The weather turned freakishly cool again today.  Thank goodness, we get to put off summer for another day!  I actually needed a SWEATER when we went walking to the park.

At the park I saw a beautiful snowy egret in full breeding plumage, and a brown thrasher that was quite bold, possibly defending a nest territory.  That's only the second brown thrasher I've ever seen and certainly the best look I've ever gotten.  They are beautiful birds, big with lots of pretty speckles on their tummies.

Rob called his mother (for Mother's Day) and it sounded like she was having a nice celebration.  Her daughter and a couple of grandchildren and a cousin were all visiting, and they were planning to eat a lavish brunch.  I talked to Rob's sister Jane; she has become a dance addict and goes dancing three or four times a week.

Later I made spaghetti, and a big salad with fresh greens from my garden.  I've pretty well ravaged the garden, though; I've not done a good job of planting more lettuce every couple of weeks so that it matures at different times.  Some that I did plant later is not growing very well.  But I have a banana pepper that is just about the size of a banana.  Can't wait to harvest it and see how it tastes!

Anyway, a nice, quiet day, just exactly right.

Thanks for stopping by,

Kara

I usually take weekends off from writing, which still makes me feel vaguely guilty.  Like, if I really want to meet my goals, I should be obsessive and write during every free minute and never relax, yada yada yada.  It's ridiculous.  Having a life out of balance seldom works, except in the very short term.

We went to breakfast at Norma's, then walked to Bishop Arts to see the Urban Bazaar craft fair.  (Remember, if you want to read my craft blog, visit http://memo-pause.blogspot.com.)  It got kind of hot and muggy today, then thunder (but no rain, lucky for the crafters!).  And if you want to read my Harlequin American Authors blog, it's at http://harauthors.blogspot.com.  Sunday May 11 is my day to blog.

But here was the most bizarre part of my day.  When we were sitting outside on the deck having lunch, a big ol' raccoon strolled into our back yard.  I kept staring, thinking, No, that HAS to be a cat!  But it really was a raccoon.  He froze when he saw us, then Rob shouted at it and it retreated to behind the shed.  I don't object to raccoons per se (although my neighbor Graciela HATES them because they get into her screened porch and eat the bird seed and cat food, and they ate all her koi fish).  But when I see them tootling around in the daytime, well, that makes me nervous.  I read somewhere recently that raccoons have adapted so well to city life that we actually have a much higher concentration of them in the city than in uninhabited areas.  He's only the second one I've seen since I moved here ten years ago.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Kara

I realized today I can't move forward because I don't have a grasp on the sequence of events anymore.  So today I'm reading through and doing another scene by scene list, so I'll have a condensed version of the time line, the sequence of events, whose point of view each scene is in, etc.  It's a painful and tedious process, and this is at least the third time I've done it.  But it's better than thrashinga round like I've been doing.  Already I've spotted some huge problems with the time line.

Tonight I went to my craft circle.  Quite a change of pace!  I could just string beads brainlessly, drink beer and listen to good music.  The music is nice.  Just like with the art, I realized I've been stifling a part of myself.  I've focused so single-mindedly on the writing that I forgot that I LOVE music.  Tonight I heard some old Stevie Wonder, Al Green, Beatles, and some latin jazz and blues.  Very nice.

Have a great weekend,

Kara

I attended my bi-weekly "kick-in-the-butt" meeting with friends Becky and Martie.  I just couldn't get by without the motivation I get from these meetings.  I've been a little disorganized (okay, a lot) and not getting things done.  I'm busy all the time, no procrastinating or wasting time, just not managing my time well.  You know, not working on those "A" priority items.

But I go through phases like this.  I'll do better.

I did finally go back to my yoga class.  I think the shoulder is healed adequately that I can safely do that.  I am going to be in agony tomorrow morning, though.  That woman knows how to work muscles I didn't even know I had.  We can be standing perfectly still, yet beads of sweat are popping out on my head with the exertion of holding everything just so!

No work on the book today.  Nada.  But I hope tomorrow will be a good writing day.

All best,

Kara

Why can't I just write a book right the first time?

I'm going through and adding false leads and red herrings, but the problem I'm running into is, EVERY scene has to be revised or the reader will easily know that my "false suspect" is false.  It would almost have been easier to start over and write this book from the ground up.  But, no, I got through--what, 55 pages today?  Of course I still have to go back and insert stuff, but maybe once I get the structure nailed down, filling in the scenes correctly won't be so horrible.

You'd think all the years I've been writing I would have encountered this sort of problem, but this is all new to me.  It's overwhelming, kinda fun and scary and horrible all at the same time.  Definitely a challenge.

I walked to the Post office and the dollar store today to mail off a M-P order and buy birdseed, respectively.  Oh, and I've been receiving interesting things in the mail lately--like royalty checks!  Thank God for UNDER DEEPEST COVER, because it's still paying out.  And some of my very old Desires, like from the early '90s, are still paying out.  Royalties are like "found money" because I never count on them.  You just can't, because sometimes they're just nonexistant.  I may still have a check coming from my agent.  Or not.

I also received my Rita scores, and I found it interestig that one of the score sheets was for A SECOND CHANCE, which was supposedly disqualified, yet I haven't received a scoresheet for one of the other books.  I wonder which book was actually judged?  My books scored pretty low this year.  I only had one in the top 25%, AN HONORABLE MAN.  Ah, well.

Thanks for visiting,

Kara

This revision is less like revision and more like writing a whole new book.  I keep thinking that when I get over this little rough spot, I'll make faster progress.  But the rought spot has lasted a VERY long time.

Rob and I walked to the library, post office and grocery store today.  This was after our big storm, when it rained buckets--again!  No hail or high winds this time, though, so it didn't bother me a bit.  We didn't even lose our power.  My librarian scolded me because I didn't have any books on reserve.  She loves Rob and me because we check out so many books, and they get funding based on usage.  Rob is really the one who checks out so many books; I'll have to do better.

I mailed off my contest prize today (from my website).  Rob was mailing off our taxes to our California CPA.  (For reasons unclear to me, we have to file a CA tax return.)

For dinner I made pizza.  Pizza is one of the great loves of my life, but I can't eat it (or I shouldn't) because it is so salty and I'm supposed to be on a low-salt diet.  But when I make it at home, I can use no-salt-added tomatoes and tomato paste.  I have a hard time finding the crust-in-a-can at my neighborhood stores, though, and I am too lazy to make dough from scratch.  Anyway, tonight's pizza was with cheddar and parmesan cheese, onions and garlic, and fresh basil and oregano from the garden.  It was pretty darn good.

Thanks for reading,

Kara

I worked on my serial killer book for hours on end today, but I ended up with about the same number of pages I started with, and only thirty pages further along than when I started.  I rearranged, threw out scenes, wrote new scenes, revised and polished, then did it all again.  This is the most frustrating revision I've ever done.

It was a birdy day in the neighborhood.  Even Rob hungout on the deck with me after breakfast because there were so many birds flying back and forth, stopping at the feeder, fighting and mating and feeding babies.  The little downy woodpeckers were especially entertaining.  A male was feeding a female, but I wasn't a hundred percent sure whether this was a mating thing, or the female was a baby.  But it seems early to have such a big baby.

On the other hand, I did see a blue jay feeding its half-grown baby, so I suppose some baby birds are fledging now.

I thought I heard a Swainson's Thrush, but since there was a very accomplished mockingbird singing and singing, it might have been him.  The Swainson's Thrush graced us with his presence for a couple of weeks last year on his way north.  He has a very distinctive and pretty song.

Tonight was Date Night, but we were both kind of tired so we just walked around the corner to the Mexican restaurant, which never has any customers.  I imagine they won't be there too long.  Their food is only okay, I think, not fantastic (though I love the fresh cilantro in the hot sauce).

Thanks for visiting,

Kara

Today my goal was to create a new cover for one of Rob's e-books on www.BooksForABuck.com.  It shouldn't have taken long.  But I just couldn't find the images I wanted.  I get most of my art from iStockphoto.com, and they have a lot to choose from.  But the main character of this book is, well, a god.  He's a minor, forgotten god from ancient times, but still ... most ordinary male models do not look like gods.

In the end I found a pretty cute guy who looked kind of dark and scary, which was sorta-kinda close.  Anyway, it took me all freakin' day.  Rob does pay me to do his covers but this time my hourly rate was pretty miserable and my back is killing me!

Anyway, here is the cover.  The book isn't published yet but it will be some time soon.

Cheers,

Kara

Some contrast, huh?  Friday I went to my craft circle, where I was all artistic and drinking apricot beer (it's good, really!) and listening to strange music.  Here's a picture from last night--it's Mandy, who is something of a beading expert, confering with Larry, our host and a stained glass wizard.  We're all teaching each other about our crafts--it's so fun!

Saturday (today) was a whole different thing.  I went to the mystery writers meeting and listened to a presentation about GUNS!  This is really all very interesting to me as a crime/mystery/suspense writer.  The speaker, Bruce Culver, is really extremely knowledgable.  And while I fall more on the side of gun control and he's more of a right-to-bear-arms proponent, I have to admit his reasoning is quite sound and he did bring up some things I'd never heard before.

Anyway, interesting morning.

I spent the afternoon working on a conference program for "Hardboiled Heroes and Cozy Cats," which is a hideously named Mystery Writers of America Southwest conference.  I haven't done this kind of graphic arts work in many, m any years, and it brought back some memories--some pleasant, some not so much!  But I wish I'd had some of the software I have now, back in the day.  Life would have been much easier.

Take care,

Kara

With gas prices the way they are, my weekly trek into the northern hinterlands has gotten pretty expensive.  So I decided I'm going to ride the train whenever I can, which of course means conning someone into picking me up at the station, or riding my bike.

Today I walked, as the restaurant where my critique group met for lunch was only a couple of blocks from the station.  It worked out really well (despite the fact I took the wrong train and got there way too early).  I used my extra time well.  I went to the hobby shop next door to the restaurant and found some really cool stuff.

I found a Resurrection Plant!  At least, that was what they called it back when I was a little girl, and I bought one at Big Bend National Park.  It's also called a Lazarus plant, and now some genius is calling it a "dinosaur plant."  But it cost me about $8, and it comes out of the box this dried brown clump that doesn't look in the least alive.    But you put it in water, and very shortly it starts to unfurl and turn a beautiful green.  This is what it looks like after only a few hours in water.  By tomorrow afternoon it will all be bright green, and it will stay that way with only water.  Then after a few days or weeks, you take it out of the water, and it turns brown and curls up and looks quite dead again.

The cool thing is ... it can live without water for 55 years.  I remember being fascinated with the ones we bought on vacation when I was a kid.  Every once in a while, my mom would run across them stuck in the back of a cabinet, forgotten for years.  We would take them out and "resurrect" them for a few days, then dry them out again and stick them in the back of the cabinet.

I've been looking for one for years.  (I probably could have ordered one online--I never think to look, sometimes.)

I visited my friend Judy in the hospital with a broken arm.  She is doing much better and I hope will get to come home soon.  So, anyway, I did all this riding the train, and I got some reading done and avoided rush hour traffic.

Thanks for visiting,

Kara

P.S. I updated my website www.karalennox.com today.