Monday, October 14, 2013

That Eccentric Lady


So I was walking to work Friday morning in the dark, but trying to edit anyway as I walked...

I get the impression quirky becomes eccentric at about 30
See, this is what I do... I walk and read. Or I walk and edit. I have just gotten in the habit. I walk the same way all the time and it isn't that I have to pay much attention. But this time of year, I can only actually see what I'm looking at under the street light.

So I pass a man and his dog, and he says, “this time of year must be hard for you. You can't see.”

True.

But who the heck is HE?

I'll tell you who he is... somebody I must pass ALL the time and never see because my nose is in my book or my editing.

More and more I meet people who tell me they see me, know who I am... are well aware of me... and I've never seen them before. It's a strange feeling to be 'that lady'. I mean I'm sure I'm only infamous on the couple streets I walk, but infamous I seem to be. Ah well.

There HAVE been some 'Only in Ann Arbor' moments... near crashes with OTHER people walking and reading. That is sort of a trip. We seem to all think we are the only ones.


Designed by Joris Ammerlaan
In Other News

I had a very productive weekend. I got Book 4, Fight or Flight, to Leanne for copyediting. (And LOOK at my spectacular cover!!!) I got Travel Plans to my first readers... and Book 6, The New Normal, is sitting at about 16000 words (I had 10,000 written from the original book I did). Oddly, the writing is EASIER when less is previously written than when I was having to UN-write or change to a different PoV... Sid and Theo are off on an adventure... by themselves for a time, so I can't use ANY of their stuff for anybody else... in fact a lot of it I won't use at all... I wrote this during a WriMo and the road trip has far more details than it needs...

My goal on this project is to write Book 6, and then go through ALL the rest of what I've written (some 200 more pages) and change THAT to appropriate PoVs before November. That will make it easier to, as a NaNoWriMo Rebel, keep track of my new words written (much easier than if I am both writing and editing).

Any of you guys doing NaNoWriMo? Remember, you are ALL cordially invited to join BuNoWriMo on Facebook for a little more personal interaction—we all encourage each other TWICE a year (during NaNoWriMo in November and BuNoWriMo in June). You can also join Writing Sprints R Us if you like to write in sprints. Several of us sprint at least a couple times a week... we sprint EDIT as well as sprint write—just nice to have a buddy to yell GO with, to keep you focused for an hour.


In OTHER OTHER News...

My basement, while not clean and pleasant, is cleaner and pleasanter than it has been since the water problems in July... I worked hard this weekend...


I hope I am now back to being able to do some blog visiting, and to blog 3 days a week. The grant doesn't go in until Tuesday, but we are pretty much there. I did some long days last week. Now it is just polishing...

15 comments:

Old Kitty said...

Awwww now I have that lovely Belle song in my head - you know "little town in a quiet village.. every day like the one before..." Ahem!! Love that tune!

Yay for your cleaner and pleasanter basement! :-)

Take care
x

Elizabeth Spann Craig said...

Ha! I love it that you have a commute that you don't really remember because you never really look around! You must be better-coordinated than I am...I'd be running into folks a lot more frequently than you seem to.

Love the cover!

Natalie Aguirre said...

Awesome cover. I love to listen to audiobooks while I walk. Hope we can get together sometime after the high school swim season ends in late November.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

The new cover looks great, Hart!
And you are infamous here. That counts.

Jessica Bell said...

Ha, yes, I have gone from quirky to eccentric too methinks.

Congrats on the book!

Karen Baldwin said...

You must live near downtown Ann Arbor? LOve the cover. Cleaning wet basements is always a worthwhile endeavor.

Sarah Ahiers said...

I totally love the idea that you're some sort of known figure. They probably have a name for you, like The Reader, which isn't very clever but there you have it

Arlee Bird said...

I often walk around my neighborhood but I try to focus on walking. I fell down in the middle of a busy street just walking and that was embarrassing. More than once I have stumbled and almost fallen. I don't think of myself as a klutz or anything, but I guess sometimes I just lose focus in my daydreaming. I don't think reading and walking would be a good mix for me.

NaNo looks like a no-no for me this year. But that could change. I never say absolute no-no.

Lee
Tossing It Out

Luanne G. Smith said...

Ha! I love that you're the eccentric crazy lady in the neighborhood. Embrace it I say. :)

And congrats on getting so much word done. Go you.

Unknown said...

Wow, you sure have a Lot of projects on the go. I hope your editing goes well. Don't get hit by a car. I did that once because I was reading snd walking at the same time.

Helena said...

You are such a hard and constant worker! I may edit in my head, which is okay, but literally reading and editing as I walk is outta the question because I'm a klutz.

I am so looking forward to getting more organized like you and reading all the wonderful installments of your serial.

Liz Blocker said...

The image of you, with your nose in a book, walking right into someone else, with his nose in a book, is priceless. Especially when you add in the dark sky and both of you squinting to read!!

Unknown said...

Oh grant life... people who've never worked on grant projects don't fully appreciate the black hole life becomes in the weeks leading up to deadline. LOL

Love that you're working on a serial! Definitely stretches your writing brain in creative ways. :) (Cover rocks, too, btw!)

Cherie Reich said...

In elementary school I was "that girl." I always had my nose in a book when walking through the halls.

I'm participating in NaNo again. Good luck!

Tina said...

LOL on the walking lady bit!
Congrats on the hard work in the basement.
I'm thinking about NaNoWriMo, and if I do, I'll be hanging out at BuNoWriMo - what an awesome group of people. Health so questionable right now I don't know if I want to commit. But I probably will - can't stand not taking a challenge...
Tina @ Life is Good