Probable Lasts

With Marty's job situation in limbo, I've reflected on a lot of probable lasts. It's too bad, because though there are things I'm not crazy about in Texarkana, I like it better than the idea of leaving. 

Today, while we put away our Christmas decorations, we all sort of took a moment and reflected on the idea this was probably our last Christmas here. I packed away some of the Christmas decorations folks here gave me, feeling sentimental. Corona Joan has given me these amazing Christmas plates for the last two years. Corona Gail gave me this beautiful "Joy" ornament. 

Corona Cindy made a gorgeous table runner a couple of years ago I won in a silent auction by outbidding Deb, by $5. Deb may never forgive me. However, I might give it to her anyway. Maybe not. 

Deb, the Queen of Everything, is taking off next week for her three month stint in warmer weather. Several folks suggested a mini-Corona night before she left. I pushed harder than most. But I didn't want to tell her it was because I wanted one probable last Corona night. She's busy, I didn't want to guilt her into it. Plus, what if I'm still here when she gets back? Would she think I was crying wolf? 

When I head out to my favorite coffee joint to meet Val or Joy, I ruminate along those lines. How many more? At the Master Gardener Christmas party a few weeks ago, I teared up on the way home, wondering if that had been my probable last event with them. I mean, if we are still here when dues come around in March, it means Marty doesn't have a job. The same goes for Golden Quills--but in that case, an anonymous soul paid my membership for 2026--which in some ways is too bad because Betzy is working her level best to turn away good writers.

I was a wreck after the book club Christmas party, knowing my time here is coming to an end. I agreed to host for January, because I wasn't sure how much time I had left. What a lovely group of women. That's all I have to say. 

Very few of these folks are comprehending that Marty is unemployed nor do they fully understand my time here is probably limited. A few, like Joy, get it. I'm pretty sure Corona Joan and Corona Gail figured it out, but neither bring it up. I don't either. Most say silly things like, "Has Marty thought about commuting to Shreveport?" For what job? Plus Shreveport is roughly 75 miles from here. And my favorite, "There's a company with the name, 'tri' in it on the I-30 frontage road that uses computers. He should apply there."  

As soon as my edits are complete, I'm going to start working on getting the house shoveled out--think an early spring cleaning. I need to paint the bathroom and the kitchen. I'd like to get the landscaping around front spiff up. There are a few minor this and thats which need attention. Because--just in case--we are selling our house and taking off to parts unknown. In the meantime, I'm grateful for my time here. And I am absorbing my Probable Lasts with as much grace as I can. 

But then again, perhaps Marty will land a job here. We'll call that an improbable miracle. 

The Writing Process

My current manuscript is almost complete. To be fair, it IS complete. I'm in the line edit stage. Marty swears I haven't slept in a year. He may be right. 

Here's how the book writing process works: 

Write It

Write for days. Weeks. Months.  Let the characters consume your every waking thought. Say random things during social events which make you look crazy because you aren't paying attention to the conversation around you. 

For example, "What are you doing this weekend." Reply: "I wonder if I should have the cat jump from the refrigerator and on to the burglar's head instead of from the second floor balcony."  

Forgive your friends when they look at you like you aren't all there. Because, well, you aren't.

Beta Readers

Find people who like you enough to read your manuscript and who are willing to give you brutal advice. If they say things like, "that was a nice story," they aren't qualified beta readers. Generally these folks are also writers who are expecting you to return the favor.  

Rewrite It

Sort through the Beta Readers' comments and pick out the useful feedback. 

Not useful: I hate that you named your character Meredith instead of Mary.
Useful: Bearer bonds were discontented in 1982 and that negates the premise of your story. 

Not useful: There's no street in Lafayette Louisiana called, "Ashland."
Useful: Your serial killer's name is Hannah-Belle Lecter. You know there's a fictional serial killer named Hannibal Lecter right? 

Once you have everything sorted out, rewrite. Plan on living on almonds and M&Ms. Protip: the best way to stay productive is to keep your phone on do not disturb. 

Developmental Edits

Send your manuscript to your developmental editor who will point out areas to elevate your story. The editor will tell you useful things such as, "Your secondary character isn't likable and here are ways to fix that." And "You have two major plot holes which don't move your narrative and what about having your main character flee from Argentina instead of Uganda because he's South American?"

Rewrite It Again

This time, take all that information the developmental editor sends and squeeze it into your story. Remove irrelevant chapters and add in relevant scenes. Argue with your developmental editor why the rose garden chapter must be in the book and acquiesce to keeping it there when she insists it is absolutely necessary. 

Spend too much time on X (Twitter) with other writers who are also not fixing their edits. Remember you have other people in your life and once in a while and step outside and say hello to the world. 

Line Editing

Line editing is the fun process of going through a manuscript and finding issues in sentence structure, paragraph formation and word usage. For example, in my particular story, I used the word, "chessboard," three times in one paragraph. 

Generally during this phase, the writer (who is now partially psychotic from a lack of REM sleep) realizes one of their characters managed to go from point A to point B without any logical processes. Voila! They just arrived! And no matter how much they don't want to rewrite an entire chapter or two, the writer knows the story looks contrived unless this matter is resolved. 

Pretend like people still like you. Remember to do laundry, feed the dog and promise yourself you will sleep at some point. Protip: own more than one pair of compression gloves. Also remember nobody cares about your story as much as you do, and bone up on current events so you can talk about something other than what's in your imagination. 

More rewrites. And probably a Beta Reader or two at that point.  

Line Editors

Writers can--and should--have a line editor. However, prior to a line editor looking at their work, writers should have done their own line editing. Why? Because 1) the writer knows the story better and should be able to see if Hannah-Belle's brother is rolling his eyes when that is not an action he takes. He sticks out his tongue--that's his signature behavior. 2) A line editor won't catch everything anyway. 

Protip: keep a list of the manuscript's overused words. Currently my list is four pages long, front and back. I'll eventually dig out a thesaurus. Or rewrite the sentences. Another protip: writing "beside" instead of "next to" is a great way to lower the word count. However, sometimes "next to" is a better way to convey the moment.

Read it Over

And not only read it over, listen to it. More than once. Do this until you hate your story and think it is the stupidest drivel ever written and wonder why would anyone ever buy this garbage. 

Proofreader

Send the manuscript to a proofreader. Of course, you've already proofread it. But, I promise you missed a meaningful comma. There's a big difference between, Let's eat, Grandma and Let's eat Grandma. 

And to be fair, a proofreader won't catch everything. I've read plenty of books published by the big companies as well as books published by indie authors with proofreading errors. It happens. Writers expect it. Readers are outraged. Proof it yourself first anyway and forgive your proofreader. 

Anyway, The Redeemed is slated to be released this spring. Also, mysteries are hard to write. 

Luna's Bump

Luna's bump is back. It is even more visible because her fur is shaved from where she had surgery. Currently the bump is the size and shape of a drink coaster instead of the size and shape of an orange--like last time. We just had a chance to bathe her and get the dried blood off--Doc P wanted us to wait until the stiches were mostly dissolved. And now it looks like we aren't done torturing the poor thing. 

I'm not buying the fungal infection theory. She's been on anti-fungals for weeks. This thing is coming back faster than before. Google isn't any better at diagnosing this than anyone else with a veterinarian degree. However, I just deep-dived into: hygroma, a fluid-filled sac that develops over bony prominences and pressure points, especially in large breeds of dogs. This results in a dense-walled, fluid-filled cavity. 

This isn't exactly what's going on, but honestly, it's as good a theory as anything else at this point. 

She's still spry. In fact, she just came running, her ears flapping and her tail wagging, when I called her inside. This wouldn't be so awful if we could just get to the bottom of what's going on. And--I'm just gonna say it because it is affecting all of us--given she's our biggest monthly expense at the moment, if we could have her healed cheaply, even better.  

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Briggs Texas is in the middle of absolute nowhere. If one made a right triangle and used a point in Austin and another in Temple, TX, the third point might be Briggs. And that's generous. But think of it this way: An hour or more away from anywhere with reasonable medical care. 

When I deep dived into the Briggs Texas vibe, I found out they have feed store, strangely only one Dollar General, and two convenience stores. They also have a "community center," a Church of Christ on Walker Street and a competing Baptist church on Church Street. Oh yes! There's also a cow processing plant (slaughter house) for the local ranchers. 

According to the map, "Briggs State Bank" is an historical landmark. However, after a further review, the building sported overgrown weeds and no parking lot. We decided "historical landmark" is some sort of euphemism for "dilapidated dump." 

The population of Briggs Texas happens to be hovering around 100. Someone on Reddit asked what people do for fun in Briggs. The only reply was "sex." So, I'm not sure the population numbers are completely accurate. 

A job matching Marty's qualifications came up in Briggs Texas, though the company remained a mystery. As much as I would love to stay in a small town, I kyboshed this opportunity. 

Mystery solved.

Another ^!%&*^%$ Open Letter

Dear Betzy, 

I'm just gonna throw this out there. You are an officer of a voluntary writing group. Can we unpack that sentence please? 

Let's start with "officer." Yes, you are the secretary, not the Supreme Empress, Queen of the World. 

Next up, "voluntary." Nobody is paid. Everything is optional--including my participation. If you send me a text and I don't respond for an hour, that's the way it will be. If you need an immediate response, just try the old fashioned way and call.  

And finally, let's talk about "writing." You claim to be a writer. May I suggest adding a few more nouns and verbs to your arsenal? Perhaps find a few that are smoother around the edges and might get you further when requesting assistance. 

I'm really trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. I really am. But girl, you are in your 40s and driving me bonkers. Hopefully you aren't doing this to all the members because, if you are, the writing group I was a part of starting is probably destine to fall apart. And nobody wants that.   

And one more quick nugget: this wasn't set up as a social group. We are there to learn the craft of writing. We don't want to be chummy and hang out--you've met writers? Correct? They aren't social, they are introverts who deign to leave their homes once a month and only when there's a really good speaker. Otherwise, they can hang out with their own friends, family, or cats. Your job wasn't set up as the social coordinator. your job was initially set up to take minutes and announce when the meetings are being held. I don't want this role back. I want you to succeed in this role. It isn't difficult to send out an e-mail once a month and posting on social media. Start with the baby steps first. Find some cohesion and go from there.    

I Made It a Mile

Random Under-Decorated East Texas House 

If I recall from 8th grade Earth Science, December 21 has the least amount of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere. I didn't think about this particular tid-bit when I opted to go for my walk today at 4:55 p.m. So there I was, strolling down Arizona Avenue, enjoying the weather and a chance to stretch my legs. I even remember thinking how great it is that, because Marty isn't working, he's doing all the cooking so I didn't have to figure out dinner. 

Sunset today was at 5:13. In East Texas, we don't have the spectacular sunsets I grew up watching. The sun is either up or it is down. There's no such thing as twilight and dusk. And that's a shame the streets in Wake Village are very narrow and there's no sidewalks on Arizona Avenue--and don't even get me started on the old fashion notion of a street light. 

Also, I'm pretty sure the temperature dropped ten degrees as soon as the sun went down. But I could be wrong. It might have dropped 50 degrees. After all, it's East Texas and meteorology is more of a street thug than a true science. 

On the bright side, on my way back, I saw all my neighbors' lit Christmas displays. People around here like to decorate the outsides of their homes as an ode to the Griswolds, so there's was enough light to guide me home.   

Sewing Projects

 When we moved here, I had ample free time and no social life. So, I pursued all the hobbies I always wanted to pursue--including sewing. Here's a sneak peek at the young adults' Christmas presents. If I can figure out what I did with the navy blue ribbing I bought before Sunday, I might also finish the jacket I was planning on making for Buck. I will then make Polly a pair of lounge pants. Otherwise, I'll make those after Christmas along with the lounge pants I want to make Marty. But for now, I'm burned out on sewing. 

For Buck
Protip: don't sew plaid material.
Matching the plaid seams are a nightmare. 

For Polly. 
Disclaimer: The dress doesn't look as
good on the hanger as I think it will on her.
She's petite, so it will hang below her knees.
She hates 3/4 sleeves, so this has long sleeves.