In 2001 a 6.8 earthquake hit Washington. It’s seismic activity started this sand tracing pendulum. Nature’s most powerful and destructive force traced into the sand what became known as the Earthquake Rose, the quake’s intense activities presented in the central flower--stolen ruthlessly from Twitter Science Girl @gunsnrosesgirl3
Tip of the Day
It's time to start querying again.
No, things are not back to normal.
I don't think we'll be going back to the old normal.
I think a lot of us will be careful about going out until there's a way to cure this thing,
or get inoculated, or maybe just till I'm not terrified of infecting other people.
But I have to sell books to keep the booze delivery bill paid. Not to mention the coffee bill. And I guess the mortgage somewhere in there.
And publishers need to buy books to keep publishing.
And readers want books cause they save our sanity four days out of seven.
So, please query.
I'm looking for good stuff.
Crime, history, biography.
If you've got something else, you're welcome to query.
I'll never shame you privately or publicly for querying me for something I don't take on.
Agents who do should be smacked around. Please quote me, maybe we can make them stop.
Fending off 3:00am angst.
Well, I haven't been asleep at 3am for a month now cause I'm keeping vampire hours.
I was VERY surprised how much I enjoyed Season One of Queen of the South. For some reason I'd never even looked at the preview, and I thought the lead actor was someone I don't really like to watch (she just looks like her!). I have not yet started Season 2. I'm cleansing my palate for Bosch!
Progress on biscuits
None.
Update: dishes finished at 5:31 AM!!
God I miss takeout.
Pet photo
Someone's bear got loose.
Fortunately the subways are pretty empty right now.
Status:
Back to work! If not full steam ahead, let's at least get the kettle on!
23 comments:
I am going to start querying again. Really.
My nephew has me reading Japanese dark fantasy which is a new fascination. He wanted someone to talk to about his new interest. He is supposed to start UC London in September and has been told he may have to do first bit online. He is not happy being stuck at home with his dad for another several months. And I was so looking forward to helping him move and then visiting my cousin in Lyon, France and hitting a game at Anfield on the way home. Looks like those plans are cancelled.
Ah well, onward and upward. Let's see what this new normal looks like.
My husband needs, really needs, to go back to work.
New normal. I like that thought.
I woke at 2 am. Couldn't get back to sleep, so I journaled, and a hymn I have not heard in ages came to me. "Do not be afraid." Found it in the hymnbook so I could hear the rest of the words (from Isaiah 43) to the tune.
This morning the sun shines on the bright whiteness of the snow. Kettle was on and now I've my mug of tea.
Status quo for me. Maybe I'll call it my normal normal?
That earthquake picture!!! I love stuff like this. I'm reading a really interesting memoir right now called WITCH HAIRS, Mirth, Miracles, Mayhem and Music by Dixie Gamble. There's a lot to fascinate one in this book, but I think the most intriguing (for me anyway) is about her mystical side. Much like this photo, Dixie Gamble's life is filled with many unusual and inexplicable events.
The sleep thing - I think we're all doing this right now. That middle of the night, why the heck am I awake hour. (or hours)
Back to writing!
We moved halfway across the country just before this whole thing hit us. We're staying at my in-laws until we can move into our new house. My stress levels are finally low enough that I can focus on creative things again. It's a good feeling.
No, things will never go back to normal, at least not the way we understood normal to be. We will all be changed by this experience. Let's hope it makes us stronger, kinder, and more appreciative of those we share this planet with.
Thanks to Janet and all the Reiders for showing up every day and helping to make this new normal a little less scary.
This call to queries is a great start to the week:) In many ways, this blog is the only thing that remained normal in my daily life, it's still there for me every single morning when I open my laptop, the only thing familiar and not surreal.
We had an eldercare incident last night so we're rough around the edges today. FIL fell and cut his ear badly so it was bleeding heavily. My bigger half is a retired EMT so bandaged him up with a wrap around his head so he looked like a soldier. He's on Cumiden so bleeds are bad and we knew it would be dangerous to take him to the ER.
So wrapped him up and he went to bed and this morning at 7AM he was up, showered, and making coffee.
And I'm on the couch for the day while the rain pours down. Need a nap.
FIL is in fine form since he knows he dodged another bullet.
The Feng Shui of earthquakes, cool.
The economy is still stopped for me and it will take a while to even get close to started again, so I will try a few more queries.
I also need to switch from a winter garden to a summer garden. It takes tough plants to grow here in summer.
"FengShui of earthquakes" I love that, Craig!
I just got an offer to write a promotional short story, only 2000 words. Thank goodness for the flash fiction experience here teaching me to cut words.
Dang. I was using current events as an excuse to put off querying. Guess it's time to dig up the old query letter and give it another look/polish.
I love the sand art.
I was up at 3 am also, but that used to be normal for me. Diana Gabaldon and I are on the same sleep patterns it seems. And now, so is Janet. The difference is, years ago when I couldn't sleep, I would go to the arena, we had a huge one, and walk. We kept the mares kicked out in it rather than stall them. So, When I went out to walk, they would wake up to see who was there and mostly go back to sleep. A little burrowing owl would usually be out and perched in a mesquite near the arena.
Skidboot, our yellow mare, would make every step I made while I walked the arena at the witching hour like a faithful hound. I'd listen to Reckless Kelly and work out plot knots in a story.
It's not really safe to go walking around here at 3 am, so I just get up, put on the music and write.
The plus side of all this is, people are posting some funny memes, so my sign collection is growing.
I am craving a steak...badly. I may have to have Will make a Texas Roadhouse run.
The leg is healing from the lone star stabbing, thank heavens. Last time we spent months dealing with wound care after the elkhorn stabbing. This one was deeper and longer, It's a three inch gash. Perhaps the profuse bleeding helped.
I've discovered I write sociopaths well. Who knew?
Off to listen to more Irish music. Red-Haired Mary by Patrick Feeney right now. I'll either be drinking or dancing soon.
I hope all are doing well. Keep the faith.
Settled in to watch an evening of drama on PBS last night. During a heavy downpour, one of our windows started leaking so I had to make a dash for towels. Luckily the rain didn't last long and luckily the roofing/siding expert came out this morning and luckily it will all probably get fixed before the end of the week.
I very much appreciated the serenity of the earthquake sand art.
I hope everyone's Day 1 went well.
Five times I've gone through seismic cataclysms in my family's life. Only one turned out to be temporary. Three came via one tiny child, who wreaked more cosmic upheaval in his scant four years on this earth than most can achieve in a long lifetime. All of it made me who I am, and I thank God for that. The time spent navigating the disorientation, loss and fear to get to the new normal has often been more meaningful than the new normal itself. I hope we'll come out of this disruption with a deeper appreciation for our essential workers and our neighbors, and an economy that works better for everyone. And good stories! We'll have so many stories worth the telling.
Without school buses and morning commutes to run the show, we have all reverted to our factory settings. Two larks and two night owls mean an endless supply of dishes to wash. I thank God for those, too, as they're evidence we're well-fed. Not the only evidence, I'm afraid, but yoga pants are forgiving. Dishwashing is another means of virtuous procrastination. You can't feel too guilty about doing (or not doing) anything while you're up to your elbows in suds. Keep hanging in there and doing good work whenever you can!
And over here, the power went out for five hours. Just in case isolation, no school, and limited work hours weren't fun enough!
But, it makes me appreciate the light and heat that much more now that I have it again. Not to mention, the internet! Goodness.
Oh, and if anybody wants to stretch their writing wings a bit before diving into querying, this publication is sending out a call for cozy mystery short stories:
http://www.camdenparkpress.com/cozyvillages/
Stay strong and keep doing whatever you need to be happy. Chocolate macarons it is.
I like the idea of re-setting to a new normal.
Time to shake off the doldrums and focus on my new NF pb class and keep going on the chapter book I started, plus send a few pb queries by the end of the month. In the meantime, I solemnly swear to stop binge-watching Gardener's World with Monty Don. (But it's sooooo relaxing!)
Did I miss something? My calendar didn't switch to Day 1 New Normal. All the days still seem the same to me, so maybe I should look for that newfangled calendar.
But first, I'll join Julie W. with a rendition of Red-Haired Mary. Fun classic, no matter who sings it. Unless I sing it, of course. That would be classic by a whole new definition.
Cool sand art. I think if you used sand to depict the coronavirus, you'd do a sand timer illustration with all the sand stuck in the top glass, unable to drip through.
Uh oh, are we still supposed to pay bills?
Thank you Unknown, for putting into words what I've been thinking / trying to work out how to say: "Thanks to Janet and all the Reiders for showing up every day and helping to make this new normal a little less scary." <- That. Exactly that.
Thanks.
Yes! New normal! I like this attitude.
We've had the "new normal" for quite some time already where I live. A few things are genuinely normal. Others, definitely not. It doesn't help comparing things to how they were before.
I was up all last night watching storms and tornados on radar. We got very lucky and just had a few small branches come down. Trying not to nap today has been a challenge.
I think we are on the precipice of a new normal and that's not a bad thing. At least, it doesn't have to be.
I really like this opinion piece that, yes, as the title suggests, talks about gaslighting and deceit in coming days. But that’s to be expected, no matter who is in charge politically. That’s just human nature and the need to do crowd control. We have to be aware of it and guard against it, obviously. (Not looking to start a political conversation here, please.)
What I like about this piece is it’s ALSO about the premise that this is a great and unprecedented opportunity for change.
It's here (deliberately not live-linked): https://forge.medium.com/prepare-for-the-ultimate-gaslighting-6a8ce3f0a0e0
And because I know you all probably won’t go read it — hey, we’re all busy — here are a couple quotes, if I can be forgiven for going way over comment word limit (again) (whatever):
“What happened is inexplicably incredible. It’s the greatest gift ever unwrapped. Not the deaths, not the virus, but The Great Pause. It is, in a word, profound. Please don’t recoil from the bright light beaming through the window. I know it hurts your eyes. It hurts mine, too. But the curtain is wide open. What the crisis has given us is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see ourselves and our country in the plainest of views. At no other time, ever in our lives, have we gotten the opportunity to see what would happen if the world simply stopped. Here it is. We’re in it.”
And this:
“Take a deep breath, ignore the deafening noise, and think deeply about what you want to put back into your life. This is our chance to define a new version of normal, a rare and truly sacred (yes, sacred) opportunity to get rid of the bullshit and to only bring back what works for us, what makes our lives richer, what makes our kids happier, what makes us truly proud.”
I love the idea that we can shape the future of this new normal into something we want and need, that we don't have to return to or put up with the SSDD of the past, if we're willing and able to do the heavy lifting required. I find that wonderfully hopeful at a time when hope seems awfully thin on the ground.
KDJames, thanks for posting about the Medium piece, "Prepare for the Ultimate Gaslighting." I came back here to do exactly the same thing and I'm glad you beat me to it -- you pulled some of the most profound quotes from it. Thanks for sharing them. After the 1918, pandemic, there was an immediate rush to sweep all the loss and heartbreak under the rug. We must have the courage to remember and change.
Oh wow, I love that earthquake art. And thanks to all your talk about Bosch I have started rewatching from series 1, episode 1...
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