It's been a couple of days since I posted anything here, but I've been busy. Monday my daughter arrived here late so we unpacked just what she needed that night. Tuesday we brought in the rest of her things and "sort of" found places for them. Wednesday we went to the grocery store and bought perishables that we were out of. Thursday I went mall walking with my brother while she stayed home and did her laundry. Today she had a doctor appointment and some running to do, so I caught up on my email, facebook, and other things I touch while online.

On Thursday when I returned home my male cat T.T. was in the process of dying. He had had a stroke a couple of weeks ago and his quality of life began going down hill. He was having trouble eating and lost a lot of weight. He stopped jumping up on things. He just laid around and slept. Thursday afternoon he had back to back to back seizures. He passed away in my arms. I miss him as does his sister, Baby Jane.

T.T 's passage was exactly eight months to the day of my mate's passage T.T's human Daddy). They are together now.

Didn't do much of anything today. It's Easter Sunday and I decided to take a quiet relaxing day. I talked to two of my daughters today and to my grandson. I took a nap. That was about it for the day. I'll be going to bed at my normal time since I need to get up early in the morning to take my Monday morning osteo pill.

Got a lot done today in preparation for my daughter's arrival on Monday. Changed the bedding on the bed, did the laundry, moved some furniture around, and thought about other changes we might need to make. Since this is Saturday I unplug the computer and give it a couple hours of rest. Join a new, free, online game site called IWON I did a crossword puzzle on it but it has numerous other games that I might check out at a later date. I need to go start dinner so I will be powering off the computer. Hope those who read this havc a lovely Easter day tomorrow.

Well, the best laid plans don't always get accomplished. First off I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and could not get back to sleep even though I tried. I talked to one of my daughters and got caught up on her news. It was good talking to her. Then I worked on getting some dresser drawer space for another of my daughters who will be moving in with me Sunday/Monday of this week. Any way I pulled a chest muscle and it hurts to move and breathe. I have no clue as to how I did this, so I'm taking it easy for the rest of the day hoping that it will be better tomorrow. Wanted to do a little yard work and I need to move some small pieces of furniture around to accommodate the things she'll be bringing with her. Time to get some dinner, but I'll be back.

Such a beautiful day today! Sun is shining, it's 81 degrees, and the birds were singing and flying all around. One even flew into my house when I went out to get the mail. Not being able to find it I went for my mall walk with my brother. I came home made lunch then I walked the lot rent over to Just Because. When I got back home I changed my tennis shoes for a pair of flip-flops and headed to my office. I startled the bird who flew all around making all kind of noise. I got him outside finally and it only took 15 minutes and me calling "here birdie, here birdie" and getting him to the wide open front door. It was very laughable.

I worked a little on my cartoons as well.

I was able to work on my cartoons. Woo Hoo! Grandson Number One was hit by a car while riding his motorcycle. He got some serious road burn, but no broken bones, thank goodness. My sister's youngest son and his girlfriend got to Texas okay. They were there to help out my Grandson Number One. He called me when he got home from the hospital with the news. Now it's bedtime for me. I have to get up early tomorrow to go mall walking with my brother.

Getting a lot of things together so that when my daughter gets here with some of her things there will be room for them. I'm looking forward to having her here. I'm hoping that the plans that we have been working on will work out okay for all of us. Things will be tough for a while, but I think we can manage. Worked on my cartoons this week and answered a few questions on webanswers. I even did some yard work today. It is lovely out. It's a little breezy but the temperature is in the 60's.

Didn't get squat done today. I think it was because it was so gloomy out. I just watched Amish Grace on Lifetime Movie Channel and cried through the entire movie. I listened to Heather Pick's CD Circle of Support and cried through it too. Just one of those "wet" days. I must get my behind in gear tomorrow and get a few things done before next Saturday. I'm off to bed now. My bossy boy cat is telling me in no uncertain terms (loudly) that I need to go to bed.

Sort of a productive day today. I didn't get any writing done though. I did get the laundry done and tidied up my desk (which it needed badly). Checked out a couple of websites to see if there were any new places available. Worked on my budget (such an onerous task). Wish there was a little more "budge" in my budget. I will be taking the computer offline for the night in a few minutes.

Had a nice walk at the mall with my brother. It is a cold, windy, morning. We had an inch of snow on the ground and my poor little daffodils were weighted down with snow and slush. I put another chapter of Grace and the Dragon on Helium. That's all I did today. I can't wait to get to bed and catch some z's.

Got some writing done today then had a brainstorm to try a one step write it on the computer novel. We'll see how that goes. It may be a long process since I don't usually do things the short way. I wrote a little on it as well as one that was already in progress.
It's getting closer to the time that my daughter will be here. In a little over a week she'll be here. Tomorrow I'm mall walking with my brother. Hopefully the weather will be nicer that it was today. It rained and but wasn't too bad temperature-wise. My daffodils are up and blooming. A reminder that God and spring are alive and well. Birds are flying everywhere in the neighborhood and filling the air with their songs. I really like having seasons.

Not a great day today. I'm coping with a sinus headache. I answered and asked a question on WebAnswers and I talked to my Aetna nurse (something my medical insurance offers). Not much else going on. The left side of my face (eye and a tooth) are aching. Rubbing them seems to relieve the pressure as does the heat from my hand. I did a saline wash in my nose and I plan on taking a Sudafed at bedtime. That should help. Probably won't get much else done today.

Well sunshine and a conversation with youngest daughter has me bitten with the spring cleaning bug. My office where I basically live when I'm not being a housefrau or mall walking needs a good spring cleaning. I worked on it yesterday and will work on it today. I hope to get rid of old paperwork (1978 - 2004) that I no longer need. That's probably 25% to 50% of the clutter. I did get a few minutes to work on my novel yesterday as well. Shredded stuff from 2004. I plan more of the same today.

Went mall walking with my brother today. We try to do this at least once a week. Worked on my novel. Posted a poem on Helium and rated several posts from other author/poets. That was the sum of my day. I was up before the sun this morning, and got to bed late the night before, so I am just about ready for bed.

Today I played handiman. I worked on my garbage disposal which got jammed when a casserole dish exploded in it. My grandson got most of the shards of glass out of it but it was jammed tight. I found one more piece of glass and worked the blades some to see if there was more glass in there but didn't find any. Then I had to use the allen wrench to truly unjam it. That worked and so does the disposal. That and light housework took up the rest of my day. This entry here is the only writing I've done today. I needed a day or two figure out how I wanted to proceed with the novel I'm working on. It's not quite a writer's block but how much to divulge about a character when that character will have a novel devoted to just them. Oh well.

Wasn't feeling too good yesterday so I didn't get much done. Feel much better today though. I did some writing on a novel. I paid a bill and gathered the trash. The trash got out and now I'm here. Not much more to say except good night.

I got a lot done today. Laundry, shredding, wrote on one of my novels, and checked out publishing houses to see where to query next. Now I'm off to wash dishes.

Grandson has left to go back to school. Daughter is still in MA and will probably be there until the first week in April. It made more sense to move at the same time her roommate moved since they were headed in the same direction more or less. I've gotten some kind of "bug"...I think it's my chronic laryngitis. My throat is scratchy and flemmy, so I'm coughing periodically.
I don't have a fever or any aches and pain, not even tired. Oh well.

Had a nice walk with my brother and grandson yesterday. When we got home housework captured my attention and I spent the rest of the day doing it. Woo hoo! Needless to say I didn't spend any time on my writing. I did review a report that my grandson was working on for school. I got to bed late and slept in this morning. Right now I'm home alone. Daughter is still in MA and grandson went to a friend's party. Taking advantage of this.

Daughter left today to return to MA. to pack up her house so her stuff can be moved back here. She'll return here sometime between March 15 and 18. I didn't do any writing today except this entry. I was busy trying to figure out how I needed to rearrange things here to accommodate the few items that she want to be able to use while the rest of her belongings will go into storage until we can find a bigger place to move to. Tomorrow my grandson and I will go mall walking with my brother.

Today was a pretty laid back day. Grandson, daughter, and I just chilled out. I made a coffeecake and since it was trash day we got the trash together and out mto the curb. My daughter and I took a nap while the grandson played around on his computer. This is the only writing that I got done today.

Had a busy day today. We ran some errands, did some grocery shopping, and put wifi in the house. Now we are all happy that we no longer have to wait to get our turn at the internet. (We won't know how to act.) Needless to say this is the only writing I got done today. Once things get settled around here I hope to be able to get back on my schedule.

My daughter arrived today and my grandson and I walked to our closest Taco Bell to meet her for lunch. All that fresh air and exercise wore me down. We walked home, all three of us. This is probably more taxing walking than walking the Mall. By the time we got home three hours had passed. I ended up taking a nap after we got home. My daughter is currently visiting friends and my grandson is snoring in the living room. The fresh air caught up with him as well. My feet, knees, and right shoulder are reminding me that I am getting older. The nap didn't help with the aches.

I didn't get a chance to write on my blog yesterday. My grandson got here Friday evening and we spent yesterday talking. Today we got some chores done that I couldn't do by myself because I wasn't tall enough, nor secure on a step-stool enough to keep from falling off said step stool while attempting these tasks.

Wrote a little. Baked a little. Visited with my brother a little. Talked to my daughter for awhile. Plus I am waiting for one of my grandsons to spend a week with me for his spring break. Cleared off some clutter on the kitchen table while making lemon squares. Now I need to get the living room vacuumed and clean sheets and blankets out for the air mattress so my grandson can have covers for the night.

I took the morning to get my exercise by mall walking with my brother. We try to do this weekly but due to the weather and other commitments it's been a month since we've done so. It was nice catching up on things, getting our exercise, and just shooting the breeze. We'll see what I get accomplished this afternoon in the writing arena.

Had a very productive day today. Swept and mopped the utility room floor and the kitchen. Wrote on one of my novels. Even got the trash out to the trash can and to the curb. Now I pooped with all that activity. Oh, before I forget, my female cat helped me mop the floors by chasing the mop around. It was quite funny.

Do you ever have days where you just need to face a noxious job that needs to be done? Well my day is here so I doubt if I'll get much writing done today. Haven't done a lick of it yet except this blog.

My noxious job is working on a room in my home that has been closed off due to numerous things. Things like odor, memories, needing to be cleaned, and stuff that was stored in it. So far I've tidied up the area, nutralized the odor, and now need to clean items in this room. Plus I want to decorate it in such a way that it doesn't remind one and all of its prior self. This room needs to be put back into operation.

Didn't get much writing done today, I got busy with other things. Gave some thought to and looked online at the college courses offered that I might want to take. I didn't see anything that stood out and said "pick me" so I'll see if there is something else that would appeal to me.

Wished my nephew a happy birthday, paid my rent, updated my weekly stats (which took most of the morning) and will soon go make some lunch. I will be working on a completed novel to smooth out its rough edges. I'm waiting to hear from a publisher that I sent a query letter to. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and try not to think too much on the what ifs.

Good day, now it's bedtime. I accomplished everything that I wanted to do. Monday my writing will switch to something else to write about.

Things have been productive so far today. I finished the read aloud project. Now my voice can rest for awhile. Cleaned up my washer and dryer so now they sparkle. Thankfully no more snow has fallen so I didn't need to shovel today. I plan on doing a little baking this afternoon and working on my other project.

One more entry before I close up my computer time. I got laundry done. I got the shovelling done (until the next snow fall). Fed the critters and watered the plants. Worked on both of my writing projects (woo hoo!). Paid some bills. Now I will unplug the computer for its down time and I will have dinner and enjoy some popcorn and a movie on the television at 8:00 pm.

I did get to spend some time working on my two projects. Reading one outloud and reviewing the other. Hopefully I will get time to do that again today, but first things first. Laundry and shovelling snow are my priorities.

Today has been productive. I put a poem on Helium. I worked on an outline for one of my novels. I did a reading (out loud) to feel the rhythm and tone of another novel that is being polished up to hopefully sell to a publisher. I only read a couple of chapters but it was enough to aggravate my chronic laryngitis. Now my voice is raspy and feels strained. Oh well. While I was on Helium I rated numerous items for them.

I was able to work on two of my novels yesterday even though a lot of time was spent getting my blog together.

The two that I worked on were ones that were complete, but I was fine tuning them. I try to work on a different piece of work one week at a time. That way I don't run into writer's block (well, at least not often). I have had witer's block on a story and spent the whole week trying to circumvent that block. Plus working on a different writing project each week keeps it interesting.

I, also, have a cartoon that I work on as well. It's called "The Ants" and I've been doing it for twenty years or so.

My plans for today are to continue fine tuning the two novels I was working on yesterday. I usually work on Helium on Friday's so I will be visiting that site today.

My process for writing is long and old fashioned. It works for me though.

1. Have an idea or a dream to start the process.
2. I write it out in long-hand in a notebook as well as count each word for a word count.
3. Then I type it up and sometimes find that I'd left words out.
4. After it is typed I read it and correct spelling errors, typing errors, and sometimes re-writing things.
5. Next I copy it into blank books, printing it so that it is readable. Most novels take three blank books or more.
6. Once that is done I input the novel into the computer.
7. I read it on screen and make any input errors I might have created.
8. Once that is completed to my satisfaction I print off a copy with double sided pages and bind the finished product into what I call a "Big Book".
9. Before a novel is ready to publish I read it out loud and get the tone of it. I correct things that do not sound right to the ear.

My reason for doing the above steps: Back before I had a computer (yes, I'm that old) putting pen to paper was easy to take anywhere you wished. I did have a typewriter when I was an adult and not typing my stuff just doesn't seem right. Because I wanted to see my novels in print I printed them in the blank books. They look nice in my bookcase. Then the computer entered my life and that was great. The four books that I have in print out in the world I self published through Xlibris. This is a costly way of doing things, but it is a good feeling seeing your book in print and selling. The Big Books, at the beginning of my computer usage, were made to give to my daughters to read and provide feed back. Now, due to distance and other factors I only make a Big Book for me.

Children's Stories:

Grace and the Dragon - First chapter on Helium. The adventures of a young girl and the last dragon.

Brownlee's Pants - Halloween story.

A Day With Knit and Purl - Siamese cats that have adventures. On Helium.

The Adventures of Petey - A cat that take's over the house and does mischief. On Helium.

Petey Meets His Match - The cat meets someone that scares him. On Helium.

Willie - My first children story. Willie is a wood elf. On Helium.

Ravina - A fairy tale-like story. On Helium

Ready For Publishing:

Tiarra - Pre-Star Trek saga.

royalty? - My stab at humor.

Another Kind of Love Story - My first novel. About love, naturally.

Alaina's Secret - How would it be to be genetically different.

Roth of God - A woman rebels about the turns her life had taken.

Tehya's Tree - The follow up to Snow Flower, due to popular demand.

Spice - Two mini stories showing how life and recipes are alike.

B.P. (Beginning Poetry) - All my poetry from 1958 to 2000. Some good, some not so good. *

New Beginnings - After a divorce are heroine starts anew in a new town, job, and apartment.

In Progress:

Purgatory (Hell On Earth) - Life after open heart surgery and an infection.

4 D's (Dearly Departed Disfunctional Dinghies) - My family history. Mom once said we were all dingies, hence the title.

Kajika - Now I have a series. Snow Flower, Tehya's Tree, and now Kajika.

Poetry for the Crazy, Painful, and Old Aged - From 2000 to infinity! *

Poetry can be found on Helium.

Books In Print:

The following books are in print (by demand) and can be order at any of your local bookstores or at www.xlibris.com/bookstore

Snow Flower - American Indian saga. *

H.A.L. - What I call a gentle science fiction. About robots and emotions.

Hawk - Another gentle sci/fi. About an avian society.

Hear Me Roar - The travails of a woman and how she succeeds in life.

* Under Linda Munn the rest are under Linda B. Munn

Having written something from when I was a teenager until now has been rewarding and fulfilling. The first few things that I had written were children stories (to entertain my younger brother then later for my own children) and poetry (to express things going on in my life). More than once my writing has saved my sanity by letting me vent or worry out kinks in my road to life. It's like a warm, comfortable shoe sometimes, at other times the "work" has been so tied to me that it was like giving birth to a baby.

I write about things that I have a question or thought about and try to put it to paper. The subject vary greatly at times. Near and dear to my heart, however, it the American Indian and their culture. Unwittingly I think I have created a series on that theme.

I plan, in this blog, to not only give you the processes I go through, but will list works that have been created. The catagories as I see it for now will be: Novels -In Print; Ready to Print; Children Stories - Ready to Print; and In Progress.

Today is another "new" day of my life. I have created this blog. My purpose here is to let people know the joy, pain, and long process that I go through to create a novel and poem.