Front note! I can’t wait to say it so I’m gonna jump the gun (details at the end) 4th publisher asked to read my manuscript. And it’s a BIG one. Pretty darn huge, actually, like totally commercial! Aaah!
Okay, here’s the usual blog:
I think I’m going to have to change the routines a little, ‘cause I’m starting to get more and more trouble writing the daily blogs. I’m thinking about once every two days, and we’ll see how that goes.
For some reason I can’t remember yesterday’s song of the day, but I do remember a rather hilarious moment in the afternoon where I belted out “Singing in the rain” while my teeth were chattering.
The day started off early, what with the new schedule, and a slightly overcast sky through which the sun peeked only occasionally. Cool, yes, but not cold yet, thankfully. The smell of rain was in the air, however.
There were the usual morning rituals, laundry, chores, etc, at which time I found out that Patrick Swayze passed away. I didn’t know whether to be surprised or not, in particular because the thought occurred to me…but then the totally out-of-the-blue thought that something would happen with Mia Farrow (I mean seriously, I know two movies of the woman and they didn’t leave that big an impression) popped up too, so my brain was probably just being a tad morbid. Hah.
Poor Swayze and family, though. Always came across as a sympathetic guy and he did have some wonderful movies.
But anyway…big brother and I spent the majority of the morning and afternoon working with the “Chicago Manual of Style”, going through punctuation and such (mostly checking what we already did, and changing a few) and then finding that time flew past before we’re even through the entire manuscript. Time does fly when you’re having fun. Hah.
We had just wrapped up the day’s session, and were getting ready to head outside when grandpa phoned that we had to get our butts up to the carport so we could carry the new wooden structure under the roof: it started to rain!
We got up to the carport just when the splashing started. Slowly at first, a distant rumble of thunder over our mountain, and then a massive bang-I’d just changed clothes and pulled on my hiking boots for today’s work-when the sky literally tore open.
Thorgal (golden retriever) and Chamea (Irish setter) both made a beeline down to the courtyard, safe from the downpour of hair and rain; Chaos was nowhere in sight (he felt that first drop and went straight inside before he got muddy, hah) and Nanook actually went down to the living room when she usually prefers solitude in mom’s tower room. The majority of dogs didn’t care a fig with the water coming down like small missiles…heck, Kolossus (German Shepherd) was actually just sitting at the top of the ridge, watching us.
Within just three minutes huge amounts of water were pouring down the path, rudely reminding me that the end of the gutter was still closed off. Considering both brothers and I were already soaking through from digging a quick ditch (we’d forgotten this particular part, right over the new stairs) so we were scrambling to keep mud from going down. I’m not kidding that within a minute not an inch of my body was left dry and I was literally floating in my boots. Hah.
While the brothers continue with the ditch, I use a hammer and chisel on the closed off gutter in the carport and jump back when the sudden release of the basin that formed behind the low wall sends mud sloshing right into my knees. Yuck!
What with all of us being soaked already, we look around at the ditches dug, checking if everything runs properly, and see, down the mountain, that the big gutter on the main path really needs to be lengthened, because now it’s creating a delta all over the lower terrace. It’ll have to wait until the rain passes, however.
Five minutes later, the downpour stops as fast as it started. It’s a little eerie, really, but since we’d all changed into dry clothes by that time, we head down to check the damage by the guest room.
The room wasn’t flooded, thankfully, but the half bath and the hallway were. Apparently we didn’t a good enough job cleaning out the drain in front of it. The next half hour I spend, jamming the metal movable rod into the tube until, around two meters down the obstruction comes loose. Another stream of mud over my (clean) feet is the result. Darn it.
By this time the sun had come out again, and with it cheerfully shining down on us we decided to tackle the delta area by digging the ditch out straight to the end. It took at least and hour, but by then everything had dried enough for us to head up to grandpa’s bungalow to resume building the small wall around his yard.
So grandpa changed his mind about the pillar we had wanted to do for his gate, which means we don’t have to go through the trouble of building three, square sides, and just finish straightening out the wall with a handmade batch of cement.
Tomorrow (technically today, of course) we have to ad a few more rocks, but then we’re all done with this particular project. Done with that, the younger sibs headed down to the house (little sister was going to prepare dinner) I join grandpa and big brother in the carport where they are sawing wooden slats for the office wall.
We don’t finish the majority of the wooden structure until after nightfall, and what with all the debris (we’ve piled a lot up by the old stable, so we can take small bits at a time) that still need to be carried off, big brother and I head out to the landfill.
Oh-my-God! You won’t believe what we found this time: Some sort of office or store must have gone out of business because there was this massive pile of wooden boards that is going to be perfect for shelving and desks in what is soon going to be our office. Seriously. There was like 600 bucks worth of wood that was basically in pristine condition. Now that’s what I call REAL recycling: another person’s garbage, made into new furniture. It’s going to be downright beautiful.
It took us more than an hour to get it all in (we even had to leave behind four boards because we couldn’t possibly fit them in)…along with this high bed with four drawers below it…and get back home at precisely midnight.
What followed was a belated dinner, some sort of Idols program was on TV and it annoyed the heck out of me, and then it was up to my cabin where we attempted another proofreading session. Regretfully I was too tired by then; I really couldn’t keep my eyes open, so we called it a day and I got ready for bed.
Today:
A jumble of dreams whirled through my head during the night: something about a mineshaft caving in, and the top entrance being shut down by debris. Then, when some guy (I don’t know who it was but he reminded me of an actor) tried to remove them it caved in, almost sending the guy down with it all.
The day is comfortably warm and the sun is shining bright when I wake up, due to Trin Trin dragging my blankets off the bed a mere minute before the alarm goes off. I lock the monster boxer up in the back yard and then let the rest of the pack out in the open before I start on the morning rituals.
I’m in the midst of it when in the distance I hear a noisy bang, half a minute before the power goes out. It stays that way for almost an hour and doesn’t restart until I’m down at the house, just about ready to start thinking about some activity that doesn’t involve the use of electricity.
The proofreading can commence after all. Hah.
We go through the same routine as yesterday, using the book to go over the remaining errors and such and before I know it the hours reserved for manuscript work is over. (We are actually an hour late.) We head on up to start work on grandpa’s little wall, the wood/glass wall for our office (which needs to be sanded) and then I have to leave to take our tenant and her caretaker to town for a doctor’s appointment.
While they are there, I take a quick trip to the hardware store. Then, after we’ve packed the old lady into the car, we head out on the way home, taking the back way. It takes us past the local landfill, and much to our surprise we see this litter of tiny little puppies scurrying into the corner at the sight of the headlights.
Oh My God. It shocks me every time how people can do something like this. Two blacks, tummies round, on dotted gray and a black and brown that looks a little on the weak side. I can hardly believe it when I see those tiny little butts trying to crawl away, but when I get out of the car and squat down to look them over, it becomes clear that my mind didn’t play tricks on me.
I mean, seriously. Why do this? Why dump wonderful young puppies this way right beside a busy road where they could be run over, starve to death or eaten by predators. If someone can’t afford dogs, at least have the decency to find a new home for them, or have them put down at the vet…better yet, abort before they’re actually puppies. But this…this…this is just cruel. For God’s sake, people. Step up.
We pack the little mutts (I think they’re Labrador mixes) even though we really can’t take in any more dogs, and knowing that we’re going to have to find a new home for them, or bring them to an animal shelter, and take them with us.
At home, the majority of the family is already waiting (I phoned ahead) and after some examination, cuddling and such, big brother and I take them down to the guestquarters where they’ll be warm, but separated from the rest of the dogs. It’s not that puppies would be a problem with the other dogs, it’s just that we can’t risk bringing in unfamiliar bacteria in the pack…been there, done that - it was almost disastrous.
Not wanting to get attached to the little darlings, we don’t fuss with them too…………Oh My God!!!! I just got an E-mail…ANOTHER publisher is interested in looking at “Saving Nina” ohmygodohmygodohmygod! That was a friggin good query letter! Fourth reaction, and this one even asked if the story was still available. Aaaaaaahh!
Okay, gotta get to work. First few chapters are basically done, but I wanna be sure and read them through! Again...and maybe again. Hah!
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