My "retreat" day seems to be turning into a work day, as I need to write cover copy, review a contract and probably review a digital file or two, in addition to preparing for my workshop. I hope to squeeze in some time to run to the cable company, since I've discovered via their set-up instructions on their web site that their HD converters do have the outputs I need for my TV and VCR, and I'm still not getting the extra channels I'm supposed to be getting with my current converter box. I want to be able to watch Doctor Who on Saturday night when I get home from the conference, and I'm tired of the way my PBS station seems to cut off the sides of its programs on the non-HD feed, even though I have a widescreen TV.
I also need a library run, as I opened the door to walk to the library yesterday and was hit by a blast of cold north wind. It was 45 degrees with a wind chill much lower than that. Yes, in May in Texas. Summer is going to kill me. After yesterday, I caught myself thinking about getting ready for Christmas.
However, in my "retreat" time yesterday afternoon, I came up with a title for the book I'm developing, which is a big plus, and I don't find any other listings with that title on Amazon.
Meanwhile, I think I've been hit by a new story idea I'm not quite sure what to do with. It came from me guessing wrong about what was going on in the book I was reading. I'd even skimmed ahead because it seemed awfully close to the end even though it felt like we were in the middle part of the story, so I wanted to make sure this wasn't one of those cliffhanger series things (it wasn't), but I'd misinterpreted what I read in skimming ahead. What was really happening works, too, but what I thought was happening was far more intriguing, and now I want to write that story. I'm currently trying to map it onto my other ideas to see if it gels into a plot, but it's not really working. I suppose it's similar to something already in that steampunk book I just sold, but I think in a different story I could take it to its full extent.
I'm also still playing with that idea of the romantic, globe-trotting caper/espionage story. I have this vague sense of there having been a lot of movies of that sort, but all I can really think of is Charade. To Catch a Thief kind of fits. Then there's the whole James Bond canon. What else is there? There's got to be some Vespas in Rome, driving a convertible through the hills around Monte Carlo, running through the streets of Paris kind of thing. The Bourne movies are grittier than I'm thinking. I'm going more for Cary Grant and Grace Kelly where it's more glamorous than gritty. A couple rather than a team, so not really a caper in the Italian Job vein.
Yes, I'm thinking about five projects ahead, but I think some of this might end up applying to the one I'm developing. First, though cover copy for book 7, my workshop speech and upgrading my cable.
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