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Allison Larkin

Internationally Best-Selling Author

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Here, there, and everywhere

March 11, 2009 Filed Under: here and there

– I’ve been busy editing my book as per my amazing editor’s suggestions. This doesn’t just mean I’m putting commas in the right place. I’m taking my book apart and putting it back together again to make a better book. I really enjoy editing (because I am strange), but it requires me to keep an entire set of “rules” for this story in my head. Move a scene, and you have to remember to adjust the impact it will have throughout the book. For example, you can’t have a character drive away in their car if they didn’t drive to that destination in the first place. I’m finding that I’m very happy dealing with all things book related right now, but super distracted when I try to deal with anything else. This too shall pass, and it’s not like it matters if my socks don’t match each other, right? Thankfully, J is just fine eating soup, salads, and sandwiches for dinner for the next few weeks, because I’d most likely burn the house down if I tried to cook anything right now.

– We’re considering putting up a fence in the backyard. I’d rather move, but that’s not going to happen instantly, and in my current state of work, the last thing I need is to start a project of that magnitude. I can, however, manage to interview a few contractors and see a fence is an affordable option. I hope it is, because I am totally dreaming of a summer of sitting on the patio and writing while the dogs play, without the neighbor kid yelling, “Hi Argo’s mom! Hi Argo’s mom!” over and over and over again before he rides his scooter through my strawberry patch. If we get a fence, I want one of the stockade fences with no gaps between the boards so the neighbor kid can’t even see me when I’m outside. And I think it might be easier to sell our house eventually if the backyard doesn’t have a view of The Crap Garden.

– It’s so windy today that our garbage can blew from the side of our house to halfway down our driveway. When I first moved up here, I was amused by the “high wind warning” signs in the groceries stories, reminding people to corral their shopping carts. But I can assure you, high winds are no laughing matter. If I never post again, it’s because our house blew away with me in it.

13 Comments

Comments

  1. Howling Hill says

    March 11, 2009 at 5:35 pm

    That dog, who’s named after an Irish alcohol, is fantastically well behaved.

    You’d be well behaved if your punishment was an electrical shock.

    Regarding the fence, if you’re planning on leaving Stella and Argo outside behind it it’s better for them to be able to see. Closed fences like that cause dogs huge anxiety so I’ve read.

    Gardening…soon! Soon! I can’t wait!

    Reply
  2. Allie says

    March 11, 2009 at 5:56 pm

    Ugh. You know, I was afraid it was electric shock. I kept telling myself it was just some fancy clicker.

    I would never leave the dogs outside by themselves, fenced yard or no. German Shepherds are way too smart and way too co-dependent to be left outside like that. I just want to be able to keep them in the yard (and the less than dog-savvy neighbor kids out of my yard) while I’m outside with them. And then I can take them out with me while I garden or write or read in the yard without worrying about them running off when I’m not giving them my full attention.

    Reply
  3. JMS says

    March 11, 2009 at 6:01 pm

    I want one of those stockade fences, too! Remember Frost’s Poem, Mending Wall? “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors?” That’s so true. I could keep out the strange little rat terrier named Blue that stands in the street or at the edge of our yard and barks at us when we’re playing or working in OUR yard. I could keep out the druggies behind us. The scary pit bull that masquerades as Houdini. I could keep out the…well, the world if I so choose.

    It’s MY world on MY property and I want to keep it to MYself. Selfish am I? Maybe, when it comes to my family.

    Jennifer @ Random Ramblings

    Reply
  4. Thomas says

    March 11, 2009 at 10:13 pm

    Nice blog so far. I have enjoyed the last 20 minutes reading it.

    Reply
  5. Kirsten says

    March 11, 2009 at 11:40 pm

    Funny — I just stumbled upon the following quote while working on a Screenwriting course — I’m sure you’ve heard it before :)

    “A good writer is not someone who knows how to write – but how to rewrite.” ~ William Goldman

    Happy editing!

    Reply
  6. Neil says

    March 12, 2009 at 12:17 am

    What if your editor was named after an Irish alcohol? Would you get an electric shock every time your character drove a car that didn’t exist?

    Reply
  7. Reluctant Blogger says

    March 12, 2009 at 4:37 am

    I know i have said this before but it is just so weird that you don’t all have fences. IN the UK all gardens are enclosed (well, front ones aren’t always) and it is rare to be able to see into someone else’s garden without standing at the wall/fence/hedge and peeping over.

    I would not be able to relax if I knew the neighbours could see me and I would be on permanent high alert if they were prowling in and out of my garden, or if their children were. OH dear me, I would be stressed!

    Def get a fence.

    Reply
  8. 3carnations says

    March 12, 2009 at 12:43 pm

    The summer before my son was born, we put a six foot wood privacy fence in our yard. We did it ourselves – and it was still expensive. You might consider doing the work yourselves. It was so worthwhile, though. We also had the neighbor boy who had to yell hello to us repeatedly while outside (my son is that age now, and he does not do that).

    It was very hard work, but totally worth it. Has your property been surveyed?

    Reply
  9. equa yona(Big Bear) says

    March 12, 2009 at 1:55 pm

    We a chain link fence put in when we moved here. It was only down two sides of the yard and it cost 1200 bucks! If you do the work yourselves you will save a bunch, but won’t a stockade fence cast a big shadow? How do you garden with two dogs?

    Reply
  10. Dingo says

    March 12, 2009 at 2:44 pm

    Can you get a fence that’s electrified and has a motion detector from the other side? That way only the strawberry patch neighbor kids gets the shock and the motion detector lets you know when they are nearby so you can run inside before they see you. I think it’s the perfect solution.

    The shock collars are horrible. I know a dog trainer and every time one of her clients suggests a shock collar she makes them try one one and get a shock (on the lowest level) themselves. None of them ever purchase the collar.

    Reply
  11. courtney says

    March 12, 2009 at 2:48 pm

    Fences make the best neighbors, you know. Especially 10-foot-high ones with barbed wire on top, like they have around prison courtyards.

    Editing your book sounds complicated yet rewarding. I’m glad you’re so into it!

    Reply
  12. Mickey says

    March 12, 2009 at 3:25 pm

    How would a shock collar be better than a leash? More convincing, perhaps? So lazy.

    Reply
  13. The Modern Gal says

    March 21, 2009 at 3:58 pm

    Maybe you should introduce Crazy Lab Lady and Amazing Lab Lady?

    I think a fence is a grand idea.

    I’m impressed you’re enjoying editing. I always hate that process so much, of course until I find that the finished product is better than what I started with.

    Reply

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Okay, fine. Her jacket is reversible and we kinda Okay, fine. Her jacket is reversible and we kinda match. I admit it. Alright? We all knew this was coming. None of this should be a surprise to any of us. #dailyroxydog #huskychihuahua #dogjacket #peoplewhomatchtheirdogs
Just a dog in a puffy jacket that matches her lawn Just a dog in a puffy jacket that matches her lawn chair. And she likes it! #dailyroxydog #chihuahuamix #ilovemydog
We are in the habit of starting and ending our day We are in the habit of starting and ending our days side by side in our lawn chairs, while the light rises or dims. It’s still chilly at the outer edges of the day. Sometimes Roxy shivers. I bought her a sweater, but she won’t wear it. Sometimes I try to wrap her in my jacket, but she’s not having that either, so I throw her ball and try to get her run and then she comes back to her chair, warm for a little longer. #dailyroxydog #huskychihuahua #dogssittinginchairs
“I got a secret I should tell. I’m going up to “I got a secret I should tell. I’m going up to heaven in a split pea shell.” ~ @petermulvey43 Words Too Small to Say
Happy as a dog in a freshly dug nap hole. #dailyro Happy as a dog in a freshly dug nap hole. #dailyroxydog #huskymixesofinstagram
I saw this little dresser at my favorite magic ant I saw this little dresser at my favorite magic antique store sometime in November and didn’t buy it. But then, of course, I kept thinking about her. She’s the perfect size for my office, and I found those drawer pulls hilarious. When I finally went back in December, I told myself I was shopping for wall art, because I assumed she would be gone. But she was right where I’d seen her last: balanced on another dresser with boxes of old picture frames and tchotchkes piled on top (the true mark of a magic antique store). I didn’t even realize she had a towel rack — that she was a wash stand, not a dresser — until I asked about the price, said I’d take her, and my favorite magic antique store person asked if we needed to unscrew the towel rack to fit her in my car. I suspect this little sweetie is not from the days of necessary wash stands so much as from a country kitchen in the 80s. She was in rough shape, and not made from wood worth stripping and re-staining, but her price reflected that. I had to disassemble that door and put it back together, but I’d been in the market for some experience working with old furniture, and she made me feel brave about trying. I thought about painting her something more neutral, but I’m so glad I didn’t. She deserves to be pink. She’s not perfectly painted and needs a few touch ups. I learned some things about chalk paint and finishes. The drawers stick a bit. Eventually, I’d like to line them with fabric and when I do, I might plane the edges to smooth things out. But goodness, I love her in a way that I wouldn’t if I hadn’t spent time cleaning away her cobwebs and scrubbing the grime from her hilarious drawer pulls. She’s also become a little shrine for the book I’m working on, which makes me love her even more. I’ve always been a person who sees some soul in certain things, and I’m learning to cherish that idiosyncrasy, because there’s so much joy to be found in a brave little toaster or an underdog wash stand. We’re not here in the world for all that long. We may as well love some bright little things. #furnituremakeover
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