A Light Through the Darkness

location: Living Room

mood: pleased

music: Red Sox vs. Tampa

I realized it’s been a while since you guys had a snippet of the new stuff.  So here’s a bit of the Pendragon Casefiles #1, which is the ghost story novella I’m writing.  Mac and Javy are two police detectives, and the others – well, they’ll introduce themselves.

Enjoy!

“What is going on?” Mac asked, looking at the odd van parked in the Reynolds’ driveway, where he was accustomed to seeing Carmen’s little blue Toyota. The house was dark, except for the kitchen – not really surprising, considering it was about nine-thirty at night, but something felt…off.

They had been driving by to tell her that they were still looking at leads. It wasn’t what she wanted to hear, and Mac knew that, but he couldn’t just call. The poor woman deserved better, he thought.

“Maybe she’s watching TV in the kitchen,” Javy said, breaking into his thoughts.

Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.

That’s right.  In 2013 so far, I have written over 40,000 words.

That’s amazing.  That’s almost a NaNo novel.  It might be more than I wrote in total last year.  And it’s only halfway through May.  I’m seriously impressed.

And the big thing is that I’m doing it steadily, a little at a time.  I think I wrote about the Magic Spreadsheet before, but that’s what I’ve been using to keep my chain going.  I’m level 2 at the moment, which means I need to write a minimum of 300 words a day.  I’m averaging about 350 words a day (which will be good when I level up!), and it’s a good daily habit.  I can’t recommend it enough.  Of course, once I start editing, that will be a whole different thing.

Oh, and more news!  I have a plot idea for the next Advent Story (thank you, Dad!).  So there WILL be an Advent Story this year, and yes, Schrodinger will be back.  Maybe this year, I’ll even get things together enough to offer the first two Advent Stories as books.  Anything is possible!

Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.

I’ve been writing again.  In fact, my new streak is at 8 days and counting.  It feels good to write again, like I’ve found the right thing that I need to be doing.

I used to wish I was one of those authors who could have two or more projects going at once, because they always seemed to be getting stuff done.  However, as part of learning my own process, I’m realizing that I’m not built that way.  I have two current stories going, and I’m going to be putting one aside so I can concentrate on the other one.  I can’t switch back and forth from different worlds – not when I’m writing, at least.  So I’ll choose one (Pendragon, actually) and then, once that draft is done, I’ll switch back to Midsummerland.

I’m okay with this.  Yes, it takes me longer to write and finish things.  But that’s okay.  It’s my process, and I’m owning it.  I have other things I can work on as well (like the page proofs for Last Rites), and the sooner I finish Pendragon, the sooner I can start shopping it around.

And that’s a good thing.

Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.

It rained today, but Argus and I braved the rain with Mom and Dad to hit the Exeter Farmer’s Market to get the first fruits (well, okay, veggies) of the season.  I love farmer’s markets – it seems more expensive, but the food is so fresh, so local, and so good.

We came home with a bounty: fresh scallions and chives, fresh Swiss Chard (can you say frittata for breakfast?  Oh yes, you can), liver (for Argus, he loves it), fresh red lettuce, and some prepared food: Hungarian Potato and Pork Soup, and Stuffed Cabbages.  And a bottle of our favorite local wine. We also got plants – I’m going to do a giant herb pot, so I bought dill, pineapple sage, basil, rosemary, thyme and garlic chives.  Dad has already given me mountain mint and lemon balm, so that’s going in there too.  I think I have a big enough pot – if not, time to go to Lowe’s and get one!

Part of my return to health is eating fresh, local food.  An herb pot of my own (so I stop stealing from my landlady) will help me with that.  And think of the waters I can make too!

Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.

I’ve seen the last one today, and gotten the okay for my treatment plan.  Now, it’s just a matter of time, and healing.

Healing in more than just sleeping and eating right.  Healing in accepting that I can’t do everything.  That I’m not 22 years old and invincible.  That I can live with no regrets and move forward.

I’ve started writing again.  In the last three days, I’ve written at least 300 words a day on the Pendragon Casefiles #1.  I don’t like where Midsummerland is starting yet – I have the story, but it feels wrong where I started, so I’m letting that lie right now.  Pendragon is where my muse is.

And no, I really don’t care that ghost stories are hard to sell.  That’s part of the new “no regrets” philosophy.  I like ghost stories, and that’s what I’m going to write.

More later.  Now, it’s time for bed.

Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.

I’ve been out of the hospital for one week today, and in that time, I’ve discovered several things about myself:

1. I am not a good patient.  Patient comes from “patience” and I have none.  Less than none.  I want to be better and back to work yesterday.

2. I have no stamina.  At all.  I went out yesterday to lunch with my hubby and a good friend, then did a little bit of grocery shopping, then stitched at the studio for about 5 hours.  Handstitching.  Not really rigorous.  And yet, I slept until 11:30 am this morning.  And I’m exhausted.  So much for phone calls today.  I’ll send some emails, but I think that might be it.

Right now, I’m not planning on returning to work even part time until at least the 20th, and that might change as I see how much I can handle.  I feel bad, because I know how busy we are, but I just can’t do it right now.  I’m not 22 years old, and I don’t bounce back from the stress the way I did.  So today, rather than beating myself up for sleeping until 11:30, I’m going to take it easy, find my lounge chair and stitch outside later.  I’m going to write, but the rest of my “to-do” list (yes, I made one last night) might get sloughed off to Thursday.

Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.

For those who may not have heard, I went into the hospital Friday night and stayed there until Tuesday night.  I have Crohn’s Disease, and although most of the time I have it very well controlled, even I can get flares.  And this was a major one.

I haven’t had a flare this bad since before I was married (nearly 15 years ago, in fact).  Most of my friends tend to forget I have this disease, because I try not to make a big deal about it (it’s my problem, after all, not anyone else’s) and because for the most part, it’s not a problem.  I know what I can and can’t eat (most of the time).  I know I need to take care of myself.

However, I got complacent.  I forgot I was sick, and worse, I forgot that stress just makes Crohn’s worse.  It’s been a rough spring – work is busy, life is busy, and I’m busy.  I like being busy, for the most part.  But it got to the point where I overwhelmed myself, and the only way my body could stop me was by putting me in enough pain that I had to drag myself to the emergency room.

I was diagnosed with a raging UTI, a fibroid, a budding fistula, and a swollen bowel.  In addition, I hadn’t eaten more than 500 calories total per day in the last week (I’m JUST now getting to actually eating real food again), and I was dehydrated.  This is just from not taking care of myself.  The GI doctor I spoke to in the hospital said if I hadn’t come in (and I had to be pushed by my manager to do so), I was probably about 2 days away from blowing a hole in my small bowel.   That’s a recovery time of 4-6 MONTHS (if I’m lucky).

So I’m recovering.  Work has been fabulous, and I’m applying for Short Term Disability.  I’m going to take this time to relax, to write a bit, to catch my breath and let my body heal.  And hope that this time, the lessons don’t begin to fade after time.

Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.

I’m trying, I really am.  I need to get myself on a schedule again, where I settle in to write before work, so it’s done.  I also need to start working on more blog posts.  I just feel like I don’t know quite what to say, so blogging feels – I dunno.  Self-aggrandizing.  Ah well, I’ll get over it.

So, what’s been going on?  I’m still writing.  My streak ended at 54 days – I’m starting a new streak today after missing yesterday due to a ghost investigation.  It was a FASCINATING investigation, and I can’t wait to work on my recorder tomorrow.  I have something like 7 hours to listen to.

Writing news – I have the interior proofs of Last Rites, which are due by the end of the month.  I’m also working on the rough draft of Midsummerland, which I’m planning on having the rough done of by June 1, so I can revise it and get it sent on the agent hunt by September.  I’m still plugging away on Pendragon Casefiles 1 too, so don’t worry.  Ghost hunters will be out by the end of the year!

More later.  I just wanted to make sure that folks knew I wasn’t dead.  And that I’ll be doing more blogging soon.  I promise.

Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.

Yesterday was the day I ran my first solo 5k.  I did run about half of it – walked the other half, but that is fine.  My time was  1.05.56 – better than the last race (I think we were at 1.30 or something), and I was able to run across the finish line.  More importantly, I was able to walk afterwards and wasn’t too sore.  That happened later in the day, when my hips decided that they were done and locked up.  However, this morning, I’m feeling pretty good.

Taking today as a rest day – I have some writing/sewing to do.  And I’m going to take it easy on the hips/knees, so I can run tomorrow at the gym.  I’m already looking at what I need to work on for my next race in the fall.  I plan to run the Todd’s Trot again next year, and the goal will be to run it all in under 1 hr.

Today’s to-do list:

- Bake something.  Not sure what yet.  But something.

- Write at least 2k on Midsummerland’s outline (the best would be to finish the plot summary)

- Finish the line edit for Client #1 and get that back to them

- Fix 1 pair of pants for a friend

- Make meal plan for the week.

- Cut coupons.

I’m also going to make some time to play WoW today.  But right now, I have things to do.

Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.

It’s my birthday today.  Today is the last time I will celebrate a birthday in my 30s – next year is the big 4-0.  I was talking to my new doctor on Thursday and you know, I don’t FEEL like I’m staring 40 in the face.  I don’t even feel 30.  I look at myself, and I don’t always recognize the person staring back at me, because to me, I’m still just fresh out of college.  Or worse, still IN college.  I feel like I should know things that I don’t.  I feel that I’m still learning.

And maybe that’s a good thing.  Maybe that’s why, in spite of a truly horrific weekend eating-wise, I’m still looking forward to my 5k race next Saturday.  I have yet to run 5k outside.  This will probably be my first time.  I haven’t looked at the course since, um, October, when I signed up for it.  But I’m still going to do it.

Happy Birthday to me.

Originally published at The words of Valerie Griswold-Ford. You can comment here or there.