Words of Wisdom: Writing Edition

The regular Words of Wisdom was so paltry I'm going to combine it with August. But for the writers, here's some words to live and write by:

I believe that fiction can tell the truth in a way that sometimes an accurate reflection of the facts can't. When we write a scene in fiction, we are trying to tell the truth of that moment. --Jean Kwok

Sometimes the only way out is through, and that applies to sticky, tormented novel rewrites just as it applies to so much else in life. --Ally Wilkes

 

I'm always thinking about creating. My future starts when I wake up every morning. Every day, I find something creative to do with my life. --Miles Davis 

 

Writing is a relationship, and like any relationship, the most important thing is to show up. --Sarah Marsh

 

Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart. --William Wordsworth 

 

Don't write what you think people want to react. Find your voice and write about what's in your heart. --Quentin Tarantino

 

First, finish what you start. Most people don't. Also, don't compare yourself to anybody else. Everybody is unique. --Eric Roth

 

A completed screenplay is your most valuable form of currency. (finaldraftscreenwriting on IG)

 

Tudors bloopers? Since when?

 

Sir Thomas More pulling faces? Wolsey the voice of reason? Queen Katherine laughing? The guy just walking by? Why don't you set up a new Parliament, eh? Rumbly tummy? Gifted actors blowing lines left and right? All this and more in the blooper reel from The Tudors.

This was such a great show. I can't believe it's been so long since it ended.

Still rolling!

So, my Dad's Hawaii house is on the market

Yup, it's for sale again.

So here's the deal:

My Dad died in May 2011. We were warned that the housing market in Hawaii at that time was rough. More than one person had a story about someone they knew who had been trying to sell their house for 2-3 years. After the first realtor was unable to even get an offer, we got a new awesome realtor who listed it at $649,000, eventually dropping the price to $625,000, which is what it sold for in 2013. The buyers were from Northern California - a veteran turned college professor who had just retired from teaching, and his wife, a nurse who had secured a job at the hospital in Kona.

They sold the house in early 2018 for $845,000. Those are the buyers who listed it in April for $1,590,000. A little over six years after they bought it, they nearly doubled the price. 

There was a measly reduction to $1,491,000 in early June and there it has sat ever since. As nice of a house as it is, I think it's overpriced. I have no idea if they're desperate to move it - based on the price, I don't think so - or why they're selling. But I do check it every few days to see what's happening. Not much lately.

There were some changes made to the interior and it's weird seeing how hard it is to recognize certain parts of the house. But what really got me was this photo of the view from the lanai/backyard:

The house has absolutely spectacular sunset views and this picture reminded me so much of some of the pictures I took while I was there in 2011.

I hope whoever ends up with this house loves it as much as we did.

Updated 7/30/24: Yesterday the house's status changed from "For Sale" to "Accepting Backups", which means they're considering an offer, but are also accepting lower, backup offers. I wonder what the highest offer is, if it's anywhere near the asking price. I still think it's overpriced, but real estate is a crazy world and I guess we'll see what it eventually goes for. I also hope whoever buys it stays there for a long time. This will be the third time it's been sold since my Dad died. While it's not as big, grandiose, or resort-like as many of the other houses in the area, it's a nice house in a nice location. Someone should love it as much as we did.

Updated 8/30/24: The house just sold for $1.3 million. I still think whoever bought it overpaid, but on the other hand for that area, it's one of the less expensive homes. I wonder if the sellers were disappointed that they got almost $300,000 less than what they were asking. At least it didn't take long - the house was only on the market for four months. My Dad originally bought it (around 1997) for $475,000. I wonder what he'd think of what it just went for.

Sophie cheats death yet again

Sophie punched another space on her 9-lives card last week. The latest trip to the vet was due to her refusal (or inability) to eat solid food. She had an appetite, in fact constantly demanded fresh food, then she would just lick the sauce off and leave the solid portion. I was concerned she had a bad tooth and was in pain, so off to the vet we went.

A little background - Sophie has been medically healthy most of her life, but has had a lot of issues with her teeth. She's lost some on her own and has had four dental surgeries to remove bad teeth (2015, 2016, 2018, and 2020). The 2020 surgery was dicey because her blood pressure became unstable while she was under anesthesia. She got through it, but I've worried about her not being able to survive another surgery if needed. And because she clearly hadn't lost her appetite, I was concerned she had a bad, painful tooth that was making eating uncomfortable.

As usual in these circumstances, my fears turned out to be largely unfounded. The vet checked what few teeth she has left and found nothing more serious than tartar. When he pushed on the teeth, she didn't react as if it hurt. The vet thinks the eating issues are probably related to her kidney function, a common issue in older cats, and suggested giving her fluids a couple times a week to make sure she has enough fluids in her body to comfortably digest and pass her food. I've actually had a bag of fluid for a while, but since Sophie really hates getting jabbed and I don't enjoy it either, I've only used it when she was visibly in distress, something that has only happened a couple of times, but it looks like we're going to have to bite the bullet and do the fluids on a regular basis. Sophie will be 19 years old in less than two months and I'll do anything to keep her going with a good quality of life. 

I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that if she does need a surgery in the future, it isn't necessarily a death sentence. The vet indicated that if that became necessary they would send her to a major veterinary hospital in West L.A. (which is also the 24-hour emergency vet we've been to in the past). It's a big place and apparently they have specialists, equipment, and drugs that most of the smaller locations don't have. 

 

While all this was going on, I discovered the wonderful world of pureed cat food! Bought a couple of packets and Sophie hoovered them up, so after the vet visit I headed over to PetSmart to stock up. I thought I'd really hit the jackpot until the vet informed me that they don't have the calorie content that regular food has. No kidding - one of her "normal" cups of food has 80 calories, while one packet of the pureed food has 16 calories. So I've been using it as a supplement, mixing it with her regular food, and it seems to be working great - she's been scarfing food down since then.

So again, another trip to the vet where I feared the worst possible outcome, and another result that was a best possible scenario. Sophie lives to fight another day!

 

Too adorbs to die.

Our forecast sucks

You'd never know it was summer around here. After a second consecutive year of dreary weather through May, we had a couple weeks of sunshine in June, and it was lovely. Then it was back to overcast nearly all day. If the sun does break through, it's not for long. Right now it looks like a storm is imminent, although nothing of the sort is coming. It's just overcast, and it's depressing. It doesn't feel like summer at the beach at all. In what alternate universe is this Southern California summer weather?

This blows:

Look at this fucking forecast. Look. At. It.

If this forecast holds, Saturday the 20th is going to be the only bright spot to a dreary month.

Going to press

Very happy to announce that I received an acceptance email today for the short story I submitted to this year's Sisters in Crime Los Angeles anthology, Angel City Beat.

 

 

My story is called "Unbeatable" and involves an undefeated racehorse, a dead jockey, and a pet psychic. It takes place at Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia.

 

It's been a while since I got an acceptance email, and I was thrilled to see it. I'm usually confident when I submit that the story is solid and meets the theme, and therefore I'm usually surprised when my story isn't chosen. In this case, I doubled up on the theme (Angel City Beat...hoofbeats and an unbeaten racehorse) but I wasn't sure if the story would be thrilling, or read like a giant mess. I felt like what I was trying to write wasn't coming across on the page and that's always frustrating. In addition, since we only have one editor this time around (we usually have three, but the chapter scored genre legend Barb Goffman to edit this baby) we were capped at 12 stories as part of Barb's participation (we usually have 15-17 stories in our anthologies), so acceptance was even tougher. And yet...

And yet I got in. I'm so thrilled. I'm thrilled to be published again, to be in yet another anthology from SinC LA, and to work with Barb Goffman. And I hope everyone who reads my crazy story about a genuine pet psychic, a crooked jockey, and a big rugged horse who may or may not be a four-legged mindless himbo loves it as much as I do, and apparently as much as our judges/readers did.

I'm very grateful and can't wait to publicize the heck out of this anthology. SinC LA usually releases their anthologies in spring of odd-numbered years, but in order to make this available for Christmas and also eligible for awards next year, is fast-tracking this publication for December 2024. 

Happy Birthday, America!

 

 

Hope everyone has a great fireworks day! And now, the LOLZ!