Retail Therapy. It Gets Results.

    The unseasonably lovely weather we've had has been replaced with seasonal gray skies, high winds and rain. A whole lot of rain. To preempt any onset of Seasonal Affective Disorder, I did a little retail therapy.

Sharing the Scrivener Love

    Two of my favorite writing tools — Scrivener and writing podcasts — came together in the podcast this week by The Shared Desk. Fun!
    Tee Morris and Philippa Ballantine discussed their favorite writing software, Scrivener. That’s my favorite writing software, too! I completely agreed with all the reasons they gave for their devotion to Scrivener — the organization tools, the corkboard feature, the ability to import web pages and photos and other research into your binder, and all the many ways to customize the tool to suit your own needs. But my two favorite features didn’t get mentioned — not that I blame them. There are so many features, how could you talk about all of them?

You Won't Regret This

   According to my stats, you guys really like brownie recipes. Who knew a spam-bot could have a sweet tooth?
   So, giving the people (or spam-bots) what they want — here's another brownie recipe. This was a recipe I first tried when I was a teenager and before I learned to read through the entire recipe before starting it. I didn't have enough eggs, I didn't know the difference between dark Karo syrup and light, and I accidentally cut the amount of sugar (really — originally it called for even more sugar). And it turned out so good, I've stuck to my version ever since. Enjoy!

My Favorite Brownies

• 1 cup butter
• 8 oz. unsweetened chocolate
• 3 cups sugar (or 2 1/2 cups — you won't miss it)
• 1/2 cup light Karo syrup
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tbsp. vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup nuts
• 6 eggs

Melt butter and chocolate over low heat. Let cool.

In mixing bowl, combine sugar, syrup, vanilla, eggs. Add chocolate mixture. Add flour gradually. Add nuts.

Grease and flour jelly roll pan. Pour batter into pan. Bake 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the pan comes out clean.

Cool in the pan on a rack. Sift powdered sugar over the top. Cut and serve. 

Another Anniversary

   Today is the 25th anniversary of the release of U2's album, Joshua Tree.
  Well.
  That 25 years went by fast.
  I listened to Joshua Tree today while driving home from work. It's been a while since I've really listened to it, or even heard any of the songs in passing. Immediately, I was back in high school, driving my mother's Honda and singing along to "With or Without You" and "Where the Streets Have No Name."
  There are a few songs that can transport me back in time, but this whole album (yes, kids, I said album) has that effect. This is probably because it was in my Walkman (yep, dating myself again) or in the car stereo for so much of that year. It wasn't even my first U2 album, but it was immediately my favorite and has remained so, even after (gulp) 25 years. A couple years later, I saw U2 in concert. Still, the songs remind me of the early days of the album's release, when I used my hard-earned babysitting money to buy the cassette. (Sigh. I am old.)
  Now if you'll excuse me, I have a sudden urge to call my mom and tell her that I shouldn't have to unload the dishwasher, no one in this family understands me, and why can't I have my own car. I suppose that's the downside of a flashback.

30 years and Millions of Calories Later...

    A few years ago, my parents celebrated a big anniversary. Since they had eloped way back then, my siblings and I decided this time we should have a party. However, no one wanted to have a sit-down formal affair, especially my casual-living parents. After much discussion, we decided on a backyard barbecue in my parents huge and beautiful yard. My dad had just finished building a patio with a huge new grill and he volunteered to grill, well, anything that he could get his hands on. You know what it’s like when you have a new toy.
    My aunt proposed a pot-luck, but that seemed a little too casual. Our solution was to invite the guests, but also invite them to participate in a contest — best appetizer and best dessert. To enter, bring your favorite dessert or appetizer along with the recipe. We put the plates out on buffet tables and in front of each offering, we put a jar. People voted by putting money in the jars.
    This was a massive success.

Resolutions - February Update

    Since it’s the last day of the month, I’m going to tally up my writing totals and report a little early. I don’t expect to get anything more written today and I’m actually fairly happy with the progress I made in the last month, even though I didn’t meet my goal of writing every day (again).
    Because of how my spreadsheet is structured, my monthly total covers January 30 through February 29. During that time, I wrote 21,574 words. This is about 100 more words than I wrote in January. It’s also nearly double how much I wrote last February. So, on that front – success!
    Yet, I only wrote on 16 days. My goal of writing daily really suffered in the last month and I’m not sure why – though work is the most likely culprit. However, when I do sit down to write, I’ve been more productive. My best day was 3,714 words, but I had several days where I wrote more than 2,500 words. I don’t know what to attribute this to, but I am listening to High Focus when I’m writing and it does seem to keep me focused and less distracted by all things shiny and internetty. 
    My other goal this year is to focus on the main WIP and the back-up novella so that one of them gets finished, hopefully soon. At this, I was a little more successful. I wrote 9,926 words on the main WIP, including an important turning point scene and a scene that sets up the ending (yay!). I wrote 3,443 words on the novella, which is the first of three books. Unfortunately, I did stray and write a couple scenes for the second in the series (6,645 words). I also had to put a couple of plot bunnies to bed by writing some notes for future projects (1,560).
    So far in 2012, that’s 42,173 words. The best part is that I’m happy with the content of those words. My critique partner gave me some great suggestions and I’ve reworked some scenes and reordered a couple others and the main WIP feels like it’s barreling toward an ending. I’m very much looking forward to writing “the end” at the end of that story. Maybe in March? Stay tuned.

Pink is the New Green

     The valley turns a lovely shade of pink for a week or so every spring. So it's not yet spring. The trees don't know that.   
     I'm trying to write every day, but this month hasn't been a great success for keeping that routine. But my word count is pretty good for the month. Plus, there's that extra day tomorrow -- February 29th. I'll get some time tomorrow to bring my February word count up and will report back on my progress toward my goals.
    Have a happy Leap Day.