Checking In

Well...that was a bumpy start. Had to buy a copy of MS Word (and a DVD/CD drive[1]) for my iMac because track changes is now absolutely necessary to the editing process, and Word's track changes function doesn't port well into Pages. Er...actually, it doesn't at all. Then I had to move everything over to the iMac because my laptop is old and cranky and couldn't handle ​having three different word processors[2] open at the same time. Finally, I had to re-arrange my work area because I can't sit the entire time. It totally screws with my already screwed spine. [sigh] No fun at all. But necessary. Hurray for Macs, and their ability to just plug and play. (The entire reason I'm on an Apple platform and plan on staying there.) Struggling with drivers and so on would've made a simple task involving one morning into a lost day. That would've sucked. It's silly, but the feeling of having a new toy has helped my focus. I'm for whatever works.

Also, I'm not having any panic attacks--not yet, anyway.

Still, I've got the bulk of the new beginning sorted out. Honestly that was the scariest part of the edits this time around. There's some heavy-lifting in the middle--middles are (and I suspect always will be) the bane to my writerly existence. Hey, every writer has some aspect of the process where they habitually bog down. Middle-muddles are mine. I've much more confidence in endings than I used to have, thank the gods. That's something. I've learned a great deal since I was first published.[3] Yay, progress!

Anyway...that's today's State of the Stina address. It's been very difficult to not pay attention to the news right now. I simply can't afford it for the next two weeks. Please. Please keep up the activism, y'all. Dear reader, if you're an American, I need you to take point for a bit. Keep calling those Congress-critters. It's clear the GOP thinks they're above the law. Kick their asses, and keep kicking 'em. It's your responsibility as a citizen of the United States to hold them accountable. Yes. Democracies are a pain in the ass. Do it anyway. There are too many other citizens at risk to do otherwise.

Take care, you. And be excellent to one another.

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[1] I don't like having to rely only upon the internet for installing software. It sucks. Plus, I still have a physical music collection. Did I mention I don't trust electronic media enough to 100% depend upon it as an archive for...well...anything? Certainly not books or music. Mock me if you will, but when you change devices and/or formats a couple more times and lose your information because of formatting incompatibility, I'll just shrug. 
[2] Scrivener, Pages, and Word. Hey, I jumped the gun, thinking that a conversion to Pages and back to Word would be okay. Er...not so much.
[3] Although, technically it's novel number one--in order of how the things were written. See, this one was trunked. I'll be honest. It was for a good reason. My story-eyes were too big for my writing chops. I've always tended to do that. As for the second novel I ever wrote...well, you'll never see that one. It was a write-for-hire thing, and not very good. Trust me, you're not missing anything. Also, if you're a beginner, I should probably set some expectations. Selling five out of five novels written is not normal. I'm a weirdo. Most novelists have a number of trunked novels. (Even Stephen King.) That's not a bad thing. It means most writers at my stage have far more practice at it than I do. So...there you are.