Realms of the Raven

So, after multiple more days of seeing Meeps outside daily and trying to tempt her inside, we have achieved success (again).

C saw her hanging about outside while he was getting the cat trap ready for another round of trying to trap her. Morganator opened the door and was good about stepping away then I put a bowl of food on the floor inside.

After multiple teasing attempts of wandering close, sticking just her nose in the doorway, then retreating, I finally gave up and sat down on the couch while trying to keep an eye out for the other cats who may try to take advantage of the open door to make their own break.

Suddenly she decided to come inside and sniff one of the other cats and I was able to slam the door shut. She is MOST offended and is now wanding around meowing LOUDLY at us.

Tough Tuna, Cat. You’re in now.

Just hope no one lets her out on the 4th of July.

Damned Feline.

So - yesterday evening I’m in the living room with the Morganator and C is upstairs playing City of Villains for his game night when there’s a HUGE boom and the entire house goes dark.

Now, it could have been worse, since it was still light out at this time of year at about 8:30 or so when it happened. And it wasn’t terribly cold…. But still.

No power. No phone…..

C went out to see what was going on just as I was calling the power company on my cell phone to report the outage.

Two huge cedar trees had fallen and landed on the power and phone lines across the road from us. They took out the lines to the pole beside our house and that of everyone up the road (only 3 houses, but still).

There are power and phone lines on the ground. Our neighbors have driven down to check and the fallen trees (+ wires) are blocking the road.

Just lovely…..

We end up going to bed since we didn’t know when the power company might get things fixed. Morganator squirmed for HOURS in our bed because he’s scared to sleep alone in the total darkness and no way was I giving him a candle or oil lamp.

At one point I woke up to hear chainsaws. At 3:15 the power came back on.

Phone company didn’t get their stuff fixed until this morning….

SHeesh - we’re on a roll of some sort!

So - after bragging that Meeps came back in a few days after the burglary, she’s escaped again.

Apparently while C had the front door open a little ways (and was standing there) to measure for new locks, she darted by him. He says the next thing he knew, she was standing on the porch and laughing at him (metaphorically, of course).

We saw her under the house that day (Tuesday) but nothing since. Hopefully she’ll come up for food when I can see her and (again) work at getting her back inside.

Sigh

So - Today I ordered a perimeter alarm system to be installed. A lovely $1200 but I do get money off my homeowners insurance for having it and I think I need the peace of mind right now.

Adding up just the replacement value of the items that were stolen is depressing. I was appalled and really depressed. And still worried about my cat, Meeps.

But things got a little better today. I found some personal items that they didn’t get which I had feared they did.

And, best of all, at just after midnight I was getting ready to go to bed and I saw a little black cat outside the sliding glass door. Now, mind you, the feral colony we caretake has about 10 little black cats but this one didn’t appear to have the ear notch we use to indicate we’ve caught and fixed the cat.

So I sloooowwwllly go over and open the glass door to see what said cat would do. Instead of running which would be normal for the ferals, she meows and sticks her head in the door.

Several of the other cats come over and sniff at her and don’t hiss and she just meows at them. At this point she’s about 2/3 of the way in the door so I try shutting it. She bolts back out.

So I open the door again. Any feral wouldn’t even come close…. She comes in again, meowing. This time I (barely) get the door shut in time and actually get her head in it (don’t worry, not hard) and she struggles and fights but pulls back until she’s inside.

She heads for the hills… But when I put out some squishy food in the kitchen, she’s eating it like the first meal she’s had in days (which it may be) about 5 minutes later.

MEEPS IS HOME….

Well, a slight possibility it’s one freaked out and confused stranger cat, but not likely.

Hallelujah. That’s a big load off my mind.

I got home from work early today in order to do fun things like wrap a present for a birthday party Morganator is going to on Saturday. I walked in the door and noticed a door open that we don’t generally leave open. At first I assumed that Morganator had left it open and was just hoping the cats were not into mischief.

Then I noticed the spot on the coffee table normally occupied by our laptop was empty.

Yep - we’d been burglarized.

So I call C who was on his way home, then call the cops. I just get agrier and angrier as I looked through the house.

It looks like the got in through a window in the playroom.

Missing (so far):
- Laptop
- Digital Camera
- 2 drawers of silver & amber jewelry (I make jewelry)
- my custom made platinum engagement and wedding rings
- 2 handguns and their carry cases
- collector knives - including the one we used to cut Morganator’s umbilical cord when he was born.

They totally tossed the bedroom around and the office. They had to be on foot because they didn’t take the fancy monitors or anything.

What a mess. I’m upset and angry. I’d like about 5 minutes alone with whomever did it with my 3 foot crowbar.

One of the cats is still missing. I’m hoping she’s just stuck somewhere and didn’t actually get outside.

Well, I have a synopsis, I have a query letter. All I’m waiting for now is a few more pieces of feedback to incorporate into the story and Tort & Retort can go off for consideration to the first epublisher I’ve targeted.

I’m excited and terrified, both.

Luckily, since it’s a 4-6 week response time, I will burn out on the “Check Email Every 2.5 Seconds” game after a few days and life will go back to normal.

Back to working on Raven’s White Hart - since I have an editor appointment to pitch it, it woudl be a very good idea if it’s at least at the rough draft complete done before Nationals. I was bummed to not get an agent appointment but oh well.

Wild ride, I tell you.

-

So, after discovering the short I’d finished the draft of is not suitable for the first publisher I wanted to send it to, I look at the other options available to me. Only to discover one daunting fact - they need a synposis.

What a scary word. Synopsis. WTF? Can I run now? Can I put out enough glitter or rhinestones to get a synopsis fairy to write one for me?

Sigh - okay. So I read some articles on writing synopses. Then I discover that they are pretty much in disagreement on most items. Arrrgh. Why aren’t there good rules?

I start trying to write the blasted thing. I mean, really, it’s only a 12K story. SURELY any idiot can write a synopsis for it.

Apparently I’m not just any idiot…. I must have written and deleted the first few sentences about 10 times. They sounded like a 6 year old. Really.

Then I manage to get a decent first paragraph - heck, maybe I’ll make it the blurb because it would work as one! I’m happy! So I send it to my ever patient author friend. She likes it…

There is HOPE. WOOT.

Finally I manage to discard my first theory of writing the synopsis based on pure plot and chronology and instead I focus on the emotions. Wow - after a few hours and about a page and a half of text, it doesn’t sound too bad. So (since it’s now after midnight), I mail it off to my author friend, my critique partner (Jaynie) and my test readers.

Today I heard back from 3 of the 4 and they LIKE IT…. One paragraph of correction but that’s the only thing I’ve heard that I need to fix.

I think I need some smelling salts now.

So, I’ve been working on getting Tort & Retort finished and today I was so happy that I’d finished the first draft. Now, mind you, it’s only a 12K story so it’s not like I wrote a tome but it’s the first one I’ve FINISHED.

All along I’ve had a plan to send it to a particular e-publisher and today I was so excited… in a few days I could send it. Especially wonderful since I had a decent blurb and this pub didn’t need a (dreaded) synopsis.

Just as I had hit send to wing it over the wires to my lovely critique partner and test readers, Jaynie told me something that *I* should have known already but instead, because I was a dipshit and didn’t re-read the submissions guidelines, I didn’t. That publisher doesn’t accept contemporaries.

NOT the news my lovely rush wanted to hear. I think my excitement deflated faster than the Hindenburg when completely on fire.

arrrrgh - so at 12K it’s too short for many houses, especially since I’ve not pubbed with them before. Hell, I’ve not pubbed any fiction before. I can’t really add a lot to it without some serious work because it’s a short, sweet little story with some hot sex, some humor and some erotica epublishing in-jokes. It just doesn’t have the bones to slap a lot of meat onto.

I think I settled on a different publisher to try though - and now I have to not only wait for the feedback and fixes I’m sure the first draft will need, but I’ll have to write the (insert graphical term for a sexually improbable act here) synposis.

Arrrgh

So - take a lesson from my woes. Read the submissions guidelines over and over… Don’t go on memory!

So, one of the people I dearly adore is a published author and I’ve been priviledged to act as a sounding board for her as she works on some new stories. I love being a test reader and am happy to offer opinions or any assistance I can. And I have a LOT of opinions to offer! And I think I learn something new with each one.

But, when this same person offered to read my WIP for me and help me, I was really torn and couldn’t quite figure out why until I bent Jaynie’s (virtual) ear for a while.

I think I try so hard to not impose on the authors I have made friends with because I don’t want to cross that friendship with asking them for favors. So many people drag on the published authors and try to get everything from goodies to free feedback to intros to publishers or agents that I just NEVER want to be seen as one of the folks who are only friends with an author if the author can help them.

So maybe I have a hard time accepting even if the authors offer help. I’m still not convinced they actually learn anything from me besides new ways to evidence neuroses. So to me I seem like a drain on already pressing time :)

I’m weird, huh? LOL