Camp Draft Part II, or Attack of the Angry Mosquitos

Last month, I was at Camp Draft, where a number of writing projects were going to get done. Unfortunately, early that month, anxiety roared in like a swarm of angry mosquitos sending me cowering under my bunk, whimpering, with my arms over my head. But, thankfully, my protagonists are braver and smarter than I am, and they eventually lured the swarm away with some Key Lime Pie ice cream (I’m not sure this would work in real life but here, at Camp Draft, weirdness often works.) Coincidentally, this is also how my protagonists lured me out from under the bunk so we could get back to work.  

What got done:

The Longer Short Story – a solid rough draft! 

The Drabble – written, revised too many times to count and submitted!

 

What did not get done:

The Novella

 

So, I decided another session of Camp Draft was in order for August. This time around, we’re going to:

 

* Finish the nightmare road trip – aka The Longer Short Story – and revise it until it stops chanting “are we there yet?” so I can hopefully submit it. 

 

* Explore that cursed island where the Novella lives, and hang out with two of my protagonists and let them tell me all the secrets, or at least the ones they know about. This project will be about progress, and even though I’m not exactly sure what that looks like, I’ll know it when I see it.

 

Hopefully, August will be free of angry mosquitos. But I’m going to stock up on some of that Key Lime Pie ice cream, you know, um, just in case…. 

 

*****

How’s your summer going? Having fun? Getting projects done? Staying cool, calm and collected? Hiding from angry mosquitos?

Is There a Draft in Here?

I definitely feel a draft, and not just the one from the a/c. By the end of July, the first drafts of two stories should – fingers crossed! – give me more chills than the Key Lime Pie ice cream I like too much. 

Welcome to Camp Draft! 

Where:

* I will dive into my novella, featuring a cursed island.

* I will most likely get car sick writing about a road trip gone very, very wrong.  

* And I might dabble with a drabble.

 

Also, here at Camp Draft:

* The only counselors look a lot like tortoises. 

* The only activities are jumping over plot holes and napping.

* My bunkmates are kid characters who are way braver than I am. 

* And the s’mores look – and taste - like cake. 

 

Here I go! 

The Summer of Salads, Stories and Sweat

For a lot of people summer is about relaxing and vacations, but for me, it’s usually when I pretty much hibernate in my air conditioned hidey-hole. This summer is all about:  

SALADS and lighter meals. It’s about getting healthier on the inside. You’d think as a vegetarian I’d have this down but, since pasta is my go-to pal, not so much. 

 

STORIES! Writing my own, of course, but reading and watching them, too. Stories are everywhere!

 

SWEAT. And I don’t mean by just sitting out on the lanai in the Florida summer. I mean the kind I get when I hang out with my old frenemy, the dreadmill . . .  

 

Now, of course, life happens and hurricanes howl through, so this is only a loose plan. But I’m giving it a go!

*****

WRITING

I finished and subbed a drabble. I made a little progress on the longer short story and a little more progress on the novella. 

READING

I’m behind on my 2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge. For some reason, I’m struggling with reading this year. But since part of this summer is all about stories, I hope to remedy that soon enough.  

WATCHING

TV – My husband and I are thoroughly enjoying My Best Friend’s An Animal [National Geographic, Hulu] So many amazing animals and people out there! (I’m always a little wary of animal shows because I don’t like when they show the gory side of nature. This one doesn’t.) 

 

Movies – We really liked Neighborhood Watch (with Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and The Drop was an entertaining way to spend an hour or so.

 

*****

 

What are your summer plans? Do you have any go-to (vegetarian!) lighter meals/salads? Or cookbooks, websites, etc. you like? Any favorite workouts or ways to make gym time go faster? Any suggestions for non-gory animal or nature shows? 

Quirks in the Night

I’m not particularly adept at using my phone – bad eyesight and fumble fingers - so when a character or a line of dialogue or a story idea strikes in the night, I don’t bother reaching for my glasses or my phone. (Besides, there’s a very good chance I’ll knock one or both of them off the nightstand anyway.) 

Instead, I nudge my husband and he’s got his phone in his hand, email open, ready to take dictation in the middle of the night. The next day, I open my email and voila! There are my thoughts, all nicely typed out and legible. (Of course, that doesn’t mean it makes sense, but that’s on me not my husband.) 

It's just one of the many, many . . . um, let’s call them, quirks . . . of mine that my husband puts up with. This month, we’ll be married 26 years, and while he is now, apparently, my personal assistant/secretary, he still is and always will be, my rock and my wings.  

WRITING

I’m playing with ideas for some upcoming themed submission opportunities, one for a drabble and one for a short story. Another short story idea is waiting patiently for its turn. 

 

Progress is being made on a longer story/novella. It’s slow going because I’m still fleshing out backstory and foundational stuff, trying to fill in as many plot holes as I can now so I don’t fall into them later. I’m considering doing my own version of NaNo later this summer to get down a first draft. 

READING

Loved the delightful and heartwarming middle grade novel Old School by Gordon Korman. Five stars and easily one of my favorite books of the year! And I also really liked Sunrise on the Reaping (The Hunger Games, #0.5) by Suzanne Collins. It took me back to when I first read The Hunger Games.

 

WATCHING

TV – Thoroughly enjoyed A Man on the Inside (with Ted Danson, on Netflix)! Fun and funny, heartbreaking and heartwarming. Looking forward to Season Two! And, at pretty much the opposite end of the spectrum, is the dark but absolutely compelling, Adolescence (Netflix.) The acting blew my mind. 

 

Movie – My hopes for The Companion were that it would be solid, a pleasant enough way to be entertained for a couple of hours. Turned out to be way better than I thought! Dark and creepy, yes, but also a whole lot of fun in a weird twisted way. 

 

*****

Are you handy with your phone? Any tips for old Fumble Fingers here? Do you have someone in your life who encourages and supports your creativity? If you’ve done your own version of NaNo, how did you set it up and how did it go? Read or watched anything good lately?

Reigniting that Creative Spark

Recently, our neighborhood held an “art walk” where local artists and crafters could open up their homes, let people see their studios and maybe sell their work. It didn’t matter if the studio was an extra bedroom or a den, a converted garage or a tiny laundry room, wonderful work came out of them - jewelry, sea glass crafts, mosaics and art quilts, to name a few. But my favorite part of the experience was getting to chat with some of the artists and crafters.  

From the person who created fun and funky mosaic tables and tiles to the person who incorporated found objects, like ripped screen from a hurricane, into her work, the excitement and passion held by everyone was inspiring. Being around people like that never fails to reignite that spark in me. 

 

WRITING

A pretty decent draft of a longer short story is done and resting quietly. A couple of ideas are in the starting stages, which means lots of scribbled scraps of paper all over the house and messy thoughts typed up in a way that only makes sense to me.

 

Last month, I mentioned that my short story, Bad Candy, will be out in Inanimate Things Volume 2 on April 18th. The anthology is getting positive reviews over on Goodreads. 

READING

Lisa Genova’s More or Less Maddy is definitely one of my favorite books of 2025. The blurb says - “A breathless, riveting novel about a young woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder who rejects the stability and approval found in a traditionally “normal” life for a career in stand-up comedy.” I will absolutely attest to the breathless and riveting part of that statement! 

 

WATCHING

TV - We finished our re-watch of The West Wing. Once again, another show with some clunky seasons in the middle, but it finished pretty strong and we enjoyed it overall. We also re-watched the first season of The Night Agent, and it was just as good as we remembered. The second season? Not so much. I’m not sure what happened there.  

 

*****

What reignites that creative spark for you? Are there people in your life who are excited and passionate about something? Are YOU that person for others? What are you reading or watching lately? 

Bad Candy - Inanimate Things: Volume 2

Louise knew candy was bad for her. 

She just didn’t know how bad.

 

My short story, “Bad Candy” is included in the anthology, Inanimate Things: Volume 2 (Burial Books, April 2025.) This story is a bit of a departure for me in that it’s not flash or micro fiction but a full-blown short story at about 1,900 words. 

 

From the blurb – 

“Living Puppets, Animated Houses, Creepy Cars, Hard Candy, Stoned Scarecrows, Exterior Illumination, Cardboard Maniacs, and More Mannequins. These are a few of the things that will devour your soul and invade your dreams. Digest these tales and try to be kind to the things you see. Just because you don’t think they’re conscious, doesn’t mean they aren’t.

 

Stories by acclaimed horror authors Jason Fischer, John Gosham, Sandra Henriques, Patrick Herald, Michael Lawrence, Colin Adams-Toomey, Cory Brock, Madeline Mora-Summonte, Truman Ramsey, Mark Peters, Anne Wilkins, Carter Aldridge, Jimmy Pudge, Paul Lonardo, Ira Thackston II, Stuart Conover, Damon Nomad, Kay Hanifen, and Stephen Rhoades."

PRE-ORDER NOW ON AMAZON

Scheduled for release on April 18, 2025

Down But Not Out

Well, the first month of 2025 found the TSR household down for the count. My husband and I rarely get sick but when we do, it lingers. And the cold, damp, gray, rainy days did not help. In between bouts of chills and coughing and making sure the palm trees outside were not covered in snow, I’d sing “Tomorrow” from Annie, like some prayer of desperation. (And believe me, if I’m attempting to sing, it’s a desperate situation.)

 

So, pretty much all momentum was lost around here, but although we were down, we are not out! 

 

WRITING

My Write 25 in 25 helped me keep at writing, even with being sick. It’s mostly been sessions of 2-5 minutes since that was about all I could focus on.    

 

READING

I was in a bit of a reading slump, but then the fun, twisty thriller, Cross My Heart by Megan Collins pulled me in and wouldn’t let go.  

 

WATCHING

TV – We finished our re-watch of "LA Law"! We definitely enjoyed the first bunch of seasons, and even though it kind of fell apart after that, it was still fun. We’re now re-watching/watching "The West Wing." My husband and I both remember starting this series when it first came out but neither of us can remember if we ever finished it.

 

Movie – although it felt kind of long, we liked "Conclave." The acting was good. And, of course, we enjoyed the turtles. 

 

*****

How do you get your focus and/or momentum back after being sick? Have you read or watched anything that broke through a slump for you?