I decided to wander over to Zilker park to do a bit of photography this afternoon. Somehow, I thought since it was October (and somewhat overcast) the weather would be okay. Wrong. The temperatures are starting to cool down, and the evenings are very pleasant, but in the middle of the afternoon I’m better off staying indoors.
But I did get some pretty pictures of butterflies and flowers while I was out, so despite the heat it was a good trip.
Or, more accurately, novella complete. Final length: 16,500 words. Now the novella is off to my critique group (thanks in advance ya’ll!), and I am off in search of a chocolate cupcake…
I wasn’t in the mood for vanilla yogurt this morning, so I blended it with a bit of honey and some frozen fruit (mango, papaya & strawberry — my grocery store sells bags of this as ‘tropical mixed fruit’) and topped it with slices of nectarine.
Lots of posts about food lately, not so many about writing. I thought the problem might be the lack of pictures to go with writing posts, so I cooked one up:
I’ve been typing away at my current WIP, and the thing refuses to end. It’s at 11,000 words, which for me is incredibly long (I generally write stories in the 2-5k range), and I still have a ways to go until the ending. This is new territory for me, not only in overall length of the story, …
Cinnamon Brown Sugar Ice Cream
After coming out of the ice cream machine, the mixture has to ‘set’ in the freezer for at least a couple hours, so I haven’t had a chance to taste the finished product yet. Preliminary tasting (i.e., eating what was left in the machine after transferring most of the ice cream to the freezer) suggests that this was a successful experiment. Dessert today will be ice cream, probably with sliced nectarine.
Fall in Texas is strange. The days are getting shorter, and some of the leaves have started falling off the trees, but the high temps are still almost 90 degrees. Coming from Seattle, my idea of fall involves cold rain, dark cloudy skies, and wearing a jacket.
More food photography:
Now, normally I’d call this creamy polenta, but seeing as how I’m in Texas, I think I’m obliged to call it grits. (I _think_ technically the difference between the two is in the grind of the cornmeal. …
Yogurt, topped with sliced bananas and drizzled with honey.
Heirloom tomato and balsamic-marinated mozzarella cheese, topped with purple basil. Pretty and tasty.
sub#64 – to Writers of the Future (my 8th sub there).
* * *
My WIP is holding steady at 7000 words. I’m not stuck, I have a fair idea of what comes next. But for the past couple days, instead of writing the next chunk, I’ve gotten stuck writing and re-writing the beginning. Not the whole 7000 words, just the very beginning. Mostly the first paragraph. I think I’ll limit myself to an hour on the first paragraph this afternoon, and then force myself to work on some later portion of the story.
Two Three recent rejections:
R54 – a 1-day friendly rejection from Lone Star Stories
R55 – a 57-day rejection with mostly positive comments from Strange Horizons.
R56 – a 5-day rejection, with comments, from Shimmer.
* * *
My current WIP is turning out rather longer than I expected — 6k words at the moment, and showing no signs of wrapping up any time soon. But I’m still liking the project, and I’ve decided to just let it do whatever it wants to do. If it’s massively too long when I’m finished, I can always cut it down. …
