I hope your week is off to a great start. Here is a sunset I’ve been saving up for you.
Not too much new with me. I’m starting to get some writing in again after taking all of May and a lot of April off. It took a while to get the ball rolling again, but I’m making progress.
Have a great week and if you are so inclined, let me know how you are doing.
You’ll have to forgive me, I don’t usually get religious, but when I looked closely at this photo, I discovered this beautiful scene. I had decided to work on this photo based on the excellent article in dPS Magazine by the brilliant Leanne Cole.
Her article inspired me to work on some architecture, and so the next obvious question is, do I have something in my collection I can use so I don’t have to go out and shoot something new?
Why yes! And I can remember it because it was in my last post, LOL!
I was fooling around with the perspective thing, you know with the tall modern building behind the short ancient church, playing around with emphasizing the curves in the patio in front, ho hum, so been done, and anyway I decided to — or accidentally, I really don’t remember — magnify the image. A lot. And right there on a bench with the church beaming down on him is this (I believe) homeless man. Wow. I had no idea he was even there! What a dolt! (Me, not him.) LOL! But anyway, once I saw him, I knew what I wanted to do with the image.
Here is the original again. (This was taken with an Android phone.)
Have a peaceful weekend. See you Monday.
We met friends for dinner at a downtown restaurant right on the Truckee River. We’ve been hearing about the “River Walk” and finally had a chance to see it on a perfect year for it, when there is actually water in the river. It’s lovely what they’ve done, and I can see why it’s so popular.
I borrowed my husband’s phone to snag these shots as I wasn’t planning on taking on photos. (I should never plan on that.) 😉
Have a great week!
The yard is a lot of work. I feel good that I’m contributing a lot more to maintaining it. Right now we are still in the taming phase. Once we get large swaths of land that used to be lawn completely covered by mulch, battling the chaos of weeds will shrink and we can focus more on enjoying the fruits of plantings, staying on top of the remaining trees, shrubs, and hedges, and those areas along the edges that have an alarming number of volunteers…including several palm trees and a holly oak. These turn into giants, so we have to cut those down and probably (sigh) continue to cut them down forever, since they escaped notice long enough to grow deep roots.
It’s a process that feels good to undertake, however. Having a plan and applying the elbow grease to get it done means we don’t have to sell this house and buy one with a concrete yard, which has been looking mighty tempting, LOL.
I feel fortunate that my own yard inspires me to take photos. It has been hard not having photos to share, and I haven’t been out on a shoot, but these artichokes had me whipping out the camera. I took one set of shots in sunlight, and one during the “blue hour.” Which do you prefer?
These were sunlight shots:
These are twilight.
Even though we are living in somber times in many ways, there is still great beauty and joy. I hope you have a peaceful weekend and can enjoy yourself. I look forward to Father’s Day when my little gifties are unveiled and I get to play with babies and my all time favorite pre-schooler. Maybe I’ll take a photo or two as well. I’m always thinking of you…Thanks for looking at my images.
I don’t have a whole lot to say but wanted to wish you all a great week ahead. Father’s Day is coming up this weekend on the US, and I’m looking forward to that. I get to see my mother in law this week, which is always fun, and I’m working on a brand new book.
I used my new factor analysis method to choose a book to work on out of the many projects on my list, and that helped me sort out which one makes the most sense for me to work on, not just sense but feeling as of course excitement about the project is one of the factors.
I did not get a request for full for the proposal I sent to Harlequin, though they did say they hope I consider them in the future. I certainly will!! I think they liked one of the secondary characters. I know the child was where my writing shone in that piece, and I think that potential was why they hoped I would try them again. For a time I disagreed, and worked more on that book, completing 25,000 words. But when I looked afresh at what I want to do, I was no longer getting a strong go-ahead feeling on that project, so I took out my inventory of ideas and projects left in various stages (21 projects), put the ones I am interested in writing now (based on gut feel) into a spreadsheet, and ran my factor analysis.
One of the factors is the chance to start completely fresh using a new process I’m eager to try. Another factor is the book being something I might be able to pitch to Harlequin (although I’m not constructing it specifically for that, I’m just trying to write a great book), another factor is the project’s ability to shift me toward romantic suspense, another factor is it is a cowboy romance (very popular), and finally my excitement level. Well not finally, I think there were actually 15 factors.
I started working on it and interestingly almost immediately, the hero started talking to me. That was not happening with the Desire proposal one. The child was strong for me but not the main characters, not that I realized it at the time, but the Harlequin editors did. This guy in the new book is talking to me a bit like Jason did, the hero from Third Strike’s the Charm. Now he was difficult to me until the third draft, but I hope I can take what I learned there and start with a respectful relationship with this man, that way he won’t punish me by clamming up until I listen properly. I think this guy, though tormented, also has a very dry even dark sense of humor…
Anyway, I guess I did have a few things to share after all! I also mined my archives for some photos for you, because photos make the web go round.
Sparks is very pretty, and a lot of people have figured that out. As the city quickly grew, developers factored in bike lanes, large sidewalks, and shopping, making it very livable. With modern homes and gorgeous views, it’s a popular place for families and retirees alike. I always enjoy my visits there and find it hard not to snap photos. Here are a few from my last visit.
It’s getting hot in California! This perspective is from the swimming pool. The giant plant is actually two artichoke plants. We are eating a lot, and I mean a whole lot of artichokes! I picked about 25, washed out the bugs, a process that takes a half an hour, lots of submersion, shaking out the chokes, and a few squeals when I touch one of the bugs. I do all that poolside so the bugs can rejoin the environment. Then I boil them, the artichokes, not the bugs. We figured out to put a lid that is smaller than the circumference of the boiling pot on top of the chokes to push them down into the water. Otherwise the ones on top are half out of the water and don’t cook.
They are good cold as well as warm, so the leftovers make a great snack or side dish the next day (or week, as the case may be). I make a dressing of garlic infused olive oil, regular olive oil, balsamic vinegar and salt. Yum!
It looks like my Friday post didn’t go. I did it from my phone. Sorry about that, and for the late Monday post. I’m going to see if I can post Friday’s now.
The month of May was a big family month for me, and I combined that focus with taking a timeout to really think through my writing goals. I started doing a Pros and Cons list for my various options, and that grew to about 56 lines, so I put it in a spreadsheet and gave each factor an importance number and then to each option (writing what I want, quitting writing, concentrating on getting into Harlequin) I assigned a value. It’s a great tool. Here’s an example in case you want to try it for a big decision that you can’t resolve just by gut feel. In fact you do use your gut feel to assign the importance number, but when you have conflicting choices and keep going around and around on the same wheel thinking about them, this tool really helps you get a clear look at all the options and at your own feelings about them. 
This exercise was an eye-opener in a few ways. First, no wonder I’ve had so much inner conflict over my writing. Writing matters hugely to me, but so does enjoying my life, and I have conflicting goals and dreams. Second, I’ve been pushing myself to write particular types of books aimed for a specific market because accomplishment and success are important to me. Despite those factors, when all things are carefully weighed, writing the books I want comes out way ahead. Trying to push myself to write that way was setting up an inner conflict that was threatening my desire to write at all, hence not writing at all was an option I considered. That option didn’t even come close to competing, so I think I’ve laid that one to rest!
So my next goal is to finish writing the last of the Cruz Sisters trilogy, a mystery thriller sci-fi romance that I’m very excited about. I’m changing the plot and going pretty out there with it, so it’s going to be a lot of work. I hope to nail down the new plot in about 60 hours of planning work. I don’t know how long it will take to complete the book, but the beauty of my new writing-life plan is that there is no deadline.
I’ll be back with my regular Monday and Friday posting schedule now. Thanks for following along and sharing my journey with me!
It’s kind of fun what you can capture through a windshield. I was able to snap these shots on our trek to Reno on Saturday to retrieve one of the famous Nothing Bundt Cake’s for Mother’s Day. (Carrot cake, yum.)
As you can see, it was a chilly day.
So to warm you up I have this photo from Sparks, a sister city of Reno, taken on Mother’s Day.
I thought the house looked so cozy and the colors were warm and cheerful. While dark threatening clouds are dramatic, these puffy white ones in a blue sky are comforting and pretty.
I hope you have a great week.
PS If you are in the US and a Goodreads member, I’m running a giveaway for a free print copy of Third Strike’s the Charm. To enter, go to my website: Nicci Carrera Events.
Last Friday we went out to shoot at high noon. The birds were singing and the sun shining.
I’ve also added a photo my friend Cherryl Pape took of me to my sidebar.
Hope you’re having a great week.
Nicci Carrera 