Squeee!

Yesterday, I was working at the shop when the phone rang. It was an elderly lady (84). She told me she had an old sofa, possibly Victorian, that needed upholstered and was looking for someone to take it. Well, sheesh, my mind didn't wrap around the 'looking for someone to take it' part. So I handed the phone to hubs. As he was talking to her, I got to thinking. Just as he was about to say no, I interrupted and said if she's giving it away, I want it.

He tells her the 'boss' said yes. Then he gets off the phone and asks me why I want a piece of junk. Uh, duh! If it's junk we'll deal with it, if it isn't, then well, Duh!

I know, nobody gives furniture away. Yeah, yeah, yeah, especially if it is in mint condition.

Ever since I was little I wanted antique furniture. Look what the Lord provided. :)

Same ole, Same ole

I've been a bit absent and I apologize. Work has been hectic. And since we own our shop we can always leave when eight or ten hours are up. I'm trying to get far enough of hubs so that when I leave for D.C. he'll be fine without me. So instead of packing and working on my pitch, I've been cutting and sewing so hubs can recover the furniture.

Owning an upholstery shop has its perks. I hope to share one with you tomorrow.

Oh, by the way, Loki, my most awesome, wonderulest, fantabulous muse is blogging at Romance Roundtable, with me as his guest. :)

Blogging over @

Romance Roundtable

Breaking, blogging, writing

I think I'll take a break today from blogging. I'd rather spend the time working on my manuscript.

Have a wonderful, blessed day!

This picture was taken at the Kansas Museum of History.

Trip to Kansas Historical Museum

Friday, the girls and I went to the Kansas Historical Society Museum. My intention was only to run in and grab some brochures for the Hearts Through History literacy basket that will be given away during our AGM meeting at Romance Writers Of America. Surprisingly, the older of the two begged me to let them go in and look around. Since it was mid-afternoon and we had a birthday party to attend, I was hesitant, especially since we still had bookoos of errands to run before the party.

Who could resist the pouty faces and the bouncing begs? I mean this was history after all, right? So we compromised. I paid for their entrance and then I headed to the gift shop.

I browsed looking for chocolate covered sunflower seeds, which I didn't get. Hmmm, now that I think about it I probably should go back and get the buffalo beef jerky, Kansas made honey, and the seeds. Anyway, I found a bookmark and bought some postcards. That is when I saw a sign advertising the Cyrus K. Holliday!

Now, I knew the museum had a train, I just hadn't realized it was my train. All right, so it wasn't my train since the two I use in my manuscript are Locomotive No. 1 and Locomotive No. 2. The one at the museum is Locomotive No. 132, but since I haven't been able to find pictures of No. 1, No. 132 will have to do.

I believe the red photo below is No. 1, the trains look exactly alike, except for the No. (Just look at that lock ;)


The bright 132 was painted around the dome. I'm not positive what this was used for, but it seems to be where the whistle is located.

Identification written along the side of a private passenger car. According to the information I read, No. 1 didn't consist of private cars (I'll blog about the private car another day).
It's a bit dark, but this is a picture of the smokestackThe lantern. Not only was the lantern used for the conductor to see further down the track, but also to warn people of a coming train.
Interesting, do you know what this is called? A cowcatcher.
Coal. ;)
A look at the passenger car. When No. 1 first began to roll toward Wakarusa and Carbondale, it carried one passenger car. I guess afternoon excursions were popular so they added a second.

Through the door was another room about the size of this one. It held a set of metal bunk beds. Beyond that was a coat closet and a bathroom.

As you can see there are four seats. I can't imagine putting anymore than sixteen passengers in this car.
Not sure I'd enjoy sitting in the first row. The heat radiating off the stove would have been intense.
I'm taking a wild guess, water?
These are compartments above the seats. They weren't very big, my laptop would fit in there but not much else.
I loved these baskets. And do you see the etching on the glass? I didn't notice it until I was going through the pictures.
They thought of everything. I wonder if a train caught on fire and that is why they have the vent holes above the lamps.
This is the coat rack area I was telling you about. Directly to the right is a bathroom. Very, very small.

Does she look sinister, or what? She's been daydreaming about robbing a train in the old west ever since. ;) She's even been watching westerns on television.
No, we aren't a pre-teen and we don't have an attitude. I wanted you to see how big the driving wheels were. She's just under five foot.

Did you know that the smaller wheels in front of the driving wheels were called bogie wheels? They were invented by U.S. engineers so the trains could maneuver the sharp curves on the rugged terrain.

A mural at the museum.

On Writing

I see authors talk about their processes and I wonder about my own. Sometimes I plot, sometimes I pants, most of the time I plants. But I've discovered something today, I absolutely love the first draft. It took me a few manuscripts to make that discovery. I mean really, the first ms I hated the first draft. Hated it so much that I never went back to do revisions. The second manuscript has gone through many revisions and now rewrites, but I think (Okay, I know) that is because I didn't listen to my voice and stick to my guns.

With Cherish Me, I'm writing and listening along the way. Before I started writing this work-in-progress I bought several things of index cards and plotted. Occasionally I'll dig out the cards and refer to them, but mostly I've just allowed my creative side take over and write whatever comes to mind. This is a good thing, because it has allowed me to get to know my characters better. It has allowed me to let my characters get out of the neat little box I had put them in at the beginning of the plotting. I've also seen huge elements that I want to weave into the story itself, and I can't wait to get it all in there.

The first draft is like a courtship of sorts. It's a time for introductions and getting to know each other. The first draft if a place of discoveries. Like digging through the dirt on an archeological dig with the expectation of finding something small but with the hope of discovering the ultimate find that will put your name in history.

Gosh, I hope I'm saying this tomorrow, or even the day after. :)

Reaching Goals

I love it when I meet my goals. Sometimes I set the bar too high and I miss it, falling flat on my face. The other day I surpassed 50, 000 words on my work in progress, Cherish Me. For a moment it felt great. I was looking at the half full glass and rejoicing. Now, all I'm seeing is that half empty part that I need fill, and quickly. But instead of looking at the last 40,000 words that aren't even written yet, I'm going to focus on a little bit at a time.

Here's to goals being met. I'd also like to shout out a huge congratulations to my writing partner, Christiana Cameron. Way to go at reaching 70K!