Wishing all my friends, family, readers, and most importantly the American soldiers currently or having had served a very Happy Independence Day. I hope you all have a fantastic day. Play safe, be safe and get home safe.
Happy birthday America!
Tag Archives: Monday
Almost there…
Only ten more days before I’m officially on holidays in the Big Easy with the lovely April Zyon. I am so ready for this break, and it’ll be a blast to boot. I have no clue what I’m packing beyond the obvious, but I am starting a list – cause I’d really hate to be missing something. Especially since I won’t be able to “run home” and grab it, lol!
In other good news The Bass, Living Victorious 2 first round edits hit my inbox this weekend. I haven’t yet had the opportunity to check to see what might need fixing. I’m hoping that it’s all easy *crossing fingers* fixes without too many major boo-boo’s that need major rewrites. That sort of things suck. I also need to get them done before I leave so that my editor has them while I’m away to do her next look over. Maybe they’ll be back in my box when I return, here’s hoping.
First and foremost though is my current project. It sort of popped up suddenly – like most things involving my crazy muse – and it’s a seasonal story. Which means I need to get this sucker done, and fast. I only have a little more to go, I think. It’s always hard to tell with the muse. She keeps bombing me with details to add in so I never quite know where this is heading, and when it might be completed. It better be soon or it’ll miss the appropriate time to release.
Well I think that’s it for updates at this moment. Will put out more as they come to me. Look for a couple more posts to follow in the next two weeks before I depart. ~ Moira
Officially on vacation!
At least from the day job. I plan on taking a couple of “me” days off from writing as well, but I have edits to get done and sent back prior to the New Year, so there will only be a little rest for the weary. The rest of my vacation time will likely be spent pounding on the keyboard to get more of my stories done up. Thankfully though I can do that from the comfort of my home, in my jammies since I have ZERO interest in getting dressed when it’s uncalled for, and with an unlimited supply of coffee at my fingertips. Ahhhhh, bliss :)
In other news (like you care) I did complete all my shopping with the exception of one item that I’ve spent three months attempting to find all to no avail. Mainly because I’m pretty sure it doesn’t exist except in a delusional mind. I’m just not sure if it’s the one who asked me to find it, or the original person who wanted said item. It’s a continual coin toss on that one. I shall spend most of tomorrow on the phone to determine if said item might, however remotely, exist in reality. Should it then I will venture forth into the insanity to procure it with no thought to my own well-being, or sanity. Both of which are sorely in question after spending four hours in a mall, yes…A MALL!, the Sunday before Christmas. I know – I have no clue what I was thinking doing that either.
On the editing front for C&M Security 5, Dangerous Pasts, I’ve had zero motivation since Saturday to do the blasted things. Can’t get into the right mindset for it. Part of that may have been the fact I knew I’d be going *shudder* to the mall for an extended period of time. My mind may have been preparing for the onslaught of insanity, noise, and idiocy that is to be found there. Whatever the reason I haven’t got a lot completed yet. I’ll likely open them up once more tomorrow while enjoying the fact I’m home, in my jammies, while my coworkers are making their way into the office. Might be what I need to get some more done on them. Or at least figure out where the bloody hell I left off.
Usually I’m good about that kind of thing. I leave myself a little note so I can go right to that spot, or at the very least bookmark my last point so I don’t have to slog through. This time though I must have thought I’d remember. Well, hate to disillusion those that know me, I don’t have that great of a memory because I’ve got no clue. *rolls eyes*
Well, that’s it from me for tonight. I have food on the way – as there’s none in the house currently. So enjoy your evening, and I hope you’ve gotten everything you needed to get done, done. ~ Moira
Murky Monday
Somebody sure done gone, and pissed off Mother Nature. Or she’s got a big ol’ bee in her bonnet. Cause here we are, in SEPTEMBER no less, and it’s freakin’ snowing! Not only that, but there’s a “Snowfall Warning” in place. Not even shitting you. Case in point, the image below is from my walk home & a couple of the trees that line the Downtown Core. That white stuff on the tree, ground, benches, and floating past in the image – that’s snow folks. SNOW!
As an extra bonus, because apparently someone has sinned against Mother Nature, we’re expecting even more all the way into Wednesday. Three days of this sticky, wet, white crap. Ugh! Nasty! On the plus side – literally – we’re supposed to shoot back up into the 20’s by next Monday (that’s the mid 60’s for you Fahrenheit folks) – a nice steady climb out of the trenches in a manner of speaking.
Thankfully I had no plans other than to sit and write tonight, maybe watch a couple shows on TV. This convinced me I chose wisely. And I do need to take one last lookie-loo at my Dangerous Lines book. My publisher sent it to me since I had a couple of odd changes on the last round of edits. Mainly things I needed to change to keep in alignment with the next book in the series and what all will be happening in there. One more read through and I should have it back to them tonight at some point.
Well, that’s it. So from the suddenly chilly, and very white city of Calgary, I bid you a good night. ~ Moira *brrrr*
PS – That little place, the Luxor, in the image – great little Egyptian place. Pretty great food, amazing sweets and goodies.
Productive Monday
I know, that seems to be a little contradictory for me to put in as a subject. In this case though, it’s true. The fact I had today off was likely the only reason it was as productive as it was.
I received the first round of edit’s last evening from my publisher so I was working on those today. Happily I can announce that I even got through them all, and returned them to prep from round two. I have to shout out to my editor, Laurie Temple, again. The woman is awesome! Hell, the woman should be up for Sainthood for dealing with some of the weirdness I’ve cooked up. The fact that I have the same editor through the entire series is a huge plus. She’s read the previous books (obviously), dissected them, and helped me to bring the best I could to the readers. She knows these books pretty much as well as I do, which in the editing process is a big thing. She knows when to point out a good spot to mention some important point of a previous book, especially when I’ve mentioned a character from one of them.
That and she beats back my comma addiction to a reasonable number – though I did notice that the second half had fewer corrections than the first. A first for me, but I was writing book 3 when we were editing book one, so obviously some of what she’d told me at that time of editing book 1 sank in a bit, and carried into book 3. Not a lot – obviously, but some. So that’s a plus, maybe I’m actually starting to learn this stuff! LOL!
It’s actually a good thing, seeing some progress where she’s not having to smack my knuckles so much now. Hopefully I can keep up with that. I know the other thing I’m dedicatedly trying to work on is over using dialogue tags. ie: he said. she said. he told her. she whispered. That stuff. It’s a little harder to do during the writing process, so I don’t really worry about it. But before I submit I’m in there inspecting each and every single dialogue tag and making the hard call on whether it’s actually needed or not. Something else I noticed she didn’t need to do so much hacking on during the second half of book 3. Though I can honestly say I wasn’t actively watching for that so much until book 4. I might have naturally let up though, but I honestly don’t remember one way or the other.
I suppose it doesn’t matter. It appears on some level that I’m starting to “get” where she’s coming from on some of her points of note in the edits I get from her. Either way, it seems to be working. The fact she’s a perfect angel to work with is also a plus. I was truly nervous during the first book I did, my standalone, since I’d heard both good stories, and some horror stories about editors. Having several friends that are authors prior to this likely wasn’t a good thing for my poor nerves.
And now that I’ve rambled myself around…to where, I’m not entirely sure. LOL! Which would be my cue to go, and do up some dinner. Chicken’s been marinating all day, so that should be spectacular. Hope you all have a lovely evening, and a fantastic week ~ Moira
Day three of a four day weekend
Well, obviously I needed the time off! Without family obligations, hordes of running around, or dozens of projects to see to. Because, finally, I’ve got C&M book 3 done! That’s right, done. I’ve gone through the spell check, grammar check as far as I can figure it out (thank goodness for editors), and written up the synopsis. Which is really one of my least favourite parts of writing. But, it’s completed and ready to send off.
All I need to do now is package it up, hit send, and then it’s out of my hands. It feels really good to get this sucker done, lol! It gave me more than a couple grey hairs I think. Not that anyone will ever know for sure, wink-wink.
Of course, with C&M 3 out of the way I now need to start plotting on the fourth instalment. I already know who the characters will be, had that figured out a while back actually. The only book that was completely unexpected, yet insisted on being written, was book 2 of the series. It just came to me, but didn’t fit any of the set characters I already had planned. So, with a shrug, I tossed it into the mix. Which I think was a really smart plan. While I obviously plan most of the stories to a degree, a surprise here and there along the way isn’t amiss.
It fits in well with the rest of the books, showed a little more as well as a different look at C&M, the staff and their jobs, and it brought one of the characters (a main in book 3) out a little more. All in all it was a very happy little surprise.
Well, it’s about dinner time around here so I’m going to go and send off my stuff to Evernight and start cooking. Hope everyone has a lovely evening ~ Moira
Day one of a four day weekend
Yup, that’s right! I got me a four day weekend. With Canada Day on Tuesday the boss said to hell with it, we’re not working Monday. The reality is, he didn’t want to work on Monday since he wanted to go out to his trailer to spend the weekend on the lake. Don’t blame him, the weather today is freakin’ fantastic! From the forecast, except for a “possible chance of precipitation” the four days look like they will be stellar.
Which means I have four days to write, write and write some more. On day one, today, I slept in. I’ve been battling a bit of a head cold on top of my yearly bout of allergies. It’s been a challenge but with my buddy the Kleenex box at my side, I’ve been making it through. Beyond a bit of sinus ache, it’s actually not all that bad this year around. We’ve had just enough rain to help with the dust issue that always arises right around this time. It’s one of my bigger allergy issues, that and the dry crap that’s kicked up when people mow and de-thatch their lawns for the first couple times of the year. Yes, I’m horribly allergic to the dust kicked up by mowed lawns. If I even get a whiff of a freshly mowed lawn at this time of year I will travel four blocks out of my way to avoid it just so I don’t have the wonderful seizing in my lungs. Can’t avoid it entirely, but I damn well try for the first bit. After the first month though it doesn’t much affect me, unless I’m the poor sucker out there doing the mowing. Which, as I have no lawn thanks to apartment living, I don’t ever have to do.
Up to bat on the writing front is C&M book 3. Still need to finish this sucker off. So I have my TV playing softly in the background, coffee at my elbow, and this sucker is getting done this weekend. Come hell or… Okay, given where I live, I’m not finishing that. Since we had high water’s last year and I’m not temping Fate or anything else. *knocking on wood*
With all that in mind, I’m off to do some writing. Hope you all have a lovely weekend ~ Moira
Release Day!
So excited! A second book bearing my name out there for the world to see. Oh boy, yeah, better not think on that too long or I’ll be needing myself a paper bag. LOL! Just kidding.
There was a minor snafu with Amazon, they were having a few technology issues – happens to the best of us after all. But, like the troopers they are, they got things sorted out and my book is up. Hopefully everyone else’s as well affected by this small glitch. I didn’t really worry about it overly much, since I knew they’d figure it out in time. Besides, I was at work so that kept me from thinking about it for too long.
I will admit to looking for it as soon as I got home though. And there it was, in all it’s sexy glory – look at that cover, it’s HAWT! I keep wanting to nibble on that male model, just a little. Okay, enough of that, other things to talk about… All the links I currently have (sorry iTunes and B&N folks) are up on the Dangerous Times page. The other links will come as the individual sites get everything lined up on their ends.
Overall it was good day, not much happening at work, work wise. My one co-worker, the lady I’ve worked with personally for a number of years, left today. Off into the retirement sunset. Lucky bitch. We sent her off in a fashion she approved of, very low key, yet she knew just how much I was going to miss her. The fact I was hanging onto her leg like a two year old in the midst of mother leaving for the first time may have been a clue. My screaming “You can’t go!” may have also led to the belief I’ll miss her dreadfully. I will, but she deserves this, she put in forty years with the company, definitely time to get out and enjoy life a little.
I get myself a super-duper long weekend this weekend. Canada Day is on the Tuesday so the boss is giving us the Monday off, woohoo! That’s a four, yes 4, day weekend. Hot damn! I plan on writing, writing and doing some more writing. It will be great. I can tidy up and work on C&M book 3, maybe even submit it. Then I intend to work on the paranormal story that’s been bugging me for the last while, get some of that down on paper. More than what I currently have I mean.
Well, that’s it, I need to go and do some advertising I think. Have a wonderful evening folks! ~ Moira
Need to play catch-up
I only took three days off, but damn did it throw me behind the proverbial ball. Today was shot too since I had other things that needed doing, like getting my hair cut, doing laundry, and reading everything in my inbox and off of Facebook in an attempt to get caught up on all the latest.
Did a bit of writing as well, since I’m three days behind on that too. Didn’t get quite as much as I’d have liked done, but I’m back in the groove of things so that’s a major plus. This weekend, on top of a number of other things, have totally thrown my schedule for getting book three of the C&M Security series submitted. Not going to stress on it though. No reason to, and it doesn’t do a damn lick of good either.
Had a good visit with the family though. It was actually pretty relaxing in comparison to some of my other trips to see them. A very nice change actually. Though my mother still won’t let me sleep in to what I term an “acceptable time”. She does it on purpose, I know this, yet every single morning I’m still awoken way earlier than I’d like and my nerves are shot for a good four or five hours. The woman has it down to a science. Likely had to, given what a deep sleeper I am.
I have a couple of shows I need to catch up on, one of which apparently has had it’s season finale apparently. Since I’m also a couple shows behind, on the same series, I’ve been studiously avoiding any and all mention of anything in relation online. Never realized just how damn hard that was until this one, lol!
In other news I think I might just have a concept for a new stand alone. Not sure, but we’ll see. I was jotting notes down on the trip back last night so we’ll just have to wait and find out if it’s something my brain will actually want to write. Only real issue is, I’m not entirely sure what all my notes mean. There are a couple that, at the time they obviously made perfect sense, yet in the light of a new day don’t mean shit! LOL! Oh, dear. Well, maybe it’ll come back to me when I eventually get around to it. I have other stories to write first before I get too caught up in that.
I think that’s it for tonight. I have a B movie I have saved on my PVR that I plan to watch tonight. “Pacific Rim” for anyone that’s wondering. It’s got Charlie Hunnam in it, which was reason enough to record it for later viewing. I honestly don’t remember it so I’ll have to see how “bad” it really is. So, if anyone’s seen it – don’t tell me. I don’t mind some of the B movies honestly. There are some though, the made for TV so-called B movies (they aren’t B, they are not that high up in the alphabet) that I cannot stand. We shall just have to see where this one falls.
Have a good night ~ Moira
Week’s going great
So far anyway, lol! Yesterday wasn’t too bad, except for the drenching I got as I dashed semi-quickly home from work. I was definitely more than just a little soggy by the time I got here. There was much squish-squish happening as I dripped my way to my place. I hate having wet shoes – nasty!
Plus side though, got my contract signed, and sent off for book 2 of the C&M Security series. As well as doing up the blurb/cover art sheet – that went back to Evernight Publishing as well. Did some writing and I think I may even have an idea for book 3 in this series. It’s vague right now so I’m just letting it rumble around in my head.
Stayed up a bit too late last night and then just couldn’t fall asleep. Not because my brain was spinning but because I honestly couldn’t get comfortable. Damnedest thing too. Especially given what I spent on my awesome mattress. Frickin’ thing cost nearly a very large mortgage payment – if I paid mortgage that is. But it was a Christmas gift so, in my humble opinion, well worth it. I love my bed. My bed is awesome! But last night we just weren’t in the groove together.
I had a LOT of coffee today to combat my need to sleep. That and I needed to try, I said “try”, to keep my wandering mind focused. I think I left my brain in bed this morning because I was seriously disorganized and mildly chaotic. I did, somehow, manage to get a lot of work done though. Not a fucking clue how! Really, I have no idea how the hell I managed it.
Well, that’s it for the moment. I think I’ll go hunt down something for dessert and vegetate in front of the TV and computer for a like. Have a good night ~ Moira
Moira Callahan 