My mom is visiting.

Productive day. Got everything on the grocery list and managed to write three pages. Also realized I'd forgotten to wash my son's track uniform, so I did that then dropped it off at his school so he'd have it for practice. Today was a win.

1. Got a couple errands taken care of.
2. Rain held off until after my morning walk.
3. A crow flew right past my ear—I felt it brush by me. That was really cool.

1. My son's fencing tournament was today, and he did well. Also, the tournament was outside, and the weather was gorgeous.
2. We followed up the tournament by having a late lunch at Texas Roadhouse.
3. Got home before the rain moved in.

1. Some of the best weather of the week. Had a great morning walk.
2. Was able to piece together my missing work from recovered files (had to wade through a lot of gibberish, but it was all there in bits and pieces).
3. A fairly relaxed day overall that included a nice lunch out with the family.

1. Hubby came home.
2. Think I've found a housekeeper to help me clean.
3. Had a really devastating MS Word crash (for some reason it hadn't saved since yesterday, even though it's set to save every 10 minutes AND I'd manually saved repeatedly), but after restarting my computer it looks like I may be able to salvage some of the work.

1. Lunch with a friend.
2. Got some more writing done.

. . . I don't know what else. We're healthy, so that's a good thing. The school year is almost over. Many events to look forward to this summer. There is much to be grateful for.

1. I was productive today. Not in writing but in housekeeping and getting groceries and all those domestic kinds of things.
2. It's my cat Crowley's third birthday. He still plays like a kitten and tries to nurse on my arms, though.
3. I'm solo parentis this week, so tonight we ordered Chinese and watched Monty Python clips. My oldest son is learning debate at school, so he found "The Argument Clinic" very educational.

1. A little more writing done.
2. New Cardcaptor Sakura manga.
3. Nice enough weather to open the windows.

Quiet! Though we had a fun spring break, it was so nice to have the house to myself again. I got a lot done: laundry, dishes, cleaning that had been put off over the past week. And, yes, I did some writing too.

Another great thing about today: I was featured on the Indie Beginning podcast!

And we had beautiful weather. (It's expected to get worse as the week wears on, so I'm grateful for what we got today.)

1. Brunch.
2. Walk.
3. Booking the hotel for the trip to Paris.

1. More writing done, if only a little.
2. Two very nice walks, one with my daughter and the other with my youngest son. Good one-on-one time.
3. Finished the book I was reading in time to take it back to the library (it's due tomorrow).

1. Got some writing done!
2. Lunch out with the family, and somehow we were given an extra milkshake.
3. . . . Am almost finished with the library book that is due back on Sunday?

Even less active today. Ugh. Means I really need to work out tomorrow. But we did have a fun day. We ate at a new diner, went shopping for groceries, and I showed the kids Monty Python and the Holy Grail. And then also had another fun writing group meeting. So a worthwhile day overall.

I was less active today. But I did get some nibbles from agents on a Twitter pitch contest! Found my son's missing glasses. Played Jackbox games with the family. And chatted with a friend over the phone. So all in all not a bad day.

Still didn't get any writing done, but spring break is in full swing. Took the kids shopping for spring/summer clothes (even though we're expecting cooler temperatures and rain later this week). Had a nice evening out with my writing group, too. In all, a good day.

A busy day that didn't give me time to write, but there were plenty other things to be grateful for. The kids and I walked to a sandwich shop for lunch. We went to the park so the kids could do their own version of the Olympics. (I even ordered medals and ribbons to award at the end of the week.) I weeded old clothes from their wardrobes. In all, a really productive day.

And: My book Brynnde was featured on Indie Beginning and has also received a PW review!

A lot of good things the past couple days.

1. Daughter was given her first "job" at the horse show. They asked her to be a runner, couriering scores between the arena and the main office. She felt so important!
2. Family seder. I played with my little 2yo nephew most of the time. For some reason I'm always flattered when children like me. And yet children always do seem to like me.
3. Easter egg hunt with the kids. The squirrels chewed through one of the plastic eggs, though, and ate a couple of the candies inside.
4. Ready Player One.
5. Beautiful weather and going for walks.
6. And March was my best month for sales in quite a while. Let's hope April continues the trend!

Yesterday, my husband and I drove into San Francisco, checked into a nice hotel, went to a great dinner, went for ice cream, and then went to see Monty Python and the Holy Grail followed by a Q&A featuring John Cleese. He was as delightful and funny as one would expect. I'd heard some people say he's rude, but though he was irreverent, I didn't find him rude at all. (Unless those critics meant "rude" in the sense of "irreverent"?) In any case, he told great stories, and I especially enjoyed it when he would get tickled and laugh at himself. He reminds me a lot of my dad, actually.

The whole outing was a belated birthday gift to me. My husband had given me the tickets to the event on my birthday, but of course the event itself was yesterday. We made an evening of it and had a great time.

Today I was mostly grateful for an afternoon nap.

1. More beautiful weather for my morning walk.
2. Got the grocery shopping done.
3. Ate a cheeseburger.

1. Successful outlining of the next part of my WIP.
2. A good writing group meeting (though they kept me waiting 30 minutes past the meeting time, so I think I'll stop bothering to be punctual myself).
3. Gorgeous weather. Was even able to wear short sleeves in the afternoon.

1. Spunky new haircut.
2. Started reorganizing my office.
3. Also got some writing done.

Spent some time with just the boys today and was productive to boot. Got everything on our shopping list, returned books to the library (and found more), and had a nice lunch out. Also took a walk. So a pretty pleasant day overall.

Such a lazy, lazy day. But still got a walk in (though it was short because the wind was really cutting). Read more manga. Took a nap. Watched more CCS and also started the new season of Jessica Jones, which I'd forgotten how much I enjoy. Overall, just a very lovely (though unproductive) day.

Successfully navigated the busiest day of my already busy week, getting all tasks accomplished: seeing my daughter's class play, volunteering in my younger son's classroom, getting my older son to his doctor's appointment, and getting my daughter to horseback riding. All this on not enough sleep thanks to the late night last night. So I'm pretty happy with having gotten through it all.

Also: I only have 10 more lbs to lose! Of course, the last 10 are always the hardest...

1. Took my oldest son and my daughter to a staged version of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. They really enjoyed it! And when I told them "Snape" is in the movie version, they got even more excited.
2. Set a new desktop wallpaper on my computer. It's been a very long time since I felt like doing that.
3. Not entirely unrelated to the previous: re-reading old manga I love.

1. Finalized the cover for my new book.
2. Set the pub date: August 7.
3. Bought the tickets to Paris.

Bonus: The one day this week without any errands, appointments, or other obligations.

Yesterday & Today

1. Two separate meetings. One with an aspiring writer searching for information about the process, the other with a writer friend that I only see a couple times a year despite living within a hour of one another. She recently had a baby, so I got to see the little one, too!
2. A good writing meeting.
3. Really nice cover options for my current WIP. I'm super excited about those, and about this book!

1. Got the grocery shopping done so I won't have to do it during the week.
2. Nice lunch out with the family.
3. Began receiving mock-ups of potential cover designs for my next book. One of my favorite parts of the process!

An absolutely lazy day. The most I did was walk to the 7-11 for eggs because I couldn't be arsed to get in the car and drive to the store. I took a nap. But I also got some writing done, so that's fair, I think.

Today was a rough day. I received some bad news, I was frustrated with my son, I couldn't take my daily walk because of the weather . . . Still, there's always some good to be found. I sold some books. I had curly fries. And it's finally the weekend.

1. Lunch with a friend. We've both been too busy lately to get together, so it was nice to finally find the time.
2. More writing! Feels great to be rolling again.
3. Sounds selfish, but . . . bed to myself. Husband is traveling, and I do enjoy having the space.

1. Celebrating six years in California! (Which means we're no longer in Massachusetts and have avoided all that snow.)
2. Also, Pi/Pie Day.
3. Really enjoying getting back to writing.

1. Productive shopping trip.
2. Good morning walk despite the light rain (it was warm).
3. Started writing again.

1. No need to go anywhere.
2. Already did all the laundry over the weekend, so no need to do that either.
3. Freedom to be lazy.

1. Lazy day at home.
2. Ice cream sundaes.
3. Another nice walk.
4. Bonus: Jackbox game night.

1. Loooong day with my son at the Science Olympiad. But I'm glad he has good extracurriculars, and that there are fellow moms and dads there that I like hanging out with.
2. Sneaking off to lunch (and beer) while the kids did science.
3. Getting to sleep in tomorrow.

1. Dryer fixed! (But so much laundry...)
2. Watching The Empire Strikes Back with my 8yo son who'd never seen it.
3. Great weather for an afternoon walk.

1. Nice writing group meeting. And I also was able to chat with a lady at the next table about our local school system. She had questions and I had answers! That always feels good.
2. Repairman coming to fix the dryer tomorrow.
3. Kids don't have school tomorrow, which means I can sleep in a little.

Hmm. A lot of the good stuff is really about tomorrow, but okay. Good to have things to look forward to.

1. More agent interest in my manuscript.
2. Long overdue chat with a friend.
3. BATH BOMBS!

1. Retail therapy! Got to use my LUSH gift card today.
2. Nice dinner out with the whole family.
3. . . . I met my exercise goals again, I guess?

1. A quiet day at home alone after a busy weekend.
2. Met my exercise goals for the day.
3. Reading King Arthur to the kids and remembering how much I love those stories.

1. The play my son wrote was performed today and went off well.
2. Corgi! While out for a walk, my daughter and I saw one. I can't even begin to tell you how much I 💜 corgis.
3. The Oscars, I guess? I always have mixed feelings about them.

1. My oldest did great at his first ever solo & ensemble festival. (He did a clarinet solo.)
2. Beat the rain home.
3. Fairly relaxing afternoon.

1. Discussing reiki with my aesthetician. She and I have such similar vibes.
2. More agent requests for my manuscript.
3. Finally Friday. This week felt soooo loooong.

1. My Apple watch arrived!
2. I've lost 13 lbs since mid-December.
3. Really good Chinese food for dinner. (There goes the diet.)

1. More interest in my manuscript from an agent.
2. Really nice dinner out. Like, one of the best I've ever had.
3. Found my old CD albums.

Bonus: Military helicopter flew over our house as we were leaving to walk to school. The 'copter was going to land at another nearby school, but it made a few circles for us first. Kids were really excited. (Okay, I was too. I'm easily impressed, I guess.)

1. A really nice writing group meeting. It was the first time all six of us were there at the same time, and it was a lot of fun.
2. Tagalongs. My favorite Girl Scout cookies ever.
3. Ending the day with some Drunk History.

1. More beta readers!
2. Getting more editing done.
3. Very limited amount of time out in the cold and rain. And I didn't even feel guilty about holing up at home.

1. Getting a nice roster of beta readers for my manuscript.
2. Took a good walk in fine weather.
3. New Jackbox games to play with the family.

1. A day at home with no real pressure to do much of anything.
2. Setting up a new beta reading system for my manuscript. I'm excited to try it, and glad to be revising again.
3. Feeling better, little by little.

I've fallen really behind here. Sorry about that. I've been ill, and busy, and it's difficult to be busy and ill at the same time. You just sort of collapse at the end of each day.

Still, there's lots to be grateful for. I took the kids to see Peter Rabbit, and I'm grateful it was better than I expected it to be. I had resigned myself to a waste of my time, but I think I enjoyed the movie even more than the kids did. (It helps to think of it as Hux vs. Bunnies.)

I'm also grateful for meds that seem to be working. And good books to read. And friends who see me through the rough patches.

I'm grateful for my morning walks and the rock music that propels me through them. Yes, even in the frigid weather. Or especially in the frigid weather, since the activity keeps me warm.

Speaking of music, I'm grateful my car is just old enough to still have a CD player.

I'm grateful for friends in far-off cities who are willing to share their homes with me and my family.

There's so much to be grateful for, really. No way to list them all. But I will try to start updating more regularly.

I'm grateful to YOU for being here, even if you're silent. Knowing you stop by (and I know; I have analytics) encourages me to continue to find the good things.

Writers Conference Edition

So I was away at the San Francisco Writers Conference, which is why I've been scarce online. I'll admit I wasn't keen to go, but I'd already paid an insane amount of money for the privilege, so... I went. And I'm glad I did. While it wasn't quite as thrilling as previous conferences (maybe I've gone to enough of them to become jaded), I still had a very good time. My friend Kristen went with me, too, so that was nice. Good things included:

• Meeting new people. (Though I'll say the other writers were more reserved than in past years.)
• One particularly interesting dinner out with newly met fellows that included deep discussions of religion.
• Encouragement. I got good market information from an agent, and I had some well-known authors also advise me. That felt really nice.
• At least two fabulous keynotes.
• Decent food.
• News that the venue next year (if I decide to go) will be in a hotel that won't require me to trudge up a steep hill.
• Having another author friend come into town for dinner one night.
• Hotel room upgrade.

So yeah, it was a good time overall and worth the trip. I have some ideas about what to do next and where to put my energy.

. . .

I know I have a lot to be thankful for. Scotchmallow hearts, for one thing. And a lovely new dragon necklace (an early Valentine's gift) for another.

I'm thankful the gathering at our house tonight is only supposed to last two hours. I can survive two hours, I think...

There will be pizza. And brownies. I can be thankful for that.

Also, the PTA president liked what I did with the online school store. That was nice, to hear a thank-you.

I'm trying really hard to keep all the good things in mind. I have food and water and shelter and a loving family. I'm physically healthy, at least mostly. These are good things.

I will try not to let the one or two things get me down. I will try to focus on what's good in my life.

But sometimes it's difficult.

Look, my life is in the dumps at the moment. But at least I can say (a) we've had beautiful weather, (b) I had a nice chat with writer friends over dinner, and (c) my stylist made room for me in her schedule. So that's something, I guess.

1. Good chats with my mom and dad.
2. Quality time with my oldest.
3. Hopeful responses from a couple of literary agents.

1. Survived a day of volunteering at the middle school for Science Olympiad.
2. Being gone all day meant not having to deal with the playdate going on at our house.
3. Sushi for dinner.

Honestly, it's been difficult lately for me to find the silver linings. So I keep reminding myself that at least I and my family are healthy. Our problems are small in the big scheme of things.

I've been feeling as though no one wants what I have to offer this world. I seem only to have value as a school volunteer or someone who gets the laundry done. As such, I'm interchangeable with any able-bodied person. I myself have no unique, inherent worth.

Even my cat seems to be keeping his distance these days.

So, yeah. It hasn't been a good time.

Today, well . . . Habit Burger for lunch. Beautiful weather. That's about all I can manage for a list of "good things."

Mostly I've been a bit weepy. Probably not fun to be around either.

Sigh.

I will try harder tomorrow to find good things. Today I just can't.

1. Windows are done!
2. Nice lunch with a friend.
3. Good writing group meeting.

1. Workmen are almost done. Just a couple more hours worth of work tomorrow.
2. Lost some more weight.
3. Updated my site's template. (Not this site; a different one.) Sometimes a fresh start feels good.

1. Quiet day at home.
2. Got my youngest into Cardcaptor Sakura, so now I can watch with all the kids.
3. Watching the cat chase his tail. Makes me laugh every time.

1. Met a new doctor today, and I really like her!
2. Cats being cute when playing with their toys.
3. Shepherd's pie.

1. Nice lunch out with the family. Yummy gyros!
2. Took the kids to the theatre. It wasn't a great production, but still a nice way to spend the afternoon.
3. Weighed a little less this morning. Still a long way to go, but progress is progress.

1. I decided to post some old fanfic on AO3 and it seems to be having a fair reception by readers there.
2. Finally started work today on LEGO Westminster.
3. Nice afternoon walk with the family.

1. Really good cheesesteak for lunch.
2. Had a lot of fun with my kids today, talking about manga and watching anime and looking at fan art, etc.
3. Weekend!

1. New windows! Even if it meant a houseful of workers and a ton of noise.
2. Amusing the kids with my Kylo Ren voice. (Or really, it's just diction. Kind of the same speech pattern as Napoleon Dynamite.)
3. Finished critiquing a big piece for a writer friend. I feel bad it took me so long to get through it, so it feels good to be done.

1. Daughter did great in the spelling bee! Didn't win, but made it to the penultimate round!
2. Yummy eats: tuna sandwich for lunch, cheesesteak for dinner. Managed not to snack today, either, which is a big deal for me.
3. Nice, cheerful chat with a friend.

1. Hummingbird flying around outside my office window and dancing in the climbing roses.
2. Writing group meeting. Feels like ages since we'd met. Very fun and productive, including some lively debate about The Last Jedi.
3. Rediscovering my love of manga.

1. Lunch out with the husband.
2. Cat received a clean bill of health from the vet at his checkup.

. . . I'm sure other good things happened, but I'm having a rough time of late. I'll say: at least the cat forgave me for taking him to the vet.

1. Got through my morning obligations with little to no difficulties.
2. Was able to then hide out at home the rest of the afternoon.
3. Watched more Cardcaptor Sakura with the kids. I try to point out the little bit of Japanese that I can remember, but I'm not sure they care. They *are* interested in the cultural differences, however, so that's fun to discuss.

1. Despite a very chilly morning, the day became a beautiful one.
2. Got a little more writing done.
3. No pressing concerns. Pretty lazy day overall.

1. Nicer weather.
2. Dinner out with the family.
3. Watching more Cardcaptor Sakura with the kids and showing them my anime cels.

1. My son's first band concert! They did really well.
2. I received many requests for my manuscript today. That's encouraging.
3. Ice cream sundae!

1. Doctor's appointment went off without any noticeable hitches.
2. Sushi for dinner.
3. Finished The Graveyard Book with my oldest. Next we're doing The Haunting of Hill House.

1. Plumber fixed things up in short order. (No emergency, though it turns out that noise the toilet was making was very bad and it's a good thing we caught it in time.)
2. It was Tuesday, so I didn't have to pick up the kids.
3. Got lots of laundry done. (I like feeling productive.)

1. The San Francisco Review of Books picked up that great review of Brynnde and published it.
2. Took the kids to see Coco. I liked it, but I can't love a movie that makes me ugly cry. I hate to feel emotionally manipulated. But yay for the big kitty!
3. Took apart my oldest son's old loft bed and swapped it for a Japanese tatami-style bed. It makes his room seem bigger and brighter because the loft bed frame was so big and dark. He's loving the change!

Spent the day taking the kids to various museums. Was a really fun time. I especially loved how my youngest wanted to sit and sketch some of the art (the museum offered "art bags" with clipboards of paper and a pencil pouch; what a great idea!). Also: ice cream sundae. And I showed my daughter the first two episodes of Cardcaptor Sakura, and my Kero-chan, and my Clow.

1. Lunch and coffee with two dear writing friends. Yay! It really was a pick-me-up!
2. New Cardcaptor Sakura.
3. Took care of my roots, which were looking really bad.

1. Survived. You see, my Friday schedule has changed, and now my Fridays are ridiculously busy and complicated. They're a cascade of things, like a chain reaction of dominoes. So I don't really enjoy Fridays, but I survived this one.
2. New clothes came in the mail.
3. The dinner I made turned out pretty well.

1. Encouragement from my writing group. I hadn't attended in a month or so, and I haven't been writing, but it was good to see everyone again and get some support.
2. Long walks in nice weather.
3. Having fun helping my oldest with his science project (Punnett squares, something I was very good at in school; won the school medal in biology that year).

1. Another quiet day at home without errands or appointments (but with plenty of chores).
2. Had a guest blog post published.
3. Lessons from the Screenplay on Youtube. Almost makes me want to go back to screenwriting. (Almost.)

It was kind of a crap day, actually, so finding good things means going back to basics:

1. Kids were at school, so I had a quiet day at home with no errands or appointments to run off to.
2. It wasn't raining too hard for me to get a walk in.
3. Hubby brought me soft serve ice cream to help my wounded tongue.

Yes, that's right, "wounded." I bit the side of my tongue. Hard. There's actually a little piece of it hanging off now and it hurts and it's difficult to talk or eat or drink anything. I've done this before, a long time ago, and eventually it will turn to scar tissue and be NBD, but right now it's a real pain, literally and figuratively. That + rejections made it a not great day. But I did have those highlights at least. Gotta keep looking on the bright side.

1. Kids went back to school today. This is a mixed bag since they're being in school actually amounts to more work for me. But it was nice to have the house to myself for a few hours.
2. Got a couple of outstanding to-do items taken care of.
3. New Card Captor Sakura!!!!!!!! OMG!!!!!!!!!

1. Cheesesteak. I'd been craving it for ages and finally got one.
2. The bookstore. Well, it was bittersweet. I didn't find anything for myself but did help the kids find a few books.
3. Watching the Golden Globes with the kids, too. The youngest didn't care, but the other two hung out and enjoyed it. I like having a springboard for talking about important issues, even if I can't go into detail about things like sexual harassment. And I like that my kids are interested in the industry, even if I'm no longer part of that circle. At least I can talk knowledgeably about it with them. And I called almost every award correctly!

Didn't even leave the house today. But that doesn't mean I was lazy! I got lots of laundry done, and baked an Epiphany cake with the kids, and sent out many queries regarding my manuscript. So good things for today are really: cake, cake, cake. I shouldn't be eating cake given I'm trying to lose weight, but I felt like it was okay just this once. You have to indulge now and then or else (a) life gets dull and/or (b) you fall off a cliff and binge like crazy. I'm definitely a all-in-moderation kind of person. I'm not keen to cut anything out, just trying to learn to curb my intake.

1. Pretty nice lunch out with the family.
2. Had a good discussion with my 9yo daughter about gender fluidity thanks to her spotting my Eddie Izzard book and asking whether he was a boy or a girl.
3. Game night: Betrayal at the House on the Hill. Lots of fun!

1. A really wonderful review for my book Brynnde on Long and Short Reviews. Made my day!
2. The in-laws took the kids out for a bit, which allowed me to get grocery shopping done faster.
3. Had a productive afternoon of editing and critiquing.

1. Watching my daughter turn into quite the little horsewoman . . . Also, there was a cute cat at the barn that followed me around and demanded pettings. So that was fun.
2. Kids got a good report from the dentist at their semi-annual cleaning.
3. Window people scheduled a time to come install the new windows.

Bonus: Rain, which we hadn't had in a while, and which also prevented the annoying kid who lives a couple doors down from riding his loud motorbike up and down the street. I try never to wish ill on anyone, but in this case it's very difficult not to.

It was a pretty good day. A quiet, productive morning followed by picking up my son's friend and taking all the kids out to lunch. Then we all came home and the kids played Bears vs Babies and Superfight, and I did a little more work, and then I worked on the Star Wars story with my daughter some more. Got a workout in, too. Overall, not bad. I'm guess that's at least three things, anyway, depending on how you count.

1. More writing with my kids. You can follow the whole story here.
2. Family walk.
3. . . . New year, fresh start?