Love Me to the Bone
Draft 1
Words Added: 2,137
What Happened in the Story: Madeline continues to check out the kinetoscope and sees a slew of people–some familiar, some not–thinking about her posthumously, but not the people she *wants* to see. Irene’s being elusive, and not coping with Nikolai’s passing well. Madeline finds a hole in the wall behind her wallpaper. Weird. Also, in the kinetoscope, there’s this cute guy who keeps thinking and thinking and thinking about her, almost all the time, but she can’t for the life of her (ha!) remember who he is. It’s a meet-cute mystery!
Additional Notes: I’m not dead yet! At least, not totally. Boy oh boy, that 20% wall hit me HARD this week. To be fair, although the writing has been slooooooooow (sooooo sloooooow) and difficult, I’m at least conscious that this always happens at this point in any long manuscript. It’s not even just me! I’ve talked to a bunch of fellow authors who ALSO slam into a motivation-wall right at the 20-25% mark. You’d think I’d know to expect it–and I kind of did?–but its intensity has still surprised me this week.
Probably also didn’t help that I was a bit under the weather Sunday and Monday, and the past half of the month has been SO BUSY–good, but busy–that I’m just energetically BURNT. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been working on something (even if not on the novel, which *tsk tsk* I know. But I also know sometimes I need a little break to rebuild energy for a project)! It’s been a very draw-y/visual week.
I went to the Boston BookFest this past Saturday, and got to meet the fabulous folks behind Redivider! I was talking to one of the editors about how I write odd stuff, like sentient bread, and she was like, “Oh, we love that kind of thing! We once published a story about a guy who melts down a shower drain!” and I was like O-M-G THAT WAS MEEEEE!!!!! #cantmakethisstuffup It was such a lovely time, and I got to sign a copy of my story for a fellow reader while there. (see my sketch-notes page below!)
Also, it’s HALLOWEEN WEEK, which means I’m in full-out costume-making mode. I should always expect the last week of October to be a bit wild and crafty, rather than thoughtful and wordy. I’m having entirely too much fun making things with my hands. Thing 1 is going as Baby Saja from KPop Demon Hunters, and Thing 2 is going as Derpy (also from KPop Demon Hunters). #iykyk
(Photo) My mom found an article from the old Telegraph newspaper about my 8th grade essay that placed 2nd in State for MLK Jr Day! Awww, I was so liiiiiittle!
This week, I’ve been leaning hard into the re-launch of The Placebo Emporium, my ridiculous, absurd little Etsy shop that I opened TEN YEARS AGO, and closed because it turned out running even a small shop with a one-year-old and no help was much too challenging for me at that point in time. But I’ve got time now, and I’m hoping to reopen the shop in November with at least a few things. I’ll do a proper post about what’s coming from good old Dr. Eponymous in the next few weeks, but for now, I’m designing labels, ordering inventory, figuring out business mechanics, and making sure I get off on the right foot from the start. But my brain’s been hitched to the visual-design train for the past few days in a feverish rush to redesign everything. It’s fun and exciting, but it’s meant my words-brain hasn’t wanted to do anything longer than silly ad copy. But we’ll get back to it! November’s a great writing month, and if I can manage to hammer out the last tiny bit of Act One, I’ll be set for all of Act 2 in November.
NOTE: I did not realize you can scroll these photos from side to side! I’ve got a bunch of shots from the week!
Thanks for following along, and I hope you enjoy the ride! I’ll try and make these daily updates (on writing days), but I’ll probably miss a few now and then. Sorry about that in advance, but I’ll do my best to be consistent. If you’re craving some personal stakes in this process, feel free to toss me a “You Can Do It!” donation at my Ko-fi shop! I’m going to need a lot of coffee for this…