I must be still really tired because the novella’s edit just drained me to nothing. I stopped cooking and cleaning. I just edited for like 2 weeks straight and my brain feels like it’s just done. So in an effort to focus on the positives, behold my list of Yays.
- Novella has gone out to the beta readers. Yay.
- Septic tank has been pumped. Yay.
- Kid 1 ordered a cleaning service for Friday. Yay.
- End of edits celebration dinner accomplished yesterday. Yay.
- I woke up with a horrible headache, but Ibuprofen and Excedrin are working. Yay.
- Exterminator is coming tomorrow to spray for bugs and scorpions. Yay.
- Kid 2 sent another chunk of her project. Yay.
- I am going to take another mental day off today. Yay.
Some yays require further explanations.
The so called novella is now even longer, almost 45,000 words. ::stares at the offensive novella:: Why are you so long?
The official length for fiction works are as follows:
- Short story: under 7,500
- Novelette: between 7,500 and 17,500
- Novella: between 17,500 and 40,000
- Novel: over 40,000
So this novella is 7,000 words longer than The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Joy.
We tried to cut things. But most of the editorial feedback was “put more things in.” We did. Oh well.
Septic tank yay. It is amazing how much peace of mind pumping the septic tank can bring you. The second house we ever lived in had a sewage issue. It came up into the yard. It came up into the house. We had no money to fix it and Gordon’s mother who owned the house either wasn’t able to or didn’t want to admit the problem existed. I am forever traumatized by sewage. We’re good for at least a couple of years. Hopefully.
Celebration dinner. Before you ask, it was soft tacos/fajitas with mango pico de gallo and cantaloupe cucumber salad. Kid 1 made her trademark guacamole. We used shredded Mexican Cheese mix for the fajitas.
For meat, we had steak and chicken. Steak was marinated in a mix of lime juice, a bit of taco sauce, chopped cilantro, salt and HEB Beef fajita spices. Chicken was 4 chicken breasts, marinated in Urban Accents Chili Taco Simmer Sauce, cilantro, and HEB Chicken fajita spices with a splash of lime juice. HEB should pay me for product placement.
The simmer sauce can also be bought from Urban Accents website. I found it lacks acidity to be very effective as marinade, so adding about a lime’s worth of lime juice does the trick. I am planning on making my own chili sauce with a bit more sweetness. I found a recipe online and I will report back on results.
Both chicken and steak can be grilled. Chicken can also be baked in the oven at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. Yes, I know recommended time is 20, but I like to be thorough. When I bake this particular recipe, I rest the chicken breasts on a wire rack set in the pan and I think it adds to cooking time. Steak can be broiled. Don’t forget to wrap the soft taco size tortillas in foil and stick them in the oven while the chicken is baking. They will come out nice and warm.
Pico de gallo is traditionally made with serrano peppers, but we skip them in our family because Gordon prefers mild foods and the chicken is relatively spicy already. Every Texas family has their own spin on salsa and pico de gallo. For mango pico de gallo House Andrews style, you will need ripe tomatoes, sweet onion, mango, salt, lime, and cilantro. Chop everything up, salt, squeeze a lime into it, and mix. If the meat is less spicy than chili chicken, I sometimes add a dash of chili powder to pico de gallo to add a bit of heat.
We do it by volume: 2 parts tomato, one part onion, one part mango. So if you chopped up a cup of tomatoes, you will need half a cup of onion, half a cup of mango, and enough cilantro to make it look pretty. I normally buy one bunch of cilantro and use half. Sometimes I use more. Cilantro is like garlic. Everyone has their own tolerance.
You can also put peach into pico de gallo instead of mango. But it needs to be firm.
I like these assemble-your-own style of meals because everyone gets what they want. Fajitas and tacos are my favorite.
Now I am going to go outside and mow the back yard with electric mower while Gordon mows the front. I love the electric mower so much. No fumes, no gas, no weirdness.
Hurrah for the little things!
Electric lawnmowers are the best. They don’t hurt my brain with their loudness.
And they START so easily. No yanking the cord over and over. Just hold the handle, press the button and you’re off.
I also love the fact that mine is light enough for me to pick up with one hand, when I need to.
Rather use the ride-on especially the zero turn to mow our lawn – have 2 acres
….. 🙂 🙂
Hurray for the yays! That’s a lot of accomplishments in a relatively short amount of time. No wonder your head hurts.
Here’s a list of kudos to complement your list of yays:
You finished the edits. Kudos!
You’re taking care of yourself by taking mental days off. Kudos!
You took the time to celebrate. Kudos!
You cook what sounds like delicious food. Kudos!
You wrote EVEN MORE new book-words for us. Kudos!
And thank you for all the above, esp. doing the self-care.
+1
::takes all the kudoes:: Thank you!
+1 !!!
+1 🙂
Yay!
I am also enjoying the electric tools. I wish my lawnmower was cordless but it was left by previous occupant in the large waste pickup and works! So yay FREE!
Does it take long to chop everything for pico?
I hope you’re listening to some great music while you mow!
I’m not sure I’d you’ll see this, and I apologize if it’s inappropriate to ask on this post, but I have a question for you.
You guys say the key to being an author is to love the grind. And while I love writing I have a hard time getting to the finish line. I usually hop around to new projects leaving half finished worlds behind in my wake like a serial world killer.
I recently challenged myself to *just write the book*, set up a spread sheet to track my progress and everything. Only, now I hate the plot. I love the characters, I love the universe… But I hate the central conflict of the book and find myself wanting to abandon it.
So my question is– have you ever forced yourself to finish a plot you hated? If so how?
This is a blog post, but a short answer is: don’t. Don’t force yourself to write something you hate. You have to figure out why it’s not working. Tell me, what is it about the story that makes you hate?
Thank you for taking the time to respond to me. <3
This is a sci-fi book, and in broad strokes; one planetary government is trying to take out rival planets with what amounts to bioterrorism, and the herione stumbles upon the plot and has to stop it. But I'm getting caught up in the 'does it make sense that they could get away with this unseen for long enough to weaponize this?' and 'does the science of this bioweapon make sense?'.
And I guess, digging deeper into it… Maybe I just feel like the plot is just not good enough. That maybe it's a tad on the juvenile side.
As a biologist, let me put my two cents in. Bioweapons can be wastly diverse and most are quite hard to detect. For example, you can have a plant virus that can obliterate a major crop. DNA can literraly be transfered on a peace of paper, which than can be used later on. Virus and bacteria splicing is relatively easy and any lab can do it. Labs are controlled only ocasionally and even then, the ammount of control varies based on the application a lab is listed for.
My advice would be to answer these things to check if it is feasible:
1. What are the customs/defense strategies? (look into Australia customs for some initial inspiration if necessary)
2. What form is the bioweapon? (eg. virus, bacteria, parasite, poison, radiation)
3. What is the target of the bioweapon? (eg. crops, farm animals, water, air, people)
4. What is the effect/spread like? (mild initial consequences can have longer lasting effects but are slower to develop, while fast acting ones are one and done for multiple reasons)
5. Do they want the planet to be usalbe/some people to survive (what is the goal)?
I hope some of this helps. I repeat I am not a specialist on the topic but I read a lot and I was as interested in viruses as I was in plants while studying (chose plants in the end cause they are awesome). My advice is also to ask someone from university/scientific comunity if you are stuck. Most people like to share knowlefge on the topic they love.
Good luch with the writing.
Another thing to consider ( as another frustrated writer), you are writing science fiction, the point being it doesn’t have to be known today. For example, you could postulate an intelligent virus that can adapt its own structure to bypass immune systems ( god help us), not possible today but it could be in the future ( not saying use that idea). Hyperspace, anti grav,time travel are not possible today, but tomorrow,who knows ( of those time travel is the most unlikely)…all of course with the caveat ‘from a frustrated writer’). Jules Verne insisted that it be backed up by hard science as then understood, even when it was demolishing his methodology ( in ‘from the earth to the moon’ the objections a skeptic points out are in fact true). But you don’t have to,that is the fun of speculating.
Bill, good point. Thank you. I do like to be a little grounded in reality but if the internal science is consistent, well. As you said, science fiction.
Ilona, so far my favorite scenes and the ones I look forward to writing are the action scenes or the moments of body horror, re: bioweapon. There is a touch of romance in the book and that would have been my favorite in the past but these days I find myself a little more, erhm, blood thirsty.
You’re awesome! I’m going to roll those questions around in my head to see if I can get a better grasp on it. And I’ll see if I can find a contact at the local university to ask about viruses and pathogens.
Lyra, what are you favorite scenes that you’ve written? What’s the easiest to write? What scenes do you look forward to and they almost don’t feel like work?
The only weirdness that my family had with electric mowers is when the axle(?) for the blade sheared and the multiple times my dad ran over the cord.
Lol, done that!
Entirely selfish yay that the generously portioned novel is one step closer to my greedy eyes. I
More altruistic yay for your celebration and delicious sounding food.
Yeah, but gasoline mowers work better for the thick grass over the septic field. ????????????
Yay for taking care of yourself! Mental health is important!
Yeah, yeah, but the most important thing u left out! Did. U. Buy. Gorgeous, Expensive mountains (ok, maybe a small hill) of fabulous Yarn?!!
Inquiring minds want to know????. A stash reveal is requested.
Congratulations on all your achievements!
+ 1
Will take pics tomorrow.
I have a question. Is there an importance/ advantage in the book being a novella and not a novel (if the word count puts it in the category of novel)? Look forward to reading it either way 😉
I was wondering the same thing. Does the publisher require them to get it into novella length for marketing reasons?
But yay to the relaxation. I love our electric mower too for the same reasons.
The contract says “novella.” In traditional publishing with firm word count deadlines, it can cause issues. If you are in an anthology with 3 authors who turned in 20,000 word novellas each, you don’t want to be the one with 40K monster. In this case it doesn’t really matter as much, but it’s a matter of principle. Going over required length by a bit is fine but that’s not a bit… Professional pride is at stake. Yes, we pretty much failed there.
But, but, but…more words for us readers!
We love MORE words!
Hope you find time to relax on your day off.
And thank you for sharing the mango salsa recipe. Yum.
+ infinity. Bring on the failures! We can handle them.
I’m with Debbie! More words! MORE words! MORE WORDS !!!! A whole bunch of yays there. 🙂
I love everything you write!!! You are SO awesome, and SO appreciated. Also feel for your situation not finishing the lawn because you are too hot, etc. We are in Oregon, it is supposed to be “June gloom” season (overcast), but we are having a “heat bubble”. Talk about bioterrorism! Or would it be geoterrorism? It is 104F today, 109 tomorrow, 110 Monday! We aren’t used to that out here.
Much love coming your way, Andrews team. You are the best!
Huh. I could see wording the contract as at least novella-length, but seems like it would be to their benefit to allow you to go over, if the plot supports the added length. More word for their buck, so to speak.
Thank you for the answer. I’m glad there’s not issues caused by being part of an anthology and totally get the professional pride thing. Sometimes that’s the harder thing to forgive oneself for.
Hope you had a yay afternoon!
And I plan on reading whatever it is when it comes out.
Well, I sort of understand that delivering wrong size of book for particular contact may be a problem, but…
Yay a longer book!
I always run out of your books way to soon.
Yay for mental health days! When I take one, I don’t mow the lawn! But I do read your books.
+ 1
Congratulations on getting all those important tasks done! Your celebratory dinner sounds delicious! Thank you for writing such great stories, and for allowing us a glimpse into your lives.
I’m willing to pay more for a novel than a novella. (Okay, truth is, if you guys write it, I’m buying it.)
Enjoy your mental health break.
Yay for the Yays! Enjoy and celebrate when you can. I hope the fact that we are seeing more yarn and knitting info, and more cooking/recipe sharing, means you are finding your balance again? … and that you are emerging (for a time) from writing/editing pressures and finding more time for the other things you enjoy.
Glad you enjoy mowing — my mom loved to mow the yard, and embarrassed my sisters by mowing on a string-bikini top (this was the 70’s). Not sure you (either or both) could embarrass your kids, as they seem sensible and grounded, but it could be fun to try?
Yay for yays!!
And tomorrow shall be Friday and then it is weekend. Yay!!
We may even have decent weather ( I am in Ireland, even the possibility of decent weather is counted as a win) YAY!!
As for now, relaxing with my purring cats is also a yay!!
Really looking forward to the novella/ novel ????
My dad had his heart attacks when I was 12, and my brother left for the Air Force that year, so mowing the lawn became my job the next summer. My parents bought a small electric mower so I could handle it. Electric mowers are great. Rest and enjoy having the edits done. So the novella is misnamed. The BDH just gets more to read. Yay.
Yay for the Yays!
We also put pineapple into a pico – it must be fresh.
I need a mental health day! Glad you got one
Yay for all the yays!
Also, yay for us with a longer book! I’m sorry if you wanted, or were contractually obligated for, a novella length book, but selfishly I’m happy. You could write a book the length of an old school encyclopedia and I’d thrilled, but I understand that some people prefer shorter books.
Good for you to take a mental health day! Hopefully you get as many as you want or need! ????
*I’d be thrilled ????♀️
Sorry! I should have double checked it prior to posting!
I would absolutely read a House Andrews encyclopedia. Kudos to you for taking care of yourself and taking care of business.
Congratulations! Yay days are great.
Your recipe for pico de gallo reminded me of the one fruit salad I can stand to eat.
Melon (my preference is honeydew)
Mango (I buy a carton of the fresh prepared for each melon I use)
Berries (blueberries for preference, up to a pound)
Sweet onion (one large, chopped reasonably fine)
Cilantro or Italian parsley (I know several people who don’t get along with cilantro, and I like the Italian parsley better myself)
I thought I just loathed fruit salad till I tried this one. I do, in general, loathe fruit salad – very persnickety sweet tooth – but I really like this one.
Also, I am very happy that things are looking up on several different fronts. Can’t wait to get the pre-order information on your novella.
Nothing quite like the smell of fresh cut grass. Enjoy your well earned rest day.
Yay for the yays!! Also the yummy taco/fajita recipe!!
Go Kid#2 – well done!! May the force be with you for the rest of your project!
So the word count for all the papers I wrote in four years of college would come in somewhere around the low end of novella category. All of them, added together….
My dad used a push mower (also known as a reel mower) to mow our fairly small front and back lawns. In the summer, when we were old enough to use the mower, we argued over who got to mow the lawn versus indoor cleaning chores. Because the lawn mower was way more fun than the vacuum or scrubbing the bathroom or kitchen floor!
As it happens, I just finished prep for an assemble your own dinner tonight. Eight friends of 40-50 years (long, not old) meeting in an orchard on an absolutely fabulous day. We met at summer camp back in the day. Almost everyone else is coming straight from work, so I got elected to throw something together. Apart from the steamed shrimp and deviled eggs I picked up at the local butcher/market, and the chips and dips from the local organic market, prep was confined to washing and, in the case of carrots and broccoli, cutting up for dipping. For most of us as horse people, even washing is kind of gilding the lily for carrots. Strawberries and blueberries will be eaten out of hand. I don’t do ambience on short notice, so it’s paper plates and napkins all the way. It will be fabulous.
HEB!!! How I miss not living in Texas anymore! Every time I head into the Houston area I stock up on everything there.
I know this is going to be a little weird but, I love your life! It’s hectic and frazzled but little pit stops of comedy. Thank you for sharing.
Yay! For all the wins no matter how small.
yay!!! Glad you took a day off. Those recipes sound yummy! thanks for sharing!
“I like these assemble-your-own style of meals because everyone gets what they want.”
Yes! Some of our other AYO meals are: baked potatoes, personal sized pizzas, cobb salad, and breakfast burritos. The variety of toppings and sauces means that everyone gets the perfect meal.
Love your slice of life and your wins!
My cilantro tolerance is zero. I’m one of those weird mutants who can only taste soap when I eat cilantro, so. Everyone tells me it’s amazing and I’m missing out, and I’m sure they’re correct. But, soap. Blech.
Can’t wait for the novel-cleverly-disguised-as-a-novella to be released!
My daughter has mutant taste buds, but it affects how cantaloupe tastes. I am not keen on the taste of cilantro, though it does not taste like soap… just a flavor I don’t really like.
me too, on the mutant thing. but over the years i have learned to enjoy the taste of soap. so i guess i am weirder than you!!
One huge yehfor me, is getting my cat back. He was missing for 13 days. We put posters up, notices on the village web site, knocking on doors and I was losing hope when we got news that he had been shut in a house undergoing building work. Luckily he had access to water so survived. Much thinner but otherwise ok. The relief was immense. Having him back next to me on the sofa is such a happy feeling
***HUGS****(for both of you)
and ear scratches for the cat (if so tolerated)
I’m so greedy, I want to know what world the novella is based in. I keep checking for an update on the release schedule. I know we have to wait until the publisher announces, but the suspense is driving me crazy.
Also thank you for the recipe ideas! Love your blog.
Bravo for the list of accomplishments!
And thank you for the recipes
???? ????
Hurrah for all the yays. Enjoy the respite ????.
I have a question. Does word count include prepositions, connectors etc? I think I remember reading in school that words like ‘to, an, a, and…’ don’t get counted. But then every assignment I have recently submitted uses the Microsoft word counter which has me constantly rephrasing science language so that it ends up reading something like, “<10% chemical impurities added. Heated 650C." In place of the more natural "less than 10 percent of chemical impurities, like sodium nitrite were added, and the solution heated to 650C in the test tube."
Yay for the yays!
Is the novella part of an anthology with other stories and authors or stand alone? I have seen anthologies with the stories having varying lengths, but regardless of which it is, I really hope they will allow a few thousand more words!
I love the various recipes you’ve shared on this blog. In the vein of crazy requests (that usually show up in your email), could there be a $0.99 kindle shared on the blog compilation cookbook?
Thanks for considering my request, I’m off to look for mango.
I had some peaches that were pretty green and have never really ripened. I bet they’d be good in this recipe.
Congratulations on finishing the edits! Enjoy your much deserved celebration!!
So looking forward to reading everything you’ve been working on. Om nom delicious books~
Thank you for all the effort you keep putting in! I know it’s stressy, but I’m SO thankful for it. <3
Yay, high five, kudos, congrats!
So, the novella has grown up to be a novel… as a faithful member of the BDH, I fail to see the problem here… 😉 (I know, I know, contractual obligations, oversize book printing costs etc. But from my perspective, I want to read every single word of it.)
I wish you days of relaxation and a peaceful weekend.
Yay!!
Just that. That’s it.
I know you guys are working very hard. I hope you have a vacation planned so you can reinvigorate.
It all sounds wonderful, wish I could have a fresh pico. Uncooked onions make me very sick. Le sigh.
Lightly sauté the onions with a sprinkle of salt and a little butter. The trick is to sweat the onions a tiny bit but not really cook them. Then add to everything else. It removes the heartburn of raw onion and adds a slightly smoky flavor. Good luck!
Thanks for that info!
I’m so excited about the “novella”! Can’t wait. You know everybody’s going to read it, love it, then beg for sequels, right?
I hope you enjoy your mental health day off. Hope you get a chance to relax and unwind. You deserve it. As a reader, a novella can never be too long. Thank you for all your hard work. I had a headache too. Mine was because of dehydration so I am drinking as much as I can.
Soo the novella is a novel? Yay!
For Texans that weren’t born here but got here as fast as possible, that is the most Texas fajita recipe I have ever read.