Walks and books

[mrissa]

Ista often has a bit of a bratty day when markgritter goes out of town. She's out of her routine -- although now that it's staying light longer, I'll feel comfortable walking her after dinner again, which is what Mark does -- and there is a monkey missing. This is never good. So yesterday, as preemptive anti-brattiness, she got to go to the Falls. All the way down from the Falls to the River and back again. She was excited the whole way, trotting up the stairs at the end of the walk just as eagerly as she'd plunged down them at the beginning -- but oh, last night, did we ever have a tired bop. She had to take naps in between eating parts of her dinner. She was just too tired to eat it all at once, even though she was hungry enough. It made her happy, it made me and timprov happy, and everybody had a peaceful evening. So this really seems like a good thing all around.

I had picked What We Did to Save the Kingdom (whose necklace is in this icon) as my next book project, and I had let it percolate and hashed out bits of geopolitics and character relationships and botany and that. And then Deportees showed up and was fun and shiny and blaster-filled...and not at all fully developed. So I wrote a bunch of scenes on Deportees and came to a screeching halt because there were other things I didn't know about it. And then I had to make a choice: to go back to WWDtStK* or to spend time focusing on figuring out Deportees in the necessary detail.

Well. Despite the cajolings of a few space-opera-focused people, this didn't actually take long: I have the full outline on WWD, so I can sit down and get words pretty regularly and right away, rather than thrashing around for several more weeks muttering to myself and not getting much done. And the thrashing around on Deportees can happen while I'm working on WWD, and probably will. So I'm not saying I'm not writing it. I'm saying I'm not focusing most of my energy on it at the moment. Also, at the moment I find it far easier to spot what makes WWD special than what makes Deportees special, and while that doesn't mean that it won't be special later, it just looks like a better idea. Bouncing around from project to project is not the order of the day. Settling into something I can work steadily at for awhile really is. And I think this is it. And if I start telling you it isn't, ask some pointed questions.

Now I just have to figure out how much of the libretto I have to write in verse for the comedy operetta within the book and how much snippets will do. The librettist is a lot of trouble as a character, which should mean the libretto is smooth and easy, right? Right?

Sigh. Yah, I don't really think so, either.

*Locally known as What We Did to Piss Off the Continent because of the above-mentioned geopolitics. Also as the girl-Richelieu novel, the Evil Regent novel, etc.

Comments

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

>She was excited the whole way, trotting up the stairs at the end of the walk just as eagerly as she'd plunged down them at the beginning -- but oh, last night, did we ever have a tired bop.

Hee. The yellowdog does that, too. He'll run run run run run run run run run run, and then as soon as he hits the car: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

She wanted to start climbing the final set of steps on her hind legs only, to try to see the dogs who were running in the field where the Sidhe battle took place. Sigh.

[writingortyping.livejournal.com]

Oh, how I wish we could wear Toshie out with walks. Not even extended Frisbee sessions* will do it for our boy.


* Though it's pretty funny to see him come in on a warm day and flop down directly on the vent in front of the bay window - a view to bark at and fresh, cool air blowing his long, frondy fur into his face!

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

I used to tell my parents' dog that if she couldn't be bothered to stand up, it wasn't worth barking at.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Reasons We Do Not Own That Breed: #1.

#2: shedding is harder on friends and family with allergies.

There is no #3. It's a great breed, smart and beautiful and lovey. But I thought we needed to be reasonable about our own energy levels.

[writingortyping.livejournal.com]

Very wise. Mostly, he's just a great dog who suits our energy levels and willingness to do walkies/frisbee/sticks/whathaveyou very well. But there are those certain days...

[mamapduck.livejournal.com]

The WonderPoodle tries to find her missing monkey. The other monkeys are not sufficiently distressed! They play hockey!

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

I knew there was something I was forgetting to do this afternoon and evening! Turns out it was playing hockey!