My Life and Times

Octoberfest

/ addiejking / Leave a comment

Last Sunday was Octoberfest.

Octoberfest in Urbana, Ohio, is a craft festival. There’s food and crafts and people and all kinds of things to see.

Every year, my grandmother and her good friend, Martha, have a booth where they sell knitted and crocheted items. In the last few years, some of their kids and grandkids have begun to add to the colorful pile of items, and we help out in the booth.  This year, Mom and I worked the festival with Grandma and Martha.

The day started out cold, but it wasn’t as cold and windy as last year. The real problem was that the ground was wet, so shoes got wet. Lawn chairs sunk a bit into the soft ground, and when you moved the chair you heard the wet, sloppy, sucking noise when you pulled it out of the muddy grass. We’ve gotten a LOT of rain lately. Thank goodness it didn’t rain at the festival.

We had all kinds of things for sale, including adult sweaters, baby and kid sweaters, dog sweaters, crocheted nylon scrubbers, hats, fingerless gloves, blankets, scarves, Christmas ornaments, dish towels, and a few other odds and ends.

It was cold enough outside that we did a brisk business in gloves, hats, and scarves, but not so cold that people were trying to run through and get home as soon as possible. The sun came out as the day went on, and it got warmer, but we were all glad when the day ended and we could get inside and thaw out. We ended the day with pizza at Grandma’s house as we divided up our sales, and I think everyone went to bed early that night, exhausted from a full day of cold, being on one’s feet, and the work of setting up and packing everything away.

It was a lot of fun. It always is. And yet, at the same time, it’s taken a while to recover from it. I spoke to Mom on the cell phone on my way to work the next morning; both of us were still thawing out and had identical headaches.

There’s been a nasty flu going around at work. That may explain it for me, or it could just be that Sunday took more out of me than I expected. Several days later I’m still a bit sluggish and lacking in energy, and I’ve got very little appetite, but it’s getting better. Even so, I normally get hit with allergy crud about this time of year, and somehow have avoided it thus far. Until now.

I’m hoping that I’ll rebound soon. I’ve got a LOT to get done NOW. More on that later.

Taming the Jungle

/ addiejking / Leave a comment

I’ve been unable to mow the yard the last couple of weeks due to all the rain, and for some reason…I haven’t been home most evenings. I feel like I’m not getting anything done at home.

Thankfully, a lot of the crazy seems to be settling down, and the weather dried out enough for me to tackle the small forest of grass that had sprouted in the yard.

I’ve been working on new ideas for the new novel…and have been working on a few other short stories as well.

Tomorrow will be writing, more yard work if the rain holds out, laundry, and housework. The hope is that sooner or later I stop feeling like I’m behind on everything.

A quick heads up…Mystery Times Ten is now available on Kindle! I meant to post that news earlier, chalk that one up to mental cobwebs getting the way of the list of things-I-meant-to-do!

Cons on a Budget

/ addiejking / 1 Comment

Okay, so I said I’d blog about expenses for attending a writer’s conference. And I talked openly with those I was talking to at the conference about the budget I’d set for myself and that I was going to blog about it. In fact, it became kind of a joke between us, with others laughing about how I’d never stick to it, others joking about how I’d cut myself off if I budgeted too much. I think I hit a great medium…and still spent way less than I’d anticipated.

Now, I didn’t go with the plan to save money at every turn. I went, with my normal daily con budget, and planned to write about how it’s still affordable if you plan ahead.

I chose a conference within driving distance of where I live, to show that driving back and forth can be a big money saver, even with gas prices the way they are, as opposed to staying in a hotel.

Context 24 was a three day conference, starting Friday night and ending Sunday afternoon.

I normally budget $10 for breakfast, $15-20 for lunch, and $25 for dinner at a con. This would involve two breakfasts, two lunches, and two dinners, roughly $100.

I also had to budget for gas for driving. My car gets 35 mpg (part of the allure of buying it a few years ago, since I knew I’d be driving to conferences). A full tank runs between $30-40; to be on the safe side I budgeted $50.

The conference itself was $45, which I paid ahead of time.

So, how did I do?

FRIDAY NIGHT

I ran around in circles to get done at work, get home, feed the cat, grab my conference bag, get to the gas station, and get to Columbus. Columbus, Ohio is just under an hour’s drive from my house, which is the absolute maximum drive I would consider for staying at home and driving in every day. I’m lucky; Dayton’s less than an hour in the other direction, so I have options.

I spent $10.00 on gas, because I’d stopped at a station that I didn’t have a loyalty card for; I figured I’d see what $10.00 would get me and check again in the morning.

I got there early, and wasn’t really hungry for dinner, so I got registered, and figured I’d grab dinner later with friends I hadn’t seen for a while.

And then I got to running between panels and forgot to eat dinner. This isn’t unusual. I do this at work all the time. And, yes, I know it’s not ideal, but hey, it happened. I didn’t plan for it.

I went to a party that night at the con; there was a cash bar. There are sometimes parties like this, promoting a new author, or publisher, or a genre-related party. It’s a good place to network, and enjoy meeting other writing friends. Not only was I driving, but I didn’t have much cash on me, so I didn’t get anything to drink.

The long and the short of it is that I ended up grabbing a sandwich at McDonald’s on the drive home.

Total cost for the day was $13.68

SATURDAY

I ate breakfast at home, so I didn’t spend any money.

I stopped on the way for more gas, and put in another $20.00.

When I got there, I headed to more panels, and then had lunch with three other writers. Now, I didn’t purposely try to cut corners. I had a wrap and fries, a typical lunch. With tax, tip, and everything, it came to $10.00.

We were off again to more panels after that (will write more later about content; don’t want to get off track here), and later decided to eat dinner at the hotel that was hosting the conference.

I wasn’t crazy hungry, but I didn’t want a repeat of the fast food the night before, so I kept the order small, but large enough that I wouldn’t have a growling stomach all evening. Total bill was, again, $10.00. Hotel dinners can be expensive; if you’re not hungry, it’s sometimes a better idea to grab a bowl of soup, or to just order an appetizer or salad.

More panels came after that.

That night, there was another party, this one put on by a small publisher. I had a weak drink, and talked to other writers, a few editors, and some friends. This time, the drinks were free, so I didn’t spend anything, and after a couple of hours of mingling and talking, I hit the road for home.

Total for Saturday; $40.00

Total for the weekend so far: $53.68

SUNDAY.

This was my cheapest day yet; and I wasn’t trying to be cheap. Honest!

I again ate breakfast at home, and then stopped for some caffeine on the drive. I spent a total of $1.50.

I didn’t get there until 11; and then sat through a panel before the lunch break. I wasn’t starving, and ran into another friend who was feeling the same way. We decided to go see if there was something in the con suite; which is generally open to all con-goers.

We got lucky; sandwiches were available, and it was enough for us. Total cost? $0.00. Absolutely free.

I sat through the rest of the panels for the afternoon, said good-bye to friends, and then drove home, with gas to spare, and decided to enjoy the rest of the day. Hey, that Sunday was my birthday, after all, so I came home and vegged out on the couch, enjoying the memories of the past weekend, and sorting out all the ideas in my head from the panels and the networking and the discussions and the friends I don’t see very much.

Total cost for the weekend?

$45 for the con (a $35 mileage check from work took care of most of this, leaving my cost at $10.00)

$55.18 for gas and meals. Parking was free. I didn’t spent money in the dealer’s room, although I did come home with information about some of the vendors to check out websites later, and to pass on to friends that I know would like some of the merchandise I saw.

That meant that I did an entire weekend’s conference for under $70; less than many people might spend for a pizza night Friday and dinner and a movie on Saturday.

Could I have afforded to spend more? Sure. I’d budgeted to spend more. My point in doing this is to illustrate that it is possible to go to a conference without breaking the bank, as long as one plans ahead (and sometimes doesn’t-see above for my freebie Sunday!), and has an idea of what they can afford.

Yes, I have a budget for every conference I go to. I’ve got the numbers in my head, and I keep all the receipts, but I do that on vacation, too. The idea isn’t to make oneself crazy with worrying about money; it’s about having fun without worrying how to pay off the credit card bill when one gets home.

I’d much rather come home with plot bunnies eating my skull and screaming to get out (which actually is less painful than it sounds) than worry about where the money is coming from, because concentrating on the writing is why one goes in the first place!

Cons In Your Backyard

/ addiejking / 1 Comment

In these days of tight budgets and strained wallets, is it even feasible to go to cons?

Of course it is…one just has to be creative and cost-conscious.Here’s what I mean.

So I’m headed to ConText 24 this weekend, in Columbus, Ohio. The conference is Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday morning and afternoon.

Columbus is about an hour from my house, so I won’t be staying overnight at the hotel. I like driving, so I’ll drive back and forth. That also means that if I decide not to go to the first panel, I can sleep in, and if I’m getting tired, I can just go home that night. Technically, I could go early, come home, and then go back at night if I wanted to, but that probably won’t happen. An hour is about the limit to driving back and forth for a conference like this; I’ll wake up excited to get there, and the drive will help me process the information overload on the way home. (It helps that I have a voice recorder on my cell phone to record my impressions if I want).

This is about as cost-effective as I can get. Because I switched jobs, I don’t have a lot of vacation time to use, and I’m trying to save it all up for a while. I’ve also got a few things on the wish list for the house, so I am trying to watch my writing expenses.

Because of that, I started looking closer to home for conferences. And found one for this weekend.

So let’s talk dollars and cents for those people who want to go to a conference but are worried about being able to afford it.

The cost of the conference itself is $45.00. (I recently got a mileage check at work for $35.00, making my cost $10.00). There are conferences out there that cost more. I haven’t seen many that cost less. I did not make a choice to attend this conference merely based on cost; I’m looking forward to going, because of the friends and writers on panels, the chance to meet more people and to experience a convention I have never been to. The fact that it’s very affordable was just the icing on top.

Generally, the shorter the conference, the less expensive it is to register. That’s also something to remember when it comes to the number of nights one might need to spend in a hotel room, and the distance, in travel, also adds to the budget.

I’m not doing any of the workshops; at this point, I’ve never been to the conference, so I’m waiting to see what’s available when I get there, and what sounds good. I might slip into something, I might not. Those could cost extra, but none of them are outrageously expensive.

I’m saving two nights in the hotel…which is nearly $200.00.

My cost will be gas, meals, and drinks.

My car gets 35 mpg on the highway. That means that I’ll use one tank of gas for the weekend. That’s about $35.00-40.00 in my car. Yeah, this was a big selling point when I bought the car.

Meals would be dinner Friday night, breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Saturday, and breakfast and lunch on Sunday. That’s six meals. I normally budget myself at $10 for breakfast, $15 for lunch, and $20-25 for dinner when I’m traveling. Adding all of that up, I come up to an approximate budget of $100.00 for all six meals.

Because I’m staying at my own house, I can have my normal oatmeal or cereal in the morning, and take my own coffee on the drive. That saves me at least two meals over the course of the weekend, leaving the total meals at four, two lunches and two dinners. I can lower my budget by $20.00.

Sometimes there’s a con suite at a conference. This means that you might end up just having some snacks available during the day; sometimes you’ll find enough for lunch, sometimes dinner as well. If that’s the case here, I’ll save even more. I went to World Fantasy last year in Columbus, Ohio, and ate more than half my meals in the con suite…with other conference attendees. Since I’ve never been to this conference, I’m not counting on it, but I certainly wouldn’t turn it down!

I’ve seen people at cons pack a cooler full of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to save money. I’ve seen people buying their own soda outside of the hotel hosting the conference. I’ve done both; I’m not planning to do that with my lunches this weekend, but I very well might grab a soda on the way instead of paying hotel prices in the vending machine.

There’s always a place where writers gather to commiserate and network and generally relax. Sometimes it’s the con suite. Sometimes it’s the bar. Either way, it’s realistic to budget in a couple of bucks to have a drink at the bar. Hotel bars are expensive, but keeping alcohol intake fairly low saves money. And since I’m driving, there won’t be many of those. (Another way to force oneself to save money…having a single drink to be social a couple of hours before heading home is a whole lot cheaper than drinking more than one should and then crashing in a hotel room, and cheaper still than drinking too much and getting a DUI. That costs serious money…even aside from the embarrassment and potential jail time that could come with it. No, thank you.)

I’m headed out this weekend with a budget of somewhere between $100.00 and $150.00, not including the $10.00 I spend for the conference itself.

This, of course, assumes that I won’t go crazy in the dealer’s room (I generally don’t) or any con bookstores (more likely, but still not expected).

For those out there saying that going to a conference is too expensive, I will counter by saying, how many weekends can you hang with friends and make new ones, learn about writing, network, and generally have a good time for $150 for the whole weekend? The answer to that is, very few.

Heck, going to dinner and a movie with your spouse or significant other can cost $50-60 for dinner, plus 10 bucks each for the movie. And that doesn’t include any sodas, popcorn, or Goobers. And that’s a single evening’s entertainment.

So, I’m going to try to be very transparent on this blog about expenses for this weekend, just to show you that I’m not under-exaggerating or overly restricting myself. I’ll be back after the weekend to blog about whether I stayed within budget or not, and to give my impressions of the conference.

Public Service Announcement

/ addiejking / Leave a comment

The day to check your balances on your retirement accounts is NOT the day that the Dow drops 600 points. Or even the day after. If you see the stock market drop that much that fast, wait a week before you check. Make sure it’s not a fluke.

Just sayin’,

Gulp.

Trust me. I say this from experience.

Grammatical Bugaboos #1

/ addiejking / Leave a comment

“In The Process Of…”

I hate this phrase with a passion generally saved for whatever team opposed mine in the NCAA March Madness Tournament. Especially if that team beat mine (am torn about announcing the rabidity of my fandom for a specific college team since many people love ‘em and many people hate ‘em, and that’s not really my point here).

Anyway, back to my original point. Saying that one is “in the process of” something makes me crazy.

When I hear this come out of someone’s mouth, it’s like hearing nails on a chalkboard with the clanging of a cracked bell, the screeching of brakes being applied unexpectedly, and the howling and yowling of an angry cat fighting with a loud dog all at the same time and my brain cringes.

You’re not “in the process of” applying for benefits. You’ve either turned in an application or you haven’t.

You’re not “in the process of” getting your GED. You’re either getting your GED or you’re not.

You’re not “in the process of” signing up for counseling. You’ve either signed up or you haven’t.

Even more amazing these days…. “I’m in the process of applying for a job.” No. You’re not. You’ve applied or you haven’t. You’ve checked the want ads or you haven’t. You’ve had an interview or you haven’t (or you’ve scheduled one or you haven’t.) If you want to be more inclusive of all of your efforts, then the correct phrase would be “I’m looking for a job.” This sentence is also a question, asking the listener to suggest any leads that they have, which qualifies as a current activity…you’re having a conversation with someone that tells them you’re looking and that you’re open to leads. It’s networking (part of the job search efforts), which happens even when the conversation is about something else. “I’m in the process of looking for a job,” however, makes it sound like you’re searching invisible want ads while you’re talking. This doesn’t exactly help one look for a job; it makes them sound like they are hallucinating.

Let’s not even talk about the people who will tell you that they are “in the process of” getting pregnant. I keep wanting to tell them that unless they are engaging in sex right in front of me, they’re not really “in the process” of getting pregnant at the time that they tell me that they are “in the process of” doing so. There’s a part of me, however, that doesn’t want to make this comment for fear that they would take it as a suggestion…there are just some people that you don’t want to watch do this…and some places where it would be REALLY inappropriate. And no offense, but would you seriously tell someone that you were “in the process” of this in the midst of, well, the process? I’d think it would be fairly self-explanatory to anyone as to what you were, ahem, doing, without telling someone what you were “in the process of” doing.

And that’s true of anything they’re “in the process of”. Unless I’ve interrupted the GED class, or you’re actually filling out the application as we speak, you’re not “in the process of” doing anything.

Why does this phrase drive me nuts? Well, it’s probably a result of the number of hearings I’ve sat through where people want to put a good light on anything positive that they can. That’s not cynical on my part…it’s true that people in court want to make themselves look as good as possible, and it doesn’t matter what kind of a hearing it is, (I’ve heard this phrase in juvenile court, in custody hearings, in foreclosure hearings, in criminal cases, in civil matters, and even in traffic cases), people want their efforts to sound as good as possible. And those efforts might be genuine. They might really be trying all of the things they claim to be “in the process of” doing. They’re just not doing them at the time that they’re claiming to be “in the process of” doing them; they’re in court at the time.

Also, it doesn’t sound genuine. It sounds like someone puffing up a resume to get a job they’re not qualified for. And it’s grammatically incorrect.

Big pet peeve here.

In other words, let’s just strike it from our vocabulary. Unless you’re actually in the midst of the “process” at the time you’re using the phrase, it’s wrong.

Now, I’m not trying to start a fight. I’m not trying to be the grammar Nazi here. I am, however, going to post a few phrases, sentence structures, and other things that make me crazy as a listener and as a reader.

Do you have any phrases, words, sentence structures, or other communication quirks that make you crazy? Share them here.

The Easiest Mood Cure in the World

/ addiejking / 3 Comments

So I was cranky when I got home from work last night.

It wasn’t that I’d had a bad day. Far from it. It had been a strange day, with oddball cases in court, but for the most part, the day had run on schedule.

But it was hot. And I don’t just mean shorts and a t-shirt hot. I mean humid and hot, as if I was breathing soup instead of air. I grumbled into the house about having to go out later and water all my flowerbeds and gardens, checked on the goldfish in the pond, and went inside to deal with Velcro-kitty.

The cat was GLUED to me. For some reason, beyond my understanding at the time, she was absolutely wigging out. And she wanted to sit rightthere, attached like Velcro to my hip, as I tried to check my email.

We’ve been in need of rain for quite some time. It’s so hot that plants are getting scorched in the sun.

I decided that I was going to sit down, pay the fuzzy minion some attention, have an adult beverage, and relax, to shake off the cranky-pants mood I was in.

And then it began to pour down rain outside, sheeting against the front windows, thunder booming and echoing outside. No wonder the cat was freaking out. She’s terrified of loud storms, and had known it was coming. It rained and poured and there was lightening and thunder.

And then I realized I’d forgotten to get the mail. Luckily, the mailbox is on my front porch, which has a roof over it, so I could step outside and get the mail and take a minute or so to watch the storm without getting wet.

And then I saw it. It was a package I’d been waiting for. It was my author copies of the anthology coming out this Friday. It was the first time I’d seen my own fiction in print, the first time I’d seen my name as a byline under a title of one of my own stories, the very first paid publication credit I’ve gotten.

I started grinning. It hasn’t stopped yet, twenty hours later.

(Yup, that’s my hand. I couldn’t figure out another way of taking the picture without terrible glare from the overhead ceiling fan.)

There is nothing on this earth that jollies one out of a bad mood faster than seeing your own name in print for the first time.

And I’m still smiling.

(FYI, it is available for pre-order on Amazon now, and the release date is THIS FRIDAY!!)

Oooooh….SHINY!

/ addiejking / Leave a comment

I’ve been like a magpie lately, with ideas all over the place.

I’ve got a project in mind, and have been working on it in bits and pieces all over the place.

A friend of mine has been pushing me to work on it, and she’s right; it’s a story that a LOT of fun to write, and I’m enjoying it.

But then I had another idea for a related story line. So I also started working on that.

And then another idea to continue to work on the current novel project, which is WAY fun to mess with, but I have some big plot questions to answer in my own head before I get too far on it.

And then I got an email from a friend, asking if I had any holiday-themed stories. (I don’t.) But I’m now more than 500 words into a new story, tentatively called “A Demon For Christmas.”

I’ve said it before. Ideas are not the problem. For me, right now, I have the attention span of a squirrel on Mountain Dew.

I just need to find a way to channel that magpie instinct in a positive, constructive, way, just like Hammy.

On Recent News

/ addiejking / Leave a comment

Today, the local papers are reporting the news that my office is going to suffer a layoff. And that I’m the one getting laid off.

http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/springfield-news/budget-shortfall-leads-to-layoff-1151666.html

I’ve known for the last week or so that it was going to happen. I’ve suspected it for a while longer, because I’ve been watching budget news in the state and local governments like a hawk.

I switched jobs a little over two years ago to be closer to home. We’re a small, rural county, and our office is not a big one. The reality is that I’m the last hired criminal assistant prosecutor.

That said, I’m still at my job. The layoff will happen, probably sometime this summer. I’m not suddenly out on the street. My boss is giving me plenty of time to try to land somewhere. I have already applied for some jobs, and have been talking to people about other opportunities. (That doesn’t mean I’m not still looking…I’m still on the lookout for options, leads, ideas, and openings!)

Until I either a) move jobs or b) the layoff ends my employment, I am still working at my current job, and it’s business as usual.

The layoff is 100% budget driven. I’ve seen the numbers of how our office budget will be affected by coming cuts. Obviously, I’d prefer that it wasn’t me, but I understand the financial reality of the situation.

Am I unhappy, upset, etc? Well, of course. I like my job. I like the people I work with. Who wouldn’t be affected by such news? But I’m not completely taken by surprise. I’m already looking.

This is the big reason my blog has gone quiet over the last week or so; I have been looking at all of my options and talking to family. Writing kinda took a backseat to everything for the last week while I was dealing with this, but it probably won’t stay that way for long.

I’ll post more when I know more, but for right now, rest assured that I’m okay.