I Have No Brain, and I Must Think

[dancinghorse]

I've been having a very nice time noodling on the (lunatic) fringes of various writercentric discussions elsewhere, but when I try to come up with something here, the synapses won't fire.  This is not too worrisome, since it merely means I've been blitzing fiction for so long I'm all out of blitzons.  They'll regenerate in a few weeks.

Or maybe I simply have a limited capacity for creative thinking.  My dreams, such of them as I remember, are usually incredibly mundane.  I never had an imaginary friend--though I told numerous stories and had a whole slew of "pretend" games, and later I tried little bits of what we now know as fanfic, which quickly gave way to my own elaborate science-fantasy stories set in a rather strange universe which later grew into the Avaryan books.

Maybe I'm just really narrowly focused and too idiosyncratic to do things anyone else's way.

That could be it.

Meanwhile, back in Mundania, I've been practicing the fine art of Thud.  Yesterday was mostly spent being horizontal.  Today has been more productive.  Much much cleaning of very muddy barn and very muddy horses.  Capria-ride, ponying keed.  Walkies for da Pook, who was in explorer mode, wanting to check out every little thing.  Excavation of office, which has become a box room of epic proportions.  The boxes (nearly all of books and mss.) are now spread out over two rooms and a hallway, the office floor has been discovered, and the closet is cleared out, waiting for new shelving which can only go up if I acquire tools and hardware that I don't at the moment have.  Tomorrow should remedy at least some of that.

It will be good to have an office floor.  After which, I can excavate the guestroom closet, which also is in a parlous state thanks to the cats--they've played merry hob with everything stored in there.

And so we practice Holiday Hysteria.  I go into kamikaze cleaning mode.  What can I say?

Lessons tomorrow.  Fourth Avenue Street Fair this weekend--the last gasp of my holiday shopping.  Next week may actually be sort of sane, barring a couple of lunches Out and an expedition to purchase a tree.

Books are gestating in the backbrain meanwhile.  A kickass new series is about to start--first volume due in June.  We have outline, we have proposal, we can, once the blitzons have regenerated, boogie.  Imagery to bear in mind: Les Tres Riches Heures of the Duc de Berry, and the Sainte-Chapelle.

Cool email of the day was a fan letter from a Lipizzan breeder whom I hadn't encountered before--clearly a lover of the breed, who like totally got it about Mountain's Call.  I'm very happy when nonhorsepeople like the book, but this is its core audience and potentially its toughest critic.  She liked it.  Go Us.

Comments

[raithen.livejournal.com]

ya know, I had Mountain's Call in my hand on Sunday. And I looked at it, and I lusted, and I regretfully put it back on the shelf. Christmas is coming, you see. And I went home and dropped broad hints.... ;D.

and can you come organize my filing boxes next? Because I was truant and took a holiday, I haven't yet met my deadlines (amorphous though this one is), and so am still writing like a mad fool. And yet the piles of paper are a tad worriesom. And then there was the hour spent trying to convince my darling dear Arab that if she got IN to the creep feed, she could also get OUT of the creep feed. She begged to differ, and I finally gave in and opened up a panel (with help) so that she could escape. She promptly turned around and threw a sassy kick in my direction. *hrrmph* All of my horses are feeling the lack of attention, and they are terribly sassy of late....

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Good luck with the deadlines! I've had writing to do over the holidays in previous years--Forget It. December is pretty much a lost cause.

My horses are crying neglect, especially Camilla. She Really wants a job.

[raithen.livejournal.com]

thanks so much!

hey, you might be able to give me some info I am trying to find. We are gearing up to wean our foal, but we aren't sure what adjustments to make in the mare's feeding schedule to help her milk dry up. what do you usually do? And since we're on the topic, what's your philosophy of weaning? At what age do you wean? Do you do fenceline weaning or out of sight, out of sound weaning? Any info you could provide would be appreciated, as I want this to be as low stress as possible for JJ AND for Juno, her dam.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Take the mare off all concentrates--grain, alfalfa, anything but plain grass hay--until she dries up. It takes a week or two, sometimes longer.

I wean gradually--separate them for longer periods each day over the course of a week or so, get so baby's with the big kids all day, then one night I don't let her back in with mom. Mom will be next door, in sight and nose-touch but not nurseable. I hate cold-turkey weaning, I think it's cruel. If they're weaned along the fenceline, it's relatively low-stress and they still have each other, just not the milk bar.

Lipps are weird (this is news?) and will often wean the babies themselves at a surprisingly early age--four or five months. Mom decides it's time and boots the kid out. If mom isn't sayin', six months seems reasonable, or else if the mare is looking drawn down, then it's time. Especially if she's in foal again, by six months she needs all the energy she can spare for the next foal.

Technically they can be weaned any time after six weeks old--Ohio State did studies and babies weaned at eight weeks showed no differences from babies weaned at six months. I think that's pushing it, personally. Three months is as early as I'll go--I weaned Pook then because he was eating sand, and also Lipp breeders told me to wean a stallion prospect early so he'd bond to me and be easier to handle as an adult. The sandeating stopped within 24 hours and he's the world's easiest stallion, so there you go.

The girls and keed have all been weaned (by their mothers) at four and a half months. Worked well for all of them.

[raithen.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

This is TERRIBLY helpful. (and I am, apparently, terribly effusive this morning ;).

Beyond confirming my thoughts on the matter, your email gives me hope. You see, JJ has already sand colicked, at 6 weeks of age, because she would stand and eat dirt. MASSIVE quantities of dirt. We spent the summer keeping her away from dirt, feeding her psyllium, and working with a local naturopath who works extensively with horses. SHe diagnosed a silica deficiency, so we have been giving her horsetail as a supplement. It helped, but it has been a challenge -- she still would get into the sand occasionally. THe snow has curtailed thise sand eating, of course, but I still worry. She is also chewing wood, but I think that is a learned behaviour, as her mother chews something fierce.

We have waited on weaning (She is 7 1/2 months old now) because of these issues. But it is Time. We have been separating her and her mom during the days, and Mom is off concentrates, but we want to make sure the sand eating and chewing don't get worse.

We had thought about letting the broodmare decide when it is time to wean, but JJ is very dominant, and Juno fairly submissive, so that isn't going to work.

And Lipps are neat, not wierd!

Thanks again for all the input.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

You're welcome.

With my Carrma kids, it's something in Carrma's milk that makes them dive for the sand. I haven't had this problem with other mares. As soon as the foals are weaned, the sandeating stops.

The Lipps thank you for the good word. ;>

[raithen.livejournal.com]

hhm. that's interesting re: Carma's milk. If you breed her again, you MAY want to look into supplementing her while pregnant and while nursing, because like most people I talk to, the "dirt diving" -- excessive sand eating -- is a response to some sort of deficiency. Our naturopath did extensive muscle testing on JJ and and her mom, based on that and her knowledge of the minuerals etc in the area soil and hay, she figured that they both had a silica deficiency.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

I supplement her like crazy. I guess I could have Dr. Pat do muscle testing and see if there's anything missing.

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

Les Tres Riches Heures is a wonderful book. Are you going to include the fellow warming himself (as it were) in front of the fire?

[maryosmanski.livejournal.com]

Tsk. Tsk. (grin)

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Oooo. Sharp eyes. 8)

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

I don't even *remember* my dreams unless they're nightmares bad enough to wake me up. (The most recent one of those was about my teeth falling out at a public speaking engagement. At least it didn't hurt....)

I think it may be pretty common. *g* All that focus winds up, um, focused. And then the book is done and.... THUD! No more focus.

Right. I'll be over here whistling and trying not to look like an idiot. *g*

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

What She Said; the inspiration well as well as the brain well need time for refilling when a major project has been packed in the bag.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

That's reassuring. I always feel as if everybody else is ever so much more imaginative than I am.

My brain right now is not even firing synapses. It's just sort of sitting there.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

O boy sometimes it takes me months. And you should see how clean my room gets, my pencils are all ordered, closets get sorted, and all the other footle that will be totally abandoned when the writing urge bites me in the ass again, and drags me back into the cave.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Well yes. That's when the footle gets de-footled.

January's project: Hack through the jungle of brush around the house. But first, must finish excavating house, because many guests will be coming after the holidays, and need places to sleep.

[kateelliott.livejournal.com]

I have never written any fanfic. I never knew fanfic existed until I was an adult. I spent all those adolescent years making up my own worlds - which in a way is it's own type of fanfic.


Also, like you I Have No Brain, but these days that's more to do with having three teenagers than anything. Man, I'm exhausted.

I find I can write when exhausted - the skill is there - but only things I have already plotted out to some degree. What I can't seem to do is create new stuff.

[dancinghorse.livejournal.com]

Teenagers will do that to you. The cultures that do walkabout and other puberty rites have a better idea--send 'em out, let 'em get their yayas out away from the tribe.