Hooray! March is over.

This has been a hellish month weather-wise.  Most of the time has been spent hoping all that water falling from the sky won't get in the house and then mopping up what does.  Three nor'eastahs(as we call them here) in a row giving us the wettest March on record.  I like breaking records but could have lived my life out quite happily without breaking that one.

Oh - and that's a Scottish castle.  Trying to remind myself that I need to get cracking on my next Murray tale.  Simon and Ilsabeth are not happy with me right now.  Trying to explain that I need to keep an eye on my home as the winds hit near hurricane force and rip the shingles off the roof is not cutting it with them.  They say - posh(always wanted to use that word), we need to get it on now, woman. My telling them to stuff it and not to get their knickers in a twist, that I need to mop up water in the basement again, gains me little sympathy.  I think they're responsible for the very loud deadline clock now ticking away in my head.  I will be sure to make them pay for that.

Oh, I have managed to get some things done on it but nowhere near what I had hoped to accomplish by now.  My cunning plan was to get it done by May 1 so I would have tons of time to work in the garden before the weeds grew bigger than I am.  Not looking good for that.  There'll be a lot, too, with all this rain. That's the annoying thing about weeds.  While all the plants you want to grow are struggling not to drown or get some disgusting mold, fungus thingy, weeds are popping up all over the place. Even under the water covering the back garden I can see those evil, smirking, green dandelion leaves.

The few times I have gotten to sit down and write I've found the story is behaving in a very peculiar manner.  I never planned to have children in this book.  Yet, there's my heroine, preparing to go to Simon and what - or who - should creep up to her campfire but two orphans.  Even as I'm scribbling away, I'm thinking, where the heck did they come from and what am I going to do with them?  My brain struggles to figure out how they'll fit into the story as my evil-minded Muse snickers in my ear.

Now - when that happens, I have 2 choices.(aside from smacking my Muse upside the head)  Scratch them right out of there or let the Muse rule and do a little replanning.(Notice that I didn't use the word plotting - something I'm not all that comfortable with)  I know they're going to cause a problem or two if only in my ability to give Simon and Ilsabeth a lot of alone-and-get-hot-and-sweaty time.  The smart thing would be to scratch them or even just bring them into the story later.  But, when the story takes a turn I hadn't seen it taking, I'm reluctant to stop it.  There's a part of me that thinks this is the way it's meant to go.  Even if it does cause a problem or two, there must be a reason why I wrote that twist in there.  I hope.  I pray.  The Muse is not always my friend so we will see.

Well, now that the weather promises to be civil for a week, thus drying up some of the foot or so of water we've gotten in the last couple of weeks, I will return to my writing.  But - as I say - I will find a way to make Ilsabeth and Simon pay for being so pesky while I was busy trying to clean up after storms.  (And spending this whole afternoon waiting for the roofer to come and he's proving to be a no-show)  And I will figure out why those two children appeared.  It will work itself out.  I just don't know how yet.  That is something I know would freak out a number of my writing friends but, although it's got me puzzled, I feel I must go with the flow.  Maybe they will help the cold, just-the-facts-ma'am Simon show his softer side - if he doesn't get too annoyed about the fact that he won't be able to seduce Ilsabeth whenever the mood strikes.(Payback's a bitch, Simon, m'boy. insert evil laughter here.

For all my complaining about the evil weather - I wasn't affected as badly as some.  My cellar didn't flood.  The water was moppable.  I have a couple wet spots on my ceilings below where the water came into the attic and the insurance has already sent a check to help repair the roof.  I may be near a river but the bank is 50' high and it'll take Armageddon or 2012 to make me worry about the waters rising high enough to get me.   Others here in New England have suffered far, far more than I have and I send them many prayers that recovery will go smoothly and that they haven't lost too many of the things they cherish to the water.

As for March - farewell and I won't miss you.  Here's hoping April will be better and summer heat and humidity won't come too soon.

A side note - please tune in on Monday as my guest author will be - Jessica Andersen - author of the 2012 series, a contemporary paranormal about the Mayan's predicted end of days.