Tag Archives: personal

I swear, I won’t talk about my day job here!

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Editing “Killer Orange” is going well, but the process is too slow for my tastes. Well, maybe I’m a harsh boss on myself, but I want it to be done and in my beta readers hands YESTERDAY. Does anyone have a TARDIS I can borrow?

The-TARDIS

“Blazing Heat” continues to grow, and I hate when the story is stuck in my brain ready to be typed and I can’t work on it. Time seems to be my enemy too.

The day job sucks up a lot of mental power, especially lately. I have two important UX projects with big clients, and then I have another project with a client that is prone to email chains of design changes. Fun.

Some days I stop and wonder, “Where did the time go? Am I getting older?”

More stories are coming! And I will be partaking in a Goodreads giveaway soon, and I’ll probably price Unbridled cheaper for a small amount of time when one of the other books come out.

To add to all that, I must be bonkers for consider squeezing in freelancing gigs too.

Well the family has to eat, I guess!

Until next time,

H.K. Rowe

The Story of My Macbook

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The skies are booming tonight in South Elgin. I have an anxious beagle leaning against me, ears up and listening as fireworks go off randomly. Once awhile he turns to me and looks into my eyes or licks my hand.

He’s not too keen on the noises apparently.

I’m trying to wrap up one of my short stories, but honestly, I’m anxious and a little tired. It was a rough week at work. I felt overwhelmed by numerous tasks and job roles, and sometimes I feel like I’m going through an identity crisis. The constant struggle between having ten dollars left in the bank account a week before payday and more led me to the decision to take on more part time work. I’ll probably hunt for jobs on oDesk this weekend.

At my SLA job, I told my supervisor I could take on another client. After doing so, my husband asked me when I’d have a day off. I said I wouldn’t. Because on those free nights, I’d be here, in my bedroom, writing on my Mac. Writing, writing, and more writing. Drafting too, but I count that as part of the process.

Then my thoughts wander to my Mac, how much comfort it’s given me over the years. It’s one of my most precious gifts. My husband surprised me with a Macbook Pro in 2007 on Black Friday. It ran Leopard (hey, it was cutting edge back then!) and even though he got the inexpensive version, he knew I needed it to write. He knew that if I continued to write up in my office, he’d hardly get to see me. I’m lucky I can write anywhere. Well… sometimes if the TV is too distracting I have to leave, but most of the time I can zone out into my writing, leaving the outside world behind. Ultimately, he wanted me to have a more mobile way of writing. I thank him for it.

Over the years, my Mac has become deprecated, but I still love it. I’ve had to replace a charger cord, a battery, a disk drive. I’ve added memory too. I upgraded it to Snow Leopard, and finally to Lion. It won’t go farther than that. It’s too old but that’s okay. This last winter the hard drive fried. I was really sad. We couldn’t afford another Mac; that was a luxury I didn’t have. So I shopped around for PCs. I used my work laptop for a while. Meh, it’s not the same. I’m okay with Windows 8, but there’s something about a Mac environment that I just missed.

So…looking at my funds and my options. I googled how much it would take to replace the hard drive. I searched my model on Amazon, and then I searched on YouTube (Gods Bless it!) how to replace a hard drive in a 2007 Macbook Pro. I found both! The HD was only $40! I could certainly swing that over a new computer. Plus, if I failed, I was only out forty bucks. I could still shop around for new ones. I could still use my work computer. So I got the new HD, realized I didn’t have a screw driver small enough to take the computer casing off, so husband and I headed to Home Depot and bought the tool I needed that night. (Plus, I got a new tool, so that was good!)

I spent pretty much the whole night until about 1 AM putting it together and then getting software installed. Getting the HD in didn’t take as long, but I got it in my head to put Linux and Mac on it, and out of frustration, I just used Ubuntu for a while. I…I tried to like it. For a couple of months I gave it a shot. I think the thing that wrecked it for me were the key commands. I was on a Mac and yet the key commands were just not the same.

So I started over. I installed Snow Leopard on it, and then Lion (because it was a download from the store) and yay! It’s back! Some things have changed. After awhile my Mac starts to chug and act labored. The casing gets too hot after a while. And my vast iTunes library is gone. I mean, it’s not gone. I brought back the Time machine files, but not everything was perfectly restored. Frankly, I’m keeping things light on my old friend. I’m using her for writing and net surfing and that’s about it. I installed Gimp and LibreOffice, but other than that, I use it mostly with Chrome. It works well enough.

And I got my old friend back. Here’s hoping the old girl gets me through a few more stories down the way. Cheers, H.K. Rowe

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A last minute diddy

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Marilyn-Monroe-Writing

So my submission for a short story anthology called Athena’s Daughters II is off! I’m happy to be able to put something together for it.

Whee! Fingers crossed!

Storms are coming through the Chicagoland area, and as scary as they seem, I rather like them. It’s been a rough Monday for me so I feel relaxed at chilling in bed with my Macbook on my lap while I write and catch up with my blogs.

We got the dogs back this morning too from the kennel. We were gone for vacation this last weekend and they haven’t been home. I missed them, and they were obviously mad because they’ve been vocal terrors all night. Whiskey decided to steal a pork sandwich right off my husband’s plate. But…that’s a beagle for you!

Looking forward to the 4th of July weekend. I hope for lots of writing! I was thinking of Camp Nanowrimo, but I’m too busy with other things. I have to start drafting Killer Orange this month, plus finish my short story Blazing Heat! I also have stories to read and submit feedback for other writers.

Good thing I’m so busy. It’s a broke month! LOL.

Cheers,

H.K. Rowe

 

Current Writing Challenges

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Greta Garbo knows it

Greta Garbo knows it

Lately I’ve been squeezing every free hour into writing, and so far it’s been very challenging. There are other factors, of course, and it’s been hard to catch up with things that were neglected while I was on my trip.

Some of the challenges are more obvious, like Time and Motivation, which are suffering because circumstances in this month are just eating them away.

I’m getting kind of tired of trying to navigate personal problems in order to find time for myself. I’m not sure I’ve figured out how to do that yet. I feel like a majority of my personal problems are from other people influencing me. I kind of wish I had the capability of shutting myself into my studio office at home and blocking out all the distractions, of needy dogs, a hungry husband, and friends and family constantly needing counseling.

Where’s my moment of solitary respite? When can I actually be rewarded with some kind of personal time for myself that everyone will understand that I need as a writer (and as an introspective thinker) and not act panicked or insulted when I say “No, I can’t” when they need me.

I have been failing at that, I suppose. It’s a learning process. I’m determined to make it work though. When I start to feel that my passion for writing is faltering, I know it’s not the passion itself but the frustration of seeing it just within my grasp and never being able to hold on to it.

The ideas are swirling around. My characters are calling to me, pretty much shouting in my ear. I’m listening but I feel like I’m stuck in cement.

And for once it’s not work that’s keeping me down. At least that is a refreshing constant.

Always,

H.K. Rowe

Back from Vacation

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Love-Philly

I’m back from a vacation in Philadelphia with girlfriends that was desperately needed and appreciated. I spent a lot of time relaxing, sight seeing, drinking wine, going out with friends, and enjoying not having anything expected of me for four days.

I came back to a clean house thanks to the husband, naughty dogs who missed me, and a feeling of renewal to get back to my life. I think the reprieve gave me some time to ponder over a lot of things I have been stuck on in the past few months.

The support for Unbridled was appreciated and I am grateful, but it’s time to move on to the next adventure. I’ve already started a short story and now with the vacation behind me, I can get back to the grind.

I have a busy month coming up, and I will be fighting for free writing time anywhere I can.

Until then, please enjoy Unbridled, and I will be posting some other story excerpts soon.

Cheers,

H.K. Rowe

 

Vacation & Writing

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Going on vacation in Philly starting Thursday. Of coure things are crazy up until I finally get on that plane, but I’m hoping to keep things in order.

I just hope to any god or goddess that will listen that this vacation renews my writing spirit because lately I’ve struggled so much with it.

Too many stories started with some sluggish in between times and endings in the far off distance. Ah, the worries and struggles of a writer.

Until next time,

H.K. Rowe

Vacation, Writing & Drafting + Excerpt

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My vacation comes up next week on June 12th. I’m headed out with some friends to Philadelphia to celebrate another friend’s birthday. It’s going to be a blast and the anticipation we all feel has been just bursting. I can’t wait to hang out with them all again. These girls helped me get through some of the worst times. Those are the kinds of people I treasure more than anything.

Before that, the weekend will be filled with a lot of things. Mostly, I’ll be doing some writing by starting two of my short stories I plan to release before Killer Orange, my next novel slated for August release. I will also be doing some marketing for Unbridled so I can leave some business cards with my book links in every place I go on my vacation! I don’t know how effective that is as marketing plan but hey, it’s better than nothing. We’ll see what the conversion rate is on that. I might even need to get a T-shirt made. 🙂

After my vacation, work will get serious! It’s time to start drafting Killer Orange as well as making those short stories presentable.

But to just wet your appetite for Killer Orange, here’s an excerpt — (Bear with me, it’s so raw and unedited at this point.)

***

Before she could push the button, she spotted someone coming up the driveway. Rolling her eyes, she marched forward, ready to punt the next person off her property the moment they asked her how much she was selling her things for!

“It’s not…” Her tempered voice trailed off when she set her eyes on the golden face with a bright smile. His hair looked like golden fleece in the sunlight, and she had to avert her eyes quickly before plunging into his whiskey colored eyes. “a garage sale…”

“Yeah, I know,” he said, chuckling. “I could hear you yelling it a million times from my house.” Rebecca tried not to stare, but she gave up and looked him over. Wow. Wow and double wow. He was a sight! The only problem was…like everyone else in this neighborhood, he was a tanning nut too! On closer look, she thought, at least this new neighbor looked natural and healthy. Very healthy, for she started to find it difficult to not look over his lean and toned form, towering slightly over her.

 

Until later, Cheers!

H.K. Rowe

A Giving Post

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For once a post isn’t shameless promotion about my book…

I went for a long walk yesterday before my New Moon solitary ritual, and I thought about a lot of things, mostly my place in life, what I struggle with and the kind of person I’m becoming even though my dad is no longer in this world to see it.

A lot of thoughts from then and now are spiraling into a similar topic: Giving.

Not just charity, but core generosity of the human spirit. I realized that I always enjoyed giving things to people and extending my time for them without expecting anything in return. In fact, we do get something in return for generosity.

Then I wonder about people who are so imprisoned by greed and making money no matter the cost if they ever had the chance to give to charity.

While people in the top 1% or even top 5% clutch their money to their person as if it was an attached body part they could not live without, I wonder if they’ve ever experienced true moments of generosity. Not just giving money, but giving part of themselves or their time.

I want to ask them: Have you ever given a service or helping hand to someone and you were rewarded with their gratitude? Have you ever seen someone’s face of happiness, felt their relief as you helped carry their burden? Have you ever felt the warmth of their smile, just as warm as the sun as you brought them just a little small amount of transient peace?

Have you ever felt that mutual, empathic release from improving the day of just one more of your fellow man or woman? Have you given presents to a family on Christmas because they could not afford them and seen relief, faith and hope in their eyes?

Have you helped a friend or colleague with a mountain of work that was wearing them down? Have you seen them sigh in relief and maybe hear that they went home happier because you alleviated that small stress?

Have you helped a family member with a bill, knowing she or he would pay you back, just that they were tight and desperate that moment of time? Have you felt the small ease of their suffering thanks to your light?

I wonder about people who hold their money so close they can’t even be bothered to raise the salary of a hardworking employee because God forbid, they need to make payments on their second or third sports car.

I wonder if they’ve ever give anyone a moment of their precious time to move them to another house or fix them a meal when they are hungry and struggling to pay bills.

I wonder.

But then again, I am no stranger to generosity. I have received it and felt grateful. I have given and felt relief and grace. Just seeing someone’s smile or feeling someone’s hug because I helped them makes my day. It makes getting out of bed and dealing with the not-so generous worthwhile.

I admit, my husband and I don’t have much money, but if I can redirect some small part of it to another source, rather than say, a Starbucks visit, I’m willing to do that.

Today I contributed to the Reading Rainbow kickstarter and another kickstarter project. I know it was some of my drinking money for my upcoming vacation, but really, it’s going to a better place now, don’t you think?

Cheers,

H.K. Rowe

 

Marketing Fatigue

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I feel like the marketing for Unbridled is going okay for starting out, but I’ve realized how annoyed I’m getting with it because it’s taking me away with time I could be spending on my next books.

sigh

So I set out a game plan to follow tonight that I’ll probably still market it when I can but not fret so much about it. If the book doesn’t do much, it’s just how it is. I should move on and work on being more prolific instead of dwelling on one book.

Thanks to all who have picked it up and read it. Thanks for the reviews too!

When I get the print copy I’ll be doing a giveaway. All in due time. My proofs are on their way.

Tonight is the New Moon. I’m a pagan so I’ll be taking a break from books, work and other worries to meditate tonight and commune with my Goddess. I hope other Pagans have a splendid evening. Blessed Be.

Rest in Peace Maya Angelou. One of the greatest contemporary poets. One of the gifts my husband had given me while dating was a book full of her love poems. Her work touched me as well.

Cheers,

H.K. Rowe

Memorial Day

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The proof copies for Unbridled have been ordered and they are on my way to my house. Create Space recommended I look at a physical copy before selling, and I agree. I bought the maximum number they allow for proofs too.

I should be getting them next week some time. I hope sooner than that, but I understand they have to print them. 🙂

I hope everyone had a good relaxing Memorial Day weekend. Bless you all.

Marketing for the book continues, and then next up is working on some of my WIPs and drafting “Killer Orange”. I’ll probably peruse through my kindle app to read some indie books while I’m at it, as well as catch up with my poor overflowing DVR shows. 🙂

Cheers,

H.K. Rowe