Hope everyone in the US had a safe and fun Fourth of July. Mine was safe, though dull. As I had nothing to do, I sat on the couch all day sipping tea and pretending I was British and didn’t care. I didn’t even get in the shower until three in the afternoon. It was kind of nice, actually.
Except I have been going INSANE.
I’ve gone through all my materials for the Rose’s Hostage sequel–working title An Unsettling Calm (meh)–and the really diabolical plot I wanted to use is falling by the wayside. I had abandoned the original plot as too sensational, but I reread the beginning and it was GOOD.
I’m going back to it. It’s like returning to an old lover, one you didn’t date long but who thrilled you for a while anyway, and who still makes your pulse race when you think of him.
Reunions are sweet. Unless he stole your purse the last time.
Image: nuttakit/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
I’ll save the diabolical thing for Book Three of the Detective Pierce Chronicles. I couldn’t tie the villain in with the subplot, no matter how I tried, but Original Plot and I still have some connecting we can do.
The mini-NaNoWriMo may not be a thing, since I wanted to start it on the first of the month and I didn’t get to it (my fault entirely—I’ve been taken up with stupid mental crap). But I decided I would attempt to write two things at once. Horrors!
The other book I can’t tell you about at all right now. But I will be sporadically working on it, with the bulk of the effort going toward Pierce Book Two. I should be able to get a lot done in the next two-and-a-half months.
Here are some bona fide ways to drive yourself insane and guarantee that you can’t get a project started.
Ambitiously plan to write two books at once when you usually only do one
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Put research ahead of the actual writing
This is a bad one. I’m guilty of this. I can get so caught up in research that I actually do nothing toward whatever I’m working on. Example: I have yet to complete one single dollhouse or room box, but I now have an extensive knowledge of Victorian household gadgetry.
Watch too much TV
Or Netflix. My shows aren’t on right now (The Walking Dead, Once Upon a Time, Doctor Who), but that doesn’t stop me from consuming every British comedy series my little red online friend has to offer (Little Britain!). It’s so tempting to schlep home tired from my day job, do a workout, and then go straight to the My List page. Bad writer. Bad.
I laughed so hard at this show I almost coughed up a lung.
Read too much crap on the internet
Oh, Buzzfeed. You are such a frenemy. I love your quizzes, your silly GIF posts, your hacks, and how your UK edition constantly shoves more cool London stuff that I will not possibly have time to do right in my face.
I know there are apps or plugins that block you from the internet so that you can work, but I’m afraid if I try one that I’ll tear a hole in my computer trying to get past it.
Plan a vacation
My UK holiday is almost completely set up, except for train tickets to Cardiff (too early to book yet) and a possible quick jaunt up to Loch Ness in the beautiful West Highlands of Scotland via sleeper train (a bucket list item). Once that is squared away, I can just STOP PLANNING AND GET TO WORK ALREADY.
Or, I could just trust the thetrainline.com email reminders and STOP PLANNING AND GET TO WORK ALREADY.
You did promise me, you know.
Think way too much about things that in real life will probably not happen but are not impossible because the world is a magical place and the Universe really needs to reconsider and fork it over anyway
The less said about that, the better.
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In the coming weeks, I will blog to you as I write, so you can vicariously experience the madness that is me trying to do more than one thing at a time. In the words of the immortal Bette Davis:
Graphomaniac - A. Elizabeth West 