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The day has come. I have surgery, a vitrectomy, this afternoon. To say I’m not looking forward to it is an understatement. I have a few fears. One that the surgery won’t happen. Two that I will lose the plot while having it. (Shit scared might cover it) I’ll be awake you see (Holy moley!). That it won’t work and I’ll have to have another surgery and you know loss of vision. That I’ll have to have a cataract surgery in about a year, if the predicted rapid growth of cataract after surgery happens. That I might have other eye issues in future or with the other eye. The macular hole was totally unexpected. I get checked annually for macular degeneration and glaucoma.
I will be missing the RWA in Hobart! I will have EMO (experiencing missing out) as Matthew told me as FOMO is fear of missing out and I’ll be definitely missing out.
I only got half of my conference fee back and I was lucky to get that. The committee’s advice is to take out travel insurance. A bit late for me though. However, in future I will consider it as I usually don’t take out insurance when I travel domestically. Recall how Matthew and I got COVID when we were heading to the Terror Australis Writing Retreat? That was a lot of bucks and luckily we were able to stay and do the workshops via phone. Not ideal but the best outcome in the circumstances.
A win though for me. I have been able to massage my draft of The Prudential Light into something beta readers can wade through. I sent that off to four of them so it will be interesting to see the feedback. My take on it that I will need to really hone the structure down. I thought I had been introduced to a good editor but they did not answer my email about a quote and timing and I’m afraid a non-responsive editor is a horror story I don’t need. I even texted them and they said I’m in holiday mode will respond tomorrow and they didn’t. Oh well. Time to look for another. Not that I have issues with editors I use at the moment, but as this is a complicated structure for me and has memoir elements I thought I needed to find a specialist and someone who can suggest things, rather than a copy edit, if you get my drift. In the worse case scenario I can do it myself. I did study editing and considered hiring myself out but that’s a lot of creative energy that I can use for my own work.
Anyhow, time to go write a newsletter and send that out.
Yesterday, I did zero work on my current WIP, The Prudential Light. I did not have the excuse of the previous couple of days of recovering from my shingles vaccination, which really did knock me about. I did procrastawriting.
I wrote and sent a newsletter, and prior to that I signed up to Benventi for preorders for Books and Beyond 28 September. That took time. Here is a link to that preorder form. This is evidence and also if you are in the Central Coast and want to check out the event, please do. I’d love to say hi. It’s a first time, small writer event, which I think is free for the public.
I’ll be at the Geekmarkets on the CSFG table in the morning of 19 July with some of my books on offer. Also, free and fun.
I’ve signed up to Gamacon 6 September and I will have another appearance in August to announce soon.
Early October, it’s Conflux in Canberra, where I’ll have a table too. Not sure if I’ll make it onto any panels yet. That’s 3-5 October over the long weekend. A great SF con and a real experience if you have never been. I am hoping to launch The Prudential Light there but if so I need to get cracking.
I have other events later in the year as well but that’s the next few.
I have ordered book covers for The Prudential Light and Edward Huntington Esquire: Gentleman Magician so keep your eye out for those. I’m super excited about those.
While I have mucked about for two days, I actually did do some work this morning on The Prudential Light. It requires some additional structure so I had to write some new bits and one section needs a bit of research. The word count is now 53,000 word and I am not sure if this will reach 70,000 by the time I’m done.
I am in the ‘this is a mess, everyone will hate it, I can’t make it good’ stage. Or trending that way. I am still having fun with Jemima and Aunt Prudence.
Now as you can see I am writing a blog post. Is this procrastawriting? Or a heavy dose of writerly admin? I find it a bit of a diversion and I like blogging. Often I think of things I want to blog about and then don’t get around to it and then forget.
Have I told you I have started a TikTok? I am very much a Noob and the platform has amazing potential but being time poor I don’t have time to explore it and I’m also distracted by all those TikToks. My lastest talk about how hard I find revision. I love drafting novels. The hard work is shaping them into something you can read. Hence, my angst over is it good enough, can I make it better and so on.
I also owe the blog some posts from China, which I will get to.
Now it is time to get another cuppa.
PS my daughter just made me tea, put the heater on, brought me slippers, my hoodie and a cookie. I’m so spoilt.
I have been here three weeks and one day. Wow, time has flown. And on Saturday we fly out to Beijing for 12 days in China. What I thought might be a short side trip has become the big China trip and I feel the excitement building.
I made a few goals for my time in Singapore. Pool walking every morning. I have done this, sometimes with more enthusiasm and a few days with less. I am sleeping a bit longer than those initial days where I woke up at 5am. However, I can’t seem to sleep in past 7.30am. But I am reaching sleep goals according to my Apple watch. I’ve also road tested these two last days taking my Apple watch into the pool. It is a much better way of keeping track than lap counting. When I count laps I lose count because I starting thinking about Aunt Prudence.
My other goal was writing 30,000 words of the novella The Prudential Light, which is Aunt Prudence’s memoir in the Cry Havoc series. Well I am at 44,000 words so I should at least make 45,000 words today but you know there’s a lot going on in this story and it may be a novel after all. I blame the condo’s swimming pool for that because many of my ideas came to me while pool walking and losing track of how many laps I did. The reason I think this is that I have written so many scenes and I think the plot might come together at 50,000 words but all the restructuring, back filling skipped scenes etc is going to bring it up in word count. Anyway, I’m very happy about that.
Next steps is to commission a cover and also a cover for the next installment, Edward Huntington Esquire, Gentleman Magician. This will cover the period of Edward finding out he was a magician and his meeting with Dr Heaton and Fulton. I probably have another story in the series, which would be a novella (god I hope so!) about Wilbur Hardcastle and Jemima’s mother. It will be a love story but not a romance because we all know that Jemima’s mother died young.
Then I might start on my spin off series.
Meanwhile in Singapore I have caught up with my mate Dev and we have hung out. Yesterday, we had a marathon Orchard Road experience yesterday from 12pm to about 7pm, including most importantly a trip to Kinokuniya. We started at Pizza Express which is fine dining in Singapore. Then we had tea and something naughty in Paul’s, which is outside Kinokuniya and then later I had a kind of Hawker Centre experience in the Food Republic, which is sort of the same thing except in a mall and airconditioned. I had some fried prawn noodles and oyster omelette. I’m not keen on oysters, I can eat them, but I really liked the egg part, which was crispy and tasty. Dev tells me it is eggs with water and tapioca starch.
Me and Dev and Kinokuniya
Lychee Fanta and Cream Soda flavoured Fanta. They were a $1 each and interesting.
To get back on the research track on Monday we went to the National Museum of Singapore to see their Once Upon a Tide special exhibition, about the history of Singapore. Well worth the visit. We also did a quick walk through of the permanent exhibition on level one. Lucky I did because I found out Rickshaws were invented in Japan later than I thought and where popular from 1880s until 1930s.
Below is an early map of Singapore in the period that I’m interested in.
I also got some good photos of things that will help in my story of Aunt Prudence and that’s the main focus of my visit to the museum.
I have really enjoyed hanging out with my son and daughter-in-law. On Tuesday we went to the island of Sentosa to check it out. We mostly did things like the free shuttle bus to check out the beaches and we did a skylift up and back to look around and at at the Shake Shack. We don’t have Shake Shack in Australia. The chips are good but this time they weren’t as hot as they should have been. The Shake Shack in Gardens By the Bay were so good! The cheese burger I had was real and yummy.
On the skyride
Today is going to be an at home day. I need to do some writer admin, hang out my washing so I can pack for the trip and write. I really need to do something with my hair but that remains to be seen if I have the energy. I thought a pink rinse would go down well in China, except I didn’t bring any with me so my hair is very blonde and curly. However, apparently Beijing will be hot but not as humid so my hair could remain straight.
My Kinokuniya purchases. Thea Guanzon is from the Philippines and Sue Lynn Tan is Chinese from Hong Kong.
Above is the emotionally needy Siumoguai who had snuck into my room and perched next to my swimmers.
It may seem kind of weird celebrating 65 years on the planet. The age of 65 is no longer a huge milestone. Before the dark days, lol, retirement in Australia for women was 60 years and then it became 65 and now it is 67 so why am I celebrating? Firstly, I didn’t get to celebrate with my friends on my 60th, which I think is a milestone. That was due to the pandemic. I also wanted to celebrate getting my Phd but that timing did not align to either my 60th or my 65th. Anyway, I think 65 is a milestone and I’m very happy to be here.
I recall that when I was discussing knee replacements, I was told to wait until I was 65 and I said what if I don’t make it to 65? I mean there’s cancer, accidents, decreptitude and so on. However, I am here and I feel good. I don’t take feeling good for granted. Some days I don’t feel great physically and even mentally. If I do too much of the wrong thing, I hurt. These old bones but mostly just oesteoarthritis, which the first signs appeared in my early 40s. I inherited it, just like my migraines. So when I feel good I need to do stuff, you know, write, walk, enjoy the day, see friends and family.
I guess now I’m just thinking about things. Friends and family that have passed. Events that shaped me or even those that I don’t remember all the time that come back out of the blue. The things I forget and feel so bad about. I think back and my memory could be pretty bad even in my forties. I think a lot had to do with stress and paying attention. I still only half listen some of the time. Of course my greatest fear is dementia. Both my parents had dementia but I want to have all my marbles if I can.
Although not officially diagnosed, it is quite clear I have ADHD in many ways. I used to be really good at organising but I’m not so sure I have all it takes these days. To be really efficient, you need energy and at 65 reliance on energy isn’t so easy. I also think my strategies don’t work as well as they used to. I am thinking of doing less craft but I haven’t quite managed that yet or actually do a lot of craft. My craft room is a blackhole in which no light can escape.
I don’t know why I can’t get as much done. During lockdown there seemed to be so much time.
I think about life now and how different and complex life is for kids now. I didn’t really start using a computer at home until 2000 and even then it was my then partner’s. I couldn’t afford one before then. Social media was non-existent. We used email chains and chat rooms. Compared to my childhood, kids don’t have time to themselves, time to think and contemplate, it’s just go, go, go. Learn this, process that, news here, social media bombardments.
Personally I have a panic attack if I haven’t got my phone and if I am participating in some sort of event, like the movies or a play or my 65th birthday party, and I don’t touch my phone for hours, it is a feat of monumental proportions.
I didn’t have a television until I was four years old and even then there was limited programming. We didn’t have streaming. We had vinyl records that got played on the stereogram, which was a piece of furniture that included a TV. TV was black and white and we all sat around as a family and watched the same things. It broke down often. Luckily my dad liked SF because we got Lost in Space, Disney on Sundays and Saturdays were the only early morning cartoons etc, Astro Boy, Prince Planet and live action Phantom Agents and Samurai. A lot of our TV came from Japan and the USA. Godzilla! Mr Squiggle was Australian and other programs began to emerge. There were often news items and articles about how TV was destroying the kids. I think my dad called me square eyes. However, my thoughts were that I was learning stuff and that had to be good.
We played outside. Actually not much choice as children were seen and not heard and we were often locked out. My mother used to leave us alone, if my aunts could be believed and I don’t doubt them. I remember being locked in and I was like 3-4 years old. How things change. It was probably not legal then either. Anyway, we kept occupied. I used to go walkabout all the time. The cops brought me home many times when I was just 3 or 4. Later, I just went visiting people and places. The only time I got in trouble was because I borrowed a friends tricycle. He gave it to me but his parent did not approve and complained. I think I got a hiding. You know I’m glad hidings and thrashings are not the done thing these days. I recall being beaten once, being thrown around and thinking I was going to die. Another time I was hit with the belt buckle and I had imprints and bruises up my thigh. The nuns said I must have been very naughty!
At my birthday party, I talked about my elder brother and sister. I don’t remember Ian too much as he was often trying to get away from me. I have memories of following him and him getting away. He was often lumbered with us younger ones to take to the movies. I was too, which is weird because I was too young to look after them and I recall being thrown out of Kogarah cinema because my younger brothers ran around. My sister though I survived. Don’t get me wrong we are close these days but when we were young we did some risky stuff. She used to take me down into the storm water drains but I baulked at the dark tunnels and fretted when she didn’t come back. One day she and her friend climbed out and left me behind. Then they said the storm water gates were opening and I’d drown. I had to run over to Rockdale where the sides of the drains sloped and I could run out. Once she took me up to the train lines and got me to put my head on the tracks so I could hear the trains coming, you know like in the western movies. However, I was a survivor and got the hell out of there as it was a suburban line and the trains were frequent. She was teaching me to spit and one day I spat on her on the way home from school. She was going to get me so I ran and ran and ran onto the road and was hit by a car. She must have freaked because she saw my small body fly up and then down. I was seven years old. Obviously I survived. Why I survived I have no idea. Perhaps I am a cat in another life.
When I was young I never thought about being old. I mean you’re too busy living in the now I think to contemplate that. However, the things we do influence how we grow old. A while back I met an 89 year old lady who was so energetic and had done so much she inspired me. I realised if I wanted to be a spritely old lady I needed to work on that now, diet and exercise and look after my health. If you starve yourself when you are young you get shit like heart problems, oesteoporosis and so on. Also, I don’t think I understood a lot about myself when I was young but do now. Also, I was pretty when I was young and I didn’t even know that or think that. Now I see it but well that’s just a memory now. I also have some kind of body dismorphia thing. I look in the mirror and think you’re such an ugly old hag. But then I see a photo from ten years ago and think I didn’t look too bad, but I thought I was an ugly old hag then. These days I’ve changed the narrative. Now I say you’re looking good today or make your hair nice and so on.
When I was young my life was a mess and I made messy decisions. However, I grew up, made better decisions. I studied and got a degree, a good job, climbed out of the poverty hole because I wanted more for my kids. I’ve since done a PHD but I left school at 15. I hated people thinking I was dumb. Hated it. However, everything you do in life teaches you something. For a writer that’s useful.
Also, things change, views change and these culture wars we are having. I never would have thought they were on the cards. Just like I never thought I’d live through a pandemic. It’s really unnerving because the future seems so uncertain. Things might not settle down before I die. What world will my grand kids inherit? As a writer of SF and fantasy these are scary times because my imagination and past reading set me up to imagine some bad shit. However, I am very pleased about the Australian election and that meaning a rejection of Trumpism, and basically hate. There are other reasons for the win too, but that’s a biggie. Why am I a Labor supporter? I wouldn’t be where I am in life without the Hawke/Keating years. I was able to study and get childcare. University was not free unfortunately and that was a set back for me. However, it was cheaper than it is now to pay for a university degree.
Why am I reminiscing? Shrug. I am meant to have some profound thoughts. Being old gives me a license to blather? I am happy to be here. Some of my friends aren’t. I know my life is more than half over. I’m no longer young and pretty but that comes with life. It’s not an easy transition and you know health and death loom larger than they once did. You have the luxury of looking back on your life and loves. Hopefully not to dwell on regrets. Of course there are things I am sorry I did and did not do. I think now though is for me to do what I can, what I want for as long as I can. I enjoy writing and I have a lot more stories in me, I love my life and my partner and my children and grandchildren and my friends both old and new. I’m working part time and that suits me. I’m a boring old fart who watches way too much streaming and listens to too many audio books and doesn’t read enough or do enough craft or catching up with people. Lol. I’ve just transitioned from a middle-aged geek to an old geek. Eep!
I can still write stories though…for now…
Me, with my dyed grey hair. I’m embracing 65 with a vengeance.
You could say I blew into Auckland last night. However, the Qantas landing was perfect, the decent a little bumpy. Walking to my hotel with my heavy suitcases was indeed a challenge. I was blown backwards and often had to struggle to move forward. Later, I realised I could have caught a bus so didn’t have to work up such a sweat to get to the nearby Ibis hotel. However, the blowing backwards was just leaving the terminal and walking to the car park where the bus was in anycase.
Also, even when we are old we never learn.
Today, the house is being blown about by very strong winds. It’s quite interesting. However, as the weather is a bit shite and will be for the rest of my stay, I can take this time to catch up on my administration. I was supposed to go stay in a caravan but I haven’t heard if that is still the plan. Pray for me.
Speaking of administration, I’ve added Amber Rose to my payhip store. Buying direct means I get a tad more $, less the take from Payhip and Paypal! The book delivery is by Book Funnel so you get the file for your selected reader. My buy direct link is here.
I’ve also updated my book page which as buyer links there too. Link to the Cry Havoc page. You will notice I am sure that I have been rather abyssmal on the links to Emerald Fire. I’ll add that to my to do list.
I’m drafting a newletter and participating in a Book Funnel giveaway. I have been rather slack on that side of things of late. (You might say a year or so).
I was thinking of making this post about Amber Rose (and it mostly is) and I wondered if I could share an excerpt. Let me go have a gander. Not easy as my files are on my IMac at home. Okay, round about way but I managed to download the epub and do sections of copy and paste as the epub limits the amount of copying.
This is part way into the story and there has been general chaos at the inn and more to follow, plus a copious amount of baked goods, scones, bread rolls, baps, sweet buns…and lots of tea.
With a low mood, Jemima made her way to the upstairs parlour to partake of some breakfast. Aunt Prudence was at table when she entered. “Good morning, Aunt. I hope you slept well.” “Good morning. I had a passing night. Aly woke three times to be fed. Otherwise he caused no trouble. Have your friends set out?” “Yes,” Jemima replied taking a seat. She reached for some bacon, which was most likely cold and eyed the scrambled eggs. Perhaps her stomach was not up to cold eggs. She cut into the bacon and nodded when the aunt lifted the tea pot. “Thank you. I am starving.” “You mean are hungry, dear. You are certainly not starving. That is a state of being you might never experience.” “I stand corrected. I am very hungry. Is that a bread roll peeking out of the napkin?” “Yes.” She passed it over. Jemima buttered it quickly and cut it in halves. “Why did you not say that your Uncle Ferdinand was coming to visit? I would have taken greater care with my hair and my toilette this morning.” Jemima dropped a spoon of jam on the tablecloth. “Uncle Ferdy? He is here?” She grabbed a napkin to clean off the offending stain. “Yes, that is what I said. I bumped into him in the hall and he complimented me on my gown and complexion before he went to see my nephew.” She preened as she conveyed this. “I am so pleased I chose this particular gown as it does wonders for my complexion.” The gown in question was a deep maroon and did look well on her. With only fine lace at the collar and cuffs, it was remarkably unadorned. Her curls looped nicely around her ears, offset by a lace cap with trailing ribbons. “That is good news, Aunt. I was hoping he could come. I must have missed him in all the noise of departure. Thank you for telling me.” Jemima thought Uncle Ferdy must have popped in. The innkeeper was wily so she did not know how she was going to explain the new arrival, who was likely not seen arriving in a conventional fashion. Had he walked up plain as day, she would have noticed him. She did some mental calculations. If they consolidated Fulton and Milly, the sick room would accommodate him or there was the room the Heatons had vacated. She frowned as she thought it through. Or he could just pop off again and go home but the questions, the questions. No, he would have to play the part of guest. Standing up suddenly, she gulped the last of her tea. “Forgive me, I must see Uncle Ferdy and check on Edward.” “Has there been no improvement?” The aunt asked, turning in her chair as Jemima made for the door. “Not just yet, Aunt.” “Very concerning. Do tell Mr White that I can procure fresh tea for him if he is in need.” Aunt Prudence inclined her head, turned back to the table, and as if she was the queen, lifted the teapot to pour herself another cup of tea. Bursting into her room and rubbing the crumbs from her lips, she found Uncle Ferdy bent over her husband. “Thank heavens you heard me.” Uncle Ferdy stood up straight and turned to her. “There you are. I was wondering what you were about. Sorry to not come sooner but I was in the middle of something.” He peered at her. “Have I interrupted your breakfast?” She waved him off. “No, but Aunt Prudence is keeping the kettle warm for you.” He lifted his eyebrows. “I see, how thoughtful of her.” Hands clasping each other in turn, she asked, “How is he? Can you help him? Is it a hex?” Uncle Ferdy met her gaze. He had stripped off the bedcovers, leaving Edward in a night shirt, and sock-adorned feet. “The same. Perhaps and, yes, I believe so. A nasty one.” Jemima went to the other side of the bed, not sure whether to be relieved or not about Uncle Ferdy’s answer. At least he was better equipped to help. “He looks so pale. He is breathing, but it is slow and shallow.” A sharp knock on the door interrupted their conversation. “Mrs Huntington? It is Sir Giles, the Magistrate. I need to speak with you urgently.” Alarmed, Jemima stared at Uncle Ferdy. How was she going to explain him to the magistrate on top of the innkeeper? “Go away now.” she whispered urgently. “It is not that easy to pop in and out,” he whispered back. “I need to rest between.” “Mrs Huntington?” The magistrate repeated. “Coming!” She turned to Uncle Ferdy. “Hide then.”
Excerpt From Amber Rose: Cry Havoc Book 3 Donna Maree Hanson This material is protected by copyright.
And of course after all the proof reading, I found a typo. I swear they are god’s curse. I hope you enjoy the excerpt. Now to write myself a note to fix that typo.
I am at the Ages of Pages book signing event on the 26th of April in Hamilton. It’s a free event. Details are here.
That sounds like a tag line from the Xfiles! Hahaha.
Now all I have to do is wait in case some one likes it enough to give me a review. Taps fingers on the desk.
On launch day, yesterday, I had my hair done. I don’t think I mentioned this story. I was feeling a bit down, a bit anxious around the middle of March. I decided I wanted to dye my hair grey, steel grey. I did not do any research. Rocked up to a random new salon and asked for that. I was shown a colour and that looked ash grey to me. However, I walked out of there with medium ash brown hair. Matthew blinked when he saw me. That’s not what I was expecting, he said. I was miserable about it. My mates were great and told me the new colour looked great. It made me look younger, which is true. Yesterday, I got it fixed. Previous posts you will see a different hair colour.
I like my new hair. It’s not steel grey yet. I put a lighter champangne type rinse in it. After the last shock colour I wanted to be careful. I have planned a bit birthday bash for my 65th birthday in early May. For the birthday party, I will do steel grey. However, I am very happy and it made launch day special. Bonus is that today my order arrived so I have some print copies.
New hair!
New hair. New Book.
I’m hosting a birthday dinner for a friend tomorrow. And I’m making a cake today. I’m going to try for a black forest cake. My first time. If it sucks of course I’ll duck out and buy a cake instead.
I pop off to New Zealand next week. I’ll be in Hamilton at the Ages of Pages book signing event on the 26th of April. Back just in time for my party!
PS I forgot to mention. Did you all see the Murderbot trailer dropped? I’m so excited. I loved the books.
I had a blood test on Wednesday last week and felt great. The next day I’m sneezing, my nose is running and my eyes are watering. Friday I’m in full lurgy mode but negative RATS for COVID, RSV and Influenza A and B. I just had to weather it as I didn’t feel sick otherwise. Just a cold. Then the cough started and I felt a bit ick. Something had changed. Meanwhile I worked the day job and I’m working on Amber Rose. I had done the complete draft but I needed to tidy up to send to the editor.
Editing and coughing are not a good mix.
Anyhow, I was prescribed anitbiotics and I think I am on the mend. Still have a bit of nose and cough but I’m hoping they will fly away by tomorrow and maybe I could get a good sleep. I had to cancel few things due to the cold, like a sleep study I’ve been waiting years for. Oh well.
The good news is that I sent Amber Rose off to the editor yesterday. Happy dance!
This novel caused me some angst if you must now. I should have written it last year. Actually if I’m honest years ago. However, for various reasons I didn’t. Then something went twang in my brain and I was uncertain how to bring it to an end and I felt lost in the narrative. My friend, Maxine, did a quick read of what I had at the time, around 47,000 words and gave me some feedback. It really, really helped and I think I brought it home.
I don’t have any immediate plans for more Jemima Hardcastle books. Well not set in Victorian England in any case. I have quite a bit of half finished manuscripts that I need to work on this year and a couple of other projects boiling away.
I’m taking a break to catch up on things: blog, newsletter,preorder form, BAS and other admin. I may put Amber Rose up for preorder! That’s exciting.
Appearances
On Saturday 22 March I’ll be at the ARRA signings and will be on a panel as well as selling books, Royal on the Park, 152 Alice Street, Brisbane
Sunday 23 March I’ll be in Sydney at the ARRA booksigning, Rydges City Central, 28 Albion Street, Surry Hills
Saturday 29 March, I’ll be in Melbourne at the ARRA booksignings Jasper Hotel, 489 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne.
The ARRA events are ticketed. Here is the link to the their page.
Later on in April, I will be at Ages of Pages in Hamilton NZ, 26 April, 9.30am to 4 pm, Claudelands Event Centre. Free entry. Check the website
With family visitors, the office needed to be gutted and my desk moved. I have only just now uncovered it. We had two drawers to assemble for our new bed and we had to deal with them before I could sit down and type. How wonderful it is!
We celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve with way too much food and loads of presents. I was so full I feared I would burst. I received Tansy Rayner Roberts’ latest kickstarter because it was so shiny and I asked the Dweeb to get it for me. But he also was my kringle choice so he also got stuff on my wish list. A photo printer, papers, and a voucher to frame a print. Other goodies some lovely tawny port, some really beautiful embroidery items from Ms Li brought from China. A lovely fan and a lovely scarf, some redwood earrings from California, chocolate and more.
A picture of Kickstarter from Tansy Rayner Roberts.
Yesterday, is my day off. People eat leftovers generally and we did and I watched rom coms the whole day. T’was the Text before Christmas, and the commentary was: “would someone really chat to a stranger? ” and you had to suspend belief for this one, but I liked it, I wanted to watch While You Were Sleeping (an oldie). Prime wanted $19.00 for it and I figured I’d just go buy it but then I found it on Disney for free. The Holiday was another one I hadn’t seen before but really liked. I also watched Love Actually before bed.
Christmas presents and not all there yet.
This morning I was out of the house at 6.30am to walk around Lake Burley Griffrin with my younger daughter. A good five kilometres! I needed it and a bit more. Today like I said uncovering the desk and finding my computer after some furniture assembly.
Food
My writing plans before Christmas went out the window. I had to go to NZ in a hurry for my brother-in-law and sadly he passed away after suffering a lot. I had to leave my sister behind but she’s surrounded by her son, her daughter-in-law and grandkids and I’ll go see her soon when she returns to Aussie.
I ended up maxing my credit card and spending all my money. Something I have not done for a while. Luckily I get paid again next week and things are better now and the need for spending has ended. I did save for Christmas but a few unexpected things came up. We also go the dishwasher repaired twice so that was not a nice Christmas expense. We found the problem was these soap sheets we were using made too much suds. We weren’t using them right in any case but the technician said don’t use them and use a level teaspoon of powder. My iphone battery died too and needed replacing. NZ trip and hire car.
We are also dog sitting because my elder daughter and my youngest grandchild have relocated to Sydney and we are watching the dog for a bit until she gets him after New Year. The cat is not impressed as he’s confined to one part of the house and he usually owns the whole place. I had to encouraging to leave our bed last night because I couldn’t get my pretzel shape comfortable and it was too hot to have car fur against my leg.
That’s about it. I haven’t thought of a plan for the year yet. I do need to get more of Amber Rose drafted ASAP. I appear to be more worried about the Dweeb’s deadlines than my own. He got a nice lecture from me this morning. Lol.
The immediate family and visitors are all well and happy and that’s a lovely thing.
I hope you had a Merry Christmas if you celebrate and my best wishes for the New year.
A lovely tranquil view from me walk this morning around the lake.
It is not possible to fight change. you have to roll with the punches. One minute you think you are heading this way and the next something alters, a new path arises and whammo, your future looks different.
I can’t really talk specifically about this change because while it affects me it’s not my news. We were going to refiniance and borrow heaps of $$$$ to renovate our house. We were almost there to signing when something changed and now we aren’t going through with it. I’m not upset or annoyed. We will be fine, but it does mean some short term stress to effect a positive change in our lives.
My partner is a writer. He gets paid and he has been writing while I’ve been slacking off doing this Phd gig. Although the Phd thing is getting closer, and closer to completion soon I’ll be wondering what I’m going to do with myself. Anyway, I think by the end of the year there will be lots more writing going on from both of us. That’s all the hint you are going to get. No I have not sold a novel…but I might finish one or two or maybe three.
I did something weird and extraordinary last night though. Instead of vegging in front of Netflix, I came upstairs and started revising a novel I last looked at in November 2019. I am 31 pages in. Yay me. I thought it might shock Matthew to know that while he was in his office diligently working on his revisions, I was in mine next door. It was thrilling and exciting. This is a paranormal romance I’m working on for my Dani Kristoff name and is the sequel to The Sorcerer’s Spell, featuring werewolves and sorcerers set in Canberra (mostly).Anyway, I was excited because I deleted words, trimmed and crafted sentences and otherwise behaved in a writierly fashion. Sigh.
It felt so good.
In other news, we had a craftanoon here on Sunday and I got out the tiered platter for some high tea shenanigans. Yes, there were scones, jam and cream. I finished my first ever embroidery kit after maybe seven years…cough. We had loads of fun. It is the second one I have hosted and it was relaxed and lovely. I have had to slow down on the crochet due to elbow issues. Today though I felt the call of the garden and attacked the forest that is the yard with the weed trimmer and now I’ve crawled up here to my office to do some real work. Cough.
We don’t have rampant covid here so we can almost lead a normal life and do things like socialise carefully. I am very grateful for that. I probably won’t get vaccinated until later in the year when it’s my turn. Australia is only now rolling out the vaccines. I’m so pleased that people I care about in the UK and the USA are getting vaccinated.
Yes, I know. I should be all gloom and doom. Things are not as bad as they could be. I’m not going to say they are not as bad as they seem because that’s a different kettle of fish.
I’ve studied pandemic preparedness for my work as an auditor a while ago when bird flu was considered a threat. We got the Swine Flu instead. However, under those scenarios the ‘flu’ was going to be devastating and take a lot of people out thereby disrupting critical supplies such as food and rubbish removal and so on. However, this does not appear to be the case. This is not a widespread failure of everything we know. Food deliveries are still being made etc, food is still be produced and grown. This is not like Stephen King’s The Stand or the movie Contagion. Praise the universe for that small mercy.
The big impact here is on imported food and exported food and medicines. These disruptions to air travel etc have consequences there is no denying. However, I am convinced we will still have baked beans on the shelf. And as toilet paper is made in Australia no potential shortage. I’d like to see people not hoard that stuff. I have plenty of loo paper but I bought it one pack at a time and then found a great big packet from before Christmas in our laundry hidden under guff. As people aren’t going to be visiting in the time of social distancing and social isolation I think we are good–for a while.
We should be alert but not alarmed.
I will be delivering all my tutorials online from now and probably for the rest of the semester. I think this is doable but I’m sure going to miss my face to face classes. I have such a great group of students and I’ve been so impressed by them this year. I feel bad that their first year of university (most of them) is marred by this pandemic outbreak. In one course we have been discussing ‘adaptability’, which is not always easy.
I am also low level scared. It has been on my mind that I might die. But I’m not alarmed by that thought. I think this is because since Matthew’s dad died in December, life has been full of challenges. Bushfire smoke, bushfires and now the Covid-19 outbreak. These events have put a lot of pressure on me personally, although I did not lose my home, it did make me understand that I am not as resilient as I thought I was and that I’m mortal.
So where is the upside here? I think there’s a chance to slow down and connect with ourselves and those closest to us. There is a chance to catch up on books and movies. Social media, often called a bane, might be the only contact people have and for that I think we have to be grateful for technology. We live in a connected world–that helped the virus spread but it will also keep us together.
Today I am baking sourdough bread, an activity I find relaxing and centering. I’m also trying to work out how to put together a half lecture using different technology that is going to be delivered online. A bit of a learning curve.
Donna Maree Hanson, Author, Phd in Creative Writing 