Day off, or off day?

Actually, tomorrow will be my day off (from the Real Job (tm) at least). I am taking the kiddo to get shots, and various other paperworkings necessary for her to start kindergarten in the fall. I am SO not ready for this! She, on the other hand, is very excited. Only kid in the world who likes her doctor so much, she's happy to go get shots.

Hit my word count today, plus a little over. Did absolutely nothing yesterday. Bleh. But I finished chapter 5, and started a teensy weensy bit of chapter 6. (which reminds me, I promised to send Chie chapter 5, gotta go do that)

I don't figure tomorrow will have any success with writing, given the massive amount of errands-with-child I have to do, and that's ok. But maybe I'll be able to get some done this weekend. (yeah right)

No word on the submission front, but I did send out another query. I just have to feel like I'm DOING something, you know? And in my head, I know that the publishing industry moves at a snail's pace, and if I want to be a part of it, the waiting is something I have to get used to. But my inner child is whining "Are we there yet?"

Forecast: Bloggy

Yeah, that's the sum total of my wittiness today. No updates on the submission front.

Hit my word count goal, and I'm about 2/3s of the way through chapter 5 of Project 3. One of my characters has turned out to have more backbone than I gave him credit for, and it may make the climax of this book play out way differently than I first thought. Time will tell.

But that little fact got me to pondering how much fun it is to have characters that are only half-formed in your mind, and letting THEM tell YOU who/why/what they are. So far, I have one character who is shaping up to have a much bigger role than anticipated, and then of course my new-found man-with-spine. It's fun!

(I'm safe as long as I don't let them run off with my story. You never really domesticate them, you know, and they could bolt at any moment.)

The week in review

Well, I did zero writing today, because the Real Job(tm) was just nuts. But since I exceeded my goal every other day, I'll call it good.

Still no updates on queries/partials out. One query I expected to hear back from by now, and I'm starting to wonder if the agent received it at all. I'll give it another week, and try again if I don't hear anything.

And as for the spa day last Sunday... I can safely say it was the strangest thing I've ever done.

First, you have to understand that I'm not a girly girl. I don't wear makeup, "doing my hair" = ponytail, and I never ever pamper myself. So the spa was a strange and foreign land. I entered it wary and on edge.

First I had a facial. It was all right, I suppose, but I could have done without the lady telling me how I was ruining my skin by not moisturizing in one breath, and telling me how perfect my skin was in the next. I mean, really, it can't be both, yes? She kept saying "Now, I want to see you back every five weeks!" Yeah...not happening.

Next, I had a body wrap, which basically consists of me being scrubbed all over with bristle brushes, slathered in extremely HOT lotion, and then getting wrapped up like a Chipotle burrito for twenty minutes. I will say that my skin came out very very soft afterwards.

Then, I had a massage, which was probably the only part of the experience I would repeat. (like...once a year. Not all the time) I even let her do my feet, which most folks who know me should be shocked by. And then she took hot towels and wrapped around my feet, and that was just heaven.

Finally, I had a shampoo and style. And I had no idea what I wanted done, so I told the guy to just play with it. So first, he blow dries my very curly hair straight. Then, he proceeds to RE-curl it with a big curling iron. I wound up with pageant hair. And I had to wash it immediately when I got home, because the hairspray fumes were making me nauseous.

So, all in all, it wasn't a vile experience, and I'm glad that the mystery of the whole environment has been removed. But I doubt I'll be doing it again. I guess I don't have to worry about spending all my fabulous riches on spa treatments, once I get famous and wealthy.

So far, so good!

I've exceeded my word-count goal every day this week (so far)! Yay me! Now, not all of it was on project 3, I stuck some WoW writing in there, but I did manage to hit 10K.

I'm currently working on chapter 5. I know the specific things that need to happen in this chapter to move the plot along, but I'm a little hazy on the details. So, I'm going to go at it from the POV of a character I haven't touched on yet, and see what he has to tell me about the world. I'm kind of excited!

I realized the other day that I have well and truly moved on from Project 2 (writing wise) and I'm getting into Project 3. For some reason, this seems like a major accomplishment for me. It's all brand new again! Now, in a few months when I'm starting revisions on Project 3, I'll remember just why there are parts of this process that drive me insane. (and of course, when i move on to the next project, I'll forget the pain all over again. It's kinda like childbirth, that way)

I wonder if this whole weird repetitive process will ever get old.

I must be old

I mean, you know you must be getting old when you don't even remember it's supposed to be St. Patrick's Day until the kiddo reminds you that she's supposed to wear green to daycare. Then of course I had to frantically scramble to find ANY green shirt she could wear that wasn't dirty and/or too small... But, I did, and she had a grand time, and we survived yesterday.

Both yesterday and today, I more than doubled my word-count goal, and I finished chapter 4 so I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. If I can hit word count tomorrow, I'll break my first 10K on this projec! Go me! (it's the small things in life that make me happy)

I have nothing new to report on the submission saga. Presumably, those who have asked for pages are reading them, and those who have not...are not!

The weekend cometh

Ah, Friday. Even better than that, it's post-workday Friday. I am so glad to see this weekend arrive.

My snail-mailed partial arrived at the agent safely, per the United States Post Office website. At 6:38 this morning, to be precise. Of course I was checking. I'm anal, it's what I do.

I still have two unanswered queries out. One of those won't receive a response at all if it's a rejection, and on the other, the agent is running behind due to illness, so I'll forgive her.

I got my 500 words in yesterday, but it was on WoW writing, so nothing I can document on my nifty little bars to the left. I got absolutely no writing done today, work was just icky and flighty. And you'd just have to work where I do to understand how those two things can go together.

I doubt I'll be doing any writing this weekend either. Crayon has sent me an SoS needing transport due to vehicular malfunction, so I'll be running around with her tomorrow, and then Sunday, I shall be spending the better part of the afternoon being pampered at a spa! It's my first time doing this, so I hope it's as cool as I think it will be. Thank the hubby for my really great Valentine's gift!

Happy weekend!

Fly, little partial, fly!

My snail mail partial is on its merry way! At least, I hope it's merry. I suppose it could get stuck next to the package that gripes all the way and doesn't share the armrest, but...

Ok, yes, I'm a little punchy today. Querying results in these drastic highs and lows of emotion that are just downright exhausting. One moment, I am convinced that my book is unique and well written and marketable, and in the next breath, I become just as certain that it's the biggest pile of horse puckey ever written, and I should be embarrassed that I'm wasting these poor agents' time.

I got no writing done today, sadly, because the Real Job (tm)took up a good chunk of my attention. Guess it's a good thing I came out quite a bit ahead for my last two days. Means I might make quota for the week as a whole. (though I swore I wouldn't take advantage of padding that way) So maybe tomorrow I'll get 1.000 words written and it'll count for today and tomorrow both.