Do over please

[rthstewart]

This whole week has been an exercise in frustration.  I spent hours of work in the yard last week only to find that I still have mildew on my monarda (bee balm) in the butterfly garden.  Over the last day, I've spent hours researching what was a wonderful, brilliant and awesome idea at work that has now completely crashed and burned.  Sigh.  So frustrating.

Fic has not been rewarding as I slowly, ever so slowly, work on the next chapter of H&M (current word count 9,100).  It tells you something about my lack of enthusiasm and my degree of burn out that I've been working out on the treadmill rather than trying to write.  I wrote an additional 6,000 words that I ended up deleting or removing for possible later use elsewhere.  I have an additional 22,000 words of stuff for this part of the story in various states of good, bad, and ugly.   I feel badly that it's been so long since an update from me so maybe this weekend?  I hope?  So here, have a sneak peek:


Edmund is dangling Shinys in front of the Crow.

“The Dwarfs made a desk and chair for you. Your desk has more drawers than my library desk and your chair is very comfortable,” Edmund said feelingly. “And your new strong box is larger than mine and it has shelves.”

“You sat in my chair?”

“I did! It’s a very nice chair.”

“And my strong box, did you compare the volume or just the outer dimensions?”

“Yours exceeded mine on all parameters. As King I’m well within my rights to confiscate office, chair, strong box, and desk for myself. But Mrs. Furner wouldn’t let me.”

“Poor King,” Morgan murmured sadly. “Such injustice. And tell me again. Has an Otter ever taken an orange over a mountain pass for you?”

“Does throwing dead fish bits at my head count?”

She laughed. “These are all excellent incentives for returning to Narnia, sir. I’m still holding out for more.”


Edit: Goodness I'm cranky.  So, something happy.  Our bullfrogs are back in the pond and croaking up a storm and so far have not been eaten by passing herons.  The cardinals, goldfinches, black-capped chickadees, woodpeckers and nuthatches are mobbing our feeders and managing to hold their own against the marauding crows and starlings.   I've planted a new red salvia and I'm waiting for the red hibiscus in my butterfly garden because then we will get the hummingbirds (and no, I've never heard them swear).

Comments

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

I am sorry to hear of the frustrations. *hugs*

[autumnia]

As one who has not posted an update to WIPs in well over a year, I'm certainly not one who will rush you to post the next chapter. Just do it when you think it's finally ready.

But oh Edmund... this particular Crow is hmm... well, greedy comes to mind though I don't think it's quite the right word... He'll need more than that to sway this particular bird. :-) I suggest offering up amendments to the Contract as well as other official royal documents that needs to be drafted.

ETA: Oh, and thanks to you, I can't watch the first video on this page without thinking, "They are hiding their true evil nature behind the cute facade," and "Where's an orange when you need one?"

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, you think they look cute, until they go after Mugger Crocodiles and alligators in the Everglades!!

[julietvalcouer.livejournal.com]

Perhaps the garden will fix itself. I thought two of my three star of astara blue asters had gotten zapped by unseasonable cold (I'm trying to a bird garden near my feeders) and I found new growth poking through the anti-weed mat on Sunday. Even some of the seeds I thought had mildeweed in the Aerogarden sprouted anyway. Of course now I have to transplant them.

We shall not discuss procrastinating. Writers don't procrastinate, we muse. (Or we start new projects to create the impression we're not avoiding old ones, just working on other things. Not that I have a fanfic left hanging for months....)

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

That wonderful that some of them survived! The monarda are, in this climate, super-prone to powdery mildew. I'm frustrated because I spent time last weekend really working to prevent -- talked to the landscaper, made sure they were adequately fed and watered, cleaned the beds and pre-treated with a very good quality fungicide. and STILL all the spots started today. I'll treat them again tomorrow and hopefully "nip it in the bud" as the saying goes. Yeah and as for procrastination, I'm totally not thinking of that Gen Avengers in a diner story. Or Hawkeye and Black Widow in Eastern Europe running from Securitati at the Romania/Hungarian border and scaling the walls of Vlad Dracul's castle.

[the_rck]

::hugs:: I'm sorry things are so frustrating!

The chapter will take as long as it takes. Don't be hard on yourself over it.

[(Anonymous)]

You're not procrastinating, you're offering others the rare opportunity to test their endurance. It will all be very lovely, I'm sure and I will enjoy reading it between baseball games this weekend :)

doctor dolly

[amine-eyes.livejournal.com]

*hugs tightly* Don't worry about the chapter, seriously :) Post when you want, it's okay! :)

(Also I will FINALLY be able to sit and leave that review this weekend! :DDDD)

And The wildlife in the garden sounds amazing :DDDDD

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Congrats on being done!!! YEAH!!!!

[heverus.livejournal.com]

Hope things take a turn and the week ends on a high note. And I'm sure your readers are perfectly okay waiting patiently for your next chapter-- you can't rush fine art. :)

[sedri.livejournal.com]

Sorry to hear you're having such a lousy time. Still, hopefully it'll be over once you finish the chapter and feel all accomplished. But that's a lovely, sweet little snippet. I hope things improve soon.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Yes, I am aiming for some nice and sweet and fun! Yes fun! Funny!

“I believe you are lying and are under duress,” Jalur said from behind the closed door. “Something is wrong. King Edmund? Are you both are being held hostage and forced to speak lies? I knew we should not have permitted the Otter to accompany us. He is behind this evil. Prepare to die, Otter.” There was another growl and the door creaked as a very large carnivore pressed his weight against it. There were sounds of scratches, of teeth and claw on metal, which meant Jalur was trying to manipulate the door knob open.

Edmund jumped up from the sofa before real damage to Lune’s castle was done, strode open to the door and threw it open. Jalur and Jina both tumbled into the room in a disordered pile of brown, black, white, and golden hair. Tiger and Hound rolled apart and sprang to their feet, growling, spit and fur flying.

“You were both trying to eavesdrop,” Edmund accused.

[sedri.livejournal.com]

Ha! That they were :)

[hungrytiger11.livejournal.com]

While I certainly really liked this snippet, sometimes you just need to take time from a story. Hope the mildew issue gets resolved.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Better living through chemicals all around. The Bee Balm will get organic mildew remedies tomorrow and I am self-administering jelly beans.

[lady_songsmith]

Eek, that's a really rotten week. Calming Manatee says you need some wine.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Snippet looks good!

[(Anonymous)]

And we can wait for the rest. I love the comment about the otter rolling an orange over the mountains for Morgan. When I read that bit in the last chapter I just went "Ohhhh...!" I wanted to hug the otter too. Morgan is so special even the otters want her back! Now if Edmund could just convey his emotions as clearly..!

I can sympathise with the gardening woes. No mildew but the Plant From Hell is back. It's a kind of bell-flower which has roots like parsnips which lurk two feet down under concrete and reproduces from microscopic fragments and from seed. And it looks just like black eyed susans when it is growing, so I can't tell which is which until it is grown. It is everywhere in my neighbourhood and all you can do is fight a rear-guard action weeding (or use napalm.) If I ever discover who first introduced it...And why does grass refuse to grow in the small lawn but merrily grow in all the flower beds? I want some Dryad gardeners!

Anyway take the time you need for both writing and gardening and many thanks in advance.

ClaireI

Re: Snippet looks good!

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

roots like parsnips? Ugh. I get so irritated with gardening stores. The never fail mildew remedy of last year was dissed this year for another. I took some pictures today and will post in a little while -- in particular, the male holly bush that Started it All.

As for the writing, yeah, I think posting this weekend will happen. I'm at GULP suddenly 12,500 words and not sure how I got there but I' back to the normal pace again. so... we'll see...

[h-dash-h.livejournal.com]

Hey, I'm still stalled on my "everybody lives" AU although I haven't stopped thinking about it. And I have a plot bunny or two rattling around along the idea of Lucy and Asim traipsing about the Wood Between the Worlds. I think my biggest problem there is that I can't quite figure out how to write Asim with Lucy. We see a bit of his struggle to deal with her physical exuberance, and I also keep ending up in conversations that Lucy would have without a concern but Asim would prefer never to mention or think about except as part of the trials of his faith, or something like that. Meh, hopefully I'll either figure it out or risk an out-of-character scene just to have something written.

But back to you- don't force it! You don't owe us anything! And if you walk away from it, it just might drag you back when you least expect it.

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Plot bunny involving Lucy and Asim? YOU MUST SHARE. AND I DON'T CARE IF YOU THINK THERE'S OOC. I don't CARE. Do you hear me?

Give me all the fic. Now. Go ahead. Risk it. You wouldn't believe where I'm going with Harold and Morgan so I'm in an egging on mood. Go for it.

[(Anonymous)]

Rth:

A few points:

The snippets all look enticing, but I agree with the other readers who have posted; give yourself time, art cannot be rushed, etc. It will come to you, but you are still making decisions, and that is a process and it is a good process, honed by time and perspective. If the treadmill, or even Excursions into Romanian myth/history are where you need to go first, well, that's what you should do...

Second, I don't garden, so I'm hugely impressed by women who do... I'm really sorry about your exhausting & frustrating week, but I'm dazzled by the prospect of your ability to savor the scent of blooms you planted yourself!

Clio1792

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

Awww, thank you! I've been thinking A LOT about your comment of how Edmund assumes that Morgan's lack of emotional demands means emotional self-sufficiency. They are both getting whacked around a lot and it will be good when they get the hell out of Archenland. I have wanted to make this happier! Funnier! And... errr, it's not.

[min023.livejournal.com]

Oh, that looks good, so I'm sorry it's frusting. Long distance, virtual hugs sent via the electrons.

I can so sympathise with the feeling of burnout and do-over. Every time I think I'm out from under my pile, someone dumps something else on the top. I figure if we all keep paddling, we'll get there in the end. Bleah.

Yay for jelly beans. My current self-medication of choice is chocolate, which suits the colder weather now appearing in my part of the world. Minus 5 celsius overnight in May - it's not decent. Your springtime butterfly garden (even with mildew) sounds wonderful right now

[rthstewart.livejournal.com]

You have been SO BUSY! I can just sense the fatigue from this end. Something I just realized why it's going so slowly, apart from fatigue, is that I'm writing Edmund completely out of order. WE have this vary mature, emotionally intelligent event with his mum in AW and then I'm back, literally years earlier when he's still hammering it all out. There's several years of emotional growth in here, plus going to the World's End. So, I write this emotionally intelligent, perceptive stuff and then I rip it out because he's not there yet.

Also, fighting.

Hang in there!!!

[min023.livejournal.com]

That's a very profound observation right there. And how frustrating to have this beautiful stuff that there's no place for yet. I can only echo the other posters - it will come when it comes