Four different kinds of woodpeckers were at the feeder yesterday. The redheaded woodpecker, hairy woodpecker (which I’ve never seen at the feeders before), and the red-bellied woodpecker. I missed catching the pileated (Woody Woodpecker). Camera was in the wrong place and by the time I got set up, he was gone.
Also, a baby blue jay and baby robin! A baby squirrel too and a ladybug, but will show it off tomorrow.
Working on edits on Red Wolf. Moving things around. Deleting, adding, have added 3,000 words.
Got to run the trash out and finish edits on Wolf in Need this morning, but it’s done! Yay!!!!!!! At 32K it’s 12K over what I intended, but that’s okay. Readers like longer reads and I’m happy with it.
As soon as I do that, I’m going to send it to beta readers and get back to Highland Wolf! That is several thousand words behind on word count. I don’t want to even see how far behind I am on that. But I had to write this one for a November release, so no choice. Whew. No wonder I get so sick. Stress in addition to toddler germs. I’ll have to read it from the beginning because I don’t remember where I’m at on the story. But I’m looking forward to it. I’m a glutton for punishment. I had to look. I’m 13,000 words behind. That’s over a week’s worth of word count.
I had a reviewer for You Had Me at Wolf say the name on the blurb is wrong for the heroine in the book. Here’s the story: I wrote the book in three months and her name was Josie. I like Josie. She suited Josie. The editor said I had to many “ie” names in the book so I needed to change it. So I changed it to Nicole, but the blurb went out with Josie. End of story. I still remember her fondly as Josie. Nicole? Who is that?
Okay, off to get things done.
Hope you all are having a beautiful day, and remember, your name can be changed also with a stroke of a few keys on the keyboard. And then you will be gone. Replaced by some other name. No longer. You.
In the wild, the hummingbird is asserting its territorial right to all the zinnia flowers in the garden while the monarch butterfly is trying to ignore the bird. Yesterday, a giant yellow swallowtail was harassed by another hummingbird. Two hummingbirds chase each other off all the time too. And a red-bellied woodpecker is not happy that the cardinal is on HIS feeder, chowing down.
My two-year old granddaughter is the same way. “Mine,” I hear all day. Even when she knows it’s not, if she claims it, she feels she has a right to it, unless Grandma says, “No, that’s Grandma’s.” And even then, if it’s something she really wants, she will insist, “Mine.”
Depending on what it is, Grandma will let her play with it, but it’s still Grandma’s.
During my research, I’ve been reading about people who take metal detectors on “abandoned” property, looking for treasure. The property is owned by someone, maybe an absentee owner who still pays the taxes. So when the trespasser obtains the “treasure,” is it really…his? When someone finds something that’s of a huge value, after he’s bought the property, can he keep it? It seems that yes, sometimes, sometimes, no.
So I changed my story to the owner finding the treasures in her shop as part of her inheritance, rather than buying the property from someone who had inherited the property and sold it off. End of gray area. And it makes it more personal for the character also.
A point in fact: A master’s painting had been stolen from a museum. It had to be returned to the museum. A beautiful antique chest had a secret drawer and the new owner, while refurbishing the furniture, found it full of jewelry and cash. He could have kept it. But he didn’t. He contacted the owner and gave them their treasured possessions. He wanted the beautiful chest. That was the treasure to him.
In another case, a man was digging on his new property, to plant a garden, and discovered a cache of jewelry and other valuable items. It turned out his neighbor had been robbed by the previous owner and the items were buried in the backyard! If he’d tried to sell it, the police might have been alerted that the property had been stolen. And that would certainly be a new twist to a story, wouldn’t it.
So it’s something to think about when you find buried treasure. Hopefully…you won’t find buried bones.
Okay, I’m off to write. I wrote 2,000 words on my day “off.” Isn’t it awful to have a day off from writing, only to spend it babysitting? lol Though we have fun. I hope to take her to Galveston Island to the glass pyramids one day to see the aquarium and tropical pyramid.
Have a super day!!! I’m off to get busy. The days is all MINE.
Blue jay with a peanut. Red bellied woodpecker with a peanut.
It’s a writing day today. I have to get more done! I tried to yesterday, turned in the 2nd blog, and still had to write the last one. But my granddaughter was a handful until she fell asleep on my lap, yay! And I finally began writing on White Wolf to the Rescue. I had planned to take her for a long walk, but she was so tired, I wanted to wait until she had a nap. Didn’t work because she slept for over 3 hours, nearly until her momma picked her up.
Redheaded woodpecker, Red-bellied woodpecker, Downy, and Hairy
When I first moved here, I saw the redheaded woodpecker, but I think there are too many birds and the dogs, and me to make it worth his while to visit the yard. I saw a downy in my tree out front when I went to walk to the mailbox around the block, but no camera. He just stayed there too, so he would have made for the perfect shot. He was low in the tree. Most of the time, I’m really far away, and the light in the sky makes it hard to focus on the bird.
I caught this downy in a forest in Minnesota. The hairy woodpeckers were doing a mating dance in the tree behind my property. And I caught the red-bellied woodpecker in flight. He’s the only type that eats at my feeders, unafraid, for the most part, of me taking pictures out of my window in full view of him.
The hairy is still working on the dead branch of the pine tree out front, so I caught him yesterday working on it. I used to be able to stand there and take pictures, but this one was skittish.
If you hear that rat-a-tat-tat in in the woods some day, it just might be a woodpecker. Yes, they’re destructive, and can cause damage to homes. I still love seeing them. I heard an owl in that same tree the other night, but I wouldn’t have been able to capture a picture of him. It was tempting to look for him though. I was curious what kind it is.
Red-bellied woodpecker, blue jay and baby bluebird.
Well, it was cold, cold, cold out, but I was trying to finish the grass and weed pulling before it gets hot, hot, hot. So I did all the backyard flowerbeds, shrieked in terror when, without having gardening gloves on like I should have, nearly pulled up a snake with the weeds. I got my shovel out, scooped the cold critter up, and put him on the island of plants in the middle of our street. Hopefully, he stays there. That’s the second snake I’ve found in my plants this year while pulling weeds. They’re good, not evil, but I still don’t want them in the plants, giving me a heart attack.
I kept thinking, people are going to think I’m planning to dig up the irises in the island flowerbed. I mean, who would carry a shovel across the street otherwise, right? A neighbor was leaving in her car, and rolled down her window, and said, “Snake, right?”
I laughed. “Yes! But I don’t want him in my yard.”
She motioned to the island flowerbed and said, “That’s a great place for him.”
Yep, if he stays there! I put on my gloves after that. lol
So I reached 7,000 words yesterday SEAL Wolf Surrender, and I’m off to write. You know, I only tell you this to keep me accountable, whether you want to hear it or not. Just so you know. lol If I tell someone, then I feel guilty if I don’t get to my word count each day (minus the two days I have baby–between running after her and being worn out by the time she leaves, I need me time)…but even then, I try to get some word count to get ahead. In fact, I’d blocked out the week for jury duty, so I wasn’t scheduled to write anything. That means I’m 7,000 words ahead. I was supposed to write my first 2,000 today. 🙂 But I tell myself, they don’t count–in other words–I don’t get a reprieve. I just have them in case something happens and I CAN’T write.
So with that said, I need to get my word count and make a bear!!! Have a lovely day!
A dove with water droplets on its back, goldfinch, and red-bellied woodpecker. Tried to capture the cardinals, but missed them. 🙂 <3
We had rain all day yesterday and the day before. The birds were singing and eating in the rain.
But I was diligently revising A Billionaire Wolf Christmas. Managed to get through 260 pages yesterday. It didn’t take long to make the few minor changes, but I had to read the book all the way through to make sure I caught everything. Forty pages to go, then have to work on a couple of bear orders. 🙂 <3
Goldfinch considering her next move, Red-bellied woodpecker watching me, goldfinch that insists the sunflower seed is really her size.
I worked on the novella last night for Heart of the Wolf and wrote 4,000 words! I have 8,000 now, and need another 12,000. So I’m nearly halfway there, which means the downhill slide. 🙂 Then it’s back to working on Flight of the Wolf once this is done. Way behind on it. BUT, that’s because I didn’t have all these other deadlines that popped up in the middle of it.
And I need to do the print versions of Galaxy Warrior and Loving the White Bear. And a Letter to Readers for Heart of the Wolf.
So long ways to go. Doggie sitting the corgis for the next several days. And have a reader’s convention to go to. And have 6 books to read for the Ritas.
Okay, so that means I have no time to take pictures.NOT.
Have a great day!!! I’m off to get to the halfway point on Night of the Wolf, until I come up with a better title. That’s the one I had when I started it.
Terry Spear
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
While working with Vexing the Highlander, I needed some Scottish inspiration. I could be inspired to write all day long there! The picture of the view is from Glengarry Castle, the new one. The bottom one is of the ruins.
Instead, I’m at home getting totally distracted by a swarm of woodpeckers! And that’s why I have been seeing a red-bellied woodpecker feeding CONSTANTLY at the feeders. There are 3 of them!
Momma and 2 juveniles, I think. Maybe daddy? Not sure. And then a redheaded woodpecker showed up! And so, besides working on Vexing’s cover until midnight, and the story until 1 am, I am late on everything else. The woodpeckers made me it.
The juvenile red-bellied woodpeckers at the bottom were playing around the tree.
And there you have it! Nope, the dog didn’t eat my homework. The woodpeckers did!
Have a super wonderful day!!! I’m off to write!
Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
