Adorkable wizard. Think 1990s Hugh Grant with magical powers. I didn't do this consciously, but I realized this type keeps showing up in my books, so I go with it. Ooh, and this sort of fits the ditz goes steely thing, as there's a moment he stops being shy/bumbling and his true power shows.

I'm not sure I could do this. I get twitchy if I don't write, and I don't think I've ever written something that I didn't at least dream would one day be published, even if it was a very unrealistic dream at the time (all that stuff scribbled in spiral notebooks when I was a kid).

I finally got around to watching Wicked: For Good over the weekend. It's been a long time since I saw the stage musical or read the book, but I feel like they incorporated material from the book that wasn't in the stage show. Overall, I liked it.

I was worried that my house needed better insulation because the walls got so cold during our big winter cold snap, but the heat was off because it was close to 90 degrees last week, and the house hasn't really gone below 60 in spite of it being chilly yesterday and dropping to the 30s last night.

I woke this morning thinking about that conversation I had with one of the historical reenactors at the Frontier Culture museum last weekend. The event was about the Hessian troops that fought in the American revolution, and they were depicting the troops before they shipped out.

I thought I had something to do this afternoon. We were supposed to meet at the parking lot between 1 and 1:15 to carpool. I got there shortly after 1, and when no one else showed up by 1:14 I went home because I didn't want to go on my own. So now I have a free afternoon.

My latest backyard discovery: bluebells! Also lots of poison ivy (but I discovered that by looking at it, not by stumbling into it. Poison has been deployed). The weeds and grass have run amok, but it's cool and windy, so I'm staying inside for now.

It's 44 and raining (after being about 86 yesterday), so I think I'm driving to church today. Also, I have to be somewhere around 1, so I need to give myself turnaround time instead of getting home after noon if I walk.

I discovered that Aldi sells frozen cheesecake slices in packs of two, which is quite reasonable for me, and I bought a package of turtle cheesecake (chocolate, caramel, and pecan) to prepare myself for next weekend, when I'm doing a library book festival.

I went out to the Frontier Culture museum for an event, but it turned out that it was really more for reenactors. They were having some workshops and training to get ready for all the USA 250 events, though they did talk to visitors and explain what they were doing. I had a nice, long chat with one.

Weird, I came inside to find a voice mail from my mom, but never heard the phone ring. No call from her shows up as a recent call, just the voice mail, and when I tried to call back, it said the call failed. Odd that I can get a voice mail but not a call.

I just discovered that my windows open both by raising the lower part and by lowering the upper part, which is good for when I'm trying to vent out cooking smoke/vapor. I can reach the top of the kitchen window, but will need a stool for the other ones.

We've got some cat drama going on. I hadn't seen any of the neighborhood cats for the last couple of days, but it's been hot and I've been keeping the curtains closed. This morning, the white cat finally came across my deck, giving very "walk of shame" vibes, its normally pristine fur all mussed.

Sometimes it's hard to tell if I'm being so distracted because my muse needs my conscious brain to get out of the way so it can work on something or if I'm just procrastinating. There are times when every time I sit down to work I get distracted by all kinds of random things.

Last summer, I got one of those "magic mesh" things for my deck door, but it didn't last the summer. The adhesive on the velcro melted off, so it didn't stick to either the mesh or the door frame. Even supplementing it with gorilla tape didn't work. Then the fabric started fraying.

I had a crazy thought the other day that I could probably have chickens in my yard. They're allowed here and I have the space, but then I remembered that I don't eat that many eggs and I don't want to deal with it. Plus, I'm gone for at least a week at a time when I visit my parents.

Argh. No, first person isn't about you. It's someone else telling you their story. It's like getting a letter/e-mail from a friend who's telling you what happened to them. If you get an e-mail from a friend saying, "The craziest thing happened to me," do you think these things happened to you?

I'm trying something new to force me to do promo/business stuff, the technique to pair it with something fun. The local nonprofit radio station has an 80s music show on Friday mornings, and I can't write while listening to music with lyrics, so this is going to become promo time.

Yesterday during the outage, I checked my long-neglected Instagram account, and the recommended feed was about 95 percent fake celebrity gossip, outrage bait, and "feel-good" story AI slop. None of it had anything to do with the accounts I actually follow.

In my last couple of jobs, you got your birthday as a day off. You had to use it within a week, so you could move it to a Friday or Monday. Now that I work for myself, I generally do take the day off. I'm going to be distracted by phone calls anyway.

It was hot yesterday, and by bedtime it had cooled more outside than it had inside the house, so I was considering sleeping with my windows open. Then I remembered the first night I spent in this house, when I was excited to have a 2nd floor bedroom so it was safe to leave the windows open.

My grocery clearance half-off steak was so yummy. I made roasted potatoes to go with it and had one of the Cheesecake Factory rolls (and a salad, but that wasn't a special treat). But cooking the steak smoked up the kitchen, since my stove vent doesn't vent to the outside.

It's #BookQW and this week we're all about "family" or, in the case of this bit from my cozy fantasy Tea and Empathy, hoping there isn't a family. shannaswendson.com/writing/tea-...

I think my brain just shut down completely, like when they reach over and hit C-3PO's off switch. I could practically hear the click. I'll make some tea and see if that helps, then maybe I'll watch work-related videos on YT and see if I can at least absorb information.

I scored on today's quick grocery run to pick up a couple of items I needed today. Got a beef filet for half off (I think the last time I had non-ground beef was when I visited my parents at Thanksgiving), and the bakery clearance rack had pretzel rolls and Cheesecake Factory brown rolls.

I have finally used up the Furniture Paper. I have a big box of tractor-feed computer paper that may count as an antique. My mom got it from her old job when they were getting rid of old printers, and she gave it to me. She retired more than 20 years ago, so it's at least that old.

I was in the ballroom dancing club in college, and every year we helped out with a big waltz event held in the ballroom of the student union building, with a live chamber orchestra. People came in formal wear or Victorian costumes. We got in free for helping set up and came as a group.

There was drama in the backyard this evening when another groundhog tried to move in on Friar Tuck's territory. It turns out that he can really move that pudgy little body, as he chased the interloper up the hill. He went back down to the area around his hole and stood guard for a while.

I am going to attempt to work while sitting on the deck once more. My knees and back hurt, so I may be able to resist taking "breaks" to pull weeds, unless maybe I spot something that has to go and I can't resist. They seem to grow overnight. But I really must plot this book.

I think I've figured out an ending for this book I'm trying to plot. The struggle was to thread the needle and find a way to make the first book in the series have a hopeful ending but also a bit of a cliffhanger, and I may have found it. Now it should be easier to plot the rest.

It's a good thing I live near the end of a dead-end street in a safe neighborhood in a small town because when I went outside this afternoon to look at the front lawn, I realized the front door has been unlocked since Saturday. I went back in through the back door and never locked the front door.

My front yard is currently full of wild violets. The new walkway project may have to wait until they quit blooming because there's a very nice patch in the path of the new walkway. I'll have to transplant them elsewhere in the yard, but I don't want to do that while they're still blooming.

I just saw that the Nebula voting deadline is coming up. I never received info on the ballot or the voting packet, not even in spam. I wonder if they changed servers so that my email blocked them. The last SFWA email I have was in December.

It's a pleasant day, cloudy enough not to have blazing direct sun, so I could sit on the deck to work and brainstorm a plot for this book, but can I sit out there without seeing just one weed I need to pull (that will lead to 2 hours of weeding)?

I was going to spend the day relaxing, since I overdid it yesterday. So I was sitting on the deck, drinking tea and doing some book brainstorming, just journaling some thoughts about the story, and the dead berry canes started bothering me, so I got the clippers and headed up the hill.

Feeling lazy enough to consider YouTube church. I did four services last week, and my knees hurt. Plus, it's a lovely morning for sitting on the deck with tea and listening to the cardinals have a space battle (they sound like laser fire).

I don't have to sing this morning, so I can get to church about an hour later than usual. Which is good because I woke up very disoriented, trying to remember a book I was recommending to someone. Now that I'm fully awake, I think I just dreamed it and there was no actual book.

I had leftover pizza for lunch, but that didn't stop me from making pizza for dinner with one of the mini crusts in my freezer. Cooking anything else would have required washing a pot.

I just spent about 2 1/2 hours pulling weeds, trimming some shrubs, and cutting the front yard grass, and now my muscles are all trembling, so I may have overdone it. But it looks a lot better, even though I have tons more to do. So many weeds! But I can see the violets better.

I've decided this is going to be a work in the yard/sit on the deck and read day. My knees and back are sore from too much standing around last night. I'm going to put one of the patio chair cushions on the ground to sit down and pull weeds. When I'm tired from that, I'll relax.

The concert last night was held at my church (which doubles as the town's main classical music venue because it seats a lot of people, has a killer pipe organ, and has amazing acoustics), and it was a good thing I'd been reading about the stained glass because there were a lot of questions.

I may need to liven up my wardrobe. Dress code for ushers is black pants/skirt and white top. My dilemma is which black skirt and white top, as that's half my wardrobe. But I love white shirts.

I had a good walk in the woods, but had to improvise a route because they were mowing across the access to the trailhead I wanted. Lunch at the top of the hill, some thinking, then back through the woods and home. It got pretty warm and I need a shower.

Looking at what I need to do in my lawn, it seems I will live forever. But whoever thinks gardening reduces stress hasn't seen my lawn. Brain challenge is true, though.

I think I need to go hiking today. It's sunny, not very windy, not too warm or cool. I was thinking of heading over to the Blue Ridge Parkway and hitting a section of the Appalachian Trail, but I'm the head usher for tonight's Baroque Festival concert, so I probably ought to stay closer to home.

I woke up with the song "Don't You Forget About Me" running through my head and vague memories of a dream in which someone called that the way to summon GenX, then got online to see an invitation to my class reunion this summer. I guess GenX is being summoned.

Taxes done, book revised (this round). Now lunch, then errands. I have no brain left for anything else. I used electronic prep, but I'm always sure I did something wrong. My estimated taxes for the year were pretty close, so I didn't have to pay too much and get a state refund.

One more chapter to revise. And then taxes. I've already set out some soda bread mini muffins to thaw and will have tea as a way of easing my way through the torture. But then it will be done and I will feel light and free.

Busy day today. I want to finish revisions on this book (2 chapters) and do my taxes. If I have time, I'll run errands, though that could extend to tomorrow. Then meeting people from choir for burgers and beer/cider this evening. I guess I'd better get started.

I closed on my house a year ago today (well, about 15 minutes from now). In a way, I feel like I'm still moving in and getting settled, and in a way I feel like I've always lived here. I still haven't organized the basement or hung any pictures on the walls.