#playwrighting — Public Fediverse posts

Thurs. May 28, 2026: Putting One Word After Another

Thursday, May 28, 2026

Waxing Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Sunny and pleasant

You can read the latest on the garden over on Gratitude and Growth. There’s actually something to write this week.

After breakfast, I did a bunch of admin, then got the laundry folded and put away, and put aside the pieces that need ironing and those that need mending. I slogged through a bunch of email. A few days ago, I got a request for a script submission, and I’ve been rolling around what to submit. I picked the play (THE WOMEN ON THE BRIDGE) and sent it off. If I WILL BE DIFFERENT is ready by August, I can submit that, too (I can submit two scripts this year, per their request/instructions).

I pondered what to work on for END OF PLAY starting June 1. Some characters are starting to talk, but I’m not sure in which world they fit.

Part of me wants to finally work on the play inspired by the time Kit Cornell’s company took the train from Buffalo to Seattle on tour, got stuck in a snow storm, were late, the audience waited, so actors took turns on stage telling stories while the crew built the set around them, and they did the play, ending around 3 AM. But I don’t feel settled enough in the research, and I can’t re-read the books between now and the 1st. I should put those research books in a project bin so they are handy. I tracked down several memoirs by members of the company. It’s not ready to write yet, though, and I don’t want to push it when it’s not the right time.

Some projects one can leap into and sort it out on the way. Others, like this one and the May Morris play, require lots of specific research so the world of the play is reflexive and one doesn’t have to look up the details as one goes, because those details affect everything in the scene. I have to be comfortable in the world while writing the scene, not layer the details in later on.

Managed to get some work done on BETTING MAN. Not enough, but some. Decided to make another change in the overall arc, which will affect this book and future books. I’m hoping that will lift the obstacles I’ve been feeling as I work on it these past weeks, that I was on the wrong track with it, and now I’ve course corrected.

Switched over to the ghostwriting. Didn’t get as much done on a word count level as I hoped, but I’m happy with the quality. I will have to make up for it today and tomorrow, which will be a challenge, because today is packed.

The literary committee meeting went well. It’s always such a pleasure to have these monthly meetings and get into deep topics around the plays involved.

Word X Word confirmed I’m one of the poets in the exquisite corpse poem. We’re performing it July 26 at the Mount. It’s one of my favorite participations of the year. This will be my 5th year with them.

Cooked dinner, read a bit at night. I’ve read Elizabeth McCracken’s BOWLAWAY these past few days, which is a unique book stylistically and story-wise. It’s literary fiction that mixes whimsy, pathos, and history in it.

Slept well, which surprised me as much as anyone, up a little early this morning because Tessa and Charlotte were fussing. Morning routine was good, and I figured out a bunch of stuff in the new BETTING MAN direction in the morning free write.

As far as I know, the online meditation group meets this morning, then I head out on errands, try to get some work done on BETTING MAN, join the Freelance Friends chat, work on the ghostwriting. I’ve been invited to two different things tonight. Whether I can go to either of them largely depends on how much work I can get done around all the meetings.

I’m going to try to get a little bit done now, before meditation group.

Have a good one!

Wed. May 27, 2026: Laundry & Other Dilemmas

Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Waxing Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Cloudy and warm

Mid-week, here we are.

After yesterday’s morning chores, I settled into work. I wanted to go back to I WILL BE DIFFERENT, but it needs to sit for a bit, so I can look at it with fresh eyes.

Checked with the problematic client. No work right now (it’s been nearly two months, and even when we had breaks in previous years, it was never more than two weeks), but they have a listing up to hire more freelancers. Right. I used to be able to count on that gig in that I could ease up a bit when I had other deadlines, and ramp up when I wanted to make a little extra. Now, I just can’t count on it at all. I do need to get a few other things into position before I make a final decision, but I see the writing on my wall, at least.

I printed out directions and maps on the route I want to the hotel in S. Deerfield, then from the hotel to the theatre in Greenfield, and also to the diner where I want to eat breakfast the next morning (the hotel is very no frills, which means no breakfast). My car is too old for GPS, and if I put Murder Maps into my phone, it often sniffily states that GPS “dropped out” if I don’t do exactly what they say when they say it, even if so doing would kill me. (Hence, Murder Maps).

So I print maps and directions instead.

Bea still hasn’t forgiven me for trying to get her to read a map. When I first brought her home from Beacon, Murder Maps tried to send us into a lake and then dropped out. I pulled over near said lake and pulled out a paper map and showed it to her, telling her we had to figure out the rest of the way home. She looked at me with, “I’m a feral cat from another state. I got nothing.”

I’ll put the directions together in the folder with my hotel confirmation, and then print out the script and put it in a small binder next week (it’s only a 15-minute play), and I’ll be all set. Toss in a notebook and whatever book I choose to take with me, and the script bag is packed. Okay, two books, because I can never take just one book.

Fingers crossed that’s not the day my “word” shows up for the exquisite corpse poem. A couple of years ago, I got the word to start my poem as I drove to the Small Business Expo in Dalton, so I sat at a picnic table and worked on the poem before the event began. I worked it some more when I got home, and sent it off by deadline. I know I can do it; I would just prefer it was more spread out. And no, I can’t request another day. You do the poem the day you’re up. That’s part of the deal.

Had troubling getting back into the rhythm of BETTING MAN, and didn’t get much done.

Dashed out to the library, where I dropped off a big stack of books and picked up a slightly smaller stack of books. Lunch was created from lettuce we’ve grown and things from our CSA box. It was very good.

I did some repotting, and put some of the plants that need to be out on the back balcony out there. I still have to get the shelf unit out there, probably tomorrow.

Turned my attention to the ghostwriting. I had a good session and am almost where I hoped to be by the end of the day, even with the research forays.

Changed, and headed to yoga. Yoga was good, but for some reason, my hip felt worse after class than going in. Don’t know what’s going on with that.

Heated up leftovers for dinner, read a bit.

Slept reasonably well. Up early to get most of the morning routine done before hauling the laundry out. I will fold it and put it away after breakfast.

On today’s agenda: writing, ghostwriting, picking up the CSA box this afternoon, a literary committee meeting tonight. So I better get going!

The Week's Foggy Start: https://devonellington.wordpress.com/2026/05/26/tues-may-26-2026-the-weeks-foggy-start/

#Writing #WritingCommunity #Playwrighting #Freelance

Tues. May 26, 2026: The Week’s Foggy Start

Tuesday, May 26, 2026

Waxing Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Foggy and a little warmer

I hope you had a good weekend, and, if it was a holiday weekend for you, enjoyed the holiday. Restful or playful, depending on what you wanted and needed.

You can read the Community Tarot Reading for the Week here.

Friday warmed up a bit and got brighter, which was nice. After breakfast, I made the devilled eggs. I got some admin done, then packed up the dishes of eggs and the fruit into insulated bags and headed out.

Traffic was heavier than usual to Lenox, but not yet awful. I was early enough to miss the deluge. Parking in Lenox, however, was the usual nightmare. I finally found a spot on the correct side of a No Parking sign (the arrow went the other way to the other part of the curb), and maneuvered that. It was only a couple of blocks from the WAM office. But I was glad I’d given myself some extra time.

I helped set up as more people arrived, and we had a lovely time. I think there were 15-20 people who came through, some staying for the whole thing, others for  just a bit. There were people from Shakespeare & Co. and Great Barrington Public Theatre and the WAM board and other colleagues, and it was a lovely way to send Molly off to her new adventure. WAM and Shakespeare & Co. have been the two main pillars of her career. There was lots of laughter, great conversation, and good food. And plenty of people to help with dishes and cleanup! It’s great that the regional theatres have such a warm relationship with each other, and so important for the health of all the theatres.

I left around 3:30 to head back home. Traffic was heavy, because Friday of the holiday weekend starting the season. Plenty of terrible drivers, so I had to be on alert.

But I got home, got things unpacked (I had a few eggs left and most of the dishes washed already). I had about an hour to just read (a book by a colleague at the ghostwriting client’s, which was very good), and then I started dinner. Who would think I could eat any more after that huge, Italian lunch, but we had fish tacos, and they were good.

Quiet evening, to bed early. A tiring few days toward the end of last week, but the good kind of tired.

Up at the usual time on Saturday. So much for sleeping in, but Charlotte and Tessa were impossible. It was cloudy and cool, and I was glad I had some of my warmer clothes still handy.

If you’re not familiar with Persephone Books in the UK, I suggest you check them out here. The books they republish are fascinating, and their monthly newsletter is filled with wonderful atmosphere, ideas, and other interesting tidbits. They love both the content of books and the making of books, and it’s a delight.

Saturday I did housework, read scripts for the literary committee meeting, and did elder care. I got a little reading in, too. It started raining in the afternoon, and I felt bad for the people coming in hoping for a lovely long weekend. It was also pretty cold. So I couldn’t finish setting up the back balcony, either.

I had an idea for a new opening scene for I WILL BE DIFFERENT. I wanted to set it in January of 1900, but I’m not sure I can – I might have to push it back into the previous century. I wouldn’t know whether the time of the scene worked until I put the whole play together.

Slept reasonably well, although Tessa and Charlotte were impossible on Sunday morning.

Morning routine was fine. It was raining heavily. I did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which you can read here.

I also made vegetable stock – two small jars in the freezer (in former gelato containers) and one glass jar in the fridge. With the CSA box, I’ll need to make lots of vegetable stock this summer, and I have to make sure I actually use it.

Then, I sat down and wrote the new opening of I WILL BE DIFFERENT, which I really like. I did a rough assembly of the scenes. It was 152 pages, far too long to be a produce-able play. I went through and did another draft, getting it down to 142 pages. I cut one scene entirely, and also tightened some internal beats.

These are just script pages, not counting the cover page, character/scene breakdowns, author’s note, etc.

I either have to cut at least 22 pages (probably closer to 25 or 30) to keep it as a single play, or split it and make it 2 smaller plays, each that run without intermission. I may need to add a WWII scene into the Alice section, and it probably means I can’t end the first play where I now have the first act, after the Milly/Ron party scene. Or maybe, with that scene, I can. I still feel that’s the right place to add either the act or the play. If it’s two separate plays, each one will need some restructuring, since it’s not just about breaking them up and that’s that. If I go that route, I also need to weave in some more events on the larger scale. In the current script, I have both World Wars, the depression, Roe v. Wade, and the ability for women to finally have their own bank accounts, credit cards, etc. I may also need to layer in other events that had a ripple effect.

There’s room for double/triple/more casting, but it still needs a big cast.

But at least I’ve completed several drafts. Nothing is submissible yet (I remember rolling my eyes whenever I was a script reader and someone dumped 150-page script on me, especially if I wasn’t paid extra – no, just no. Make the cuts before submission). I might send the Great Big Bundle of Script Pages to a couple of Trusted Readers who know my work well enough to focus more on character arc and overall flow rather than in how produce-able it is at the moment. Because in its current form, it is not produce-able. The questions I have aren’t about making it fit into schematics, yet, but other specifics that I will list for them. It is kind of cool to see the 20th century unroll through this lineage of mothers and daughters.

That took all day, with interruptions for elder care issues. I cooked dinner (drunken noodles, which turned out really well again) cleaned up, and went to bed early.

I woke up just after midnight from terrible nightmares, and had a bad time getting back to sleep. I was just dozing off again when Charlotte and Tessa started fussing.

Up at the usual time on Monday, morning routine. It was bucketing down rain and quite cold.

Slogged through way too much email. I’m very unhappy with one of my smaller clients, and need to consider options in the coming months. We’re being pushed in a direction I feel is unethical, and they’re allowing some freelancers to hoard work instead of spreading it out, the way it used to be under the previous owner.

Oh, and by the way, no one buys yet another fake assassination attempt in DC. Especially when they practically announce them ahead of time now.

Sent off an LOI for a position slightly out of my wheelhouse, but that I think I would love (and also be really good at).

Finished the reading and the notes for the literary committee meeting, and sent my notes.

In the afternoon, it brightened up a bit and warmed up a bit, but it was too late for me to start sewing.

After a mostly rough weekend on the elder care front, things were a little better on Monday.

Made us turkey burgers for dinner, read in the evening while functioning as cat furniture.

Slept well into this morning (for a change), although Charlotte started fussing at me around 3 AM. I refused to get out of bed until 5:30, and start the morning routine. It was very foggy in the morning, and it’s supposed to get up into the low 80’s.

Charlotte hurled a fur ball onto the pile of clean sheets, because of course she did. So at least the top one will go back into the laundry this week.

If I split I WILL BE DIFFERENT into a duology of plays, I may play with ending the first play with the Amanda scene where she learns about Milly’s (her mother) attempted suicide, and then start the second play with that same scene, using it as a bridge. Right now, the scene is the top of Act II. It’s not a good idea to end a play on a cliffhanger, though, especially since they will often have to be submitted separately. Ending it where I end Act I now, after Milly and Ron’s dinner party, is a better ending perhaps. It’s somewhat ambiguous, but not a cliffhanger.

I mean, if I just cut a whole lot and it’s one play, it won’t be an issue.

Bookending everything with the start being in January of 1900 and the end on New Year’s Eve 1999 works, though, and I like it. I may combine what I have as the second-to-last scene with the final scene, because there’s some repetition in there that I can cut if I integrate the scenes.

Also, if it’s a duology, I have to come up with catchy titles for each one!

If I was good at titles, I’d be earning money as a caption writer.

On today’s agenda: work on BETTING MAN, work on I WILL BE DIFFERENT, a quick run to the library to drop-off/pick-up books, ghostwriting, yoga. A day that needs focus, even though it will hopefully have fewer moving parts than some other days. I also have some more follow-up to do from last week’s Small Business Resource Expo.

I’m thinking about what I will pack for next week, when I stay over after the staged reading. It’s one night, so I don’t need much. I just like things packed ahead of time, so I’m not running around like a chicken with my head cut off the night before. Once I decide what to wear for the reading, and comfortable clothes in which to drive home in the next day, I’ll be all set. I’m keeping an eye on the weather predictions so I can make those decisions.

I hope you’ve had a good start to your week!

Tues. May 19, 2026: Summer Prep & Solid Writing

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Waxing Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Cloudy and hot

Hello, and welcome to another week!

You can read the Community Tarot Reading for the Week here.

Friday, I did some admin, then headed out to the pharmacy for my mom. It was quick trip, but all I wanted to do when I got home was laze on the sofa with the cats. Not an option, though.

I hauled myself to my desk and got some work done. I have a new debit card from the credit union, and had to update information on various channels, and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM made it a nightmare. I am so sick of this. This is why I still use paper checks whenever possible. All of this should have taken minutes for each update. I shouldn’t have lost a morning.

In the afternoon, I took care of some more admin, and had discussions with my ghostwriting client about both series on which I’m working. I got the notes back on the one project, and started those revisions yesterday.

I cooked dinner (the salmon had been in the teriyaki marinade all day and was good), and read the book for this month’s Agatha Christie book club, THE LABORS OF HERCULES. It’s a collection of connected short stories featuring Hercule Poirot. I don’t think I ever read it before.

It was bucketing down with rain in the evening, and then quite cold.

Slept reasonably well. The way the cats carried on Saturday morning, I thought I’d overslept, but it was the usual 5:30 time. I’d hoped to sleep in a bit!

Morning routine was fine, and I added in a blessing for the graduating students across the street.

The day began as foggy and cool, but the sun came out, which was nice.

I did the usual Saturday chores, including (finally) switching out the flannel sheets. I didn’t go straight to bamboo. I’m using cotton right now. I also switched to the summer, lighter quilt.

I spent most of the morning turning my closet over for the summer. I packed away everything wintery that lives in the closet and went through everything else for fit, repairs, etc. Pulled a few things. Unpacked the summer clothes I’d packed away, and went through them for fit, repair, etc.

I’m low on summer pants and I could use another pair or two of ballet flats, but I’ve got plenty of everything else. Most of what I have goes with a whole bunch of other stuff, so that’s always a good thing. The summer pants will be boosted a bit with the navy pants I’m making that I can wear three-season, and a pair in black jacquard fabric that are a little dressier. Another pair or two of cotton palazzo pants would be a good idea. I might make them. It depends on whether I can find fabric I like at a price I like. I have not been impressed with what’s in the stores lately. I also need another pair or two of yoga pants. The last time I bought yoga pants was about 2012, and I’m wearing them out. They’ve worn well. It’s not an emergency yet, just something to think about if I come across something I like at the right price.

There was a fabric sale at Old Stone Mill the past two weekends in Adams, but I didn’t make it over there. I want to sew up what I bought from Swenson’s Fabrics the last few months, and some other material that’s in my stash from years back. Old Stone is known for quilting fabrics, so I probably could have found everything I needed for “Elemental Nine Patch” but I wasn’t in that mindset yet. They have sales several times a year, so I’m not going to stress over it.

The afternoon was spent reading and hanging out on the couch with the cats. Cooked dinner in the evening, and relaxed some more. It was a good, quiet Saturday.

Sunday morning, Tessa got me out of bed at the usual time. It was supposed to get up into the 80’s, so I baked the biscuits (American kind) my mom wanted for breakfast first, then cooked the potatoes for the potato salad that we can have for lunch over the days when it’s supposed to get really hot.

I did the Community Tarot Reading for the week, which you can read here. A few too many fives for my liking, but since I’m warned, maybe I can make smarter choices. What the cards predict can change with every action you make from the moment of the reading.

I went through and sorted winter sweaters, etc. I packed away what was clean, and put in the laundry bin what needs to be washed before I can put it away. I sorted through shirts and light sweaters for summer and got those organized. That took longer than I expected, especially since both Charlotte and Willa “helped.”

It was warm and sunny. I didn’t feel like doing much of anything. I read a bit, played with cats, just rested. Cooked dinner at night and read some more.

Worked a bit on an LOI. Figured out options to make for a potluck lunch to which I was invited at the end of the week.

I didn’t sleep particularly well Sunday into Monday. I woke up in the middle of the night in pain, and by the time I got back to sleep, the cats got me up.

Morning routine was fine and helped a bit. I had a lot of admin to do that stacked up. I read the plays for Monday night’s Athena project and sent out some emails. I wasn’t feeling great, and would have liked to take the day off, but too bad for me. I can do a whole lot of nothing over the holiday weekend, but this week, I need to get things done.

I got my marketing for the day done, and joined the Honor Roll Playwrighting session for two hours. I worked on I WILL BE DIFFERENT. I got three scenes done, near the beginning of the play(s). I think I have one more Alice scene to write, and I will be done with this draft (which has taken two years).

I’m going to do a rough assembly and read it, then figure out if it’s one play or two plays, and start rearranging material, adding scene numbers, years, etc.

Emma (who runs these sessions) let us know that Dramatists Guild is doing End of Play again this year, but in June, so I went ahead and signed up. I don’t think it’s the best structure for the revision of I WILL BE DIFFERENT, and I think the May Morris piece isn’t ready to write yet. So I may try to finish CONSEQUENCES or finish LAUGHTER AND TURPENTINE or  try something new. What, I have no idea. Hey, I have two weeks, I’ll come up with something.

I felt much better by the end of the writing session.

I looked over the notes for the ghostwriting client. They love what I sketched out for this, and just, basically want more, and a little bit of rearrangement. So I feel pretty good about digging back into that. I got my deadline for this draft, which is June 1, although I will try to get it done a little earlier than that. I had a really good session on it this afternoon, with things flowing well.

The weather wasn’t too bad. It was warm, hitting 90F, but not too humid, so I could concentrate.

I put together and easy and tasty dinner using ingredients from the CSA, served with rice, which was good.

I finished the book I read over the past few days, a biography of Lorne Michaels, who has produced SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE for fifty years. SNL was always part of my landscape. I never worked on it, although I was encouraged to do so around the time MISS SAIGON was winding up. I never even submitted a resume or tried to get an interview, mostly because I didn’t want to be around the frenetic schedule and the drugs. There was a dive bar in the subway station of the 50th St. No.1 train called Siberia where various show crews, including some of the SNL crew, hung out in the late 90’s/early 2000’s (it’s now a much more upscale place called Nothing Really Matters), so I heard a lot of the backstage stories. (The performers attended the upscale parties Michaels threw every Saturday night, and then the after parties that sprang up around town). As much as I admire the work they do, especially in such a tight time frame, and going live, my sense was that it wasn’t the right place for me. It was a better choice for me to be a repository of anecdotes. The brutality of working on that show wasn’t something that appealed to me.

I also learned a lot about comedy. Too many people don’t understand the difference between humor and comedy. Any genre can have humor layered over it/woven through it, and can work. Comedy is very tightly structured. The more effortless it comes across, the tighter the structure. Even the best of the zaniest comedians understand the structure and it’s a part of their personal rhythms as much as their heartbeat.

Even if an audience doesn’t intellectually understand the difference, they will feel it, and if something supposedly funny doesn’t work, it’s usually because the structure doesn’t support it. They might not know why, but they can feel it, because even intellectual comedy speaks to rhythms and how it feels in the body.

When I watch clips of the show, it’s still useful to break down the beats and dissect the sketch. If I’m struggling to build a comic scene in my own work (as opposed to a humorous scene), watching a few different clips and dissecting them (sort of like diagramming sentences in elementary school, but for the whole sketch) gets me back on track.

The book is well done, and was very interesting.

At 8:30, I set up the laptop in the living room and spent the next two hours with the Athena Project, for the month’s plays. We had lovely, lively discussions, which were helpful to both playwrights. I think it’s very important to show up for other playwrights, and not just swan in and out when my own work is featured.

They ask that we wait six months after they’ve featured one of our plays before submitting again. I was featured in March, which means I can submit again starting for October’s session. Although I will probably wait to submit for January’s session.

It took me a bit of time to settle after the session, but I eventually did. I slept reasonably well, in spite of the warm weather. It’s not too humid yet, so I was fine.

Up early today. The morning routine was fine. Consistency makes a positive difference. I watered the plants that needed a drink, before it got too hot, so they wouldn’t stand in wet feet all day. I think I will take a shot at the first draft of the final Alice scene I want to write for I WILL BE DIFFERENT (it’s early in the play, but the last one written) set in the Barbizon Hotel.

Maybe this weekend, I will start the rough assemblage of the second draft.

Also on today’s agenda: BETTING MAN, ghostwriting, and, hopefully, yoga. I have some handwashing to do, too, from the closet turnover, and some stain removal to work on. How a yellow shirt hanging in the closet can get a stain that looks like coffee dripped down the back is beyond me, but there we are. I was worried there was a ceiling leak, but there’s not. It’s supposed to be 90F again today, and then the weather breaks tomorrow. It feels like we will have a thunderstorm. Once it gets hot, I may adjust my schedule and start work earlier, take a break when it’s hot, and then work again in the evening. Or, I might pack up and work at a library or at the Clark.

Have a good one!

Tues. May 19, 2026: Summer Prep & Solid Writing

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Waxing Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Cloudy and hot

Hello, and welcome to another week!

You can read the Community Tarot Reading for the Week here.

Friday, I did some admin, then headed out to the pharmacy for my mom. It was quick trip, but all I wanted to do when I got home was laze on the sofa with the cats. Not an option, though.

I hauled myself to my desk and got some work done. I have a new debit card from the credit union, and had to update information on various channels, and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM made it a nightmare. I am so sick of this. This is why I still use paper checks whenever possible. All of this should have taken minutes for each update. I shouldn’t have lost a morning.

In the afternoon, I took care of some more admin, and had discussions with my ghostwriting client about both series on which I’m working. I got the notes back on the one project, and started those revisions yesterday.

I cooked dinner (the salmon had been in the teriyaki marinade all day and was good), and read the book for this month’s Agatha Christie book club, THE LABORS OF HERCULES. It’s a collection of connected short stories featuring Hercule Poirot. I don’t think I ever read it before.

It was bucketing down with rain in the evening, and then quite cold.

Slept reasonably well. The way the cats carried on Saturday morning, I thought I’d overslept, but it was the usual 5:30 time. I’d hoped to sleep in a bit!

Morning routine was fine, and I added in a blessing for the graduating students across the street.

The day began as foggy and cool, but the sun came out, which was nice.

I did the usual Saturday chores, including (finally) switching out the flannel sheets. I didn’t go straight to bamboo. I’m using cotton right now. I also switched to the summer, lighter quilt.

I spent most of the morning turning my closet over for the summer. I packed away everything wintery that lives in the closet and went through everything else for fit, repairs, etc. Pulled a few things. Unpacked the summer clothes I’d packed away, and went through them for fit, repair, etc.

I’m low on summer pants and I could use another pair or two of ballet flats, but I’ve got plenty of everything else. Most of what I have goes with a whole bunch of other stuff, so that’s always a good thing. The summer pants will be boosted a bit with the navy pants I’m making that I can wear three-season, and a pair in black jacquard fabric that are a little dressier. Another pair or two of cotton palazzo pants would be a good idea. I might make them. It depends on whether I can find fabric I like at a price I like. I have not been impressed with what’s in the stores lately. I also need another pair or two of yoga pants. The last time I bought yoga pants was about 2012, and I’m wearing them out. They’ve worn well. It’s not an emergency yet, just something to think about if I come across something I like at the right price.

There was a fabric sale at Old Stone Mill the past two weekends in Adams, but I didn’t make it over there. I want to sew up what I bought from Swenson’s Fabrics the last few months, and some other material that’s in my stash from years back. Old Stone is known for quilting fabrics, so I probably could have found everything I needed for “Elemental Nine Patch” but I wasn’t in that mindset yet. They have sales several times a year, so I’m not going to stress over it.

The afternoon was spent reading and hanging out on the couch with the cats. Cooked dinner in the evening, and relaxed some more. It was a good, quiet Saturday.

Sunday morning, Tessa got me out of bed at the usual time. It was supposed to get up into the 80’s, so I baked the biscuits (American kind) my mom wanted for breakfast first, then cooked the potatoes for the potato salad that we can have for lunch over the days when it’s supposed to get really hot.

I did the Community Tarot Reading for the week, which you can read here. A few too many fives for my liking, but since I’m warned, maybe I can make smarter choices. What the cards predict can change with every action you make from the moment of the reading.

I went through and sorted winter sweaters, etc. I packed away what was clean, and put in the laundry bin what needs to be washed before I can put it away. I sorted through shirts and light sweaters for summer and got those organized. That took longer than I expected, especially since both Charlotte and Willa “helped.”

It was warm and sunny. I didn’t feel like doing much of anything. I read a bit, played with cats, just rested. Cooked dinner at night and read some more.

Worked a bit on an LOI. Figured out options to make for a potluck lunch to which I was invited at the end of the week.

I didn’t sleep particularly well Sunday into Monday. I woke up in the middle of the night in pain, and by the time I got back to sleep, the cats got me up.

Morning routine was fine and helped a bit. I had a lot of admin to do that stacked up. I read the plays for Monday night’s Athena project and sent out some emails. I wasn’t feeling great, and would have liked to take the day off, but too bad for me. I can do a whole lot of nothing over the holiday weekend, but this week, I need to get things done.

I got my marketing for the day done, and joined the Honor Roll Playwrighting session for two hours. I worked on I WILL BE DIFFERENT. I got three scenes done, near the beginning of the play(s). I think I have one more Alice scene to write, and I will be done with this draft (which has taken two years).

I’m going to do a rough assembly and read it, then figure out if it’s one play or two plays, and start rearranging material, adding scene numbers, years, etc.

Emma (who runs these sessions) let us know that Dramatists Guild is doing End of Play again this year, but in June, so I went ahead and signed up. I don’t think it’s the best structure for the revision of I WILL BE DIFFERENT, and I think the May Morris piece isn’t ready to write yet. So I may try to finish CONSEQUENCES or finish LAUGHTER AND TURPENTINE or  try something new. What, I have no idea. Hey, I have two weeks, I’ll come up with something.

I felt much better by the end of the writing session.

I looked over the notes for the ghostwriting client. They love what I sketched out for this, and just, basically want more, and a little bit of rearrangement. So I feel pretty good about digging back into that. I got my deadline for this draft, which is June 1, although I will try to get it done a little earlier than that. I had a really good session on it this afternoon, with things flowing well.

The weather wasn’t too bad. It was warm, hitting 90F, but not too humid, so I could concentrate.

I put together and easy and tasty dinner using ingredients from the CSA, served with rice, which was good.

I finished the book I read over the past few days, a biography of Lorne Michaels, who has produced SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE for fifty years. SNL was always part of my landscape. I never worked on it, although I was encouraged to do so around the time MISS SAIGON was winding up. I never even submitted a resume or tried to get an interview, mostly because I didn’t want to be around the frenetic schedule and the drugs. There was a dive bar in the subway station of the 50th St. No.1 train called Siberia where various show crews, including some of the SNL crew, hung out in the late 90’s/early 2000’s (it’s now a much more upscale place called Nothing Really Matters), so I heard a lot of the backstage stories. (The performers attended the upscale parties Michaels threw every Saturday night, and then the after parties that sprang up around town). As much as I admire the work they do, especially in such a tight time frame, and going live, my sense was that it wasn’t the right place for me. It was a better choice for me to be a repository of anecdotes. The brutality of working on that show wasn’t something that appealed to me.

I also learned a lot about comedy. Too many people don’t understand the difference between humor and comedy. Any genre can have humor layered over it/woven through it, and can work. Comedy is very tightly structured. The more effortless it comes across, the tighter the structure. Even the best of the zaniest comedians understand the structure and it’s a part of their personal rhythms as much as their heartbeat.

Even if an audience doesn’t intellectually understand the difference, they will feel it, and if something supposedly funny doesn’t work, it’s usually because the structure doesn’t support it. They might not know why, but they can feel it, because even intellectual comedy speaks to rhythms and how it feels in the body.

When I watch clips of the show, it’s still useful to break down the beats and dissect the sketch. If I’m struggling to build a comic scene in my own work (as opposed to a humorous scene), watching a few different clips and dissecting them (sort of like diagramming sentences in elementary school, but for the whole sketch) gets me back on track.

The book is well done, and was very interesting.

At 8:30, I set up the laptop in the living room and spent the next two hours with the Athena Project, for the month’s plays. We had lovely, lively discussions, which were helpful to both playwrights. I think it’s very important to show up for other playwrights, and not just swan in and out when my own work is featured.

They ask that we wait six months after they’ve featured one of our plays before submitting again. I was featured in March, which means I can submit again starting for October’s session. Although I will probably wait to submit for January’s session.

It took me a bit of time to settle after the session, but I eventually did. I slept reasonably well, in spite of the warm weather. It’s not too humid yet, so I was fine.

Up early today. The morning routine was fine. Consistency makes a positive difference. I watered the plants that needed a drink, before it got too hot, so they wouldn’t stand in wet feet all day. I think I will take a shot at the first draft of the final Alice scene I want to write for I WILL BE DIFFERENT (it’s early in the play, but the last one written) set in the Barbizon Hotel.

Maybe this weekend, I will start the rough assemblage of the second draft.

Also on today’s agenda: BETTING MAN, ghostwriting, and, hopefully, yoga. I have some handwashing to do, too, from the closet turnover, and some stain removal to work on. How a yellow shirt hanging in the closet can get a stain that looks like coffee dripped down the back is beyond me, but there we are. I was worried there was a ceiling leak, but there’s not. It’s supposed to be 90F again today, and then the weather breaks tomorrow. It feels like we will have a thunderstorm. Once it gets hot, I may adjust my schedule and start work earlier, take a break when it’s hot, and then work again in the evening. Or, I might pack up and work at a library or at the Clark.

Have a good one!

Tues. May 19, 2026: Summer Prep & Solid Writing

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Waxing Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Cloudy and hot

Hello, and welcome to another week!

You can read the Community Tarot Reading for the Week here.

Friday, I did some admin, then headed out to the pharmacy for my mom. It was quick trip, but all I wanted to do when I got home was laze on the sofa with the cats. Not an option, though.

I hauled myself to my desk and got some work done. I have a new debit card from the credit union, and had to update information on various channels, and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM made it a nightmare. I am so sick of this. This is why I still use paper checks whenever possible. All of this should have taken minutes for each update. I shouldn’t have lost a morning.

In the afternoon, I took care of some more admin, and had discussions with my ghostwriting client about both series on which I’m working. I got the notes back on the one project, and started those revisions yesterday.

I cooked dinner (the salmon had been in the teriyaki marinade all day and was good), and read the book for this month’s Agatha Christie book club, THE LABORS OF HERCULES. It’s a collection of connected short stories featuring Hercule Poirot. I don’t think I ever read it before.

It was bucketing down with rain in the evening, and then quite cold.

Slept reasonably well. The way the cats carried on Saturday morning, I thought I’d overslept, but it was the usual 5:30 time. I’d hoped to sleep in a bit!

Morning routine was fine, and I added in a blessing for the graduating students across the street.

The day began as foggy and cool, but the sun came out, which was nice.

I did the usual Saturday chores, including (finally) switching out the flannel sheets. I didn’t go straight to bamboo. I’m using cotton right now. I also switched to the summer, lighter quilt.

I spent most of the morning turning my closet over for the summer. I packed away everything wintery that lives in the closet and went through everything else for fit, repairs, etc. Pulled a few things. Unpacked the summer clothes I’d packed away, and went through them for fit, repair, etc.

I’m low on summer pants and I could use another pair or two of ballet flats, but I’ve got plenty of everything else. Most of what I have goes with a whole bunch of other stuff, so that’s always a good thing. The summer pants will be boosted a bit with the navy pants I’m making that I can wear three-season, and a pair in black jacquard fabric that are a little dressier. Another pair or two of cotton palazzo pants would be a good idea. I might make them. It depends on whether I can find fabric I like at a price I like. I have not been impressed with what’s in the stores lately. I also need another pair or two of yoga pants. The last time I bought yoga pants was about 2012, and I’m wearing them out. They’ve worn well. It’s not an emergency yet, just something to think about if I come across something I like at the right price.

There was a fabric sale at Old Stone Mill the past two weekends in Adams, but I didn’t make it over there. I want to sew up what I bought from Swenson’s Fabrics the last few months, and some other material that’s in my stash from years back. Old Stone is known for quilting fabrics, so I probably could have found everything I needed for “Elemental Nine Patch” but I wasn’t in that mindset yet. They have sales several times a year, so I’m not going to stress over it.

The afternoon was spent reading and hanging out on the couch with the cats. Cooked dinner in the evening, and relaxed some more. It was a good, quiet Saturday.

Sunday morning, Tessa got me out of bed at the usual time. It was supposed to get up into the 80’s, so I baked the biscuits (American kind) my mom wanted for breakfast first, then cooked the potatoes for the potato salad that we can have for lunch over the days when it’s supposed to get really hot.

I did the Community Tarot Reading for the week, which you can read here. A few too many fives for my liking, but since I’m warned, maybe I can make smarter choices. What the cards predict can change with every action you make from the moment of the reading.

I went through and sorted winter sweaters, etc. I packed away what was clean, and put in the laundry bin what needs to be washed before I can put it away. I sorted through shirts and light sweaters for summer and got those organized. That took longer than I expected, especially since both Charlotte and Willa “helped.”

It was warm and sunny. I didn’t feel like doing much of anything. I read a bit, played with cats, just rested. Cooked dinner at night and read some more.

Worked a bit on an LOI. Figured out options to make for a potluck lunch to which I was invited at the end of the week.

I didn’t sleep particularly well Sunday into Monday. I woke up in the middle of the night in pain, and by the time I got back to sleep, the cats got me up.

Morning routine was fine and helped a bit. I had a lot of admin to do that stacked up. I read the plays for Monday night’s Athena project and sent out some emails. I wasn’t feeling great, and would have liked to take the day off, but too bad for me. I can do a whole lot of nothing over the holiday weekend, but this week, I need to get things done.

I got my marketing for the day done, and joined the Honor Roll Playwrighting session for two hours. I worked on I WILL BE DIFFERENT. I got three scenes done, near the beginning of the play(s). I think I have one more Alice scene to write, and I will be done with this draft (which has taken two years).

I’m going to do a rough assembly and read it, then figure out if it’s one play or two plays, and start rearranging material, adding scene numbers, years, etc.

Emma (who runs these sessions) let us know that Dramatists Guild is doing End of Play again this year, but in June, so I went ahead and signed up. I don’t think it’s the best structure for the revision of I WILL BE DIFFERENT, and I think the May Morris piece isn’t ready to write yet. So I may try to finish CONSEQUENCES or finish LAUGHTER AND TURPENTINE or  try something new. What, I have no idea. Hey, I have two weeks, I’ll come up with something.

I felt much better by the end of the writing session.

I looked over the notes for the ghostwriting client. They love what I sketched out for this, and just, basically want more, and a little bit of rearrangement. So I feel pretty good about digging back into that. I got my deadline for this draft, which is June 1, although I will try to get it done a little earlier than that. I had a really good session on it this afternoon, with things flowing well.

The weather wasn’t too bad. It was warm, hitting 90F, but not too humid, so I could concentrate.

I put together and easy and tasty dinner using ingredients from the CSA, served with rice, which was good.

I finished the book I read over the past few days, a biography of Lorne Michaels, who has produced SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE for fifty years. SNL was always part of my landscape. I never worked on it, although I was encouraged to do so around the time MISS SAIGON was winding up. I never even submitted a resume or tried to get an interview, mostly because I didn’t want to be around the frenetic schedule and the drugs. There was a dive bar in the subway station of the 50th St. No.1 train called Siberia where various show crews, including some of the SNL crew, hung out in the late 90’s/early 2000’s (it’s now a much more upscale place called Nothing Really Matters), so I heard a lot of the backstage stories. (The performers attended the upscale parties Michaels threw every Saturday night, and then the after parties that sprang up around town). As much as I admire the work they do, especially in such a tight time frame, and going live, my sense was that it wasn’t the right place for me. It was a better choice for me to be a repository of anecdotes. The brutality of working on that show wasn’t something that appealed to me.

I also learned a lot about comedy by watching the show and talking with people involved in it. Too many people don’t understand the difference between humor and comedy. Any genre can have humor layered over it/woven through it, and can work. Comedy is very tightly structured. The more effortless it comes across, the tighter the structure. Even the best of the zaniest comedians understand the structure and it’s a part of their personal rhythms as much as their heartbeat.

Even if an audience doesn’t intellectually understand the difference, they will feel it, and if something supposedly funny doesn’t work, it’s usually because the structure doesn’t support it. They might not know why, but they can feel it, because even intellectual comedy speaks to rhythms and how it feels in the body.

When I watch clips of the show, it’s still useful to break down the beats and dissect the sketch. If I’m struggling to build a comic scene in my own work (as opposed to a humorous scene), watching a few different clips and dissecting them (sort of like diagramming sentences in elementary school, but for the whole sketch) gets me back on track.

The book is well done, and was very interesting.

At 8:30, I set up the laptop in the living room and spent the next two hours on ZOOM with the Athena Project, for the month’s plays. Bea hung out with us for a bit, and then wandered off. Charlotte slept through the whole thing. We had lovely, lively discussions, which were helpful to both playwrights. I think it’s very important to show up for other playwrights, and not just swan in and out when my own work is featured.

They ask that we wait six months after they’ve featured one of our plays before submitting again. I was featured in March, which means I can submit again starting for October’s session. Although I will probably wait to submit for January’s session.

It took me a bit of time to settle after the session, but I eventually did. I slept reasonably well, in spite of the warm weather. It’s not too humid yet, so I was fine.

Up early today. The morning routine was fine. Consistency makes a positive difference. I watered the plants that needed a drink, before it got too hot, so they wouldn’t stand in wet feet all day. I think I will take a shot at the first draft of the final Alice scene I want to write for I WILL BE DIFFERENT (it’s early in the play, but the last one written) set in the Barbizon Hotel.

Maybe this weekend, I will start the rough assemblage of the second draft.

Also on today’s agenda: BETTING MAN, ghostwriting, and, hopefully, yoga. I have some hand laundry to do, too, from the closet turnover, and some stain removal to work on. How a yellow shirt hanging in the closet can get a stain that looks like coffee dripped down the back is beyond me, but there we are. I was worried there was a ceiling leak, but there’s not. It’s supposed to be 90F again today, and then the weather breaks tomorrow. It feels like we will have a thunderstorm. Once it gets hot, I may adjust my schedule and start work earlier, take a break when it’s hot, and then work again in the evening. Or, I might pack up and work at a library or at the Clark.

Have a good one!

Tues. May 19, 2026: Summer Prep & Solid Writing

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Waxing Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Cloudy and hot

Hello, and welcome to another week!

You can read the Community Tarot Reading for the Week here.

Friday, I did some admin, then headed out to the pharmacy for my mom. It was quick trip, but all I wanted to do when I got home was laze on the sofa with the cats. Not an option, though.

I hauled myself to my desk and got some work done. I have a new debit card from the credit union, and had to update information on various channels, and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM made it a nightmare. I am so sick of this. This is why I still use paper checks whenever possible. All of this should have taken minutes for each update. I shouldn’t have lost a morning.

In the afternoon, I took care of some more admin, and had discussions with my ghostwriting client about both series on which I’m working. I got the notes back on the one project, and started those revisions yesterday.

I cooked dinner (the salmon had been in the teriyaki marinade all day and was good), and read the book for this month’s Agatha Christie book club, THE LABORS OF HERCULES. It’s a collection of connected short stories featuring Hercule Poirot. I don’t think I ever read it before.

It was bucketing down with rain in the evening, and then quite cold.

Slept reasonably well. The way the cats carried on Saturday morning, I thought I’d overslept, but it was the usual 5:30 time. I’d hoped to sleep in a bit!

Morning routine was fine, and I added in a blessing for the graduating students across the street.

The day began as foggy and cool, but the sun came out, which was nice.

I did the usual Saturday chores, including (finally) switching out the flannel sheets. I didn’t go straight to bamboo. I’m using cotton right now. I also switched to the summer, lighter quilt.

I spent most of the morning turning my closet over for the summer. I packed away everything wintery that lives in the closet and went through everything else for fit, repairs, etc. Pulled a few things. Unpacked the summer clothes I’d packed away, and went through them for fit, repair, etc.

I’m low on summer pants and I could use another pair or two of ballet flats, but I’ve got plenty of everything else. Most of what I have goes with a whole bunch of other stuff, so that’s always a good thing. The summer pants will be boosted a bit with the navy pants I’m making that I can wear three-season, and a pair in black jacquard fabric that are a little dressier. Another pair or two of cotton palazzo pants would be a good idea. I might make them. It depends on whether I can find fabric I like at a price I like. I have not been impressed with what’s in the stores lately. I also need another pair or two of yoga pants. The last time I bought yoga pants was about 2012, and I’m wearing them out. They’ve worn well. It’s not an emergency yet, just something to think about if I come across something I like at the right price.

There was a fabric sale at Old Stone Mill the past two weekends in Adams, but I didn’t make it over there. I want to sew up what I bought from Swenson’s Fabrics the last few months, and some other material that’s in my stash from years back. Old Stone is known for quilting fabrics, so I probably could have found everything I needed for “Elemental Nine Patch” but I wasn’t in that mindset yet. They have sales several times a year, so I’m not going to stress over it.

The afternoon was spent reading and hanging out on the couch with the cats. Cooked dinner in the evening, and relaxed some more. It was a good, quiet Saturday.

Sunday morning, Tessa got me out of bed at the usual time. It was supposed to get up into the 80’s, so I baked the biscuits (American kind) my mom wanted for breakfast first, then cooked the potatoes for the potato salad that we can have for lunch over the days when it’s supposed to get really hot.

I did the Community Tarot Reading for the week, which you can read here. A few too many fives for my liking, but since I’m warned, maybe I can make smarter choices. What the cards predict can change with every action you make from the moment of the reading.

I went through and sorted winter sweaters, etc. I packed away what was clean, and put in the laundry bin what needs to be washed before I can put it away. I sorted through shirts and light sweaters for summer and got those organized. That took longer than I expected, especially since both Charlotte and Willa “helped.”

It was warm and sunny. I didn’t feel like doing much of anything. I read a bit, played with cats, just rested. Cooked dinner at night and read some more.

Worked a bit on an LOI. Figured out options to make for a potluck lunch to which I was invited at the end of the week.

I didn’t sleep particularly well Sunday into Monday. I woke up in the middle of the night in pain, and by the time I got back to sleep, the cats got me up.

Morning routine was fine and helped a bit. I had a lot of admin to do that stacked up. I read the plays for Monday night’s Athena project and sent out some emails. I wasn’t feeling great, and would have liked to take the day off, but too bad for me. I can do a whole lot of nothing over the holiday weekend, but this week, I need to get things done.

I got my marketing for the day done, and joined the Honor Roll Playwrighting session for two hours. I worked on I WILL BE DIFFERENT. I got three scenes done, near the beginning of the play(s). I think I have one more Alice scene to write, and I will be done with this draft (which has taken two years).

I’m going to do a rough assembly and read it, then figure out if it’s one play or two plays, and start rearranging material, adding scene numbers, years, etc.

Emma (who runs these sessions) let us know that Dramatists Guild is doing End of Play again this year, but in June, so I went ahead and signed up. I don’t think it’s the best structure for the revision of I WILL BE DIFFERENT, and I think the May Morris piece isn’t ready to write yet. So I may try to finish CONSEQUENCES or finish LAUGHTER AND TURPENTINE or  try something new. What, I have no idea. Hey, I have two weeks, I’ll come up with something.

I felt much better by the end of the writing session.

I looked over the notes for the ghostwriting client. They love what I sketched out for this, and just, basically want more, and a little bit of rearrangement. So I feel pretty good about digging back into that. I got my deadline for this draft, which is June 1, although I will try to get it done a little earlier than that. I had a really good session on it this afternoon, with things flowing well.

The weather wasn’t too bad. It was warm, hitting 90F, but not too humid, so I could concentrate.

I put together and easy and tasty dinner using ingredients from the CSA, served with rice, which was good.

I finished the book I read over the past few days, a biography of Lorne Michaels, who has produced SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE for fifty years. SNL was always part of my landscape. I never worked on it, although I was encouraged to do so around the time MISS SAIGON was winding up. I never even submitted a resume or tried to get an interview, mostly because I didn’t want to be around the frenetic schedule and the drugs. There was a dive bar in the subway station of the 50th St. No.1 train called Siberia where various show crews, including some of the SNL crew, hung out in the late 90’s/early 2000’s (it’s now a much more upscale place called Nothing Really Matters), so I heard a lot of the backstage stories. (The performers attended the upscale parties Michaels threw every Saturday night, and then the after parties that sprang up around town). As much as I admire the work they do, especially in such a tight time frame, and going live, my sense was that it wasn’t the right place for me. It was a better choice for me to be a repository of anecdotes. The brutality of working on that show wasn’t something that appealed to me.

I also learned a lot about comedy. Too many people don’t understand the difference between humor and comedy. Any genre can have humor layered over it/woven through it, and can work. Comedy is very tightly structured. The more effortless it comes across, the tighter the structure. Even the best of the zaniest comedians understand the structure and it’s a part of their personal rhythms as much as their heartbeat.

Even if an audience doesn’t intellectually understand the difference, they will feel it, and if something supposedly funny doesn’t work, it’s usually because the structure doesn’t support it. They might not know why, but they can feel it, because even intellectual comedy speaks to rhythms and how it feels in the body.

When I watch clips of the show, it’s still useful to break down the beats and dissect the sketch. If I’m struggling to build a comic scene in my own work (as opposed to a humorous scene), watching a few different clips and dissecting them (sort of like diagramming sentences in elementary school, but for the whole sketch) gets me back on track.

The book is well done, and was very interesting.

At 8:30, I set up the laptop in the living room and spent the next two hours with the Athena Project, for the month’s plays. We had lovely, lively discussions, which were helpful to both playwrights. I think it’s very important to show up for other playwrights, and not just swan in and out when my own work is featured.

They ask that we wait six months after they’ve featured one of our plays before submitting again. I was featured in March, which means I can submit again starting for October’s session. Although I will probably wait to submit for January’s session.

It took me a bit of time to settle after the session, but I eventually did. I slept reasonably well, in spite of the warm weather. It’s not too humid yet, so I was fine.

Up early today. The morning routine was fine. Consistency makes a positive difference. I watered the plants that needed a drink, before it got too hot, so they wouldn’t stand in wet feet all day. I think I will take a shot at the first draft of the final Alice scene I want to write for I WILL BE DIFFERENT (it’s early in the play, but the last one written) set in the Barbizon Hotel.

Maybe this weekend, I will start the rough assemblage of the second draft.

Also on today’s agenda: BETTING MAN, ghostwriting, and, hopefully, yoga. I have some handwashing to do, too, from the closet turnover, and some stain removal to work on. How a yellow shirt hanging in the closet can get a stain that looks like coffee dripped down the back is beyond me, but there we are. I was worried there was a ceiling leak, but there’s not. It’s supposed to be 90F again today, and then the weather breaks tomorrow. It feels like we will have a thunderstorm. Once it gets hot, I may adjust my schedule and start work earlier, take a break when it’s hot, and then work again in the evening. Or, I might pack up and work at a library or at the Clark.

Have a good one!

Tues. May 19, 2026: Summer Prep & Solid Writing

Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Waxing Moon

Pluto Retrograde

Cloudy and hot

Hello, and welcome to another week!

You can read the Community Tarot Reading for the Week here.

Friday, I did some admin, then headed out to the pharmacy for my mom. It was quick trip, but all I wanted to do when I got home was laze on the sofa with the cats. Not an option, though.

I hauled myself to my desk and got some work done. I have a new debit card from the credit union, and had to update information on various channels, and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM made it a nightmare. I am so sick of this. This is why I still use paper checks whenever possible. All of this should have taken minutes for each update. I shouldn’t have lost a morning.

In the afternoon, I took care of some more admin, and had discussions with my ghostwriting client about both series on which I’m working. I got the notes back on the one project, and started those revisions yesterday.

I cooked dinner (the salmon had been in the teriyaki marinade all day and was good), and read the book for this month’s Agatha Christie book club, THE LABORS OF HERCULES. It’s a collection of connected short stories featuring Hercule Poirot. I don’t think I ever read it before.

It was bucketing down with rain in the evening, and then quite cold.

Slept reasonably well. The way the cats carried on Saturday morning, I thought I’d overslept, but it was the usual 5:30 time. I’d hoped to sleep in a bit!

Morning routine was fine, and I added in a blessing for the graduating students across the street.

The day began as foggy and cool, but the sun came out, which was nice.

I did the usual Saturday chores, including (finally) switching out the flannel sheets. I didn’t go straight to bamboo. I’m using cotton right now. I also switched to the summer, lighter quilt.

I spent most of the morning turning my closet over for the summer. I packed away everything wintery that lives in the closet and went through everything else for fit, repairs, etc. Pulled a few things. Unpacked the summer clothes I’d packed away, and went through them for fit, repair, etc.

I’m low on summer pants and I could use another pair or two of ballet flats, but I’ve got plenty of everything else. Most of what I have goes with a whole bunch of other stuff, so that’s always a good thing. The summer pants will be boosted a bit with the navy pants I’m making that I can wear three-season, and a pair in black jacquard fabric that are a little dressier. Another pair or two of cotton palazzo pants would be a good idea. I might make them. It depends on whether I can find fabric I like at a price I like. I have not been impressed with what’s in the stores lately. I also need another pair or two of yoga pants. The last time I bought yoga pants was about 2012, and I’m wearing them out. They’ve worn well. It’s not an emergency yet, just something to think about if I come across something I like at the right price.

There was a fabric sale at Old Stone Mill the past two weekends in Adams, but I didn’t make it over there. I want to sew up what I bought from Swenson’s Fabrics the last few months, and some other material that’s in my stash from years back. Old Stone is known for quilting fabrics, so I probably could have found everything I needed for “Elemental Nine Patch” but I wasn’t in that mindset yet. They have sales several times a year, so I’m not going to stress over it.

The afternoon was spent reading and hanging out on the couch with the cats. Cooked dinner in the evening, and relaxed some more. It was a good, quiet Saturday.

Sunday morning, Tessa got me out of bed at the usual time. It was supposed to get up into the 80’s, so I baked the biscuits (American kind) my mom wanted for breakfast first, then cooked the potatoes for the potato salad that we can have for lunch over the days when it’s supposed to get really hot.

I did the Community Tarot Reading for the week, which you can read here. A few too many fives for my liking, but since I’m warned, maybe I can make smarter choices. What the cards predict can change with every action you make from the moment of the reading.

I went through and sorted winter sweaters, etc. I packed away what was clean, and put in the laundry bin what needs to be washed before I can put it away. I sorted through shirts and light sweaters for summer and got those organized. That took longer than I expected, especially since both Charlotte and Willa “helped.”

It was warm and sunny. I didn’t feel like doing much of anything. I read a bit, played with cats, just rested. Cooked dinner at night and read some more.

Worked a bit on an LOI. Figured out options to make for a potluck lunch to which I was invited at the end of the week.

I didn’t sleep particularly well Sunday into Monday. I woke up in the middle of the night in pain, and by the time I got back to sleep, the cats got me up.

Morning routine was fine and helped a bit. I had a lot of admin to do that stacked up. I read the plays for Monday night’s Athena project and sent out some emails. I wasn’t feeling great, and would have liked to take the day off, but too bad for me. I can do a whole lot of nothing over the holiday weekend, but this week, I need to get things done.

I got my marketing for the day done, and joined the Honor Roll Playwrighting session for two hours. I worked on I WILL BE DIFFERENT. I got three scenes done, near the beginning of the play(s). I think I have one more Alice scene to write, and I will be done with this draft (which has taken two years).

I’m going to do a rough assembly and read it, then figure out if it’s one play or two plays, and start rearranging material, adding scene numbers, years, etc.

Emma (who runs these sessions) let us know that Dramatists Guild is doing End of Play again this year, but in June, so I went ahead and signed up. I don’t think it’s the best structure for the revision of I WILL BE DIFFERENT, and I think the May Morris piece isn’t ready to write yet. So I may try to finish CONSEQUENCES or finish LAUGHTER AND TURPENTINE or  try something new. What, I have no idea. Hey, I have two weeks, I’ll come up with something.

I felt much better by the end of the writing session.

I looked over the notes for the ghostwriting client. They love what I sketched out for this, and just, basically want more, and a little bit of rearrangement. So I feel pretty good about digging back into that. I got my deadline for this draft, which is June 1, although I will try to get it done a little earlier than that. I had a really good session on it this afternoon, with things flowing well.

The weather wasn’t too bad. It was warm, hitting 90F, but not too humid, so I could concentrate.

I put together and easy and tasty dinner using ingredients from the CSA, served with rice, which was good.

I finished the book I read over the past few days, a biography of Lorne Michaels, who has produced SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE for fifty years. SNL was always part of my landscape. I never worked on it, although I was encouraged to do so around the time MISS SAIGON was winding up. I never even submitted a resume or tried to get an interview, mostly because I didn’t want to be around the frenetic schedule and the drugs. There was a dive bar in the subway station of the 50th St. No.1 train called Siberia where various show crews, including some of the SNL crew, hung out in the late 90’s/early 2000’s (it’s now a much more upscale place called Nothing Really Matters), so I heard a lot of the backstage stories. (The performers attended the upscale parties Michaels threw every Saturday night, and then the after parties that sprang up around town). As much as I admire the work they do, especially in such a tight time frame, and going live, my sense was that it wasn’t the right place for me. It was a better choice for me to be a repository of anecdotes. The brutality of working on that show wasn’t something that appealed to me.

I also learned a lot about comedy. Too many people don’t understand the difference between humor and comedy. Any genre can have humor layered over it/woven through it, and can work. Comedy is very tightly structured. The more effortless it comes across, the tighter the structure. Even the best of the zaniest comedians understand the structure and it’s a part of their personal rhythms as much as their heartbeat.

Even if an audience doesn’t intellectually understand the difference, they will feel it, and if something supposedly funny doesn’t work, it’s usually because the structure doesn’t support it. They might not know why, but they can feel it, because even intellectual comedy speaks to rhythms and how it feels in the body.

When I watch clips of the show, it’s still useful to break down the beats and dissect the sketch. If I’m struggling to build a comic scene in my own work (as opposed to a humorous scene), watching a few different clips and dissecting them (sort of like diagramming sentences in elementary school, but for the whole sketch) gets me back on track.

The book is well done, and was very interesting.

At 8:30, I set up the laptop in the living room and spent the next two hours with the Athena Project, for the month’s plays. We had lovely, lively discussions, which were helpful to both playwrights. I think it’s very important to show up for other playwrights, and not just swan in and out when my own work is featured.

They ask that we wait six months after they’ve featured one of our plays before submitting again. I was featured in March, which means I can submit again starting for October’s session. Although I will probably wait to submit for January’s session.

It took me a bit of time to settle after the session, but I eventually did. I slept reasonably well, in spite of the warm weather. It’s not too humid yet, so I was fine.

Up early today. The morning routine was fine. Consistency makes a positive difference. I watered the plants that needed a drink, before it got too hot, so they wouldn’t stand in wet feet all day. I think I will take a shot at the first draft of the final Alice scene I want to write for I WILL BE DIFFERENT (it’s early in the play, but the last one written) set in the Barbizon Hotel.

Maybe this weekend, I will start the rough assemblage of the second draft.

Also on today’s agenda: BETTING MAN, ghostwriting, and, hopefully, yoga. I have some hand laundry to do, too, from the closet turnover, and some stain removal to work on. How a yellow shirt hanging in the closet can get a stain that looks like coffee dripped down the back is beyond me, but there we are. I was worried there was a ceiling leak, but there’s not. It’s supposed to be 90F again today, and then the weather breaks tomorrow. It feels like we will have a thunderstorm. Once it gets hot, I may adjust my schedule and start work earlier, take a break when it’s hot, and then work again in the evening. Or, I might pack up and work at a library or at the Clark.

Have a good one!

Literal and Metaphorical Stormy Weather: https://devonellington.wordpress.com/2026/04/01/wed-april-1-2026-literal-and-metaphorical-stormy-weather/

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Literal and Metaphorical Stormy Weather: https://devonellington.wordpress.com/2026/04/01/wed-april-1-2026-literal-and-metaphorical-stormy-weather/

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Literal and Metaphorical Stormy Weather: https://devonellington.wordpress.com/2026/04/01/wed-april-1-2026-literal-and-metaphorical-stormy-weather/

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Wed. April 1, 2026: Literal and Metaphorical Stormy Weather

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Full Moon

April Fool’s Day

Rainy and warm

New month midweek. That always feels weird to me.

I would prefer our April Fools to be like the Tarot Fool, not the ones currently in power.

Yesterday did not begin the way I hoped. My mom felt terrible. I managed to get her an appointment in the health practice, but with a different doctor, and right up the street at the hospital, so off we went right away. The doctor was so kind, and did the most thorough exam my mom has had since we moved here. He really spent time with her. We ruled out lots of bad things, but aren’t sure what’s left, so we’re monitoring. She felt much better by the time we left. But most of the day was elder care, although she improved steadily all day, thank goodness.

On the way back, I picked up her prescription at the pharmacy and then nipped into Big Y to pick up a few things.

By the time we got home and up the stairs, it was time for brunch (since we left before breakfast). I scrambled some eggs and made toast, and that was that.

A submission call landed on my desk for a short story due that day. I looked through what I had to see if anything fit the guidelines, and I had something. Yay, me. All I had to do was write the cover letter and pop it out. Because I was in no shape to start work on something new after the stressful morning.

I also closed out one of the contest categories, submitting my winner/finalist list and the winner’s review. I’m close to closing out the second category. I should be able to do it this weekend. The third category is much bigger, and will take me longer to finish, but I have until early May, so I’m okay.

I plowed through a couple of hundred emails, and set up April’s content calendar.

I was delighted to learn that my short comedy, “Dawn and Dorothy in the Afterlife” about Dawn Powell and Dorothy Parker stuck together for eternity in drunken luncheons, will get a staged reading at the LAVA Center in Greenfield in June. This is my second play with them, and I had such a wonderful experience last year. It will be such fun!

That was a nice uplift to the day.

I cooked a nice chicken and vegetable stew. I tossed a handful of currants in near the end, and that was an excellent choice. After the meal, I sat out on the porch reading WRITERS ON WRITING VOL. II, essays that originally appeared in the New York Times. My copies of both volumes are in storage, and I wanted to re-read them, so I ordered them from the library.

Diane Ackerman’s essay particularly delighted me, the way she uses language so beautifully. I ordered both of her books mentioned in the essay, one prose, one poetry.

I enjoyed the other essays I’ve read (re-read) so far, too, but that, in particular, stayed with me the most.

Synchronicity –there’s an essay from Michael Holyrod in there, and his huge Shaw biography is on my reading list (re-read, I’ve read it before) as background for the May Morris play.

We had a cracking good thunderstorm at night, with lightning. We turned out the lamps and watched it roll past through the windows. The lightning looked like serpents snaking across the sky.

The cats weren’t bothered at all, although Tessa was fascinated.

Slept okay. My mom seems a little better this morning. I have to get back on track with the work today, since yesterday was somewhat derailed. Tessa and Bea are scampering around, playing and having fun, which is great.

Have a good one!

Wed. April 1, 2026: Literal and Metaphorical Stormy Weather

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Full Moon

April Fool’s Day

Rainy and warm

New month midweek. That always feels weird to me.

I would prefer our April Fools to be like the Tarot Fool, not the ones currently in power.

Yesterday did not begin the way I hoped. My mom felt terrible. I managed to get her an appointment in the health practice, but with a different doctor, and right up the street at the hospital, so off we went right away. The doctor was so kind, and did the most thorough exam my mom has had since we moved here. He really spent time with her. We ruled out lots of bad things, but aren’t sure what’s left, so we’re monitoring. She felt much better by the time we left. But most of the day was elder care, although she improved steadily all day, thank goodness.

On the way back, I picked up her prescription at the pharmacy and then nipped into Big Y to pick up a few things.

By the time we got home and up the stairs, it was time for brunch (since we left before breakfast). I scrambled some eggs and made toast, and that was that.

A submission call landed on my desk for a short story due that day. I looked through what I had to see if anything fit the guidelines, and I had something. Yay, me. All I had to do was write the cover letter and pop it out. Because I was in no shape to start work on something new after the stressful morning.

I also closed out one of the contest categories, submitting my winner/finalist list and the winner’s review. I’m close to closing out the second category. I should be able to do it this weekend. The third category is much bigger, and will take me longer to finish, but I have until early May, so I’m okay.

I plowed through a couple of hundred emails, and set up April’s content calendar.

I was delighted to learn that my short comedy, “Dawn and Dorothy in the Afterlife” about Dawn Powell and Dorothy Parker stuck together for eternity in drunken luncheons, will get a staged reading at the LAVA Center in Greenfield in June. This is my second play with them, and I had such a wonderful experience last year. It will be such fun!

That was a nice uplift to the day.

I cooked a nice chicken and vegetable stew. I tossed a handful of currants in near the end, and that was an excellent choice. After the meal, I sat out on the porch reading WRITERS ON WRITING VOL. II, essays that originally appeared in the New York Times. My copies of both volumes are in storage, and I wanted to re-read them, so I ordered them from the library.

Diane Ackerman’s essay particularly delighted me, the way she uses language so beautifully. I ordered both of her books mentioned in the essay, one prose, one poetry.

I enjoyed the other essays I’ve read (re-read) so far, too, but that, in particular, stayed with me the most.

Synchronicity –there’s an essay from Michael Holyrod in there, and his huge Shaw biography is on my reading list (re-read, I’ve read it before) as background for the May Morris play.

We had a cracking good thunderstorm at night, with lightning. We turned out the lamps and watched it roll past through the windows. The lightning looked like serpents snaking across the sky.

The cats weren’t bothered at all, although Tessa was fascinated.

Slept okay. My mom seems a little better this morning. I have to get back on track with the work today, since yesterday was somewhat derailed. Tessa and Bea are scampering around, playing and having fun, which is great.

Have a good one!

Wed. April 1, 2026: Literal and Metaphorical Stormy Weather

Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Full Moon

April Fool’s Day

Rainy and warm

New month midweek. That always feels weird to me.

I would prefer our April Fools to be like the Tarot Fool, not the ones currently in power.

Yesterday did not begin the way I hoped. My mom felt terrible. I managed to get her an appointment in the health practice, but with a different doctor, and right up the street at the hospital, so off we went right away. The doctor was so kind, and did the most thorough exam my mom has had since we moved here. He really spent time with her. We ruled out lots of bad things, but aren’t sure what’s left, so we’re monitoring. She felt much better by the time we left. But most of the day was elder care, although she improved steadily all day, thank goodness.

On the way back, I picked up her prescription at the pharmacy and then nipped into Big Y to pick up a few things.

By the time we got home and up the stairs, it was time for brunch (since we left before breakfast). I scrambled some eggs and made toast, and that was that.

A submission call landed on my desk for a short story due that day. I looked through what I had to see if anything fit the guidelines, and I had something. Yay, me. All I had to do was write the cover letter and pop it out. Because I was in no shape to start work on something new after the stressful morning.

I also closed out one of the contest categories, submitting my winner/finalist list and the winner’s review. I’m close to closing out the second category. I should be able to do it this weekend. The third category is much bigger, and will take me longer to finish, but I have until early May, so I’m okay.

I plowed through a couple of hundred emails, and set up April’s content calendar.

I was delighted to learn that my short comedy, “Dawn and Dorothy in the Afterlife” about Dawn Powell and Dorothy Parker stuck together for eternity in drunken luncheons, will get a staged reading at the LAVA Center in Greenfield in June. This is my second play with them, and I had such a wonderful experience last year. It will be such fun!

That was a nice uplift to the day.

I cooked a nice chicken and vegetable stew. I tossed a handful of currants in near the end, and that was an excellent choice. After the meal, I sat out on the porch reading WRITERS ON WRITING VOL. II, essays that originally appeared in the New York Times. My copies of both volumes are in storage, and I wanted to re-read them, so I ordered them from the library.

Diane Ackerman’s essay particularly delighted me, the way she uses language so beautifully. I ordered both of her books mentioned in the essay, one prose, one poetry.

I enjoyed the other essays I’ve read (re-read) so far, too, but that, in particular, stayed with me the most.

Synchronicity –there’s an essay from Michael Holyrod in there, and his huge Shaw biography is on my reading list (re-read, I’ve read it before) as background for the May Morris play.

We had a cracking good thunderstorm at night, with lightning. We turned out the lamps and watched it roll past through the windows. The lightning looked like serpents snaking across the sky.

The cats weren’t bothered at all, although Tessa was fascinated.

Slept okay. My mom seems a little better this morning. I have to get back on track with the work today, since yesterday was somewhat derailed. Tessa and Bea are scampering around, playing and having fun, which is great.

Have a good one!

Marketing Stats, Creative Feedback, and Art: https://devonellington.wordpress.com/2026/03/17/tues-march-17-2026-marketing-stats-creative-feedback-and-art/

#Writing #WritingCommunity #Freelance #Playwrighting

Marketing Stats, Creative Feedback, and Art: https://devonellington.wordpress.com/2026/03/17/tues-march-17-2026-marketing-stats-creative-feedback-and-art/

#Writing #WritingCommunity #Freelance #Playwrighting

Marketing Stats, Creative Feedback, and Art: https://devonellington.wordpress.com/2026/03/17/tues-march-17-2026-marketing-stats-creative-feedback-and-art/

#Writing #WritingCommunity #Freelance #Playwrighting

Tues. March 17, 2026: Marketing Stats, Creative Feedback, and Art

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Dark Moon

Mercury Retrograde

Snowy and cold

Happy new week!

Pull up a chair and a beverage, this is a long post.

If you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, I hope you have a good one. Between living/working in NYC, where St. Patrick’s Day is even more of an excuse for people to behave badly than New Year’s Eve, and living on the Cape, where people were usually drunk by 10 AM – not a fan.

Friday, I did the laundry early, hauled it back, got it folded and put away. I headed up to the library to drop/off pick up books. There weren’t many to pick up, and I only dropped off those that were due, so I didn’t need the rolly cart. Swung by the post office to mail thank you notes from the birthday stuff. Ran two more errands on the way home. Was worn out, although I managed to get them done in good time, even on foot.

A Marketing Tangent

I got my royalties from the past few months (so I don’t have to have a Come to Jesus talk with D2D – we’re all caught up). The months I steadily marketed saw sales 10X the months I let it slide. I’m only spending about 15 minutes a day on weekdays marketing, but it made sales jump 10X.

Those sales cover a couple of bills. If I can maintain and then grow those sales, I am in good shape. Not that one can count on royalties, and they fluctuate, but if I can get back to steady and growing sales, it helps a lot.

The Nina Bell Mysteries are steadily growing their audience. If I can keep writing/releasing on a steady schedule and keep marketing steadily, we should be in good shape. Layering in the ANGEL HUNT series is a solid plan, because urban fantasy usually does well, and ANGEL HUNT was the most popular of the serials. There’s a lot of interest in the Coventina Circle series again, so getting those in the print editions and then finishing out the series is a good idea. 4 of the 9 planned books are out (I’ve got book 5 halfway written). After that’s complete,  working on the spinoff series that goes deeper into urban fantasy rather than paranormal romantic suspense should work. Those spinoff characters introduced in RELICS AND REQUIEM, who show up now and again and even crossed over into the Gwen Finnegan series, are very popular. And getting back on the Topic Workbooks and prepping more for release should also help. The Topic Workbooks have always been steady sellers.

The trick is to find the sweet spot, both of creative energy to create the work, and to know when to release it. Every series has a different sweet spot. Wait too long between releases, and you lose audience. Release too much too quickly (in spite of the current binge desires many have), and people feel overwhelmed or as though if they miss one release, there will always be another. I find that especially true of the shorts, although sales of holiday-themed shorts bump up when promoted around their holiday.

It needs to first be about serving the work, or it can’t connect. But then, it also needs to look at the metrics of the business side of it, which are constantly shifting.

I’m getting questions about when LEGERDEMAIN will release in novel form from people who loved that world. The answer to that is that I’m not sure. The first arc of the serial (41 episodes) is pretty solid, but the rest sprawled too much, and it needs a lot of work to go in and tighten it as I adapt. I’ll have to pull out some of the shorter arcs and put them in separate stories, instead of trying to weave so many multiple plot lines at once. I need to have the main plot for each book, then a B subplot that gets resolved, then an over-reaching series arc that goes on for several books. Once in a while I can weave in maybe one more strand, but not the half dozen or so that were going on past episode 41. It will take a lot of work, and I need to have at least three volumes in solid shape before releasing anything. Plus, there were requests for spin-offs, especially when it came to the adventures of the all-female crew of the dirigible the Nervy Molls, and more built around the Fathomless Library. I’m so glad people connected to all of this, but it takes time and planning to make it all work, and I’m not sure I can do any of it this year.

Because I can’t drop the ball on the stage plays, either, and I have to get at least one-full length in shape for submission by the end of August, per a request. I can’t re-submit to this venue, so it needs to be something new.

I’d also love to get back to work on REP (the theatre company in space comedy) as a novel, but I can’t see fitting that in this year, either.

The most sales come from people who find me on Mastodon, with Instagram a close second. Bluesky is a distant third, with Tumblr and Threads trailing behind them. It took several years to build the audience on Mastodon and it’s a slower process than on other social media channels, but by posting/interacting regularly, marketing regularly, and taking part is games such as Writers Coffee Club, I’ve built connections there and am finding a growing audience. If all one does is post promos on a channel, sales don’t happen. There has to be interaction that has nothing to do with promotion, and that takes time and thought, which needs to be built into the workday.

I no longer promote on FB, and my sales have improved. TikTok was somewhat useful for serials, but hasn’t been for my books. I don’t do the kind of BookTok videos that work,  nor am I willing to do them, and I’m not dealing with TikTok considering who owns it now.

Good to know.

I seriously would like to dump the FB accounts completely. Every time I open it, the first things that show up on my feed make me want to throw up. Blocking those accounts does nothing. For every block, 5 more of the gross things show up. The only reason I keep FB is because that’s how the city sends out information on emergencies. And birthday reminders, so I don’t miss anyone’s birthday (although I’m starting to add those to my paper datebook again).

The marketing that works (at the moment) is not brain surgery. It’s not spending a lot of money. It’s consistency.

It’s also looking at data over a period of months, and then tweaking one thing at a time, so you can see what kind of changes actually make a difference. I’m grateful to the Assets4Artists workshop and the local chamber workshop that gave me those tools to analyze this kind of data.

Now I have to figure out how to build on that, while continuing to have enough time and energy to keep feeding eager readers AND doing the more lucrative freelance writing work. I do that, knowing that I will have to look at the data every few months, and make changes. It’s not a career path on a highway, it’s more like floating down a river. Sometimes, there are rapids, and sometimes you get caught in the shallows.

The reason it takes me only 15 minutes a day is because I put in plenty of prep work. I have a content calendar for the month that I do about mid-month the previous month. (In other words, I better sit down and do April’s this week). It has the social media slots for each weekday, and what promo goes in each slot. I only promo one project per social media channel each day (except if I’ve dropped a day), so that I don’t saturate the channel and get annoying.

The only time I have the same ad on all channels on the same day is release day. Otherwise, I have them rotate through the channels: series ad, series video, single book ad for each book (one per day), single book video (ibid), and so forth. That way, it doesn’t come across as spam, even though content is repeated more than once in a month. Although I don’t do separate videos for each Topic Workbook. I have one for the group, and then flat ads for each book. For instance, February had a Nina Bell release (VICIOUS CRITIC), so all the promos in February were for various Nina Bell books. March has Nina, Topic workbooks, anthologies. April will include “Plot Bunnies” the short Twinkle Tavern mystery that happens near Easter, along with Nina, Workbooks, anthologies. And so forth.

As each book is going through the final production process, I work on the ad and the video. Or I edit/add to the series ad/video. That way, it’s all set up when it’s time to go. I’ve got the graphics, I’ve got the copy, I’ve got the links, I just follow the day’s schedule for the content calendar, and it takes 15 minutes to post through the channels. Each ad takes about an hour or so to create, but is designed to be evergreen and easily updatable if links or prices change. The videos take between 2-4 hours, depending how complicated they are. Longer, when the software I use updates claiming improvements that are actually detriments. As I explore new software, I might find something that helps me streamline that.

I treat myself  like my own client. That was the biggest factor in making it work. It’s the same way I prepare materials for small business launches, and what I used to do for clients when I handled their social media promotions.

When I handled promos back in Twitter’s heyday, I could schedule an entire month’s worth of promos on Tweetdeck in about two hours. Under their current ownership and new name, I won’t deal with them. Hootsuite was useful to a point (not all the channels I need within my budget, but useful for some clients), but now they contract with the frozen water thugs, so I will not use them. Buffer doesn’t have enough of the channels I need within my budget.

Again, this is all about systems and information and tracking that then is used to support the creative work so the creative work can continue. It’s often difficult to face the reality of the business side of things, but it’s imperative if you want it to support the creative. They are the yin and yang of working in the arts.

Those who try to talk you out of paying attention to the business side of it are trying to exploit you and get your work for free, so watch out.

Back to the Life/Writing Stuff

On a completely different note, I did not get a slot in a 7-year residency for playwrighting. I knew it was a long shot, and they had 799 applicants. I had decided not to even apply, but then figured what the hell, nothing ventured and all that. But 7 years would mean I was in my early 70’s when we were done, and that’s not practical in my life right now. I’m glad I applied, and actually a little relieved I didn’t get it. Commuting to NYC at least once a month for 7 years would have been a lot, especially since they couldn’t guarantee the level of funding for the duration, just for the coming year. So why did I even apply? Because I felt there was possibility in the opportunity, and if I landed it, I was determined to find a way to make it work and grow in my playwrighting.

I am curious to see how many of the playwrights chosen actually stay in the residency program for the full seven years. I will follow along to keep track, and see how they blossom in the program (once they’re chosen).

Friday afternoon, I sorted out some practicalities with the ghostwriting client, and then go to work on the assignment due this Friday. I didn’t make as much progress as I hoped, but I have some ideas on how to fix that.

It started snowing around 3:30 or so. Sigh.

Got some research reading done for the May Morris project in the evening.

Didn’t sleep well Friday into Saturday. Up around the usual time, with Tessa shouting down the house because she wanted her breakfast. The morning routine was fine, although the 15-minute free write was more on the practical side than the creative side. But it sorted things out in my brain a bit, so it served its purpose.

It was supposed to snow from 9 AM – 1 PM, but started before 8.

After breakfast, I did some housework. I gesso’d my canvas for the collage. Tessa “helped” which means I now have to work a figure of a black cat into the collage to explain any cat hair I couldn’t wipe off. No, there isn’t any place in this house I can work where the cats can’t wander in.

Thankfully, Willa watched from a safe distance. Charlotte was asleep on the freshly made bed, and Bea was busy in the living room.

I got caught up doing more admin work than I hoped. I also re-read the first eight episodes I wrote of REP, and it’s funnier than I remembered, which is good. It plays a lot with tropes in theatre and science fiction.

I wrote myself into a corner on the latest chapter of BETTING MAN, and tried to get myself out of it, which was a chore. Not quite there yet.

I layered up and went out into the snow to pick up my mom’s prescription. They had two ready, which was nice. Usually, I go to pick up one, and the minute I get back home, there’s the notification for another one. Because making anything easier for their customers is beyond them. CVS = Corporate Vicious Hassle.

But there wasn’t hassle today, thank goodness. I stomped across town in the snow and into the wind, picked up the prescriptions, and picked up Chinese food on the way home. As I waited for my order, I read one of the local print publications, and there was an article by a colleague! I was so pleased for her, and it was very well done.

Trekked home, this time with the wind at my back, and we had an early lunch. It was yummy.

On the way back, as I trudged through the snow and wind, I had a breakthrough for something where I was stuck on the play CONSEQUENCE. It means going back and rewriting what I have of it so far, changing it a bit structurally, but still keeping it at three characters on stage. So that was good.

Then, I unpacked the 16 lb. bag of dry cat food and put it into smaller glass jars, which keeps it fresher and is easier to use. I set up the next couple of weeks’ worth of wet food on the shelf. I did some research. I finished reading the next book for review. It snowed on and off all afternoon, and there was a lot of wind. I started the spring cleaning, and got most of Tessa’s room done, although I still have to decide what I’m putting on the walls and how I’m hanging it. Cleaned all the lampshades, which always is more of a task than I remember.

Cooked dinner at night, read some more. Had busy dreams of working on various things all night with people I knew well in the dreamscape, but don’t recognize out of it. I felt like I put in a full day already when I woke up.

Good morning sessions of yoga and meditation. I figured out, in more detail, what to sort out in CONSEQUENCE during the morning free write, and also did some figuring out work on the sculpture.

After breakfast, I sat down and wrote a little over 1K on BETTING MAN, which was good. I’m still way behind where I hoped I’d be at this point, but I’m getting there. I wrote myself out of the corner, and had to remove a character from a previous chapter. But I made forward progress, which is important.

I did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which you can read here. I also wrote and submitted the book review, and scheduled the invoice to send on Monday morning.

I worked on some graphics that will be included on the sculpture, and started figuring out the text handout that will go with it.

I did research reading in afternoon and evening. I sort of kept an eye on the Oscars, but didn’t really watch them. I was, however, delighted with Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s win as the first woman to get an Oscar for cinematography. About damn time. I did some prep for Monday night’s Athena Project event (since my play was in it and all).

I did not sleep well, and was awake by 3 AM. When Tessa started complaining at 5, I just got up, without a fuss. Morning routine was fine. I like it when it’s early. It would be so easy to let the yoga or the meditation or the free write slide, but once you let it go for a day, it’s easy to keep letting it go, and the day is so much better when I don’t.

Again, consistency.

I knew Monday was going to be challenging because of all its moving parts.

By 8:30, I’d written a little over 1200 words on BETTING MAN.

I measured out the gesso’d canvas and started painting the background. The collage is satirical, so I’m using bold, bright colors, almost cartoonish. I had to mix the green with some white, to get it to the shade I wanted it, of “young child green grass.” Then I had to prop it and move chairs, etc. away from the kitchen table, so no curious cats would investigate it while it dried.

Bea also spent a good bit of time exploring my bedroom, and trying to figure out how to sneak on the bed without Charlotte noticing.

I received an invitation to join a playwrighting group about an hour and a half away (for a fee). I’d like to be involved with the group, but I am not an “aspiring” playwright. I’m a playwright, it’s part of my profession. I do not pay to work, I am paid to work. I sent a pleasant refusal.

Tried to catch up on some other email, and then switched over to the ghostwriting. I usually ghostwrite in the afternoon, but since my afternoon and evening were about playwrighting, on Monday, after I wrote my Nina quota and painted, I switched over to the ghostwriting. Since tomorrow, with the car repair, everything is a toss-up, I wanted to make sure I caught up yesterday and today, so I would be where I wanted, even if something goes cattywampus tomorrow.

I ran into an obstacle with the ghostwriting, and had to ask some questions, although I tried to work around them while I waited for an answer.

Honor Roll Playwrights session was on ZOOM for two hours, and that was good. We had a nice group. I rewrote/restructured what I have on CONSEQUENCE, and managed to move forward for a few pages. The restructuring didn’t add as much new material as I expected, which is good for pace, and I have a few ideas on raising the stakes.

After that session, I had a snack, then went back to the ghostwriting. They still didn’t answer my questions, which is unusual. So I will solider on in my own way. Whichever of the two roads I take will be the opposite of what they decide, and I will adjust as needed. I am behind where I hoped to be, and I don’t know how much I will get done tomorrow, with the car repair situation, so I will have to make up for it today and Thursday, in order to get it out on Friday on time.

We are having issues with a running toilet, so I had to make arrangements for maintenance to come this morning and take a look.

Cooked dinner and prepped for Athena Project. I gave the cats a snack right before the start of the session, so they settled down and napped, instead of crawling all over the computer and the screen.

It was a good session. Two of my friends who read earlier drafts of the play were there, and I appreciated it. It was a small group, but a good discussion, of both our plays. I appreciated that the readers loved the romance of the play as well as the more challenging elements, and they were all fascinated with the background.

Today, I will update the dramaturgy note at the back of the play to include thanks to Athena Project. It was great to work with the same dramaturg again, too. She really loves my work and gets the play.

It took me a bit of time to settle down and get to sleep. I woke up around 2:30 AM because of the rain. I managed to get to sleep again, and when I woke up a little after 5:30, it had changed over to snow. Sigh.

Today, I will send out thank you emails, update the Pages on Stages site with the play’s new information, deal with maintenance, try to get some work in on Nina, but the bulk of the day has to be about the ghostwriting.

This has been a really long post. Thanks for sticking with it! I hope you have a great day, and a great week.

Tues. March 17, 2026: Marketing Stats, Creative Feedback, and Art

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Dark Moon

Mercury Retrograde

Snowy and cold

Happy new week!

Pull up a chair and a beverage, this is a long post.

If you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, I hope you have a good one. Between living/working in NYC, where St. Patrick’s Day is even more of an excuse for people to behave badly than New Year’s Eve, and living on the Cape, where people were usually drunk by 10 AM – not a fan.

Friday, I did the laundry early, hauled it back, got it folded and put away. I headed up to the library to drop/off pick up books. There weren’t many to pick up, and I only dropped off those that were due, so I didn’t need the rolly cart. Swung by the post office to mail thank you notes from the birthday stuff. Ran two more errands on the way home. Was worn out, although I managed to get them done in good time, even on foot.

A Marketing Tangent

I got my royalties from the past few months (so I don’t have to have a Come to Jesus talk with D2D – we’re all caught up). The months I steadily marketed saw sales 10X the months I let it slide. I’m only spending about 15 minutes a day on weekdays marketing, but it made sales jump 10X.

Those sales cover a couple of bills. If I can maintain and then grow those sales, I am in good shape. Not that one can count on royalties, and they fluctuate, but if I can get back to steady and growing sales, it helps a lot.

The Nina Bell Mysteries are steadily growing their audience. If I can keep writing/releasing on a steady schedule and keep marketing steadily, we should be in good shape. Layering in the ANGEL HUNT series is a solid plan, because urban fantasy usually does well, and ANGEL HUNT was the most popular of the serials. There’s a lot of interest in the Coventina Circle series again, so getting those in the print editions and then finishing out the series is a good idea. 4 of the 9 planned books are out (I’ve got book 5 halfway written). After that’s complete,  working on the spinoff series that goes deeper into urban fantasy rather than paranormal romantic suspense should work. Those spinoff characters introduced in RELICS AND REQUIEM, who show up now and again and even crossed over into the Gwen Finnegan series, are very popular. And getting back on the Topic Workbooks and prepping more for release should also help. The Topic Workbooks have always been steady sellers.

The trick is to find the sweet spot, both of creative energy to create the work, and to know when to release it. Every series has a different sweet spot. Wait too long between releases, and you lose audience. Release too much too quickly (in spite of the current binge desires many have), and people feel overwhelmed or as though if they miss one release, there will always be another. I find that especially true of the shorts, although sales of holiday-themed shorts bump up when promoted around their holiday.

It needs to first be about serving the work, or it can’t connect. But then, it also needs to look at the metrics of the business side of it, which are constantly shifting.

I’m getting questions about when LEGERDEMAIN will release in novel form from people who loved that world. The answer to that is that I’m not sure. The first arc of the serial (41 episodes) is pretty solid, but the rest sprawled too much, and it needs a lot of work to go in and tighten it as I adapt. I’ll have to pull out some of the shorter arcs and put them in separate stories, instead of trying to weave so many multiple plot lines at once. I need to have the main plot for each book, then a B subplot that gets resolved, then an over-reaching series arc that goes on for several books. Once in a while I can weave in maybe one more strand, but not the half dozen or so that were going on past episode 41. It will take a lot of work, and I need to have at least three volumes in solid shape before releasing anything. Plus, there were requests for spin-offs, especially when it came to the adventures of the all-female crew of the dirigible the Nervy Molls, and more built around the Fathomless Library. I’m so glad people connected to all of this, but it takes time and planning to make it all work, and I’m not sure I can do any of it this year.

Because I can’t drop the ball on the stage plays, either, and I have to get at least one-full length in shape for submission by the end of August, per a request. I can’t re-submit to this venue, so it needs to be something new.

I’d also love to get back to work on REP (the theatre company in space comedy) as a novel, but I can’t see fitting that in this year, either.

The most sales come from people who find me on Mastodon, with Instagram a close second. Bluesky is a distant third, with Tumblr and Threads trailing behind them. It took several years to build the audience on Mastodon and it’s a slower process than on other social media channels, but by posting/interacting regularly, marketing regularly, and taking part is games such as Writers Coffee Club, I’ve built connections there and am finding a growing audience. If all one does is post promos on a channel, sales don’t happen. There has to be interaction that has nothing to do with promotion, and that takes time and thought, which needs to be built into the workday.

I no longer promote on FB, and my sales have improved. TikTok was somewhat useful for serials, but hasn’t been for my books. I don’t do the kind of BookTok videos that work,  nor am I willing to do them, and I’m not dealing with TikTok considering who owns it now.

Good to know.

I seriously would like to dump the FB accounts completely. Every time I open it, the first things that show up on my feed make me want to throw up. Blocking those accounts does nothing. For every block, 5 more of the gross things show up. The only reason I keep FB is because that’s how the city sends out information on emergencies. And birthday reminders, so I don’t miss anyone’s birthday (although I’m starting to add those to my paper datebook again).

The marketing that works (at the moment) is not brain surgery. It’s not spending a lot of money. It’s consistency.

It’s also looking at data over a period of months, and then tweaking one thing at a time, so you can see what kind of changes actually make a difference. I’m grateful to the Assets4Artists workshop and the local chamber workshop that gave me those tools to analyze this kind of data.

Now I have to figure out how to build on that, while continuing to have enough time and energy to keep feeding eager readers AND doing the more lucrative freelance writing work. I do that, knowing that I will have to look at the data every few months, and make changes. It’s not a career path on a highway, it’s more like floating down a river. Sometimes, there are rapids, and sometimes you get caught in the shallows.

The reason it takes me only 15 minutes a day is because I put in plenty of prep work. I have a content calendar for the month that I do about mid-month the previous month. (In other words, I better sit down and do April’s this week). It has the social media slots for each weekday, and what promo goes in each slot. I only promo one project per social media channel each day (except if I’ve dropped a day), so that I don’t saturate the channel and get annoying.

The only time I have the same ad on all channels on the same day is release day. Otherwise, I have them rotate through the channels: series ad, series video, single book ad for each book (one per day), single book video (ibid), and so forth. That way, it doesn’t come across as spam, even though content is repeated more than once in a month. Although I don’t do separate videos for each Topic Workbook. I have one for the group, and then flat ads for each book. For instance, February had a Nina Bell release (VICIOUS CRITIC), so all the promos in February were for various Nina Bell books. March has Nina, Topic workbooks, anthologies. April will include “Plot Bunnies” the short Twinkle Tavern mystery that happens near Easter, along with Nina, Workbooks, anthologies. And so forth.

As each book is going through the final production process, I work on the ad and the video. Or I edit/add to the series ad/video. That way, it’s all set up when it’s time to go. I’ve got the graphics, I’ve got the copy, I’ve got the links, I just follow the day’s schedule for the content calendar, and it takes 15 minutes to post through the channels. Each ad takes about an hour or so to create, but is designed to be evergreen and easily updatable if links or prices change. The videos take between 2-4 hours, depending how complicated they are. Longer, when the software I use updates claiming improvements that are actually detriments. As I explore new software, I might find something that helps me streamline that.

I treat myself  like my own client. That was the biggest factor in making it work. It’s the same way I prepare materials for small business launches, and what I used to do for clients when I handled their social media promotions.

When I handled promos back in Twitter’s heyday, I could schedule an entire month’s worth of promos on Tweetdeck in about two hours. Under their current ownership and new name, I won’t deal with them. Hootsuite was useful to a point (not all the channels I need within my budget, but useful for some clients), but now they contract with the frozen water thugs, so I will not use them. Buffer doesn’t have enough of the channels I need within my budget.

Again, this is all about systems and information and tracking that then is used to support the creative work so the creative work can continue. It’s often difficult to face the reality of the business side of things, but it’s imperative if you want it to support the creative. They are the yin and yang of working in the arts.

Those who try to talk you out of paying attention to the business side of it are trying to exploit you and get your work for free, so watch out.

Back to the Life/Writing Stuff

On a completely different note, I did not get a slot in a 7-year residency for playwrighting. I knew it was a long shot, and they had 799 applicants. I had decided not to even apply, but then figured what the hell, nothing ventured and all that. But 7 years would mean I was in my early 70’s when we were done, and that’s not practical in my life right now. I’m glad I applied, and actually a little relieved I didn’t get it. Commuting to NYC at least once a month for 7 years would have been a lot, especially since they couldn’t guarantee the level of funding for the duration, just for the coming year. So why did I even apply? Because I felt there was possibility in the opportunity, and if I landed it, I was determined to find a way to make it work and grow in my playwrighting.

I am curious to see how many of the playwrights chosen actually stay in the residency program for the full seven years. I will follow along to keep track, and see how they blossom in the program (once they’re chosen).

Friday afternoon, I sorted out some practicalities with the ghostwriting client, and then go to work on the assignment due this Friday. I didn’t make as much progress as I hoped, but I have some ideas on how to fix that.

It started snowing around 3:30 or so. Sigh.

Got some research reading done for the May Morris project in the evening.

Didn’t sleep well Friday into Saturday. Up around the usual time, with Tessa shouting down the house because she wanted her breakfast. The morning routine was fine, although the 15-minute free write was more on the practical side than the creative side. But it sorted things out in my brain a bit, so it served its purpose.

It was supposed to snow from 9 AM – 1 PM, but started before 8.

After breakfast, I did some housework. I gesso’d my canvas for the collage. Tessa “helped” which means I now have to work a figure of a black cat into the collage to explain any cat hair I couldn’t wipe off. No, there isn’t any place in this house I can work where the cats can’t wander in.

Thankfully, Willa watched from a safe distance. Charlotte was asleep on the freshly made bed, and Bea was busy in the living room.

I got caught up doing more admin work than I hoped. I also re-read the first eight episodes I wrote of REP, and it’s funnier than I remembered, which is good. It plays a lot with tropes in theatre and science fiction.

I wrote myself into a corner on the latest chapter of BETTING MAN, and tried to get myself out of it, which was a chore. Not quite there yet.

I layered up and went out into the snow to pick up my mom’s prescription. They had two ready, which was nice. Usually, I go to pick up one, and the minute I get back home, there’s the notification for another one. Because making anything easier for their customers is beyond them. CVS = Corporate Vicious Hassle.

But there wasn’t hassle today, thank goodness. I stomped across town in the snow and into the wind, picked up the prescriptions, and picked up Chinese food on the way home. As I waited for my order, I read one of the local print publications, and there was an article by a colleague! I was so pleased for her, and it was very well done.

Trekked home, this time with the wind at my back, and we had an early lunch. It was yummy.

On the way back, as I trudged through the snow and wind, I had a breakthrough for something where I was stuck on the play CONSEQUENCE. It means going back and rewriting what I have of it so far, changing it a bit structurally, but still keeping it at three characters on stage. So that was good.

Then, I unpacked the 16 lb. bag of dry cat food and put it into smaller glass jars, which keeps it fresher and is easier to use. I set up the next couple of weeks’ worth of wet food on the shelf. I did some research. I finished reading the next book for review. It snowed on and off all afternoon, and there was a lot of wind. I started the spring cleaning, and got most of Tessa’s room done, although I still have to decide what I’m putting on the walls and how I’m hanging it. Cleaned all the lampshades, which always is more of a task than I remember.

Cooked dinner at night, read some more. Had busy dreams of working on various things all night with people I knew well in the dreamscape, but don’t recognize out of it. I felt like I put in a full day already when I woke up.

Good morning sessions of yoga and meditation. I figured out, in more detail, what to sort out in CONSEQUENCE during the morning free write, and also did some figuring out work on the sculpture.

After breakfast, I sat down and wrote a little over 1K on BETTING MAN, which was good. I’m still way behind where I hoped I’d be at this point, but I’m getting there. I wrote myself out of the corner, and had to remove a character from a previous chapter. But I made forward progress, which is important.

I did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which you can read here. I also wrote and submitted the book review, and scheduled the invoice to send on Monday morning.

I worked on some graphics that will be included on the sculpture, and started figuring out the text handout that will go with it.

I did research reading in afternoon and evening. I sort of kept an eye on the Oscars, but didn’t really watch them. I was, however, delighted with Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s win as the first woman to get an Oscar for cinematography. About damn time. I did some prep for Monday night’s Athena Project event (since my play was in it and all).

I did not sleep well, and was awake by 3 AM. When Tessa started complaining at 5, I just got up, without a fuss. Morning routine was fine. I like it when it’s early. It would be so easy to let the yoga or the meditation or the free write slide, but once you let it go for a day, it’s easy to keep letting it go, and the day is so much better when I don’t.

Again, consistency.

I knew Monday was going to be challenging because of all its moving parts.

By 8:30, I’d written a little over 1200 words on BETTING MAN.

I measured out the gesso’d canvas and started painting the background. The collage is satirical, so I’m using bold, bright colors, almost cartoonish. I had to mix the green with some white, to get it to the shade I wanted it, of “young child green grass.” Then I had to prop it and move chairs, etc. away from the kitchen table, so no curious cats would investigate it while it dried.

Bea also spent a good bit of time exploring my bedroom, and trying to figure out how to sneak on the bed without Charlotte noticing.

I received an invitation to join a playwrighting group about an hour and a half away (for a fee). I’d like to be involved with the group, but I am not an “aspiring” playwright. I’m a playwright, it’s part of my profession. I do not pay to work, I am paid to work. I sent a pleasant refusal.

Tried to catch up on some other email, and then switched over to the ghostwriting. I usually ghostwrite in the afternoon, but since my afternoon and evening were about playwrighting, on Monday, after I wrote my Nina quota and painted, I switched over to the ghostwriting. Since tomorrow, with the car repair, everything is a toss-up, I wanted to make sure I caught up yesterday and today, so I would be where I wanted, even if something goes cattywampus tomorrow.

I ran into an obstacle with the ghostwriting, and had to ask some questions, although I tried to work around them while I waited for an answer.

Honor Roll Playwrights session was on ZOOM for two hours, and that was good. We had a nice group. I rewrote/restructured what I have on CONSEQUENCE, and managed to move forward for a few pages. The restructuring didn’t add as much new material as I expected, which is good for pace, and I have a few ideas on raising the stakes.

After that session, I had a snack, then went back to the ghostwriting. They still didn’t answer my questions, which is unusual. So I will solider on in my own way. Whichever of the two roads I take will be the opposite of what they decide, and I will adjust as needed. I am behind where I hoped to be, and I don’t know how much I will get done tomorrow, with the car repair situation, so I will have to make up for it today and Thursday, in order to get it out on Friday on time.

We are having issues with a running toilet, so I had to make arrangements for maintenance to come this morning and take a look.

Cooked dinner and prepped for Athena Project. I gave the cats a snack right before the start of the session, so they settled down and napped, instead of crawling all over the computer and the screen.

It was a good session. Two of my friends who read earlier drafts of the play were there, and I appreciated it. It was a small group, but a good discussion, of both our plays. I appreciated that the readers loved the romance of the play as well as the more challenging elements, and they were all fascinated with the background.

Today, I will update the dramaturgy note at the back of the play to include thanks to Athena Project. It was great to work with the same dramaturg again, too. She really loves my work and gets the play.

It took me a bit of time to settle down and get to sleep. I woke up around 2:30 AM because of the rain. I managed to get to sleep again, and when I woke up a little after 5:30, it had changed over to snow. Sigh.

Today, I will send out thank you emails, update the Pages on Stages site with the play’s new information, deal with maintenance, try to get some work in on Nina, but the bulk of the day has to be about the ghostwriting.

This has been a really long post. Thanks for sticking with it! I hope you have a great day, and a great week.

Tues. March 17, 2026: Marketing Stats, Creative Feedback, and Art

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Dark Moon

Mercury Retrograde

Snowy and cold

Happy new week!

Pull up a chair and a beverage, this is a long post.

If you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, I hope you have a good one. Between living/working in NYC, where St. Patrick’s Day is even more of an excuse for people to behave badly than New Year’s Eve, and living on the Cape, where people were usually drunk by 10 AM – not a fan.

Friday, I did the laundry early, hauled it back, got it folded and put away. I headed up to the library to drop/off pick up books. There weren’t many to pick up, and I only dropped off those that were due, so I didn’t need the rolly cart. Swung by the post office to mail thank you notes from the birthday stuff. Ran two more errands on the way home. Was worn out, although I managed to get them done in good time, even on foot.

A Marketing Tangent

I got my royalties from the past few months (so I don’t have to have a Come to Jesus talk with D2D – we’re all caught up). The months I steadily marketed saw sales 10X the months I let it slide. I’m only spending about 15 minutes a day on weekdays marketing, but it made sales jump 10X.

Those sales cover a couple of bills. If I can maintain and then grow those sales, I am in good shape. Not that one can count on royalties, and they fluctuate, but if I can get back to steady and growing sales, it helps a lot.

The Nina Bell Mysteries are steadily growing their audience. If I can keep writing/releasing on a steady schedule and keep marketing steadily, we should be in good shape. Layering in the ANGEL HUNT series is a solid plan, because urban fantasy usually does well, and ANGEL HUNT was the most popular of the serials. There’s a lot of interest in the Coventina Circle series again, so getting those in the print editions and then finishing out the series is a good idea. 4 of the 9 planned books are out (I’ve got book 5 halfway written). After that’s complete,  working on the spinoff series that goes deeper into urban fantasy rather than paranormal romantic suspense should work. Those spinoff characters introduced in RELICS AND REQUIEM, who show up now and again and even crossed over into the Gwen Finnegan series, are very popular. And getting back on the Topic Workbooks and prepping more for release should also help. The Topic Workbooks have always been steady sellers.

The trick is to find the sweet spot, both of creative energy to create the work, and to know when to release it. Every series has a different sweet spot. Wait too long between releases, and you lose audience. Release too much too quickly (in spite of the current binge desires many have), and people feel overwhelmed or as though if they miss one release, there will always be another. I find that especially true of the shorts, although sales of holiday-themed shorts bump up when promoted around their holiday.

It needs to first be about serving the work, or it can’t connect. But then, it also needs to look at the metrics of the business side of it, which are constantly shifting.

I’m getting questions about when LEGERDEMAIN will release in novel form from people who loved that world. The answer to that is that I’m not sure. The first arc of the serial (41 episodes) is pretty solid, but the rest sprawled too much, and it needs a lot of work to go in and tighten it as I adapt. I’ll have to pull out some of the shorter arcs and put them in separate stories, instead of trying to weave so many multiple plot lines at once. I need to have the main plot for each book, then a B subplot that gets resolved, then an over-reaching series arc that goes on for several books. Once in a while I can weave in maybe one more strand, but not the half dozen or so that were going on past episode 41. It will take a lot of work, and I need to have at least three volumes in solid shape before releasing anything. Plus, there were requests for spin-offs, especially when it came to the adventures of the all-female crew of the dirigible the Nervy Molls, and more built around the Fathomless Library. I’m so glad people connected to all of this, but it takes time and planning to make it all work, and I’m not sure I can do any of it this year.

Because I can’t drop the ball on the stage plays, either, and I have to get at least one-full length in shape for submission by the end of August, per a request. I can’t re-submit to this venue, so it needs to be something new.

I’d also love to get back to work on REP (the theatre company in space comedy) as a novel, but I can’t see fitting that in this year, either.

The most sales come from people who find me on Mastodon, with Instagram a close second. Bluesky is a distant third, with Tumblr and Threads trailing behind them. It took several years to build the audience on Mastodon and it’s a slower process than on other social media channels, but by posting/interacting regularly, marketing regularly, and taking part is games such as Writers Coffee Club, I’ve built connections there and am finding a growing audience. If all one does is post promos on a channel, sales don’t happen. There has to be interaction that has nothing to do with promotion, and that takes time and thought, which needs to be built into the workday.

I no longer promote on FB, and my sales have improved. TikTok was somewhat useful for serials, but hasn’t been for my books. I don’t do the kind of BookTok videos that work,  nor am I willing to do them, and I’m not dealing with TikTok considering who owns it now.

Good to know.

I seriously would like to dump the FB accounts completely. Every time I open it, the first things that show up on my feed make me want to throw up. Blocking those accounts does nothing. For every block, 5 more of the gross things show up. The only reason I keep FB is because that’s how the city sends out information on emergencies. And birthday reminders, so I don’t miss anyone’s birthday (although I’m starting to add those to my paper datebook again).

The marketing that works (at the moment) is not brain surgery. It’s not spending a lot of money. It’s consistency.

It’s also looking at data over a period of months, and then tweaking one thing at a time, so you can see what kind of changes actually make a difference. I’m grateful to the Assets4Artists workshop and the local chamber workshop that gave me those tools to analyze this kind of data.

Now I have to figure out how to build on that, while continuing to have enough time and energy to keep feeding eager readers AND doing the more lucrative freelance writing work. I do that, knowing that I will have to look at the data every few months, and make changes. It’s not a career path on a highway, it’s more like floating down a river. Sometimes, there are rapids, and sometimes you get caught in the shallows.

The reason it takes me only 15 minutes a day is because I put in plenty of prep work. I have a content calendar for the month that I do about mid-month the previous month. (In other words, I better sit down and do April’s this week). It has the social media slots for each weekday, and what promo goes in each slot. I only promo one project per social media channel each day (except if I’ve dropped a day), so that I don’t saturate the channel and get annoying.

The only time I have the same ad on all channels on the same day is release day. Otherwise, I have them rotate through the channels: series ad, series video, single book ad for each book (one per day), single book video (ibid), and so forth. That way, it doesn’t come across as spam, even though content is repeated more than once in a month. Although I don’t do separate videos for each Topic Workbook. I have one for the group, and then flat ads for each book. For instance, February had a Nina Bell release (VICIOUS CRITIC), so all the promos in February were for various Nina Bell books. March has Nina, Topic workbooks, anthologies. April will include “Plot Bunnies” the short Twinkle Tavern mystery that happens near Easter, along with Nina, Workbooks, anthologies. And so forth.

As each book is going through the final production process, I work on the ad and the video. Or I edit/add to the series ad/video. That way, it’s all set up when it’s time to go. I’ve got the graphics, I’ve got the copy, I’ve got the links, I just follow the day’s schedule for the content calendar, and it takes 15 minutes to post through the channels. Each ad takes about an hour or so to create, but is designed to be evergreen and easily updatable if links or prices change. The videos take between 2-4 hours, depending how complicated they are. Longer, when the software I use updates claiming improvements that are actually detriments. As I explore new software, I might find something that helps me streamline that.

I treat myself  like my own client. That was the biggest factor in making it work. It’s the same way I prepare materials for small business launches, and what I used to do for clients when I handled their social media promotions.

When I handled promos back in Twitter’s heyday, I could schedule an entire month’s worth of promos on Tweetdeck in about two hours. Under their current ownership and new name, I won’t deal with them. Hootsuite was useful to a point (not all the channels I need within my budget, but useful for some clients), but now they contract with the frozen water thugs, so I will not use them. Buffer doesn’t have enough of the channels I need within my budget.

Again, this is all about systems and information and tracking that then is used to support the creative work so the creative work can continue. It’s often difficult to face the reality of the business side of things, but it’s imperative if you want it to support the creative. They are the yin and yang of working in the arts.

Those who try to talk you out of paying attention to the business side of it are trying to exploit you and get your work for free, so watch out.

Back to the Life/Writing Stuff

On a completely different note, I did not get a slot in a 7-year residency for playwrighting. I knew it was a long shot, and they had 799 applicants. I had decided not to even apply, but then figured what the hell, nothing ventured and all that. But 7 years would mean I was in my early 70’s when we were done, and that’s not practical in my life right now. I’m glad I applied, and actually a little relieved I didn’t get it. Commuting to NYC at least once a month for 7 years would have been a lot, especially since they couldn’t guarantee the level of funding for the duration, just for the coming year. So why did I even apply? Because I felt there was possibility in the opportunity, and if I landed it, I was determined to find a way to make it work and grow in my playwrighting.

I am curious to see how many of the playwrights chosen actually stay in the residency program for the full seven years. I will follow along to keep track, and see how they blossom in the program (once they’re chosen).

Friday afternoon, I sorted out some practicalities with the ghostwriting client, and then go to work on the assignment due this Friday. I didn’t make as much progress as I hoped, but I have some ideas on how to fix that.

It started snowing around 3:30 or so. Sigh.

Got some research reading done for the May Morris project in the evening.

Didn’t sleep well Friday into Saturday. Up around the usual time, with Tessa shouting down the house because she wanted her breakfast. The morning routine was fine, although the 15-minute free write was more on the practical side than the creative side. But it sorted things out in my brain a bit, so it served its purpose.

It was supposed to snow from 9 AM – 1 PM, but started before 8.

After breakfast, I did some housework. I gesso’d my canvas for the collage. Tessa “helped” which means I now have to work a figure of a black cat into the collage to explain any cat hair I couldn’t wipe off. No, there isn’t any place in this house I can work where the cats can’t wander in.

Thankfully, Willa watched from a safe distance. Charlotte was asleep on the freshly made bed, and Bea was busy in the living room.

I got caught up doing more admin work than I hoped. I also re-read the first eight episodes I wrote of REP, and it’s funnier than I remembered, which is good. It plays a lot with tropes in theatre and science fiction.

I wrote myself into a corner on the latest chapter of BETTING MAN, and tried to get myself out of it, which was a chore. Not quite there yet.

I layered up and went out into the snow to pick up my mom’s prescription. They had two ready, which was nice. Usually, I go to pick up one, and the minute I get back home, there’s the notification for another one. Because making anything easier for their customers is beyond them. CVS = Corporate Vicious Hassle.

But there wasn’t hassle today, thank goodness. I stomped across town in the snow and into the wind, picked up the prescriptions, and picked up Chinese food on the way home. As I waited for my order, I read one of the local print publications, and there was an article by a colleague! I was so pleased for her, and it was very well done.

Trekked home, this time with the wind at my back, and we had an early lunch. It was yummy.

On the way back, as I trudged through the snow and wind, I had a breakthrough for something where I was stuck on the play CONSEQUENCE. It means going back and rewriting what I have of it so far, changing it a bit structurally, but still keeping it at three characters on stage. So that was good.

Then, I unpacked the 16 lb. bag of dry cat food and put it into smaller glass jars, which keeps it fresher and is easier to use. I set up the next couple of weeks’ worth of wet food on the shelf. I did some research. I finished reading the next book for review. It snowed on and off all afternoon, and there was a lot of wind. I started the spring cleaning, and got most of Tessa’s room done, although I still have to decide what I’m putting on the walls and how I’m hanging it. Cleaned all the lampshades, which always is more of a task than I remember.

Cooked dinner at night, read some more. Had busy dreams of working on various things all night with people I knew well in the dreamscape, but don’t recognize out of it. I felt like I put in a full day already when I woke up.

Good morning sessions of yoga and meditation. I figured out, in more detail, what to sort out in CONSEQUENCE during the morning free write, and also did some figuring out work on the sculpture.

After breakfast, I sat down and wrote a little over 1K on BETTING MAN, which was good. I’m still way behind where I hoped I’d be at this point, but I’m getting there. I wrote myself out of the corner, and had to remove a character from a previous chapter. But I made forward progress, which is important.

I did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which you can read here. I also wrote and submitted the book review, and scheduled the invoice to send on Monday morning.

I worked on some graphics that will be included on the sculpture, and started figuring out the text handout that will go with it.

I did research reading in afternoon and evening. I sort of kept an eye on the Oscars, but didn’t really watch them. I was, however, delighted with Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s win as the first woman to get an Oscar for cinematography. About damn time. I did some prep for Monday night’s Athena Project event (since my play was in it and all).

I did not sleep well, and was awake by 3 AM. When Tessa started complaining at 5, I just got up, without a fuss. Morning routine was fine. I like it when it’s early. It would be so easy to let the yoga or the meditation or the free write slide, but once you let it go for a day, it’s easy to keep letting it go, and the day is so much better when I don’t.

Again, consistency.

I knew Monday was going to be challenging because of all its moving parts.

By 8:30, I’d written a little over 1200 words on BETTING MAN.

I measured out the gesso’d canvas and started painting the background. The collage is satirical, so I’m using bold, bright colors, almost cartoonish. I had to mix the green with some white, to get it to the shade I wanted it, of “young child green grass.” Then I had to prop it and move chairs, etc. away from the kitchen table, so no curious cats would investigate it while it dried.

Bea also spent a good bit of time exploring my bedroom, and trying to figure out how to sneak on the bed without Charlotte noticing.

I received an invitation to join a playwrighting group about an hour and a half away (for a fee). I’d like to be involved with the group, but I am not an “aspiring” playwright. I’m a playwright, it’s part of my profession. I do not pay to work, I am paid to work. I sent a pleasant refusal.

Tried to catch up on some other email, and then switched over to the ghostwriting. I usually ghostwrite in the afternoon, but since my afternoon and evening were about playwrighting, on Monday, after I wrote my Nina quota and painted, I switched over to the ghostwriting. Since tomorrow, with the car repair, everything is a toss-up, I wanted to make sure I caught up yesterday and today, so I would be where I wanted, even if something goes cattywampus tomorrow.

I ran into an obstacle with the ghostwriting, and had to ask some questions, although I tried to work around them while I waited for an answer.

Honor Roll Playwrights session was on ZOOM for two hours, and that was good. We had a nice group. I rewrote/restructured what I have on CONSEQUENCE, and managed to move forward for a few pages. The restructuring didn’t add as much new material as I expected, which is good for pace, and I have a few ideas on raising the stakes.

After that session, I had a snack, then went back to the ghostwriting. They still didn’t answer my questions, which is unusual. So I will solider on in my own way. Whichever of the two roads I take will be the opposite of what they decide, and I will adjust as needed. I am behind where I hoped to be, and I don’t know how much I will get done tomorrow, with the car repair situation, so I will have to make up for it today and Thursday, in order to get it out on Friday on time.

We are having issues with a running toilet, so I had to make arrangements for maintenance to come this morning and take a look.

Cooked dinner and prepped for Athena Project. I gave the cats a snack right before the start of the session, so they settled down and napped, instead of crawling all over the computer and the screen.

It was a good session. Two of my friends who read earlier drafts of the play were there, and I appreciated it. It was a small group, but a good discussion, of both our plays. I appreciated that the readers loved the romance of the play as well as the more challenging elements, and they were all fascinated with the background.

Today, I will update the dramaturgy note at the back of the play to include thanks to Athena Project. It was great to work with the same dramaturg again, too. She really loves my work and gets the play.

It took me a bit of time to settle down and get to sleep. I woke up around 2:30 AM because of the rain. I managed to get to sleep again, and when I woke up a little after 5:30, it had changed over to snow. Sigh.

Today, I will send out thank you emails, update the Pages on Stages site with the play’s new information, deal with maintenance, try to get some work in on Nina, but the bulk of the day has to be about the ghostwriting.

This has been a really long post. Thanks for sticking with it! I hope you have a great day, and a great week.

Tues. March 17, 2026: Marketing Stats, Creative Feedback, and Art

Tuesday, March 17, 2026

Dark Moon

Mercury Retrograde

Snowy and cold

Happy new week!

Pull up a chair and a beverage, this is a long post.

If you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, I hope you have a good one. Between living/working in NYC, where St. Patrick’s Day is even more of an excuse for people to behave badly than New Year’s Eve, and living on the Cape, where people were usually drunk by 10 AM – not a fan.

Friday, I did the laundry early, hauled it back, got it folded and put away. I headed up to the library to drop/off pick up books. There weren’t many to pick up, and I only dropped off those that were due, so I didn’t need the rolly cart. Swung by the post office to mail thank you notes from the birthday stuff. Ran two more errands on the way home. Was worn out, although I managed to get them done in good time, even on foot.

A Marketing Tangent

I got my royalties from the past few months (so I don’t have to have a Come to Jesus talk with D2D – we’re all caught up). The months I steadily marketed saw sales 10X the months I let it slide. I’m only spending about 15 minutes a day on weekdays marketing, but it made sales jump 10X.

Those sales cover a couple of bills. If I can maintain and then grow those sales, I am in good shape. Not that one can count on royalties, and they fluctuate, but if I can get back to steady and growing sales, it helps a lot.

The Nina Bell Mysteries are steadily growing their audience. If I can keep writing/releasing on a steady schedule and keep marketing steadily, we should be in good shape. Layering in the ANGEL HUNT series is a solid plan, because urban fantasy usually does well, and ANGEL HUNT was the most popular of the serials. There’s a lot of interest in the Coventina Circle series again, so getting those in the print editions and then finishing out the series is a good idea. 4 of the 9 planned books are out (I’ve got book 5 halfway written). After that’s complete,  working on the spinoff series that goes deeper into urban fantasy rather than paranormal romantic suspense should work. Those spinoff characters introduced in RELICS AND REQUIEM, who show up now and again and even crossed over into the Gwen Finnegan series, are very popular. And getting back on the Topic Workbooks and prepping more for release should also help. The Topic Workbooks have always been steady sellers.

The trick is to find the sweet spot, both of creative energy to create the work, and to know when to release it. Every series has a different sweet spot. Wait too long between releases, and you lose audience. Release too much too quickly (in spite of the current binge desires many have), and people feel overwhelmed or as though if they miss one release, there will always be another. I find that especially true of the shorts, although sales of holiday-themed shorts bump up when promoted around their holiday.

It needs to first be about serving the work, or it can’t connect. But then, it also needs to look at the metrics of the business side of it, which are constantly shifting.

I’m getting questions about when LEGERDEMAIN will release in novel form from people who loved that world. The answer to that is that I’m not sure. The first arc of the serial (41 episodes) is pretty solid, but the rest sprawled too much, and it needs a lot of work to go in and tighten it as I adapt. I’ll have to pull out some of the shorter arcs and put them in separate stories, instead of trying to weave so many multiple plot lines at once. I need to have the main plot for each book, then a B subplot that gets resolved, then an over-reaching series arc that goes on for several books. Once in a while I can weave in maybe one more strand, but not the half dozen or so that were going on past episode 41. It will take a lot of work, and I need to have at least three volumes in solid shape before releasing anything. Plus, there were requests for spin-offs, especially when it came to the adventures of the all-female crew of the dirigible the Nervy Molls, and more built around the Fathomless Library. I’m so glad people connected to all of this, but it takes time and planning to make it all work, and I’m not sure I can do any of it this year.

Because I can’t drop the ball on the stage plays, either, and I have to get at least one-full length in shape for submission by the end of August, per a request. I can’t re-submit to this venue, so it needs to be something new.

I’d also love to get back to work on REP (the theatre company in space comedy) as a novel, but I can’t see fitting that in this year, either.

The most sales come from people who find me on Mastodon, with Instagram a close second. Bluesky is a distant third, with Tumblr and Threads trailing behind them. It took several years to build the audience on Mastodon and it’s a slower process than on other social media channels, but by posting/interacting regularly, marketing regularly, and taking part is games such as Writers Coffee Club, I’ve built connections there and am finding a growing audience. If all one does is post promos on a channel, sales don’t happen. There has to be interaction that has nothing to do with promotion, and that takes time and thought, which needs to be built into the workday.

I no longer promote on FB, and my sales have improved. TikTok was somewhat useful for serials, but hasn’t been for my books. I don’t do the kind of BookTok videos that work,  nor am I willing to do them, and I’m not dealing with TikTok considering who owns it now.

Good to know.

I seriously would like to dump the FB accounts completely. Every time I open it, the first things that show up on my feed make me want to throw up. Blocking those accounts does nothing. For every block, 5 more of the gross things show up. The only reason I keep FB is because that’s how the city sends out information on emergencies. And birthday reminders, so I don’t miss anyone’s birthday (although I’m starting to add those to my paper datebook again).

The marketing that works (at the moment) is not brain surgery. It’s not spending a lot of money. It’s consistency.

It’s also looking at data over a period of months, and then tweaking one thing at a time, so you can see what kind of changes actually make a difference. I’m grateful to the Assets4Artists workshop and the local chamber workshop that gave me those tools to analyze this kind of data.

Now I have to figure out how to build on that, while continuing to have enough time and energy to keep feeding eager readers AND doing the more lucrative freelance writing work. I do that, knowing that I will have to look at the data every few months, and make changes. It’s not a career path on a highway, it’s more like floating down a river. Sometimes, there are rapids, and sometimes you get caught in the shallows.

The reason it takes me only 15 minutes a day is because I put in plenty of prep work. I have a content calendar for the month that I do about mid-month the previous month. (In other words, I better sit down and do April’s this week). It has the social media slots for each weekday, and what promo goes in each slot. I only promo one project per social media channel each day (except if I’ve dropped a day), so that I don’t saturate the channel and get annoying.

The only time I have the same ad on all channels on the same day is release day. Otherwise, I have them rotate through the channels: series ad, series video, single book ad for each book (one per day), single book video (ibid), and so forth. That way, it doesn’t come across as spam, even though content is repeated more than once in a month. Although I don’t do separate videos for each Topic Workbook. I have one for the group, and then flat ads for each book. For instance, February had a Nina Bell release (VICIOUS CRITIC), so all the promos in February were for various Nina Bell books. March has Nina, Topic workbooks, anthologies. April will include “Plot Bunnies” the short Twinkle Tavern mystery that happens near Easter, along with Nina, Workbooks, anthologies. And so forth.

As each book is going through the final production process, I work on the ad and the video. Or I edit/add to the series ad/video. That way, it’s all set up when it’s time to go. I’ve got the graphics, I’ve got the copy, I’ve got the links, I just follow the day’s schedule for the content calendar, and it takes 15 minutes to post through the channels. Each ad takes about an hour or so to create, but is designed to be evergreen and easily updatable if links or prices change. The videos take between 2-4 hours, depending how complicated they are. Longer, when the software I use updates claiming improvements that are actually detriments. As I explore new software, I might find something that helps me streamline that.

I treat myself  like my own client. That was the biggest factor in making it work. It’s the same way I prepare materials for small business launches, and what I used to do for clients when I handled their social media promotions.

When I handled promos back in Twitter’s heyday, I could schedule an entire month’s worth of promos on Tweetdeck in about two hours. Under their current ownership and new name, I won’t deal with them. Hootsuite was useful to a point (not all the channels I need within my budget, but useful for some clients), but now they contract with the frozen water thugs, so I will not use them. Buffer doesn’t have enough of the channels I need within my budget.

Again, this is all about systems and information and tracking that then is used to support the creative work so the creative work can continue. It’s often difficult to face the reality of the business side of things, but it’s imperative if you want it to support the creative. They are the yin and yang of working in the arts.

Those who try to talk you out of paying attention to the business side of it are trying to exploit you and get your work for free, so watch out.

Back to the Life/Writing Stuff

On a completely different note, I did not get a slot in a 7-year residency for playwrighting. I knew it was a long shot, and they had 799 applicants. I had decided not to even apply, but then figured what the hell, nothing ventured and all that. But 7 years would mean I was in my early 70’s when we were done, and that’s not practical in my life right now. I’m glad I applied, and actually a little relieved I didn’t get it. Commuting to NYC at least once a month for 7 years would have been a lot, especially since they couldn’t guarantee the level of funding for the duration, just for the coming year. So why did I even apply? Because I felt there was possibility in the opportunity, and if I landed it, I was determined to find a way to make it work and grow in my playwrighting.

I am curious to see how many of the playwrights chosen actually stay in the residency program for the full seven years. I will follow along to keep track, and see how they blossom in the program (once they’re chosen).

Friday afternoon, I sorted out some practicalities with the ghostwriting client, and then go to work on the assignment due this Friday. I didn’t make as much progress as I hoped, but I have some ideas on how to fix that.

It started snowing around 3:30 or so. Sigh.

Got some research reading done for the May Morris project in the evening.

Didn’t sleep well Friday into Saturday. Up around the usual time, with Tessa shouting down the house because she wanted her breakfast. The morning routine was fine, although the 15-minute free write was more on the practical side than the creative side. But it sorted things out in my brain a bit, so it served its purpose.

It was supposed to snow from 9 AM – 1 PM, but started before 8.

After breakfast, I did some housework. I gesso’d my canvas for the collage. Tessa “helped” which means I now have to work a figure of a black cat into the collage to explain any cat hair I couldn’t wipe off. No, there isn’t any place in this house I can work where the cats can’t wander in.

Thankfully, Willa watched from a safe distance. Charlotte was asleep on the freshly made bed, and Bea was busy in the living room.

I got caught up doing more admin work than I hoped. I also re-read the first eight episodes I wrote of REP, and it’s funnier than I remembered, which is good. It plays a lot with tropes in theatre and science fiction.

I wrote myself into a corner on the latest chapter of BETTING MAN, and tried to get myself out of it, which was a chore. Not quite there yet.

I layered up and went out into the snow to pick up my mom’s prescription. They had two ready, which was nice. Usually, I go to pick up one, and the minute I get back home, there’s the notification for another one. Because making anything easier for their customers is beyond them. CVS = Corporate Vicious Hassle.

But there wasn’t hassle today, thank goodness. I stomped across town in the snow and into the wind, picked up the prescriptions, and picked up Chinese food on the way home. As I waited for my order, I read one of the local print publications, and there was an article by a colleague! I was so pleased for her, and it was very well done.

Trekked home, this time with the wind at my back, and we had an early lunch. It was yummy.

On the way back, as I trudged through the snow and wind, I had a breakthrough for something where I was stuck on the play CONSEQUENCE. It means going back and rewriting what I have of it so far, changing it a bit structurally, but still keeping it at three characters on stage. So that was good.

Then, I unpacked the 16 lb. bag of dry cat food and put it into smaller glass jars, which keeps it fresher and is easier to use. I set up the next couple of weeks’ worth of wet food on the shelf. I did some research. I finished reading the next book for review. It snowed on and off all afternoon, and there was a lot of wind. I started the spring cleaning, and got most of Tessa’s room done, although I still have to decide what I’m putting on the walls and how I’m hanging it. Cleaned all the lampshades, which always is more of a task than I remember.

Cooked dinner at night, read some more. Had busy dreams of working on various things all night with people I knew well in the dreamscape, but don’t recognize out of it. I felt like I put in a full day already when I woke up.

Good morning sessions of yoga and meditation. I figured out, in more detail, what to sort out in CONSEQUENCE during the morning free write, and also did some figuring out work on the sculpture.

After breakfast, I sat down and wrote a little over 1K on BETTING MAN, which was good. I’m still way behind where I hoped I’d be at this point, but I’m getting there. I wrote myself out of the corner, and had to remove a character from a previous chapter. But I made forward progress, which is important.

I did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which you can read here. I also wrote and submitted the book review, and scheduled the invoice to send on Monday morning.

I worked on some graphics that will be included on the sculpture, and started figuring out the text handout that will go with it.

I did research reading in afternoon and evening. I sort of kept an eye on the Oscars, but didn’t really watch them. I was, however, delighted with Autumn Durald Arkapaw’s win as the first woman to get an Oscar for cinematography. About damn time. I did some prep for Monday night’s Athena Project event (since my play was in it and all).

I did not sleep well, and was awake by 3 AM. When Tessa started complaining at 5, I just got up, without a fuss. Morning routine was fine. I like it when it’s early. It would be so easy to let the yoga or the meditation or the free write slide, but once you let it go for a day, it’s easy to keep letting it go, and the day is so much better when I don’t.

Again, consistency.

I knew Monday was going to be challenging because of all its moving parts.

By 8:30, I’d written a little over 1200 words on BETTING MAN.

I measured out the gesso’d canvas and started painting the background. The collage is satirical, so I’m using bold, bright colors, almost cartoonish. I had to mix the green with some white, to get it to the shade I wanted it, of “young child green grass.” Then I had to prop it and move chairs, etc. away from the kitchen table, so no curious cats would investigate it while it dried.

Bea also spent a good bit of time exploring my bedroom, and trying to figure out how to sneak on the bed without Charlotte noticing.

I received an invitation to join a playwrighting group about an hour and a half away (for a fee). I’d like to be involved with the group, but I am not an “aspiring” playwright. I’m a playwright, it’s part of my profession. I do not pay to work, I am paid to work. I sent a pleasant refusal.

Tried to catch up on some other email, and then switched over to the ghostwriting. I usually ghostwrite in the afternoon, but since my afternoon and evening were about playwrighting, on Monday, after I wrote my Nina quota and painted, I switched over to the ghostwriting. Since tomorrow, with the car repair, everything is a toss-up, I wanted to make sure I caught up yesterday and today, so I would be where I wanted, even if something goes cattywampus tomorrow.

I ran into an obstacle with the ghostwriting, and had to ask some questions, although I tried to work around them while I waited for an answer.

Honor Roll Playwrights session was on ZOOM for two hours, and that was good. We had a nice group. I rewrote/restructured what I have on CONSEQUENCE, and managed to move forward for a few pages. The restructuring didn’t add as much new material as I expected, which is good for pace, and I have a few ideas on raising the stakes.

After that session, I had a snack, then went back to the ghostwriting. They still didn’t answer my questions, which is unusual. So I will solider on in my own way. Whichever of the two roads I take will be the opposite of what they decide, and I will adjust as needed. I am behind where I hoped to be, and I don’t know how much I will get done tomorrow, with the car repair situation, so I will have to make up for it today and Thursday, in order to get it out on Friday on time.

We are having issues with a running toilet, so I had to make arrangements for maintenance to come this morning and take a look.

Cooked dinner and prepped for Athena Project. I gave the cats a snack right before the start of the session, so they settled down and napped, instead of crawling all over the computer and the screen.

It was a good session. Two of my friends who read earlier drafts of the play were there, and I appreciated it. It was a small group, but a good discussion, of both our plays. I appreciated that the readers loved the romance of the play as well as the more challenging elements, and they were all fascinated with the background.

Today, I will update the dramaturgy note at the back of the play to include thanks to Athena Project. It was great to work with the same dramaturg again, too. She really loves my work and gets the play.

It took me a bit of time to settle down and get to sleep. I woke up around 2:30 AM because of the rain. I managed to get to sleep again, and when I woke up a little after 5:30, it had changed over to snow. Sigh.

Today, I will send out thank you emails, update the Pages on Stages site with the play’s new information, deal with maintenance, try to get some work in on Nina, but the bulk of the day has to be about the ghostwriting.

This has been a really long post. Thanks for sticking with it! I hope you have a great day, and a great week.

Wednesday, March 11, 2026: Birthday Girl!

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Waning Moon

Mercury Retrograde

Rainy and cool

We’ve hit another midweek! Gosh, this year is going fast.

It was difficult to concentrate, because yesterday was such a piece of lovely weather, I just wanted to go out and play in it. It got up into the 70’s F. We opened up the front porch and Tessa was thrilled. I got to do some work out there, too, prepping for planting season.

I mean, I know it’s False Spring and it’s supposed to snow again on Friday for Third Winter, but enjoy what’s in the moment, right?

But needs must with deadlines and things. Plus, I knew I had today off, so no matter what today’s weather is, I get to play.

I had to fill out the quarterly form from Johns Hopkins as part of their Long COVID study (I am still part of the control group).

I took out the garbage and ran my errand.

I spent most of the day finishing the outline for the ghostwriting, and got it off around 4 PM, which meant I started my “day off” a little early. It always feels good to get a big project off on time.

Thursday, I go back to the other ghostwriting assignment which is due on the Equinox!

I finished reading a book that’s been getting a lot of buzz (I’ve actually met the author a few times, in the UK on trips). I liked it, but the twist near the end felt forced to me. I did, however, figure out the killer early, early on, and it was a case of waiting to see if I was right and when everyone else caught on. I enjoyed the book, the writing is terrific, but, to me, the twist wasn’t organic to the rest of it. Also, I was annoyed at the end where there were several pages pointing out the planted clues and explaining them. Yes, I got them, I pay attention!

I also did some reading on the May Morris book that has to go back on Friday. I’m getting a sense of the people, some of whom will become characters in the play.

My hip and back were cranky. I have a feeling, as we move into mud season and it’s cold and damp, there will be some issues. We will deal with them as they come up.

Slept reasonably well, up at the usual time. The morning routine was good, and did my yoga and meditation by moonlight again. The time change means longer light in the evening, but darker when I get up, at least for the moment.

Today is my birthday, so I arranged to be off from work (out of office) for the day.  I woke up to some lovely messages, thank you so much. I’m making up the day as I go along, doing what I please. The weather will negate some of the options. Honestly, at this point, not having a plan feels like the best plan!

There’s good food and cake and prosecco, and certainly plenty of books and cats, so it’s all good!

A day of peace is much needed.

Have a good one!

Wednesday, March 11, 2026: Birthday Girl!

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Waning Moon

Mercury Retrograde

Rainy and cool

We’ve hit another midweek! Gosh, this year is going fast.

It was difficult to concentrate, because yesterday was such a piece of lovely weather, I just wanted to go out and play in it. It got up into the 70’s F. We opened up the front porch and Tessa was thrilled. I got to do some work out there, too, prepping for planting season.

I mean, I know it’s False Spring and it’s supposed to snow again on Friday for Third Winter, but enjoy what’s in the moment, right?

But needs must with deadlines and things. Plus, I knew I had today off, so no matter what today’s weather is, I get to play.

I had to fill out the quarterly form from Johns Hopkins as part of their Long COVID study (I am still part of the control group).

I took out the garbage and ran my errand.

I spent most of the day finishing the outline for the ghostwriting, and got it off around 4 PM, which meant I started my “day off” a little early. It always feels good to get a big project off on time.

Thursday, I go back to the other ghostwriting assignment which is due on the Equinox!

I finished reading a book that’s been getting a lot of buzz (I’ve actually met the author a few times, in the UK on trips). I liked it, but the twist near the end felt forced to me. I did, however, figure out the killer early, early on, and it was a case of waiting to see if I was right and when everyone else caught on. I enjoyed the book, the writing is terrific, but, to me, the twist wasn’t organic to the rest of it. Also, I was annoyed at the end where there were several pages pointing out the planted clues and explaining them. Yes, I got them, I pay attention!

I also did some reading on the May Morris book that has to go back on Friday. I’m getting a sense of the people, some of whom will become characters in the play.

My hip and back were cranky. I have a feeling, as we move into mud season and it’s cold and damp, there will be some issues. We will deal with them as they come up.

Slept reasonably well, up at the usual time. The morning routine was good, and did my yoga and meditation by moonlight again. The time change means longer light in the evening, but darker when I get up, at least for the moment.

Today is my birthday, so I arranged to be off from work (out of office) for the day.  I woke up to some lovely messages, thank you so much. I’m making up the day as I go along, doing what I please. The weather will negate some of the options. Honestly, at this point, not having a plan feels like the best plan!

There’s good food and cake and prosecco, and certainly plenty of books and cats, so it’s all good!

A day of peace is much needed.

Have a good one!

Wednesday, March 11, 2026: Birthday Girl!

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Waning Moon

Mercury Retrograde

Rainy and cool

We’ve hit another midweek! Gosh, this year is going fast.

It was difficult to concentrate, because yesterday was such a piece of lovely weather, I just wanted to go out and play in it. It got up into the 70’s F. We opened up the front porch and Tessa was thrilled. I got to do some work out there, too, prepping for planting season.

I mean, I know it’s False Spring and it’s supposed to snow again on Friday for Third Winter, but enjoy what’s in the moment, right?

But needs must with deadlines and things. Plus, I knew I had today off, so no matter what today’s weather is, I get to play.

I had to fill out the quarterly form from Johns Hopkins as part of their Long COVID study (I am still part of the control group).

I took out the garbage and ran my errand.

I spent most of the day finishing the outline for the ghostwriting, and got it off around 4 PM, which meant I started my “day off” a little early. It always feels good to get a big project off on time.

Thursday, I go back to the other ghostwriting assignment which is due on the Equinox!

I finished reading a book that’s been getting a lot of buzz (I’ve actually met the author a few times, in the UK on trips). I liked it, but the twist near the end felt forced to me. I did, however, figure out the killer early, early on, and it was a case of waiting to see if I was right and when everyone else caught on. I enjoyed the book, the writing is terrific, but, to me, the twist wasn’t organic to the rest of it. Also, I was annoyed at the end where there were several pages pointing out the planted clues and explaining them. Yes, I got them, I pay attention!

I also did some reading on the May Morris book that has to go back on Friday. I’m getting a sense of the people, some of whom will become characters in the play.

My hip and back were cranky. I have a feeling, as we move into mud season and it’s cold and damp, there will be some issues. We will deal with them as they come up.

Slept reasonably well, up at the usual time. The morning routine was good, and did my yoga and meditation by moonlight again. The time change means longer light in the evening, but darker when I get up, at least for the moment.

Today is my birthday, so I arranged to be off from work (out of office) for the day.  I woke up to some lovely messages, thank you so much. I’m making up the day as I go along, doing what I please. The weather will negate some of the options. Honestly, at this point, not having a plan feels like the best plan!

There’s good food and cake and prosecco, and certainly plenty of books and cats, so it’s all good!

A day of peace is much needed.

Have a good one!

Wednesday, March 11, 2026: Birthday Girl!

Wednesday, March 11, 2026

Waning Moon

Mercury Retrograde

Rainy and cool

We’ve hit another midweek! Gosh, this year is going fast.

It was difficult to concentrate, because yesterday was such a piece of lovely weather, I just wanted to go out and play in it. It got up into the 70’s F. We opened up the front porch and Tessa was thrilled. I got to do some work out there, too, prepping for planting season.

I mean, I know it’s False Spring and it’s supposed to snow again on Friday for Third Winter, but enjoy what’s in the moment, right?

But needs must with deadlines and things. Plus, I knew I had today off, so no matter what today’s weather is, I get to play.

I had to fill out the quarterly form from Johns Hopkins as part of their Long COVID study (I am still part of the control group).

I took out the garbage and ran my errand.

I spent most of the day finishing the outline for the ghostwriting, and got it off around 4 PM, which meant I started my “day off” a little early. It always feels good to get a big project off on time.

Thursday, I go back to the other ghostwriting assignment which is due on the Equinox!

I finished reading a book that’s been getting a lot of buzz (I’ve actually met the author a few times, in the UK on trips). I liked it, but the twist near the end felt forced to me. I did, however, figure out the killer early, early on, and it was a case of waiting to see if I was right and when everyone else caught on. I enjoyed the book, the writing is terrific, but, to me, the twist wasn’t organic to the rest of it. Also, I was annoyed at the end where there were several pages pointing out the planted clues and explaining them. Yes, I got them, I pay attention!

I also did some reading on the May Morris book that has to go back on Friday. I’m getting a sense of the people, some of whom will become characters in the play.

My hip and back were cranky. I have a feeling, as we move into mud season and it’s cold and damp, there will be some issues. We will deal with them as they come up.

Slept reasonably well, up at the usual time. The morning routine was good, and did my yoga and meditation by moonlight again. The time change means longer light in the evening, but darker when I get up, at least for the moment.

Today is my birthday, so I arranged to be off from work (out of office) for the day.  I woke up to some lovely messages, thank you so much. I’m making up the day as I go along, doing what I please. The weather will negate some of the options. Honestly, at this point, not having a plan feels like the best plan!

There’s good food and cake and prosecco, and certainly plenty of books and cats, so it’s all good!

A day of peace is much needed.

Have a good one!

Calling all #climate conscious #playwrights!

The Climate Playwriting Prize 2026 | Discover | Shakespeare's Globe

We believe that playwrights have a vital role to play in the conversation around the climate. Theatre is a space for animating audiences, forming communities, and experimenting with form; a space for processing the past, articulating the present, and imagining the future. Beyond the West End, regional and touring theatre is playing a vital role in engaging audiences.

This moment is marked by rising temperatures, escalating impacts of change on communities and ecosystems, but also by the unprecedented call to arms to storytellers at COP30 in 2025. The need for new stories that help audiences grapple with the realities and possibilities of this crisis has never been clearer. 

In order to surface the breadth and diversity of new stories about this planetary moment, the Climate Playwriting Prize is an open invitation to playwrights to respond creatively to this subject matter. We are partnering with organisations all around the country to deliver workshops to writers, unlocking how they might want to tell their climate story.

#Playwright #playwrighting #playwriting #climatestorytelling #climatestories #climateaction #shakespearesglobe #GlobeTheatre

https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/jobs-and-opportunities/climate-playwriting-prize-2026/

Calling all #climate conscious #playwrights!

The Climate Playwriting Prize 2026 | Discover | Shakespeare's Globe

We believe that playwrights have a vital role to play in the conversation around the climate. Theatre is a space for animating audiences, forming communities, and experimenting with form; a space for processing the past, articulating the present, and imagining the future. Beyond the West End, regional and touring theatre is playing a vital role in engaging audiences.

This moment is marked by rising temperatures, escalating impacts of change on communities and ecosystems, but also by the unprecedented call to arms to storytellers at COP30 in 2025. The need for new stories that help audiences grapple with the realities and possibilities of this crisis has never been clearer. 

In order to surface the breadth and diversity of new stories about this planetary moment, the Climate Playwriting Prize is an open invitation to playwrights to respond creatively to this subject matter. We are partnering with organisations all around the country to deliver workshops to writers, unlocking how they might want to tell their climate story.

#Playwright #playwrighting #playwriting #climatestorytelling #climatestories #climateaction #shakespearesglobe #GlobeTheatre

https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/jobs-and-opportunities/climate-playwriting-prize-2026/

Calling all #climate conscious #playwrights!

The Climate Playwriting Prize 2026 | Discover | Shakespeare's Globe

We believe that playwrights have a vital role to play in the conversation around the climate. Theatre is a space for animating audiences, forming communities, and experimenting with form; a space for processing the past, articulating the present, and imagining the future. Beyond the West End, regional and touring theatre is playing a vital role in engaging audiences.

This moment is marked by rising temperatures, escalating impacts of change on communities and ecosystems, but also by the unprecedented call to arms to storytellers at COP30 in 2025. The need for new stories that help audiences grapple with the realities and possibilities of this crisis has never been clearer. 

In order to surface the breadth and diversity of new stories about this planetary moment, the Climate Playwriting Prize is an open invitation to playwrights to respond creatively to this subject matter. We are partnering with organisations all around the country to deliver workshops to writers, unlocking how they might want to tell their climate story.

#Playwright #playwrighting #playwriting #climatestorytelling #climatestories #climateaction #shakespearesglobe #GlobeTheatre

https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/jobs-and-opportunities/climate-playwriting-prize-2026/

Calling all #climate conscious #playwrights!

The Climate Playwriting Prize 2026 | Discover | Shakespeare's Globe

We believe that playwrights have a vital role to play in the conversation around the climate. Theatre is a space for animating audiences, forming communities, and experimenting with form; a space for processing the past, articulating the present, and imagining the future. Beyond the West End, regional and touring theatre is playing a vital role in engaging audiences.

This moment is marked by rising temperatures, escalating impacts of change on communities and ecosystems, but also by the unprecedented call to arms to storytellers at COP30 in 2025. The need for new stories that help audiences grapple with the realities and possibilities of this crisis has never been clearer. 

In order to surface the breadth and diversity of new stories about this planetary moment, the Climate Playwriting Prize is an open invitation to playwrights to respond creatively to this subject matter. We are partnering with organisations all around the country to deliver workshops to writers, unlocking how they might want to tell their climate story.

#Playwright #playwrighting #playwriting #climatestorytelling #climatestories #climateaction #shakespearesglobe #GlobeTheatre

https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/jobs-and-opportunities/climate-playwriting-prize-2026/

Calling all #climate conscious #playwrights!

The Climate Playwriting Prize 2026 | Discover | Shakespeare's Globe

We believe that playwrights have a vital role to play in the conversation around the climate. Theatre is a space for animating audiences, forming communities, and experimenting with form; a space for processing the past, articulating the present, and imagining the future. Beyond the West End, regional and touring theatre is playing a vital role in engaging audiences.

This moment is marked by rising temperatures, escalating impacts of change on communities and ecosystems, but also by the unprecedented call to arms to storytellers at COP30 in 2025. The need for new stories that help audiences grapple with the realities and possibilities of this crisis has never been clearer. 

In order to surface the breadth and diversity of new stories about this planetary moment, the Climate Playwriting Prize is an open invitation to playwrights to respond creatively to this subject matter. We are partnering with organisations all around the country to deliver workshops to writers, unlocking how they might want to tell their climate story.

#Playwright #playwrighting #playwriting #climatestorytelling #climatestories #climateaction #shakespearesglobe #GlobeTheatre

https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/jobs-and-opportunities/climate-playwriting-prize-2026/

Finding the Right Fit:
https://devonellington.wordpress.com/2026/02/18/wed-feb-18-2026-finding-the-right-fit/

#Writing #WritingCommunity #Freelance #Playwrighting

Finding the Right Fit:
https://devonellington.wordpress.com/2026/02/18/wed-feb-18-2026-finding-the-right-fit/

#Writing #WritingCommunity #Freelance #Playwrighting

Wed. Feb. 18, 2026: Finding the Right Fit

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Waxing Moon

Jupiter Retrograde

Snowy and cold

Midweek, although it feels like yesterday was a whole week on its own. We’re supposed to get 6 more inches of snow today. It was supposed to start at 7 AM, but hasn’t yet, although my pre-storm headache tells me it should start soon (and then the headache will go away).

This blog’s dashboard is glitching in Google, and I had to do a workaround. It seems to be coming up okay in other browsers.

Urgh.

Before anyone has a fit that a white girl enjoys Chinese Lunar New Year, my mom’s best friend is Chinese, and always included us in the celebrations. Plus, I worked on a bunch of shows with large Asian casts, and I was honored to be included in their celebrations. I celebrate in honor of them, their families, their ancestors. It’s not about me; it’s about honoring people who welcomed me into their celebrations for years.

RIP Jesse Jackson. I learned a lot from that man’s work.

I packed up the boxes I need to mail and then decided I should go down and mail them, instead of waiting until this morning. Which was a good idea, because with  6 more inches of snow incoming, I won’t be tromping out in that or going to the laundromat or going to the library like I planned.

So much for it being in the forties all week, as promised!

Anyway, I mailed everything, and picked up a couple of things at Cumberland Farms on the way back. My hip was very unhappy because of all the refrozen snowpacks I had to climb. They partially melt, then refreeze in lumps on the sidewalk, and are a mess. In order to get around them and walk on the street, I have to climb the snowbanks between the sidewalk and street. So it’s all just a big mess. It was raining by the time I got home. Not hard, just enough to be annoying.

I got some reading done, and around lunchtime the notes from the ghostwriting came back. They will be the priority today. I need to get them turned around by end of day tomorrow, because I have plans with a friend on Friday.

I managed to get my hip feeling better through a bunch of stretches, etc., without using the pain patch. I try to use it as little as possible, because it nauseates me for whatever reason.

The seeds arrived from Johnny’s, and I already resent them (yes, there’s a story there). I also ordered some seeds from Baker’s Creek Heirloom. More on all of that in tomorrow’s Gratitude & Growth post.

I managed to fix the glitch in the Google version of this blog. I fell down some research rabbit holes on WorldCat for several different projects. I can order several books/manuscripts/ephemera I need (over several different projects) through the Clark library, but I have to talk to them to see if I can just order/have them order, or if I need the special scholar card. I also want to see if any of the material is available through the college library across the street, which is easier to access.

I made chicken Lo Mein for dinner, which turned out well. A quiet evening, which I needed.

I realized I hadn’t written and submitted the book review, so I will do that today. I still have plenty of time before deadline.

I had a weird dream that didn’t make sense literally, but made sense symbolically, so I guess that’s good?

I did not get the grant for the May Morris project, but the funding organization likes the premise and has offered me some resources that are not the grant. The grant would have solidified the project’s position in the queue, but we will see. At least I’m not under any deadline pressure, can research pleasurably at my own place, and then contact the organization when one of the resources they offered me would be helpful. They have also offered support around I WILL BE DIFFERENT. I’m trying to remember how they know about that, although I probably referenced it in the May Morris proposal. They’re in Brooklyn and I’m not, so we will see how that shakes out. But at least they’re interested. And I have a specific individual in the organization as my primary contact for my work. On the one hand, I’m disappointed; on the other hand, it takes a lot of pressure off me in the immediate months, and usually, things fall into place in the right way. A couple of years ago, I was disappointed at not getting a particular residency in the midwest, but if I had landed it, I wouldn’t have been able to accept a reading slot for one of my plays with another company, and the reading had more immediate weight in the career path than the residency would have offered.

While I work well within deadlines, there’s a certain point where too many deadlines becomes counterproductive. Having the research for this project be unpressured pleasure will, I think, serve it in the long run. And let me finish the plays ahead of it that are still in progress.

In other words, I’m disappointed, but not devastated. I didn’t get the grant, but I’m now a known quantity to the organization and they are interested in my work, so I have to make sure to follow through on that and build that relationship. If I drop the ball and let things slide, that loss is firmly on me.

Morning routine was good. I will wash some hand laundry in the morning (since my plans to go to the laundromat were jettisoned), write and submit the review, and figure out how to get the next book for review into my Kindle. It still hasn’t shown up, and I sent did the whole “send to kindle” and then “send to device” about a week ago. The bulk of the day will be spent on the ghostwriting. I also have a couple of hours to spend on a DNA Forensics workshop I’m auditing out of the University of Cambridge in the UK. That will be useful not just for the ghostwriting, but for a lot of projects. It’s a 5-week course with 2-5 hours/week commitment, which is reasonable. I didn’t realize it started today until I signed up early this morning.

Anyway, I better get going. I need to turn around a 20K revision before end of day tomorrow.

Have a good one!

Wed. Feb. 18, 2026: Finding the Right Fit

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Waxing Moon

Jupiter Retrograde

Snowy and cold

Midweek, although it feels like yesterday was a whole week on its own. We’re supposed to get 6 more inches of snow today. It was supposed to start at 7 AM, but hasn’t yet, although my pre-storm headache tells me it should start soon (and then the headache will go away).

This blog’s dashboard is glitching in Google, and I had to do a workaround. It seems to be coming up okay in other browsers.

Urgh.

Before anyone has a fit that a white girl enjoys Chinese Lunar New Year, my mom’s best friend is Chinese, and always included us in the celebrations. Plus, I worked on a bunch of shows with large Asian casts, and I was honored to be included in their celebrations. I celebrate in honor of them, their families, their ancestors. It’s not about me; it’s about honoring people who welcomed me into their celebrations for years.

RIP Jesse Jackson. I learned a lot from that man’s work.

I packed up the boxes I need to mail and then decided I should go down and mail them, instead of waiting until this morning. Which was a good idea, because with  6 more inches of snow incoming, I won’t be tromping out in that or going to the laundromat or going to the library like I planned.

So much for it being in the forties all week, as promised!

Anyway, I mailed everything, and picked up a couple of things at Cumberland Farms on the way back. My hip was very unhappy because of all the refrozen snowpacks I had to climb. They partially melt, then refreeze in lumps on the sidewalk, and are a mess. In order to get around them and walk on the street, I have to climb the snowbanks between the sidewalk and street. So it’s all just a big mess. It was raining by the time I got home. Not hard, just enough to be annoying.

I got some reading done, and around lunchtime the notes from the ghostwriting came back. They will be the priority today. I need to get them turned around by end of day tomorrow, because I have plans with a friend on Friday.

I managed to get my hip feeling better through a bunch of stretches, etc., without using the pain patch. I try to use it as little as possible, because it nauseates me for whatever reason.

The seeds arrived from Johnny’s, and I already resent them (yes, there’s a story there). I also ordered some seeds from Baker’s Creek Heirloom. More on all of that in tomorrow’s Gratitude & Growth post.

I managed to fix the glitch in the Google version of this blog. I fell down some research rabbit holes on WorldCat for several different projects. I can order several books/manuscripts/ephemera I need (over several different projects) through the Clark library, but I have to talk to them to see if I can just order/have them order, or if I need the special scholar card. I also want to see if any of the material is available through the college library across the street, which is easier to access.

I made chicken Lo Mein for dinner, which turned out well. A quiet evening, which I needed.

I realized I hadn’t written and submitted the book review, so I will do that today. I still have plenty of time before deadline.

I had a weird dream that didn’t make sense literally, but made sense symbolically, so I guess that’s good?

I did not get the grant for the May Morris project, but the funding organization likes the premise and has offered me some resources that are not the grant. The grant would have solidified the project’s position in the queue, but we will see. At least I’m not under any deadline pressure, can research pleasurably at my own place, and then contact the organization when one of the resources they offered me would be helpful. They have also offered support around I WILL BE DIFFERENT. I’m trying to remember how they know about that, although I probably referenced it in the May Morris proposal. They’re in Brooklyn and I’m not, so we will see how that shakes out. But at least they’re interested. And I have a specific individual in the organization as my primary contact for my work. On the one hand, I’m disappointed; on the other hand, it takes a lot of pressure off me in the immediate months, and usually, things fall into place in the right way. A couple of years ago, I was disappointed at not getting a particular residency in the midwest, but if I had landed it, I wouldn’t have been able to accept a reading slot for one of my plays with another company, and the reading had more immediate weight in the career path than the residency would have offered.

While I work well within deadlines, there’s a certain point where too many deadlines becomes counterproductive. Having the research for this project be unpressured pleasure will, I think, serve it in the long run. And let me finish the plays ahead of it that are still in progress.

In other words, I’m disappointed, but not devastated. I didn’t get the grant, but I’m now a known quantity to the organization and they are interested in my work, so I have to make sure to follow through on that and build that relationship. If I drop the ball and let things slide, that loss is firmly on me.

Morning routine was good. I will wash some hand laundry in the morning (since my plans to go to the laundromat were jettisoned), write and submit the review, and figure out how to get the next book for review into my Kindle. It still hasn’t shown up, and I sent did the whole “send to kindle” and then “send to device” about a week ago. The bulk of the day will be spent on the ghostwriting. I also have a couple of hours to spend on a DNA Forensics workshop I’m auditing out of the University of Cambridge in the UK. That will be useful not just for the ghostwriting, but for a lot of projects. It’s a 5-week course with 2-5 hours/week commitment, which is reasonable. I didn’t realize it started today until I signed up early this morning.

Anyway, I better get going. I need to turn around a 20K revision before end of day tomorrow.

Have a good one!

Wed. Feb. 18, 2026: Finding the Right Fit

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Waxing Moon

Jupiter Retrograde

Snowy and cold

Midweek, although it feels like yesterday was a whole week on its own. We’re supposed to get 6 more inches of snow today. It was supposed to start at 7 AM, but hasn’t yet, although my pre-storm headache tells me it should start soon (and then the headache will go away).

This blog’s dashboard is glitching in Google, and I had to do a workaround. It seems to be coming up okay in other browsers.

Urgh.

Before anyone has a fit that a white girl enjoys Chinese Lunar New Year, my mom’s best friend is Chinese, and always included us in the celebrations. Plus, I worked on a bunch of shows with large Asian casts, and I was honored to be included in their celebrations. I celebrate in honor of them, their families, their ancestors. It’s not about me; it’s about honoring people who welcomed me into their celebrations for years.

RIP Jesse Jackson. I learned a lot from that man’s work.

I packed up the boxes I need to mail and then decided I should go down and mail them, instead of waiting until this morning. Which was a good idea, because with  6 more inches of snow incoming, I won’t be tromping out in that or going to the laundromat or going to the library like I planned.

So much for it being in the forties all week, as promised!

Anyway, I mailed everything, and picked up a couple of things at Cumberland Farms on the way back. My hip was very unhappy because of all the refrozen snowpacks I had to climb. They partially melt, then refreeze in lumps on the sidewalk, and are a mess. In order to get around them and walk on the street, I have to climb the snowbanks between the sidewalk and street. So it’s all just a big mess. It was raining by the time I got home. Not hard, just enough to be annoying.

I got some reading done, and around lunchtime the notes from the ghostwriting came back. They will be the priority today. I need to get them turned around by end of day tomorrow, because I have plans with a friend on Friday.

I managed to get my hip feeling better through a bunch of stretches, etc., without using the pain patch. I try to use it as little as possible, because it nauseates me for whatever reason.

The seeds arrived from Johnny’s, and I already resent them (yes, there’s a story there). I also ordered some seeds from Baker’s Creek Heirloom. More on all of that in tomorrow’s Gratitude & Growth post.

I managed to fix the glitch in the Google version of this blog. I fell down some research rabbit holes on WorldCat for several different projects. I can order several books/manuscripts/ephemera I need (over several different projects) through the Clark library, but I have to talk to them to see if I can just order/have them order, or if I need the special scholar card. I also want to see if any of the material is available through the college library across the street, which is easier to access.

I made chicken Lo Mein for dinner, which turned out well. A quiet evening, which I needed.

I realized I hadn’t written and submitted the book review, so I will do that today. I still have plenty of time before deadline.

I had a weird dream that didn’t make sense literally, but made sense symbolically, so I guess that’s good?

I did not get the grant for the May Morris project, but the funding organization likes the premise and has offered me some resources that are not the grant. The grant would have solidified the project’s position in the queue, but we will see. At least I’m not under any deadline pressure, can research pleasurably at my own place, and then contact the organization when one of the resources they offered me would be helpful. They have also offered support around I WILL BE DIFFERENT. I’m trying to remember how they know about that, although I probably referenced it in the May Morris proposal. They’re in Brooklyn and I’m not, so we will see how that shakes out. But at least they’re interested. And I have a specific individual in the organization as my primary contact for my work. On the one hand, I’m disappointed; on the other hand, it takes a lot of pressure off me in the immediate months, and usually, things fall into place in the right way. A couple of years ago, I was disappointed at not getting a particular residency in the midwest, but if I had landed it, I wouldn’t have been able to accept a reading slot for one of my plays with another company, and the reading had more immediate weight in the career path than the residency would have offered.

While I work well within deadlines, there’s a certain point where too many deadlines becomes counterproductive. Having the research for this project be unpressured pleasure will, I think, serve it in the long run. And let me finish the plays ahead of it that are still in progress.

In other words, I’m disappointed, but not devastated. I didn’t get the grant, but I’m now a known quantity to the organization and they are interested in my work, so I have to make sure to follow through on that and build that relationship. If I drop the ball and let things slide, that loss is firmly on me.

Morning routine was good. I will wash some hand laundry in the morning (since my plans to go to the laundromat were jettisoned), write and submit the review, and figure out how to get the next book for review into my Kindle. It still hasn’t shown up, and I sent did the whole “send to kindle” and then “send to device” about a week ago. The bulk of the day will be spent on the ghostwriting. I also have a couple of hours to spend on a DNA Forensics workshop I’m auditing out of the University of Cambridge in the UK. That will be useful not just for the ghostwriting, but for a lot of projects. It’s a 5-week course with 2-5 hours/week commitment, which is reasonable. I didn’t realize it started today until I signed up early this morning.

Anyway, I better get going. I need to turn around a 20K revision before end of day tomorrow.

Have a good one!

Wed. Feb. 18, 2026: Finding the Right Fit

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Waxing Moon

Jupiter Retrograde

Snowy and cold

Midweek, although it feels like yesterday was a whole week on its own. We’re supposed to get 6 more inches of snow today. It was supposed to start at 7 AM, but hasn’t yet, although my pre-storm headache tells me it should start soon (and then the headache will go away).

This blog’s dashboard is glitching in Google, and I had to do a workaround. It seems to be coming up okay in other browsers.

Urgh.

Before anyone has a fit that a white girl enjoys Chinese Lunar New Year, my mom’s best friend is Chinese, and always included us in the celebrations. Plus, I worked on a bunch of shows with large Asian casts, and I was honored to be included in their celebrations. I celebrate in honor of them, their families, their ancestors. It’s not about me; it’s about honoring people who welcomed me into their celebrations for years.

RIP Jesse Jackson. I learned a lot from that man’s work.

I packed up the boxes I need to mail and then decided I should go down and mail them, instead of waiting until this morning. Which was a good idea, because with  6 more inches of snow incoming, I won’t be tromping out in that or going to the laundromat or going to the library like I planned.

So much for it being in the forties all week, as promised!

Anyway, I mailed everything, and picked up a couple of things at Cumberland Farms on the way back. My hip was very unhappy because of all the refrozen snowpacks I had to climb. They partially melt, then refreeze in lumps on the sidewalk, and are a mess. In order to get around them and walk on the street, I have to climb the snowbanks between the sidewalk and street. So it’s all just a big mess. It was raining by the time I got home. Not hard, just enough to be annoying.

I got some reading done, and around lunchtime the notes from the ghostwriting came back. They will be the priority today. I need to get them turned around by end of day tomorrow, because I have plans with a friend on Friday.

I managed to get my hip feeling better through a bunch of stretches, etc., without using the pain patch. I try to use it as little as possible, because it nauseates me for whatever reason.

The seeds arrived from Johnny’s, and I already resent them (yes, there’s a story there). I also ordered some seeds from Baker’s Creek Heirloom. More on all of that in tomorrow’s Gratitude & Growth post.

I managed to fix the glitch in the Google version of this blog. I fell down some research rabbit holes on WorldCat for several different projects. I can order several books/manuscripts/ephemera I need (over several different projects) through the Clark library, but I have to talk to them to see if I can just order/have them order, or if I need the special scholar card. I also want to see if any of the material is available through the college library across the street, which is easier to access.

I made chicken Lo Mein for dinner, which turned out well. A quiet evening, which I needed.

I realized I hadn’t written and submitted the book review, so I will do that today. I still have plenty of time before deadline.

I had a weird dream that didn’t make sense literally, but made sense symbolically, so I guess that’s good?

I did not get the grant for the May Morris project, but the funding organization likes the premise and has offered me some resources that are not the grant. The grant would have solidified the project’s position in the queue, but we will see. At least I’m not under any deadline pressure, can research pleasurably at my own place, and then contact the organization when one of the resources they offered me would be helpful. They have also offered support around I WILL BE DIFFERENT. I’m trying to remember how they know about that, although I probably referenced it in the May Morris proposal. They’re in Brooklyn and I’m not, so we will see how that shakes out. But at least they’re interested. And I have a specific individual in the organization as my primary contact for my work. On the one hand, I’m disappointed; on the other hand, it takes a lot of pressure off me in the immediate months, and usually, things fall into place in the right way. A couple of years ago, I was disappointed at not getting a particular residency in the midwest, but if I had landed it, I wouldn’t have been able to accept a reading slot for one of my plays with another company, and the reading had more immediate weight in the career path than the residency would have offered.

While I work well within deadlines, there’s a certain point where too many deadlines becomes counterproductive. Having the research for this project be unpressured pleasure will, I think, serve it in the long run. And let me finish the plays ahead of it that are still in progress.

In other words, I’m disappointed, but not devastated. I didn’t get the grant, but I’m now a known quantity to the organization and they are interested in my work, so I have to make sure to follow through on that and build that relationship. If I drop the ball and let things slide, that loss is firmly on me.

Morning routine was good. I will wash some hand laundry in the morning (since my plans to go to the laundromat were jettisoned), write and submit the review, and figure out how to get the next book for review into my Kindle. It still hasn’t shown up, and I sent did the whole “send to kindle” and then “send to device” about a week ago. The bulk of the day will be spent on the ghostwriting. I also have a couple of hours to spend on a DNA Forensics workshop I’m auditing out of the University of Cambridge in the UK. That will be useful not just for the ghostwriting, but for a lot of projects. It’s a 5-week course with 2-5 hours/week commitment, which is reasonable. I didn’t realize it started today until I signed up early this morning.

Anyway, I better get going. I need to turn around a 20K revision before end of day tomorrow.

Have a good one!

Wed. Feb. 18, 2026: Finding the Right Fit

Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Waxing Moon

Jupiter Retrograde

Snowy and cold

Midweek, although it feels like yesterday was a whole week on its own. We’re supposed to get 6 more inches of snow today. It was supposed to start at 7 AM, but hasn’t yet, although my pre-storm headache tells me it should start soon (and then the headache will go away).

This blog’s dashboard is glitching in Google, and I had to do a workaround. It seems to be coming up okay in other browsers.

Urgh.

Before anyone has a fit that a white girl enjoys Chinese Lunar New Year, my mom’s best friend is Chinese, and always included us in the celebrations. Plus, I worked on a bunch of shows with large Asian casts, and I was honored to be included in their celebrations. I celebrate in honor of them, their families, their ancestors. It’s not about me; it’s about honoring people who welcomed me into their celebrations for years.

RIP Jesse Jackson. I learned a lot from that man’s work.

I packed up the boxes I need to mail and then decided I should go down and mail them, instead of waiting until this morning. Which was a good idea, because with  6 more inches of snow incoming, I won’t be tromping out in that or going to the laundromat or going to the library like I planned.

So much for it being in the forties all week, as promised!

Anyway, I mailed everything, and picked up a couple of things at Cumberland Farms on the way back. My hip was very unhappy because of all the refrozen snowpacks I had to climb. They partially melt, then refreeze in lumps on the sidewalk, and are a mess. In order to get around them and walk on the street, I have to climb the snowbanks between the sidewalk and street. So it’s all just a big mess. It was raining by the time I got home. Not hard, just enough to be annoying.

I got some reading done, and around lunchtime the notes from the ghostwriting came back. They will be the priority today. I need to get them turned around by end of day tomorrow, because I have plans with a friend on Friday.

I managed to get my hip feeling better through a bunch of stretches, etc., without using the pain patch. I try to use it as little as possible, because it nauseates me for whatever reason.

The seeds arrived from Johnny’s, and I already resent them (yes, there’s a story there). I also ordered some seeds from Baker’s Creek Heirloom. More on all of that in tomorrow’s Gratitude & Growth post.

I managed to fix the glitch in the Google version of this blog. I fell down some research rabbit holes on WorldCat for several different projects. I can order several books/manuscripts/ephemera I need (over several different projects) through the Clark library, but I have to talk to them to see if I can just order/have them order, or if I need the special scholar card. I also want to see if any of the material is available through the college library across the street, which is easier to access.

I made chicken Lo Mein for dinner, which turned out well. A quiet evening, which I needed.

I realized I hadn’t written and submitted the book review, so I will do that today. I still have plenty of time before deadline.

I had a weird dream that didn’t make sense literally, but made sense symbolically, so I guess that’s good?

I did not get the grant for the May Morris project, but the funding organization likes the premise and has offered me some resources that are not the grant. The grant would have solidified the project’s position in the queue, but we will see. At least I’m not under any deadline pressure, can research pleasurably at my own place, and then contact the organization when one of the resources they offered me would be helpful. They have also offered support around I WILL BE DIFFERENT. I’m trying to remember how they know about that, although I probably referenced it in the May Morris proposal. They’re in Brooklyn and I’m not, so we will see how that shakes out. But at least they’re interested. And I have a specific individual in the organization as my primary contact for my work. On the one hand, I’m disappointed; on the other hand, it takes a lot of pressure off me in the immediate months, and usually, things fall into place in the right way. A couple of years ago, I was disappointed at not getting a particular residency in the midwest, but if I had landed it, I wouldn’t have been able to accept a reading slot for one of my plays with another company, and the reading had more immediate weight in the career path than the residency would have offered.

While I work well within deadlines, there’s a certain point where too many deadlines becomes counterproductive. Having the research for this project be unpressured pleasure will, I think, serve it in the long run. And let me finish the plays ahead of it that are still in progress.

In other words, I’m disappointed, but not devastated. I didn’t get the grant, but I’m now a known quantity to the organization and they are interested in my work, so I have to make sure to follow through on that and build that relationship. If I drop the ball and let things slide, that loss is firmly on me.

Morning routine was good. I will wash some hand laundry in the morning (since my plans to go to the laundromat were jettisoned), write and submit the review, and figure out how to get the next book for review into my Kindle. It still hasn’t shown up, and I sent did the whole “send to kindle” and then “send to device” about a week ago. The bulk of the day will be spent on the ghostwriting. I also have a couple of hours to spend on a DNA Forensics workshop I’m auditing out of the University of Cambridge in the UK. That will be useful not just for the ghostwriting, but for a lot of projects. It’s a 5-week course with 2-5 hours/week commitment, which is reasonable. I didn’t realize it started today until I signed up early this morning.

Anyway, I better get going. I need to turn around a 20K revision before end of day tomorrow.

Have a good one!

Tues. Feb. 17, 2026: Welcoming the Fire Horse

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

New Moon

Jupiter Retrograde

Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras

Chinese Lunar New Year

Solar Eclipse

Cloudy and cold

All the things going on in the heavens today! Whew!

Happy Mardi Gras, and Year of the Fire Horse! Let’s hope we’re racing to some positive, collective change.

You can read the Community Tarot Reading for the Week here. Still on the Enchanted Tarot.

I put in the Instacart order first thing on Friday morning. It shouldn’t be as stressful as I find it. I’m making a list and trusting someone else to go down the list and get the stuff. There’s no reason for me to worry so much. It was fine last week.

The cats are starting to shed their winter coats. That means the worst of the cold is over, and that I need to vacuum multiple times a week.

I’ve been frustrated with the 45-day art journaling workshop for awhile now. The prompts have been too much psychobabble and not enough creative expansion. They also seem somewhat familiar in the wrong way, but I can’t put my finger on why. Plus, one never knows when they will show up, so it’s been difficult to plan time to do it. Nothing came through at all on Thursday, and then, on Friday, there was suddenly an email that the workshop leader decided to take a vacation for her son’s school break and “pause.” No idea if/when it starts up again. Maybe Monday, but who knows? So, you ask people to commit for 45 days, and then you haven’t planned everything out ahead of time? Why would you start it if you knew you were going on vacation? It’s not like one doesn’t know about school breaks ahead of time. Why not either schedule posts or wait to start the 45-day stretch until you get back? If it was impromptu, as she claimed, she could still schedule things to post. This is not someone who can be trusted. I planned to grit my teeth and stick it out, because I believe in honoring my commitments, but no. I am done. That’s not creating a safe and creative space for people. Safe space means one can count on it and trust it. This behavior does not do it. It wasn’t an unexpected emergency. It’s being untrustworthy and not being honest with people who committed time and energy toward your event when you asked them to do so, after weeks of intense promotion.

A new prompt came through on Monday morning, and I considered starting up again, but my instinct was not to. It’s not the right atmosphere for me. So I unsubscribed, and it was like a weight off.

Buh-bye.

And I will avoid this person and her work in the future.

There are still plenty of pages in that journal that can be dedicated to other things. I will find a different way to work on the art/text stuff.

I bundled up, packed up the books, and headed out mid-morning. The temperature was higher than it’s been and the sun was out, but the wind made it feel colder. I trudged up to the library, dropped off books and picked up the 12 that waited for me. Good thing I had the rolly cart! I rolled down the hill and mailed the cards and bills that needed to go out. The post office is only about a block from the library, and downhill. I ran another errand. I got everything home and up the stairs.

I managed it all in 45 minutes, which was pretty darn good.

I basked in the sun with the cats for a bit, and finished reading a literary novel that wanted to be AS Byatt’s POSSESSION, but was not. There were some good portions of it, but it added an additional POV in the last quarter of the book in a way that didn’t work for me, structurally.

I had to be available during the shopping, and had to change a couple of things, but it was no big deal. The order was there by 1:30 again, although it was a different shopper who was more interested in being on her phone than paying attention to the two minutes for customer drop-off, which annoyed me.

If the weather is at all amenable at the end of this week, I’m taking the cart and going my damn self. While I’m grateful the service exists, I’d rather be in the store myself seeing what looks good and adjusting as needed. I like to have a basic idea of what I want/need (and my list), but then see what looks good and is on sale and adjust. That means moving a bunch of ingredients around in a way that doesn’t really work if someone else uses a pre-written list. It’s totally a me problem, not at all anything wrong with the service itself.

I did some community-based work in the afternoon, and also read the February pick for the Agatha Christie book club, MRS. MCGINTY’S DEAD. It took me a bit to get into it, but once I was intrigued, it carried me along. I paged through the research books for the two different projects that came in, trying to decide which one to spend time with first.

I re-read what I have of the play LAUGHTER AND TURPENTINE (the Playland Painters one) so I can figure out what needs to happen next. I sorted through some possibilities in Saturday morning’s free write.

We had a late lunch of pizza, and then I didn’t feel like dinner. I made sure my mom ate something, but I wound up having a sandwich around 9:30 at night. I read the first book of a new-to-me series (it came out in 2011), that I liked on character and setting arcs. The plot was a little shaky, but interesting enough so I’ll read the second book in the series, at the very least, and see.

Slept well. It was supposed to snow overnight and be done by 7, but didn’t start until nearly 8 on Saturday morning. I had a good morning routine. I forgot to mention that Thursday was Day 175 of the free write sessions.

I tried making omlettes again for breakfast. I’m not good at them, but I keep trying. My favorite Elizabeth David book is AN OMLETTE AND A GLASS OF WINE. I went back and re-read her instructions on making an omlette and tried again. I still don’t have the foldy thing down, and the bottom is too brown, but the inside was fluffy with just a little runny for the cheese and herbs. It tasted good, even if the look of it wouldn’t win any awards. I keep trying. The pan I used was too small, probably, too.

After breakfast, I got the crockpot meal going. Instead of the usual Tuesday crockpot, we decided to do it on Saturday. Since Tuesday (today) is Chinese Lunar New Year, I’m making a special meal for the holiday, and moved the crockpot meal to the weekend.

Then some housework, because there is always housework.

I love following decorating and thrifting and cooking and sewing and gardening accounts on IG. (I mean, cats, too, but that’s something different). Even when something isn’t my style (like neutrals) or something that I would do, I enjoy seeing what other people are up to, and how happy it makes them. And I do learn stuff. But, I mean, sourcing at thrift stores has always been my first choice. It started way back when I was a teenager prop shopping for shows. Things with stories and histories have always been my preference. I love that more people are discovering the fun of it, although when I see a 20-something act like they are the first person to ever figure it out, I do roll my eyes. But that’s also part of being 20-something. I have no doubt I was just as annoying.

It snowed all morning, and I didn’t feel like trotting around in it, so I stayed home. I went through an exhibition catalogue built around May Morris’s work as background research for the play I want to write inspired by Mary Annie Sloane’s sketch of the women working in May’s embroidery workshop. I found names, so I can actually research them. One of the women who worked with May for years was Lily Yeats, the poet’s sister, although to hear tell, there was tension between Lily and May. Another embroidery worker was the actress Florence Farr. It took me a bit to figure out why the name was familiar. She was friendly with Annie Besant (who is mentioned in my play FALL FOREVER) and with Pamela Coleman Smith (who illustrated the Rider Waite tarot), and they were all involved in the occult society The Golden Dawn together. I hadn’t put together the concurrent timelines in my brain. The more I dig, the more interesting connections I find with other interests and projects. Quite the web!

So glad that May kept detailed records of the workroom. I’m hoping I can find a digitized version online, a little later in the research, and flip through it.

There isn’t a lot of material easily available on Mary Annie Sloane and her work, but I will keep digging. As much as May’s designs and exquisite work captured me, it was Mary Annie’s sketch that lit the fire under the idea.

I have at least six months’ to a year’s worth of research to do before I even start writing, but having names and women to research is a terrific starting point, much like with my Playland Painters. The grant proposal for this project is out. If I get the grant, the project moves into a priority position in the queue. If not, I can leisurely research until the project’s turn. Knowing something about the women who worked in the embroidery workshop and what a range of interests they all had changes the original character arcs I played with quite a bit. These are far richer and more interesting. May was known for paying her workers well, and encouraging financial literacy and independence.

Gabriel Dante Rosetti was William Morris’s business partner (he was May’s father, yes, that William Morris), and Rosetti had an affair with her mother, Jane. May and Jane often sat for Rosetti. The big Rosetti volume I have from my time working at Abbeville Press is in storage, but I’m eager to get my hands on it again.

May and George Bernard Shaw were in love, although they each married others, and remained good friends all their lives. So now I have to re-read that massive, multi-volume Shaw biography by Michael Holyrod. My copy of that is also in storage, but I will get them from the library at some point. I have other books coming in on that circle already ordered from the library that I will read first. I will head over to the college library in the next few days and see what they have, too. Once the car is fixed, I’ll do some digging in the Clark’s library, too.

It was a lovely way to spend a dreary, snowy morning, inspired by the beauty of the work these women created.

I started to do some research for the article, re-reading material I originally read in my twenties, but the contrast between May and her socialist, progressive circle and the self-involved material for the article was in too much conflict for me to deal with one right after the other.

I read the next book in the mystery series by the acquaintances from way back. The setting and background were great, but the character relationships were left so undeveloped, and the love interest didn’t even show up in the book until 7/8th of the way through it, so when they declared their love for each other at the end, it felt false. Over the three books in the series I’ve read, the relationship has been underwritten and underdeveloped (and they certainly haven’t spent much time with each other), so the declaration doesn’t land properly. I can’t source the final book in the series through the library even as an e-book, so I don’t know how it all played out. (The series has been out of print for a good long time). If the relationship had been more in balance with the plot (and it could have, without taking away from the plot), I think the series would have worked better (and probably lasted more than four books).

It didn’t live up to the promise of the premise, which is something I find a lot in script analysis work, but here it came up in a series of novels.

The crockpot dinner was good – potato, ham, cheese casserole-type thing. Sort of like a croque monsieur, but with potato rather than bread, and done in a crockpot.

Slept well, up at the normal time on Sunday, good morning routine. Switched out a bunch of winter/Valentine’s stuff with springier, Ostara/Easter stuff. And switched out the heart on the front door with shamrocks.

The neighbors have started decorating their doors, too, and using fun mats. Now that the building is painted, everyone is inspired.

Did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which you can read here. I wasn’t happy to see the Tower as central, but the other cards are very positive, so I’m intrigued by the week’s potential.

Sunday was day before the dark moon, always my least energetic day of the month.

Around noon, I wrapped up and went down to Brewster’s Thrift, the new thrift store that opened across from MASSMoCA a few months back. I’ve been hearing good things about it. The assortment is very eclectic and interesting. I found a lovely, silver-plated candleholder with intricate grapes and other summery/harvest raised detail. I posted a photo on Instagram.

Ran another errand on the way home. It was sunny and much warmer than I expected. I had too many layers on, which I guess is a good thing.

I had a quiet afternoon, and cooked a tuna/vegetable/pasta/pesto dish in the evening.

Read a charming and fun first book in a series that understood typical conventions and chose to break them in interesting ways that served the story, characters, and genre. I’m looking forward to reading the second book in the series.

Up at the normal time, the morning routine was fine. Did the rounds with the week’s intent and the tarot post. Got through some email. No matter how much email I slog through, there’s always more. I’m unsubscribing from a bunch of lists, including authors who do not support my work as a colleague, but are always marketing at me. Read the two scripts for the evening’s Read ‘n Rant and made notes for the evening’s discussion.

We had our monthly Honor Roll! Session from noon to two. It was a nice turnout, and we all got a lot done on our various projects. We felt so good by the end of the two hours!

I got the opening of I WILL BE DIFFERENT, and the next scene. I’ve been playing with ideas in the morning free write, and decided to start with Josephine in the midst of handling five children and her husband and everything, and Alice at age 10. The same actor can play Amanda as a child a few sections later. I’ve been debating whether the first mother should be named Josephine or Margaret. In the free write, I’ve been calling her Margaret, but in these pages, she came out as Josephine, with “Maggie” being Alice’s older sister. I’m pretty sure I will double cast Josephine and Milly. It’s pretty clear in the later sections that Josephine died before Milly was born.

I had planned to finish the Alice section first, but because I’m struggling to get the timeline right with years/historical events, I was stuck. I did set the Josephine section/Alice’s childhood in my hometown of Rye, before Playland was built. I have to figure out one or two more Josephine/Alice scenes, and that will give me a better idea of the when with Alice/Archie, and then I’ll know how to complete the Alice section. If I just cut where Alice and Archie talk about him going to war, I can fix a lot. Yes, that scene is good, but it doesn’t fit the timeline, unless it’s Word War I, and then it sets everything else out of whack. So I basically have somewhere between three and five more scenes to write, and then I’ll have a rough assembly of way too much material that I can then hone down.

Stage plays often have a much longer development process than other types of work, but this one is even longer. I’d hoped to have it ready for a particular submission call to which I’ve been invited at the end of this August, but I can’t see how it will be done, and through enough drafts to make it viable. I may have to finish a different full-length between now and then that’s less complicated to submit this year, and then submit I WILL BE DIFFERENT next year.

I also have to fact check some of my hometown’s history pre-Playland. I sort of remember it, from some research years ago, but I have to recheck it. And it’s not like anything worthwhile comes up in Google anymore, so I’ll dig into the Westchester Archives online information, or into the Rye Historical Society’s information.

I also got the list of dates to paint the gallery for the upcoming GLOW show in March, so I have to figure out which times and dates I can help out.

I did some housework in the afternoon, in preparation for today’s Lunar New Year, and took out the garbage, etc. The dumpster is emptied Tuesday and Friday mornings, so I had to squish the bags into a very full dumpster, but I got them in.

I did some work relevant to the dark moon.

Assets for Artists sent a two -year follow-up from my time in the cohort, so I filled that out for them.

Leftovers for dinner. In the evening, I joined the Athena Project’s Read ‘n Rant discussion. I had been sent one of the wrong plays, so I kept quiet in the discussion for one of them. There’s no reason for me to make things about me instead of the play. I mean, in every group, there’s always someone who hasn’t read the play, or hasn’t finished the play (or book or whatever in the relevant group), but has to take up time and space in the discussion anyway, making it about them. There was that last night, too, but I was not that person! I was able to join the discussion for the other play, which I’d read, so that was fun. Charlotte slept through the whole thing. Bea and Tessa were there at the beginning, and then settled down.

I’m looking forward to my play, THE WOMEN ON THE BRIDGE, being part of next month’s discussion!

It was 10:30 by the time the discussion was over (Athena is based in Colorado, on mountain time). Then, of course, I needed transition time before bed, so I read for a bit.

Dreamed about working shows all night, so woke up feeling like I’d already put in a full week.

The morning routine was fine, the free write was sorting out stuff for I WILL BE DIFFERENT.

We are having pancakes for breakfast, because it’s Fat Tuesday.

On today’s agenda: writing, ghostwriting, an errand, packing up some things that need to be mailed tomorrow, celebrating Lunar New Year. We are wearing lots of red today in honor of it, but no black or white.

Have a good one!

Tues. Feb. 17, 2026: Welcoming the Fire Horse

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

New Moon

Jupiter Retrograde

Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras

Chinese Lunar New Year

Solar Eclipse

Cloudy and cold

All the things going on in the heavens today! Whew!

Happy Mardi Gras, and Year of the Fire Horse! Let’s hope we’re racing to some positive, collective change.

You can read the Community Tarot Reading for the Week here. Still on the Enchanted Tarot.

I put in the Instacart order first thing on Friday morning. It shouldn’t be as stressful as I find it. I’m making a list and trusting someone else to go down the list and get the stuff. There’s no reason for me to worry so much. It was fine last week.

The cats are starting to shed their winter coats. That means the worst of the cold is over, and that I need to vacuum multiple times a week.

I’ve been frustrated with the 45-day art journaling workshop for awhile now. The prompts have been too much psychobabble and not enough creative expansion. They also seem somewhat familiar in the wrong way, but I can’t put my finger on why. Plus, one never knows when they will show up, so it’s been difficult to plan time to do it. Nothing came through at all on Thursday, and then, on Friday, there was suddenly an email that the workshop leader decided to take a vacation for her son’s school break and “pause.” No idea if/when it starts up again. Maybe Monday, but who knows? So, you ask people to commit for 45 days, and then you haven’t planned everything out ahead of time? Why would you start it if you knew you were going on vacation? It’s not like one doesn’t know about school breaks ahead of time. Why not either schedule posts or wait to start the 45-day stretch until you get back? If it was impromptu, as she claimed, she could still schedule things to post. This is not someone who can be trusted. I planned to grit my teeth and stick it out, because I believe in honoring my commitments, but no. I am done. That’s not creating a safe and creative space for people. Safe space means one can count on it and trust it. This behavior does not do it. It wasn’t an unexpected emergency. It’s being untrustworthy and not being honest with people who committed time and energy toward your event when you asked them to do so, after weeks of intense promotion.

A new prompt came through on Monday morning, and I considered starting up again, but my instinct was not to. It’s not the right atmosphere for me. So I unsubscribed, and it was like a weight off.

Buh-bye.

And I will avoid this person and her work in the future.

There are still plenty of pages in that journal that can be dedicated to other things. I will find a different way to work on the art/text stuff.

I bundled up, packed up the books, and headed out mid-morning. The temperature was higher than it’s been and the sun was out, but the wind made it feel colder. I trudged up to the library, dropped off books and picked up the 12 that waited for me. Good thing I had the rolly cart! I rolled down the hill and mailed the cards and bills that needed to go out. The post office is only about a block from the library, and downhill. I ran another errand. I got everything home and up the stairs.

I managed it all in 45 minutes, which was pretty darn good.

I basked in the sun with the cats for a bit, and finished reading a literary novel that wanted to be AS Byatt’s POSSESSION, but was not. There were some good portions of it, but it added an additional POV in the last quarter of the book in a way that didn’t work for me, structurally.

I had to be available during the shopping, and had to change a couple of things, but it was no big deal. The order was there by 1:30 again, although it was a different shopper who was more interested in being on her phone than paying attention to the two minutes for customer drop-off, which annoyed me.

If the weather is at all amenable at the end of this week, I’m taking the cart and going my damn self. While I’m grateful the service exists, I’d rather be in the store myself seeing what looks good and adjusting as needed. I like to have a basic idea of what I want/need (and my list), but then see what looks good and is on sale and adjust. That means moving a bunch of ingredients around in a way that doesn’t really work if someone else uses a pre-written list. It’s totally a me problem, not at all anything wrong with the service itself.

I did some community-based work in the afternoon, and also read the February pick for the Agatha Christie book club, MRS. MCGINTY’S DEAD. It took me a bit to get into it, but once I was intrigued, it carried me along. I paged through the research books for the two different projects that came in, trying to decide which one to spend time with first.

I re-read what I have of the play LAUGHTER AND TURPENTINE (the Playland Painters one) so I can figure out what needs to happen next. I sorted through some possibilities in Saturday morning’s free write.

We had a late lunch of pizza, and then I didn’t feel like dinner. I made sure my mom ate something, but I wound up having a sandwich around 9:30 at night. I read the first book of a new-to-me series (it came out in 2011), that I liked on character and setting arcs. The plot was a little shaky, but interesting enough so I’ll read the second book in the series, at the very least, and see.

Slept well. It was supposed to snow overnight and be done by 7, but didn’t start until nearly 8 on Saturday morning. I had a good morning routine. I forgot to mention that Thursday was Day 175 of the free write sessions.

I tried making omlettes again for breakfast. I’m not good at them, but I keep trying. My favorite Elizabeth David book is AN OMLETTE AND A GLASS OF WINE. I went back and re-read her instructions on making an omlette and tried again. I still don’t have the foldy thing down, and the bottom is too brown, but the inside was fluffy with just a little runny for the cheese and herbs. It tasted good, even if the look of it wouldn’t win any awards. I keep trying. The pan I used was too small, probably, too.

After breakfast, I got the crockpot meal going. Instead of the usual Tuesday crockpot, we decided to do it on Saturday. Since Tuesday (today) is Chinese Lunar New Year, I’m making a special meal for the holiday, and moved the crockpot meal to the weekend.

Then some housework, because there is always housework.

I love following decorating and thrifting and cooking and sewing and gardening accounts on IG. (I mean, cats, too, but that’s something different). Even when something isn’t my style (like neutrals) or something that I would do, I enjoy seeing what other people are up to, and how happy it makes them. And I do learn stuff. But, I mean, sourcing at thrift stores has always been my first choice. It started way back when I was a teenager prop shopping for shows. Things with stories and histories have always been my preference. I love that more people are discovering the fun of it, although when I see a 20-something act like they are the first person to ever figure it out, I do roll my eyes. But that’s also part of being 20-something. I have no doubt I was just as annoying.

It snowed all morning, and I didn’t feel like trotting around in it, so I stayed home. I went through an exhibition catalogue built around May Morris’s work as background research for the play I want to write inspired by Mary Annie Sloane’s sketch of the women working in May’s embroidery workshop. I found names, so I can actually research them. One of the women who worked with May for years was Lily Yeats, the poet’s sister, although to hear tell, there was tension between Lily and May. Another embroidery worker was the actress Florence Farr. It took me a bit to figure out why the name was familiar. She was friendly with Annie Besant (who is mentioned in my play FALL FOREVER) and with Pamela Coleman Smith (who illustrated the Rider Waite tarot), and they were all involved in the occult society The Golden Dawn together. I hadn’t put together the concurrent timelines in my brain. The more I dig, the more interesting connections I find with other interests and projects. Quite the web!

So glad that May kept detailed records of the workroom. I’m hoping I can find a digitized version online, a little later in the research, and flip through it.

There isn’t a lot of material easily available on Mary Annie Sloane and her work, but I will keep digging. As much as May’s designs and exquisite work captured me, it was Mary Annie’s sketch that lit the fire under the idea.

I have at least six months’ to a year’s worth of research to do before I even start writing, but having names and women to research is a terrific starting point, much like with my Playland Painters. The grant proposal for this project is out. If I get the grant, the project moves into a priority position in the queue. If not, I can leisurely research until the project’s turn. Knowing something about the women who worked in the embroidery workshop and what a range of interests they all had changes the original character arcs I played with quite a bit. These are far richer and more interesting. May was known for paying her workers well, and encouraging financial literacy and independence.

Gabriel Dante Rosetti was Williams Morris’s business partner (he was May’s father, yes, that William Morris), and Rosetti had an affair with her mother, Jane. May and Jane often sat for Rosetti. The big Rosetti volume I have from my time working at Abbeville Press is in storage, but I’m eager to get my hands on it again.

May and George Bernard Shaw were in love, although they each married others, and remained good friends all their lives. So now I have to re-read that massive, multi-volume Shaw biography by Michael Holyrod. My copy of that is also in storage, but I will get them from the library at some point. I have other books coming in on that circle already ordered from the library that I will read first. I will head over to the college library in the next few days and see what they have, too. Once the car is fixed, I’ll do some digging in the Clark’s library, too.

It was a lovely way to spend a dreary, snowy morning, inspired by the beauty of the work these women created.

I started to do some research for the article, re-reading material I originally read in my twenties, but the contrast between May and her socialist, progressive circle and the self-involved material for the article was in too much conflict for me to deal with one right after the other.

I read the next book in the mystery series by the acquaintances from way back. The setting and background were great, but the character relationships were left so undeveloped, and the love interest didn’t even show up in the book until 7/8th of the way through it, so when they declared their love for each other at the end, it felt false. Over the three books in the series I’ve read, the relationship has been underwritten and underdeveloped (and they certainly haven’t spent much time with each other), so the declaration doesn’t land properly. I can’t source the final book in the series through the library even as an e-book, so I don’t know how it all played out. (The series has been out of print for a good long time). If the relationship had been more in balance with the plot (and it could have, without taking away from the plot), I think the series would have worked better (and probably lasted more than four books).

It didn’t live up to the promise of the premise, which is something I find a lot in script analysis work, but here it came up in a series of novels.

The crockpot dinner was good – potato, ham, cheese casserole-type thing. Sort of like a croque monsieur, but with potato rather than bread, and done in a crockpot.

Slept well, up at the normal time on Sunday, good morning routine. Switched out a bunch of winter/Valentine’s stuff with springier, Ostara/Easter stuff. And switched out the heart on the front door with shamrocks.

The neighbors have started decorating their doors, too, and using fun mats. Now that the building is painted, everyone is inspired.

Did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which you can read here. I wasn’t happy to see the Tower as central, but the other cards are very positive, so I’m intrigued by the week’s potential.

Sunday was day before the dark moon, always my least energetic day of the month.

Around noon, I wrapped up and went down to Brewster’s Thrift, the new thrift store that opened across from MASSMoCA a few months back. I’ve been hearing good things about it. The assortment is very eclectic and interesting. I found a lovely, silver-plated candleholder with intricate grapes and other summery/harvest raised detail. I posted a photo on Instagram.

Ran another errand on the way home. It was sunny and much warmer than I expected. I had too many layers on, which I guess is a good thing.

I had a quiet afternoon, and cooked a tuna/vegetable/pasta/pesto dish in the evening.

Read a charming and fun first book in a series that understood typical conventions and chose to break them in interesting ways that served the story, characters, and genre. I’m looking forward to reading the second book in the series.

Up at the normal time, the morning routine was fine. Did the rounds with the week’s intent and the tarot post. Got through some email. No matter how much email I slog through, there’s always more. I’m unsubscribing from a bunch of lists, including authors who do not support my work as a colleague, but are always marketing at me. Read the two scripts for the evening’s Read ‘n Rant and made notes for the evening’s discussion.

We had our monthly Honor Roll! Session from noon to two. It was a nice turnout, and we all got a lot done on our various projects. We felt so good by the end of the two hours!

I got the opening of I WILL BE DIFFERENT, and the next scene. I’ve been playing with ideas in the morning free write, and decided to start with Josephine in the midst of handling five children and her husband and everything, and Alice at age 10. The same actor can play Amanda as a child a few sections later. I’ve been debating whether the first mother should be named Josephine or Margaret. In the free write, I’ve been calling her Margaret, but in these pages, she came out as Josephine, with “Maggie” being Alice’s older sister. I’m pretty sure I will double cast Josephine and Milly. It’s pretty clear in the later sections that Josephine died before Milly was born.

I had planned to finish the Alice section first, but because I’m struggling to get the timeline right with years/historical events, I was stuck. I did set the Josephine section/Alice’s childhood in my hometown of Rye, before Playland was built. I have to figure out one or two more Josephine/Alice scenes, and that will give me a better idea of the when with Alice/Archie, and then I’ll know how to complete the Alice section. If I just cut where Alice and Archie talk about him going to war, I can fix a lot. Yes, that scene is good, but it doesn’t fit the timeline, unless it’s Word War I, and then it sets everything else out of whack. So I basically have somewhere between three and five more scenes to write, and then I’ll have a rough assembly of way too much material that I can then hone down.

Stage plays often have a much longer development process than other types of work, but this one is even longer. I’d hoped to have it ready for a particular submission call to which I’ve been invited at the end of this August, but I can’t see how it will be done, and through enough drafts to make it viable. I may have to finish a different full-length between now and then that’s less complicated to submit this year, and then submit I WILL BE DIFFERENT next year.

I also have to fact check some of my hometown’s history pre-Playland. I sort of remember it, from some research years ago, but I have to recheck it. And it’s not like anything worthwhile comes up in Google anymore, so I’ll dig into the Westchester Archives online information, or into the Rye Historical Society’s information.

I also got the list of dates to paint the gallery for the upcoming GLOW show in March, so I have to figure out which times and dates I can help out.

I did some housework in the afternoon, in preparation for today’s Lunar New Year, and took out the garbage, etc. The dumpster is emptied Tuesday and Friday mornings, so I had to squish the bags into a very full dumpster, but I got them in.

I did some work relevant to the dark moon.

Assets for Artists sent a two -year follow-up from my time in the cohort, so I filled that out for them.

Leftovers for dinner. In the evening, I joined the Athena Project’s Read ‘n Rant discussion. I had been sent one of the wrong plays, so I kept quiet in the discussion for one of them. There’s no reason for me to make things about me instead of the play. I mean, in every group, there’s always someone who hasn’t read the play, or hasn’t finished the play (or book or whatever in the relevant group), but has to take up time and space in the discussion anyway, making it about them. There was that last night, too, but I was not that person! I was able to join the discussion for the other play, which I’d read, so that was fun. Charlotte slept through the whole thing. Bea and Tessa were there at the beginning, and then settled down.

I’m looking forward to my play, THE WOMEN ON THE BRIDGE, being part of next month’s discussion!

It was 10:30 by the time the discussion was over (Athena is based in Colorado, on mountain time). Then, of course, I needed transition time before bed, so I read for a bit.

Dreamed about working shows all night, so woke up feeling like I’d already put in a full week.

The morning routine was fine, the free write was sorting out stuff for I WILL BE DIFFERENT.

We are having pancakes for breakfast, because it’s Fat Tuesday.

On today’s agenda: writing, ghostwriting, an errand, packing up some things that need to be mailed tomorrow, celebrating Lunar New Year. We are wearing lots of red today in honor of it, but no black or white.

Have a good one!

Tues. Feb. 17, 2026: Welcoming the Fire Horse

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

New Moon

Jupiter Retrograde

Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras

Chinese Lunar New Year

Solar Eclipse

Cloudy and cold

All the things going on in the heavens today! Whew!

Happy Mardi Gras, and Year of the Fire Horse! Let’s hope we’re racing to some positive, collective change.

You can read the Community Tarot Reading for the Week here. Still on the Enchanted Tarot.

I put in the Instacart order first thing on Friday morning. It shouldn’t be as stressful as I find it. I’m making a list and trusting someone else to go down the list and get the stuff. There’s no reason for me to worry so much. It was fine last week.

The cats are starting to shed their winter coats. That means the worst of the cold is over, and that I need to vacuum multiple times a week.

I’ve been frustrated with the 45-day art journaling workshop for awhile now. The prompts have been too much psychobabble and not enough creative expansion. They also seem somewhat familiar in the wrong way, but I can’t put my finger on why. Plus, one never knows when they will show up, so it’s been difficult to plan time to do it. Nothing came through at all on Thursday, and then, on Friday, there was suddenly an email that the workshop leader decided to take a vacation for her son’s school break and “pause.” No idea if/when it starts up again. Maybe Monday, but who knows? So, you ask people to commit for 45 days, and then you haven’t planned everything out ahead of time? Why would you start it if you knew you were going on vacation? It’s not like one doesn’t know about school breaks ahead of time. Why not either schedule posts or wait to start the 45-day stretch until you get back? If it was impromptu, as she claimed, she could still schedule things to post. This is not someone who can be trusted. I planned to grit my teeth and stick it out, because I believe in honoring my commitments, but no. I am done. That’s not creating a safe and creative space for people. Safe space means one can count on it and trust it. This behavior does not do it. It wasn’t an unexpected emergency. It’s being untrustworthy and not being honest with people who committed time and energy toward your event when you asked them to do so, after weeks of intense promotion.

A new prompt came through on Monday morning, and I considered starting up again, but my instinct was not to. It’s not the right atmosphere for me. So I unsubscribed, and it was like a weight off.

Buh-bye.

And I will avoid this person and her work in the future.

There are still plenty of pages in that journal that can be dedicated to other things. I will find a different way to work on the art/text stuff.

I bundled up, packed up the books, and headed out mid-morning. The temperature was higher than it’s been and the sun was out, but the wind made it feel colder. I trudged up to the library, dropped off books and picked up the 12 that waited for me. Good thing I had the rolly cart! I rolled down the hill and mailed the cards and bills that needed to go out. The post office is only about a block from the library, and downhill. I ran another errand. I got everything home and up the stairs.

I managed it all in 45 minutes, which was pretty darn good.

I basked in the sun with the cats for a bit, and finished reading a literary novel that wanted to be AS Byatt’s POSSESSION, but was not. There were some good portions of it, but it added an additional POV in the last quarter of the book in a way that didn’t work for me, structurally.

I had to be available during the shopping, and had to change a couple of things, but it was no big deal. The order was there by 1:30 again, although it was a different shopper who was more interested in being on her phone than paying attention to the two minutes for customer drop-off, which annoyed me.

If the weather is at all amenable at the end of this week, I’m taking the cart and going my damn self. While I’m grateful the service exists, I’d rather be in the store myself seeing what looks good and adjusting as needed. I like to have a basic idea of what I want/need (and my list), but then see what looks good and is on sale and adjust. That means moving a bunch of ingredients around in a way that doesn’t really work if someone else uses a pre-written list. It’s totally a me problem, not at all anything wrong with the service itself.

I did some community-based work in the afternoon, and also read the February pick for the Agatha Christie book club, MRS. MCGINTY’S DEAD. It took me a bit to get into it, but once I was intrigued, it carried me along. I paged through the research books for the two different projects that came in, trying to decide which one to spend time with first.

I re-read what I have of the play LAUGHTER AND TURPENTINE (the Playland Painters one) so I can figure out what needs to happen next. I sorted through some possibilities in Saturday morning’s free write.

We had a late lunch of pizza, and then I didn’t feel like dinner. I made sure my mom ate something, but I wound up having a sandwich around 9:30 at night. I read the first book of a new-to-me series (it came out in 2011), that I liked on character and setting arcs. The plot was a little shaky, but interesting enough so I’ll read the second book in the series, at the very least, and see.

Slept well. It was supposed to snow overnight and be done by 7, but didn’t start until nearly 8 on Saturday morning. I had a good morning routine. I forgot to mention that Thursday was Day 175 of the free write sessions.

I tried making omlettes again for breakfast. I’m not good at them, but I keep trying. My favorite Elizabeth David book is AN OMLETTE AND A GLASS OF WINE. I went back and re-read her instructions on making an omlette and tried again. I still don’t have the foldy thing down, and the bottom is too brown, but the inside was fluffy with just a little runny for the cheese and herbs. It tasted good, even if the look of it wouldn’t win any awards. I keep trying. The pan I used was too small, probably, too.

After breakfast, I got the crockpot meal going. Instead of the usual Tuesday crockpot, we decided to do it on Saturday. Since Tuesday (today) is Chinese Lunar New Year, I’m making a special meal for the holiday, and moved the crockpot meal to the weekend.

Then some housework, because there is always housework.

I love following decorating and thrifting and cooking and sewing and gardening accounts on IG. (I mean, cats, too, but that’s something different). Even when something isn’t my style (like neutrals) or something that I would do, I enjoy seeing what other people are up to, and how happy it makes them. And I do learn stuff. But, I mean, sourcing at thrift stores has always been my first choice. It started way back when I was a teenager prop shopping for shows. Things with stories and histories have always been my preference. I love that more people are discovering the fun of it, although when I see a 20-something act like they are the first person to ever figure it out, I do roll my eyes. But that’s also part of being 20-something. I have no doubt I was just as annoying.

It snowed all morning, and I didn’t feel like trotting around in it, so I stayed home. I went through an exhibition catalogue built around May Morris’s work as background research for the play I want to write inspired by Mary Annie Sloane’s sketch of the women working in May’s embroidery workshop. I found names, so I can actually research them. One of the women who worked with May for years was Lily Yeats, the poet’s sister, although to hear tell, there was tension between Lily and May. Another embroidery worker was the actress Florence Farr. It took me a bit to figure out why the name was familiar. She was friendly with Annie Besant (who is mentioned in my play FALL FOREVER) and with Pamela Coleman Smith (who illustrated the Rider Waite tarot), and they were all involved in the occult society The Golden Dawn together. I hadn’t put together the concurrent timelines in my brain. The more I dig, the more interesting connections I find with other interests and projects. Quite the web!

So glad that May kept detailed records of the workroom. I’m hoping I can find a digitized version online, a little later in the research, and flip through it.

There isn’t a lot of material easily available on Mary Annie Sloane and her work, but I will keep digging. As much as May’s designs and exquisite work captured me, it was Mary Annie’s sketch that lit the fire under the idea.

I have at least six months’ to a year’s worth of research to do before I even start writing, but having names and women to research is a terrific starting point, much like with my Playland Painters. The grant proposal for this project is out. If I get the grant, the project moves into a priority position in the queue. If not, I can leisurely research until the project’s turn. Knowing something about the women who worked in the embroidery workshop and what a range of interests they all had changes the original character arcs I played with quite a bit. These are far richer and more interesting. May was known for paying her workers well, and encouraging financial literacy and independence.

Gabriel Dante Rosetti was Williams Morris’s business partner (he was May’s father, yes, that William Morris), and Rosetti had an affair with her mother, Jane. May and Jane often sat for Rosetti. The big Rosetti volume I have from my time working at Abbeville Press is in storage, but I’m eager to get my hands on it again.

May and George Bernard Shaw were in love, although they each married others, and remained good friends all their lives. So now I have to re-read that massive, multi-volume Shaw biography by Michael Holyrod. My copy of that is also in storage, but I will get them from the library at some point. I have other books coming in on that circle already ordered from the library that I will read first. I will head over to the college library in the next few days and see what they have, too. Once the car is fixed, I’ll do some digging in the Clark’s library, too.

It was a lovely way to spend a dreary, snowy morning, inspired by the beauty of the work these women created.

I started to do some research for the article, re-reading material I originally read in my twenties, but the contrast between May and her socialist, progressive circle and the self-involved material for the article was in too much conflict for me to deal with one right after the other.

I read the next book in the mystery series by the acquaintances from way back. The setting and background were great, but the character relationships were left so undeveloped, and the love interest didn’t even show up in the book until 7/8th of the way through it, so when they declared their love for each other at the end, it felt false. Over the three books in the series I’ve read, the relationship has been underwritten and underdeveloped (and they certainly haven’t spent much time with each other), so the declaration doesn’t land properly. I can’t source the final book in the series through the library even as an e-book, so I don’t know how it all played out. (The series has been out of print for a good long time). If the relationship had been more in balance with the plot (and it could have, without taking away from the plot), I think the series would have worked better (and probably lasted more than four books).

It didn’t live up to the promise of the premise, which is something I find a lot in script analysis work, but here it came up in a series of novels.

The crockpot dinner was good – potato, ham, cheese casserole-type thing. Sort of like a croque monsieur, but with potato rather than bread, and done in a crockpot.

Slept well, up at the normal time on Sunday, good morning routine. Switched out a bunch of winter/Valentine’s stuff with springier, Ostara/Easter stuff. And switched out the heart on the front door with shamrocks.

The neighbors have started decorating their doors, too, and using fun mats. Now that the building is painted, everyone is inspired.

Did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which you can read here. I wasn’t happy to see the Tower as central, but the other cards are very positive, so I’m intrigued by the week’s potential.

Sunday was day before the dark moon, always my least energetic day of the month.

Around noon, I wrapped up and went down to Brewster’s Thrift, the new thrift store that opened across from MASSMoCA a few months back. I’ve been hearing good things about it. The assortment is very eclectic and interesting. I found a lovely, silver-plated candleholder with intricate grapes and other summery/harvest raised detail. I posted a photo on Instagram.

Ran another errand on the way home. It was sunny and much warmer than I expected. I had too many layers on, which I guess is a good thing.

I had a quiet afternoon, and cooked a tuna/vegetable/pasta/pesto dish in the evening.

Read a charming and fun first book in a series that understood typical conventions and chose to break them in interesting ways that served the story, characters, and genre. I’m looking forward to reading the second book in the series.

Up at the normal time, the morning routine was fine. Did the rounds with the week’s intent and the tarot post. Got through some email. No matter how much email I slog through, there’s always more. I’m unsubscribing from a bunch of lists, including authors who do not support my work as a colleague, but are always marketing at me. Read the two scripts for the evening’s Read ‘n Rant and made notes for the evening’s discussion.

We had our monthly Honor Roll! Session from noon to two. It was a nice turnout, and we all got a lot done on our various projects. We felt so good by the end of the two hours!

I got the opening of I WILL BE DIFFERENT, and the next scene. I’ve been playing with ideas in the morning free write, and decided to start with Josephine in the midst of handling five children and her husband and everything, and Alice at age 10. The same actor can play Amanda as a child a few sections later. I’ve been debating whether the first mother should be named Josephine or Margaret. In the free write, I’ve been calling her Margaret, but in these pages, she came out as Josephine, with “Maggie” being Alice’s older sister. I’m pretty sure I will double cast Josephine and Milly. It’s pretty clear in the later sections that Josephine died before Milly was born.

I had planned to finish the Alice section first, but because I’m struggling to get the timeline right with years/historical events, I was stuck. I did set the Josephine section/Alice’s childhood in my hometown of Rye, before Playland was built. I have to figure out one or two more Josephine/Alice scenes, and that will give me a better idea of the when with Alice/Archie, and then I’ll know how to complete the Alice section. If I just cut where Alice and Archie talk about him going to war, I can fix a lot. Yes, that scene is good, but it doesn’t fit the timeline, unless it’s Word War I, and then it sets everything else out of whack. So I basically have somewhere between three and five more scenes to write, and then I’ll have a rough assembly of way too much material that I can then hone down.

Stage plays often have a much longer development process than other types of work, but this one is even longer. I’d hoped to have it ready for a particular submission call to which I’ve been invited at the end of this August, but I can’t see how it will be done, and through enough drafts to make it viable. I may have to finish a different full-length between now and then that’s less complicated to submit this year, and then submit I WILL BE DIFFERENT next year.

I also have to fact check some of my hometown’s history pre-Playland. I sort of remember it, from some research years ago, but I have to recheck it. And it’s not like anything worthwhile comes up in Google anymore, so I’ll dig into the Westchester Archives online information, or into the Rye Historical Society’s information.

I also got the list of dates to paint the gallery for the upcoming GLOW show in March, so I have to figure out which times and dates I can help out.

I did some housework in the afternoon, in preparation for today’s Lunar New Year, and took out the garbage, etc. The dumpster is emptied Tuesday and Friday mornings, so I had to squish the bags into a very full dumpster, but I got them in.

I did some work relevant to the dark moon.

Assets for Artists sent a two -year follow-up from my time in the cohort, so I filled that out for them.

Leftovers for dinner. In the evening, I joined the Athena Project’s Read ‘n Rant discussion. I had been sent one of the wrong plays, so I kept quiet in the discussion for one of them. There’s no reason for me to make things about me instead of the play. I mean, in every group, there’s always someone who hasn’t read the play, or hasn’t finished the play (or book or whatever in the relevant group), but has to take up time and space in the discussion anyway, making it about them. There was that last night, too, but I was not that person! I was able to join the discussion for the other play, which I’d read, so that was fun. Charlotte slept through the whole thing. Bea and Tessa were there at the beginning, and then settled down.

I’m looking forward to my play, THE WOMEN ON THE BRIDGE, being part of next month’s discussion!

It was 10:30 by the time the discussion was over (Athena is based in Colorado, on mountain time). Then, of course, I needed transition time before bed, so I read for a bit.

Dreamed about working shows all night, so woke up feeling like I’d already put in a full week.

The morning routine was fine, the free write was sorting out stuff for I WILL BE DIFFERENT.

We are having pancakes for breakfast, because it’s Fat Tuesday.

On today’s agenda: writing, ghostwriting, an errand, packing up some things that need to be mailed tomorrow, celebrating Lunar New Year. We are wearing lots of red today in honor of it, but no black or white.

Have a good one!

Tues. Feb. 17, 2026: Welcoming the Fire Horse

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

New Moon

Jupiter Retrograde

Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras

Chinese Lunar New Year

Solar Eclipse

Cloudy and cold

All the things going on in the heavens today! Whew!

Happy Mardi Gras, and Year of the Fire Horse! Let’s hope we’re racing to some positive, collective change.

You can read the Community Tarot Reading for the Week here. Still on the Enchanted Tarot.

I put in the Instacart order first thing on Friday morning. It shouldn’t be as stressful as I find it. I’m making a list and trusting someone else to go down the list and get the stuff. There’s no reason for me to worry so much. It was fine last week.

The cats are starting to shed their winter coats. That means the worst of the cold is over, and that I need to vacuum multiple times a week.

I’ve been frustrated with the 45-day art journaling workshop for awhile now. The prompts have been too much psychobabble and not enough creative expansion. They also seem somewhat familiar in the wrong way, but I can’t put my finger on why. Plus, one never knows when they will show up, so it’s been difficult to plan time to do it. Nothing came through at all on Thursday, and then, on Friday, there was suddenly an email that the workshop leader decided to take a vacation for her son’s school break and “pause.” No idea if/when it starts up again. Maybe Monday, but who knows? So, you ask people to commit for 45 days, and then you haven’t planned everything out ahead of time? Why would you start it if you knew you were going on vacation? It’s not like one doesn’t know about school breaks ahead of time. Why not either schedule posts or wait to start the 45-day stretch until you get back? If it was impromptu, as she claimed, she could still schedule things to post. This is not someone who can be trusted. I planned to grit my teeth and stick it out, because I believe in honoring my commitments, but no. I am done. That’s not creating a safe and creative space for people. Safe space means one can count on it and trust it. This behavior does not do it. It wasn’t an unexpected emergency. It’s being untrustworthy and not being honest with people who committed time and energy toward your event when you asked them to do so, after weeks of intense promotion.

A new prompt came through on Monday morning, and I considered starting up again, but my instinct was not to. It’s not the right atmosphere for me. So I unsubscribed, and it was like a weight off.

Buh-bye.

And I will avoid this person and her work in the future.

There are still plenty of pages in that journal that can be dedicated to other things. I will find a different way to work on the art/text stuff.

I bundled up, packed up the books, and headed out mid-morning. The temperature was higher than it’s been and the sun was out, but the wind made it feel colder. I trudged up to the library, dropped off books and picked up the 12 that waited for me. Good thing I had the rolly cart! I rolled down the hill and mailed the cards and bills that needed to go out. The post office is only about a block from the library, and downhill. I ran another errand. I got everything home and up the stairs.

I managed it all in 45 minutes, which was pretty darn good.

I basked in the sun with the cats for a bit, and finished reading a literary novel that wanted to be AS Byatt’s POSSESSION, but was not. There were some good portions of it, but it added an additional POV in the last quarter of the book in a way that didn’t work for me, structurally.

I had to be available during the shopping, and had to change a couple of things, but it was no big deal. The order was there by 1:30 again, although it was a different shopper who was more interested in being on her phone than paying attention to the two minutes for customer drop-off, which annoyed me.

If the weather is at all amenable at the end of this week, I’m taking the cart and going my damn self. While I’m grateful the service exists, I’d rather be in the store myself seeing what looks good and adjusting as needed. I like to have a basic idea of what I want/need (and my list), but then see what looks good and is on sale and adjust. That means moving a bunch of ingredients around in a way that doesn’t really work if someone else uses a pre-written list. It’s totally a me problem, not at all anything wrong with the service itself.

I did some community-based work in the afternoon, and also read the February pick for the Agatha Christie book club, MRS. MCGINTY’S DEAD. It took me a bit to get into it, but once I was intrigued, it carried me along. I paged through the research books for the two different projects that came in, trying to decide which one to spend time with first.

I re-read what I have of the play LAUGHTER AND TURPENTINE (the Playland Painters one) so I can figure out what needs to happen next. I sorted through some possibilities in Saturday morning’s free write.

We had a late lunch of pizza, and then I didn’t feel like dinner. I made sure my mom ate something, but I wound up having a sandwich around 9:30 at night. I read the first book of a new-to-me series (it came out in 2011), that I liked on character and setting arcs. The plot was a little shaky, but interesting enough so I’ll read the second book in the series, at the very least, and see.

Slept well. It was supposed to snow overnight and be done by 7, but didn’t start until nearly 8 on Saturday morning. I had a good morning routine. I forgot to mention that Thursday was Day 175 of the free write sessions.

I tried making omlettes again for breakfast. I’m not good at them, but I keep trying. My favorite Elizabeth David book is AN OMLETTE AND A GLASS OF WINE. I went back and re-read her instructions on making an omlette and tried again. I still don’t have the foldy thing down, and the bottom is too brown, but the inside was fluffy with just a little runny for the cheese and herbs. It tasted good, even if the look of it wouldn’t win any awards. I keep trying. The pan I used was too small, probably, too.

After breakfast, I got the crockpot meal going. Instead of the usual Tuesday crockpot, we decided to do it on Saturday. Since Tuesday (today) is Chinese Lunar New Year, I’m making a special meal for the holiday, and moved the crockpot meal to the weekend.

Then some housework, because there is always housework.

I love following decorating and thrifting and cooking and sewing and gardening accounts on IG. (I mean, cats, too, but that’s something different). Even when something isn’t my style (like neutrals) or something that I would do, I enjoy seeing what other people are up to, and how happy it makes them. And I do learn stuff. But, I mean, sourcing at thrift stores has always been my first choice. It started way back when I was a teenager prop shopping for shows. Things with stories and histories have always been my preference. I love that more people are discovering the fun of it, although when I see a 20-something act like they are the first person to ever figure it out, I do roll my eyes. But that’s also part of being 20-something. I have no doubt I was just as annoying.

It snowed all morning, and I didn’t feel like trotting around in it, so I stayed home. I went through an exhibition catalogue built around May Morris’s work as background research for the play I want to write inspired by Mary Annie Sloane’s sketch of the women working in May’s embroidery workshop. I found names, so I can actually research them. One of the women who worked with May for years was Lily Yeats, the poet’s sister, although to hear tell, there was tension between Lily and May. Another embroidery worker was the actress Florence Farr. It took me a bit to figure out why the name was familiar. She was friendly with Annie Besant (who is mentioned in my play FALL FOREVER) and with Pamela Coleman Smith (who illustrated the Rider Waite tarot), and they were all involved in the occult society The Golden Dawn together. I hadn’t put together the concurrent timelines in my brain. The more I dig, the more interesting connections I find with other interests and projects. Quite the web!

So glad that May kept detailed records of the workroom. I’m hoping I can find a digitized version online, a little later in the research, and flip through it.

There isn’t a lot of material easily available on Mary Annie Sloane and her work, but I will keep digging. As much as May’s designs and exquisite work captured me, it was Mary Annie’s sketch that lit the fire under the idea.

I have at least six months’ to a year’s worth of research to do before I even start writing, but having names and women to research is a terrific starting point, much like with my Playland Painters. The grant proposal for this project is out. If I get the grant, the project moves into a priority position in the queue. If not, I can leisurely research until the project’s turn. Knowing something about the women who worked in the embroidery workshop and what a range of interests they all had changes the original character arcs I played with quite a bit. These are far richer and more interesting. May was known for paying her workers well, and encouraging financial literacy and independence.

Gabriel Dante Rosetti was William Morris’s business partner (he was May’s father, yes, that William Morris), and Rosetti had an affair with her mother, Jane. May and Jane often sat for Rosetti. The big Rosetti volume I have from my time working at Abbeville Press is in storage, but I’m eager to get my hands on it again.

May and George Bernard Shaw were in love, although they each married others, and remained good friends all their lives. So now I have to re-read that massive, multi-volume Shaw biography by Michael Holyrod. My copy of that is also in storage, but I will get them from the library at some point. I have other books coming in on that circle already ordered from the library that I will read first. I will head over to the college library in the next few days and see what they have, too. Once the car is fixed, I’ll do some digging in the Clark’s library, too.

It was a lovely way to spend a dreary, snowy morning, inspired by the beauty of the work these women created.

I started to do some research for the article, re-reading material I originally read in my twenties, but the contrast between May and her socialist, progressive circle and the self-involved material for the article was in too much conflict for me to deal with one right after the other.

I read the next book in the mystery series by the acquaintances from way back. The setting and background were great, but the character relationships were left so undeveloped, and the love interest didn’t even show up in the book until 7/8th of the way through it, so when they declared their love for each other at the end, it felt false. Over the three books in the series I’ve read, the relationship has been underwritten and underdeveloped (and they certainly haven’t spent much time with each other), so the declaration doesn’t land properly. I can’t source the final book in the series through the library even as an e-book, so I don’t know how it all played out. (The series has been out of print for a good long time). If the relationship had been more in balance with the plot (and it could have, without taking away from the plot), I think the series would have worked better (and probably lasted more than four books).

It didn’t live up to the promise of the premise, which is something I find a lot in script analysis work, but here it came up in a series of novels.

The crockpot dinner was good – potato, ham, cheese casserole-type thing. Sort of like a croque monsieur, but with potato rather than bread, and done in a crockpot.

Slept well, up at the normal time on Sunday, good morning routine. Switched out a bunch of winter/Valentine’s stuff with springier, Ostara/Easter stuff. And switched out the heart on the front door with shamrocks.

The neighbors have started decorating their doors, too, and using fun mats. Now that the building is painted, everyone is inspired.

Did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which you can read here. I wasn’t happy to see the Tower as central, but the other cards are very positive, so I’m intrigued by the week’s potential.

Sunday was day before the dark moon, always my least energetic day of the month.

Around noon, I wrapped up and went down to Brewster’s Thrift, the new thrift store that opened across from MASSMoCA a few months back. I’ve been hearing good things about it. The assortment is very eclectic and interesting. I found a lovely, silver-plated candleholder with intricate grapes and other summery/harvest raised detail. I posted a photo on Instagram.

Ran another errand on the way home. It was sunny and much warmer than I expected. I had too many layers on, which I guess is a good thing.

I had a quiet afternoon, and cooked a tuna/vegetable/pasta/pesto dish in the evening.

Read a charming and fun first book in a series that understood typical conventions and chose to break them in interesting ways that served the story, characters, and genre. I’m looking forward to reading the second book in the series.

Up at the normal time, the morning routine was fine. Did the rounds with the week’s intent and the tarot post. Got through some email. No matter how much email I slog through, there’s always more. I’m unsubscribing from a bunch of lists, including authors who do not support my work as a colleague, but are always marketing at me. Read the two scripts for the evening’s Read ‘n Rant and made notes for the evening’s discussion.

We had our monthly Honor Roll! Session from noon to two. It was a nice turnout, and we all got a lot done on our various projects. We felt so good by the end of the two hours!

I got the opening of I WILL BE DIFFERENT, and the next scene. I’ve been playing with ideas in the morning free write, and decided to start with Josephine in the midst of handling five children and her husband and everything, and Alice at age 10. The same actor can play Amanda as a child a few sections later. I’ve been debating whether the first mother should be named Josephine or Margaret. In the free write, I’ve been calling her Margaret, but in these pages, she came out as Josephine, with “Maggie” being Alice’s older sister. I’m pretty sure I will double cast Josephine and Milly. It’s pretty clear in the later sections that Josephine died before Milly was born.

I had planned to finish the Alice section first, but because I’m struggling to get the timeline right with years/historical events, I was stuck. I did set the Josephine section/Alice’s childhood in my hometown of Rye, before Playland was built. I have to figure out one or two more Josephine/Alice scenes, and that will give me a better idea of the when with Alice/Archie, and then I’ll know how to complete the Alice section. If I just cut where Alice and Archie talk about him going to war, I can fix a lot. Yes, that scene is good, but it doesn’t fit the timeline, unless it’s Word War I, and then it sets everything else out of whack. So I basically have somewhere between three and five more scenes to write, and then I’ll have a rough assembly of way too much material that I can then hone down.

Stage plays often have a much longer development process than other types of work, but this one is even longer. I’d hoped to have it ready for a particular submission call to which I’ve been invited at the end of this August, but I can’t see how it will be done, and through enough drafts to make it viable. I may have to finish a different full-length between now and then that’s less complicated to submit this year, and then submit I WILL BE DIFFERENT next year.

I also have to fact check some of my hometown’s history pre-Playland. I sort of remember it, from some research years ago, but I have to recheck it. And it’s not like anything worthwhile comes up in Google anymore, so I’ll dig into the Westchester Archives online information, or into the Rye Historical Society’s information.

I also got the list of dates to paint the gallery for the upcoming GLOW show in March, so I have to figure out which times and dates I can help out.

I did some housework in the afternoon, in preparation for today’s Lunar New Year, and took out the garbage, etc. The dumpster is emptied Tuesday and Friday mornings, so I had to squish the bags into a very full dumpster, but I got them in.

I did some work relevant to the dark moon.

Assets for Artists sent a two -year follow-up from my time in the cohort, so I filled that out for them.

Leftovers for dinner. In the evening, I joined the Athena Project’s Read ‘n Rant discussion. I had been sent one of the wrong plays, so I kept quiet in the discussion for one of them. There’s no reason for me to make things about me instead of the play. I mean, in every group, there’s always someone who hasn’t read the play, or hasn’t finished the play (or book or whatever in the relevant group), but has to take up time and space in the discussion anyway, making it about them. There was that last night, too, but I was not that person! I was able to join the discussion for the other play, which I’d read, so that was fun. Charlotte slept through the whole thing. Bea and Tessa were there at the beginning, and then settled down.

I’m looking forward to my play, THE WOMEN ON THE BRIDGE, being part of next month’s discussion!

It was 10:30 by the time the discussion was over (Athena is based in Colorado, on mountain time). Then, of course, I needed transition time before bed, so I read for a bit.

Dreamed about working shows all night, so woke up feeling like I’d already put in a full week.

The morning routine was fine, the free write was sorting out stuff for I WILL BE DIFFERENT.

We are having pancakes for breakfast, because it’s Fat Tuesday.

On today’s agenda: writing, ghostwriting, an errand, packing up some things that need to be mailed tomorrow, celebrating Lunar New Year. We are wearing lots of red today in honor of it, but no black or white.

Have a good one!

Tues. Feb. 17, 2026: Welcoming the Fire Horse

Tuesday, February 17, 2026

New Moon

Jupiter Retrograde

Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras

Chinese Lunar New Year

Solar Eclipse

Cloudy and cold

All the things going on in the heavens today! Whew!

Happy Mardi Gras, and Year of the Fire Horse! Let’s hope we’re racing to some positive, collective change.

You can read the Community Tarot Reading for the Week here. Still on the Enchanted Tarot.

I put in the Instacart order first thing on Friday morning. It shouldn’t be as stressful as I find it. I’m making a list and trusting someone else to go down the list and get the stuff. There’s no reason for me to worry so much. It was fine last week.

The cats are starting to shed their winter coats. That means the worst of the cold is over, and that I need to vacuum multiple times a week.

I’ve been frustrated with the 45-day art journaling workshop for awhile now. The prompts have been too much psychobabble and not enough creative expansion. They also seem somewhat familiar in the wrong way, but I can’t put my finger on why. Plus, one never knows when they will show up, so it’s been difficult to plan time to do it. Nothing came through at all on Thursday, and then, on Friday, there was suddenly an email that the workshop leader decided to take a vacation for her son’s school break and “pause.” No idea if/when it starts up again. Maybe Monday, but who knows? So, you ask people to commit for 45 days, and then you haven’t planned everything out ahead of time? Why would you start it if you knew you were going on vacation? It’s not like one doesn’t know about school breaks ahead of time. Why not either schedule posts or wait to start the 45-day stretch until you get back? If it was impromptu, as she claimed, she could still schedule things to post. This is not someone who can be trusted. I planned to grit my teeth and stick it out, because I believe in honoring my commitments, but no. I am done. That’s not creating a safe and creative space for people. Safe space means one can count on it and trust it. This behavior does not do it. It wasn’t an unexpected emergency. It’s being untrustworthy and not being honest with people who committed time and energy toward your event when you asked them to do so, after weeks of intense promotion.

A new prompt came through on Monday morning, and I considered starting up again, but my instinct was not to. It’s not the right atmosphere for me. So I unsubscribed, and it was like a weight off.

Buh-bye.

And I will avoid this person and her work in the future.

There are still plenty of pages in that journal that can be dedicated to other things. I will find a different way to work on the art/text stuff.

I bundled up, packed up the books, and headed out mid-morning. The temperature was higher than it’s been and the sun was out, but the wind made it feel colder. I trudged up to the library, dropped off books and picked up the 12 that waited for me. Good thing I had the rolly cart! I rolled down the hill and mailed the cards and bills that needed to go out. The post office is only about a block from the library, and downhill. I ran another errand. I got everything home and up the stairs.

I managed it all in 45 minutes, which was pretty darn good.

I basked in the sun with the cats for a bit, and finished reading a literary novel that wanted to be AS Byatt’s POSSESSION, but was not. There were some good portions of it, but it added an additional POV in the last quarter of the book in a way that didn’t work for me, structurally.

I had to be available during the shopping, and had to change a couple of things, but it was no big deal. The order was there by 1:30 again, although it was a different shopper who was more interested in being on her phone than paying attention to the two minutes for customer drop-off, which annoyed me.

If the weather is at all amenable at the end of this week, I’m taking the cart and going my damn self. While I’m grateful the service exists, I’d rather be in the store myself seeing what looks good and adjusting as needed. I like to have a basic idea of what I want/need (and my list), but then see what looks good and is on sale and adjust. That means moving a bunch of ingredients around in a way that doesn’t really work if someone else uses a pre-written list. It’s totally a me problem, not at all anything wrong with the service itself.

I did some community-based work in the afternoon, and also read the February pick for the Agatha Christie book club, MRS. MCGINTY’S DEAD. It took me a bit to get into it, but once I was intrigued, it carried me along. I paged through the research books for the two different projects that came in, trying to decide which one to spend time with first.

I re-read what I have of the play LAUGHTER AND TURPENTINE (the Playland Painters one) so I can figure out what needs to happen next. I sorted through some possibilities in Saturday morning’s free write.

We had a late lunch of pizza, and then I didn’t feel like dinner. I made sure my mom ate something, but I wound up having a sandwich around 9:30 at night. I read the first book of a new-to-me series (it came out in 2011), that I liked on character and setting arcs. The plot was a little shaky, but interesting enough so I’ll read the second book in the series, at the very least, and see.

Slept well. It was supposed to snow overnight and be done by 7, but didn’t start until nearly 8 on Saturday morning. I had a good morning routine. I forgot to mention that Thursday was Day 175 of the free write sessions.

I tried making omlettes again for breakfast. I’m not good at them, but I keep trying. My favorite Elizabeth David book is AN OMLETTE AND A GLASS OF WINE. I went back and re-read her instructions on making an omlette and tried again. I still don’t have the foldy thing down, and the bottom is too brown, but the inside was fluffy with just a little runny for the cheese and herbs. It tasted good, even if the look of it wouldn’t win any awards. I keep trying. The pan I used was too small, probably, too.

After breakfast, I got the crockpot meal going. Instead of the usual Tuesday crockpot, we decided to do it on Saturday. Since Tuesday (today) is Chinese Lunar New Year, I’m making a special meal for the holiday, and moved the crockpot meal to the weekend.

Then some housework, because there is always housework.

I love following decorating and thrifting and cooking and sewing and gardening accounts on IG. (I mean, cats, too, but that’s something different). Even when something isn’t my style (like neutrals) or something that I would do, I enjoy seeing what other people are up to, and how happy it makes them. And I do learn stuff. But, I mean, sourcing at thrift stores has always been my first choice. It started way back when I was a teenager prop shopping for shows. Things with stories and histories have always been my preference. I love that more people are discovering the fun of it, although when I see a 20-something act like they are the first person to ever figure it out, I do roll my eyes. But that’s also part of being 20-something. I have no doubt I was just as annoying.

It snowed all morning, and I didn’t feel like trotting around in it, so I stayed home. I went through an exhibition catalogue built around May Morris’s work as background research for the play I want to write inspired by Mary Annie Sloane’s sketch of the women working in May’s embroidery workshop. I found names, so I can actually research them. One of the women who worked with May for years was Lily Yeats, the poet’s sister, although to hear tell, there was tension between Lily and May. Another embroidery worker was the actress Florence Farr. It took me a bit to figure out why the name was familiar. She was friendly with Annie Besant (who is mentioned in my play FALL FOREVER) and with Pamela Coleman Smith (who illustrated the Rider Waite tarot), and they were all involved in the occult society The Golden Dawn together. I hadn’t put together the concurrent timelines in my brain. The more I dig, the more interesting connections I find with other interests and projects. Quite the web!

So glad that May kept detailed records of the workroom. I’m hoping I can find a digitized version online, a little later in the research, and flip through it.

There isn’t a lot of material easily available on Mary Annie Sloane and her work, but I will keep digging. As much as May’s designs and exquisite work captured me, it was Mary Annie’s sketch that lit the fire under the idea.

I have at least six months’ to a year’s worth of research to do before I even start writing, but having names and women to research is a terrific starting point, much like with my Playland Painters. The grant proposal for this project is out. If I get the grant, the project moves into a priority position in the queue. If not, I can leisurely research until the project’s turn. Knowing something about the women who worked in the embroidery workshop and what a range of interests they all had changes the original character arcs I played with quite a bit. These are far richer and more interesting. May was known for paying her workers well, and encouraging financial literacy and independence.

Gabriel Dante Rosetti was William Morris’s business partner (he was May’s father, yes, that William Morris), and Rosetti had an affair with her mother, Jane. May and Jane often sat for Rosetti. The big Rosetti volume I have from my time working at Abbeville Press is in storage, but I’m eager to get my hands on it again.

May and George Bernard Shaw were in love, although they each married others, and remained good friends all their lives. So now I have to re-read that massive, multi-volume Shaw biography by Michael Holyrod. My copy of that is also in storage, but I will get them from the library at some point. I have other books coming in on that circle already ordered from the library that I will read first. I will head over to the college library in the next few days and see what they have, too. Once the car is fixed, I’ll do some digging in the Clark’s library, too.

It was a lovely way to spend a dreary, snowy morning, inspired by the beauty of the work these women created.

I started to do some research for the article, re-reading material I originally read in my twenties, but the contrast between May and her socialist, progressive circle and the self-involved material for the article was in too much conflict for me to deal with one right after the other.

I read the next book in the mystery series by the acquaintances from way back. The setting and background were great, but the character relationships were left so undeveloped, and the love interest didn’t even show up in the book until 7/8th of the way through it, so when they declared their love for each other at the end, it felt false. Over the three books in the series I’ve read, the relationship has been underwritten and underdeveloped (and they certainly haven’t spent much time with each other), so the declaration doesn’t land properly. I can’t source the final book in the series through the library even as an e-book, so I don’t know how it all played out. (The series has been out of print for a good long time). If the relationship had been more in balance with the plot (and it could have, without taking away from the plot), I think the series would have worked better (and probably lasted more than four books).

It didn’t live up to the promise of the premise, which is something I find a lot in script analysis work, but here it came up in a series of novels.

The crockpot dinner was good – potato, ham, cheese casserole-type thing. Sort of like a croque monsieur, but with potato rather than bread, and done in a crockpot.

Slept well, up at the normal time on Sunday, good morning routine. Switched out a bunch of winter/Valentine’s stuff with springier, Ostara/Easter stuff. And switched out the heart on the front door with shamrocks.

The neighbors have started decorating their doors, too, and using fun mats. Now that the building is painted, everyone is inspired.

Did the Community Tarot Reading for the Week, which you can read here. I wasn’t happy to see the Tower as central, but the other cards are very positive, so I’m intrigued by the week’s potential.

Sunday was day before the dark moon, always my least energetic day of the month.

Around noon, I wrapped up and went down to Brewster’s Thrift, the new thrift store that opened across from MASSMoCA a few months back. I’ve been hearing good things about it. The assortment is very eclectic and interesting. I found a lovely, silver-plated candleholder with intricate grapes and other summery/harvest raised detail. I posted a photo on Instagram.

Ran another errand on the way home. It was sunny and much warmer than I expected. I had too many layers on, which I guess is a good thing.

I had a quiet afternoon, and cooked a tuna/vegetable/pasta/pesto dish in the evening.

Read a charming and fun first book in a series that understood typical conventions and chose to break them in interesting ways that served the story, characters, and genre. I’m looking forward to reading the second book in the series.

Up at the normal time, the morning routine was fine. Did the rounds with the week’s intent and the tarot post. Got through some email. No matter how much email I slog through, there’s always more. I’m unsubscribing from a bunch of lists, including authors who do not support my work as a colleague, but are always marketing at me. Read the two scripts for the evening’s Read ‘n Rant and made notes for the evening’s discussion.

We had our monthly Honor Roll! Session from noon to two. It was a nice turnout, and we all got a lot done on our various projects. We felt so good by the end of the two hours!

I got the opening of I WILL BE DIFFERENT, and the next scene. I’ve been playing with ideas in the morning free write, and decided to start with Josephine in the midst of handling five children and her husband and everything, and Alice at age 10. The same actor can play Amanda as a child a few sections later. I’ve been debating whether the first mother should be named Josephine or Margaret. In the free write, I’ve been calling her Margaret, but in these pages, she came out as Josephine, with “Maggie” being Alice’s older sister. I’m pretty sure I will double cast Josephine and Milly. It’s pretty clear in the later sections that Josephine died before Milly was born.

I had planned to finish the Alice section first, but because I’m struggling to get the timeline right with years/historical events, I was stuck. I did set the Josephine section/Alice’s childhood in my hometown of Rye, before Playland was built. I have to figure out one or two more Josephine/Alice scenes, and that will give me a better idea of the when with Alice/Archie, and then I’ll know how to complete the Alice section. If I just cut where Alice and Archie talk about him going to war, I can fix a lot. Yes, that scene is good, but it doesn’t fit the timeline, unless it’s Word War I, and then it sets everything else out of whack. So I basically have somewhere between three and five more scenes to write, and then I’ll have a rough assembly of way too much material that I can then hone down.

Stage plays often have a much longer development process than other types of work, but this one is even longer. I’d hoped to have it ready for a particular submission call to which I’ve been invited at the end of this August, but I can’t see how it will be done, and through enough drafts to make it viable. I may have to finish a different full-length between now and then that’s less complicated to submit this year, and then submit I WILL BE DIFFERENT next year.

I also have to fact check some of my hometown’s history pre-Playland. I sort of remember it, from some research years ago, but I have to recheck it. And it’s not like anything worthwhile comes up in Google anymore, so I’ll dig into the Westchester Archives online information, or into the Rye Historical Society’s information.

I also got the list of dates to paint the gallery for the upcoming GLOW show in March, so I have to figure out which times and dates I can help out.

I did some housework in the afternoon, in preparation for today’s Lunar New Year, and took out the garbage, etc. The dumpster is emptied Tuesday and Friday mornings, so I had to squish the bags into a very full dumpster, but I got them in.

I did some work relevant to the dark moon.

Assets for Artists sent a two -year follow-up from my time in the cohort, so I filled that out for them.

Leftovers for dinner. In the evening, I joined the Athena Project’s Read ‘n Rant discussion. I had been sent one of the wrong plays, so I kept quiet in the discussion for one of them. There’s no reason for me to make things about me instead of the play. I mean, in every group, there’s always someone who hasn’t read the play, or hasn’t finished the play (or book or whatever in the relevant group), but has to take up time and space in the discussion anyway, making it about them. There was that last night, too, but I was not that person! I was able to join the discussion for the other play, which I’d read, so that was fun. Charlotte slept through the whole thing. Bea and Tessa were there at the beginning, and then settled down.

I’m looking forward to my play, THE WOMEN ON THE BRIDGE, being part of next month’s discussion!

It was 10:30 by the time the discussion was over (Athena is based in Colorado, on mountain time). Then, of course, I needed transition time before bed, so I read for a bit.

Dreamed about working shows all night, so woke up feeling like I’d already put in a full week.

The morning routine was fine, the free write was sorting out stuff for I WILL BE DIFFERENT.

We are having pancakes for breakfast, because it’s Fat Tuesday.

On today’s agenda: writing, ghostwriting, an errand, packing up some things that need to be mailed tomorrow, celebrating Lunar New Year. We are wearing lots of red today in honor of it, but no black or white.

Have a good one!

Greetings my name is House! :heart_fire: New to Mastodon and looking for folks who vibe with the art & sounds that I make in the worlds of

#modularsynths
#synthesizers
#fieldrecording
#5stringbass
#comics
#zines
#puppetry
#fabrication
#mechs
#stopmotion
#animation
#linocut
#shortfilms
#watercolor
#needlefelting
#writing
#photography
#lomography
#poetry
#playwrighting

Found of #thankyoutinesday - celebrate today! www.thankyoutinesday.com

Into any of these trips? Let's connect!

Greetings my name is House! :heart_fire: New to Mastodon and looking for folks who vibe with the art & sounds that I make in the worlds of

#modularsynths
#synthesizers
#fieldrecording
#5stringbass
#comics
#zines
#puppetry
#fabrication
#mechs
#stopmotion
#animation
#linocut
#shortfilms
#watercolor
#needlefelting
#writing
#photography
#lomography
#poetry
#playwrighting

Found of #thankyoutinesday - celebrate today! www.thankyoutinesday.com

Into any of these trips? Let's connect!

Greetings my name is House! :heart_fire: New to Mastodon and looking for folks who vibe with the art & sounds that I make in the worlds of

#modularsynths
#synthesizers
#fieldrecording
#5stringbass
#comics
#zines
#puppetry
#fabrication
#mechs
#stopmotion
#animation
#linocut
#shortfilms
#watercolor
#needlefelting
#writing
#photography
#lomography
#poetry
#playwrighting

Found of #thankyoutinesday - celebrate today! www.thankyoutinesday.com

Into any of these trips? Let's connect!

Greetings my name is House! :heart_fire: New to Mastodon and looking for folks who vibe with the art & sounds that I make in the worlds of

#modularsynths
#synthesizers
#fieldrecording
#5stringbass
#comics
#zines
#puppetry
#fabrication
#mechs
#stopmotion
#animation
#linocut
#shortfilms
#watercolor
#needlefelting
#writing
#photography
#lomography
#poetry
#playwrighting

Found of #thankyoutinesday - celebrate today! www.thankyoutinesday.com

Into any of these trips? Let's connect!

Greetings my name is House! :heart_fire: New to Mastodon and looking for folks who vibe with the art & sounds that I make in the worlds of

#modularsynths
#synthesizers
#fieldrecording
#5stringbass
#comics
#zines
#puppetry
#fabrication
#mechs
#stopmotion
#animation
#linocut
#shortfilms
#watercolor
#needlefelting
#writing
#photography
#lomography
#poetry
#playwrighting

Found of #thankyoutinesday - celebrate today! www.thankyoutinesday.com

Into any of these trips? Let's connect!

Rambunctious Cats: https://devonellington.wordpress.com/2026/01/20/tues-jan-20-2026-rambunctious-cats/

#Writing #WritingCommunity #Playwrighting #Cats #Freelance

Rambunctious Cats: https://devonellington.wordpress.com/2026/01/20/tues-jan-20-2026-rambunctious-cats/

#Writing #WritingCommunity #Playwrighting #Cats #Freelance