The revision of Blood Magic has made my head start working, I can't deny that. It's full of ideas, some of which are backstory, and don't belong at all, some are incompatible with each other, and some would most likely take the story in a direction I don't want it to go. Then there are a few that might actually work.

I happen to like the voice of the narrator in Blood Magic, and quite a few others have said that they like it too, so I'm going to stick with it for now. That adds another bunch of impossibles -- anything she wouldn't know, or wouldn't talk about.

I think I can move some of the information that comes in the end, and put it in the beginning instead. That might give the reader a hint about what to look for. And I think there are ways to make the passing of time clearer -- in both directions.

I should say something more about the world and its magic. I think I know where. I should also add some other things -- and in the end I must check on its growth. The current 3000 words are too little, and has always been too little, I suspect, but I don't want it too long either.

Exercise idea: write a short-short version of it, no more than 800 words, or so. Can I do that?

It looks like I may have a job coming up. A programming job, no less. Here in Ånge. In a small firm that builds control systems for street lights.

This is very good, because finding work here is not as easy as one would like, and certainly harder than in Lund. I spoke to my presumptive boss today, and he seemed nice enough. I'll go and see them on Monday.

I feel okay now, but I'll probably wake up screaming some time tonight.

Me: Maybe we could put up a flag or something on the basement door to show that the washing machine is running?

M: How about putting it on Jabber?

Me: Yes, that could work.

It's snowing, white everywhere. I hope it stays this time -- the forecast seems to be a little 'maybe, maybe not'.

As a Scanian, I'm used to snow turning into slush, which turns into melted slush, which turns into frozen melted slush, which fills the emergency departments. Here, I'm hoping for something better.

I put on my new shoes today, and tried them for a walk in the forest. They turned out to be walkable.

They were very rigid, which I'm not used to, but which is probably good for this uneven terrain. Also, they are large enough for an extra pair of socks, which will come in very handy as winter progresses. I think I can learn to walk in them.

November is approaching, and I'm completely out of habit, I fear this year will be very slow indeed. But there's still hope: it's the time of year when I usually pick up speed, for example. And Sedrion has started to move about in my head, approximately where I left him some months ago.

Speaking of which: is anyone planning to use iwrislomo this year? How about putting up a small poster?

Edit: 172 words. Ok for a first day, isn't it?

This has been going on and off for some time -- at least since the move. The symptoms are easy enough to recognise: loss of appetite, restlessness, sleeplessness (not so much of the last this time). On Monday, I finally decided to put myself on detox. No tea until... well, until I couldn't resist any more.

Here we can see a clear advantage -- or disadvantage -- of living with someone. Since I couldn't persuade M to join me, I had to put up with him sitting with a half-empty, half-cold cup beside him at all times. And I didn't get any. A constant reminder.

Being the kind soul he is, he always asked me if I wanted some when he made tea for himself. 'Shall I make a cup or a pot?' But I lasted for two evenings!

Tonight I said 'a pot'. But I was good. Before drinking any, I made sure I had some fast food: a couple of potatoes and a small piece of salmon.

Now my cup is half-empty and half-cold too. And I feel better than I have in weeks.








(If the above looks somewhat incoherent, it's because it was meant to. I'm trying to force myself to write, and why not livejournal entries? If it works, there'll probably be more ramblings like this during the next few days.)

I just sent off Blood Magic to Critters. I'm sure that I'll notice some major typo in it tomorrow. Or a particularly inappropriate translation.

M and I have found a new timesink: Simutrans. We're completely lost at our computers, trying to build roads and railroads, and make them work as well as possible.

I found I could play it in German, and we had some quiet amusement at some of the words: 'follow' is 'verfolgen', which means 'stalk' in Swedish. :)

We came back from Lund at eight Tuesday night, after taking road 83 from Uppsala. It was quicker than we had expected -- we arrived after driving for approximately twelve hours, even though we hit a snow storm on the way. We'll probably take it again some time.

We also did not hit an elk. It came from the left on a narrow forest road; we were driving at sixty or seventy. M braked as he saw it, but it turned and scampered back into the trees. I was decidedly giddy afterwards: elk accidents are nasty.

Mips came home from the cat hostel the next day. She was very displeased, and demanded a lot of attention, but calmed down after a couple of days. We're not sure what to do with her for Christmas.

ETA: And I have lost my engagement ring -- or maybe not lost it, it fell down a hole in the dashboard (facing away from me, of course, so I couldn't see it). We suppose it's still inside there somewhere.

M and I leave for Lund early tomorrow, and while we're away, Mips is going to a cat hostel. I hope it works. We picked it because it was the only one available, but so far, it looks okay.

She's already been for a one-hour-drive today: the vet in Sundsvall. That's a lot of excitement for one day. I hope she'll forgive us eventually...

A few minutes ago, two deer ran past my kitchen window. They looked like they were on their way somewhere. I think Mips saw them too, but she didn't seem to find anything remarkable about them. Maybe they have been here before?

I wonder if they were here for the apples.

I woke up this morning, seeing the sun coming over the hills, shining on crisp frost-covered ground. It's going away now, at least on the slopes above the road. But it was beautiful!

... is that everything on livejournal happens while I'm asleep.

I have to get back to writing. That usually keeps me up for another couple of hours.

Why is it that i must send off the crit to Critters before I can think of all the things I should have said about the story? Should I make some kind of form, or what? Would that help?

I need to write the scene with mother and daughter who meet for the first time in twenty years.

Why is it so hard?

There I was, reading my friends page, completely at peace, when suddenly a fearsome noise came from below. It involved furniture crashing, boxes being turned inside out, and soft, tiny paws thundering up the stairs. Also M, who called at me: 'Take the leash off her!'

Well, I had to find her first. The leash suggested she might be inside a collapsed box on the landing, so I looked inside it, and saw no cat. I looked behind it, and saw no leash coming out of it. Finally, I realised that while the end of the leash was indeed inside the box, it was no longer attached to Mips. She had somehow wriggled out of it, and was hiding somewhere on the upper floor. Probably in the bedroom, since I hadn't seen or heard her in the study.

A look under the bed revealed a very frightened and suspicious-looking cat. I talked a little to her, and assured her that even if M came up the stairs, I'd make sure he stayed out of the bedroom. She gave me look of complete doubt and crept further in under the bed.

The problem, apparently, wasn't that he had put a leash on her. She didn't seem to mind that. But then he opened the front door.

She's out now, thoroughly checking the study for sneaky doors. We'll give her some treats tonight.

It turned out it was his kidneys, after all. Finished, as the vet put it.

I keep thinking about that large house in the country which we'd buy, maybe in a year or so, where he could go out and hunt mice. He would have enjoyed it.

We had him for almost exactly ten years.

It looks like Pentium is getting better after all. He insists on being given cooked fish -- I mixed it with rice, and he devoured it. He's also eaten some dry food, some whiskas and milk, his coordination is much better, and he bullies Mips. We have found the bathroom scales, so we can check if he gains weight.

I spoke to another vet this morning -- he had looked at Pentiums test results, but could only say that his current condition has not been caused by his liver or kidneys failing. He suggested that we continue to keep an eye on him, and if he doesn't show signs of getting better soon, we contact the clinic in either Sundsvall or Östersund.

Pentium had a turn for the worse again last night, but now he's slightly better. He gets around by himself, but prefers to stay in one place (at the moment it's the sofa downstairs). He eats, but can't bother to clean his face afterwards. I try to do it for him, and he makes certain movements which I can't interpret -- is it 'Matte, no, don't put that horrid wet thing in my face', or is it 'Oh, is that the damp towel? Clean my face, please'? Either way, he looks a little better when I'm done.

The vet says that the only obvious thing on Pentium is that he is very thin; we should check that he eats, and drinks, and pees the usual amount. Other than that, she suspects liver or kidneys, which is a little discouraging, but not hopeless. We pointed out that he is insured, and if there's anything that can be done, we'll do it.

We'll call about test results on Wednesday.

At the moment Mips is sitting beside me, pointing out that she wants some attention too. I wish we could take a little bit of her and put it on Pentium. That would do both of them good.

Pentium is much better today, if not entirely well. He has hissed at Mips. He has climbed the tree, and one of his claws caught in the mat. He doesn't lie in his carrier all the time. Maybe it was the new food after all? We haven't given him any since yesterday morning.

We'll hear what the vet's opinion is in a while.

I think Rannen's story is coming together, and, as usual when I'm about to finish something, I start to dither. I know where and when it will end. I know what information will be released before it ends. I know about the last-minute change of plans. I know what will *not* be resolved. I just can't decide what to do.

This is a situation where I wish I could outline, that I could give myself a quick story skeleton where I could see all the important bits at once: possibly as a graph.

While I pick very carefully at the threads, I have set myself another task: to translate "Blood Magic". Compared to writing, it's ridiculously fast... If it works, I'll try to run it through Critters. I like critting, but I could do with some practice.

A week or so ago, Pentium started showing signs of something being wrong.

No, not quite. A week ago, the signs of something being wrong started to worry us.

He has lost some weight since before summer, and we took that as meaning that he was tired of the food we've been giving him, and wants something else. So we have tried a different kind, but it's main effect seems to be to upset his stomach. He has been lying in his carrier, he looks unsteady as he walks, his fur sometimes droops. We have an appointment with the vet tomorrow.

This morning he was in a very bad state. He looked like Bambi on ice when he finally came out for breakfast. M actually called the vet again, but she suggested to wait and see. During the day, he has picked up a bit. We carry him around in the lower part of the carrier, so he can be where we are, and we make sure there's a bowl of water nearby. I also but a bowl with some bagged whiskas beside it, and he immediately climbed out and munched it. Then he drank some water. A while later, he ventured down into the basement to the litter-box. After I had cleared it, I found him on the first floor, trying to open Mips's carrier, so I took him with me back upstairs.

He looks quite alert, with his ears up, and his fur soft. He just seems to be very, very tired.

The last two days I have tried a new, interesting, activity. It was M's boss's wife (N) who invited me. They have a baking house on their grounds. With a large baking oven. Which you heat by open fire. Twice a year, she heats it and bakes traditional Norrlandish bread.

I have never seen anything like it in operation before. The oven is only a couple of decimetres high, and some bricks have fallen from the ceiling. To repair it, someone would have to climb into it and put new bricks in, lying on his back. So far, N hasn't found anyone who can do it.

You heat it the day before you start baking. In the morning, you put more firewood into it, and when it's glowing properly, you push the fire aside, towards the back and sides, and sweep it with fir twigs. It's like being teleported into <whichever fantasy world I'm thinking of at that moment>. The bread is round and flat, and is inside the oven for a couple of minutes at most -- that depends on temperature.

In addition to the normal bread, we made blood bread, which is, yes, bread made from blood. I have one in a bag in the kitchen now, and instructions for cooking it properly. I suppose I have to do it, and tell N next week what I thought.

Current state of things: M and I have a house of our own, two very surprised cats, and some heat tentatively building up. And for now, the moving is finished.

This step was relatively short: a kilometre or so. There's still some stuff in the cottage, but I'll start cleaning it tomorrow.

We must find a good vet for the cats.

There's autumn colours on the trees outside.

We love it here.

I have bought a bottle of washing-up liquid. And a sink plug. I already had a brush, and there's another somewhere. I'll bring another teatowel tomorrow. Now the only problem is the lack of hot water in the house. I'm sorry, but hot water is necessary when you need to wash up a complete kitchen. I have checked for some obvious sign that says: Turn on the hot water here.

At least the stove seems to work, which can provide a temporary solution. That solution also requires a pan of some kind, preferrably not too small. We have several, in boxes somewhere. In the cottage where we live temporarily, there are a couple of one-litre pans, but they aren't ours, and I'm not too keen on removing stuff that belongs to someone else. We have a two-litre pan as well, which we can do whatever we want with, but what we want to do with it is cooking. All that remains is a small saucepan of less than a litre. I suppose I could try that one tomorrow and see if it's too annoying. Or I could simply carry the larger one back and forth.

How much boiling water do you need to fill a sink?

The two-day drive to Ånge (Friday/Saturday) went better than we had feared. The cats were mostly silent. We stopped a couple of times and let them out. The only crisis happened when Mips had dared a little walk outside, and found that the leash restricted her. M was holding both leashes at the time and Pentium was going the other way. Once back in the car, she hid in her carrier, and didn't leave it until we had put it down on a proper floor again.

We have a very cosy little cottage for the rest of the month, and then we'll move into the house, which is only a kilometer away. Most of our things are there already, but the upper floor isn't ready yet. It is a little larger than our old flat, and has a lot more extra storage space.

This was a trial drive: we packed the car, put the cats in their carriers on top of it all (facing the rear of the car, unfortunately), drove to Svalöv where we stopped, took the lid off the litter box, opened the carriers and encouraged them to go out and explore the back compartment. With the seats turned down, it's huge, despite all the other stuff we had in it. They looked a little puzzled, sniffed the carrier doors for a while, then settled down, looking completely 'Matte, you are acting very strange again, are you sure you're okay?'.

Maybe they'll get the idea next time.

I made a marvellous dinner, as usual. We'll stay until Friday morning.

Words this week: 2730
Words this month: 9984
Keeping up with the goal? Yes. Have reached it, in fact, (except that I should do 350 words tonight as well, to do it right)

Notable achievements: Sorry, I'm a little too nervous at the moment to really think about what I'm doing.

Next step: Practise more omni (space opera)

Last week's next step: Find out some kind of conclusion for Rannen's story. I think I did, then I forgot what it was. It had to do with...