Then Life Got Interesting

I am a princess in a castle. It's true.

Granted, this princess hasn't shaved in a while and I won't be tossing my tresses out the window for anybody to climb because they're a touch greasy at the moment and that would be embarrassing. And this is exactly what isolation does for your social concerns. It doesn't matter what I look like, because nobody has seen me for four days and it looks like I'll be adding another two to the calendar.

Extreme temperatures and some seriously high wind have turned Ohio into a bit of a tundra and the road where I live isn't exactly a high priority. So, I'm pretty stuck. My dad can't even come plow me out himself with the tractor because the fuel is gelled up. Yes, it's that cold. They're saying wind chills could get as low as -40 tomorrow, and it doesn't matter whether I mean Fahrenheit or Celsius because at that level of cold it's the same thing. Yes, really. Science, you know.

Last night I was awake when the front blew in at 1:30 (mostly because sleep patterns mean nothing when you're a hermit) and it came rolling in at about 50 mph. I have a two story house and I felt it shift. Not the first time I've felt that, but it's still pretty remarkable when your bed moves ever so slightly because of something going on outside.

So what am I doing?

I've produced all the extra content that will be in the paperback of NOT A DROP TO DRINK when it releases in August, I've tacked quite a few thousand words onto the WIP. I've re-watched all of Sherlock, caught up with American Horror Story, tuned in to Downton Abbey and watched The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. And then because apparently I'm a misplaced Brit I read the first half of THE HOBBIT and some Anthony Trollope. I caught myself speaking with an accent the other day.

Don't ask who I'm talking to.

Today... well, today I'm thinking about teaching myself how to play bridge. It's something I've always wanted to do and I guess I've got the time.

If you see me on Twitter have pity on me and talk to me.

The Neverending Problem of Being A Reader & A Writer

It sucks.

I hate living so vividly in my own head that sometimes I can't pull myself out of it in order to function in reality. A great example would be this morning when I drove 45 minutes to an appointment at 8 AM that was actually scheduled for 1 PM. Yeah. Oops.

Actually I take that back, I love living vividly in my own head. It's a glorious thing and a wonderful escape. What I dislike about it is when someone else's vision is crowding mine for space - because I'm a reader as well as a writer.

Normally I try not to read fiction at all while I'm writing in order to avoid what I call voice bleeding -accidentally grafting the voice of your read onto your ms - but this week as I recover from eye surgery, I thought it might be safe to read a little with my one good eye and let my own story just stew a bit.

Kind of a mistake. I picked up an ARC of Rosamund Hodge's CRUEL BEAUTY and now it's living in my head, taking up the space that is supposed to be reserved for my WIP. If you follow my Twitter stream you know that my reading lamp went out the other night and I didn't have replacement bulbs, but I wasn't done reading. 

So I put on my headlamp.

I'm sure somewhere there's someone who thinks a girl in surgery googles and a headlamp is attractive, and if you find him, let me know. I've got a great selfie for him.

Thursday Thoughts

Thoughts lately...

1) All of our senses are just big holes in our faces. Except touch. But our skin has a billion little holes in it.

2) There was an anti-stalking campaign this week, which I think is great. However, I also giggled a bit about the fact that in order to stay informed I had to follow them.

3) Whenever I tweet or tumbl someone I feel slightly dirty. Like, in public if you said to someone, "Yeah I tumbled you," or, "I tweeted you," it would be awkward. Also if you said you find yourself constantly pinning them.