Campity Campity Camp

Sorry if everyone is completely bored with my camping adventures. But I'm going camping again this weekend for the third time in two months. This time will be different, though. It's the official camp certification training for the Girl Scouts. After this weekend, I will be an officially certified camp leader. Be afraid.

It's almost redundant for me to have to do this, but it's a requirement, so I have to go. Even though its freaking cold outside and I'd rather sleep in my own cozy bed than in a sleeping bag on a wooden deck. I'd rather have my stove, my fridge full of nummy food, and roast marshmallows in my fireplace rather than over a fire pit in the mud.

And I'd rather stay home and write, with my electricity and my internet, than try to read by a tiny book light while I attempt to prevent frostbite, and likely pass out from sheer exhaustion before I finish a single page.

The things I do for my kid.

Since I'm the only one in my training group with any experience camping with Girl Scouts, I left most of the planning to the others. It should be an interesting, likely costly, experience.

We normally spend about $6-$8 per girl for food for an entire weekend. We do this by shopping in bulk, eating on the cheap, and understanding that camp is not the place for gourmet meals. Judging from the menu that the food coordinator prepared for us, I may be paying three times that much for my share. She is a nutritionist for a living, and the food will be fantastic, but I think the others in the group will be schooled. I enjoy fancy-schmancy name-brand food as much as the next person, but camp is more a place for Costco discounts than Whole Foods premiums. And that's half the fun of it.

So off I go. I have a billion things to do today, including chopping up candle stumps to make fire starters, restocking my first aid kit, and making sure I pack extra socks. I also have to complete the two page camp quiz, which I likely should have done before today. O_O

The camp site where I'll be staying may have sustained some Sandy-related damage, too. It's right down by a river, and it's muddy even when it hasn't been pouring rain all week. Hopefully I won't sink into the mud and disappear forever.



So to anyone who tries to reach me this weekend, I will return calls, emails, texts, and tweets, but it might be Sunday before you hear back.

Anyone else have anything more interesting planned for the weekend? I'm dying to hear about your non-damp, non-freezing activities. Sort of like watching Hawaii 5-0 during a snow storm. Keeps you feeling warm. :D

Post-Sandy

We have been incredibly lucky. Despite living in a veritable forest, we don't seem to have lost any trees. There are branches, leaves, and other debris everywhere, but a walk through the neighborhood showed no significant damage. The neighbors we ran into were equally pleased and puzzled.

Spot the deer! She was herding her two kids up the street this morning. We've watched the babies grow up all summer, so I'm glad to see they made it through the storm.

I know many people, especially to the north and east, didn't fare so well. Our thoughts are with you as you rebuild, recover, and get back to normal. Hopefully you're all intact, out there. We've been following the reports on tv in shock and horror. I wish I had better words of comfort for you, but I know what you're going through. I'm right there with you, in spirit.

During the worst part of the storm last night, Lulu hunkered down in our room. She fled her boring parents about 1 am when she realized we had no plans to turn the tv off. So now we know we're worse company than howling wind. I knew this day would come. Life with an almost-teenager is certainly rewarding.

The picture above is from the bottom of my driveway to the lake waaaaaay down below. It's hard to tell from this angle, but that floating dock off to the right? It's not floating. It was marooned up on land when the water crested last night. And that tree in the lake? It wasn't there yesterday. Someone lost a tree somewhere. We found it!

During the worst of the storm, that manhole and those gray rocks (which are part of the drainage system in the neighborhood) were covered with water. O.O

Someone's been busy! Even without the for sale sign out front, it isn't hard to guess which house is on the market. It's the one with NO LEAVES ON THE GROUND ANYWHERE INCLUDING THE STREET. We thought this was weird. The rest of the street is paved with leaves and branches.

And we actually got mail! Sure, it's completely soaked, but it's here! Sorry you're all wrinkly and sodden, Oriental Trading Kid. It's kind of nice to know the USPS still takes that "neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night" stuff seriously.

We're still getting a little drizzle, and the rivers haven't crested yet, so likely there will be more flooding, but the worst is done for us. Nothing has been more helpful than the care and support shown on Twitter. Y'all are amazing people out there. We got off easy here, but it's still good to know everyone else did, too. Not to mention some of the amazing heroic tales I've heard.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, to everyone who put themselves in harm's way so the rest of us could stay safe. We owe you all. You're heroes in my book. And I do mean that quite literally. I can't thank any of you enough.

Rain, rain, go away.

So far Sandy hasn't succeeded in blowing us away.




In fact, it isn't really windy at all. Just rainy. We're still holding on.




Poor duckies!

I hope everyone in Sandy's way is all battened and hunkered. Good luck to you all.

I've got a big pot of chili and I've done just about everything possible to prepare. I've got my flashlights, lanterns, candles, and my weather radio. I've got a jacuzzi tub full of water, and two freezers full of ice. Both trucks are gassed up, and we're ready to use the fireplace if worse comes to worst. Have I forgotten anything? (before you answer, bear in mind I have plenty of cookies, twinkies, and candy. I have the ice cream on standby if the power goes out.)

Here's our current view of the lake. It's running a LOT higher than usual, and is as muddy as I've ever seen it. We've already had more than 4 inches of rain, and it all runs down into the lake. It's really a dammed river, so hopefully they'll be able to safely open the flood gates without flooding the lower-lying creeks and the Monocacy river downstream.

Seriously, everyone. I hope you're all holding up. Good luck to you all, and hopefully we'll all be here in the morning. Drop us a line and let me know you're still there! *clings to all my internetly friends* BE SAFE!

Frankenstorm: Is it time to panic yet?

For those who don't know, Helper Monkey works at a grocery store. He gets to witness storm panic first hand. When he got home this morning, he said the lines were out the door, and they were selling bottled water faster than they could restock the shelves. O.o

Also for those who don't know, I grew up in Miami. I survived Hurricane Andrew. We didn't have power for nine days after the storm. We didn't kill each other. There was no zombie uprising. Life went on.


A few years ago, we had Hurricane Irene hit the DC area, and watched appalled as folks prepared for the storm like they do for a blizzard. They lined up to buy bread, milk, and toilet paper. Sure, these things are all dandy, but when the power goes out, you're going to want a whole different list of things on hand. I think they've learned their lesson now.

My family and I go camping frequently, so we have a lot of the things that people might need in a power outage. Lanterns, batteries, a radio that works with a hand crank instead of batteries. We have ways to stay warm if the heat fails (since we have an electric heat pump). We have a fireplace and plenty of wood. We don't mind living off the grid for a few days, should our power go down. It's not fun to think about losing access to the internet, and not being able to write after my laptop battery and the backup battery both conk out, but I would live through it.

I volunteered to go to the grocery store today, but Helper Monkey vetoed that idea. He'll pick things up before he leaves work at 6 am. There shouldn't be horrible lines then. So far, my list of emergency supplies we need consists of:

Bread

Yes. One item. We went shopping a few days ago. I don't want to fill the freezer or fridge with things that would spoil. We always have a supply of canned goods and other foods that are shelf stable. I'm sure I'll add to the list throughout the day, but after Andrew, I can't really get worked up over a storm with merely 70-mph-winds. And we live so far inland, and up in the mountains (yes, technically they are mountains), I'm not particularly worried about my own house weathering the storm.

I am worried about all the low-lying, coastal dwelling folks not too far from here. If any of you want to camp out at my house, we're all ready. Bring marshmallows. We'll make s'mores and tell ghost stories.

So, the thing I'm worried about most at the moment are the ice cream I bought last week and had been saving for a rainy day. I guess I'll be devouring the Sea Salt Caramel Gelato in the next two days. That's right. Remember, everyone! Frankenstorm isn't even due to hit for ANOTHER TWO DAYS! YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PANIC YET! GO ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS! You have time to run all the errands, to fill your tank with gas, to make sure your zombie-slaying kit is in full working order!

And with that, I'm off to assemble my zombie-slaying kit. If I get cut off from the digital world, send flamethrowers. Good luck to you all.

It's Disasteversary Day

I almost said "Happy Disasteversary," but that just sounds wrong. There's not really much happy about a disasteversary. Especially a double.

August 23 is a day filled with interesting memories for me. Twenty years ago today, I was battening down the hatches for Hurricane Andrew. One year ago today, I thought my house was sliding down the hill when the DC earthquake scared the bejeebers out of me.

I survived the hurricane, though most everything I owned before I was 19 did not. So much of my childhood disappeared overnight. Photos, toys, and clothes I would have passed on to my own daughter washed away in the storm surge or were irreparably damaged by the layer of mildew that grows over everything after it's been soaked in seawater for days on end. And that doesn't even describe the horror of living through the storm itself. A tornado spawned by the storm took out nearly every tree in our yard. The wind howled all night, broke the window in my mom's car, and then the air pressure made the horn honk in a solid blast until the battery died. It took hours. Can you say spooky? We had no power for nine days afterward. And we were a good thirty miles north of Homestead, where the worst of the storm hit and leveled entire communities. My mom's house wasn't so lucky.

Twenty years later I still relive bits of that day like it was yesterday. I wouldn't wish that kind of thing on anyone. It weirds me out that there's a "hurricane booth" at our local mall where you pay a few dollars, step inside, and experience hurricane force winds for a minute or two. I have no desire to ever experience it again. Enough said.

Exactly one year ago today, the earth moved. I'd experienced a mild earthquake before, but that was in Los Angeles, where you kind of expect earthquakes. I live 35 miles from Washington DC. We don't get earthquakes here. Except that one.

I was sitting out on the back porch with my laptop, writing. Lulu was at a friend's house. Helper Monkey had just gone to bed. At first, I thought they were blasting somewhere nearby. They were building a house down the street from me, and several times they had to blast through the bedrock in order to pour concrete for the foundation. But the shaking didn't stop, it got worse. My second thought was that my house had finally broken loose from the aforementioned bedrock and was sliding down the hill toward the lake. It felt like the ground had turned to jello, and wave after wave pulsed through the deck below me. I was too freaked out to stand up.

When the shaking stopped, I ran downstairs to ask Helper Monkey if he felt it, too. My third thought was that I was having some sort of psychotic break, and I'd hallucinated the whole event. He'd been drifting off to sleep, and his first thought was that I was moving the bed. When I called to make sure everything was okay at her friend's house, I learned that Lulu missed the whole thing. She was in her friend's swimming pool and they thought the waves were of their own making.

We were lucky. We escaped without any real damage. They are still repairing buildings downtown, though. The National Cathedral won't be fully fixed for at least 10 years. The Washington Monument is still not fully stabilized. Union Station still has netting up to protect passengers from falling things.

So that's what I'm thinking about today. And I'll kindly ask that if any further disasters are planned for wherever I happen to be living either now or in the future, could you kindly pick another date? This one is already full.

It's hard to stay cool in 100 degree heat

Obvious, right? But I'm staying cool for now. It's only 88 so far today, but it's supposed to hit triple digits. There's some great news to balance out the face-melting, hair-poodlifying weather, though.

The best news I've had in a while came yesterday around dinner time. I spent most of the day busy with stuff and things. I was feeling a little sad that Helper Monkey's vacation week was passing so quickly, but I was determined to enjoy it as much as possible. Then the major revelation hit. Helper Monkey let me in on the secret. Yesterday was WEDNESDAY! I spent the entire day thinking it was Thursday!

In one brilliant, shining moment, I experienced time travel! I gained a whole day! Even if it only happened inside my brain, it was a brilliant feeling. I can't even describe how happy I was.

But now it really is Thursday *checks calendar to be sure*. Yes. Today is Thursday. It's like Groundhog Day! But I only get to have two Thursdays this week (one of which, I know, was technically Wednesday, but humor me, please).

Unfortunately, the combination of heat and humidity does horrible things to my hair. This is Hat Weather. I look like a cross between Jimmy Neutron and an electrocuted poodle. During the winter, I can make my hair nearly straight. In summer it always looks like I had a drastic haircut combined with a bad perm.

So what do you do to avoid melting into the pavement on days like today? Helper Monkey has invented Oven Day Fun Time. This is similar to Rainy Day Fun Time, without the joy of putting on a bathing suit and running around the yard through a downpour. We play a lot of games. We watch movies in the basement, where it's always 15 degrees cooler than upstairs, and today, we might go bowling. Duck pin bowling. A.K.A., the GOOD kind of bowling. But I'm only going if they assure me their A/C is working, and currently blasting out snowflakes in addition to cold air.

Tonight, and I do mean late tonight, we might head over to the pool. We've only been a couple of times so far this year, and I have a feeling it will be as warm as bath water tonight. Maybe we can bring a few drinking straws, blow bubbles, and pretend it's a huge Jacuzzi.

Oh, and the editing is going like blazes! Sorry for the heat-related metaphor. Okay. The editing is going like water in a waterslide. There. That's more refreshing, right?

I'm half way through chapter two, and finding bits and pieces that need to be rewritten or moved elsewhere. I waited too long to explain a few things about the world, and I'm moving them closer to the front of the book. All this edity-wedity stuff is so thrilling! And I sincerely do mean that! :)

I love watching the story I love get better and better. :)


 I hope everyone stays cool today. Keep Cool and Have a Frozen Lemonade!

***Edit: It's easier to stay cool when I can sit in my chair and scroll through Tweeties. Also, Twitter is back now! Yay!

Memorial Day Weekend: Wherein I do All the Things *Except Writing*

This weekend has been full of funly goodness. Saturday we spent the day with some old friends we hadn't seen in a long time. Long meaning we hadn't seen most of them in more than a year. These are the folks we hung out with at least weekly until we all moved, bought houses, had families, etc. The kind of people we used to have a softball team with, the kind of people who were not only at our wedding, but HOSTED our wedding in their yard. Life gets in the way, though, and we've scattered across five counties. We only see most of them at these huge parties now, so we really love it when we have a chance to see everyone.

To wit: we have a picture of Lulu (on the right), our friend's daughter Sarah (on the left) and yet another friend's son Brendan (in the middle).

The girls think they're "babysitting", Brendan thinks he has two new girlfriends.

Another couple of friends recently got back into knitting, and were praising the joys of yarn art. I never learned to knit, but I do crochet. I haven't made anything in a while. Like, more than a year. But I was handed a skein of gorgeous Noro yarn in Iris colors, and sworn to use it ASAP.  To that end, I spent yesterday trying to find a scarf pattern, beginning the scarf, pulling it out, searching for another pattern, beginning again, pulling it out again. I finally have about a foot of scarf, and I think I'm going to pull it out again. Grrrrr. I think this is why I stopped crocheting a while back. Too frustrating. Also, it's too reminiscent of writing. I need to find another hobby that doesn't involve so much uncertainty. I think that's why I try to do something completely non-creative when I need a break. Making stuff is too much like writing (i.e. work).

This is what I have so far on the scarf, a basket-weave pattern that I usually use to make blankets. It's making a thick scarf, and I think I want something more net-like for a scarf in such summery colors, though.

So then last night, after all the yarn drama, I worked the baseball game. We got seven innings in when I went outside for a break and saw this:

Crazy storm! The sky went from beautiful clear blue to this insane wall of storms in a matter of minutes. Everyone in the stadium fled to the small section of the concourse with shelter, or out to their cars. It rained sideways. So we got soaked. It was probably a good thing, because I was also the victim of three beer attacks. I had three different kegs finish  in one afternoon. When a keg is emptied, the last beer you pull out of the tap tends to explode in a blast of air and foam. If you're really lucky, it all hits you squarely in the stomach. I was lucky three times. When I got home, Lulu told me I smelled like baseball: French fries and stale beer. Mmmmmm.

In better beer news, I tried this fantastic beer for the first time. I only picked it out because it has Edgar Allen Poe on the cap:

Local Baltimore beer. It's really quite nice. I wish I had something knowledgeable and pithy to say about it. My ability to analyze the subtleties of beer is limited to "it's good" or "ick." Either I like it or I don't. This, I liked.

Today I have to help Lulu turn a lump of styrofoam, moss, and pipe cleaners into a diorama about Gaia and Iris. Her paper is written and the power point presentation is done. Now, we have to build the final bit of her last big school project for the whole year. Then, and only then, can I get some writing done.

At least I had some fun this weekend first.


And now...bring me the glue gun.

Profile Not Found

My computer delivers this error every day, at least once a day. I have no idea what it means, what program is missing its profile, or why it insists on showing me this message every single day.

I was initially concerned that I'd been logged out of something by mistake, that the computer forgot who I was, or that programs would start crashing left and right without the proper profile. That was months ago. Every day in the early afternoon, this message shows up. If anyone has any idea what the heck it means, I'd love to know. Otherwise, I stopped caring months ago.

I saved up a week's worth of errands, and finally had to go out today. Of course, since I was finally at the point where it was either go shopping or have buttered toast for dinner, it didn't matter that it poured rain today. I had to go out anyway. I don't mind running errands in the rain, if those errands don't result in eight shopping bags full of heavy things that need to be ferried out to the truck and then into the house in the deluge.

I also had to buy some craft supplies for Lulu's history class project about Greek gods. I had to buy supplies to build a mountain (for Gaia to live under, of course), and things to make a rainbow (for Iris to shoot up into the sky). Craft stores are evil. They make me buy tons of things I don't really need, while allowing me to forget half the stuff I went in for. Ceramics glue, anyone? I forgot to buy it. But I found several types of bee appliques and buttons to sew on Lulu's t-shirt for camp. All the counselors get to pick a cute nickname, and she's Bumblebee. Now she'll have bees all over her camp shirts.

Target is another store where I forget what I went in for but end up buying $60 worth of random crap. Actually, I got a good deal on a new sleeping bag. I hated my old one, since it was one of the "mummy" style bags that don't allow for leg movement. I'm getting antsy just typing about not being able to move my legs. I'll be back to finish this in a minute. I gotta walk around for a minute, and maybe find a paper bag to hyperventilate into...

Okay. Deep breathing helped.

And I bought food. But I forgot to bring my shopping list for Chuck Wendig's Faux Pho, which makes me mad. On a side note, I highly recommend the Terrible Minds blog, unless you are constitutionally opposed to swearing. Or fun. I have about half the ingredients, but tried to remember the remainder of the list. I gave up after a few key ingredients weren't even available at my regular supermarket. Strangely, the Helper Monkey works for that same grocery store chain, but at a much more urban store than the one where I shop. My store's Asian section consists of about two feet of shelf space, 80% of which is different brands of soy sauce. No hoisin sauce, no fish sauce. At least they sell Sriracha.

Helper Monkey's store has half an aisle devoted to Asian foods. He'll definitely have everything, in multiple size packages, six different brands, and also low sodium, gluten free, and sugar free varieties, I expect. I have to make up a list for him to buy all the things for me. I passed a Vietnamese restaurant today, and I was dying for Pho, but I didn't have time to stop. Now the Pho craving is approaching critical mass, and I will self destruct without spicy noodle goodness.

So, as you can plainly see, today was carefully crafted to prevent me from writing. Again. I've been reading the last few days, but not writing. And the writing will have to wait another few days, again. Just when I think I'll have plenty of time to write, something comes along and makes itself more important, or at least more urgent. I have to stop thinking that. It's my own fault for not writing, and I can't blame a busy schedule, or other pressing things, no matter how important they may seem, or how important I can make them seem, for my lack of focus.

I think part of the problem in this case is I'm puzzling over the next scene. I haven't puzzled this much over a book since the first novel I ever wrote. This is the fifth. I should be able to write through the rough patches by now without the wailing and tearing of hair. It's getting a little ridiculous. The first book in this series went from 0 words to query in about two months. The second, in another four months. We're talking multiple drafts and revisions on each of these, including critiques and advice and updates. I'm stuck at the half way point in this book, and have been for a week. It's making me insane. And this is just the first draft!

I put it on hold for a week to do revisions on the first novel, and was relieved for the chance to step away for a while. Now that I don't have an editing project to focus on, I'm taking on other work in order to have a legitimate excuse not to work on it. Either something is inherently wrong with the story, or I'm flummoxed as to how to get from point a to point b. I know there's a way, but the tone and setup of this novel is so completely different from the first two, I just don't know how to proceed. The first novel is a pretty straightforward paranormal thriller/serial killer hunt. The second is a weird romp through fairyland and the underworld chasing down escaped demons. Lots of action, go go go stuff.

This novel is a kidnapping case, and the stakes are pretty high--a lot higher than any of the characters realize yet. And for some reason I can't translate that to paper. And in the next scene, one of the bad guys, who isn't actually all that bad... well, let's just say it's bad. I've been putting off writing that scene for about two weeks. I know it has to be written, but it's just a horrible scene. Something my characters are going to regret. And it must happen. But Idonwanna write it!

So on that note, I'm going to go TRY to write that horrible scene. I have to at least try. Or what good am I? I may as well throw in the towel on ever publishing anything if I'm not willing to force myself to write something uncomfortable. Something I really, truly don't want to write.

The work I'll actually get paid for will have to wait until tomorrow. I'm putting on my writer hat. And on that note, Profile Found.

I am writing.

I'm a Victim of Miss Snark's First Victim

That's right! I have an entry in the MSFV Secret Agent contest this month! If you'd like to pop over and leave a comment, I'd really appreciate it. Plus, you get a chance to read the first page of my novel, formerly titled DRAGON HUNTER, which I've recently changed to RUNNING DOWN THE DRAGON! Wheeee!

If you want to read my entry, it's right here: http://www.misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/2012/05/may-secret-agent-17.html

While you're there, check out some of the other deserving entries, and leave comments if you enjoy them!

Thanks much!

Now that business has been handled, back to regular life. I was supposed to work the baseball game tonight, and I technically worked something, but the only thing on the field was a big wet tarp. Folks turned up to see a game, and quite a few of them were hungry, so we cooked. Still, it's always disappointing when we get sent home early. And working in the kitchen for a double-header to squeeze in a make-up game kinda stinks.

On that cheery note, I work a double-header tomorrow, since last night's game was also called for rain. Gar!

Before the rain started, I thought it was odd the way they were lined up against the wall practicing their chorus line kicks.

After inhaling ballpark food fumes all day, though, we're going out for Indian food tomorrow night, and I can't wait. It's technically my birthday dinner, since we're going somewhere fun on Friday (my actual birthday). We're taking the girl scouts to an indoor park where they have a berjillion moon bounce thingies, and ADULTS GET TO BOUNCE TOO!!! Wheeee! I can't wait!

Now that all that's out of the way, I'm going to try to write some tonight. It's my last chance until tomorrow night, so I gotta get some words out. Good night all!

Strange things, and Happy Pi Day!

I've seen some strange things in the last few days.

First of all is the obvious time change weirdness. I'm used to doing things in the dark in the evenings, and watching the sun set while I drive Lulu to her evening activities. I kind of miss that, since it's still daylight when we head out for that stuff now. Then again, I'm not compelled to pull over and take pictures of the sunset all the time while we're driving, for which the kid is grateful.

Yesterday it was nearly 80 degrees outside. Right now it's in the mid-70's, we have the windows open, and I'm enjoying the tweeting birdies. Since it's not technically spring yet, this is somehow fundamentally wrong. I walked around town last night in the sunlight, wearing flip-flops and a short skirt. The trees are still winter-naked, but it feels like freaking June. I'm a little concerned what this will mean for us in August. I have a feeling we're going to boil this summer. I'm enjoying the energy savings of not having to run the heater all through March, but I'm worried we're gonna pay double come summer.Considering last summer the capacitor in my A/C gave out, I'm worried we're going to blow the new one out this summer. Ugh.

I suppose I should stop griping and enjoy the nice weather while I can. I don't need to pay tomorrow's bills today.

Another weird thing, I saw this:

Creepy

 And then I remembered the beauty school around the corner. I figure Ms. Head is on her way to class.

I almost forgot about Pi Day! Happy Pi Day. I had to run out last night and buy a pie, since I can't stand baking when it's this hot out. We selected a lovely cherry pie for dessert tonight. The kid's math teacher is also giving out an extra credit point to every kid who brings in snacks for the class today, so we got Oatmeal Cream Pies for her to take. Doubly good as a math class snack on Pi Day. They're also throwing pies at their English teacher at lunch time today.

Anyway, I've been taking a breather from editing for a bit. Since I finished the r&r on the first novel, I've only sent it to a few agents. I wanted to see what the response is before I send it out widely. We're back to nail-biting, wait and see, and the emotional roller coaster. It's all good. I hate to admit it, but I kind of enjoy that bit (said the freaky crazy lady).

I've started r&r on the second novel, to bring it in line with the changes I made in the first. It has to be done, and once again, I think I actually enjoy doing it. Bizarro-land, I am in you.

Editing and revision was my least favorite part about writing things in school. Sadly, I think it's now become my favorite. I start with the bare-minimum needed to call it a story, and then flesh it out and sculpt it into a readable (and hopefully enjoyable) piece of writing. Now that's fun!

Okay. Back to the fun.

*%&@#* Daylight Savings Time!

I'm still not caught up on sleep from the time change. Why is that always so hard to adjust to? It's just an hour, you'd think we'd just shrug it off, fall asleep a little earlier for a few nights, and be done with it. But no, apparently its the MOST VITAL HOUR of sleep, the one where 99% of the rest occurs, that gets sucked into the daylight vault for the entire summer. Can you tell I'm tired?

Of course, the State of Maryland has decided that the week after the time shift, when our kids are at their groggiest, is the PERFECT time to make them take the state assessment tests. Yesterday morning, Lulu had to get up before sunrise, rush to school, and take a huge math exam for two hours. She had to do the same thing again today, but at least this morning she managed to get out of bed without a crowbar. Thursday and Friday are the big days for the language portion of the test, but I'm still a little peeved they didn't take these tests last week, or next week, after they've had a chance to adjust. Grrrr. Who the heck planned that brilliant strategy?

And the rest of life continues as normal. It's actually irritating, because I usually plan to be out of my writing chair from about 9 am until 9:30 because that's when the sun hits me in the face through the window. I've had to adjust that schedule, because it now hits me in the face at 10 am. Just when I'm sitting down to write, I have to get up and move.

I was also enjoying waking up post-dawn. Once again, it's dark enough to need lights when I get up. On the plus side, it's still light outside at 7 pm. It's nice to be able to go outside if I wanted to, but still. Do I really want to? It's going to get harder and harder to make the kid go to bed at a reasonable time, because the sun's gonna be up later and later every night. When I ask her to brush her teeth at 9:30, she's going to laugh in my face. So maybe that's not a plus-side to this after all.

One plus, completely unrelated to the saving of daylight, the weather around here's been GORGEOUS for the last few days. It's getting nicer and nicer. Hello, June! It's supposed to be 75 here today. Let me tell you, that's not our typical Smarch weather. We're usually still battling the freezing/thawing cycle of pothole genesis.

Most disappointing, the lake never froze over this winter. It got a little icy a few times, but it never froze solid enough to skate on. I played exactly zero hockey games with the neighbor kids. One more plus side: at least I didn't fall on my kiester in front of the neighborhood kids while trying to play hockey.

So that's my plus-minus review of the unseasonable weather.

I finished editing Dragon Hunter yesterday, and submitted it to two writing contests, so hopefully, even if I don't win a prize, an agent might see it and say, "Hey, this ain't bad!" Exposure isn't a bad thing in this case.

I'm really looking forward to making Tim read it again (he promised to start today) so he can tell me if it's improved from the last go-around. And my current dilemma is how to approach agents who read the previous draft and liked it, but didn't LOVE it. Maybe they'd love it now? We'll see. I want to get resubmitting, but I don't want to jump the gun again. They might go for a second read-through, but I doubt they'd stick around and wait for a third. Or maybe they would. Gah!

I started editing/revising the second book last night, so hopefully I can bring it in line with the revisions I made in book one. The characters are starting out at a slightly different mental and emotional place, because of changes I made in the first novel. And doing another major revision is just what the doctor ordered, apparently. So I'll be off. Back to the mines.

105,829

That's how many words I've got at this exact moment. It was more, but I'm 46 pages in to the edit, after the massive rewrite. It's amazing how many words I get to pull back out now! :)

Before I started this revision, I only had 96,000 words, so it's been a bit of a shock. I can't believe I left that much out before! This is the first time I've read through my own novel where I'm actually enjoying reading the story. I guess that's a good sign? I thought I was totally sick of it by now, but I'm glad I "fixed" it. 300 more pages to go.

My house is 100% painted. Yay! Now I just have to get out and finish the deck. I really don't want to do it until I'm done with my edit. It's too easy to use the deck as a distraction. A deckstraction? See, I'm doing it already. Really, though, even writing this blog and staring out the window are a fine distraction. I should be editing right now. But I'm not. I'm sitting here hoping the cat does something interesting. He's not.

Enough thumb twiddling! Back to work. I really am pleased with the revisions, though. I just hope the word count comes down to a more manageable level. I'll update at the end of the day. It's supposed to be 70 this afternoon, so I get to work outside again! :) If that's not an incentive to edit, I don't know what is!

How odd, an award!

I was tagged by T.Z. Wallace for a happy little blog award. Since no one has ever bestowed such a thing upon me before, I thought it might be fun to answer the questions she posed, and repeat the process for anyone who stumbles across this post and wants to continue the happy randomness.

For anyone who wants to play along, here are the rules:

The Tag rules:

You must post the rules.
Answer the questions and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged.
Tag your award winners and link to them.
Let them know you’ve tagged them.

I'm just going to answer the eleven questions T.Z. posted, and create eleven new questions. Anyone who wants to answer my questions, please feel free, and let me know what your answers are, too!

1. What book character do you had a crush on?  Harry Dresden. The poor guy, he's always in trouble, but he handles it the best he can.
2. What was the last book that made you cry? I reread Lord of the Rings every winter, and it ALWAYS makes me cry. How sad is that?
3. What scenes are the hardest for you to write? Anything sexy. I always feel like it comes across as awkward and uncomfortable. Plus, my mom might read that! Ick!
4. Are you superstitious about your writing methods, or do you have any rituals regarding your writing? No, not really.
5. Do you listen to music when writing, or do you have to have silence? Often, I prefer to have the TV on with the volume turned down low in the background. I can listen to music, but it has to be consistent (not my daughter's chorus practice, but actual recorded music). I just like to not feel "alone" when I write.
6. What book antagonist do you love to hate?  That's too hard! So many deserve our righteous hatred! :)
7. What is the last  book that you stayed up ridiculously late to finish reading? Hit List, by L.K. Hamilton
8. When was the last time that you waited in line for a book release? I don't think I ever have. I have a Kindle, so I get things downloaded automatically on release day. The last author I stood in line to meet was Clive Barker. What a nice man! ;)
9. What book(s) is/are currently on your bedside table? Timeless, by Gail Carriger (no matter what I do, I can't seem to find the time to get started on it. Tim goes back to work tonight, so maybe I'll actually get it read now!)
10. What is your "guilty pleasure" book that you read and re-read? Guilty Pleasures (and the whole Anita Blake series). I thought that was an appropriate answer.
11. How comfortable are you calling yourself "a writer/" I write, so I'm a writer. I write things more involved than grocery lists and memos to my daughter's teachers. I still haven't figured out when I'll feel like an "Author" as opposed to a "writer."

Questions I will pose to the world (feel free to answer if you wish, either in the comments or linked back here):

1. What fictional character's special abilities would you like to have, and what would you do with them?
2. What author would you like to have a one-on-one chat with, and what would you ask them?
3. If you could become any animal at will, what would it be and why? 
4. If you were offered an all-expenses paid trip anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?
5. What do you do when you're stuck on a plot line? Do you have some specific activity to get yourself back on track or clear your head?
6. How do you reconnect with the story after a day or two away from writing?
7. What is the last book you read that made you run out and tell everyone you know about it?
8. If told you could only eat one food item for this entire week, what would it be?
9. What TV show are you embarrassed to admit you love, but you wouldn't miss it for the world?
10. Do you have any tattoos? If yes, why? If no, why not?
11. What's the first thing you do when you sit down at the computer to write?

Well, that was fun! I hope someone wants to answer my questions.


As far as my writing goes, I didn't get a lot done yesterday, because we were out selling Girl Scout cookies. We did great, with 102 boxes sold in three hours, and an additional $40 in donations! Wow! Thanks people, that was remarkably generous of you all! You're helping girls and the USO all at the same time! Good on you!

I think I need to lay off the exclamations!

Words: 11,457
Pages:  40

And we have sun outside, so I'm probably going to waste another day trying to get the deck finished. I can always write after dark, which seems to work better for me on the current book anyway. So far it's daytime in the story, but it's kind of a dark, dreary day for my poor characters, and it's hard to get into that when it's lovely and sunny outside here. Especially when I'm pressed to get the stupid deck painted.

Surprise surprise!

After I wrote for a bit yesterday morning, I really needed to get to the store. I had to make sure Tim wouldn't starve to death while Lulu and I went camping this weekend, and I needed to gas up the buggy so we wouldn't wheeze to a halt on the highway somewhere. I also had to deliver the kid's forgotten lunch to school before she starved to death!

Well, I'd just left the school and I drove about half way to the store, when the little chime on my phone alerted me to a new email in my Author email account. (Yes, I have a dedicated email account for all things writery. All writers should.) I figured it was another rejection, and kept driving. Between the bad weather and the ding-dong I was driving behind, by the time I got to the store, I'd totally forgotten about the email. I remembered it while I pushed my cart through the produce department. I paused a moment to feel the momentary heartbreak of rejection, and WOWIE ZOWIE!!! It was the nicest, most enthusiastic request for a full manuscript I'd ever received! May I repeat, WOWIE ZOWIE!!!

When I got over the shock of it, I called Tim. I felt like a ninny, standing by the lettuce, all giddy, telling him about the email. At that point, I still had to actually buy food, and then head across the parking lot to the gas station. I raced/danced my way around the store, practically singing the entire way. I ended up buying chocolate, Oreo Cakesters, and Cherry Juice (these are celebratory foods). I was indeed truly ninnyish.

I battled the gas pump, filled up the beast in record time, and then drove home unimpeded (thankfully) by any other traffic. I had to put all the perishables away, and repackage the meat I'd accidentally tore the packaging on with my pointy ring while I shoved and crammed everything else into the fridge. And then the doorbell rang. GAH!!!

I forgot I had a contractor coming by, and he needed to talk to me about the job he's scheduled to do. We need to have our house repainted, per the community association. Apparently the old stain is too faded for their tastes. And I have to re-stain the deck too, but I can handle that bit myself. So after I dealt with all this other stuff, I finally had a minute to sit down and format all the requested stuff for the lovely agent.

I checked everything over thirty-seven times, and finally brought myself to hit "send." It was just over two hours after the initial request came in. She replied IN UNDER TWO MINUTES! It wasn't an autoresponse, either, but a very nice letter letting me know she got it, and she couldn't wait to read it. And again, WOWIE ZOWIE!!!

Whew! So after all that, I was truly grateful that I'd managed to write some yesterday morning, because the rest of the day I was so distracted that I think I managed to write another few paragraphs, at the most. Even if I end up with a rejection in the end, this has been a lot of fun. Every other request for pages or fulls has been either written by an assistant, or just a simple two sentences asking to see more in plain business language. This was different. So much nicer! It's great to feel special like that.

So now we are at T minus 5 hours to camping. I still have to finish packing, shower, attend an Honor Roll assembly, and clean out Little Red (there's still Girl Scout Cookies we haven't been able to deliver in the backity back). So glad it's not raining today, though!

So I've decided I won't even look at the current MS today, because if I do get started on a roll with it, I won't be able to continue, and the pain of leaving it hanging until Sunday would drive me crazy. I'm already depressed enough about not being able to take the computer with me! :)

Words: 4,936
Pages: 17

And yes, I'll even miss making my daily blog entry. Last night, I had a great idea, including pictures and everything, and I can't for the life of me remember what it was now. I just remember thinking, "Yeah! That's what I'll write about tomorrow." If I ever remember what it was, I'll probably just forget again before I get to write it down.

At least the cat didn't sleep ON me last night. Oh, but that's probably my fault. I'd forgotten to let him in from the back porch. Oops. I remembered after about an hour, and he was all huddled up by the back door waiting to come in. I think he was just mad at me for forgetting about him. :(  Hey, at least I remembered eventually!

Okay, the sun's hitting me in the face. Time for a break. Have a great weekend. If you don't hear back by Sunday, send snow tires! We might get snowed in at camp and be unable to return on time. I hope not, but I'm prepared for the worst. I packed those Cakesters in my emergency kit.

Edity-wedity, or "Nanananabooboo"

*sticks tongue out at manuscript* Finished you, you jerk. So today I can read through it once for "pleasure". Yeah, right. As if reading through the same thing for the fifth time in three weeks could possibly be pleasurable! Well, it should be nicer this time through, with fewer stops for corrections (well, hopefully NO stops for corrections). The worst thing you hope to encounter by this round of edits is an extra space where it shouldn't be, or possibly a comma that needs to come out or be put in. Other than the very minor mechanical stuff, this baby should be ready to head out the door.

I hope it is, anyway.

I really want to change the line in my query letter that says "I am currently writing a second novel based on these characters." I want it to say, "I have written a second novel based on these characters. It is also available for review." Or something like that. I'll have to edit that for a while before I actually send it out. ;-P

And so there you go.

We were supposed to go out delivering Girl Scout cookies today, but it's snaining. Snowing and raining at the same time. The weather can't make up its mind. I think it's mostly snow at this point, but it's kind of icy and slippery out there. Not exactly fun when you've got to carry boxes of cookies up and down hills. I'm not risking my life or my ankles for cookies. Not gonna happen.

Tim stayed home last night, because he was worried he'd get iced in at work, and then he came down with a headache, so he's not even much fun to have around the house. I like it when he takes off work for weather rather than illness, because it's like a mini-vacation. When he's sick, it's just like any other day, and he may as well not even be around. :-(

And that's about it. We were supposed to get actual snow, and it is still coming down out there. We'll see what happens with it. Will it be enough to go sledding? Or will we have to actually shovel the driveway this time? So far, no and no.

I'm going off to blow raspberries at my MS. Have a great day, everyone!

*PS: I forgot to add this:

Words: 98,166
Pages: 114
Edit Page: PFFFFFTTTTTTT!

*PPS: Lulu was just watching Spongebob, and asked me what Gordon Ramsay would think of the Chum Bucket. I replied that he would hate it. Does this mean we watch too much Kitchen Nightmares? We have been kind of addicted to it lately. That and reruns of ancient Family Feud episodes. Survey Says? At least we've stopped watching the Mexican version of Family Feud on Univision. None of us speak Spanish, but how can you resist a show called 100 Mexicanos Dijeron? La inquesta dice?

Snow and Cookies

We had snow yesterday. Probably about an inch. It'll be gone by lunch time. Ah, bizarro winter! You're so much less bother than Snowmageddon was! Since the whistle pig says you'll be sticking around for six more weeks, I guess I can't really complain if this is the worst you've got for us.

My only actual complaint about this winter is the lake never froze. No ice skating, no hockey, and no walking across to visit friends on the other side. We have to drive around to see them. It takes all of five minutes, instead of thirty seconds. Oh, well.

It's not going to be a great editing day. I've already been through about ten pages this morning, trying to get a jump on things. We have to go pick up our troop Girl Scout Cookie order this afternoon, and then I'll spend the rest of the day sorting and delivering. Ugh. But yum! Cookies!
In case you've never seen 256 cases of cookies all at once, I'll post pictures later. After I learn how to post pictures on Blogger.

Some funny stuff happened yesterday, and while it was going on, I thought, "I'll write about this stuff tomorrow." Yeah, right. If I could remember any of it now, it would be a miracle. Isn't that typical? The only thing I really remember is laughing about something hysterically funny yesterday.

For some reason, when Tim comes home from work now, he puts the TV on and watches ancient game show reruns. He works the night shift, and he's usually home by 9:15 or 9:30 in the morning. There's really not a lot to watch on TV at that time of day, and after he catches up on whatever he's got on the TiVo, he flips around while he finishes his breakfast/dinner. We usually watch the previous night's Daily Show, or whatever else happened to record. But it's on hiatus this week, so we've had to improvise.

We've been watching Family Feud, Card Sharks, and The Match Game. Thank you GSN, for the bizarre flashback to the late 70's and early 1980's.

So, I've only got an hour or so before he gets home and turns the TV on again. I'd better get cracking before I'm distracted by the train wreck of polyester butterfly collars and Farrah hairdos.

Words: 97,582
Pages: 311
Edit Page: 222