Noticing Magic Everywhere

Kate Comings' journal


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Winter is a time for waiting…

Portland is blanketed with snow, with some icy, slippery spots. Winter doesn’t officially begin for almost a week, but you’d never know. The way I see it, winter arrived with last week’s ice storm and gale winds and a power outage that made me despair of ever getting my iMac back up afterwards. We had lots of tree damage, including my poor pine tree. The ice was beautiful though, and I did get outside with my camera before it melted.

Hawthorne berries

Hawthorne berries

Frozen pine needles

Frozen pine needles

Rose hips

Rose hips

Because the streets are slippery, I won’t be driving until the temperatures get above freezing, which they have not. It’s a good time to settle in and wait it out while I revise my next book, Zen Flowers.

I’m waiting to receive the final proof copy of Deliver Us From Evil, which needs approval before the book will be available on Amazon. I can’t wait to hold the book in my hands after so many edits and revisions. I’m like a kid the night before Christmas. For me, the hardest waiting is right before the end.


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Time to declutter

My office, "before" photo

My office, “before” photo

I have way too much stuff. How I manage to work, or even think in here, I have no idea. So, I’m gonna clean it up, and I’ll post again when the job is done. It’s the perfect time to do it: wintry weather makes it tempting to stay inside, and I just finished the first round of revisions to my next novel. Now I need to take a break and let it sit for a while so I can see it with fresh eyes when it’s time for the next rewrite. I have been writing and revising for a long time. That was my focus instead of tidying, and I let everything pile up. In stacks, and more stacks.

Reams of recycling

Reams of recycling

This is a stack of printed-out, revised manuscripts of my three books now in print. They need to be shredded and recycled. They represent years of work, and I’m sort of attached to them, and shredding takes a long time. The rubber bands holding each version rotted while I procrastinated, and I finally got started. I had actually shredded a bunch before I took the photo. It wasn’t as hard as I thought; having the books in front of me reminded me that these stacks were only the means to an end and it’s time to say goodbye.

 My three books

My three books

Saying goodbye to some of the books on my overloaded bookshelves is going to be a lot harder.


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Working While I Wait

While I wait for the final ebook proof of “Playing in the Apocalypse,” I’m editing the latest draft of my novel, “A Shack on the Outskirts of Heaven.” That book is turning out to be almost as full of song lyrics as “Apocalypse” was before I took them out, having recently learned that Fair Use does not apply to songs. All my writing is peppered with song lyrics, requiring a careful going over. It’s amazing the way songs have worked themselves into my brain and become part of me, but they’re a part I can’t use because they were part of someone else first.

After what felt like weeks of cold rain, we had three warm days in the 70s and 80s. Irises, roses, and rhododendrons noticed. Petals unfurled. Showers are back today, and it smells wonderful outside. 

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