Until They Vanish

I walk beside you along the beach

While the laughing waves follow,

And wash the signs of our passing

Until they vanish.

We toss our dreams out on the breeze

To watch them soar up and away,

Unaware of how far dreams may travel,

Until they vanish.

As the sun sinks beneath restless waves

The sand grows cool to our feet,

And stars dance across the night sky

Until they vanish.

(c) July 23, 2006 - Cynthia I Maddox

My Writing Space

Finally! My creative space is exactly the way I want it Well, for now. I mean, I need to get the space underneath the desk better organized but for now, it is functional down there. The top is what really matters. Cause there is where eveything writing/business related happens.

I have to tell you, I'm so excited about it because I designed and built this all by myself with a ruptured disk in my back. Mike helped me install the support brackets. I really love the size and layout. Particularly since my son, Mike, mounted the larger monitor. It is at eyelevel and takes all the strain off my neck.

Since the back surgery I've tried to insure that my posture at the computer was as healthy as I could make it but looking down at the small screen of the laptop has been causing pain in parts of my neck. I also had to turn my head to the right to utilize the larger monitor and this caused pain. It just wasn't working as I thought it would. After thinking about it for a few weeks, I realized the only wat to solve it would be to get that larger monitor in front of me but it had a huge screen with a very nice large base. The desk is about 18 inches deep, enough space to work but not enough to stack monitors.

So, last week, I found a wall mount on Amazon for a reasonable price and ordered it. You can see the results in the photo above. I took this just after cleaning the dust and organizing everything. Yes, I tend to be a clean desk person. It gets messy but it is very distracting for me when it is messy. I have things in folders, notebooks, and files. Bills go in the metal bins along with notes and reminders and working copies of my writing. I like having hard cover of a dictionary and a thesauraus handy as well as a good grammar book. These save me huges amount of time when editing my or someone else's writing.

Yes, I know I can find that stuff online but I still prefer to look up a lot of things in real books. I have one dictionary that is 10x7, 4 inches thick, and weighs probably 10 lbs. Yes, really. I love that thing. I bought it at the Stars and Stripes bookstore in Frankfurt, W. Germany in 1978 and while the language has added a few more words, I doubt in my lifetime that it will increase enough to fill another volume this large.

Just so you know, I don't have this one on the desk. But I digress.

I've been writing a bit every few days but I've been very dissatisfied with what I've been doing. Still I'm plodding along. I forgot to log how much I've written and that's annoying, too. I wanted to do that because it helps me keep my focus on the fact that I am writing and have numbers to show it. Now, if you feel that's not helpful, that's fine. It helps me to know I've actually written 50 words today before the pain forced me to stop. I like knowing that I hit 1500 words in an hour on Monday because by Friday I may be unable to move for several days. Depression looks for weaknesses and if I have something to beat it back with, even a small stick, it helps.

What does your writing/creative space look like? Do you like it clean and tidy or are you one of those who thrive in a cluttered environment? If you could change one thing about your writing space, what would you change?

The Underside of Platforms

Courtesy Pixabay.com

I don't get this whole platform thing. I mean, I know what it is... sort of. Where I'm from a platform is something you preach from or where you get on a train. Oh, and of course, the oil well platforms. There doesn't seem to be any similarities.

The current model seems to be metaphorical. I know you need "followers", a public who recognizes your name before you become famous. Of course, I'm making an effort with things like Facebook, Goodreads, Twitter, and a blog.

Recently, I started to push to get more followers on all those and have had some moderate success. I still don't know what it means but hey, there is a trail of people behind me. It just isn't enough. 

A few days ago I discovered that there might be a downside to this platform thing. Today I was reminded of it again. I should say the underside because there is definitely an underside. 

Once upon a time, I had a blog on a site called Multiply. I actually paid for it! I loved Multiply and all the friends I made there loved it, too. What I remember most from those days are the marriage proposals. I got quite a few from some Prince. Of course, I was younger then but I was also already married. He kept sending them, though.

In the last week, since I've been building this platform thingy, I had a message on Facebook from an extremely handsome fella asking if we could get acquainted. I got to tell you. It was so difficult (I'm not married now) but I was strong. I said, "Nope."

This week I got a message on Twitter. From a Polish fella in Georgia. I assume it is the US Georgia because there was some mention of Atlanta and I don't think the one in Europe has that. He keeps sending these inquiries into my health and happiness. Very polite, he is. Today he wanted to Hangout. I don't think he realizes that Google Hangouts is not the best platform for meeting someone. Skype has far superior functionality. 

Oh, and he had a photo, too. It was not the same man . . . unless the first photo was a fake. It wasn't nearly so difficult. I said, "I don't do hangouts with people I don't know. Thanks anyway." He continued to send me invites to these chat sessions with 20 other females involved! I'm not impressed or inclined to join the party. I blocked him today.

The combination of these two events made me realize that there could be things under this platform. I have extensive experience with things under floors. They tend to be unpleasant. Some have multiple legs that are all crooked. They have fat bulging bodies and bulging eyes and they jump in ways you can't predict and don't usually want. 

Hang on a second while I check around my chair. 

I don't want to appear unfriendly. I'm actually rather likable, on my good days. However, I'm just a bit hesitant about adding any more planks to this platform. I mean, I know I have to build the thing. I just really hope that that Prince doesn't do Twitter or Facebook. 

Firing, Hashing, & Crashing

If you remember, before my back surgery I had to hire an assistant. I mentioned it in a previous post. I even posted photos of him at work.  Well, sadly, I fear my assistant has loafing.

👈 Just look how I found him! Sleeping on the job. I'm telling you, you can't find good help these days. Just like Mike Rowe says, 5,000,000 jobs out there and they can't fill them. Probably because of people just like this guy. 

Fortunately, since my surgery, things are looking up and I'm able to type better and I don't have a lot of pain. I do have copious amounts of fatigue but I'm trying to work around that. I've been writing on two novels but I'm going to have to focus on one and get it done. 

There is so much I need to do around here, too. I still have the pass-thru to finish out and a couple of finishing touches in the den. After that, I have to work on the half bath. I have a new security light to get up outside, too. With no handyman about the house and Mike going back to work, I'm flying solo. Sarah said she'd hold the ladder. She wanted to use the drill but I think that'd be a bit dicey. 

And still plenty of writing to do. 

I want to sit down and work on my "world" for All That's Holy". That's been nagging at me. Of course, that could be just to pull me away from the real writing. I also need, that's NEED, to work up the final chapters to Long Summer Run. I'm there. Just do it! Overwhelming to have so many novels in the last stages of completion. This is what NaNo does to you!

Do other writers struggle with this kind of stuff? I fight the RA but mostly, I just do what I have to do, despite the pain. It is the fibro fatigue and brain fog that really gets to me. I can't find a way around that other than sleep.The good news is that now I can snuggle with my pillow on either side and not have to sleep totally on my back. This has been a gift. Things have improved so much since the surgery that it is frustrating to still deal with fibro. I have the added bonus of the bad angel nagging to write this, write that, over here, over there. I feel positively ADD.

I've prolonged the inevitable long enough. I must go write the real story. I hope I've not bored you to tears. If you're on Facebook or Twitter, follow me, please! I need followers. The links are on this page in the column. 

Have a great day!

Batter Up!

For this NaNo, I've been working on a previous NaNo novel. I haven't done much because of the back surgery and the nerve problem in my hand and arm have interfered with my ability to type. I've tried speech recognition software and managed to get some writing done. That's better than nothing. This last week, I worked on typing a bit. With over 60K words already written and a projected 30K to go, I've only produced the proverbial drop in the bucket. But I'm hopeful. At least, today I'm hopeful.

I really love this story, which is a far cry from most of my other NaNo novels. I only have one other that I truly love and it too is very near completion. My problem is that life is constantly throwing me curve balls in the form of illness or catastrophes such as a ruptured disk compressing my spine. To the point that I've despaired of finishing either novel. But I am working on both of them. 

Yes, both. I've decided that the way to deal with a curve ball is to find a new batting style. I've decided to ask what novel I want to work on for the day and to work on that one. If I grow tired or hit a roadblock, I will work on the other one. This has actually helped because it removes some my excuses for not writing at all and I manage to make some progress.

It never fails when I'm working on something that another story comes to mind that I could be working on. I try sticking to one but sometimes, I just hit a spot I feel I can't go further. Usually, that can shut me down for a while. Now, I just open the other story and start working on that. This has been surprisingly helpful. It means I'm writing. It also means boredom isn't a factor in my writing. I also found that it tends to push me to try to stick with the story I have open. Because after all, I want to finish ONE of them!

Maybe it isn't the best solution but at the end of the week, I'll have worked on two stories instead of one. Right now I'm focusing on All That's Holy because I really need to get some things structured. The story is complex and has a parallel structure. So, a lot going on and it feels all over the place. It probably isn't as bad as it feels but there is a lot of work to do on it before the 1st draft is done.

I hope your writing week has been productive, despite the holiday stupor that gets to all of us.