Tag: crossword puzzles

April update

More snow! Yes, for all my talk about how winter must end, it simply won’t. Yesterday I had the pleasure of a) having my teeth cleaned; b) doing my taxes; c) calling the IRS to clarify something I’d received conflicting information on, listening to the same thirty-second music loop for an hour, and then being hung up on; all while d) sleet pounded on the windows.

But we have frog eggs in a wading pool in the backyard, and the phoebes have returned to work on their dilapidated nest, and the daffodils are blooming, so I’m holding fast to my belief that warm days will come.

I’m putting the finishing touches on a novelette this weekend, one that was supposed to be a nice little short story. It isn’t. I’m finally feeling back in the writing groove (yay!). I’ve also been doing research for Crossroads. It’s been a very very long time since I’ve worked on any novel outside of the Aware world, and it’s taken me a while to switch tracks. It’s hard to believe I’ll ever have the same closeness with another set of characters that I have with Wren and Isis and Juno.

But I think Crossroads, which I keep trying to write as Crosswords (the story of a girl who trades her soul for a chance at winning the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament) (hey, wait a minute, that actually sounds like something fun to write…), will be something good. Blue Riley (Really it’s Sapphire Blue, but my mom was weird that way) has this determination to her that I love. And hiking boots, worn leather hiking boots, and bravery, and…well, I’m getting there. We’ll be friends yet. There are some sections of her story that I’m dying to write.

No reading today

I have no recommendations today. I’ve spent the last few days in a whirlwind of birthday stuff (not mine) and trying to get life in order, and I haven’t been doing any reading online. Offline, I haven’t been good for much beyond crossword puzzles.

I saw the proofs for “Sea Glass” at Abyss and Apex, and they’ve made it gorgeous. Really. Sending out stories is such a long process, and rejection so much a part of it, and by the time someone buys a story, you feel grateful for the mere fact it sold. To then have the pleasure not only of seeing it in print, but seeing treated so carefully feels very good.

I’ll put up a link when I know it’s out. As I mentioned last week, free online fiction deserves financial support. If you read and enjoy stories at Abyss and Apex, please consider stopping by the donation page and subscribing.

In other news, I think I’m just about done with my promotional materials for “Phoenix.” That also feels very good. Though I’m off schedule with Wren, I’m still close to finishing, which will be celebration-worthy. And for the next few days, I’ll be considering how best to rework the ending of a story I love for a publication I love. Here’s hoping I’m able to rise to the challenge.

Happy April!