Flying On The Fringe

Finally got to see some wood go up. Once they got the concrete poured, they started the framework. We had to have special “earth-contact” lumber, since the roof is barely above the earth, and actually touches in some places. I was amazed at how fast things went once they got the frame up. It seemed like one day there were a few boards, and a couple days later, there was a roof.

 

Probably not really that fast, but after all the digging that had to be done, it was such a joy to see the roof start to take shape.

 

 

 

 

 

The final step was the shingles. We chose shingles because part of the house is two-stories and metal roofs can be slick.

 

 

And here is the finished job—looks like a normal house, but with all the added advantage of the earth-sheltered house. We could still walk up on the roof from the back, if we wanted. It won’t be like before, when we could spread lawn chairs on the roof and watch the meteor showers, but it looks beautiful, and I am so thrilled. We have the best of both worlds, an attractive roof that will be easy to repair in the future, and the insulation of the earth covering.

And once grass grows behind the house, we still have a great view of the stars.

We have a lot of serious damage to the outside of the house and to some interior walls from the major leaks we had. We literally had water streaming down one wall in the living room and coming out through an electrical outlet. You can see some of the exterior damage here–the rough white patches where mold has grown through the stucco.

Last week I showed you what our house looked like when we started. As the men started working, the house held a few other surprises, like insulation along the back wall and under the earthen roof where we weren’t expecting it. Some of the early earthwork was done by a very gutsy driver.

 

But Nathaniel had his men dig by hand all the way around the edges to protect the insulation. It was still hot while this work was going on. Those guys have my sincere sympathy, but I never heard a single complaint.

 

Once they got down to the tops of the original walls, they had to pour a new concrete stem wall to provide a footing for the roof structure. It had to rise high enough to clear the earth covering we wanted to leave in place. Maybe you’re beginning to get a feel for how weird this project was. I’m pretty sure I have the only house like this in the country. Maybe in the world.

Next week you get to see the new roof start to take shape. I’m so excited!

 

I’ve been talking for weeks about getting a new roof on my house. This was no small undertaking, considering our house is earth-sheltered with an earth roof over a concrete structure. We had been trying for about three years to find someone to redo the original earth covering and waterproofing. No one in this area (Southwest Missouri) knew how to do it. The nearest companies that build earth-sheltered homes were in Kansas City and Tulsa, and those companies weren’t willing to travel to our rural area just to replace the roof.

We house was built in 1999 by a company in Minnesota. The roof was only warranted for ten years, and it lasted maybe 15, but after that we started having major leaks resulting in significant damage to the stucco exterior and some interior walls where water trickled down through the concrete structure.

Since we couldn’t find anyone to fix the earthen material, we decided our only option was to build a roof over it. However, we wanted to maintain as much of the earth as possible, since that’s our insulation. It was worth hanging on to. In the winter, if we turn the central heat off, even in the coldest weather the house doesn’t get below about 62 degrees. We do have to air condition in the summer because of humidity.

We started looking for contractors to build a roof structure tied in to the existing concrete structure of the house. A couple of estimators told us they were interested in the project, only to disappear once they thought it over and figured out what they were getting into. After three years of waiting for contractors who simply didn’t show up or quit communicating with us, we were at our wits end.

I finally started calling contractors again, most of whom must have heard about us, because most wouldn’t even come for an estimate. But Nathaniel Cotten Construction of Neosho did. Nathaniel looked the house over and said he’d call in a few days with a bid. We’d heard that before.

But a few days later, there it was, and much less than the highest bid we’d gotten from a company that ghosted us. Even better, he had a crew ready to start in three weeks. To the left is another view of what the original roof looked like from the back of our house.

And one from the front, where you can see that one side is two stories.

After spending some time studying the original house plans, he and my husband Carl figured out—sort of—where the walls were so they could start digging. We thought there was about three feet of dirt on top of the walls. Turns out, there was closer to six, so there was a lot of digging.

Most of the digging had to be done by hand by the poor guys with shovels in order to preserve as much of the earth on the roof as possible. Nathaniel also made sure they were careful not to damage the waterproofing on the back wall.

Stay tuned. I’ll have more information next week!

I met with my critique group today. They are my inspiration, and they keep me going when I want to quit. So many times I’ve left my computer, with the intention of never writing fiction again.  (I’d say I’ve laid down my pen, but these days, I never write that way). They push me to go back.

Today I got some great tips for rewriting part of the first chapter of my WIP. This from the same people who had me throw out the first three chapters I’d written previously, so the current chaptter one was chapter four. But they were right. It is SO much better. And today, it’s better still.

If you write, I encourage you to do whatever you can to find a supportive group of fellow authors to work with. There are caveats, however, and if your chosen group doesn’t meet the following standards, it would be best to move on.

1.   Ideally, at least some of the members should be farther along in the writing profession than you are. A mix of people at different levels is fantastic, because skilled authors don’t always read something the way those who read a lot, but haven’t done much writing. The more we learn the trade, the more it affects how we assess what we read, and most readers are not writers.
2.   Critiques should be constructive, not destructive. Suggestions should be made with the goal to build you up as a writer, not to prove how much more they know (or think they know.) On the other hand, sometimes it should be tough, just like tough love. If the book has to start with chapter four, they have to have the guts to tell you.
3.   That being said, you as the author have to be willing to accept criticism and use it to your advantage. People who just tell you how wonderful you are won’t really help you.
4.   Regular meetings are important. They keep the momentum flowing, and give you the motivation to keep producing when you’d really rather do something else this week. If at all possible, find a group that can meet in person. There’s something about the back-and-forth flow of discussion in a group that far surpasses what can be done online. However, an online group is better than no group.

Check with your local librarian to see who else in your area is an author. See if the library will allow you to post something seeking other authors (published and unpublished) to start a group if one doesn’t already exist.

Good luck my friends, and keep writing.

I recently tried to discipline myself to write every day. I did get quite a bit of writing done that way. My greatest fear was that I would write junk that I would end up throwing out, because I normally try to write based on inspiration. So what happened?

I ran the first four chapters by my critique group. They recommended I throw out the first three. So I stopped writing for a week. I decided I was fed up and would stop writing, at least until I could find an agent interested in what I’ve already written. I have two books in my first series edited and ready to submit, and two in my new series ready for editing.

But, as is usually the case, the writing bug has bitten me again, and as much as I would like to ignore it, the bite REALLY itches. So I’ll be back at the computer again today.

Wish me luck.

 

 

Image by Pete from Pixabay.

Well, we got a little rain, but no where near enough. I understand farmers are worried about hay crops for the winter, The fields here have rows of big bales, but I’m sure there should have been at least one more cutting, maybe two. I’m worried about the wildlife as well. Deer, normally pretty elusive, have been hanging out close to the house and eating our garden for the first time ever.

I doubt there will be a nut crop to support the squirrels. The year we moved to our property, there wasn’t a single squirrel on the entire 8 acres, or in the woods behind us. They all starved and froze to death the previous winter. It was two or three years before we spotted one in our yard, and a couple more years before we saw young ones growing up. I hate to think that might happen again this year.

I’m praying for the people affected by this, but I’m praying for the animals too.

All right, up front, this is a shameless plea for donations.

My younger son, Matt, is pushing hard to get his game development studio, Sanctum Games, moving forward. Like a lot of us, he’s coming off a couple years of setbacks, some of them heartbreaking, including the death of his former partner and mentor, Daniel.

He is moving forward. Kenneth Kidder has commissioned Sanctum Games to make a digital version of his table top game, Tortured Earth. To get things started, Sanctum Games has set up a site for donations (only $5):

https://ko-fi.com/sanctumgames

The funds will be used to pay the programmers and artists so they can get a demo prepared for a Kickstarter campaign to be launched later on.

To the right is sample of what one of the artists, John Kaufmann, will be producing for the game. Beautiful, isn’t it?

Olivia Davis is the second artist, Henry Yantz and Justin Fredericks will program the game, and Justin Wingo is the Sound Design artist.

As you can see, this is not a small operation. I can’t tell you all how proud I am of Matt for putting all this together and for becoming the budding entrepreneur he is.

Please help this promising group get started.

My love to all of you.

What kind of writer are you—plotter, pantser, or hybrid?

I recently saw a quote from C.G. Drews @PaperFury that really hit home for me. (Capitalization was part of the quote I saw on Facebook, so I am presenting it as it appeared.)

“there are three type of writers;

1) those who plot their books

2) those who discover their plot along the way

3) those who know what will happen but their book is a bit feral still, needs a bath, has bitten and will bite again.”

I’m sort of a hybrid writer. I do some plotting, but I have a bad habit of forgetting to look at the plot once I’ve created it, so my stories tend ultimately to flow more organically. However, when “pantsing” leaves me stuck in a corner, sometimes the plot helps bail me out, or at least gives me a structure for correcting whatever mistake got me into trouble.

But it was #3 that really struck me. Been there, done that. I’ve been bitten by my main character. In fact, at one point my main character threw the key element of the plot for an entire book out the window. I was trying to plot one day, and he basically just said, “Nope. Not doing that.”

I hope that every writer has a chance to experience having their MC talk back to them. It’s the moment at which you realize your characters have become living, breathing creatures. If they are real for you, they’ll be more real for your readers.

My advice is to listen respectfully when they talk back. They often know more about the direction the story should take than we, as the builders, do. In my case, my MC was absolutely correct. I knew it. I was still aggravated, because I had to start from scratch on that story, but I couldn’t deny he nailed it.

Perhaps some day I will once again experience the painful joy of being bitten by one of my characters. I look forward to it.