Today on the blog: Why I avoid using AI and how it's a challenge to document my process (show my work) if I want to prove I'm not using AI. shannaswendson.com/avoiding-ai/

I've been getting my house in order this week. It's felt like such an overwhelming task, but I've been either setting a timer for 30 minutes or putting on a half-hour podcast and doing as much as I can in a room, and it's embarrassing how little time it actually took.

One good thing about a raging case of imposter syndrome is that it insulates you from most scams. You'd be surprised if a more famous author contacted you and wanted to talk about writing or if a book club wanted to feature your book, so you're automatically suspicious.

It's #BookQW and this week we had to find something to "admire." In this bit from my humorous contemporary fantasy, Enchanted, Inc., our heroine's friend's admiration may be misplaced. shannaswendson.com/writing/ench...

I think I have some visuals for the world I'm building, and it's starting to take more concrete shape. I love it when a story idea starts tipping from vague to specific. It's like bringing it into focus.

If you really dislike someone who seems to dislike you, why bother, even if they're hot? There are plenty of hot people you don't hate, so why waste time on this one, even if you're stuck together for some reason? Find someone you like. (This ruins a lot of romance novels for me.)

Our local TV news had a big glitch, so during that timeslot, they just kept repeating asbestos lawsuit ads. I thought maybe it was an infomercial pre-empting the news, but they said on FB that it was a technical issue. It was rather disconcerting.

I've been trying to keep track of plot elements/tropes I like so I can add them to my list of things I want to use in books and so I can look for things I want to read, and I found a new one for the list (I've always liked it, but just put it on the list): the honorable antagonist.

When we have a nice, dry, non-windy day, I'm pondering putting a box on my deck and then observing the cats who pass by. Will they stop to enjoy the box or just keep going? I'd have to lurk inside to watch because some of them will stay away if I'm outside.

I actually cleaned the kitchen, including cleaning up from cooking dinner, before evening leisure time today, so I think I deserve some sort of treat, like maybe going to bed early. The real reward will be going downstairs in the morning to face a nice, clean kitchen.

Today's triumph: A few years ago, I made some cable knitted headbands to cover my ears. I thought I'd make one to match my mittens, but I couldn't find the pattern. I thought maybe I'd made something up on my own because I had no files that matched and can't find my printed patterns.

American cheese single slices, the ones that come wrapped in plastic. They make the best cheese toast, the way the cheese puffs up and gets brown and crispy on top while still gooey underneath. Also good for anything involving melting.

Yesterday's snow seems to have settled mostly in the nooks and crannies of the yard, which means that the kitty highway that forms the main path up the hill is the main part that's mostly white. I have not seen what the cats think about this.

Bananas. The texture is either starchy or mushy, sometimes even slimy. The taste is terrible and the smell is worse. This is the one food I'm not allergic to that I will not eat in any form. This includes banana bread and banana pudding.

It's now below freezing, and we've had a wet, gloppy snow all day, so I can imagine the roads will be fun. Fortunately, I'm not planning to go anywhere. I think I'm going to heat up some soup for dinner and have a cozy evening in with PBS.

Last night's movie was The Favourite. Utterly fascinating and a showcase for 3 great actresses. It was fun seeing a historical movie about power that centered on women, with men on the periphery. But I don't think there was a single character you want to cheer for. They were all awful in some way.

The lawn I was weeding yesterday is now starting to be covered in snow. This is the good kind of snow: Big enough clumps that you can see it fall, but it's too warm for it to stick to pavement, so it's just pretty to watch. It will add to the environment for the closing ceremonies.

Looks like I'll get to use my new winter coat today. It's 34 degrees and raining, with the occasional snowflake. I'm wondering if I should drive or walk to church. I think it's supposed to stay above freezing, but if it doesn't, it could be messy.

I did some work in the yard today, pulling English ivy out of my trees and pulling some weeds. It was weird doing yard work in shirtsleeves while there were still a few patches of snow in the yard. It may snow again tomorrow, but I got a head start on the spring work.

It's actually nice enough outside for Deck Office today. It might get a bit windy, but I'm going to enjoy it until the wind is bad enough that I have to lower the patio umbrella (which I need to block enough light for me to see my screen). More snow may come Sunday.

I get to pick up my pottery pieces tomorrow morning and see how they came out. I liked doing this, but I don't know if it will become an ongoing hobby. I don't know what I'd do with all the stuff I made, and you have to make a lot of stuff to get good enough at it to give as gifts or sell.

I've finally made it through Picard season 2. I understand 3 is a lot better. I liked season 1, but they got rid of most of the things I liked about season 1 in season 2, and it was a weird choice to spend an entire season of a Star Trek series on earth in the past. I may take a break before 3.

I knew I'd get my days mixed up from having choir on a different night. I nearly got into my Friday routine and was planning what I'd do tomorrow as though it was Saturday. It wouldn't have been a huge harm done, as long as I figured it before I went somewhere on Friday, thinking it was Saturday.

The back yard is now mostly de-iced. The white parts are on the slope closest to the house. It looks weird not covered in white, and I remember how messy it is. I may go out and pull up or chop weeds and brambles this weekend.

I started the day with seeing the news about a much bigger author coming out with a book with almost the same concept as the one I'm currently developing. I think my approach will be different enough that it doesn't nix mine entirely, but will publishers want more of that, or is it already done?

I'm going to be confused the rest of the week because we normally have choir rehearsal on Thursday night, but since we had a service tonight we had a short rehearsal afterward and no rehearsal tomorrow, so I will go through tomorrow thinking it's Friday. And then it will be Friday again.

I've reached the point in this Olympics at which I can't listen to music without picturing the figure skating program that would go with it. When I was much younger, I'd plan my hypothetical programs (mind you, I've skated about 5 times on mall rinks) but now it's mostly generic skaters.

It's #BookQW and this week we're in a lot of "pain." Since my cozy fantasy Tea and Empathy is about an empathic healer, there's a lot of that, especially when she finds a wounded man in her garden. shannaswendson.com/writing/tea-...

I may have a teensy webinar addiction. I can't seem to help myself when I see something that's free and potentially interesting. I know most of these are marketing some paid thing and there will be a sales pitch, but some are from groups I'm already a member or customer of.

They're playing Beethoven's fifth symphony on the Dallas classical station that I stream, and I can see how it became such a symbol for WWII resistance movements. It starts ominous but then emerges into light, triumph and joy. The final movement makes me weepy with joy.

I now have bare/green spots in my hard that aren't just clumps of higher vegetation. It does look like the flower concentration is in the spots that melted first, though one bare patch will actually be a shady spot when the trees leaf out, so it's not a perfect indicator of sunny spots.

There's a pancake supper tonight, but I have to confess that I'm not a huge fan of pancakes. I'll eat them if that's what's being served, but I prefer waffles. This stems from a past church pancake supper when the youth group was doing it as a fundraiser, and they didn't know what they were doing.

It's 60 F here, and it was disconcerting this morning being out and about in sweater weather with snow and ice still all over the place. Southern slopes are looking green, but shady spots and northern slopes are still white, and there are still walls of ice all over.

People around here can thank me when we don't have any more really cold days this season. I just bought a winter coat that's rated to 0 F. My winter coats were all good for Texas, but not up to the winters here. Now that I have a coat, it'll stay warm and I'll never wear it.

The rug is cushier than I thought. It was shipped vacuum-sealed, and the packaging info said it would plump up over a few days after it was released and laid out. I keep thinking "now I'm done with the house" then come up with more things I need, but I feel done with big stuff.

There are some really pretty dresses in the pairs competition. I'd wear some of those with a longer skirt if I needed a special occasion dress.

My new rug for the downstairs room has arrived, with no FedEx drama this time. I think I did a good job picking colors when ordering online because it's a good match to other stuff I have in that room, and if my pottery comes out as planned, my pottery will go well with it.

I just realized that the guy who won the gold in men's figure skating is Panda Guy. He did his exhibition program at the world championships in a panda costume. This guy is nuts in an adorable, fun way. Will the panda return for the Olympics exhibition?

It's been above freezing for more than 48 hours straight and rained all day yesterday, and my backyard is still pretty much solid white. It's less pristine than it was, but still ... We're supposed to be above freezing and even warm most of the week, so maybe the ice will be gone soon.

I wonder how ski jumping was invented. Was it a deliberate attempt to create a sport, or was it a case of "Uh oh, the mountain ends there -- oh, hey, I survived, and that was fun. I want to do it again."

Today I got the blessing of cancelled plans. We were supposed to have an arts organization committee meeting the day the winter storm hit, then there was an e-mail about whether today would work to reschedule, but no update to confirm and no reminder, so I asked the committee head when I saw her.

The Great Texas Blackout started 5 years ago today. During a winter storm with daytime temps in the teens, the state's grid was on the verge of collapse, so they started "rolling" blackouts, then found in a lot of places they couldn't turn it back on.

Yep, the Mennonites are rising up. They took over the Target for an anti-ICE hymn sing to shame Target for their cooperation. augustafreepress.com/news/harriso...

When I'm trying to choose something to watch, I'm always torn between something I've seen before that I know I like and something new I'm uncertain of. There are things I saw ages ago and barely remember, so it's almost like seeing something new, but I know I like them, and they tend to win.

I made a thin-crust pizza last night, and I think I'm going to make a pan pizza tonight. My Valentine's celebration with myself will involve pizza, some Chianti, chocolate, and maybe a rom-com. I need to think of a movie to watch. Or else I'll continue my Andor rewatch.

FedEx may be back to their old antics. I had a delivery scheduled between 10:40 and 12:40. It's now been switched to "end of day" with no driver assigned. Odds are slim I see it today. It's no rush. I'd have to mop the kitchen floor before I can put out the mats, anyway.

And I'm now done with the pottery class. I just have to wait for them to do the glaze firing on my pieces to see how they come out. You can't tell how they'll look based on just the glaze because there's a chemical reaction in the kiln.

Today's my last pottery class, assuming they finally got the kiln to work. And this is the first morning since the first class when it's above freezing. I'd like to walk, but the sidewalks still aren't too clear, and there's ice sliding off roofs.

I read a lot. My family was really close, and we did a lot of things together, like taking long walks or watching TV together, and we ate all meals together. I moved a lot (army brat) and I wrote letters to friends from prior places I lived. I played musical instruments.

Today on the blog: One of my comfort views, a romantic adventure series that was generally overlooked at the time it was on: shannaswendson.com/a-romantic-a...