Onward

Writing–just a little bit–has occurred. I’m doing a Consistency Challenge on one of my forums. I gotta write every day. But since I’m doing the editing challenge on another forum, the wordcount goal is only 100.

Better’n nothing. Especially as I don’t stop at 100 pretty much ever.

I got nearly three hours of work in at school today, getting stuff put away.

I posted a chapter of Shades almost two months after the last update.

And I worked on the editing. Day one, June first, I dug up my themes and wrote a one-line description and a blurb.

I’d post it, but then you’d know my ending. I’d hate to spoil it for you, so here’s only the first paragraph. And I didn’t even edit out my whining (okay, two paragraphs–I love that second paragraph!) (BTW, the paragraphs aren’t meant to be together.  That’s why some info is repeated.)

Paragraph. Barghle. I hate this. ‘kay. Main characters–Joss, Paige, Zeke. Joss is the redheaded guard who goes his own way. Paige is the teen daughter of Joss’ one-night-stand, forced to rely on Joss when her father is killed. Zeke is the suave Heir of Cayden, one of the most powerful Tribes on the world known as Kari’s Star. He’s also face-first in love with Joss, and not nearly so suave around the redhead.

When Joss’ one-night-stand is executed in his own living room, Joss has to move fast to keep the same from happening to him–or his lover’s teenage daughter. But saving the girl isn’t enough–Paige has nowhere to go. Joss takes her to his own boss, Rukya, who is trying to change the world, to make such mob-style executions a part of the past. Against Joss’ will, Rukya involves Paige in politics. When Rukya’s plans go sour, Joss and Paige are on the run again, this time with Zeke, heir to Tribe Cayden and ardent admirer of Joss.

 

bwahahaha…

Ahem. Sorry. Sometimes it just gets the better of me, and mine is an evil laugh.

Editing. Yes.

Today, around doing the other stuff (did I mention grocery shopping? Did that too) I finished a read-through of the novel and broke it into scenes. I have to put in page breaks between the scenes to make myself stop and look at each one. Then I printed it out. 174 lovely pages.

Tomorrow (all right, when I am next up today, as it is after midnight) I shall take my red pen to the MS and Lo! it will look like the shower scene from Psycho.

Bwahahaha…

Why, yes, I do rant a lot. I care about people, and I rant on their behalf if not on my own.

I can’t recall if I complained here about “volunteering”–going into work though they are no longer paying me to complete work I couldn’t get done sooner. But I’ve been doing it, though it inhales mightily. One thing I tell myself to get through, is that this is the price I pay for taking time for the students. That helps, because the students are what matters. More of that filing would have been done if I hadn’t taken ten minutes to help a twelve-year-old safety-pin her shirt, or five minutes to find out the reason a kid was half an hour late and looks teary is that his dog died last night. Oh well. I did what was important when it came to me, and let the filing wait.

On the other hand are cases like this. (text of the article copied here, in case they move the page)

As the article states, as you can see for yourself, all those girls needed was for someone to do their job. This is a problem, people. This is why you don’t get to dismiss that homeless guy or the teen mom with “there’s programs for people like that.” The programs don’t always work. Sometimes all that’s needed is that one extra bit of help. The one you could give.

We all know social services people are overworked. We pile on the cases and the paperwork and demand that they see the future, and wow do they catch hell if they get it wrong. And sometimes, perhaps because they’re lazy but more likely because they’re overwhelmed, they just don’t take that one last step, and someone dies.

I believe this is why my husband died. They had me pretty much barred from going near him, and his lawyer, my lawyer, Hope’s lawyer, our CPS case manager, his mental health case manager, his doctor–ALL of them, declined to take that extra step to help a family going under.

And now there’s just two of us. Four years later, it still hurts. It won’t ever stop hurting.

Wow, this is awfully rambly and I don’t have the heart to go back and clean it up. I’ll just hope it has some effect anyway.

May God, by any name, help us all to help each other.

So far, so good. Yesterday (okay, Saturday, as I’m writing past midnight again) I did go to work and spent six hours trying to get done enough to abandon the place for the summer. I gave up before I got to that point, though.

Despite all that, I wrote 743 words on a prompt response, getting to know Keen’s life between books a bit. It was great fun, in the angsty way Keen is “fun.” I’ve missed him.

Today I attempted to edit the Keen prompt to perfection, until I gave up and posted it to lj just to escape it. Then I started working on Joss.

Anybody out there trying to edit, I heartily recommend Holly Lisle’s One-Pass Revision method. (no, I’m too lazy to link it tonight. Google it just like that, you’ll find it.) The first steps are things like finding your theme, and writing a paragraph synopsis of your story. Might not seem like editing, but as Lisle points out, you’ll have a tough time getting your book into shape if you don’t know what shape it should be.

Right, too tired to go on rambling. Just check it out. Thanks to having a system ready to go, I’m hugely satisfied with my progress today.

Since I was worried I’d slide into the Summer Slump and have to struggle to accomplish anything, I have double the reason to celebrate.

Yay!!