Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Rawr indeed



Came home today to a partial request from the query I had feared lost to spam. So yay!

Still trudging on toward 40K with Project 3. It is officially longer than the first draft of project 2 now! (and is just over half way through the story) so I judge this as a good thing.

I must say, this was a much-needed boost of confidence today. I'll just bundle up the requested pages, shoot those over to Kinkos tomorrow, and get that puppy in the mail!

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Blargh

Yes, that's a technical term. It's ancient celticerdusanskrit for "things are just bleh right now".

I'm plugging away at Project 3. I finished chapter 13 today, but I'm seriously unhappy with it. It's going to be one of those things that gets a huge revamp in the first round of revisions. (I hope) I'm still hoping I can hit 40K by the end of Friday.

No news on submissions/queries so far this week. I did see a post from an agent who should have had my query read (from the dates she talked about) so I'm assuming that somehow my query was sacrificed to the spam filter gods. I may resend it next week if I continue to hear nothing.

Hubby has managed to hurt his foot somehow (we're still waiting on the x-ray results to see if it's broken) and kiddo has a golf-ball-sized goose egg on her head after a run-in with a playmate and a big wooden block. I'm tempted to wrap myself in bubble wrap to be sure I don't complete the set with some major mishap.

Friday, June 20, 2008

Huzzah the weekend

I actually had a pretty good week. I got some work done on Project 3 (didn't make 40K but I didn't really expect to. Next week, though...next week!). I sent out more queries. Got a couple rejections back, which are really just serving to confirm that I DO exist (thanks to all of you who still believe in me, much like Santa and the Tooth Fairy. They say hi, by the way)

And in my neurotic ravings about whether or not agents actually received the pages I sent them, one very thoughtful, very sweet agent took the time to e-mail me and let me know that she did have it, and she didn't want me to worry. Now, this woman didn't have to do this. I didn't e-mail her for a status check. She just happened to see a post of mine over at AW and wanted to set my mind at ease.

THIS is what not only makes this person an awesome agent, but also makes her a nice person. Try to do something similar for someone this weekend. Random acts of kindness should always be encouraged.

Kiddo is going to her grandparents' this weekend. She's had an interesting week. She went to the zoo for the first time. Apparently, the highlight of the day was "the llama pooped!" Hey, she's five. I guess these things are fascinating at that age.

I think I'm going to curl up with some books from the library. I'm currently reading Breath and Bone, by Carol Berg, and I have The Nymphos of Rocky Flats, by Mario Acevedo on deck.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Figments of the world, unite!

I got a rejection on a query today. This made me happy! I'm sure you're wondering how that could be, so lemme s'plain. No, there is too much, lemme sum up.

With all this resounding silence in the submission department lately, I had started to wonder if I had perhaps ceased to exist. That maybe, I was merely a figment of a collective imagination, and they all stopped believing in me.

Now, before you scoff, I should point out that my college cronies and I had a collective figment friend, and once upon a time, we stopped believing in her and she went away! True story. (or, you know, she could have done the exchange program to Japan, but I like my version better)

So, if it can happen to Donder Kaye, it can happen to me! Please, everyone who may or may not believe in me as a figment of your imagination, don't stop now. I'm not ready to be relegated to that unemployment office where old imaginary friends go. No one's hiring anymore, and even when they are, they only hire the young ones who work for cheap.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Sunday Funny



I know, posting lolcatz is a rather cheap way to blog. But they make me giggle. Sometimes, a new lolcatz is the brightest point in my day.

Thanks to Chie, I worked through a stuck place in project 3, and hopefully, I can carry on with the spectacular writing speed I had last week. It's going to involve going back into earlier chapters to add some buildup for this plot point, but that's what revisions are for.

Today is Father's Day, but hubby has to work (trust me, he is NOT happy about it) so we did our Father's Day festivities yesterday. Somehow, that involved eating lunch at the kiddo's favorite restaurant. Not quite sure how that happened.

But happy Father's Day to all the other fathers out there!

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Meep

If I thought I was drained yesterday...oi!

I wrote a whopping 2400 words today. (ok, 2399, but don't hassle me over one word with a total like that) Finished chapter 12 then sat there blinking wondering "what did I just do?" After struggling for over a week with the previous chapter, this one just poured out of me.

It was exhilarating and exhausting all at once.

And now of course, I'm sitting here looking at my outline for chapter 13 and realizing that it's one of the ones I only had vaguely formed and I really don't know just WHAT happens. This is going to be...interesting.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Out of Witty Titles

I'm drained today, as I usually am after I manage a writing marathon. Yes, 1400 words counts as a marathon for me. I finished chapter 11 (finally) and got a full page-and-smidge into chapter 12.

No news on the submission front, and it's rather getting me down. I know that one agent has my material ('cause I e-mailed and asked) but I status checked on the other outstanding partial, and haven't heard back on that one at all. So of course, I fear that the pages AND the status check e-mail were swept into spam filter limbo.

Just what I need, another thing to be paranoid over.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Updates on Life in General

Well, the diet from hell and subsequent halfdays of work paid off. The doctor's office called today, and my scans were clean. No cancer here, baybee!

I have realized that I am stalled on project 3, and that I reached a point like this in a previous chapter. At that point, I decided to have my characters do something other than what I'd originally planned (go out instead of stay in), and the chapter bloomed nicely. This time, I'm not sure just WHAT else to have them do. I mean, they're kind of stuck where they are, and I really NEED them to speak to a certain person... Hmm.... Maybe something will come to me tonight as I doze off. I do my best thinking in that place between awake and asleep.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Sunday Funny



I could have used this one about a week ago. Though, in all fairness, my one moment of weakness in the diet involved eating one bite of macaroni and cheese, about three days before the diet was over. I think I did pretty good.

My body, right now, is wondering why the hell I'm giving it all this stuff I deprived it of for three weeks.

Hopefully, I can get back to work on Project 3 come tomorrow. I don't like being stalled, especially when I'm at the point in the book where things really start to HAPPEN, y'know?

Friday, June 6, 2008

Sluuuuuuuuuurp

Yup! Guess what I'm having.

Sluuuuuurp. Strawberry shake. (*coughandadoublecheeseburgerandfriescough*)

I feel sooooo much better.

Result of the diet from hell: 10 pounds lost.
Estimated time to gain it back: 5 days.

I think I'm just going to take this evening and bask in processed food goodness.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

The Adventures of Radioactive Woman

Yup, it's me again, sitting here and glowing in the dark.

Luckily, this is just enough radioactivity to get a look at my innards, and not enough to microwave me from the inside out (like last time). So I'm on a 24-hour no-touchy ban, instead of a week long.

I'm on day 17 of the diet from hell. I have two full body scans (one tomorrow, one Friday) and you bet your sweet Bippy that I'm getting a milkshake on the way home from the second one. Might even get two. And put cheese on them. And cover it in deep fried gravy.

Sadly, all this upheaval to my normal routine has been detrimental to my writing. I have, however, found a lot of time to read back through some of my old stuff. I've revisited ideas for future novels, old WoW writing, all kinds of stuff. I might not be half bad. (Might not be half good, either.)

No news on the submission front, and that's ok. I'm not sure I'm up to dealing with stuff this week. (but, y'know, if someone wants to send some good news my way, I wouldn't turn it down. Just sayin'...)

Sunday, June 1, 2008