No title, I guess.

So, last night, after writing the day’s Blog, I find my very first official reader review posted on Amazon. A strange experience, that. I mean, I have heard from readers before. People I hardly know…don’t know…and those I do know. I’ve had readers that loved the W.I.s, I’ve had those who hated them, and some who just “liked“ them but they’ve always been personal. Messages directed straight at me. For all means and purposes, they were my own little pleasures, which I enjoyed in semi-secrecy. Hah.

It is a very strange experience. Heck, up until a year ago, I didn’t even know that actual reviews were important.
I certainly don’t read them when I’m out looking for a book, so it never occurred to me that they were a necessity–especially for unknown authors.

So the first came up yesterday, and it was a good one, fair and honest for as far as I can judge it. It had pros and cons, and was very nicely written. But still, I’m not entirely sure how to deal with it emotionally. It’s just too new, I guess. (Undiscovered territory for me, if you will.) We’ll have to see how the ol’ noggin’ files it away for future purposes. Hah.

But let’s start on the day:
I wake up right on the dot, reasonably rested and ready to start the day. There’s a bit of the eye drooping thing, but other than that I get into working mode pretty fast today. Ah, what a good night’s rest doesn’t do. I can actually move without feeling joints pop with every movement.

But anyways, once I get to the house, finish up with the morning chores and have had my breakfast, I switch the computer on and work a bit on a different project.
In the kitchen, big brother and grandpa are having their usual debate, but since I’m so focused on the screen, trying and succeeding to get some work done, I am unable to keep track of today’s subject.

At last, almost two hours after waking up, big brother and I settle in for the day’s edit. It goes well again, at least five pages get worked through, and the scene is good. Complicated, yes, but still good and lots of fun to work on.

We’re still in the midst of it when my phone rings, announcing a short break in the routine since I need to head on up to grandpa’s place. Our tenant needs to go to rehab today, and considering that the ambulance driver is afraid to come down our steep drive sweep, I’ll need to give the woman and her caretaker a lift to the nearest bar.

The weather is sunny and warm on the most part, but while helping our tenant into her wheelchair and towards the ambulance that will take her to Marbella for a two-hour rehab session some clouds mar the beautiful spring sky.

Fifteen minutes later I’m back and we continue the edit…almost too late since the sibs are already present and are pushing to start on the wall. I’m just about to shut down the computer, when I decide I want to let big brother read at least a portion of the scene I wrote yesterday…which results in another read that stretches on for another half hour.

Big brother is properly impressed. Edits are practically unnecessary as we go over the five pages, laughing at the characters’ whit, and nod our approval every time we realize that I wrote something down just right.

I think I’ll have to explain, again, what the scene describes.
As you’ll recall from the past Blogs (if you read them) the main female character suffers from a multiple personality disorder, and is inhabited by five very distinct identities.
So this scene is when these characters discover that in order to heal, they will have to stop existing. Of course, not all of them agree, resulting in bickering and snarling, which leads to the most amusing conversation I’ve written yet…I think. Hah.

It is hard, actually, to write a scene and get involved while never being able to actually describe any physical actions for the four that are having the dialogue.
And you can’t just write down, she said this, the other said that and so on, and on. No. There is a need for variety in such a dialog and it took considerable thought in the two hours I needed to get it all down.

Now the nice thing about this latest scene is that all this editing we have been doing these past months, has improved my writing to a point that most of the few improvements we had to make to the scene were typos, rather than actual mistakes. It was somewhat of a mind-boggler for me.

But anyways, we are running a little behind when we finally start on the wall, but the younger sibs and I are determined to start even with the small amount of sand left from yesterday. In the mean time, big brother and grandpa depart to get a new load of sand for cement.

The actual building is going nice enough several more layers along the length bring the project closer to completion. Little sister and I are working on it, when big brother returns and starts hauling one humongous rock towards the end section of the wall. There a wide set of stairs will give perfect access to the patio door, in the near future.

The friggin’ rock is so big that at one point, even little brother needs to pitch in with the carrying, just so they can get it in place.
I’m in the middle of placing a particularly heavy stone high on the wall, too, when suddenly my phone rings, startling me enough to almost drop the darn thing on my feet. Hah.

Our tenant needs to be picked up, and I need to wade my way through the dogs in order to get to the car…still partially filled with sand, naturally.
As it turns out, when I arrive, our tenant and her caretaker have just ordered their coffee at the bar, leaving me to wait outside. I’m a mess from building, covered in dust and wearing old clothes to boot, so I really don’t much fancy the idea of joining them.

At long last they are done and I can drive them both home. Ten minutes later I’m back and help big brother finish up the last bit of cement before we take our dogs inside, where little sister is preparing dinner.
While she is finishing up, and little brother is feeding the dogs, I quickly hang and fold the day’s laundry, wash up and sit down to wolf down the meal. I’m literally starving.

What with running behind on time again today, we don’t manage to fit in another editing session, much to my regret. But since we’re all pretty bushed anyway, we take the opportunity to watch this week’s episode of “NCIS” and “Burn Notice”.

And with that, the day comes to a blissful end. At midnight, on the dot, I head up to my cabin to start on the night.