Plot & Structure

one of the gazillion Mary statues at St. Ann's in Church Point
and I want all you people to recognize that I did not put a caption on it. I restrained myself. I'm trying to be better. I am.
This week has been tough time wise - lots of work in town but spaced out so I have long hours between appointments. Today I put some of that to good use - I had borrowed a book from the library a few months ago - Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell and I liked it. So yesterday I bought it and today I worked on my novel. I'm definitely not a pre-planner - I'm a NOP (no outline person) but I agree with James that adding a bit of the other to my work style can't but be helpful. So I started with an approach from David Morrell (Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing). I wrote myself a letter that I will add to daily as I start this novel. I am also using the mythic journey as a guideline. I've already discovered some things about the town and the dilemma that should be good. Now to find some time to do my 1,000 a day. I guess I'll just make a time and hit it!

the Roseway River near Birchtown

the apothocary chest at Port Royal

the fur trading building at Port Royal

By the way, on Saturday I will have stuck with this healthy diet for four weeks. I've lost a bit over ten pounds which is nice - I have more energy but still am pretty stuffed up, sneezy and coughy. The trouble is that stuff usually ends about now or as soon as we have a few good frosts anyway so...what the heck - I'll still do it for three more months. If I can get through a wonderful trip away, a murder mystery weekend and Thanksgiving, how hard can the rest be? DO NOT ANSWER THIS QUESTION PEOPLES!

Swimming to Tancook - not

quite honestly, dear readers, I haven't been working on Swimming to Tancook (working title). I have been working on feeling better with this diet and today, I do feel some equanimity with it. I didn't realize how much my life is focussed around food. I love cooking, I always have and my SP loves cooking and so does my step-dot. Our big night out is always some nice restaurant or a long yummy dinner with friends. I read cook books and visit cooking sites daily. A lot of that is pretty good food but not neccesarily what I can eat on this diet. Also, I love not so good food. I love chocolate bars and fish and chips and potato chips eaten with my pal Marion. I even like a nice cold coke from time to time and I certainly like a g&t in the summer and a scotch in the winter and wine all year round. So I'm recalibrating my entire system, both body and mind. The last few days I haven't felt aggrieved though. I've felt....hmmm...clean! Like what I'm putting in my body is really good - full of chi. This morning I had kamut cakes (like rice cakes only not allowed rice) with cashew butter I made from organic unprocessed cashews with slices of an apple on it. It was incrediably tasty. I just need to not eat twelve of them! Last night I had quinoi (sp) with steamed cauliflower and brocoli and lightly sauteed green onion, garlic and ginger root. Very good. I know! I'm a hippy again!I've lost about seven pounds so far which is pretty radical. I'll be able to fit into my old bell bottom jeans and tie dye shirt. And I feel my energy returning slowly. Tomorrow or the next day I am supposed to get what feels like the flu as the yeast dies off. I don't want it but I do so that I know something is happening. It is EASY to accidentally eat the wrong thing on this diet unknowingly so ...
Today I am working on the script for our upcoming murder mystery - The Sad Sad Story of Angel Pye. That will be fun actually. The mystery is a week from today so I best get at it!

A New Day

Today I begin my new special diet given to me by the doc - a very enlightened doc to be sure, an ear, nose and throat specialist and an allergist who owns a winery with his wife. I like his approach as it is more holistic than western medical but man this diet SUCKS. I will do it though because so does having asthma, sinus headaches and itchy everything. It is what I'd call a cave woman diet - all green vegetables and meat. In my case, it will be a lot of fish and eggs and greens. No bananas, no grapes, no peanuts or peanut butter, no mushrooms, no g&t's, no coffee, no chocolate, no bread, nothing yeasted or wheat or cheese or beer. Really no no no and more no. How long? FOUR expletive MONTHS! Yep, through Thanksgiving, two murder mysteries and the winter holiday as it is now known. Luckily, I do like an extreme measure so I will keep you abreast of how it goes though hopefully not go on and on about it. I promise heretofore not to complain past this entry. For I will be svelte and have the energy of a fourteen year old - watch out SP!

And I will not sneeze constantly. I will be feeling GOOOOD - except for the detoxing part where I will feel like I've got the farmyard flu but hey - better out than in, no?

For breakfast I had two scrambled eggs and a nectarine. Yay!

later, I'm off to walk the beasty boy.

The photo is 'rememberance of meals gone by' - one of the great put togethers we did at Mo-Fest.

struggle

I'm struggling. I have a sinus headache. I'd rather have anything than that. I am working through the edit that Gwen kindly did - incorporating changes and so on. I like to do it but I really feel like one of those wrecks we visited the other day. Why oh why? I walked the beast but only for a short one - did a couple of loads of laundry - got in touch with this person and that but darling readers - I had such plans for this big expanse of a day. Ah well. Man proposes and God disposes or something like that. Now I'm going to look up coast hardy perenials that might be in a garden in late June...
tomorrow I've got a WHACK of clients. Which is a good thing. Sweet Patooties brake line broke when he was coming home. That is number four in his truck breaking down in the last two months. Argggh!
later lovies.