Bunkering Down

I'll be bunkering down for Book in a Week with the Sask Romance Writers starting Jan 15. Yes, I've almost reached the mid-point of NovelTrack with the ACFW but this is when my writing intensifies.

You see, during Aug-Nov of 2010, I basically stayed in my cave all day and evening, only coming out for pit stops while completing Emma's Outlaw. The family took care of me. They made meals and called me when it was time to eat. They did the dishes, laundry, etc.

In return, I gave them an old-fashioned Christmas complete with lots of homemade baking from scratch. I made the meals and did the dishes, etc. I've continued that in January.

However, as of this Saturday morning, all that stops. Last night one of the boys even asked when it's their turn to do the dishes again and I reminded them about this weekend. He nodded and left.

The main problem is that it's now too cold to work in my office in our converted garage until April so my current cave is in a corner of the living room. The boys want to have a friend over this weekend - from after Youth Group Friday night until we bring him to church Sunday morning. I said okay but reminded them they have to stay downstairs in the basement where the XBox lives (now that we cleaned the area) and be quiet because I'll be working. I ignored the look of horror on their faces. I like to think it was more of a respectful nature. LOL

Meanwhile, here's a photo taken the last week of Dec 2010 with my new iPhone. It was taken about a mile from our farm, which is when I was able to convince Nelson to stop and allow me to roll down the window. Once that man gets going, he doesn't like stopping until he gets there. And if he stopped every time I wanted to take a photo, we'd never get anywhere. :)

Final Sundog of 2010.

So far I've seen one sundog in 2011. Have you?

Prairie Chick and Trade-Offs

Today I'm blogging at Prairie Chicks Write Romance about negotiating with your family to give you more time to write during what Prairie Chick Helena calls 'writing binges'.

For me, these writing binges come in the form of Book in a Week (BIAW) and National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo) which is only 3 wks away.

I find I write best when I'm accountable for my writing and that's what these 'binges' give me - accountability. Instead of just talking about it, I'm forced to actually do it. I say yay! to writing binges.

Who will care for your family while you're ignoring them? That's where the trade-offs come in.

The questions I've asked the Prairie Chicks today are these:
- Do you use trade-offs during intensive writing periods?
- Are there any trade-offs you’ve thought up but haven’t tried and why not?
- What's stopping you?

Seekerville BIAW Starts Today

I've signed on for the Seekerville edition of Book In a Week (BIAW). If you follow my blog, you know I do BIAW every January with the Sask Romance Writers, but this is a new one for me.

I won't be starting a brand new book but using this week to add the 20,000 words I need to Emma's Outlaw.

That means I'll be hunkering down in my writing cave this week. I may put out more blog posts here with my progress, but I won't be appearing on many blogs around the net except for the Seekervile one which is encouraging us on.

And in case you're wondering, yes, it's now too cold to work in the sunroom so I've had to move my cave into the rec centre. We've got the furnace fired up and I've set up an old comuter desk on one side of the room where I've been working the past couple days. I'd love to set it up permanently but the cement is cold under my shoes. We'll be putting the old living room carpet out there but have to wait for the crews to come and take it out of the livingroom first.

No, the wall/renovations aren't finished in the living room/bathroom. Actually, they haven't started yet. We have everything ready to go and the insurance company has picked their company of choice but it's a matter of scheduling now. And whenever they do want to start, we won't be stopping them.

Now, on Emma's story: She's been kidnapped by outlaws and is riding across Wyoming...