Sharon had a day off yesterday, so we stayed around the house, washed clothes, napped, and took some time to get over our big Weekend Wedding in Cambria. But this morning, it's back to the grind.
I previously defined my father's idea of the "Perfect Grass Year" being: Rain on Halloween, Green Grass on Thanksgiving, Fat Cows on Christmas. I've been a bit worried about our first rain coming in early October, fully three weeks ahead of Halloween. Sometimes when a rain comes too early and starts the grass, it can not follow up, and let the grass either dry up entirely, or really stunt it back.
But this year, we kept getting a little rain and the grass stayed wet all month long. And because the temperatures are still warm enough during the day to encourage growth in the new plants, the cattle are able to go out in the range areas, and nip a little green. I keep "lunching them along" with a little hay, but they finish that up quickly, then head into the back field for green.
Keep an eye on the southland this week. The temperatures and humidity are very conducive to serious fire threats, and then add in some Santa Ana Winds, and you have the recipe for late-season fires in the south. Had to chuckle at one fireman who commented on the Wildland Fire web site, "The difference between baseball season, and fire season? At least we HAD a baseball season."
One of my means of income is as a Mobile Notary Public. I get assigned to do Loan Packages, most of the time as a re-fi loan. Watching the interest rates decline, I had hoped the calls to do Loan Signings would pick up within a month or so. It has taken nearly 3-4 months for the volume of calls to pick up, but it is finally increasing.
When I took Chapter 4 of Fire on Black Mountain, my Young Reader novel, to my superb critique group two weeks ago, it was suggested that it needed a little more "tension" or "conflict" in this chapter. There was a lot of description, even a fair amount of dialogue to expand the descriptions, but it was suggested I add in a reason for a 10-year-old reader to keep turning pages to "see what's going to happen."
I spent most of Monday afternoon trying to do that successfully, but am not sure how I did. I am planning on taking it again, and reading it a second time to get a gauge on the effect of my work.
The critique group is like having 4 seasoned professors, in a post-graduate course on writing. They have helped me so much, and have allowed me to improve my writing skills, but most importantly my editing skills.
The hard part is not always in getting the words down on paper, or in my case on the computer screen. The hard part is going back over what you've written and chop, tweak, and edit it effectively.
At times when I am writing, and especially when I'm editing my own work, I "hear" one of the other group members stressing some point, and I am able to make changes based on their suggestions. And they are just that ... suggestions.
There are times when one of us will use a particular word to describe something. During the critique a comment is made, "That word just doesn't work for me." The writer always has the option to take or ignore the suggestion. I have had the experience of leaving a word in something, then taken it back to the group. The same person will circle that word again and have the same comment a second time. Now I really have to look at it carefully.
But, I know far beyond any question, my membership in this group has made a huge difference in my ability to craft words into readable tales. And I thank them sincerely.
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