Meet Cedar

I did plan on doing a longer post this week, but between puppy training, knitting, re-setting up my Etsy shop (might as well try and sell some of the knitted items to make money to buy more yarn...) and revising Fractured Sight I've been pretty busy. So I will leave you with some puppy pixs of the new addition for the time being...

The Knitting Bug

I’m a knitter. My house has a yarn stash that’s big enough to open my own shop. And this is after I’ve culled through it and handed off at least half the stash to friends and family.

But so far my knitting has been strictly basic items. Scarves are a favourite, along with mitts, socks, afghans, hats, dishcloths, baby items and some Christmas ornaments. I really haven’t ventured too far beyond that though I have always wanted to. But part of me always balked. I don’t have time, it’s pretty confusing, I don’t understand the directions. All these things would run through my head and in the end I would go with what I knew and told myself I’d get to the other stuff at another time.

The other stuff being sweaters and intarsia knitting.

Last year I didn’t do a whole lot of knitting. I lost the urge, overwhelmed with other commitments and life in general. But as Christmas approached I had to get on the stick (or sticks I guess, in this case) because I had planned on doing several projects as gifts. And the more I did, the more the bug re-bit me. My love of knitting that had taken a back seat for the past year resurrected itself with a vengeance.

Adding to this, I received a copy of Kate Jacob’s Friday Night Knitting Club and, well, that was it. I have to knit. Now. All the time. I think about it at work and try to figure out how I could smuggle the needles in and work on a project without anyone noticing…not really doable, but oh if it was…

So this year, since the knitting bug has re-bit, I have decided its time to learn how to make a sweater and how to do intarsia. I’ll start off small and drive my mother crazy while she tries to teach me the ins and outs. I’m itchy to get started, but first I promised myself I would finish the scarf I had started last year. It’s made of this very fine specialty yarn and knit on small needles, but it’s a basic garter stitch so I should be able to finish it in a week or so if I dedicate the time and can figure out a way to do it without the new canine deciding he wants to get a piece of it.

Speaking of the new canine, Cedar has settled in quite nicely. And I realized this morning I had inadvertently taught him how to sit. I’m not sure how or when this happened but after telling him to sit several times this morning and having him obey I didn’t question it. Now, if I could only get him to stop mouthing everything…

How Should You Stay Warm?

It's my birthday today and while I had planned on doing a post, time just got away from me, so instead, I decided to do a quiz. Let me know what you end up with.

You Should Stay Warm by Building a Fire

You are an independent, self starting type of person. You are quick to act and make decisions. You wouldn't just sit around and be cold... you'd make sure and do something about it. You are a natural leader. You like to be around other people, and you usually end up directing things. You are usually fearless. And when you are afraid, you try to confront your fears. You aren't about to be intimidated by a bit of fire.

How Should You Stay Warm?

Blogthings: Discover the Parts of Your Personality that Have Been Hiding

Book Review - Whitefeather's Woman by Deb Hale

There's nothing that warms up a cold winter like a great read from one of my favorite authors, Deb Hale.

Whitefeather’s Woman, a Harlequin release, is an engaging fish out of water story right from page one, taking big city girl, Jane, and throwing her into the wilds of Montana in the hopes of escaping her abusive fiancé. Throw into the mix a blue-eyed, handsome hero in the form of John Whitefeather whose past comes with its own set of scars (and who doesn't love a scarred hero??) and you have the start of a great story. John’s strength and his gentle nature along with Jane’s never-give-up attitude prove a winning combination. The violence in their respective pasts provide the common bond that they can build a lasting relationship on. And they’ll need it as the story unfolds and the path to true love does not necessarily run smoothly.

Deb Hale writes emotionally packed, gripping stories that leave you turning one page after another until you reach the end. Do yourself a favor this wintery season – pick up a copy of this book, pour yourself a hot drink, find a quiet place, and give yourself a gift of a great story.

Beat Sheets, Pot Holes & Puppies

I’m still working away on the revisions for Fractured Sight, my YA novel. Using Blake Snyder’s Beat Sheet has proven to be a huge help in keeping my page count down, my pacing in forward motion with all its required highs and lows, my character arcs on track, and my plot holes plugged. It’s hard work trying to figure out where to put scenes for maximum benefit and sadly, saying good-bye to scenes that just don’t work to the benefit of the story, but I think in the end I will have a better book because of it.

So I continue to slog away and wrangle my story into submission. I had a great breakthrough on the plot this morning as well as the best way to work the whole structure so that it will feed into a series rather than a stand alone book.

Meanwhile, back in Every Day Land, my car is making a strange sound – somewhere between a clunking and a rattle. We’re pretty sure it’s the brakes, but I think the sound is coming from my back driver’s side and my significant other (hereto for referred to as the SO) is convinced it is from the driver’s side front end. I’ve decided to leave it up to the professionals, although explaining the sound to them over the phone made me feel like a bit of an idiot. I’m sure my podmates thought I had lost my mind. However I think my warranty on the brakes runs out next month, so regardless of how foolish I appear, I figured I better get that sucker in before the cash came out of my pocket.

And speaking of cash out of my pocket, mid-month is fast approaching which means the puppy comes home soon! We had a last minute change after visiting the breeder. We had originally picked out a female so pale she was almost white, but when we went to see the puppies first hand we fell in love with a big bundle of boy who melted in your arms when you picked him up.

It’s hard to believe I’m going to have a puppy again. I have some anxiety that I’ve forgotten everything Cooper taught me. It’s been 15 years since I’ve raised a puppy and I really had no clue what I was doing then. Granted I learned as I went, and Coop was a great teacher, but I still have a bit of a fear that I’ll screw it all up and make a mess of things. Which is foolish. All my dogs have been well trained and well behaved. I need to stop worrying.

And I can't remember if I mentioned in my last post but I became an aunt again for the 6th time. My newest nephew, Gabriel Xavier, was born December 17th but had to stay in the NICU for a little bit. My sister surprised everyone when he was released on Christmas Day and she showed up to Christmas dinner with three kids instead of two. Below is a pix of me and the other two, Maggie (wearing my hat) and Malcolm in front of tree, George. Yes... my sister names her Christmas Tree every year.

Saving Cats

Over the holidays I read Blake Snyder's, Saving the Cat. It was a bit of an eye opener as far as how to plot out a story. The part I liked the best was his use of the index cards. He breaks it down between three acts and each card indicates a scene. Within each scene there has to be a conflict and an emotional arc. Then the index cards get put up on a bulletin board. Ten cards for Act I; ten cards for part one of Act II which takes you to the midpoint; ten more for the second part of Act II; and then of course the final ten cards for Act III - 40 scenes in total. Granted, he is referring to screenplays in his book, but the method translates into any form of storytelling and has really helped me look at things differently.

Not only has it made me look at things differently, it also got the creative juices flowing again and the idea I originally toyed with of taking a leisurely year to just 'hone my craft' was tossed out the window and the need to really use this method and put a push on to revise previous manuscripts and write new ones quickly replaced it.

Right now I am back to revising the NaNoWriMo first draft of my young adult novel. I'm seeing holes already using this method. Not surprising given that it was a first draft and a NaNo book - which meant lots of writing through, around or over the holes.

My goals for 2010 are pretty ambitious. Revise three manuscripts, write the first draft of two more, agent hunt and get a publishing contract. I threw the last one in there as I was writing my goals realizing I had never actually put that one down before. Maybe having it there in writing will make a difference this year. Guess we'll find out.

Let the games begin.