It's What Month Already?

That was quick.

I thought perhaps I should post an update after my depressed and depressing year round-up. I'm happy to report that the mood has passed and I've been much more like myself. I've even got A Plan for at least the first half of the year. For most of February, this involved doing critiques I owed to other people, one of which was on a deadline. Now that I'm finished with that one, I can keep going with the others at a slower pace. In a couple of months I should be able to devote more time to research for the new book.

I've been going to the gym at least three times a week, though it's showing no results so far. I'll have to grit my teeth and cut back on bagels, boo.

In my usual stop and start fashion, I've been reading. I will finish Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell this time, dammit.

And there's the comics project, which is turning into an actual project, because I can't do anything on a casual level. Basically, since we have this unlimited subscription to Marvel Digital, I'm reading "not exactly all the comics." I've picked a handful of books/characters and started reading as far back as the archive goes. I'm curious about the way the characters and the storytelling evolved over the decades, about shared worlds, about what makes a good story or a good character. If nothing else, it's making for more dinner table conversation.

So that's my life right now. This particular weekend has been spent hunkered down due a major blizzard. We were lucky; never lost power. Still, I've been in this apartment since Thursday afternoon except for shoveling, and am feeling just a wee bit claustrophobic.

2012 Goals Revisited

This has been a weird, weird year.

I went to Taos Toolbox and spent two weeks in the company of other writers. I learned a lot, I saw a lot of new things, and it was awesome.

I got a new job, which pays me more than I deserve and is an opportunity to learn new professional skills.

I wrote 45k words of a new novel, then decided that this one requires actual research, so I'm trying to do that (it takes a lot of time). I wrote 80k words of Avengers movie fan-fiction; I'm still not sure why, but it's been interesting. I've never really understood the phenomenon of fandom, and I'm not sure I do even now that I am part of it.

I've read a lot of comic books, trying to educate myself about the history of the genre.

I look at this list and get horribly depressed and feel like I have failed at life. I do recognize that this doesn't make much sense.

A lot of stuff didn't get done. My "things to do" list got completely neglected. The apartment is in a perpetual state of chaos (and maybe with three kids just can't be any other way). My commitment to other people's birthdays never seems to make it through the summer. Every time we get some financial progress, we get hit with some unplanned expense. My weight has if anything drifted upward. Cooking has been scattershot.

Blogging has, of course, entirely disappeared from my life.

I don't know what goals to set for 2013. I feel under-accomplished and over-stretched at the same time. I am looking forward to the holidays; due to the timing, I'll have a pretty long stretch of time off, and can maybe use some of that to figure out where the problem is and make some plans.

I Ain't Dead

Just in case you were wondering. I was in a funk and then I was traveling and now I'm working on a new book, and I haven't had the energy or the time to bake (sob), but I am getting back to where I need to be.

Current wordcount: 4,000

Gonna be a long climb.

The Writer's Voice Entry #193

Redacted

Goal Roundup: April

Well, that month just flew past. And it was, er, kind of a bust, goal-wise.

• Things To Do: Had a "date day" and went to the MFA and then to Margarita's. That was lovely and fun, but not exactly breaking new ground.
• Better Me: Still going to the gym. Managed to read an entire book. Whoa.
• Money: Bought my plane ticket for Taos, so no progress there.
• Writing: Finished the draft of Fury, started working on a query letter, and started the next draft to address the problems D* found. 
• Job Stuff: Still nothing, and one of my best friends got laid off, so if there was a job opening, I would feel guilty if I applied for it and she didn't. 
• Birthdays: Managed to hit the important ones with a card. 
• Household stuff: No money to do anything with this month.

Basically, all of my brain energy is going into this book right now. Which is appropriate, I suppose; I just wish I was making faster progress as a result.

TWD: Hungarian Shortbread

Holy new interface, Blogger!

Here you see my awe-inspiring plating skills, and part of my desk. Oh, and my shortbread.

Assuming I manage to post this at all, what I was planning to say was... this post almost didn't happen at all. I haven't done any serious cooking in weeks; my brain has been Elsewhere, writing even when I am not physically writing (which is most of the time; if I wrote nearly as much as I think about writing, I would have seventy novels).

This weekend in particular was a tough one. There is a hell peculiar to writers of fiction, and it is called the query letter. I spent much of the weekend trying out different approaches and feeling sorry for myself when people didn't like any of them, alternately hating my book, myself, and everyone who has ever given me criticism on writing, however kind and useful it has turned out to be. I didn't think I had the energy even to make shortbread.

Which is pretty damn silly. Shortbread is only one of the easiest things in the universe to make. On Sunday I managed to haul myself out of the Slough of Despond long enough to mix up a bare handful of ingredients (see our hosts, 1smallkitchen and The not so exciting adventures of a dabbler for the recipe), put them in a pan and bake them.

I have to admit, I thought the method in this recipe was really weird--freeze and then grate the dough? What on earth FOR? But it did make for very tasty shortbread, not to mention a good upper body workout. I eyeballed my dough halves rather than weighing them like a sensible person, so the base was probably a bit thinner than it ought to have been, but for what was involved, this is actually a very good, almost elegant (!) nibble.

Next time you're in a writing funk, or any other sort of funk, go ahead and make these. They go very well with tea and self-pity.

TWD: Lemon Loaf Cake

I have made, over the years, rather a lot of lemon cakes. There's the lemon cake to impress and the demure little lemon cake and the lemon cake I make all the time.

Thanks to Dorie and our hosts this week at Treats and The Beauty of Life, now there's another one. Whatever shall I do? This one may become my "all the time" cake. It's a very simple recipe, requires one bowl and no mixer, is firm in texture and modest on the tongue, and goes excellently with an afternoon cup of tea. An excellent sort of thing to have in the freezer for Cake Occasions.

I have not been getting the camera out much lately, but here are before and after shots.

 

She left off watching Kipper as soon as the camera flashed, at which point I became very grateful for how quickly-put-together this recipe is.

I brought it to the office for an afternoon meeting, and it was well-received. I may have had three slices. Maybe.

I have been horrible at visiting everyone else's blogs. I will try harder this week, promise!