Tiiiired

I've been cleaning up limbs and brush from the ice storm. Again.

The first time, we cleaned it up into a pile in the yard, waiting for the city to decide when they were going to pick up the stuff (they had announced they would).  Well.... we waited.... and waited... Then they announced, "OK, we're going to start picking it up, but not from private roads."  

Guess what I live on.

So I did the American thing.  I brought the brush down the road and put it onto the public street.  And I ONLY put storm debris down there, unlike some people who think it's OK to put Christmas trees and grass clippings and WEEDS there for the city to collect.  Idiots.

I got about two pages written on my short story today.  Hit a couple of snags, but I'm blaming it on self doubt.

Oh and here's a call out to Vern Roberts: I hope you feel better soon.

Oh, I'm writing!

Yes!!!!  I'm writing a short story AND a novel.  I am psyched.  The short is a really old one that I found in a folder on my computer from like, two computers ago.  I submitted it until it was dead, getting wonderful rejection letter from many editors who loved it but couldn't publish it. At the time--and this was like five years ago--I was scratching my head.  If they loved it, why couldn't they freaking publish it?  I put it away and haven't read it in years.  TOday I got an idea.  I printed the sucker out, and.... OMG.  Did I actually WRITE this?  I actually wrote this BADLY and sent it out thinking it could be PUBLISHED????  Yeah.  See, the editors loved it because it was a good story.  But the actual writing of the thing... ugh.  What a horrible way to execute that story.  The poor thing.  So anyway, I'm completely rewriting it from start to finish.  I'm hoping to have a good draft done by mid-month, and then have a final draft done by mid-July.  Then I'm sending it out...

My other project is a big one.  A multiple book series idea is really growing on me.  I have been writing that too.  One day at a time.  

The coffee quitting is going OK.  Cheated a little today because we had a free mocha at Borders.  But I've only been drinking coffee in the mornings now (other than said mocha), and it's been ok.  The next step is going from two cups in the AM to one.

Agony agony agony....

I feel like I'm about to turn into Dr. Manhattan...  See, I am trying to get off the coffee.  I drink way too much, and the physical manifestations are starting to annoy me (I have a weird heartbeat thing, and obviously, any stimulants make it worse).  So now I am seriously cutting back (and maybe... MAYBE cut it all together, but at this point, heh, yeah. Right.), and ruing the day.  I mean, I slept like a rock last night, but woke up with my head feeling like it wants to suck itself inside out.  I think it may go nuclear soon.  OR perhaps it will become a black hole and just suck everything into it. Instead of a person, I'll just be a gravity well.

And of course, two gulps of Sumatran delight later, I feel human again.  *DING*

Writing: Well... With everything going on, the adoption, some other stressors (You KNOW who you are, even though you may not read this, or know who I am... My wrath is such that you will sense it in your sleep... you will be haunted....), etc, my writing life has been thrown for a loop.  So I decided not to stress it at all.  This is a transitional time for me.  Of course things are going to be weird.  

Then I got this idea...

A 5-7 book idea.  I'm not the 5-7 book sort of girl.  The thought of something that big kind of scares me.  I mean, talk about a sagging middle... You think trying to keep the middle of something 100,000 words long interesting is..if not difficult, at least WORK, think of working with something freaking 700,000 words long! CRAZY.  And it's fantasy, of course, which has always been my favorite genre.  And I already have a lot of work done on it, because it sort of incorporates a lot of other stuff I had worked on in the past.  I'm actually really excited about it.  Need to think of a working title though.

Writing like Tetris

I feel like I'm playing that game Tetris, moving pieces around form story to story, seeing where they fit.  My young adult novel is becoming a science fiction novel.  Suddenly, two of my novels just seemed to fit together in a strange, uncanny sort of way.

My husband and I were excited for about fifteen minutes, as we started to plan a trip to WorldCon in Montreal this summer.  Then we realized that my mom has plans that can't be changed for that weekend, and can't watch the Chief.  There's no way we can really bring him; he would go crazy.  They childcare there, but it's pretty expensive, and plus, I would be having nightmares the whole time (he has a peanut allergy, the deadly sort where he has a reaction if you touch him after you touched a peanut even if you washed your hands).  So no, I don't think it's going to happen.  Even though Neil Gaiman is going to be there and.... I JUST REALLY WANTED TO GO!!  Such is life, though.  "You pays yer money, you makes yer choice," as Humphrey Bogart says in African Queen.  We'll just have to think of another fun vacation opportunity that all of us can do.  Without Neil.  I could invite him, but I think he's kinda busy.

Second MAPP class (about adoption) tomorrow.  At some point there is going to be role playing.  I can't wait...  I can do a pretty good six year old ;).

Catching up, finally!

So my blog has finally gotten its well deserved make-over.  I've had so much going on lately that I'm lucky I can post at all!  Plus new story ideas and having to go over old stories to submit.  We are reaching the end of a lot of literary journals' reading periods, so I'd better get cracking.  I have one short story sitting on my desk, finished, just waiting for revision.  

We are getting a lot of yard work done.  The grass that husband planted a couple weeks ago is coming in, and it looks GREAT.  Much better than the old mud pit we had on the side of the house.  If only there was some sort of magic spell that could make concrete and glass disappear, we would be all set!

And the news....  I had mentioned that husband and I were doing something.  Well, we have applied to adopt a child, a boy.  My son has been asking for a brother for a while now, and we have always wanted more kids.  So, there you go!  We are taking classes about how to parent a child who has not had a great life until now, and how to deal with whatever issues he might have.  We had a home safety check a couple years ago, which seemed to go great until Little Chief threw a fit when the social worker had to go home!  Ah, well, c'est l'enfant for you.  I'm sure a social worker knows how kids are, but still, I was a bit embarrassed!  "Yeah, we'll let you have another one..."

Hello, Spring!

It's been rainy the past couple days, but I don't mind it--it's WARM!  Well, warmish.  This weekend is supposed to be very warm, around 80 degrees.  Hurray! I'm not a big fan of HOT weather, but the cold, damp weather really stinks.  My son and I like to be outside in the sun!  There's nothing like a gentle breeze, soft sunshine, and the smell of roses to get me in the writing mood.  Until a stray soccer ball whacks me in the head, that is!  Ah, well.  Much better than being stuck inside.

The novel is going fairly well.  I'm taking a pretty zen approach to my writing these days.  My writing just is.  I'm not making big projections about when I will be done, I'm not setting huge goals.  I feel happy with the way things are going.  It's slow, but there is more to life than writing. For me, at least.  I know some authors just don't work that way.  They need a strict rigid schedule, and have to do things a certain way.  Well, I do things in my own way, it's true; I sit on the couch at night with my computer on my lapdesk and type while my husband does whatever he does; usually something music related.  

The publication of "Blood and Ashes" has had its glow... Now it's time to get something else out there.  I have a short story that is close to done, I just have to finish polishing it up.

My husband and I made an important decision the other day.  It's something we've been thinking about doing for over TEN YEARS.  But we've been petrified to take the first step.  I'll let you know more details as they emerge.

Until later...

Basking in the post-conference glow

Things are finally coming together in novel-land.  I've finally made a few important decisions that have been holding up the entire project.  Unfortunately, the path I'm taking requires that I get rid of one of my favorite scenes in the book.  I mean, I guess I can use it in a subsequent book, but man, I just loved my hero in that scene.  Ah, well, life.

The weather is getting better (meaning, warmer!).  Things are growing.  I'm slowly emerging from my hibernation cave.  Hopefully I'll be sending a short story off on its merry way tomorrow.