Hello, patient readers. April and May have come and gone, and no postings. Bad Jim. No Biscuit.....
On the other hand, there have been loads of issues and events. The FAA is, well, still nuts. Thunderstorms have already raised their ugly (thunder)heads, bringing terror to our new trainees who've never seen weather deviations before. One trainee asked me after a particular chaotic session, "Is this going to happen all summer long?" Yep. "Could it be any worse?" Yep. "How did you ever learn to handle it?" Just like taking a sip from a fire hose. Time to bear down and earn our pay...
As to the title of this post, I've been doing some soul searching about my lack of progress this spring on Imperfect Hope. Guess what... I've been acting as if I'm afraid of writing... Something has triggered a fear of failure, or fear of success, or... Fear. I'm not sure exactly what is going on, I don't want to quit, but every time I"ve sat down to write, somehow something has come up to keep me from actually doing anything more than fiddling about with what I've already done. Perhaps I need to write something else for a bit? Perhaps I need to just deal with it?
Some time away from writing has clarified some aspects of what I've been doing with Imperfect Hope, and raised other questions. I've muddled about with various sub plots that needed to be muddled with, and tossed out some that just didn't fit this story. Cerryn's journey to questor and weaponmaster will end up being a lot more involved, as will Randir's. Ren's tale will have a greater bearing on the overall political/strategic storyline, justifying his existence in the tale. And the political games of the Empire will take on a larger part, with factions within the Empire of Tallux pulling the emperor and those within the empire who oppose him back and forth as they try to balance their empire's needs.
Beyond the writing front, Irma and I have tackled head on our spring to do list. Old gardens have been refurbished, grass dug out from where it didn't belong, and the retaining wall projects are underway. 3 fruit trees and a willow need to have the slopes that prevent them from getting sufficient water levelled by building a retaining wall around them, and I"ve incorporated the landscape design to allow me to level and build a gravelled work area in front of the garden shed at the same time. We've also wired some outdoor outlets for a water fountain at the deck corner, as well as lighting, solar powered motion sensor lights will eliminate the scary dark corners of our oversized lot (I hope squirrels don't trigger the sensors or the lights will be on all night). The deck was sanded (5 days of crawling around on my hands and knees smoothing out splinters) and refinished, and trim and paint have been touched up all around the deck and house. Ahead: watering zones for the veggie garden and fruit trees, trim up and paint the shed, and start laying in a flagstone barbecue patio adjacent to the deck. This to be done by summers end, when our fall to-do list will kick in.
Why the flurry of home improvement/repair/upkeep? Three years to retirement. Looking ahead to it, we'll have to have those project expenses taken care of by then, so... Git-er-done...
Anyway, I'm going to continue to address my writing fears, and one way I intend to do it is to get back to blogging more frequently. I think I'm going to write a short story or scene outside of my ongoing project, just for the blog. Maybe that'll break the logjam. Maybe...
TTFN,
Jim
On the other hand, there have been loads of issues and events. The FAA is, well, still nuts. Thunderstorms have already raised their ugly (thunder)heads, bringing terror to our new trainees who've never seen weather deviations before. One trainee asked me after a particular chaotic session, "Is this going to happen all summer long?" Yep. "Could it be any worse?" Yep. "How did you ever learn to handle it?" Just like taking a sip from a fire hose. Time to bear down and earn our pay...
As to the title of this post, I've been doing some soul searching about my lack of progress this spring on Imperfect Hope. Guess what... I've been acting as if I'm afraid of writing... Something has triggered a fear of failure, or fear of success, or... Fear. I'm not sure exactly what is going on, I don't want to quit, but every time I"ve sat down to write, somehow something has come up to keep me from actually doing anything more than fiddling about with what I've already done. Perhaps I need to write something else for a bit? Perhaps I need to just deal with it?
Some time away from writing has clarified some aspects of what I've been doing with Imperfect Hope, and raised other questions. I've muddled about with various sub plots that needed to be muddled with, and tossed out some that just didn't fit this story. Cerryn's journey to questor and weaponmaster will end up being a lot more involved, as will Randir's. Ren's tale will have a greater bearing on the overall political/strategic storyline, justifying his existence in the tale. And the political games of the Empire will take on a larger part, with factions within the Empire of Tallux pulling the emperor and those within the empire who oppose him back and forth as they try to balance their empire's needs.
Beyond the writing front, Irma and I have tackled head on our spring to do list. Old gardens have been refurbished, grass dug out from where it didn't belong, and the retaining wall projects are underway. 3 fruit trees and a willow need to have the slopes that prevent them from getting sufficient water levelled by building a retaining wall around them, and I"ve incorporated the landscape design to allow me to level and build a gravelled work area in front of the garden shed at the same time. We've also wired some outdoor outlets for a water fountain at the deck corner, as well as lighting, solar powered motion sensor lights will eliminate the scary dark corners of our oversized lot (I hope squirrels don't trigger the sensors or the lights will be on all night). The deck was sanded (5 days of crawling around on my hands and knees smoothing out splinters) and refinished, and trim and paint have been touched up all around the deck and house. Ahead: watering zones for the veggie garden and fruit trees, trim up and paint the shed, and start laying in a flagstone barbecue patio adjacent to the deck. This to be done by summers end, when our fall to-do list will kick in.
Why the flurry of home improvement/repair/upkeep? Three years to retirement. Looking ahead to it, we'll have to have those project expenses taken care of by then, so... Git-er-done...
Anyway, I'm going to continue to address my writing fears, and one way I intend to do it is to get back to blogging more frequently. I think I'm going to write a short story or scene outside of my ongoing project, just for the blog. Maybe that'll break the logjam. Maybe...
TTFN,
Jim
