lishmcbride

Lena Chapter 29

Chapter up! I'm curious to see what the drove offers up instead of an oxen. Anyone have any guesses?

Lena Chapter 28

I took Home Economics in junior high--they don't call it that anymore, I don't think. I think it's called Life Skills or something, now. I didn't take it because I thought it was easy. To me it sounded useful. I could already cook some, and I knew how to replace a button, but I figured the class would be a good idea. Baking is no problem. I like baking. Sewing...I'm not patient enough for sewing. I'm not quite as bad as Lena is (my dinosaur pillow turned out fairly dinosaur shaped and with a ...

What Am I Working On Now?

So, I'm having a funny moment with the Lena book--I've somewhat painted myself into a corner. Normally, I'd let it sit for a bit while I thought it over and my subconscious would cough something up. Except I owe y'all a chapter, so I can't exactly do that. Which means I've tossed the book over to my friend J who is a speed reader and great about talking through plot with me when I get stuck. Which means I should have enough of an idea to get a chapter to you later this week. I owe J a pony at...

Lena Story Chapter 27

New chapter up! Woo!

For those of you who have never heard the Doom Song, you can find it here. (It's from Invader Zim.) 

-Lish

Lena Chapter 26

The plot, it thickens. (Why does that sound kind of filthy?) 

A Little Message About Dreams

(And by "little" I mean "somewhat long and rambling" and I'm sorry?)

So last week (has it been a week? Seriously, my sense of time has been completely disordered because this week broke my brain.) I mentioned a moment in a movie where a character gets their dream. They get to hold it in their hands and just bask in it. I can tell you, it's an amazing feeling. But then that characters suddenly looks around and says, "What happens now?" And oh. Oh how that moment resonated.

My Brain is a Festive Pudding

The holidays are always a little extra busy for us. Besides Christmas, my husband's family has four birthdays between the 28th and Jan 4th. Normally we get together and do one birthday thing, but obviously we didn't do that this year. So Man Friend's birthday was yesterday and he mostly spent it making himself a chair, because that's what he does now. He would have survived earlier eras, whereas I would have either died of something silly or been burned as a witch. (I'll post pics of the chai...

A little writing advice from my Twitter feed to you.

Some off the cuff advice for anyone who might need it. Your mileage, of course, may vary. (Also, please ignore all the typos.) If you have any questions or your own advice, hit me up in the comments!

Lena Chapter 25

The above image has nothing to do with the story, but it IS part of the view from the Murder Shack and I thought I'd share it.

Hope you're all getting a little rest and a little joy in the winter darkness. 

-Lish

Lena Chapter 24 Part 2

This was going to be more of a cliffhanger ending, but I thought it might make Mel, my copy editor, mad. So you all have Mel to thank. Ha! Enjoy!

-Lish

Lena Chapter 24 and other things

New chapter! And we're finally getting to one of the creatures that was suggested by one of you earlier. (I don't want to spoiler it. You'll see.) And more wolf-like things. Yes, I know. Too many wolves. This is what happens when I don't have a content editor telling me no.

It's the holiday-type season. We've already watched some really questionable films, and a few fun ones. Holiday was a cute holiday romcom. The Babysitter was a really fun horror comedy. Santa Jaws was...Santa Jaws. A...

Turkey Time, Book Recs, and a Text Convo

I hope everyone had a good holiday--I meant to post yesterday but kept forgetting because I was cooking all the things. Smalls really loves "chefing" as he calls it, and helped a lot in the kitchen. I was trying to get out of making a turkey this year (I don't eat it) since we wouldn't have the usual influx of family, but Smalls wanted a turkey like he saw in a cartoon. He wanted to eat the leg, like a tiny barbarian. Yesterday all his dreams came true--or at least his turkey related ones. He...

Mashed Potato Day LOOMS

I wanted to offer you a new text convo for the holidays—who do you want to hear from? Anyone from any of my books.

Also please enjoy my son’s zombie Turkey from several years ago. I love the glitter blood.

Well, hello there!

Penguin Teen revealed my new cover today! I'm so excited to finally get to share it. I've been very lucky to have good covers and this one does not disappoint! (It's been so hard to keep this under my hat.) They also posted the prologue for all to read--and though I think I've shared it with you all before, it's there if you want to share it far and wide! Normally I'd say July, 2021 wil...

Lena Chapter 23

New pages and old friends! Enjoy!

So long, October.

We didn't trick o' treat, but Smalls wanted to be Freddy Kruger for Halloween...because of course he did. He got to do a flash light candy hunt in my friend's back yard as we enjoyed a fire pit and a cocktail. We also watched a lot of spooky movies. It wasn't our usual traditions, but we had a good time and it was cool to see what creative ways people found to celebrate and hand out candy.

I should (hopefully) get up another Lena chapter this week. I'm also trying to do NaNoWrimo this y...

Lena Story Chapter 22 Part 2

A few familiar faces in this portion.  Hint. HINT. (And more to come.)

Lena Story Chapter 22

Mel wanted to name this chapter, FEELINGS...ALL THE FEELINGS. I don't think she's used to either me or Lena having feelings and this chapter has a lot of them. But Lena has been putting this off for a bit and it's now going to catch up to her a little. Instead it's called, I Wish I Could Just Punch Feelings in the Face. I feel like this a lot. I'm not good with feelings. You know that cliche where you see a macho man totally paralyzed by a woman crying? I'm that macho man. Only I'm not macho ...

Lish, what so copy edits look like?

So, at one point I promised to show you a bit of what copy edits look like. They look a bit like this, though sometimes there are more notes. I sort of miss the days when you'd get the huge paper stack with notes, but I understand why they went digital. But basically a copy editor does the fiddly bits--this means they check my grammar, yes. (I especially like to use commas for things that you don't use commas for. Random commas!) They also check for repetitive word use as well as continuity i...

Lena Story Chapter 21

I really need to think of a title for this book. I usually at least have a working title before I start. We're so far in and...I've got nothing. But at least I have a new chapter for you. And perhaps a few more cameos you will enjoy? Eh? Eeeeeeehhhhhhh?

Hope you're all staying safe and healthy out there.

-Lish

Lena Story Chapter 20

Look at the pretty new lights I got for my birthday! They were a gift from Mel, copy editor extraordinaire. The heart one is in the Murder Shack, and the unicorn has found a home on the bookshelves in my dining room. Thanks, Mel! They're lovely. I'm now on theme for this story.

I'm grateful to be back in the Murder Shack. It's not attached to the house--it's a shop space tacked on to the garage, and during the last week or so of extreme smoke adventures in the PNW, I couldn't use it. I ...

2020 Text Convo--featuring Sam and Friends

I haven't done a text conversation in awhile and I miss doing that, so here's a new one! I'm working on the next Lena chapter, and tying up some loose ends on the class I just taught, and then I'm taking a few days off for my birthday and to give us all a break. We've been home since March and everyone's a bit tired because *waves at 2020* and we decided to rent a house on the water for three days. We're doing our best to be safe, I promise. I'm bringing a few books from my TBR and leaving my...

Greeting from the Murder Shack & a Léna Question

Man Friend has been working on the garage, which is attached to the Murder Shack where I work. Like the super professional background I have now for when I have to teach workshops via zoom? Me too!

I’ve been in the Murder Shack a lot the last week or so because my editor sent my line edits to me and they’re due on the first. I took a pic so you can kind of see what line edits look like. All those pink lines and marks are changes I have to make, questions I need to answer, things I n...

Lena Story Chapter 19

I finally got a new chapter for you! It's so pleasing to have my brain back. Today we're celebrating Smalls's sixth birthday! Which means my mom is making him an ice cream cake and he has demanded bao (Chinese style dumplings), for his dinner. He's never had them, but he saw them on a show and he keeps demanding that I make them and I have no idea how to do that. So we're ordering out.

What else have I been up to? Teaching, dealing with Curses, and a bunch of other stuff I needed to get...

Curses Snippet and Question time!

First, sorry (not sorry?) about the zombie face surprise. I wanted to show you all that Man Friend found some of my old postcards while redoing our garage and put them up in the Murder Shack. This postcard was from 826Seattle (now Bureau of Fearless Ideas) and I love it. ( I used to volunteer there!) Also, that postcard is necessary right now. I think I've burned myself out a bit. I've been trying to write a new chapter of Lena for you...and it's been really slow going. I can usually sit down...

I turned the book in!

Today I’m catching up on house stuff I let slide and recalibrating my brain, then hopefully it’s back to writing tomorrow. I might also take a nap. I’m tired. Until then, enjoy this picture of my sunflowers about to bloom.

Did I plant these sunflowers? No. I planted tomatoes and strawberries. Squirrels/rabbits/possibly my cat destroyed them all. But birdseed fell and decided to grow and is now far outpacing my garden boxes in another part of the yard. The things I try to grow? Fai...

Lish, are you dead? Why haven't you posted?

I am not dead. I am, however, having a hell of a week. My revision is due ASAP. I still have a big chunk left, and I keep deleting chapters and then adding chapters, and then second guessing everything. (Which is normal, really, this one is just extra stressful.) I'm sitting pretty much all day in front of my laptop, trying to ignore the lovely weather, with a hot pack on my shoulders because I can't stop hunching like a turtle while revising. 

It doesn't help that I started teachi...

Lena Story Chapter 18

Yesterday was my...19th? Pretty sure it was 19th, anniversary. Considering the fact that both Man Friend and I openly said we weren't going to date each other (or anyone) when we met, that's pretty funny. We were both in a rough spot in our lives when we met and trying to be sensible about things. I was taking a break from dating because I recognized that I had been making extremely poor dating choices. In fact, Man Friend had to ask my best friend, Porkchop, permission to date me when we got...

Panic Brain and Other Fun Things

And no, I have no idea why he was talking about Isaac Newton and his weird quest to destroy Robert Hooke. (It's kind of interesting though. You should look into it if you've never heard of it, especially the work of Rita Greer, the portrait artist that tried to recreate his likeness and get it out into the world.)

My plan for today was to get up, write some new words for Lena, and then go back ...

Notes from Revision Land

I have not forgotten that I owe you a Lena chapter.  Revision ate my brain last week, but I planned to write on the weekend...and then my brain died. I had nothing to give. But I haven't forgotten! In the mean time, here is an offering of today's desk. It is absolutely LOVELY in Washington right now. The headache I got this weekend has chilled a little, so I can think past it, which is nice. Because revisions? They take some brain space. 

Usually, when I revise, I keep my edit...