EDIT: Forgot to mention that #1 son and his beautiful wife are celebrating their 3rd wedding anniversary today. Happy anniversary and I love you both!
And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming...
I've been pre-empted the last two weeks by a couple of wonderful guest bloggers. It's been exciting to get to know PC's fellow Modern Heat authors, and I've used them as an excuse to get lazy -- not only with writing a blog, but with writing anything. I've barely even made a grocery list the past few weeks. I checked the reading list I keep and realized I only read 3 books during the entire month of August. And I've only read
Maybe it's that summer is winding to a close. Or maybe it's been the spate of hurricanes and tropical storms that have plagued the southeastern United States lately. My mother thought she might have to evacuate from Hanna, but fortunately she didn't. Gustav slugged into New Orleans and Ike terrorized Texas. When a storm hits the Gulf, there's always the possibility it will affect us even though we're about 350 miles north of the coast.
The DH was gone for almost a week right after Labor Day and it was nice not to have to worry about meals and such. Then he came home with a nasty cold and don't tell him I said so, but he's a real bear when he's sick and not a very good patient. Thankfully I didn't get it since I'm finally over the cold I brought home from San Francisco. He and our boys are going on a male bonding camping and whitewater rafting trip this weekend. I sure they can manage to have fun without me. I'm not sure yet just how I'll spend the weekend. Of course, the gasoline situation may make the decision for me.
I can see autumn on the horizon. Heck, in some parts of the country they've already had snow. Here, the weather will change gradually and next thing I know I'll be dragging out sweaters and long-sleeved shirts, heavy pajamas and jackets. I'll have to dig out the light-up pumpkin for the front porch and figure out what sort of candy to buy for the trick-or-treaters. But before then I'm going on a retreat in the mountains and have to prepare for that. Then it will be time to start thinking about Thanksgiving, and oh my heavens, there are only 98 days until Christmas!!
Is it summer's end where you live? Or has autumn (or even winter) descended onto your part of the world? What's your favorite season?
P.S. This Sunday, our good friend Barbara Vey from Publisher's Weekly is taking part in a Walk for Polycystic Kidney Disease. Her sixteen-year-old nephew and his father have this disease. There's no cure, but these walks are fundraisers to raise money for research for a cure. If you feel so led, please consider pledging money to Barbara.
P.P.S. I wrote this blog over the weekend and on Monday I finished a New Year's story and submitted it. To celebrate my accomplishment, one lucky commenter will be selected to win a book from my stash.
P.P.P.S. Congratulations to Lois who is Angel's winner from Monday. Please contact Angel to claim your prize.
20 comments:
Aha! I've been saving this for you. Maybe it will help you get out of your end-of-summer writing slump...
YOU, TOO CAN BE A GOOD WRITER
(Reader’s Digest, September 2008)
So you’ve always wanted t learn how to write something with a bit more zip than a grocery list? Look no further! Here are some valuable tips, courtesy of www.plainlanguage.gov.
Avoid clichés like the plague – they’re old hat.
Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
Do not use a foreign word when there is an adequate English quid pro quo.
Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
Don’t repeat yourself, or say again what you have said before.
Be more or less specific.
Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
FYI...my favorite season is winterspringsummerfall!
It's definitely autumn here in Wisconsin. The trees are turning and there's a bite in the air. Dreaded winter isn't far behind.
Thanks for PKD Walk plug. Although I'll be more trudging along than actually walking. But a big chunk of my family turns out, so it's more like a day at the park. Pray for warm, dry weather. ::g::
Must start new WIP in earnest today... no time for a slump.
FallWinterSpringSummer, in that order. Summer's my least favorite season. I love the scents wafting up from fireplaces in the Fall and Winter. And the heady aroma of flowers in Spring. Summer is simply too hot without a pool...
I've had an epiphany for my current WIP and finally got beyond my stall-out in Chapter 6. Chapter 7 is such a welcome sight!
It's almost fall in Nashville. This morning the temps were in the upper 50's but should be in the high 70's or low 80's. Pretty normal for mid-September.
I think I missed something. Saturday, it was 90 degrees and the icing melted off the wedding cake I made. Now, its fall all of a sudden. I'm glad, fall is my favorite, but I was expecting it to stay hotter for a while longer.
Writing slump? Eh...yeah. As usual. I'm trying to fight through it, but there is so many other things going on. That and I just hate the middle. I can write twenty partials before I can get through the middle of a book. Sigh...
It is supposed to be back in the low eighties by the weekend, but still in the upper 50's at night. I am soooooooooooooo glad I'm not going on the male bonding camping and white water rafting trip. That river is going to be like ice.
And thank you, Mother, for those helpful tips. *grin*
I shouldn't be so facetious about which season I like best for we really don't have a definite change of seasons here on the south Georgia coast. Almost everything stays green all year, but the live oak leaves fall twice a year (now and again in the spring...means we rake leaves twice as often as the other part of the world.) It is rare to see a "bare" tree. Our temps are moderate most of the year; the summer humidity is a killer; and when it gets cold in January and February it's not the below zero kind and it only lasts a day or two before it warms again. Of course the ocean cools off a bit after October and warms again in June. No one's world is perfect.
I guess if I would be honest with myself my favorite season would be fall in the North Carolina mountains. (Confession is good, etc.)
You're welcome to the writing tips...I thought they were clever.
Spring and summer are my favorites. I grew up in south Georgia and the winters are mild. Moving to north Alabama was pure weather shock! Snow, sleet and ice oh my. Thanks goodness my area has not had it bad the last few years.
In the spring and summer I can get cooled off. But winter weather chills me to the bone and I can't seem to get warm. And all those layers of clothes! I'm much more of a shorts and sandals kinda girl. :D
Autumn is my absolute favorite! I love watching the leaves turn colors. That's actually one thing I miss about Michigan - the beautiful reds and golds that we just can't duplicate here. I'm ready for colder weather, football (and the food that goes with it), Halloween and jumping in piles of leaves.
Instigator
I'm a spring/fall girl. Even though my body doesn't like that time, can we say sinus infections/allergy together people? And yes, it's morning lows 50's, daytime highs low 80's, here in Birmingham/Gardendale, yeah! And I have a showing of my home today, yeah!!!
robertsonreads
northern californai
hot here. don t like those fires
i do like the spring weather
kh
I love fall! Bundling up in blankets, sweaters with cables, football, hot chocolate (Yum!). Yep, fall is my favorite time of year.
Spring comes a close second, baby animals, baby birds, flowers budding through the rejuvenated earth, being able to dig in the ground and plant again... yep, spring, sweaters, blankets, hot chocolate and tennis!!!
I love spring and fall. I missed the seasons when I lived in Hawaii. It was the best weather ever, but when you grow up with seasons, you think seasonally. And suddenly it becomes hard to recall when something happened -- because everything happens in summer. Hubby and I were talking about this just the other day. :)
I love when the weather starts to get just a little crisp. Time for boot shopping! :)
Definitely been writing. In fact, I've had this Nabokov quote on my brain for weeks now: "I have rewritten -- often several times -- every word I have ever written. My pencils outlast their erasers."
The weather is really nice in NY. We had a mini heat wave this past weekend, but now we're in the high 70's. Autumn is my favorite season. I love the comfortable weather and the beautiful colors of the changing leaves.
We are kind of at summers end right now, still getting temps in the 80's and very dry, we need rain. Spring and Fall are my favorite times of the year.
A big happy anniversey to your son and his wife.
So many autumn lovers here. I like autumn too because it's a welcome respite after the brutal heat and humidity of an Alabama summer. And the colors are pretty too. We do get some color, but a lot depends on the weather. The best colors occur when dry, sunny days are followed by dry, cool nights. I have 3 red maples in my backyard and we've had some good color in them. They're not big yet -- maybe 15 feet tall. But one day I'm going to have quite a show in back.
I have to tell a funny story about autumn. I went to college in the Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina. My junior year I got a new roommate who hailed from Miami, Florida. When autumn starts in the Smokies, it will be quite cool in the morning, but get quite warm by lunchtime. I warned my roomie about this and told her to just wear a light jacket and she'd be fine by noon.
I'd had to advise her on a lot of wardrobe requirements. She came to NC with a "winter" coat that was what we'd call a spring coat. So she called home for money to buy a down jacket. Anyway, back to autumn. The first cool morning descends on the valley and she bops out to class wearing jeans, a wool sweater and her down jacket. By noon, she was sweating bullets and had to come back to the dorm to change.
It was fun watching her when the first snow fell too. She stayed out til 2 AM playing in it.
She apparently learned to love the mountain weather because she stayed there after graduation. Sadly, she passed away from cancer several years ago.
It's still warm here in Pennsylvania but the temperatures have gone to the lovely 70s. The weather the last couple of days has been wonderful. My favorite season is spring when everything starts growing and we plan our garden.
Just gotta share this one with you.
Do you know how to tell if it is Indian Summer?
There is Apache fog!
Congrats to your son and dil.
My daughter and sil celebrate their 3rd also - tomorrow. And a baby on the way in 2 mos - a girl.
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