February update...

It's been a long time since I've posted, and for that I do apologize. My life has been so busy, but the end of school is now in sight - at long last! If all goes well, I'll graduate during the first week of June :) It's been a long haul - this is the fourth spring term for me and I'm feeling a little burnt out at this point. Fortunately, I've only been taking one course as well as working with a supervisor to arrange my final practicum. Even so, there has been a lot of work.

In other news, Sean and I took two mini vacations late last summer/early fall. The first was a camping trip to Lightning Lake in Manning Park - about 3 hours east of Vancouver. We hiked, biked and enjoyed campfires - even met up with some friends who had been camping nearby and decided to spend the night at the same campground we were at. The weather was a little cool, but we were snug in the camper every night and only got rained on a little. In late September we drove north of here to the West Coast Wilderness Lodge in Egmont, so celebrate our 21st wedding anniversary. Again, we went hiking and visited the museum in Egmont, which is fascinating, and ate lots and lots of lovely food.

Christmas was a noisy affair - lots of family and we enjoyed watching our young nephews run and play. We also spent New Year's Eve with the family up at Whistler, which was a lovely treat. Along more mundane lines, I'm continuing to work two days a week at the Sechelt Library, a job I continue to love. There's always something new to learn and it's wonderful to part of such an important community service.

That's about it for now. Once school is done, I hope to resume a more regular blogging schedule as I resume my writing and hopefully, my reviewing.

Teresa

Has it really been more than a month...

since I posted here??? Wow, time sure does fly! Over the last few weeks I finished off my summer course, hosted my sister and her children here for a fantastic week of family fun, went back to work, got trained on the new software at work and enjoyed a visit with my friend Claire and her gorgeous dog, Wally.

Phew! No wonder I haven't had time for blogging! The summer has gone so quickly - it's hard to believe it's almost over. We've loved our hot, sunny weather, though hope for some more rain so we can have at least a couple of campfires before the days just get too short.

As for the campaign to Stop BC Library Cuts, well, it met with some success, but alas, funding was still cut by 22%. Yep, at a time when more and more people need the varied services offered by their local public library, the libraries themselves will receive less money from the provincial government, forcing cuts in key areas. However, times have been tough before, so we have to hope that as the economy improves, the situation will change by the time next year rolls around.

In just over a week I go back to school for another two courses - Cataloguing and Information Retrieval Tools & Techniques. Should be interesting :) I do have some hours at the library in September, but they're mostly Saturday ones. Though I don't welcome this reduction in work hours, it will ensure I have plenty of time to concentrate on my studies, so that is a definite silver lining.

Wildlife sightings this summer include deer, ducks, a blue heron, a large lone bear and a mama bear with two cubs.

So, how has your summer been? Been anywhere? Done anything?

Teresa

Currently Reading: A Secret Alchemy by Emma Darwin
Link of the Day: Letter reveals another explorer destined for Newfoundland in 1499

And another week has zipped by...

One which saw me tied to the computer working on a major school assigment (a really cool one, so no complaints) or at the library, working.

No real time this week for the ms. Somehow I HAVE to find a way to work in more time for it. It's getting quite frustrating. But I know I can't expect to perfect a system only six weeks into school, so I'm trying not to get too stressed about it.

My assignment required me to make an inventory of all the "records" I know of, relating to me and my life and recording their location. It was quite a task, given that I have a family archive as well as a personal one. And I'm rather a pack rat, so my personal one is quite extensive. But it's also incredibly valuable exercise to undertake.

And I just realized that in many ways it's helpful to my writing, in that by putting down in black and white a record of my life, I can apply a similar technique when getting to know my characters. IOW, create a fictional life record for them.

It's so cool when my two worlds inform each other :)

How about you - are you a pack rat? Or do you travel light? (so to speak)

Teresa

Currently Reading: The Glass of Time by Michael Cox
Link of the Day: Heritage Preservation Starter Kit from GlobalGenealogy.com

Redecorating...

my blog, that is :) Do you like the new theme?

Hope everyone's week went well. I was battling an ear infection, but am better now since getting drops from the doctor the other day.

We were also lucky enough to skate on our little pond again - even went out one evening with head lamps on. Lots of fun.

Much of my week went into school work again - I had a big assignment due for one of my courses, as well as a smaller one (for the same course). Plus two shifts at the library. I'm definitely feeling really comfortable there now and started my extra duties this week, which was kinda cool. I have three shifts this week, including a full day Saturday.

Not much else to report right now. Here's a cool pic I took a week ago:


Back again soon :)

Teresa

Currently Reading: The Black Tower by Louis Bayard
Link of the Day: Library School Days - my Library Tech blog

My NaNo total etc..

As you can see from the badge in my sidebar, I finished with 15, 387 words. Not bad, considering I only managed to write on 8 of the 30 days. An average of 1923 words per day. I really wish I could have found more time for writing, but things were crazy over the last month. So I'm going to let go and just be happy I managed to achieve what I did :)

Life is super busy overall right now, between work, school prep, writing, Christmas prep (I'm knitting quite a few gifts) and just housekeeping, I don't have much spare time. Grey weather has affected me somewhat, but I'm taking my Vitamin D like a good girl and working through the blahs. It's hard to believe we're at Christmas yet again - our second in this house! Hopefully we'll find a good tree for the deck over the next couple of weekends.

I'm so looking forward to starting school. Working at the library has been a real eye-opener for me, making me realize just how right I am for this kind of job. Why didn't I figure this out earlier? Oh well, better late than never :)

Back to writing - Deborah Cooke/Claire Delacroix had a great blog post the other day about Boulders (the huge obstacles that tend to arise in the middle of most mss). What do you do when faced with those plotting obstacles? I try to play the What If game, as well as examining the story elements Deb talks about.

I always love to hear how other writers deal with the elements that plague us as we write our masterpieces.

Teresa

Currently Reading: Stately Pursuits by Katie Fforde
Also Currently Reading: The Write Type by
Link of the Day: Top Ten Plotting Problems by Alicia Rasley

My workspace...

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!!

Melissa asked about what my workspace looks like. After organizing it a bit, I managed to take this pic:





It's been a busy week so far. I worked Monday and Wednesday, while on Tuesday I stayed home and did some organizing in my office, prepping for when I'll be a student again as well as some more NaNo work. This morning Sean and I took the car in to have its winter tires put on - it was nice to spend time together on a weekday morning.

This weekend there's a big craft fair AND a big pottery sale. We'll be attending both, in search of Christmas presents (I'm trying to buy local). I'm also knitting a hat for my middle nephew:

From November 2008

From November 2008

In between all this, I'm hoping to fit more writing in and at least break 15,000 words for NaNo this year. Better than nothing!

Oh - and I just found out I'm off the wait list and into the second course I wanted - Records Management - yay!!

How about you? Are you busier than ever?

Teresa

Currently Reading: Lucy in the Sky by Paige Toon
Link of the Day:Viking Kitties (an oldie, but a goodie)

Practise really does make...

ok, well, not Perfect, but it certainly improves almost anything we do, including writing. Of course, we all know that, but with writing it's sometimes hard to SEE the improvement. Sometimes it takes seeing it work in other areas to believe in its efficacy.

As regular readers know, I'm a big fan of Nia. This month marks two years since I began regular Nia classes. (Stay with me now, this DOES connect to my first paragraph *g*). I loved it almost right away, but one of the few moves I really didn't like at all was the shimmy. Why? Because I couldn't shimmy to save my life - I'm not kidding, I looked like an idiot trying to make my shoulders do something they'd never done before. And at 40+, they really weren't keen on learning something new and different.

My mother-in-law told me to just keep at it, keep trying that shimmy and eventually, my body would adapt and I'd be able to do the move with at least some measure of competence. So I did, much as I really hated it and was relieved when we did less shimmy-intensive routines. For at least a year, I swore I'd never get it and that I might as well give up.

During my second year of Nia, however, I noticed a change. It was subtle at first, just a little bit of movement. Then one day we came to a shimmy section of a routine and I realized I was doing it properly, not brilliantly, mind, but well enough that someone watching would know I was shimmying. It was so cool. Now I really enjoy the routines when we shimmy, all the more so because it was something I worked so hard at and finally saw the results.

In our writing, I believe it happens the same way. We write and write and write, sometimes never feeling like we're making progress, as though our dialogue is still stiff, our narrative awkward and our pacing all wrong. We work hard at it, get critiques, read craft books and study the writing of others. And keep on writing. And then suddenly, it jells and those reading our work see it as well.

Granted, most of us never achieve writing perfection, but just like me and my shimmy, we do reach another level, after months/years of very subtle changes as a result of our constant effort and study. Changes we can't see on a day to day basis, but changes that are there nonetheless.

So, the next time you read your work and think it's crap, remember me and my shimmy.

In Other News
Today I'm sending off my application to the Library Information & Technology Diploma Programme at Langara College in Vancouver. Yep, that's right, I'm hoping to go back to school in January, as I'm applying to the Flexiple Participation Option, which means I'll do everything online. I had thought of the MLIS programme at the University of British Columbia, but nothing there is available online and the thought of commuting, even two or three days a week was pretty daunting. This way (if I get in) I can keep working at the Sechelt Public Library - I'm one of several casual Public Services Assistants hired recently. So far I'm just loving my job and wishing I'd made this career choice 20 years ago. However, I can't change the past, so I'm at least trying to change the future by applying to the programme and working over the next few years to earn that diploma.

Does this mean I'm going to give up my writing or my attempts to get published? No way. I often work better when I have more on my plate, though at certain times I imagine my mss might suffer a little. But writing has been a part of my life for so long that I feel confident in my ability to fit it in, even when things get busy. My characters generally give me no choice.

In view of all the above, I've decided I might as well attempt NaNo again this year, to help jump start me on one of my stories that I've pretty much completely revamped. I had a chapter or so written, but decided a few months ago to change much of the backstory and plot (encouraged to do so by my hero/heroine), so this will give me the opportunity to get going and see what happens.

So - anything new and exciting with you? If you've gone back to school, did you enjoy it?

Teresa

Currently Reading: The Intelligencer by Leslie Silbert
Link of the Day: Wonders and Marvels

This week...

I worked on Monday and Tuesday. So far, I'm loving my job - so much to learn and lots of interesting people to meet :) My co-workers are all great too - next week I work three days and I'm really looking forward to getting back there.

I did, however, at some point over the last few days, catch a cold. Fortunately, the symptoms didn't start till after work on Tuesday. I've spent the last couple of days drinking gallons of herbal tea, researching final details for the ms I hope to submit soon and reading Susanna Kearsley's The Winter Sea. It was really hard to put down and I finished it earlier this evening. I'll post a review of it soon.

Next week I hope to do a couple of writing related posts.

Teresa

Currently Reading: What Casanova Told Me by Susan Swan
Link of the Day: "Historical Fiction - Masters of Past" by Sarah L. Johnson

Autumn weekends on the Coast...

The past two weekends have been gorgeous. Here's a photo I took last Sunday - you can see the grass is starting to grow:

From Blog Photos

This weekend we spent much of our time outside. On Wednesday, burning season opened (the period during which landowners can legally burn brush/deadfall - within limits *g*), so we took advantage of the glorious weather (sunny and about 10º C, to build a fire and haul stuff to it for burning. We had it going pretty well yesterday, so well in fact that the core stayed hot, hot, hot overnight - this is what we saw this morning when we stepped out onto the porch:

From Blog Photos

And our grass is now visible, even in early morning light:

From Blog Photos

Meanwhile, on the clearing next door to ours, the mist had settled in:

From Blog Photos

Inside the house, the cats have been up to the usual - being cute:

From Blog Photos

From Blog Photos

From Blog Photos

and occasionally (especially in Cleo's case) a bit naughty:

From Blog Photos

I'm working tomorrow and Tuesday. Tomorrow is my first full day shift - should be fun as it's also the first day EVER the Sechelt library will be open on a Monday!

How about you - how was your weekend? Did you do anything interesting?

Teresa

Currently Reading: The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
Link of the Day: Old Roads of Scotland

Another Thursday update...

Wow - the week just flew. We had a wonderful family weekend and our niece is still here, so we've been hanging with her. Went to see Ratatouille the other night - fun movie!

The house is coming along well now - the roof is more than half done. It's hot and sunny here, at long last, so the roofers are already hard at work this morning.







No writing this week, but I did manage some research reading.

This afternoon I'm off to my second training session at the library. Last Friday's went really well, so I'm looking forward to today as well :) It's fantastic doing that kind of work again, plus I'm finding out lots more about the various collections in the library, including those for kids/teens.

Wish I had something more exciting to report, but really - that's about it. In two weeks Sean starts the first of his vacation weeks (he has another two in August) and my sister will be visiting, which should be lots of fun as we haven't seen the family in over a year, since stopping to see them on our drive out here.

Oh, and our internet connection has been a bit wonky lately, so I'm slower than usual making the blog rounds.

Teresa

Currently Reading: The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant