hour.
I guess I should do laundry now.
#Today
#Today my new clothes dryer will be delivered and (I hope) installed. It's going to be a tight fit getting through the internal door to the laundry room. If they can't get it through there, I will need to have someone take the damned door off the hinges to install it later. Keep your fingers crossed.
Otherwise, it's a beautiful day, more like summer than fall, with sun and a projected high in the 80s F. I hope it's as nice where you are.
#Today has been a day of doing chores as best I could despite the side-effects from the medication the cardiologist prescribed. She cut the dosage in half when I first had trouble, but even a half-dose leaves me dizzy and confused. Luckily, she gets in touch as soon as I message her, so now she says to stop taking it. By tomorrow I should be fine. Maybe I can get some writing done then.
#Today is another beautiful sunny day. I went out for my early-morning walk as usual, then came back for coffee and Wordle and Spelling Bee, and of course the writing hashtag questions. My upstairs neighbor, aka Thumper, has gone off to work so it's quiet and I can write. I'm hoping to get a lot written today, but somehow this book is being more of a struggle than the previous ones. One of these days I'll break through the blocks and the prose will sing.
Have a good Monday!
#WordWeavers 2 Who is your most intriguing character? Why?
Right now, I think the most intriguing character in the Gavin Rownt books is Jaxon. He's just a boy, really, but he has more street-smarts than anyone else in the books, even more than Graeme Ore. He's able to appear and disappear without making a sound, and he generally knows more about what's happening in London than any of the adults. How does he do that?
When I saw the cardiologist the other day, she prescribed a medication for me. I wasn't able to get it until yesterday, and I took it for the first time today. It was Not Good. I've been feeling confused, dizzy, unsteady on my feet. I messaged her on the patient portal. And wonder of wonders, she phoned me within an hour to discuss the problem and find a solution.
Every once in a while you find a doctor who listens. Feeling very grateful.
#Today
#Today is a beautiful day, 75 degrees F and sunny. I went out for my early morning walk and may go out to walk again just because it's so nice out there. Paid my bills, got a little bit of writing done, made salmon for Sunday dinner.
Happy October, everyone!
#WritersCoffeeClub 1Oct- Shameless self-promo. What's your WIP? What's it about?
My current WIP is book 9 of my Gavin Rownt Medieval Mysteries. In this one, Gavin Rownt, a swordmaster who makes most of his living training the guards at the Tower of London, is called to the home of one of King Henry III's counsellors, where a dead body has been discovered. For reasons of his own, the nobleman wants no one to know of the killing and he hires Rownt to investigate.
Each of the books can be read as a standalone mystery, but they are better read in order. All are available as ebooks on Amazon.
#WordWeavers 9/30 How educated are your MCs?
Cordwainer is well-educated although he has not had a formal education in a school. His father insisted he learn to read and write, which in his day meant first learning Latin, from one of the better-educated priests. He also learned to speak French from his father. All three skills -- reading, writing, and speaking French -- were necessary if he were to take over the family business in the wool trade. He has furthered his education as an adult by borrowing books and even buying two of them, which only the wealthy could do.
Rownt has less education. He is illiterate, although he does speak French, which he learned while serving as a man-at-arms in Gascony. He knows everything there is to know about swords and swordfighting.
#Today I have to see a cardiologist. I've never seen one before, and I'm nervous about the whole thing. I didn't think there was anything wrong with my heart, but they did a chest scan for something else...and this is the result.
May you have a day with less stress than I will have.
Are you irritated by mistakes in diction when you read a published book? I just finished one in which the author used "duplicit" when they needed "complicit," "grizzly" for "grisly," "vice" for "vise," and "pour" for "pore." Those are just the ones I remember.
I won't be reading any more of that author's books.
@de982875
I'm interested. I like reading people's posts about their lives. Some folks just like to try to hurt people's feelings. I'm glad you blocked him.
#WordWeavers 26: Are your antagonists or protagonists more fashionable?
In a world where most people have only one set of clothing because cloth is so expensive, only the nobility have the luxury of thinking about fashion. Both my antagonists and protagonists are commoners.
#Today felt like fall was here when I went out for my early morning walk. I was cold until the exercise warmed me up, something that hasn't happened for a long time. Then out to the grocery store and home again. I'm making a dinner of old-fashioned meatloaf and potatoes and carrots to celebrate the cooler weather.
@51fb1883
We've had three days of beautiful weather, and also three days of PECO helicopters flying very, very low to check the power lines and towers. I had to close my windows because of the noise.
Yesterday I bought a new electric toothbrush. I was astonished to see that you can now buy toothbrushes with wifi and/or bluetooth connections. Why would you need either one to brush your teeth? So no, I didn't buy the $85 "smart" toothbrush. I bought the cheap dumb one.
#Today I skipped my early morning walk. Too much pain in my hip, so I'll rest it for a day. I don't have any real plans for the day, just some writing, reading, and trying to keep up with the daily domestic tasks.
That, and paying my estimated taxes for the quarter. I never have any idea what to pay until the last quarter, since my book sales veer so wildly up and down that I don't know how much I'll end up making. I just guess. Except for the first year I had to do this, I've been close enough.
Have a great day, Mastodonians!
I just got a robocall from the police stating that the escaped murderer Danelo Cavalcante has been caught. I guess I got the call because I live in the area where he's been seen.
#DaneloCavalcante
#Today on my early-morning walk I saw eight deer, or maybe three deer twice and then another two -- they look the same to me, beautiful as they are. Back to coffee and trying to write. Here's hoping I do more writing today than yesterday. If not, so it goes.
Have a good one, Mastodonians!
#Today has been an emotional rollercoaster of a day. It started out well, and then I heard about the death of an old friend of mine, and while we were never really close, it hit me harder than I expected. And then, on the good side, I'm having the best day I've ever had in terms of books sold. Normally, I'd be celebrating, but I don't quite feel up to that. I'm hoping for a calmer day tomorrow.
Not quite #today, but it's what I've got. Yesterday I had lunch with friends, one of whom has begun needing a cane to walk. I love the fact that she immediately purchased six different canes in various colors so that they could also serve as fashion accessories. She was using a purple one to match her shirt. If you have to get old, do it in style!
#Aging
#Today the replacement dishwasher for my new kitchen is scheduled to be delivered. If I am lucky, it won't be dented like the last one they delivered was. If I am even luckier, my contractor will have the time to install it today. And the kitchen renovation will finally be over.
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