Something Kinda Wonderful

The best thing about being hearing-impaired is that I've become very good at reading subtitles quickly to follow along with TV and movies, and I tend to watch a lot of foreign-language films now. Something in the Rain is a Korean romance series that is fun, realistic, and has the best older woman/younger man relationship story I've seen in a long time (I'm only halfway through the episodes, but the actors and the story are amazing.) It also shows what working women in Korea have to put up with from male superiors.

It's available to watch for free on Netflix in the US, so if you're looking for something different to sigh over, this is the one to watch.

Sachet Time

Every year I make new lavender sachets for my dresser drawers. This is a spring ritual of mine that's just for me, but the arrival of the virus killed that last year. All my sachets are two years old now, so this year I absolutely have to make some new ones. I think that will be my next project after I finish the Election Night quilt.

Image credit: John Ioannidis

Some Changes Ahead

To begin the process of dipping my toe into self-publishing I went and tried to create a website for my new pseudonym on Wix, which turned out to be a massive headache that I don't need right now. So to save time and pain I've created a simple blog on Blogger for my alter-ego, and over the next couple of days I'm going to be relocating most of my posts about the NA series over there and deleting the rest. I might mention how it's going on this blog now and then, but I want to keep the NA project and Valerean separate.

I'm beginning to realize just how much work and aggravation self-publishing is going to be -- massive -- but I'm trying my best not to freak out or talk myself out of it. I still think I can do this if I don't let the challenges discourage me. I'm not stupid, just intimidated. I've already solved the web site problem by opting to do what I know versus what I don't. On the side I'll be working on some free stories to put out there for the new readers.

Once all the books are written and I have cover art -- and it's starting to look like there might be seven novels instead of six -- I hope to have learned enough about digital platform publishing to put them online for sale, and have the NA author blog firmly established with plenty of content.

Wish me luck. :)

Quilting Update

More slow but steady progress on the election night quilt:

For some reason my camera doesn't want to focus on the backing, probably due to lack of contrast. But I'm more than half done the hand stitching now:

If I can keep working on it every night I think I'll have it ready to bind by the first week of March.

Garden Update

Despite the cold weather and local critters the little garden at Casa Valerean is doing quite well. We have lots of strawberries:

A few radishes:

The spinach is doing much better than I thought it would:

Nothing seems to make the chives or the oregano quit:

All the credit for our bounty goes to Kat and her dad. I'm really proud of what they've done with this project.

Switching Over

We had a transformer blow near my house last night, and my already ageing desktop computer did not appreciate the sudden power loss. This is why I say backup religiously; I didn't lose anything but three sentences of the WIP I was working on at the time. But my tower was very slow to come back on and the problems I was having with it got worse.

Weirdly I had gone to Office Depot earlier that day to buy a tower because it was on sale for $150.00 off; I was planning to replace the old one next week. So that worked out nicely (and a bit eerily. Could I be psychic? Ha.)

Anway, say hello to the new desktop. :)

Commentary

I'm still moderating comments over on the old blog; most are SPAM but now and then I get something interesting, like this one left on Novel Outlining 101:

"I don't use alot of outlines since I let my stories flow on it's own pace. Outlines can summarize the stories plot but when you try to change them, you'll end up with a new plot that you need to rewrite. So I always first identify the main point such as the characters, settings, and intentions. And also make sure to have a backup plot, incase you don't like the way your story outline going."

Although it's poorly written I thought the intention behind it was good. I believe this is someone who does write and believes strongly in their process. Probably someone inexperienced, maybe a kid, but still with a sincere opinion opposed to my own. I may not agree with it, but I'm not the God of Writing, so okay. And a backup plot? I've never heard of that. That's not a bad idea at all. I think it might actually help some writers. Hence comment approved.

It's a shame writing blogs went extinct. This is the kind of thing I would have loved to discuss back in the days of talking shop. Now if you say something like this on social media they gang up and destroy you.

Yep. Still glad I shut down PBW, but not every day. :)

Jelly Roll Stash Buster

On YouTube I subscribe to Karen Brown's Just Get It Done Quilts, which often has neat ideas for scrap quilting as well as lots of tips and tricks. This week Karen put out a how-to video with a great pattern using 2-1/2" strips. You can use jelly rolls or just scraps for this one, too. She also has the pattern available for free download on her website here (scroll down to the bottom.)

The What to Drink Game

I've now successfully reduced my coffee intake to one cup per day. At first it gave me some withdrawl headaches, but nothing I couldn't handle. So I rewarded myself by trying a new tea: Teavana Peach Tranquility. It's not only the best peach tea I've ever tried, it's also caffeine free.

I subscribe to Stampington's newsletter and this week they sent me a free .pdf article on how to make mini journals from (I assume used) tea bags. I've seen this done a lot in the art magazines, but I've never been tempted to try it (shudder.) Anyway, I think it would be difficult with Teavana, as they use little three-sided nylon bags for their teas.

In the thank-God department, Chobani has recently now made my absolute favorite oat milk sugar-free, which will allow me to drink it whenever I want. Thank you, Chobani.

Quilting Update

Not much to report this week; I'm almost half down with the hand-quilting on the Election Night project but I've had to back off again because of the neck issue. I've been stitching maybe an hour every night when I feel good, and not at all when I don't. I think it will probably be another two or three weeks before I finish.

Crazy Good

I picked up a copy of Crazy as a Bed-Quilt by Sue Reich as my next reward for finishing the current work WIP, which should be in about two weeks. Ms. Reich is a very well-known historian, and the author of nine books on quilting, so I expect this will be a fantastic read.

Okay, I cheated a little to take some pics of the content for the blog. She has tons of pictures of crazy quilt patchwork and embroidery in the book:

She also reprinted over 200 articles about crazy quilting from magazines, newspapers and pamphlets dating from 1880 to 1945.

It looks like this is going to be an amazing reference and resource book for me when I get the nerve to start up on the silk crazy quilt again. But for now, it'll just be fun to read and admire the history of my favorite quilting era.

Wishing You

Happy Valentine's Day from Valerean.

We Know What We Like

For Valentine's Day we decided instead of buying gifts for each other that we would get take-out from our favorite German restaurant and have a nice dinner together at home. Out of idle curiosity I looked back at my archives from last year to see what we did. Turns out we had dinner at the same restaurant with Kat. :)

Next Up

I got this small quilt top off eBay for a reasonable price, and I want to use it for stitch practice, so this will be the next quilting project.

Quilt Update

I'm about one-quarter of the way done with the hand quilting on this project now. Still slow going, but my fingers are finally flexing a bit better.

At this rate it'll probably take until the last week or so of February, but that's fine.

100 Reasons not to Blow Up Earth

In the DVD department I'm working my way through The 100 now, a surprisingly very good near-future SF broadcast television series that chronicles life for humanity after a global nuclear war. When life support on the massive space station housing the only survivors of mankind begins to fail, the powers that be drop 100 prisoners (all under the age of 18) on the surface of the planet to see if it's survivable. Nurturing, not a big thing in the future.

The people living in orbit aren't supposed to go back to the surface for another century due to lingering radiation. Unfortunately the space station won't last that long, so they use their juvenile delinquents as gineas pigs, and the 100 land. At which point the kids discover they're not the only survivors, and there are people on the ground. P.S., these "grounders" want to kill them.

The show is pretty typical YA dystopian fodder for the first couple episodes; lots of echoes of Hunger Games and Maze Runner. Then, happily, the show leaves all that standard stuff in the dust and begins branching out and developing its own worldbuilding and cultures and character arcs. The grounder societies are revealed and they're very, very interesing. Relationships entangle. Loyalties shift. Plots thicken.

As systems start failing sooner rather than later up in orbit, the folks from the space station have to come down or die. Not all of them make it, of course, but as the surviving grownups arrive things on the ground get even more complicated. Then we find out who blew up Earth, and why, and that starts another massive storyline.

Despite the fact that the main concept is utterly implausible and almost laughable (scientifically speaking, anyway) I don't really care. The characters are fantastic, beautifully flawed and always absorbing. There are gay characters whose storylines have nothing to do with the fact that they're gay, always a pleasure to see. There are some flashbacks, but not to the point of aggravating me like some series (yes, Lost, your writers' ears should be on fire right now.)

The lead female protagonist, Clarke, falls for a guy and two girls -- not all at the same time, by the way -- which is even more daring for broadcast television. A bisexual lead? Heavens to Betsy. The lead male protagonist, Bellamy, is my personal favorite character. I love his storyline, especially involving his relationship with his younger sister, who basically turns into a grounder. The actors who play Clarke and Bellamy are both Australians, by the way, and yet you'd never guess that from their accents. Both are really, really good at making their characters believable, too.

The plot twists are endless in this series. Just when you think you have a handle on what's going to happen, the show upends itself and does something else. I'm currently on season four and I'm still constantly surprised. Now I have to stop saying I am never surprised by broadcast television.

There is some fairly graphic violent moments, but that's kept to a minimum, which I appreciated. Some of the conflicts are a bit repetitive, but given the limited character pool and the events as they unfold this is forgivable. I think the only miff for me is what happens in most of the turnkey moments; the kid characters always know what to do or at least try to do something, versus the grownups, who mostly stand around and talk and look confused. In real life it's a mix based on personality, not age. Still, the producers are obviously marketing this to the younger generation, so it's probably a smart choice.

I recommend The 100 as a very good choice if you want to watch something intelligent, well-written and totally addictive.

Double Masking

Dr. Fauci is recommending we wear two masks now when we go out, so I've been using a disposable paper mask with a nose seal under my homemade cloth masks when I go to the grocery store or run absolutely necessary errands, aka the only time I have contact with other people. Yesterday, for example, I went to the tiny post office in my town to mail a package to Mom for Valentine's Day -- that kind of necessary. Although there was no one there I still put on my two masks before I went inside the building, and told my guy to wait in the truck.

It's not uncomfortable for me because I have a small face. I do need to make some bigger masks for Kat and her Dad to accomodate the paper mask under the cloth one.

Also, a reminder from your friendly free mask maker -- if you need more or larger cloth face masks, just let me know how many and what colors you want. I'm your supplier. :)

Down by the Lake

Our new way of getting out of the house is to pick-up drive-through coffee and park down by the lake to watch the seaplanes take off and land:

We park the truck in a tiny lot right by the fueling pad:

The tall blonde young lady in the gray sweater and jeans is the pilot, and I'd guess she's about Katherine's age.

The birds like to watch, too:

On the way home this time my guy took a side road, and I saw this pretty house, which will definitely end up in one of my novels:

One Night Project

I needed to take a break from the big quilt, so I did a one night recycling project with this tin leftover from Christmas:

I often give homemade cookies to people in tins I recycle, so I decided to make it into a cookie gift box.

Since I liked the snowflake design on the sides of the tin I just needed to cover the top. For that I got some scrap muslin, quilting fabric and batting.

I kept the patchwork and the embroidery simple since I wanted to get it done in a night.

To attach the little quilt top I used hot glue -- not something you want to do if you're going to wash the item, by the way.

Finished box. Much cuter.

Go Ahead

I never thought I would become addicted to an Asian drama, but I followed a random link that led me to Go Ahead, a 40-episode Chinese series on YouTube that follows the life of three non-related kids and two fathers who Fate throws together to become a family. It's all in Mandarin Chinese, but there are English subtitles that are easy to read.

It's definitely melodramatic, and there are some concepts and situations that are painted with a rosy brush. Some of the cultural differences are interesting, others are just weird. The typical mysoginistic attitude toward portraying women in Asian dramas is a bit different in this one. They still blame nearly everything on the mother characters, but they also show their side of the story, which isn't the usual approach.

For me the talented young actors who play the kids keep it fun and entertaining. After nine episodes I'm personally in love with the noodle shop owner dad now, too -- probably because he's the Chinese version of my dad. :) If you're bored and looking for something very different to watch, this might appeal.

Slow Going

I've been working at least an hour every night on the Election Night quilt, but it's taking longer than I expected. My fingers are still pretty stiff, and my neck issue isn't helping. This is how much I've done in seven days, about 1/6th of what I need to stitch to complete the piece:

Last year I could have done the same amount in half the time. Still, if I keep at it I should be able to get my fingers a little more flexible. I'm also going to work on my posture to take the pressure off my spine.

Garden Update

Kat and her Dad are still growing things in their little raised bed garden:

The strawberries have finally flowered, so we expect fruit in a couple of weeks:

My kid definitely has a green thumb; she stuck a bit of oregano in the soil and it grew into a nice cluster for me to use for cooking. She's also got chives, which I trim and use for my garlic-chive baked fries.

Kat has started some spinach, but the local rabbits have found the garden and have been digging a bit in it at night, so we're not sure it will survive them.

They're now talking about building some more raised beds for spring, which I think is terrific.

Go to Your Room

I bought a print copy of one of the K-Pop romances on the market that seemed to have mostly favorable reviews; this so I could see what my potential competition is writing. I really don't like doing this, as I think you can pick up too many influences on your own work. On the other hand I'd never read any K-pop romances, so I thought it might be prudent to at least take a look (and since this is not reading for pleasure, I didn't count it last week.)

Since this was so obviously the author's first novel, let me say some positive things about the book:

It has nice cover art.

It was professionally proofed (this was spelled out in the front pages.)

The core concept is pretty good: American-raised Korean girl is forced to manage failing K-pop group to prove herself to her indifferent father and evil half-brother.

Some of the character names were interesting choices.

The writing is enthusiastic.

Yep, that's about it for the positives.

The story is basically a reverse harem BTS fanfic sex fantasy that the author decided to call a romance. For those who might be puzzled, reverse harem is a genre in which one female protag has sex with multiple male protags, or basically every guy in the book, first popularized by Laurell K. Hamilton in paranormal romance after she went through that very bad divorce. Now it's a legit genre.

I seriously doubt it was professionally edited. There were so many exclamation points, echoed words and repeated dialogue lines that my retinas are still reeling a little. I haven't seen a writer totally ignore the senses and descriptions this much since second grade when they made us read those Dick and Jane books (uh, no pun intended there.) It's all what is seen (minus sensory descriptions) and what is said or heard with grossly exaggerated emotional outburts. Kind of like reading Twitter posts, and about the same level of intelligence. Maybe the author wrote it on her phone.

Anyway, onto the romance. There is zero. There is a lot of emotional window-dressing, but it's not related to romance. I'm not sure you can even call this a romance. The male protagonist characters are indistinguishable from each other, and since there are six of them that's actually quite a feat. The female protag, who vacillates between annoyingly shrill, completely clueless and super slutty is apparently going to sleep with all of the group she is supposedly managing (now there's an interesting business model) by the end of the series; she had sex with three or four in this edition. Not good sex, either. Bad sex. Go to your room and stay there sex.

You know it's bad when you lose count of the sex scenes. There were six, I think? Or maybe seven. I can't remember who she had sex with, either. Or the sex itself. There was a pool involved in one. I'm pretty sure.

On the plus side, really not worried about my NA series now.

Fail

Time to confess: My pledged reading week failed. Not entirely; I did start The Autumn Bride by Anne Gracie. At present I'm 60 pages into the novel.

I think the problem is that I haven't allowed myself time for reading on my current schedule. I write and do my housework and cook most of the day, take an hour off at night to quilt, and then edit and write again until I'm tired enough to sleep. So I'm going to try a do-over this week, and allot myself an hour in the morning to read before I start work.

Image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay