Terescia’s thoughts and such on writing romantic fiction for publication.

All-righty then, I now know that some habits just don’t die. During my fix up of my blog a few days ago, I discovered this post about my 2006 New Year’s Resolutions.

Let me see…

Blog more? Nope.

Write new articles for my websites? Nope.

Write some fiction? Some, but not nearly what I would consider the expected production of a dedicated author.^{(See footnote #1)}

Devote more time to myself? Oh, that’s a good one. Didn’t happen. In fact, I think I finally gave up on all my hobbies, just so I could keep up with life.

Please don’t think I’m bitter about it all. Just know it.

:-)

Okay, for real now. I love my new home and my new office. And yes, it was worth putting off a year or so of my life for, because this was and is truly my dream home. I’m watching the sun come up from my desk, because I have windows that reach from floor to ceiling right in front of me. I see trees and hear birds and can think about peaceful things if that’s all I want to do. It’s my own blank slate when I want to visualize. I can stare at a blank wall and feel nothing but sadness, but I can see into my forest of trees and brambles and brush and  feel peace. Spending time alone with your thoughts is the most powerful writing tool an author can utilize.

footnote #1
I built a new home which my husband and I had started in January 2006. We moved in in March 2007. I had a hand in a great many things–apparently to my detriment. According to a hand specialist, I did not give myself carpal tunnel syndrome as my family physician believed, but I did in fact give myself a bad case of tennis elbow. In both arms. Fascinating, huh?

I painted my beautiful two-story home with its fabulous two-story foyer and all the attendant rooms a mini-large home can have. (Mini-large defined: smallish, but not small.) Three coats for every lovely wall.

I installed hardwood flooring in every room of my home with my husband, because we were too cheap budget-minded to hire someone else to come in and install the flooring.

Did I mention that when we decided to sell the home that we were living in at the time had an unfinished addition we had started almost a year previously? Yeah, should have mentioned that. I painted that one too. And installed some fake hardwood while I was at it.

A few weeks ago, I moved Thoughts and Such from one hosting account to another. In the transition period, I screwed something up, and since I’ve been so busy working I haven’t had time to fix it until tonight/this morning.

Not that my ideal use of my time is to fix a broken blog at three-thirty in the morning, but I couldn’t sleep. I do try not to waste valuable time trying to get back to sleep once I wake up, but even for me, three-thirty a.m. is a little early. However, these days, I’m very lucky to feel energetic at all. I have to take it as it comes….three-thirty a.m. or one p.m.

It is nice to be typing again. I realize I’m very close to the bottom of the heap when it comes to being a prolific blogger, but at least I do post at least once every six months or so. That has to stand for something. :-)

AHHH!  A moth just popped me right in the face. Apparently it thinks my computer screen is a  lovely warm fire.

Anyway, now that I’ve gotten this off my mind, I think I’ll head on back to bed. Maybe I can catch a few more winks of sleep before I have to get up bright and early this morning.

Have a great rest of the night!

It’s amazing how easy it’s becoming to find more time to write. Just this past week, I noticed that Amazon.com is now selling grocery items (Affiliate Link! :-). This wouldn’t be that big a deal, but as a member of Amazon Prime, I get free shipping on most of the items I buy through Amazon, and I live in a state with an enormously high sales tax rate (9.75%). I don’t pay taxes on my Amazon purchases.

Of course, if you’re not a member of Amazon Prime, and you’re not in a hurry to get your items, you can also take advantage of the Super Saver Shipping and still get your items delivered for free.
I love that I can now save myself two hours or more of time that would have been spent running to and from Wal-mart to pick up something my local grocery store doesn’t carry. My rural area has only one major grocery store and it never seems to have everything I need, and the things it does have are overpriced and undersized.

Writing time is precious these days, so the extra time is well worth the wait. As a relatively slow writer, two hours of time each week is several pages of whatever book I happen to be working on at the time. In a sense, those two hours each week could mean the difference between meeting my writing goals for the week or not (assuming I only go to the store once a week, which isn’t always true ;-).

On a personal note, I’m excited about the Amazon grocery sales because my sister must maintain a gluten-free diet. The stuff she has to buy is outrageously expensive as it is, but because of size of the town we live in, she has to drive over 50 miles just to buy a package of gluten-free potato flour.

Amazon sells lots of those specialty items and I can get them for her with my Amazon Prime account so she doesn’t have to pay for delivery. :-)

If you enjoy taking trips, you might want a chance to win one from eHarlequin.

Visit www.eHarlequin.com and enter the Your Family Garden Contest for your chance to win a family trip for four.

Just thought someone might be interested in entering! I was. :-)

Not about writing in any way, shape, or form, but fun nevertheless.

The Nerd, Geek, or Dork Test

For the record, I am: Joe Normal
47% Nerd, 30% Geek, 43% Dork

I had surgery yesterday, and although I’ve spent the day in bed, at some point, watching television and sleeping lost the ability to keep my mind off the pain of stitched up wounds.

I’ve discovered that writing has the ability to keep my mind off things much better than reading, so here I am, writing in my blog when I can barely keep my eyes from crossing because of the pain medication I took a little over an hour and a half ago.

I don’t think I would try to write fiction at the moment, because it would require too much concentration, but I do think that this isn’t the first time I’ve used writing as an effective distraction from unpleasantness.

As a girl, I had a habit of using books as a way to hide from the world. On the night I received the news that one of my favorite uncles had died, I remember almost nothing except holding the phone and overhearing the news as it was delivered to my mom and then returning to my bed to cry. That night I finished reading a historical romance novel instead of sleeping.

After I started writing, it became my avoidance method of choice. I’ve written lots of pages of my stories while trying not to think of certain somethings.

I doubt I’m the only person who has found writing to be just the right kind of distraction.

My husband and parents didn’t tell me about my uncle this time until after I’d come out of surgery and was on my way home. Neither wanted me to be thinking about death as I went in, and I can see why they did it, but I don’t think it was necessary.

My uncle died during the night on Tuesday, a few hours before I had my surgery.

I hope that my aunt understands how badly I wish I could be there for her right now, instead of in my bed.

And if any one of you have found writing to be a solace or an effective distraction during trying times, be sure to share. Thanks.

I try not to veer too far from writing in my blog posts, but sometimes you just have to.

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