Not Slacking

I haven't updated in a while because there hasn't been much to report on my progress with D&D. There are new pages, but not a lot. A scene here or there in between tasks at work. Not like with the beginning of HM when I generated page after page. Of course, that was during NaNoWriMo. Maybe I should pretend it's November. Might help.

Using Ali's idea of listing what I have accomplished, I see that I haven't exactly been idle. Research seems to be at the top of the list right now. That's not a bad thing. A lot of different things happen at spas that I don't know much about. I need to find out the way those things work so I don't sound like an idiot when I write about them. I have even more research to do about migrant workers for the jewelry series.

The blue bedroom seems to have collected a lot of junk since last year. Saturday was a clearing out day. One step closer to being a lilac writing room. I moved the Spooky's food dish out to the kitchen, but she doesn't like the relocation. I'm giving her a week to get used to it. If she doesn't, I will have to find a Plan B.

Even though it feels like May is just about over, I have almost two weeks to accomplish more. I may get to my page count goal yet.

Bead Weaving

Friday evening was Mary's jewelry party. Imagine two rooms filled with beautiful beaded jewelry. Women wandered back and forth, picking up one thing then another. Five, six, seven times through and I know I missed things that I would have loved. As it was I purchased two necklace/earring sets and two necklaces.

The second part of the evening was the bead weaving lesson. I learned a few things I have been doing wrong. A couple pieces can stay as they are, but one or two will be changed. I picked a moderately complicated piece to use as a template. Mary's clear instructions and drawn pattern helped a lot. Although I was slow, it did make it through with only minor problems. I'll post a picture when I get a chance to take one. And I feel like I can better figure out how to duplicate other pieces I liked.

I now have the fever to do more beading this month. I may have to make time to do that.

Almost May

I'm looking at how I've done vis-a-vis my goals. I may have 15 pages of D&D when I get it typed up if I'm lucky. Not even close to meeting that one. Research, however, has been great.

I guess I need to use Ali's method of looking at what I've accomplished and not just what I haven't. Look for a new section in May with a list of tasks completed. And, I hope, part of it will be more pages.

A Little Help From My Friends

Mary's hosting a beading party in a week or so. She'll be teaching a basic bead weaving technique. Should be a lot of fun. Not only will I get a new set of jewelry, but I'll be learning something I can use in the Bennie books. And spending time with friends. Triple threat.

Ali's also offered to do a polymer bead class. That should be lots of fun, too. I love the stuff she does with polymer.

Now if we can just convince Nicole to share what she's learning in metalworking.

Out Of Order

I wrote a scene out of order. The world didn't explode. Yet.

Yesterday I went to Barnes and Noble to pick up some research books for the D&D series. It's amazing to me how many different topics I need to read about for one setting. Deb says it's a "groovy" setting. I like it, but might have chosen differently had I known. No, that's not true. I do really like the setting.

The characters are becoming a lot more real to me as I go. I guess that's the nature of the game since the same thing happened with HM. It's one of the things that's so much fun about writing for me. Like making new friends.

One Scene at a Time

Yesterday I picked up a magazine on yoga and another on herbal and holistic medicine. I haven't been able to find one on aromatherapy that is published in the US. There are some from Australian and UK, but they are expensive. Maybe I'll see if an inexpensive book on the subject. Must be one.

D&D is moving slowly, but moving. I don't seem to be able to write more than one scene at a time. What's strange is that I find myself wanting to write them out of order. I haven't so far, but I might get a little crazy and try it. I think it would make for a choppy book that needs much more revision. But it's going to need revision anyway.

Have any of you tried writing out of order? Does it help or hinder?

April Fool?

Deb's enthusiasm for April seems to be catching. Now that I have a working outline for D&D, I think I will be able to write fifty pages easily. I have been prewriting for a few days. That means I can utilize shorter periods of free time to jot a paragraph or two. It's not ideal, but it's what I have right now.

Having completed The Artist's Way, I have become aware of certain "nasty" words. One of which is "should". I used it three times in the original version of the first paragraph. See if you can figure out where.

I subscribed to a couple spa magazines last week. They are really interesting. One of the most beautiful spas I've come across is here in Colorado. Tax deductible, right? I would have to have the money first, but it just might be worth it.

The jewelry book has been eluding me. It seems that once I found Bennie, the rest of it went away. I tried to sign up for a metalworking class, but it was full. Maybe that's part of it. It's not a totally bad thing. One at a time is good. And maybe if I do run into trouble with D&D, that's when Bennie will start telling me her story.