This book was supposed to be a romance with a bit of coming-of-age in it.
I wrote it during NaNo 2009, and somehow, it morphed into a mystery–with romance and a bit of coming-of-age in it.
During revision, I found ways to strengthen and deepen the mystery. All is well, all is good. Read the rest of this entry »
So, I was just lying here this morning, studying my ceiling, my mind drifting as if on an innertube on the Brazos, thinking random thoughts such as how to improve prosthetic limbs, or why psych majors are such zombies at parties, when my focus should have been on writing–particularly about this stalled-out novel and these poor old abandoned blogs.
The group blog Jungle Red Writers floated up, made itself prominent among the surrounding flotsam. If you don’t know this site, it’s always a fun read, and often an informative, useful one. It’s a great blog, I thought, and those are productive, successful writers. At this point, one of the more contrarian members of my mental menagerie piped up with, “Those gals don’t loll around staring at the ceiling and indulging in random woolgathering.”
Which I, obviously and admittedly, do. “True,” I agreed with a sigh as silent as the rest of this conversation. Then my Me fought back with, “Of course they do! They’re writers and random woolgathering is part of the job. An important part.”
Stumped and irritated, the Contrarian turned her back, refusing to speak to me any more.
All of this left me to ponder till I fished this up: It’s also important to recognize when your basket is full of gathered wool and it’s time to get back to the spinning wheel.
Ah.
Thereby hangs a tale. At least I hope so.
To quote Holly Lisle: Onward!
Oh, here’s a very good thing. Yesterday afternoon, in my mailbox, appeared a prize! Read the rest of this entry »
feudalism |ˈfyoōdlˌizəm|
noun historical
the dominant social system in medieval Europe, in which the nobility held lands from the Crown in exchange for military service, and vassals were in turn tenants of the nobles, while the peasants (villeins or serfs) were obliged to live on their lord’s land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce, notionally in exchange for military protection.
DERIVATIVES
feudalist noun
feudalistic |ˌfyoōdlˈistik| adjective
Thanks to the dictionary in my operating system for that definition.
