The days just keep flying by this month. I honestly do not know how we are on the 10th day of camp. I am just shocked. There have been harder days, but really, this time I feel so much happier and freer writing than at any other point I have tried. I think a lot of this is because I love this story. I love the way it pushes boundaries in the genre. I love how spicy it is. I love both of the men in it. It doesn’t feel like work or a chore to get up and write this book, even after a long day at work. I hope this feeling keeps going with the travel I will be doing. I am still pretty “meh” about this road trip. I’ve done everything I can to make it as fun as possible, but it’s just not fun going to a place that makes me feel so uncomfortable.
Today was pretty fun. I went to an old favorite coffee shop, Wildflower, over on SE Division for a little bit. I picked up my first piece for my bedroom. I really want to make it art deco and dark glam. This piece really sets the tone. I am torn on whether I should repaint the gold parts with silver or just refresh the gold. Part of me wants to do silver, but gold seems to be more common in vintage vanity accessories, so I am torn. Either way, it needs some love but is really in great condition for being almost 70 years old. I am excited to make a glamorous and nice space to do my makeup and hair every morning.
I went and got a sandwich at the Devil Dill and walked around SE Belmont a bit. It was a rainy but fun afternoon and a nice break from work and my novel. Tomorrow is super busy, but I am really feeling great about everything.
Hello from rainy Portland. This weekend has been typical of spring weather. It’s been perfect weather to hang out in coffee shops and write. I checked out yet another one, Futura Coffeehouse. It was nicely laid out and had many plugs, but I forgot my charger and didn’t charge my computer. Oops! So I did a bunch of handwriting for my novel today. I wrote about 700 words. It was fun to write by hand. I didn’t enjoy transcribing it when I got home, but it was fun while I was doing it. I think I may do more of it in the future if I know I will have transcription time.
The book is moving along well. I wrote another very spicy scene with a lot of boundary testing for Tegan, and Emerson is going to make the dom-loving girls absolutely crazy. While it will get revisions, it feels less like a set of stage blocking than other spicy scenes in the book. There are some scenes that I can very clearly see, and there are others that I need to build slowly over revision. I think with this one, it is the second encounter I’ve written for these two and one that is further down their relationship. That makes it a little less awkward. I always feel a little weird in that first time characters hook up. They are a little awkward with each other, so it usually works.
Hope you had a restful weekend.
Spencer
I love this menu and the lamps My hair struggles in this rainy of weather. mmm coffee Part of my novel in my Travelers Notebook, with a fun fountain pen. I love how green spring in Portland is.
Today’s writing was a bit challenging. I didn’t do enough research on Paris, so I had to stop and research as I went. I don’t love writing this way; it makes my brain a little crazy. But I ended the day with 1737 words. Not bad. I am still working on the Tegean and Emerson part of the book. Maybe it’s because I long to be in Paris and can’t wait for my trip this fall. Anyway, I think I’ll probably finish their whole relationship before moving back to Nick. The spicy scenes between the two are so very different. It is one of the biggest challenges in this book. So I want to get all of Emerson’s scenes in the bag before I move on to Nick.
Part of what I love about NaNoWriMo is the excuse it gives me to try out new coffee shops. Today, I went to The Stacks in North Portland. I really liked it. I can see myself making the trek over there a few days a week to work in this space. They also have a writer’s night on Tuesday nights that I am going to try to attend after my road trip.
Hope you have a great rest of your weekend.
Spencer
Leather books ❤ The Stacks Busy writers doing the work. Grand Central Mississippi The cinnamon roll was meh… not enough cinnamon.
Happy Friday! I hope you have a great weekend ahead. I got a lot of writing done and even wrote the first “spicy” scene of the book featuring Tegan and Emerson. While some readers may be upset that Tegan doesn’t end up with Emerson, I understand why. He’s a fun and charming character to write, and perhaps in a different timeline or universe, they would make the hottest power couple. (Maybe that could be a sequel!)
I’m excited for the weekend and have a few fun plans in between doing all the boring housework. Do you ever feel like everything in your life needs a little pick-me-up? I’ve been feeling that way lately and hope that giving my living space a good spring cleaning will help shake that feeling.
What do you do when you’re feeling indifferent?
See You Tomorrow
❤ Spencer
Today’s pictures:
The Tea Room and the street corner Downtown Kenton “Red lip classic thing” Vanilla Latte and unimpressive Pumpkin loaf.
I am pretty proud of the work I put in today. I had a pretty annoying work emergency, so my full day off turned into a half day off really quickly. I feel kind of defeated about the eventual outcome of today’s events. In spite of all those setbacks, I wrote over 10,000 words today. I worked on the scene where we meet Tegean’s boyfriend who isn’t Nick. Emerson is a charming, rich Frenchman who meets her in a bar the weekend after Nick leaves. I worry about how readers will react to having more than one love interest in the book. I think folks may assume that it will lead to some sort of triangle. I promise there is no triangle in this book. Tegean and Emerson have a foundational relationship for Tegean. He is her first long-term relationship and the first man she lives with. He brings out a fiery side of her. They fight, fuck, and globe-trot while she promotes her now-successful first novel and is getting famous for appearances at Emerson’s side in the society pages.
I wanted to go to a new coffee shop today, but it closed at 2pm and work prevented me from going. Hopefully, I can visit a few new coffee shops this weekend. My list of shops to visit is getting pretty long.
I’m also freaking out about my upcoming travel. I have so many outfits to plan, organize, and pack. I need new luggage. I just got a new laptop backpack for work, the Calpak Kaya backpack. It’s cool, and I like how many pockets it has. It lets me keep everything organized. It will be a great writing bag when I’m not on the road. It handled the Portland drizzle like a champ!
We’re rushing towards the end of the first week of Camp. How has it been going for you? Are you keeping up, getting ahead, or falling behind?
Today was a better writing day. I feel like the last two days I have kinda been chained to my desk. Things are busy at work, and things in my personal life are chaotic as always. Today I wrote around 1754 words. I also broke a cardinal Draft Zero rule and erased about 3 paragraphs of work I had written. I try to not read thru it until I am done. Then I give it a good read and start working thru the edits. But I slipped and just could not have that there it was going to have to go so it needed to go now. So if I would have kept that it would have put me at around 2000 words. It’s fine. I only need to write about 2650 words tomorrow to be caught back up. I am confident that it will happen. Tomorrow is like a little mini day off. I am gonna go to a new coffee shop I have wanted to try. I am gonna use my new Calpak laptop bag I got for all my upcoming work travel.
Working on a fight between Tegan and Nick today was stressful. I feel like I have a tendency to get pretty vicious in fights. (I used to in real life as well, but growing up is learning you don’t have to burn down the house at the slightest inconvenience.) And while I think that works for Tegan and another man in this book. It is terrible when it is Nick. So I really need to think about that for the edits. I wrote it down in my writer’s notebook because it is something I want to brainstorm on between now and then. I want them to be heated.. but I don’t ever want them to cross a line that would be unforgivable.
And because I don’t have pictures I thought it could be fun to do a little bit here about some of my favorite things at the moment.
A lot of this is beauty related because I have really been homing in on my perfect daily quick makeup routine. Now that I am back in PR/Events I can’t just top bun, no makeup, and sweatpants around my house I really have to get up and be cute on a daily basis. There is also a lot of Dior because I got one of their lipsticks last fall and fell back in love with the brand.
Dior Blush – 219 Rose Montaigne This blush is the perfect everyday peach pink. It has some shimmer so I don’t feel like I HAVE to have a highlighter. I also swear it is magic it makes my skin so smooth when I put it on. I love it.
Dior Addict in Be Dior. This is a beautiful shine lipstick that I sheer out when I want some life to my face but cannot be bothered with the rest of my face. It is also beautiful in still sheer full strength. The bright pink is a color I normally do not wear but it has been fun to play around with and I am sure it will keep going into the summer.
Dior Forever Skin Correct The only concealer that I will use… it doesn’t crease, and it goes on great I don’t even need a foundation. However, it also works great with one.
My Vista House Coin I went out to the Gorge a few weeks ago and when I was at Multnomah Falls I stopped in the gift shop and got one of these. I love Vista House… I like how heavy the coin is. I love how when it is sitting on my desk if my windows are open it will catch my eye like the little Magpie I am.
Pat McGrath Lipstick in Elson 5 It’s my second most worn red lip. If I don’t have a matte lip on (Guerlain 880) then it is this one. I love the tube, I love the color… I just wish it stayed a bit better but it isn’t the worst for satin lipstick.
Guerlain Rouge G #59 in the 2023 Cherry Blossom LE case This is my basic light pink nude. It has really replaced Dior Nude look. The limited edition case (that is also a mirror!!!) is to die for I just love it.
Last but not least My Vessel Craftsman Vape pen After using editable for a while I really wanted to be able to have better control over how high I got. I wanna be relaxed and sleepy not so stoned I become one with the couch. I love the wood. I love how easy it is and how adjustable the hit is.
Today has been rough. It was a pretty busy day. I knew I had a lot of work and personal commitments. I knew writing would have to come in short burst. But my mom need my help early this morning, and that just set me off on the wrong foot. I then spent a long time in my own head, spinning my wheels on things I have no control over. Today felt like the worst of my creative impulses just working against me.
I’m just sitting here working with about 800 words. I don’t even like the words I’ve written. I guess that is how it goes some time.
Hope ya’ll had a productive first Monday of camp. I’m starting to get nervous… the writing process on this is feels like it is going too well. I’m just waiting for the wheels to fall off. But honestly I think it’s been going well because of how I changed the planning and how I’ve really just let my scenes wander. Someone should remind me of this when I am having to revise this book in July.
It’s a short one today. I was right in the middle of a scene when I realized I hadn’t gotten my post up today.
Here some shots from a very chilly Portland.
Cold and clear Portland Presso Coffee Shop The Presso Mural
Today has been a slower start. It was a lazy morning and I enjoyed petting Mamoru and laying about my house watching Boygenius’s new Music Video film. At some point I will write up a review and talk about how their new album The Record is just devastating in the most haunting way. But we have Camp NaNoWriMo things to talk about.
I should really know better than to make any kind of process proclamations. Just yesterday I was talking about how I should write in chronological order so that their story unfolds before me. Today I woke up chose violence and wrote our lover’s first chance meeting after years apart. It is the first scene I thought of when I started working thru this concept. It takes place in Seattle and I love way I write about that city. There is something magical about Seattle that has always stopped me from living there. I don’t want to break the magic. I want to spend lazy weekend walking down pike and pine, I want to get cinnamon rolls at my favorite bakery in Greenwood. Then I want to tuck all the beautiful memories to bed and slip back on the train to Portland.
My morning sprint at the house got me so close to my goals. I am about 950 words in. I am gonna try to rack up some words this neck week to pull some of the pressure off of me when I am on the road trip in a few weeks. Hopefully I’ll find every beautiful coffee shop along I-80 from Portland to Chicago.
I here are some photos from today
Case Study Coffee Alberta This loft is my most productive spot in Portland. If you know me it’s easy to see why this place draws me to it. My New Favorite Shirt… Leave me a comment if you understand the reference. My favorite bit of writing. Nick is such a swoon worthy man.
The first work day of camp is tomorrow! I hope we all get the time we need to finish!
Today has been a successful day. I am on track to finish my 1667 goal. I have worked on 2 sprints so far. The first was at one of my favorite coffee shops in Portland. It was nice to sit in the sun filled cafe, drinking a Stropp latte and working thru the fight between Tegean and her mom that opens this book. I think I am going to try to write this in as close to chronological order. I have been using Drafts to keep track of dialogue choices that come into my head for different scenes instead of chasing those down. After I finish this blog I hope sit down and bang thru the last 600 words or so. Maybe get a head start on tomorrow. Writing wise it was a lovely day.
There is apart of me that wished that my creativity didn’t feel the brightest when I feel the worse. It’s like having a beautiful dream to run away to. It also has a darker side. Having an an active imagination is like wishing on a monkey paw. It gives me the ability to create worlds and stories, to knit and sew and write songs. It gives me the things that make me feel like me. It also has the power to knock the wind out of me. The smallest detail in disappointment is a full blown movie by the time my head hits the pillow. To the point that sometimes I wish I had Aphantasia. To say that 2023 has been a hard year is an understatement. It has been one disappointment after another. Yesterday’s disappointing news hurt my feelings, but didn’t catch me off guard. So I retreating to the world where I know that Tegean will find her happy ending is comforting.
Here is some photos from what feels like the first day of spring here in Portland.
Beaumont Neighborhood, Portland Oregon 2023 coffee and bagels and my trusty travelers notebook. Jackpot Records There is nothing sexier than playing records, drinking coffee and basking in the morning after. If I were a stack of records… I don’t think you could get closer to me than this delightful little group.
12ozbeehouse 