sales « Robin Writes

Okay, okay, I’ll talk about the elephant in the room—REPEAT!

Yes, it’s coming, this winter . . . I promise! In the next few weeks, I’ll narrow it down a bit more. The problem is that I’ve been a little distracted . . .

First, as you know, we’ve been remodeling and re-everything-ing our new farm in preparation for moving in the spring. What a project!

Second, I do have a business to run, and lots of time is spent on the Guild, plus the Creve Coeur Days board is gearing up again for next June . . . and the kid is a senior in high school! Holy cow . . .

Third, I’ve been working on a new WIP: Turtle Stampede.

And all I’m going to say about that is it’s a doozy! [insert maniacal laugh] Think Sharknado . . .

All that said, most of you know I’m a panster, not a planner, but I also don’t believe that a “real” writer has to write every day. Although I usually do.

I’m certainly not one for setting the alarm clock for 4:00 a.m. just so I can write—good grief, it would look like this:

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So, no.

I have to feel it, be in the moment, be inspired. And yes, sometimes that occurs at the most awkward time. 😉

At any rate, just so you know, REPEAT is coming!

And here’s the opener:

The dark clouds came from the west, boiling and black. The wind whipped across the land, shoving aside everything in its path, everything that wasn’t secure. The man behind that wind, responsible for the coming storm, figuratively if not literally, was safely ensconced behind his walls as he watched the clouds move east.

Unbreachable walls, impenetrable, and this time he would succeed. He laughed wryly at his own wit, comparing himself to every supervillain ever conceived, fictional or otherwise, because he knew without a doubt that he was the best. Indeed, he was the only one of the original plotters still alive, thanks to his planning and foresight and, of course, his intelligence. And VADER. Credit where credit is due, he supposed.

He shrugged. Too bad, really, that so many had died. Yes. Terrible. But it had made his plans so much easier to execute. And now, when they all least expected it, there was one more move to make.

Just one.

Repeat.

No, no it does not.

Every time we turn around, we find something else that needs to be done. Now, if we hadn’t bought a place that was previously lived-in, things would be different. Not necessarily easier, but different.

We’ve had to clean up and clean out everything that the seller left here, which was a lot. And I can’t emphasize “a lot” enough times to make anyone comprehend, so let’s just say that emptying the house alone took three 10-hour days with three people working. And it’s just 900 square feet.

Now that I think about it, when we first moved to Texas, we rented a 900 square foot house. There were two adults, three kids, and a large dog. Yikes! And I think they counted the garage in the final number!

Anyway, we also had to clean out the barn, 40 X 60, and the yard around the house, the garden area, the pasture, etc., etc. Thank heavens a couple neighbors offered to take down and salvage the old house, or it would still be sitting here too.

Today, my husband worked on both sides of the road near the garden. Tons of junk: more of those infernal air mattresses, wire fence sections, planter boxes, metal and plastic containers and buckets, and of course, rocks. Lots of rocks.

Nothing that we haven’t already picked up everywhere else. Well, except for the snake eggs:

In other news, we’ve been washing newly acquired boats, putting together a little grill, power washing the house and decks, putting up drywall, skim-coating old drywall, sanding, and maybe—with a little luck—starting to paint. Finally! Oh, and we painted the ceiling too. Amazing. I think it was white at one point, and now it is again!

Oh yeah—forgot the dodging snakes bit. No, not the eggs, those were black snake eggs. I meant the copperhead that greeted my husband on the deck this morning when he reached for a can of bug spray:

Thankfully, this week there were no surprises—except the rain that finally came, along with strobe-light lightning, all night. And it was a long night, between the puppy ruffing at every noise and the dog trying to get under our bed (an air mattress!). Oy.

So far, anyway, we’ve missed the snakes…