Day 666

Did it:

Kyle

Day 665

Did it:

Kyle: I haven't been updating on here regularly for the past month while life has been chaotic, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things so I can start the new year right.

Day 664

Did it:

Elena - this is for yesterday, but it wasn't really a page. Today I cleaned a couple chapters for my writing group tonight, but that wasn't a new page, either. Maybe I should accept that writing must be spotty before Christmas and I'll be lucky to accomplish anything at all. So, really, this should be under the Didn't heading, but since I did do a little something, I'm putting that down here.

Day 663

Did it:

(Sort of) Elena - Too many appointments and interruptions lately, but I'm determined to get back in the swing in spite of the holidays. I have to be finished and polished by February.
Kim

Day 662

Did it:

Elena

Didn't:

Jamie - Being in the last month of pregnancy (nesting) with holidays and tiredness is not leaving me much right now... but I promise I am not lost forever.
Kim--So, I've been writing every day, which I'm really excited about, but I'm struggling to get enough momentum with this story that I can get a page every day. I'll get there. Congrats Jamie about this new baby! That's so exciting!

Day 661

Did it:

Elena

Day 660

Did it:

Elena
Kyle

Day 659

Did it:

Elena- well, actually not writing, but necessary research again. I'm learning how to sail a boat up the Mississippi. All this useless knowledge, just to make a fantasy a little more believable. Who knew? Always wanted to learn to sail, probably since I read Joan Aiken's Nightbirds on Nantucket when I was nine. And then Kidnapped and Treasure Island. Except I'm too scared to get on a boat. Nothing solid under me--unh!

Day 658

Did it:

Elena

Day 657

Did it:

Jamie
Elena

Day 656

Did it:

Jamie

Elena

Day 655

Did it:

Jamie
Elena

Day 654

Did it:
Kim--I've been writing every day this week. Some revising, and brainstorming, sometimes only a few sentences, but today I got a new page. Yeah!

Day 653

Did it:

Kyle
Elena

Day 652

Did it:

Elena- this is actually Friday, but it's 1 am, so I'm pretty sure it will say Saturday.

Day 651

Did it:

Kyle
Elena

Day 650

Did it:

Jamie - but will be gone until next week.
Elena

Day 649

Did it:

Jamie - Getting a plot problem fixed means going backward and deleting pages.  It's hard to make it feel like progress :)

Day 648

Did it:

Jamie

Day 647

Didn't: Jamie. Today I am showering during writing time :) the past two days I have been reading and ruminating in a plot problem.
Kyle: I've been out for about three weeks now. Darn vacations and work...

Day 646

Did it:

Elena

Day 645

Did it:

Jamie

Day 644

Did it:

Jamie - yes, we will definitely have to switch!

Elena - :)

Day 643

Did it:

Jamie - I echo you Elena.  Just finish the draft, Jamie!!!!

Elena - yes, just finish the draft, Jamie! And then let me read it. Shall we swap when done? 

Day 642

Did it:

Elena. Wednesday, too, but I keep forgetting to report. Finally back in a groove again. When I get out, I lose momentum so fast, and then it takes weeks to get it back. Ugh. No NaNoWriMo next month, either. Just going to get this next draft done.

Day 641

Did it:

Jamie
Elena

Day 640

Did it:

Jamie
Elena

Day 639

Did it:  Jamie, although not much time since I had to go get a sick child in the middle.  Also wrote yesterday, though on a handwritten project not on the computer.

Elena

Day 638

Did it:

Jamie

Day 637

Did it:

Jamie

Day 636

Did it:

Jamie

Day 635

Did it:

Jamie - by the skin of my teeth, really struggling with getting going this week.  Yesterday I took a nap :(

Day 634

Did it:

Jamie
Elena
Kim

Day 633

Did it:

Jamie

Day 632

Did it:

Jamie

Day 631

Did it:

Jamie
Kim--I was away from the internet on Thursday and Friday, but I wrote 12 pages. Then I figured out I'd gone the wrong direction. I thought of something much better, and got in almost a page today to fix it. 

Day 630

Did it:

Jamie - Although I just had to fix what I did on Wednesday.  Sometimes I know I am not "in the right place" for writing, but then if I don't do it... it just gets put off forever and ever and the habit dies.  But if I do it, it ends up being trash.  Bleh.

Day 629

Did it:

Jamie
Kyle

Didn't:

Elena - Read instead. 

Day 628

Did it:

Jamie
Kim

Day 627

Did it:

Jamie

Day 626

Did it:

Elena
Kyle

Day 625

Did it:

Jamie
Kyle--and yesterday

Day 624

Did it:

Jamie
Kyle

Didn't:

Elena - trying to get things done before my vein treatment on Thursday, when I won't be able to stand for long. Actually, I have no idea how it will affect me. Maybe I'll be just fine. Anyway, I intend to get a lot of writing done after that. Hopefully.

Day 623

Did it:

Jamie

Day 622

Did it:

Jamie - Elena, power outage is so a good excuse.  My fridge is broken and I have gotten nothing done.  I should get more done, since I can't cook.  But it just DRIVES ME NUTS.

Elena - I have power again! And I revised. My writing group destroyed my novel in our critique session last night so I'm in the usual post-critique half-depression, but it was good anyway. And I totally sympathize with no fridge. We plugged in ours to the neighbors' outlet for awhile, but the workers kept doing dumb things like unplug it and the ice would all melt and then freeze into a block. But no fridge at all is worse. Because what do you eat? Peanut butter and honey? Of course you're distracted. I'm sorry. I wish you a quick repair.

Day 621

Did it:

Kyle: I hate the flu. It's been a rough week, but I'm starting to get back into the swing of things.

Day 620

Did it:

Jamie - Just barely a page.  One of those tie yourself to the chair and perform a tooth extraction kind of days.  I have to get back into the swing of things!

Kyle

Didn't:

Elena - my power has been out since Saturday, just got it back tonight. A tree fell on my ancient post-mounted electric meter and smashed it, and since nothing is code, the whole system had to be redone. Ugh. Ok, so I maybe could have gone to the library and written. All right, so I canned tomatoes at my mom's one day and went shopping the next. But the lack of power is my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Day 619

Did it:

Elena

618

Did it:

Elena

Days 615, 616, 617

Did it:

Elena - forgot to report. Revising.

Didn't:

Kyle: Back from vacation...time to get back to work.

Day 614

Did it:

Elena- Just clean-up stuff so I can say this draft is really done.

day 613

Did it:

Elena - finished my very rough first draft of Amarath. Yay! Now time to clean up the messes I made along the way while I was figuring out where it needed to go.

Day 612

Did it:

Elena - one good day is sometimes all it takes. Almost finished! Climax done. Wind-up is all that's left. I deserve some chocolate.

Day 611

Did it:

Elena - I feel I've been winding up this draft forever. Maybe it will end someday. Maybe it will be the never-ending story.

Day 610

Did it:

Jamie

Elena

Day 609

Did it:

Jamie

Elena

Day 608

Did it:

Jamie

Day 607

Did it:

Elena - Today was a good day, though not one word yesterday. Ran errands all day long. Ugh!

Day 606

Did

Kyle
Elena

Didn't

Jamie - Early out day means that naps don't line up right :(  Lots of early out days this week since it's the first week of school.

Day 605

Did it:

Jamie
Kyle
Elena

Day 604

Did it:

Jamie
Kyle

Didn't:

Elena - opened it, fiddled for a bit, wrote maybe one new sentence.  Definitely not a page. Read battle scenes so I could figure out how to write mine.
Kim--I'm having a harder time than usual this summer making time for writing. Having everyone home is throwing off my groove, but I've been reading a lot and having a lot of fun with my husband and kids. I'll be back at it again soon. :)

Day 603

Did it:

Jamie
Kyle

Didn't:

Elena - read and critiqued someone else's novel today.

Day 602

Did it:

Jamie
Elena

Day 601

Did it: 

Elena

Kyle

Day 600

Did it:

Elena

Day 599

Did it:

Elena - Just some research, no writing. But it had to be done to move on.

Day 598

Did it:

Elena

Day 597

Did it:

Elena - 900 words today, so far. That's a lot for me. Actually, that's a ton. But after all, I'm making myself do nothing but write today. It helps that I'm sort-of-but-not-too-sick, so I can tell everyone sorry, but no, to everything they ask. Which makes me wonder, why do I not do that anyway? Sorry, but no, I'm writing. Because, yes, this is my job. Why do I have to be sick for sorry-but-no to kick in?

Kyle: Plus every day but Tuesday last week. I just never reported on here...

Day 586

Did it:

Kyle

Day 585

Did it:

Sort of. Elena. Mostly fiddled and tweaked and stared at the screen when I should have been finishing this draft. Why can I not make myself move forward?

Kyle

Back From Who Knows Where

So I've been absent from active participation in this blog for who knows how long...a very long time. My writing has been very sporadic as I've been busy doing things like having a baby and trying to keep up with a preschooler. But writing is always in the back of my mind, and sometimes I even find time to sit down and do stuff. I've decided though, that I just need to buckle down again (there's never going to be a perfect time to get on a good writing schedule!), and I feel that the only way for me to do that is to be accountable on this blog again.

So...

I'm back! I've started a new project. And I wrote a page today!

Day 584

Did it:  Elena. Probably not a whole page.

Day 583

Did it:

Elena (actually yesterday). Today not so good.

Day 583

Did it:

Jamie

Day 582

Did it:

Jamie - And I'm excited about that new book I will insist on reading once we get to August 8th.  (Maybe someone will push food under the crack.)

Day 581

Did it:

Jamie

Elena - my goal is to finish this draft of Amarath by August 8th, even if it takes locking myself in a room with a lot of food and not coming out until it's done. Which it might.

Day 580

Did it:  Elena

Day 578, 579

Did it:

Elena - forgot to report yesterday. Only wrote a little today, probably not a full page, but I'm counting it. :) A new character crept in. An minor character became more important. And Amarath just discovered some new magical powers. Hmm. Interesting. I had no idea. Thanks, Subconscious.

Day 577

Did it:

Elena - got very little done last week with the holiday. Trying to be good again. My subconscious kicked in and I figured out some critical plot things. Yay for the broccoli that speaks from the basement!

Day 576

Did it:  Elena
Kim--I've had WIFYR and a writing retreat in the last two weeks, so I haven't always been around a computer with internet to report, but I've been working a lot. Go Elena! Looks like you're on a roll.

Day 575

Did it: Elena. Tuesday, too. Forgot to post.

Day 574

Did it:

Elena

Day 573

Did it:

Elena - Four pages, woo hoo!

LIfe gets in the way

My kid had brain surgery last week. We're both still recovering--him from the injury, me from the shock. So far he's doing well. Meanwhile, I can't write. Not even sure what day of the week it is. When I put the pieces of my own brain back together, maybe I'll finish my story. Until then, I'm not very functional.

Day 572

Did it:

Jamie - I wrote a little today. Like three paragraphs.  It is so hard to get started again after taking time off.  I don't even understand my stories anymore.  So, today I'm counting the fact that I turned on the computer and tried.

Kim--well, then I'll count my efforts, too :) . Does anyone else have a hard time switching back to rough drafting after working in editing mode for a while? After revising my ten pages for WIFYR, I'm having a hard time ignoring everything I'm doing wrong as I go.

Day 571

Didn't:

Elena - Oh, good. I'm not the only one. My excuses: sick kids and family issues, end of school crap, plus I had one-week's notice to give a talk in church. I feel like I haven't written fiction for a year, but I guess it has only been two weeks. Too long. My story is leaving my head.

So, what's your excuse?

Kim--I actually wrote a lot last week and forgot to report. I was getting ready for WIFYR. But I haven't been writing since I turned in my pages for class because we were celebrating my son's birthday, and then I had family coming in town for his baptism. Happy reasons. I'm hoping to start writing again on Monday. I just discovered Brandon Sanderson's writing class videos on youtube. They're pretty good. Have you guys seen them?

Day 570

(For Thursday and Friday)

Did it:
Kim

Didn't:

Jamie - I am missing for another week probably.  I had my performance last week that I run, then my mom was in town, then we went on a family trip, and now I am putting my life back together.  Hopefully next Monday I will be ready to get going again!!!!

Day 569

Did it:
Kim
Elena- after lots of false starts to my eternal, never-ending ending, my story finally decided to take me somewhere unexpected. Not sure where it's going, but that's my favorite place to be in a first draft: outside of any outline, heading in a mystery direction and dragging me along.

Day 568

Did it:

Jamie
Kim

Day 567

Did it:

Jamie, and one other day last week.
Kim --sort of. More like half a page, but I'll take it. 

Day 566

Kim

Day 565

Kim

Day 564

Did it:

Jamie - Back to my normal project.  If only I could stop being a schizophrenic writer.  I wish I knew what I should be writing!!!

Elena

Kim - Jamie, I just went through that. I don't know if this would help you, but I wrote out all the ideas I was thinking about writing and wrote the pros and cons of each idea. It helped me pick one to start with.

Day 563

Did it:

Jamie - trying something totally different

Elena

Kim--I think I'm finally unstuck :)

Day 562

Did it:

Elena
Kim--still stuck. 
Jamie - bleh

Day 561

Did it:

Jamie - boy am I struggling though.  Writing half as much in the same amount of time right now.

Elena - me, too. Hit a block and I have to go back and work some things out before I can move on. If only it were always easy.

Kim--brainstorming, though. I'm stuck.

Day 560

Did it:

Jamie

Elena

Kim

Day 559

Did it:

Elena
Kim

Day 558

This is for Thursday.

Did it: Elena
Kim

Day 557

Did it:

Jamie
Elena
Kim

Day 556

Did it:

Jamie
Elena
Kim

Day 555

Did it:

Jamie, and also a little on Saturday.  I have got to learn to write with people in the house!
Kim

Day 554

Did it:

Jamie
Kim
Elena - maybe not  page, but I tinkered.

Day 553

Did it:

Elena

Day 552

Did it:

Jamie
Elena

Day 551

Did it:

Jamie

Day 550

Did it:

Jamie

Didn't: Elena- Doing the tax scramble today. But I went on a walk and had lots of thoughts about how to overhaul a scene. Did scribble down a few notes for when I can stop thinking about stupid numbers and start thinking about lovely words.

Day 549

Did it:
Kim
Elena

Day 547 & 548

Did it: Elena

Jamie- I have finally bitten the bullet and started a completely new do-over draft of Bearskin.  I am even typing it on a different computer.  It had to be done, but it was hard to make myself do it.  Now that I'm going, it's actually fun.  I know the whole story so completely, I just have to put it down the way it should have been all along.

Day 546

Did it:

Elena- got down all the scenes I wrote in my head while driving across the midwest last week. Will a first draft of Amarath actually be finished soon? I'm thinking, maybe, actually, yes. After taxes and all that crap. Seeing Cahokia was sort of helpful. Sort of not. I realized, my story really is fantasy, and that's the way I want to keep it. The more loyalty I give historical accuracy, the more the fun dies. Huh. 2600 miles to figure that out.

Day 545

Did it:

Jamie - Just got down an outline of something that occurred to me in the middle of the night.  I got a critique back today from a former editor that I sent BEARSKIN to so I could figure out how to do better.  I think now I need to let my mind sit and think for a little.  Good critiques are so important, and I appreciate them, but goodness they always kill a little of the spark, don't they?

Day 544

Did it:

Jamie - such a struggle to get started today, but then it all got rolling.

Elena

Day 543

Did it:

Jamie

Didn't:

Elena - Read Scarlet Letter instead and learned all kinds of interesting facts about Hawthorne. No magical tree-speaking today. :(

Day 541 & 542

Did it:
Jamie

Elena

Day 540

Did it:

Elena

Didn't:

Jamie - Spring Break is killing me.  Mostly because it's still winter outside and I'm depressed, and because Spencer is sick.  But I am reading, reading, reading.  Which at least gets the juices flowing.... right? hopefully?  Elena... have you ever read Napoli's retellings?  I just read "Zel" which reminded me of Hepsiba - at least the feel of the writing, not the story.

Day 538 and 539

Did it: Elena (forgot to post yesterday, so this is for Monday, too)

Day 537

Did it:
Jamie

Elena

Day 536

Did it: Elena

Day 535

Did it:

Jamie - Got the juggling balls up in the air again.  I had been working on a different project so I had to reread and get myself back up to speed.  Did finish the chapter I'd left undone though.

Day 534

Did it:

Jamie, and yesterday

My Agent-Submission Scramble

My LTUE story, since you asked:

I wasn't going to go to LTUE this year because usually it's not that great--too many panels of mostly authors I've been in classes with, and they bring in local editors and agents from companies like Deseret Book and Valor, etc. But I changed my mind last minute, because a) Megan Whalen Turner, Newbery author of The Thief, was coming and I'm a fan; and b) they actually brought in an agent from New York who said on her bio that she was looking for the next Orson Scott Card.

I'm no Orson Card--do I want to be?--and I wasn't ready to pitch Amarath yet, but I figured I could probably throw something together, and I probably wouldn't get a spot anyway, since I was doing this last minute, but hey? what could I lose?

Well, the spot was open and I pitched Amarath, since it's the closest of my books to anything Card-ish, and watched her eyes glaze over, especially when I mentioned it was still a WIP. My pitch really wasn't ready. It was terrible.

I could see this wasn't going anywhere, so I quickly just told her I'd recently parted ways with an agent, and then gave her ultra-condensed elevator-pitches of the rest of my books.

She said, "Why did you think I wouldn't be interested in the Barefoot story? I love high-school romance!" And then asked for a full of Going Barefoot and 40 pages of the rest of my books so she can get a feel for my writing. She also wanted me to send her more specifics on the rejections, so we could figure out how to go from there.

Who knows what will happen.

She looks about 11 years old and is fresh out of school, has no experience and maybe is just looking for   true chick-lit, in which case, she'll probably be disappointed. But she does work with an established, credible-seeming agency. She thinks we could resubmit Thrushbeard, since turn-over is high in publishing, and tastes change. I think she might actually submit things and probably answer my emails, since she can't be very busy yet. Maybe even do some back-and-forth revisions.

Or maybe she'll hate my writing. Everything is so subjective.

So, of course, the very next week I was out of town for my son's wedding and didn't have time to do anything. And I hadn't looked at any of those books in a really long time. I knew they needed work.

The following two weeks I've spent scrambling to fix all the things I now hate about all my books. I only just wrote my email after digging up all my old rejections, because I can't remember the details precisely. Pressed that anti-climactic "send" button with four attachments.

So, that's where things are right now. I don't expect anything, because what I realized as I got this stuff together, is that I don't want Going Barefoot, Thrushbeard, or Hepsiba published until I overhaul all three. But the scramble got me writing long hours again, and now I'm in the mode, I think I can stay there.

I almost hope this agent doesn't want to take me on, so I'll be ready with books I feel good about when I do a real agent search. I'm not even anxious this time, because I know I don't want to be published yet. I wish I hadn't rushed my books out so soon. Next time I "finish" something, it sits in a drawer for two months or more before I do any sending. And then I rewrite.

Anyway, hope you're all doing well.

I'd love to go conferencing with you people when I'm ready. Jamie, I'm serious about SCBWI. Anybody else want to take a trip to New York next winter with us? Share a room and cut the cost? Or L.A. next summer? I really might do both.

Day 533

Did it:

Elena--if a long email to an agent counts.

Days 530, 531, 532

Did it:

Elena--having a re-writing marathon.
Jamie - I have been writing all week also, and also doing a re-writing marathon.  You really have to tell us more about your experience Elena.

Day 528 and 529

Did it:

Elena (for yesterday, too). Scrambling to finish a rewrite for an agent I met at LTUE. She is brand-new and as far as I can tell, has no clients, but maybe that's what I need--somebody who has time.

Day 527

Did it:

Jamie
Elena

Day 526

Did it:

Jamie, and also Thursday.
Elena

Day 525

Did it:

Elena
Jamie

Day 524

Did it:

Jamie
Elena

Day 523

Did it:

Jamie
Kim

Day 522

Did it:

Kim

Day 521

Did it:

Jamie
Kim

Day 520

Did it:

Jamie

Day 519

Did it:

Jamie - also a little on Saturday.

Day 518

Did it:

Jamie.... thanks for the link Kim.  When I write I usually write the first bit over and over and over again until I can hear the character better.  That seems to help me.  It also gets me stuck, which is what happened today. A lot of small word changes, no real progression.  I don't usually plot too much, but that is a real weakness for me that I am trying to do better with this time. I'm trying to keep a notebook and write down plot ideas.  I'm also trying to see how action can make things happen with my plot instead of just letting my characters wander around.  What do they need to do to make the feelings and changes I want happen?  What can I make happen to them that will require them to react?  That is helping me this time around to know what comes next.  I wish I could be more deliberate in my plotting, but I feel like it would be a waste since until I write one scene (and re-write it enough to see the character well) I don't know what really might happen next.

Elena - I've been at LTUE this week, so I didn't report, but I've written lots every day this week. I have all the same plotting problems as you girls. I never know where I'm going and often don't get there. I'm dissatisfied with the plots of all of my books right now and want to rewrite them all. I realize that's why I can't seem to finish my Amarath book--because I just wander around in the dark all the time and that makes me get stuck and do dumb things just to move forward.  The link was helpful, got me thinking. It was sort of along the lines of what that editor (can't think of her name right now) at the November SCBWI conference said about revising.

I've read a lot of things about plotting, but nothing seems to stick in my brain or work when I'm actually writing a book. I remember Martine said she might write 800 pages to figure out where she needs to go and then have to throw them all away because they were figuring out pages and didn't do their job. I don't know what the answer is. Maybe just read a lot of Diana Wynne Jones and other great plotters and see what emerges in the aftermath.

Day 517

Did it:

Jamie
Elena
Kim--still brainstorming. It feels like I've taken about 20 false starts with this novel. But I'm learning so much with each one. I read an article I really liked about plotting a character driven book. You guys are good at characters, so maybe it won't help you as much as I hope it helps me. Here's the link in case you want to take a look. http://www.robyndehart.com/for-writers/how-to-plot-a-character-driven-book-in-3-easy-steps/

How do you start your novels? Do you just take a little idea and start writing? Plot everything out? How do you chose between different possibilities of who your character might be and which direction the plot could go?

Day 516

Did it:

Jamie
Elena

Meeting Scene

I don't have a kissing scene yet, just an awkward introduction scene....

And so to awkward introductions... they're part of Valentine's too, right?

I turned sideways and bent down slightly so I could use my shoulder to budge the beam from its place.  Luckily Meri had never seen a barn either, so my inability to open the door didn't appear to be as ridiculous as it should have.

At least not as ridiculous as it obviously appeared to the male voice which suddenly interrupted my efforts from behind.  “It looks like you’re having a hard go at that.  Can I help you?” it said.

I twisted in surprise, almost slipping on the wet grasses beneath my feet, and roughly shoved my sister behind me.  What was a stranger doing here?  And I knew it must be a stranger, for our home was made up almost completely of girls.  My heart knocked inside my ears.  Three feet to the side of us a tall black-haired young man stood where he’d obviously just turned the corner of the barn.  His hands twisted a rope in a figure-eight, wrapping it expertly from elbow to fist.  

How did he get here?  The house was only supposed to let visitors in the front door, and only after we’d checked their motives for good or evil in the old grandfather clock The Magician had prepared.  No stranger could gain entrance to the house, or its grounds beyond the front walkway, without our knowledge and permission.

After all, no matter how well liked my father might be, there were those who would find pleasure in harming an heir to the throne.  And there were most definitely those who would seek to destroy the kingdom by destroying one of us.  We were supposed to be protected here.  The magic was meant to make it so.

“I knew this house was broken,” I hissed beneath my breath, the angry words escaping despite our danger and their uselessness.  “Lilly should have listened.”

“I’m sorry?” said the young man, taking a few steps closer to where I stood with Meri.  “I didn’t hear you.  Do you need help with that door?  I think you’ve missed the latch on the beam.”

Hoping my confidence might make him retreat, I squared my shoulders and straightened from where I’d fallen against the barn.  “I’m perfectly fine, thank you,” I said.  “Although I would ask what you're doing here?  Visitors are expected to enter at the front of the house, you know.  This is private property.”

As I spoke, I felt Meri peek her head around my waist so she might see the boy more clearly.  I pushed her behind me again, my mind considering our options.  I could not let this stranger harm little Meri, no matter how he had managed to get on our land, or what his plans might be.  Perhaps I should tell her to run back to the house right now, before he came any closer.  But would she make it?  If only I knew how he got here, if only I knew what he wanted from us.  It would make a difference to know who had sent him.

“Oh, I see,” he said, and he laughed as though I had told him a joke.  “You think I’m one of those from the homes nearby.  Coming to beg help from the royal princesses.  But I’m not.  I’m not a visitor at all.  You needn’t worry I’ve gotten lost in your backyard.”

His laughter smacked against my scrabbling fear, and my back pulled straight.  Who did he think he was to laugh at me like that?  I took a step toward him, little Meri dragging behind me from my skirts.  My arms clenched at my sides.

“Excuse me?” I said.  “I think I would know if you belonged here or not,” I said.  “In fact, I must demand that you give me some explanation for…”

“I came with the barn,” the young man said, his eyes tight against my angry ones, his voice flat in its interruption.  “The animals couldn’t be expected to get along on their own, could they?”

My mouth fell open, and I blinked away the many crazy possibilities I'd considered only moments before.  Kidnapper.  Murderer.  Certainly not this – so tame and understandable. 

“With the barn?” I said.  “You came with the barn?”

“Yep.  With the barn.  You weren’t planning on mucking out the stalls yourself, were you?”

I shook my head, trying to make sense of what he said, hoping to regain some of my dignity.  Muck out the stalls?  Truly, I’d never considered the need for a stablehand when the barn had made its entrance.  Of course, having help was not completely out of place.  We did have a cook in the house.  And thank goodness, since none of us could make a soup worth its own salt - though we were trained to do so.  And we had a gardener for the grounds - he kept all our upscale neighbors from complaining when the house popped between their hedges.

But Joanie and Mr. Loftus had been around forever.  They didn’t appear all out of the sudden, complete with muscled arms full of ropes and obviously over-amused eyes that continued to challenge me in my silence.  They didn’t frighten me into almost falling all over myself and into the mud. 

And, besides, they were old, even older than my parents. 

I stood there, staring at our supposed new stablehand, and Meri leaned around me again.  This time I let her stay.  After all, he didn’t seem to be out to murder or kidnap us.  But I still didn’t know what to say.  The entire situation was completely out of my element.  I might live in a house that changed locations every two to three weeks, but the day-to-day passings of my life hardly ever changed.  The boy lifted his eyebrows at me.  As the quiet turned obviously awkward, Meri poked at me from behind.  I jumped and let out a small cough. 

“I’m sorry to be so rude,” I said, not quite sure if I really felt bad at all.  “It’s just that you frightened me.  The house doesn’t usually come with... well, with people when it moves.  I didn’t expect to find anyone here.”

“No, I’m sorry.”  Finished with his rope, the boy tipped it onto the ground beside us and reached out his hand.  “I should’ve thought of that, and not snuck up on you.  I’m Andrew Forster,” he said.  “Glad to make your acquantaince.”

I returned the handshake, hoping my own hand didn’t tremble too noticeably inside his.  He wore rough work gloves, but his grip was tight, and he paused a moment before releasing my hand.

“You look just like the pictures they showed me,” he said.  “I would have known you anywhere.”

“Pictures?” I said, wondering what exactly he saw when he looked at me.  I was nothing like Lilly or my other sisters, all of them belonged to my mother’s side of the family – charming and effervescant.  I was my father’s daughter – dark and tall, and ever so ordinary.  I kept my long brown hair knotted in a simple braid down my back, its length and thickness being the only things about it that pleased me.

“Sure,” Andrew shrugged.  “They showed me pictures and taught me your names and all before they sent me down.  To make it less confusing, I guess.  You’re Starling.  And the little one is Meribelle.”  He looked at me, his jaw suddenly squarer than I’d noticed before.  “Though I should call you Princess, I suppose.”

The way he said ‘princess’ made my neck begin to heat, as it often did before my temper got away with me.  I lowered my eyebrows.  “The whole point of us being here, Mr. Forster, is to avoid that type of thing,” I said.  “You may call me Starr as everyone else does.”

Meri scuffed her feet against the ground and leaned into my side.  The stablehand's hard stare leaned into mine.  But then, his jaw broke into a smirk of a grin.  He laughed again.

“And you can call me Andrew,” he said.  “As everyone else does.”

The Kissing Scene from the Firebird Story

Ok, so my kid was complaining about how he had a dry patch on his hand that wouldn't go away, no matter how much Aveeno he put on it.

"Maybe you need something stronger," I said. "Maybe you should try Vaseline."

"Gross," he said. "Mom, in that story of yours about the Firebird and the Queen of Vaseline, when he kisses her, she doesn't have Vaseline on her lips, does she?"

Um, said my brain. My baby is thinking ahead to the kissing part. He is almost fourteen, I know.  But I'm not sure I want him to think about the kissing part.

"Of course not," I said. "That would be disgusting."

I hadn't written that scene yet--because I'm working on Amarath, really hard, and not the Firebird story--but now that my kid was thinking about the kissing part of my story, I couldn't help thinking about it, too. I had to whip something out. And since it's February, month of love, and just because I love you guys so much, I'm going to share my kissing scene with you, from The Grey Wolf, The Firebird, and the Queen of Vaseline. And then I'm going to put Vaseline away and finish Amarath. Really. I am. Here's my offering to the love gods. And to you. Feel free to bash.

Oh, and just for some background info, Alex and his mom were in a car wreck that killed his mother and put Alex into a three-day coma. When he woke up, his mother was buried and the funeral was over and he hasn't spoken since.

The Kissing Scene

The bell rings and a swinging paper heart hits me in the face and sticks itself to my forehead as I walk out of Orchestra into the hall. Purple, red and pink hearts hang from all the florescent lights all down the halls of Timberland High School, Home of the Grizzlies, in honor of February. HEART ATTACK! banners announce all up and down the halls. TELL SOMEONE YOU LOVE THEM TODAY!

I brush away the paper heart. Blech. Doesn’t seem very grizzlyish—or even romantic, either—but who’s asking me? And I’m not saying anything about it, am I? It’s just somebody’s attempt to combat the general suckiness of this month, when the air looks like something you don’t want to step in, let alone breathe. They thought dangly purple hearts were the answer. Huh. Weird. And a dried-up green-painted twig of Christmas mistletoe strung from the florescent light in front of the office in B-wing.

There’s Eva. I lean against glass beside the front doors and wait for her to catch up.

“Give me a smooch, Queen of Vaseline. Please. I’m dying.” Marco is standing under the twig, sticking out his lips as she walks by.

Before Eva has a chance to say anything, he grabs her arm and pulls her into a dip-kiss. The hall erupts with cat-calls and whistles as she shoves Marco’s face away.

“Ugh! That’s so gross!”

He falls to his knees, mock-begging. “Please. I love you. Will you marry me, Vaseline?”

“Go away, Marco. Don’t be disgusting.”

Watching them makes me feel sort of sick. Tight. My neck is suddenly way too hot, and I sort of want to punch Marco in the face. Which is not the kind of thing I usually even sort of want to do. Usually I just want to disappear. Eva sees me watching and heads my way.

I don’t punch Marco in the face. I walk out the door and head for the parking lot.

“Wait, Alex! Would you wait for once?”  

#

“Can we go to your house today? Do you mind? My mother has a meeting with a bunch of realtors in our living room, and I really don’t want to go home right now.”

We pick our way through piles of crusty snow and sheet ice across the parking lot to where Koshai sits waiting for me by the stop-sign across the street. Eva watches my face as I rumple Koshai’s ears. And try not panic.

Don’t want her to meet Dmitry. Or Nick, though he won’t be home for hours, probably. Don’t know why I care. The thought just freaks me out. Totally illogical, I know. There’s no reason.

Maybe sort of a reason.

Maybe because Eva is my friend and a totally nice person and she deserves never to have to interact with my rude brothers.

But I shrug, like it’s no big deal.

“You sure, Alex? I could go to the library. Doesn’t matter.”

I shake my head. That would be stupid. I don’t want her to go to the library. We head up Ivy Street to my neighborhood.

“Why are your fists all clenched up like that?”

I give her a look and unclench my hands. Didn’t realize I was still thinking about stupid Marco and the stupid mistletoe.

“Oh, Marco. He’s just stupid.”

She read my mind. Again. How does she do that?

Those red curls go boing, boing as she walks up the street.

“You know, one of the things I like about you, Alex, is you never try to make-out with me. We can talk and hang out and eat xocoatl and butter cookies and do homework, and just be friends, and everything is comfortable and nice, and you never try anything stupid. Most guys, all they want to do is make-out and, well, you know. Not that I wouldn’t want to make out with you. That’s not what I meant. You smell like peppermint and honey, did you know that? Don’t ever go back-packing. The bears would totally eat you. You really should consider Vaseline for camping, for the bears. It has no scent, you know? I mean, I don’t even know if you think I’m pretty or anything. Because you never talk to me.”  Her voice is shrinking and she’s staring at me and those huge green eyes are suddenly looking a little freaked out. “Sometimes,” she says in a very small voice, “I really wish you would talk to me.”

Yeah, I don’t say anything. But my mind is spinning like my ex-firebird’s wheels going ninety miles an hour down the free-way.

Three guesses what I’m thinking about.

Definitely not homework.

 “Crap,” Eva says. “I have no filters on my mouth. What I mean is, you’re my friend. I don’t want to wreck the cookies and cocoa thing. Ugh. Just forget I said any of that. I really need to shut up right now. And wow. I really need my Vaseline. Uh! Where is it?” She’s digging around in her backpack like she’s dying of thirst and searching the desert for water.

Yeah, but it’s just Vaseline she’s looking for.

Not water.

She pulls it out, triumphant.

And I’m not too much of an imbecile, no matter what my brother Dmitry thinks, to recognize an opportune moment.

So I stop right there at the top of Ivy Lane. Take Eva’s Vaseline right out of her hand while she blinks at me with those brilliant green eyes. Tuck the Vaseline away into the pocket of her back-pack. And her boing-boing curls behind her ear. And kiss her on her totally Vaseline-free lips. Long and sweet as xocoatl and butter cookies. And not even greasy at all.

She smiles at me.

“You’re really cute, Alex. Huh, your eyes really are that blue, aren’t they? I thought it was contacts, maybe.”

I smile back. First time since…well, yeah.

“I was right. You smile like you’re bringing in the summer.”

#

When did the sun come out? I didn’t notice it before.

 #

Day 515

Did it:

Jamie

Elena

Kim

Day 514 & 515

Did it: Jamie

Elena
Kim

Day 513

Did it:

Jamie

Elena

Day 512

Did it:

Elena - had to go back and do more research- again- but it helped. And I did write.
Jamie - gave up, took a fifteen minute nap (sitting up in my chair), felt better, and actually did it.  Also, the day before I did brainstorming.  Usually Thursdays are ballet day for me, so it was good to get something done that day too.

Day 511

Did it:

Jamie
Kim

Day 510

Did it:

Jamie - I also want to write faster, Kim.  I'm fine with having to learn through the process.  If only the process didn't take me four years :)  Yay for taxes being out of your hair, Elena!

Day 509

Did it:

Jamie
Kim--More brainstorming. I'm hoping to try Laura Card's (Dene Low's) system that I just learned at a seminar she taught. She created the system using her knowledge of writing and neuroscience. It was pretty interesting. She was able to write a novel in 6 days by getting all of her research out of the way first, making a list of all the scenes she needed so she never had to stop and figure out what happened next, and using freewriting to get the chemicals in her brain flowing and prepped for work. I doubt I could make the 6 days work for me, since she did that without kids at home, but writing faster couldn't hurt.

Failed:

Elena - Had to get my ledger to the tax guy. Finished that, anyway. And at least I'm reporting. And I finished a book tonight, to recover from numbers. Feeling pretty good about all three.

Day 508

Did it:

Jamie
Kim--still brainstorming, but I made a lot of progress today.
Elena- a break-through writing day for me. I think I can even envision the end of this draft on some not-too-far-off day.

Day 507

Did it:

Jamie - for the last two weeks I've been stewing and starting new projects and stewing and reading books instead, but now I think I've found what I actually want to work on..... we'll see if I hate it tomorrow.

Elena - The stewing is necessary part of writing, isn't it? And the reading. Glad you figured things out. And, um, what is it, huh, huh?

Kim - I'm in the stewing and false starts phase, too. More stewing for me today : ) . Hopefully I'll follow you both with a project soon.

Day 506

Did it:

Elena--I keep forgetting to post. Did it all week, except for one day, when I paid bills and made boring phone-calls.

Day 505

Did it:

Jamie
Elena

Day 504

Did it:

Elena
Jamie

Day 503

Did it:

Jamie