ROW80 | Jennette Marie Powell

by Jennette, February 24, 2019

This week has been another of those where it feels like I’ve been busy all week, but haven’t accomplished much. This time, it wasn’t Facebook, but TAXES. Yep, it’s that time of year in the U.S., and I had to collect all the tax documentation for our accountant. You’d think this would be easy, because I’m fairly organized with our paperwork, but with five businesses, it still adds up.

Yes, five businesses. None that are very big, but still, all have their own paperwork. Four of these were rental properties we owned (all but one of which are now sold). The other is my writing business. Got that done and met with the accountant yesterday, only to realize a couple hours later that I totally forgot to tally up the mileage and a few random business expenses here and there that were paid by personal credit card, and add those to our business expenses. :facepalm: So now I have that to do this week.

Tennessee update: Nothing much has happened there, because all it’s done this week is RAIN. Rain, rain, and more rain. There are roads closed all over Knoxville due to flooding, and one of our neighbors’ business places is flooded, too. No worries for our house, as it’s on a ridgetop, but I feel for those who have all this water to deal with. The rest of the windows came in last week, but haven’t been installed due to the constant rain. They’re supposed to have a few dry days until they get a little more rain at the end of the week, so the windows should go in soon. Our hot tub was also delivered, as it will be much more easily installed if they can take it through the house before drywall goes in, which should start soon after the last windows are installed. But more important, I hope those whose homes and businesses have flooded are able to dry them out.

What I’ve Been Reading: Back to reading fiction (other than mine), a novel I’m really enjoying! But you know the drill. I’ll write about it here when I’m finished.

What I’ve Been Writing: No new writing. The goal was to get through my corrections. I came close, but due to the time I needed to spend on collecting stuff for taxes, I didn’t quite get done. I do expect to finish this week, and get the book off to my first reader, and after that, it’s time to start the next book.

This is where it gets scary. I’ve never written a whole book into the dark before, so we’ll see how that goes. My goal for that is just to start.

I also need to do some work on my computer. It’s been overheating lately, mostly if I walk away from it and leave it on. I pulled it out and opened it up the other day, and confirmed what I’d suspected–the case cooling fan isn’t running. As long as I’m using the computer, it stays within an OK temperature, but if I walk away, it heats up pretty quickly. So I need to figure out if the fan’s bad, or possibly just disconnected. Hoping it’s not a software issue, as that’s not software I have any kind of expertise with. The computer is nine years old, so nothing would surprise me. But it’s fine other than the overheating, and I see no reason to replace the whole thing if only a fan needs to be replaced.

What about you–are you staying warm and dry? It’s dry here in Ohio today, but super windy! If you’re in the U.S., do you have your taxes filed yet? What else has been going on in your life? And how are you doing on whatever goals you might have, whether writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I love to hear from you!

Jennette Marie Powell writes stories about ordinary people in ordinary places, who do extraordinary things and learn that those ordinary places are anything but. In her Saturn Society novels, unwilling time travelers do what they must to make things right... and change more than they expect. You can find her books at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, and more.

by Jennette, February 17, 2019

We spent most of the past week in Tennessee, to check on the house, but also to meet with the neighbors on the unwanted business across the street. We met several neighbors we hadn’t met before, or had only met online–all super nice people! And on Thursday, we attended a zoning board meeting.

The zoning change request for the business in question had already been postponed. After a couple of community meetings–one run by my neighborhood group, and one by the developer–they seem to have figured out that they won’t be able to just quietly push this through, so they asked for a postponement of the zoning hearing. With that, we knew it wouldn’t be discussed in this meeting, but DH and I, plus a few other neighbors went anyway, expecting it to be an educational experience.

It was. One thing I can say is, the Zoning Commission is nothing if not efficient. Three hours had been allotted for the meeting, but it was over in one. There were over thirty items on the agenda, however, probably half had been postponed. Of those remaining, only a couple had any controversy or opposition, so the rest were approved in a single, blanket vote. Of the other two, one was simply a neighbor representing a group who wanted some conditions on the proposed development, which the board and the developer both agreed to. The other was a group of condo owners who didn’t want more condos built behind them. Their argument was weak, and the developer’s request was granted. My group’s focus is on the zoning board’s posted policies, rather than us not wanting this business in our back yard, so we have a much stronger position when it goes to hearing.

On a related note, while we were there, crews were installing erosion-prevention fencing on the business’s property–something the county ordered them to do two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, things are progressing on the house, although they’re being held up a little because the custom shape window order had still not come in. The rest of the windows went in a couple weeks ago, and most of the siding is up. They also finished the decking and the breezeway. Rough-in plumbing and electrical are mostly done. Our builder and his crew were installing the big interior beams while we were there, which was exciting to see!

DH having fun on the Bobcat

My husband asked the builder if he could use his Bobcat. The builder said “sure,” so DH took off and cleared some trails around the property. There are two more new houses going in down the ridge from us, which we can’t see because it’s almost 1/4 mile away, and obscured by trees. DH cleared the overgrown mess on the ridgetop trail, so I was able to walk down there and see what kind of progress had been made. The land was cleared and a driveway put in, but that was all. I imagine the builder is waiting for better weather.

None of these things go together, yet here they are

I also couldn’t help noticing this incongruous scene behind the builder’s porta-potty: a pink sink, daffodils, and a bulldozer. We asked where the pink sink came from, thinking it might have been beneath the pile of rubble a few yards away, that was once a little farmhouse. But there was actually quite a story behind that sink. It came from another job site our builder is working on, where his crews demolished an old mid-century modern home. Given the popularity of that style, I would have been surprised the house was torn down–except it was the site of a grisly, unsolved murder from fifty years ago! The story and photos of the house were in the local news when our builder did the demo a couple months ago, and it’s a fascinating story. It was a beautiful house–but understandably, no one wanted to live there, so the new owners are building something new.

My husband also had some fun setting off a black powder cannon that evening. It was loud enough that another neighbor a half mile away heard it as clearly as if she’d been there–and it was pointed away from her place! Three neighbors joined us, and everyone had a good laugh.

What I’ve Been Reading: Still my book, but finished last night! Overall, I did not find any major mistakes or fixes needed, so that’s a good thing!

What I’ve Been Writing: Nothing, because I was focused on the read-through, which was my goal for this past week. For this week, my goal is to go through and fix the mistakes, and get the book to my first reader.

What about you–any news or discoveries in your life? Or even any educational opportunities? How are you doing on whatever goals you might have, whether writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, February 10, 2019

Ever had one of those days, or weeks, when you feel like you’ve been busy the whole time, but haven’t marked much off your to-do list?

I was discussing this phenomenon with my daughter recently, and she said when she has days like that, she looks back and realizes she actually was busy–with chores. Stuff that needs to be done, but isn’t part of our regular goals.

I’ve had one of those weeks, but I can’t blame chores. In this case, it’s Facebook, mainly keeping track of our groups in Tennessee who are working on fighting the zoning change across the street from our new house. That’s something no one in the neighborhood wants. I am not able to do much from 300 miles away, but moderating the groups is one way I can help, along with little bits of research, so I’ve been doing those things. I have a website to work on today for them, so this will be a short post.

I don’t have any new photos of the house, but work is continuing there, and as far as I know, all is on schedule.

What I’ve been Reading: My own book! I’d hoped to get through the read this past week, but only got about halfway through. Part of that is because I haven’t had the time to devote to it that I wanted, the other part is simply because, have I mentioned it’s a long book? I’ve been watching workshop videos while on the treadmill, so no nonfiction reading either (though the videos count, right?).

What I’ve been Writing: Again, nothing. I’m focusing on the read-through of my WIP. That’s also the plan for this coming week. I’m hoping I’ll have enough time to finish the read-through, so I can then move on to revisions.

What about you–ever have one of those days, or weeks? What’s been going on in your life? And how are you doing with whatever goals you might have, writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, January 27, 2019

This has been a relatively uneventful week, at least for me. Things are still happening in Tennessee: no new pictures, but the builder tells us that the windows are now in the house, except for the custom shapes. Siding has gone up (though I don’t know if it’s finished), and work continues on HVAC and electrical. I also got a call from the kitchen cabinet vendor, and saw the specific brand and style of cabinets he recommended, which were just what we wanted (at least until we see the price, then we’ll know for sure!). Work continues regarding the commercial development across the street, too, mostly in the form of emails to government officials, in brainstorming other ways to stop or at least downsize it, and in efforts to meet with the landowner for more discussion. The neighbors are meeting later this afternoon, and I will call in.

On the current home front, the Pit of Doom is no more. I mean, it’s still there, it’s just not a Pit of Doom anymore. It’s just a regular little room–it could even be a safe room. It now has a proper floor thanks to a helpful neighbor, some mini-mix concrete, and my husband’s ingenuity in rigging up a drainage pipe chute, held in place with an engine hoist. Mr. Goodwrench is a good guy to have around!

It’s been nasty cold here in southwest Ohio, and I’ve hunkered down and focused on my writing. More on that below.

What I’ve Been Reading: Since it’s too cold to walk outside, I’ve been using the treadmill and reading nonfiction, though I have not yet finished that book. I did finally finish the novel. It took so long partly because it’s a long book, but mostly because I had so much else going on that I could only read a chapter–sometimes only a scene–each night. That book is My Name is A’yen, by Rachel Leigh Smith, and I enjoyed it a lot. I will admit it took me a little time to really get into this book, but that’s been true of some of my favorites, like Patty Jansen’s Icefire series. Ms. Smith markets her work as being mostly focused on the hero, and it definitely was, but it did not give the heroine short-shift as I feared it might. Despite getting less focus, she was still a well-developed, sympathetic character who experienced growth. But the best thing about this science-fiction romance was probably the world-building. The setting was 3,000-some years in the future, and while some of the minor characters were from Earth, it was set in space and on other worlds. The cultures were very well-developed, but it was done in a manner where everything wasn’t handed to the reader early on. Instead, the writing stayed in close point-of-view where if a character wouldn’t naturally think about what a particular phrase means, the reader doesn’t get that information until it fits into context. It threw me a bit at first, but was fine once I decided to roll with it. I enjoyed this book, and plan to pick up the next in the series. Recommended for those who enjoy sci-fi romance!

What I’ve Been Writing: My goal this week was to write at least 1,000 words a day, five days–a pace I haven’t hit in several years. I made it, with 5,371 words! Even better, my WIP is thisclose to being finished–definitely within 5,000 words. So for this week, I plan to write 1,000 words a day, five days, or until the WIP is finished. If I finish early, I will plan to spend that time skimming back over the book, because I know there’s some sloppy writing near the beginning. I also need to start working on a revamp of this website, get a newsletter out, and do numerous other publishing tasks I’ve been putting off. So my plan is also to spend at least five hours on my writing or related tasks–finish the WIP, and use the remaining time on something noted above.

How has your week been? How’s the weather like where you are? Have you read any good books lately? And how are you doing on whatever goals you might have, writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, January 20, 2019

A lot of worries about my new house flit through my mind with fair regularity. I mean other than the proposed commercial development across the street, or the typical budget concerns that go with any new construction project.

I swear, it isn’t as big as it looks!

I never realized until it actually went up, how visible our house would be from the street–or how big it would look. In the summer, it should be mostly hidden by trees, but not now, with the leaves down. No worries about how it looks, and it is far enough off the street to still afford a decent amount of privacy, but still. Most of the comments from the neighbors we spoke to throughout the last week, when the realized that was ours, were on the lines of “wow!” and “it’s going to be beautiful.” Well, yes, I hope so. The word “castle” also came up several times (thank you, turreted porch roof). Many were under the impression that it was a three-story chalet, rather than a one-story house with cathedral ceilings and a walkout basement.

In some neighborhoods, that wouldn’t be a problem, and this house would fit in well. But this neighborhood is a typical, old rural neighborhood of mostly smaller houses. Many are under 1000 sq. ft.; ours is about 2000 sq. ft., not including the lower level, which will initially be unfinished.

There are few houses that size in the area, and those there are, are even less visible, and on small side streets. Thing is, out in the country down there, it’s not unusual to see a house larger than ours right next door to a battered, rusted-out single wide. So yes, this sort of thing is done in the overall general area.

So what’s my worry? It’s that people will think we’re snooty and pretentious. But anyone who knows us should know that’s the last thing we are.

We’re building that house because it’s beautiful and we love it–and it fits with the spectacular views we have from where it sits. We have zero interest in impressing anyone else. But somehow, putting a little ranch house atop that hill didn’t feel right. The house we chose, and the image of wealth it might convey to some people, doesn’t make us any better than anyone who lives around it. (It might make us stupider, for spending that kind of money LOL.) The only way in which we’re above anyone is in very literal terms, as in, feet above sea level. And only by a little, at that.

If one good thing has come from the proposed business across the street, it’s that we’ve had the opportunity to meet several of our neighbors much sooner than we otherwise might. Or in some cases, at all–after all, the houses are fairly far apart, and one of the reasons people move there (including us) is because they don’t want to be up in their neighbors’ faces all the time. Hopefully enough of them now know that we’re unpretentious, down-to-earth folks just like them, fancy house or no.

Construction Update: They were working on roofing, and had started on the exterior trim last week while we were there. I haven’t received any new photos this week, but got questions from the builder about siding and electrical, so I imagine work has begun in those areas.

Pit of Doom Update: DH has added French drain and connected it to the existing drainage system with help from a rented jackhammer. He then took out a vent and shoveled pea gravel in. We have a neighbor who is a concrete contractor (handy, huh?) and who has offered to help with pouring the floor. We’re expecting that on Tuesday. All told, we should get out from under this fix for less than $1000, which is truly something to celebrate!

What I’ve Been Reading: Still haven’t finished the novel, but I expect to tonight, so I’ll write about it here next week.

What I’ve Been Writing: My goal was to write at least 750 words/day, for at least five days, which would give me a total of 3750. I met that, with a total of 3900 words! I made a decision to bring more characters into my climactic scene, and the writing is going much better now, so that was clearly the right decision. This week, I’m going to try bumping up to 1000 words/day for five days. That will hopefully finish this WIP. If it does, I want to go right into the next one, which I know very little about other than the characters and some big-picture things that will happen. So that’s kind of scary to a reformed, former outliner like me. We’ll see how that goes!

What about you–any little worries in your life lately? (Or big ones, though I hope not?) Have you ever done something very visible that’s outside the norm for your area? And how are you doing with whatever goals you might have, writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, January 13, 2019

We wound up going to Tennessee last week, and wow, what a roller coaster! My husband and I are real estate investors, and the day before we left, an apartment building came on the market that was just what we’ve been looking for. It was located in a great neighborhood and made fantastic money. We drove straight there when we arrived in Knoxville, and met up with our commercial Realtor. The building met our expectations. Retirement, here I come!

Except that it wasn’t to be. We have a building here in Ohio under sale contract right now, and need to close on it before we can complete a purchase. The next day, we were outbid by someone who not only offered more money, but did not have a sale contingency. Disappointing, but we figure it was not the right property for us after all.

But even bigger news came to me in an email last week. There is an 18-acre parcel across the street from our house that was being cleared when we were looking to buy. Wondering what they planned to do, we looked up who owned it. They lived just a street over, so we went to talk to them.

The owner’s wife was one of the nicest people you could meet, and told us they planned to donate the land to the city for a park. So with that assurance, we bought our property.

But last week, the owner’s wife emailed us and told us he’s now planning to develop it for a commercial purpose, and offered to meet with us. We’re trying to keep an open mind, but let’s just say we’re not thrilled, to say the least.

Neither are any of the other neighbors. Our next-door neighbor who’s been taking pictures for us rounded up a bunch, and we met to discuss it. The property is currently zoned low-density residential, and he would need to get it changed to commercial. The neighbors hope they can prevent that.

We met with the owner and his wife the next day. A consummate businessman, he projected nothing but confidence, and did all he could to assure us it wouldn’t be bothersome. While he presented it as a done deal, it’s actually not. After our meeting, we felt a little better on some aspects of the project, but not on others, and the more we think and talk about it, the less we like it. The owner is very well-connected and influential, so I can see the zoning request going either way. Major wait and see!

The house, OTOH, is coming along nicely. Roofers were working when we arrived, and we also spoke to the plumbers and HVAC contractor.

We saw this when we came up the driveway, then swung around:

Inside, looking out the back of the house, and toward the front:

The front left corner with no windows is where the kitchen will go.

This will be my writing (and day job work) office:

That window on the side wall is wrong – it’s supposed to be shorter, like the one beside the patio door, because there will be built-ins along that whole wall. The builder assured us it would be fixed, along with a bathroom window that has the same issue.

This is the deck off our bedroom:

It really does not do the view justice AT ALL. Those mountains appear much closer, more like this:

Even that does not do it justice.

What I’ve Been Reading: Still working on the same novel. It’s good, but it’s long — and with all that’s been going on this last week, I’m doing well to get in a chapter before bed. In nonfiction, I’ve been focusing on a Dean Wesley Smith workshop: The Future – Refresh and Renew.

What I’ve Been Writing: I’m considering this week one of those where I “fail to success.” Meaning, I did not meet my goal, but in trying, I got more written than I otherwise would. My goal was to write at least 750 words/day, for five days, for a total of 3750 words. I ended up getting four days in for a total of 2677. I had two things working against my goal: the trip to TN, during which there was only one day where I had any time to write whatsoever, we were in so many meetings and seeing so many people. All good, just not for the writing. The other issue is that I’m coming up to the climactic scene, which is always the hardest to write (and therefore, goes slower).

So for this week, I’m going to shoot for the same thing: 750 words/day, for five days a week. I don’t think there’s a lot going on this week, so it’s much more attainable than it would have been last week.

What about you–had any excitement lately? Hopefully no rude awakenings like mine! And how have you been doing with whatever goals you might have, whether writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I love to hear from you!

by Jennette, January 6, 2019

No, not the new house! The one where I live now. Last week, my husband decided to get started on the myriad little fixes it would need in preparation to be sold.

As they say on those HGTV shows, we found some “unexpected issues.”

You’d think we know this house inside and out after living here for 25 years. But even then, there are surprises.

This house was a Cape Cod when we bought it (we added a second floor that turned it into a Colonial). It appeared to have a converted breezeway connecting the garage and house. Except the breezeway never was; it’s our dining room. And there’s a little room beneath it off to the side of our basement.

The Pit of Doom, after all the rotted floor was removed

I imagine this was originally intended to be a canned goods cellar or something like that, or maybe a safe room. When we moved here, we found an excessive number of outlets, plus some odd ventilation pipes, that led us to believe it also served as a pot grow room at one time, LOL. My husband figured it would be the perfect place to store his gun collection, as it had a sealed door and would be easy to dehumidify.

So that’s what he did. Over the past few years, we noticed the floor was getting… shall we say, squishy. My husband theorized that the floor had just been thrown down over a dirt floor. So to begin his fixes, he pulled that up.

And found he was right. All the floor was, was plywood tossed over some stacked bricks. What he didn’t expect was that it was full of water. That had allowed the bricks to sink and rotted out the plywood floor beneath the vinyl, hence the squishiness. And hence, the pit of doom. The only reason it’s not a massive ball of mold is because of his dehumidifier, which ran pretty much 24×7, and now we know why.

So DH’s first project will be much bigger than expected. He consulted with a couple of friends in the construction business, as well as the restoration contractors we used for our flip house (who assured us that thanks to the dehumidifier, there was no mold). He then tore all the floor out of the pit of doom (or “the swamp,” as he calls it), and is going to add a French drain to hook into what we already have, then add pea gravel and finally, a proper concrete floor.

Meanwhile, down in Tennessee, things are moving along with our new house. Our builder sent us pics last week, and it’s beginning to really take shape:

What I’ve Been Reading: I haven’t finished anything this week. I’m enjoying the novel I’m reading right now, but it’s a really long one, so it will be a week or two before I finish. And instead of reading nonfiction, I’m taking a WMG workshop. This one is called “The Future: Refresh and Renew.” and deals with planning for a long-term career in fiction writing. So far it’s really good!

What I’ve Been Writing: My goal this past week was to write 500 words/day, for five days, double what I’d been doing. I met my goal, with 2,875 words! Next week is going to be tricky. I’m shooting for 750 words/day, working toward 1,000 that I’ll need to meet my overarching goals of finishing two novels this year.

How has your new year started out? Any surprises, pleasant or otherwise? What are your goals for 2019, if you set them? And how are you doing with whatever goals you might have, writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, December 30, 2018

It’s late as I write this, because I had a usual Sunday of stuff to do around the house, then trying to get back into the habit of cooking healthy dinners, and then–who knew?–writing! So I’m blogging late, but got my writing in, so that’s a win. And I just checked out the ROW80 Blog and saw that the Round starts tomorrow (Monday), not next week like I thought. Luckily, I’ve been thinking about goals these past few days, so I was prepared.

But first, how about an update from Tennessee? I hope these aren’t boring folks too much, but really, I’m documenting the build for myself as much as to share. We got an unexpected, additional Christmas gift this year when our neighbor sent us some new pictures–apparently, there are a bunch of carpenters in Knoxville who wanted to earn some extra Christmas money, because they totally kicked some butt on Christmas Eve!

I like the top two pictures because they’re finally starting to look more like the size the house will be (about 2000 sq. ft.), rather than ridiculously huge(for us) . Then there’s the view out the back of the house, and oh, how about a cute dog pic, because it’s been too long since I’ve had one on here?

What I’ve Been Reading: Cleon Moon, by Lindsay Buroker, the fifth in her Fallen Empire series. I’m really enjoying these, and am glad there are three more to go, plus what looks like a second, spinoff series. No link today because I’m lazy and I need to get this post done.

What I’ve Been Writing: I figured out and fixed the logistical inconsistency I found last week, plus added another fifteen hundred words. Five hundred of those were last night, as I decided it’s time to up my game and get this book done.

Which brings me to my 2019 goals.

This is pretty ambitious, and I feel crazy for even attempting this, with the move and all. Maybe I’ve been watching too many videos from Dean Wesley Smith, but hey, writing’s getting to be fun again, and now that the craziness of the holidays is over, I think I can do this: I’m going to finish this WIP, which only has 5-10,000 words to go. And I’m going to finish the next book in the series this year. Which doesn’t sound like such a big deal, except I write looooooooonnnnnng books. As in, 140,000-words long. Also, packing, moving, getting settled in a new state and all that goes along with it.

Click the emblem to visit the ROW80 blog, and find out what it’s all about – you’re welcome to join us!

So yeah, kind of crazy. But doable, maybe! Because here’s the thing. When I make it a point to do the writing regularly, I can write 1,000 words an hour without too much problem. That comes out to 5,000 words/week, allowing for two days off.

And I only have to do it thirty weeks this year to hit that. Even if I don’t hit it, I’m likely to get a lot more done than I otherwise would (what Smith calls “failing to success” – I love that!). I’ve done a good job (if I say so myself) getting back into a habit of writing through the months of November and December, so now I just have to keep it up. The catch will be to devote an hour to it a day, rather than the 15 minutes or so I’ve been doing.

There will be weeks around the move where I’ll do well to get 1,000 words in for the whole week, but I’m going to try doing just that, keeping it a habit even during the busy times.

For this Round (through March 20th), I want to finish this book, and get another 40,000-45,000 words in on the next (depending on how much it takes to finish this one), for a total of 50,000 words.

For this week: Since I’ve been going slowly for the past month due to the holidays, I’m still ramping up. This week, I want to get a total of 2,500 words, or 500 words a day for five days. I already got today’s 500 in, and did 500 yesterday too, and it wasn’t difficult. So far, so good, but we’ll have to see how that goes when I go back to work.

What about you–how was your holiday? Got any exciting plans for New Year’s Eve? (I don’t, but that’s OK.) How did your 2018 wrap up, and what plans do you have for 2019? I love to hear from you! Please share in the comments–and whatever your plans are, have a fantastic, happy, fun, safe, and prosperous New Year!

by Jennette, December 16, 2018

This has been one of those weeks where it doesn’t look like I got much done, but I feel like I was busy all week.

Some of it was holiday stuff – a get-together with friends, a little shopping.

I also met my writing goal – barely. It helped a lot that I took the busyness of December into account and set a very modest goal. But otherwise, I can’t figure out where the week went.

Fortunately, the same cannot be said in Tennessee. We didn’t expect much to be happening, especially since the builder didn’t text or call with an update like he usually does. However, my husband got a text from our next-door neighbor: “Your house is going up really fast!”

Our response was, “Huh?”

She went over there and took photos yesterday in the rain. Our builder’s crew has has had a busy week, and unlike mine, it shows.

The basement has been framed (outside and load-bearing walls inside – we will be doing the rest later). The main level floor is in, and they started on the back wall.

In the photo on the left above, the big, concrete pad in the foreground is the garage. The photo on the right is viewed from the front of the house.

What I’ve Been Reading: Finally finished some fiction, yay! In paper, I read The Mycologist: The Diary of Bartholomew Leach, Professor of Natural Philosophy by Nicholas P. Money. This historical fiction book is not something I normally would have picked up–I didn’t even know what a mycologist was, until my daughter bought this for me (it’s someone who studies mushrooms). The author is a professor she worked with her senior year at Miami University (in Oxford, Ohio), who she really liked and had a great rapport with. She bought two copies of his book to support him, which I loved! She normally prefers to read nonfiction, but really enjoyed this book, and says the main character basically is the author. But I wouldn’t go so far as to call him a Marty Stu, because the character was really well-developed and appropriately flawed. The book is told in a diary format, and follows the main character’s struggles with being an atheist in an era where this was not acceptable. The voice was perfect for historical fiction featuring a British professor living in Ohio in 1858. But what I especially loved about it was seeing my alma matter’s and the city of Oxford’s history, and “meeting” several of the men after whom the buildings there were named. I also enjoyed seeing the part Oxford played in the Underground Railroad. Highly recommended for those who enjoy historical fiction, especially if they’re interested in Ohio history.

In ebook, I finished The Demon Always Wins by Jeanne Oates Estridge. This was a fun paranormal romance featuring a demon who is forced to help Satan win a bet with God. While heavily steeped in Christian Biblical tradition, this was done in a humorous way so that it should be enjoyable to readers regardless of their religious faith or lack thereof (huh, interesting that both novels I finished last week had to do with religion?). Highly recommended for readers who like paranormal romance.

What I’ve Been Writing: As noted above, I met my writing goal – barely! I wrote five days this week, for about 1200 words, and finished another scene, so I’m happy with that. I thought briefly about writing the short story that was the optional assignment in the Dean Wesley Smith workshop, but decided to just stick with the WIP instead, and I’m glad I did. I just did not have any more time to devote to writing this past week, and that won’t change this coming week.

I think ROW80 ends this week, but I’ll set a weekly goal anyway, since I need to keep up, and that is to finish watching the videos on the workshop, and to write at least five days, at least 200 words/day.

What about you–are you ready for the holidays? I’m not, though I am close. How are you keeping up with all the extra to-dos that December usually entails? And how are you doing on whatever goals you might have, whether writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

by Jennette, December 9, 2018

This past week, I finished decorating for Christmas. I don’t do much, just the mantel and put up a Christmas tree. I used to decorate the console table beneath our TV until our dog Isis started watching TV. Now, she runs and jumps at it growling any time she sees a dog or other animal (and sometimes other things we have no idea why). One of these days, I need to get some video of this, because it’s hilarious! Sometimes she jumps up on the console table, so anything on it is subject to be knocked over and broken. That’s not so funny. So my nativity scene is now on the mantel.

Our Christmas tree is a skinny little artificial thing that’s 6 feet tall, but probably less than 3′ around at the bottom. It’s great for a small house or apartment, and has served us well for many years. It fits well in the corner of our small living room. But in the new house, we’ll have room for a much bigger tree. Even better, we have 28 acres, much of which is wooded–and a lot of that is pine trees. My husband and I can’t wait to go out on our own land, pick out a tree, cut it down, and decorate it in our new home.

Speaking of which, the rain finally let up in Knoxville, and we now have a floor in the garage and basement!

Next up is either framing the fourth wall of the basement, or putting the main floor in, I’m not sure which. Of course, the timing is dependent on the weather, which is kind of iffy down there this week. And after that will be the holidays.

What I’ve Been Reading: I started another nonfiction book, but haven’t finished it yet. I also am still working on the same two novels, so nothing to report this week. The novels are taking a while since I’m reading two at once – the ebook if my husband comes to bed early; otherwise, I read the print book. Getting close to finishing that one, so I can tell you about it next week!

What I’ve Been Writing: On track with my goals this week! I wrote six days, for a total of over 1600 words. Not a lot in and of itself, but enough to keep my WIP moving along. I also signed up for WMG Publishing’s Lifetime Workshop bundle. These are taught by Dean Wesley Smith (who puts them together along with his wife, Kristine Kathryn Rusch). I’ve taken several of them over the years, and he offered a discount on the lifetime bundle to those of us in that situation. Then last week, he announced on his blog that they’d also throw in some of the separate “pop-up” workshops, AND a spot in his Business Master Class taught in Las Vegas every year. I’ve wanted to do the lifetime bundle since he announced it last spring, and I’ve also wanted to take the Business Master Class for years, so this was too good a deal to pass up. Right now I’m taking his popup workshop on Short Romance Fiction, which is a fun and interesting look at the history of the genre, as well as some tips for writing it in short form. At the end, there is an optional short story assignment, where, if I send it to him by the 16th, they’ll read it and offer feedback. For my writing this week, I might give that a shot. So my goal this week is to write at least five days, and either write a short story, or write at least 200 words on the novel in progress.

What about you–how are your plans and to-do lists going, as we get into this holiday season? What do you do to decorate? Do you read more than one book at a time? And how are you doing with whatever goals you might have, whether writing or otherwise? Please share in the comments–I’d love to hear from you!

Life and Love in Four Dimensions

Tag Archives: ROW80