Category: writer at work

1 December 2023

Friday 1 December 2023: The month ahead

Well, this is a long one. I’d make a drink and pull up a chair if I were you… The dog waited until about 6:30am to wake me up yesterday, which made a relatively nice change. It’s still raving early for me, but I thought it might at least be a bit warmer. Nope… when I opened the door we...

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30 November 2023

Thursday 30 November 2023: November wrap-up

After another disturbed night (thanks to the dog – twice I had to stand on that freezing cold step wrapped in a blanket), I still managed to get up on time, but I took my time getting to my desk. I caught up on social media and emails on the phone. The planning work I started on Tuesday got me...

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29 November 2023

Wednesday 29 November 2023: The year has flown

And just like that, November was almost over. It’s my November wrap-up post tomorrow, so this is the last post before the December run. I can’t believe how quickly the year has flown, and yet November seemed to drag and drag. Until yesterday when I started today’s post. Then it was, like, Wow! Where did November go? Time was spent...

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28 November 2023

Tuesday 28 November 2023: Onwards and upwards…

I had such good intentions yesterday. But as with the best laid plans, I think you know what’s coming next… The poet got off to a good start. He didn’t want to get up with the lark, but he did. Temperatures dropped overnight and we had freezing rain. I know this because I was up with the dog at about...

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27 November 2023

Monday 27 November 2023: A slow start

Running late today, so hopefully a quick one to catch up with. Friday was busy. I started the day with some editing. I didn’t have any writing workshops to watch, and I didn’t want to start anything I might not finish – or reach a point at which I was happy to finish. So I pottered about, doing a bit...

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24 November 2023

Friday 24 November 2023: A Very Good Day

It doesn’t take a lot to make me happy in the greater scheme of things, and yesterday was no exception. Yesterday was a Very Good Day. I used to work off a memory stick. A big memory stick (as in lots of room) but a memory stick all the same. Scrivener didn’t really like it and nor did Word. But...

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23 November 2023

Thursday 23 November 2023: Just call me Mrs Angry…

I finished reading the so-called cosy mystery on Tuesday evening and wasn’t overly impressed. It read more like a travelogue than a novel and the first death, from the title, didn’t happen until well after the midpoint of the book, and it was closely followed, like almost immediately, by the second death. Now I know why we’re supposed to get...

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22 November 2023

Wednesday 22 November 2023: Immersing myself in science fiction

The hedgehog returned on Tuesday night. I still thought it looked a bit small, so I asked the poet for his opinion, and he assured me that it’s a fully grown male. I must have only seen very big females in the past! I also asked him where he thinks the hedgehogs are living, and he said he’s pretty sure...

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21 November 2023

Tuesday 21 November 2023: Fair start to the week

I had a fair start to the week. I was up late, again. It’s taking us both some time to stop being so tired all the time. We need to stop binge-watching television programmes into the early hours and start going to sleep earlier. The poet did great. He was up and off, although he was tired when he got...

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20 November 2023

Monday 20 November 2023: A week of people ahead

So, we had our weekend off. I didn’t have any work to do and the poet didn’t have any gigs. We didn’t have any visiting planned. We didn’t spend any time in the garden. And we felt refreshed. Friday afternoon we headed out to get the dog’s latest medication, and while we were out we did the weekly shopping. Then...

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17 November 2023

Friday 17 November 2023: Another day off!

I was up early yesterday to take the dog to the vet, expecting to be in and out in a few minutes. But when I got there they said I had to leave him because the test they were doing needed some time to take effect… well, I wasn’t expecting that. I thought it was just another blood test. Very...

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16 November 2023

Thursday 16 November 2023: In touch with writing, again

On Tuesday afternoon, I closed down the laptop and moved to the living room, taking my notebooks with me. I’m delighted to report that I managed to do quite a lot of short story planning work and I started the new editing job. Earlier in the week I brainstormed a few short stories that have to be in over the...

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15 November 2023

Wednesday 15 November 2023: Late with everything

By the time yesterday morning arrived, the storm was well and truly blown out, although the south of the country was still being battered by rain. I didn’t bother going out into the garden to move everything back to where it was in case there was another storm on the horizon. As it was, it grew very dark very early,...

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14 November 2023

Tuesday 14 November 2023: Full of cold again

We both had a very late start yesterday. I’m full of cold again, the poet seems to be just getting it. Oh, how we like to share things in our house. The poet, however, was also off on another several-day business trip – fortunately the last one this year, and hopefully they will be fewer in the future. Storm Debi...

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13 November 2023

Monday 13 November 2023: Wills n things

The poet was back from his almost-week-long business trip (yay!), but he had his usual Friday morning meetings via Teams, so I had to find something to do that (a) was quiet, (b) didn’t require much concentration, of (c) could be done with my earphones in. I was awaiting a delivery, so kept half an eye on the tracker. I...

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10 November 2023

Friday 10 November 2023: Housekeeping

The dog got his own back on me yesterday morning. He woke me up at 4am to go out. Standing on the doorstep in just your nightie at this time of year is no fun. And, of course, he took his time. When I went out to feed the birds much later, I saw pigeon feathers everywhere. I don’t think...

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9 November 2023

Thursday 9 November 2023: More technical woes

Toothache kept me awake for much of Tuesday night while I continued to um and ah about renewing my membership to that writing academy. In the end, I opted for the monthly membership again and I watched a couple of videos. One of them inspired me to do some in-depth work on my main character for The Secret of Whitehorse...

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8 November 2023

Wednesday 8 November 2023: An executive decision

The day started yesterday a bit later than it needed to due to me sleeping in a bit. The dog had woke me up early again, asking to go out again, and it took me a while to go back to sleep. Then I slept through my alarm. It was a phone call that woke me up. So I was...

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7 November 2023

Tuesday 7 November 2023: Too much ‘people’

The last week was far too busy for me, with way too many people in it. It started a week ago last Saturday with a trip to the vet. On Monday I posted the latest chapter of Diary of a Scaredy Cat to Substack, for paid subscribers only, and I did write a brand-new short story from start to finish and...

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6 November 2023

Monday 6 November 2023: The month ahead

Okay, I’m a bit late with the ‘hello November’ thing, so I’ll just go straight in and do it. Proper catch up from tomorrow! Hello November I’ve been working hard over the past few days working out a schedule I’m more likely to stick to. Instead of cramming as many jobs into the diary as possible, I’m allocating everything, every...

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2 November 2023

Thursday 2 November 2023: I slept like a baby

The plan for November will be prepared just as soon as I’ve shifted that nasty edit. I just wanted to hit base and say thanks to everyone who sent me good wishes for yesterday. I believe the procedure went well, despite one or two delays on the equipment/technology side, and I don’t believe they removed any samples, which I hope...

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1 November 2023

Wednesday 1 November 2023: October wrap-up

Oops, forgot to post this one yesterday I was so preoccupied with everything else that was going on. Once all the usual social stuff was out of the way, the day began with an acknowledgement from the anthology editor for the short story I turned around the day before. I read a few blogs and posted replies, and I set...

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31 October 2023

Tuesday 31 October 2023: Happy Halloween!

Monday started well. I was up on time and I was at my desk on time. And then I started work. First job was yesterday’s blog post. I should have started it last Friday, but it kept slipping to the bottom of the to-do list, so I started and finished it yesterday. The second job was starting today’s blog post....

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30 October 2023

Monday 30 October 2023: Improvement all round

I finished the bibliography work on Friday and I drafted an email in response to the author’s latest email sending yet more material. We’re, like, 4 *working* days away from this job having to be done and he starts sending new material! Well, I had a right old rant, but I didn’t send it. First of all I put it...

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27 October 2023

Friday 27 October 2023: What day off?

Today was supposed to be another day off. But because I’ve only been doing half-days this week, I’ll probably squeeze in some more work time. Mostly just so I can get a particularly nasty job off my desk and gone. The day didn’t start well yesterday. We’re both still feeling the effects of this cold/flu thing. We’ve both tested negative...

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26 October 2023

Thursday 26 October 2023: Dear Universe… A word, please…

Today was supposed to be a day off, but we moved the day off to next Wednesday and now I have to work today. I don’t mind. I need to work. I have a lot of catching up to do. And this time, it’s not through laziness. I was doing all right on Tuesday. Indeed, I’d done all right all...

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25 October 2023

Wednesday 25 October 2023: Migraine…

The day started with an email off ClickUp trying to fix my recurring task problem on my calendar view. I had to take some screen shots and circle the issue with big arrows pointing to where it works and where it doesn’t work. The techie said it’s not a feature at the moment, so I showed him that, actually, it...

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24 October 2023

Tuesday 24 October 2023: I finished something!

Yay! I actually finished something. Just over a week ago I had a job request land in my in box. My first instinct was to say ‘sorry, I’m full’, but this looked like a quick and interesting job I could easily turn around in a week. I pitched for it, without too much expectation. And I was selected! The job...

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