On Writing: Mischief Managed, More Planned

    I hit my Clarion Write-a-Thon goal with twelve days to spare. It wasn’t a supremely ambitious goal – a mere 20,000 new words between June 24 and Aug. 5. I’ve pulled off NaNoWriMo thrice (50,000 words in thirty days), so 20K wasn’t a huge stretch – but it did keep me writing, and, frankly, I needed the crutch offered by the artificial deadlines.

On Writing: Renovations, a Write-a-Thon, and my Graduation Speech

It’s the middle of the second week of my summer vacation, and I’ve filled the time so far with home renovations and writing. We live in a one-a-half –story Cape, and, as part of a five-year spruce-up plan, we’re working to make that half story livable. My office has been up there for the past four years, but it’s not insulated. As a result, I broil in the summer and freeze in the winter. We put a bathroom up there last summer, and this summer we’re hacking out a “master” bedroom, a craftroom for my wife, and a library area. I do whatever bits of the work I can, and call in experts for anything that could gush water, electrocute, or be seen with the naked eye.