I had to check the day and date four times this morning and I’m still not sure what day it is! I know it’s Nicky’s birthday, so I know it’s the 14th of August. Day? Yesterday I thought it was Tuesday so that’s probably causing the confusion. Well, that, and a migraine. There’s been an annoying uptick in migraine activity since July 7th. Didn’t used to be linked to stress at all but now they are or at least they are at the moment. Yay. So now it’s light, sound, and stress. What a fucking joy.

My happy place is too fucking far away.
I am not enjoying the new normal at all. There is far too much stress and a lot of it unnecessarily caused by the govt and people who don’t think.

For this week’s crime writing class I have revamped notes on Dialogue and Description. And some exercises. What fun!
I might pop one in the bottom of this post for you all to try. 🙂

I have whittled my Secret Squirrel job down to a long short list. A little bit more to go and it’ll be on the way back to the library. Such fun. Diesel enjoyed the process and is now a well-versed dog.

Haven’t written anything this week. Left my notebook behind when I came home on Monday. *Shakes head*
This week:
1. Physio to get a replacement finger-splint because mine vanished into the loft bed. New one is not as comfortable as the old one.
2. Splint turned up!
3. Picked up repeat ‘scripts.
4. Eye test led to new glasses. (Did not see that coming.) That was almost $500 that I hadn’t planned on spending!
5. Spent ages trying to get Mercury power company sorted so I get the bills and not Superman.
6. Fighting with NZ Post over mail delivery. They say no mail is delivered to Superman’s address so I can’t redirect it. I say he’s been receiving mail there for 30 years. FFS.
7. The house is in disarray and I HATE IT.
8. I had planned on ordering a big skip bin but I don’t want to spend another chunk of money this week and I’m still waiting for my replacement debit card.
9. Our neighbours are arseholes. And woke me up at 3AM with thumping bass bullshit.
10. That’s it. I have zero energy left. We’re going to a cabaret tomorrow night so I need to find some energy.

Exercise:
2. Scene Swap
Write a 30-second description of a quiet park at midday.
Now rewrite the same scene so it’s 2 a.m. and the POV character is either:

• a cop searching for a missing child, or

• a killer waiting for a victim.

Purpose: Builds tension through sensory changes, pacing, and word choice.
Here’s Diesel: