December 11th, 2009
It’s raining today. Outside the air is lost in the heavy weight of coastal fog. The sky broken and gray, bruised from yesterday. December is fleeting. The onslaught of holiday festivities and laced up boots press down on the fast forward button of the day. In another blink I’ll be residing in Colorado Springs. I’ve already signed the lease and received my brass key.
I’ve made a decision. I’m officially a Monthly Blogger. Updating by the month is what is most intuitively right for me at this time. I’ll probably bump up the blogging again after I’m settled from my move, but right now I’m focusing on FIY revision #2 and enjoying my last weeks in soggy southern California with my family.
Writing is always such a learning experience. Every draft is different, every revision an entirely new process, like hiking in the mountains for the first time. My mind is a lot more soothed and steady since I last blogged. Remember? I wasn’t working on FIY, only writing prose and poetry. I wasn’t blocked. I simply wasn’t ready to dip into the revision. It took another week of scribbling in my mole skinned journal before I was. But then the gun went off and the mad frenzy began.
Now I’ve combined the two: my novel writing and the tilted “mind’s dribble” (as dear Shola called it.) Breathing is such an easier task when I’m the midst of a revision. Life is good. I don’t snap at my family as much, and that is always a beautiful thing. The occasional rain is also very calming to me. I’m not a sun girl. I like wearing layers, seeing my breath when I walk outside, and hearing the curse of winter’s wind. Storms are realer, so raw, compared to blue skies and happy weather.
The next time I blog I’ll be writing from Colorado. I hope everyone has a lovely holiday! Stay warm. Drink lots of tea and gingerbread coffee, spend sometime with your family. 
Hug a tree.
I’ll leave you with a quote. In all honesty, autumn was rather rough and jagged. But this quote reminded me that it’s okay. It’s all a part of the grand journey. I made it through the different pains and I’ll make it through whatever else in store for me.
“When we can accept all of life’s contradictions, when we can comfortably flow between the banks of pleasure and pain, experiencing them both and getting caught in neither, then we are free.” – Deepak Chopra
Until next time.
September 21st, 2009
Wow. Is it really September 21? Time is so relative, so weird. Some days drag on for years, while others spin down the drain in a single minute. I’m still sitting here. Typing away at this dining room table, sipping my tea, gulping my coffee. I’ve become a master of eating noddles with chop sticks. I’m ridiculously proud of my new skill.
The A FEAR OF TEARS revision is going fabulously. Even more so now that I have a real deadline. October 25th. I spent all of the summer skipping around the country and doing close to no work, so getting back to the real grind of ten hour writing days (give or take) feels so good. Like jumping into that chilled pool on a blistering hot day.
My move to the Rockies is just around the corner. It’s 41 degrees in Colorado Springs today (in September!). It’s 102 here. I think I may be in for a bit of shock come January. Snow? What’s snow? Is it something you eat? Hm. I guess I’ll have to see.
I wonder how The Agent is liking FALLING INTO YESTERDAY. I should be hearing some feedback in the next month. Scary, but exhilarating. I really adore life right now. Writing, revising, reading, moving so soon, all with some vegan baking in between.
I want to fly to Alaska tomorrow morning. Who’s with me? 
Oh. No one? Well, I guess I should go make some more ginger jasmine tea and get back to writing.
Until next time!
September 3rd, 2009
To Whom It May Concern:
It’s September. The month of school, Santa Ana winds, an abundance of coffee, and wildfires. Outside the air is gray, murky, and toxic. It’s not clouds sitting above my head but a thick layer of smoke. They say southern California is paradise, but is it really a trap? The vain and the rich get the pleasure of watching their world burn up every year. Oh, yes, it sounds like a fabulous life to me.
Life is kind of fast. It’s kind of absurd, too.
In a week I’ve concluded that:
- I’m moving to Colorado Springs this January.
- Yes, COLORADO SPRINGS! Finally.
- Until then, I’ll be working at Comic Quest, the comic bookstore I slaved at when I was fifteen. I’m thrilled to be employed there again.
- I WILL be published someday. I don’t care how long it takes, what it takes, or how many No’s I’ll have to read. It’s not something I’m ever going to back down on.
- I don’t care what people say, revisions are extremely fun. I enjoy them almost as much as the actual writing process.
- I’M MOVING TO COLORADO SPRINGS!
- I’m going to major in psychology, though it make take me ten years to actually get my Bachelor’s. Whatever.
- No. I still haven’t heard back from The Agent. I welcome any response: “Yes.” “No.” “You suck.” “I love Vincent!” “Learn to spell.” I just want an answer. Preferably an answer with, “You’re magnificent, Heather. Be my client and lets make pretty hardbacks.” But you know, beggars can’t be choosers.
- The idea of driving in the snow is absurdly terrifying. I hardly know how to drive in the rain!
- Hi. I’m going to be living in Colorado soon.
I miss conversing through comments with my affiliates. Being a writer hermit in a cave has its perks, but it also has its fall backs. I miss my friend’s blogs! Can I not have it all? Sleep is such a waste of time. I should invest in drinking more then my usual 5 mugs of coffee a day. Coffee is so good for the soul. I think I’d parish without coffee.
Keep your thoughts on southern California (specifically LA right now), friends. Fire Season has just begun, the Santa Ana’s haven’t even started, and we have a long autumn a head of us. I’m safe. I plan to hide under my dining room table with my laptop and write. The toxic smoke infused air can’t touch me here!
I mentioned I’m moving to Colorado, right?
Okay, back to AFOT and yummy Hayden Mason!
