Thinking About It Thursday...

I missed What's Up Wednesday? How did that even happen? Dang.

Welcome to Thinking About It Thursday...in which I type out all of the crazy plans that have been floating around in my head for the month of November.

http://kiriska.deviantart.com/art/NaNoWriMo-Calendar-Wallpaper-181466150

NaNoWriMo: OK, yes. I'm nearly finished editing one book, and need to seriously work on the next draft of another, but the siren song of Nanowrimo keeps calling me to come and play. I've been putting off the sequel to Hidden Magic for so long. It's already mostly outlined. Maybe just this once.

NaExerciseMo: Here's a thought. I could take all the time I usually devote to NaNoWriMo and use it to exercise. Think how good that would be for my body, and for my mind too. I'm finally starting physical therapy on my hip today. I have a dream that my whole body is going to start feeling its real age instead of 82.

NaDeYoHoMo: Ha! That is so much fun to say! It really ought to be a thing. It's National Declutter Your House Month! Just yesterday the plumber came by and gave us an estimate on the lynchpin home improvement project that has been keeping us from all other projects. It's going to cost a boatload of money to move the washer and dryer out of my kitchen and into the basement, but it's so worth it. I spent yesterday decluttering the basement to make room for them, and I kind of hate to lose my momentum.  A whole section of our concrete floor is bare now. It's so pretty, I could just stand in the middle of it and spin in a slow circle all day long. I should get rid of ALL THE THINGS!

NaGoBaToWoMo: In which I take a massive pay cut, but Go Back To Work as a substitute teacher. I was a long term sub, which was very close to normal pay, but short term subs make next to nothing, but do get job experience and make connections, which are vital to getting a teaching job...is that what I want?

National Do As I'm Doing Month: I couldn't even begin to find an acronym that was possible to say for this one. But I could continue on as I am, finishing my current novel, exercising a bit, watching my house sink under the weight of all that clutter, and substituting once a week or so.

Or finally...my current favorite:

National Do It All Month. And Christmas Shop Too.

You know...looking at it written out there, shiny and imaginary, it seems like I could do almost all of it, except maybe write Lost Magic. I hate to set that aside, especially when I could feed off all the excess  NaNoWriMo energy, but this isn't really the time. So here's the plan...I will have a finished outline of Lost Magic by the end of November. I will schedule two hours a week to work on it. Not even close to Nanowrimo mode, but a heck of a lot more attention than I've been giving it.

Which leaves me with a lot of time for exercise. Probably more than I need. But I could do an hour a day. Still not NaNoWriMo levels of time commitment, but more than I've been doing, by a long shot.

So I'll have plenty of time to substitute, declutter my house, Christmas shop, and finish the Pyromancy novel. Easy peasy. I only wonder if I'm not planning enough...

What's Up Wednesday Oct. 22, 2014

What's up Wednesday is a blog hop created by Jaime Morrow and Erin Funk to help writers keep in touch with each other. If you'd like to participate, sign up on the linky at one of their blogs, and use one of the cute WUW buttons provided. Thanks!

I've been longing for this day! It's been a while since I had time to participate in WUW, and I've missed you all so much! Reading your blogs and your comments is such a fun part of my week.

WHAT I'M READING

Reason #2 that I've missed you: I'm in a reading slump. All of the books I picked out at the library by myself were dumb. Ooh. Except The Screaming Staircase. That was good stuff. Kind of a horror middle grade/YA crossover thing. But my list of TBR books has shrunk alarmingly. I can't wait to see what you are reading.

WHAT I'M WRITING

"This is the book that never ends..." Not true! I'm almost done editing Pyromancy Part 1. I honestly can't wait, even though Pyromancy Part 2 is right underneath it, ready for edits. I should be finished with Pyromancy Part 1 by the end of the week, and the betas are right behind me, so I can jump right into applying their stuff when I'm through. Part 1 should be out in January!

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

I've been working as a teacher in an elementary school resource room, and you know what? Those kids work dang hard. They inspire me. I taught 5th grade reading in one room and 5th grade math right after it in a different room, and those kids would beat me there and be working on their daily math before I even walked in the door. And they didn't stop! They would be working their tails off when I said "You can clean up now." That inspires me.

So does this post by Glennon Doyle Melton: I couldn't find it on her blog, only on her facebook page, so I'm posting the whole thing here. But the blog is amazing anyway.

Here is what happened: All of the middle school kids were running. Sweaty, near tears, their legs pounding the pavement, hurting, pushing- in FRONT OF THEIR PEERS AND CROWDS OF STRANGERS. Kids have more courage and vulnerability in their LEGS than most of us adults have from head to toe. Can you IMAGINE? The BRAVE this takes?

And the fast ones finished one at a time and everyone was cheering and cheering and then the middle ones finished in packs and then the slower ones finished a few at a time and then nothing for a while.

And then the last ones came around the bend. One a time. Alone. Pushing. They were hurting. They wanted to quit. They were maybe even a little bit embarrassed. But as they moved closer to the parent spectators- the cheering got LOUDER. LOUDER, even - than it was for the fast ones. Because everyone just KNOWS IN THEIR BONES that it is AWESOME to finish first but it is INSPIRING to finish LAST- to FINISH when you’ve got no chance in hell of winning. THIS is the stuff that makes spectator’s hearts explode with tenderness and love and admiration and hope for all of us. THE LAST ONES. And so these last ones heard the cheers and their heads lifted and their pace picked up ever so slightly.

And then this:
Those fast ones? The ones who finished minutes ago? They gathered together. And they jogged directly toward the last one, who was still running. And they loosely huddled around her. Blue jerseys surrounding her blue jersey in more blue. And they matched her pace. And the fast ones ran alongside her and they chanted her name and they celebrated with her when she finally crossed that finish line. The fast ones and the last one FINISHED THE RACE TOGETHER.

You guys - the fast ones just UNDERSTOOD. They understood that the race was the hardest for the last one but that she DID NOT STOP. And so they understood that SHE WAS THE HERO OF THE DAY. All of them understood that We Belong To Each Other. And that regardless of where we finish: LOVE WINS.

I SAW this happen today. It is now my life metaphor for EVERYTHING. We finish together. The fast ones wait and surround the last ones and match her pace and cheer her name. That’s it. That’s the whole ball game, folks.

The kids are all right. The kids are freaking AMAZING.

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

I've been working as a long term sub in a resource classroom, and Friday was my last day. I miss it. I miss it even though it made writing nearly impossible, and even though it made my schedule absolutely crazy. I miss the kids, especially the ones that I know are missing me too. But I am excited to have time to blog, and time to write, and maybe to clean my house, or return some library books on time. And hopefully I get to go back. Not that I want the poor regular teacher to have any more problems in his life, because he's had more than his share this year. But still...I would like to go back. Fingers crossed.

A Very Strange Little Post.

Have you ever had one of those days where you spend most of your brain capacity composing (and discarding) self-pitying facebook posts? That's where I'm at today. Today I need to remind the world that "I'm here!" and "My life is super complicated!" and "I know I'm a writer but that doesn't always mean I have the words to express myself." I'm not trying to be cryptic and I'm not trying to get loads of people to worry about me. This is what I needed to do to feel better. Knowing my little world has connected with your world for a few minutes was all it took. That might be weird, but who cares?? Thanks!