Observations From The Peanut Gallery

March 5, 2010 by

UPDATE: Yesterday’s word count: 4130. Busted the 27k mark. I’m getting closer…

SO. Here’s something to ponder. I noticed the other night at basketball practice that Moms are the minority parent there. It’s mostly dads. I think I was the only mom there, tapping away on her Mini with her iPhone in her lap. Yeah, I looked cool doing it, too.

At soccer practice, not a dad in sight. Mostly moms. And you know what? We were all sitting in our respective cars. I was tappinga way on my Mini with my iPhone in my lap. Yeah. Looking cool doing it, too, but no one saw me there. However, I do love the fact that I’m getting so much writing done at these various practices.

Anway, I digress. Is soccer a “mom” sport and basketball a “dad” sport? Is soccer the suburban mom thing while basketball is the suburban dad thing? I’m just wondering if I’m alone in the observation.

And that’s all I got. It’s Friday. Thank goodness.

Have a smashing weekend ya’ll.

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So Glad It’s Friday!

August 28, 2009 by

I think all the late nights finally caught up to me yesterday. I was exhausted by 8:30.

We had soccer practice, which always puts a crimp in the evening. However, I was smart. I made dinner in the crock pot! So dinner was done and waiting for us when we got home. Plus, it’s really low maintenance on the dishes. LOVE that. We had a nice thunderstorm roll through, too. My lawn is happy.

Got home, ate dinner, the kiddo studied for his test today and then got him in the shower and into bed. I forced myself to stay up a little longer. I started a new story today. Sort of a revamp of the old MAGIC story. There was something about that one that was never quite right and I think I finally figured it out. It’s urban fantasy. Maybe. Well, okay, probably. I wrote over 3000 words on it so far.

And it’s dark. I actually scared myself when I was writing. Who knew! I mean, I had this heart-pounding moment when I finished writing the first chapter and then sat back and re-read it. It startled me. Ever have that happen? Ever write something so intense and so … dark … that when you go back and read, it just freaks you out? That was me. LOL

I’m going to plug away and see where it goes. I have a general idea. It’s basically revamping the old fantasy story into a new urban fantasy story. Should be grand fun.

Happy Weekend!

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Adventures in Motherhood and Writing

April 24, 2009 by

This is been a … weird week. On Tuesday, the kiddo was complaining of an ear ache. Plus he had bad sinuses and a slight fever. So he stayed home from school and it was off to the doctor we went. He has another ear infection and we got ear drops, antiobiotic, nose spray. Yeah. Um…$45 later… I got him home and pumped him full of Motrin, then fed him and made him take his ear drops. That was NOT fun. He refused and I was Mean Mommy and sat on him to make it happen. Yes, I did. Then I made him take the antibiotic and shoot his nose with the nasal spray and THEN I gave him Claritin. I pumped him full.

By the time Wednesday came around and I picked him up from his grandparents, he was feeling about a thousand times better. And it showed. He spilled his Coke all over the dinner table, leaving a sticky mess and then announcing that, “Uh, MOM! We have a problem.” So I cleaned that up. By that time, it was his bath time. I ran the bath and he got in with the explicit instructions NOT to splash.

Well, about 30 seconds later, I hear all this slashing and open the door to find the floor underwater. sigh Three bath towels later (and I had kicked him out of the tub), I’d reached my limit. It was time for him to be in BED. I think he was out in 2.3 seconds.

When I got up Thursday morning, the cat had decided to puke in three differernt places in the living room.Yeah. I so wanted to clean THAT up first thing in the morning. And it was DES-GUST-ING, too. I was :shock:  

That afternoon was soccer practice and since I’m trying to finish my revision in ONE WEEK, I thought I’d dust off the AlphaSmart and take it with me. I felt SO smart. I even printed off my pages for the latest chapter I was working on. I get to soccer practice and sit in the car, breaking out Alphie, punching the ON button and… nothing. Nada. Zilch. The batteries are dead. Crap. So I open up the back and find… the batteries are corroded! Double crap!

So I get out my trust ink pen and start to scribble the newest scene I want to write on the back of one of the pages. I’ll just write in longhand, I think. That won’t be so bad! It’ll be novel and… CRAP! The pen ran out of ink!

ARGH!

I threw it in the backseat and look longingly at my paper with the scribble along the back. I see the scene in my head so vividly and it’s driving me crazy I can’t write it down. I pick up the Alphie and use an old pair of sunglasses to pry out the disgusting batteries and – luckily – have an empty sandwich bag in the car to put them in. I have a package of On The Go Wipes and use that to clean out the battery acid (very carefully). I put that in the baggie. I sit and wait until soccer practice is over.

We get home and Man is already there mowing the yard (YAY!). I cook breakfast for dinner – eggs, bacon, sausage. I make the kid do his homework then put him in the tub and finally it’s time for him to go to bed. I put in new batteries in the Alphie and sat down on the couch while Man read his book and wrote and wrote and wrote. I wrote 1250. And you know why? Because I wasn’t distracted by the Internet, Twitter, Facebook or email. It felt SO good to write those words and get them out on paper. Tonight I’m going to work on the scene some more.

That is, of course, if no one spills or pukes on the carpet.

Happy Friday!

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A little spring cleaning

April 20, 2009 by

Boy this weekend just flew by! I hate that. I like things to last a while. I want to savor it. And enjoy it. And relish it.

Didn’t do much Friday night. Just hung around the house and let the kiddo watch some cartoons while I had an online board meeting and Man worked on his computer. We’re shared the office. Makes me realize just how tiny a 10 x 10 room is. Makes me ready to purge everything in this room. LOL

We were supposed to have a Saturday morning soccer game, but it was canceled due to the very wet fields conditions from all the rain the night before. We were glad, though. We got to sleep in and it was lovely. We had a lazy morning. Then I got my hair cut by Stylist Extraordinaire. I love her. She’s the best stylist I’ve EVER had. I was even moved to purchase “salon” shampoo and conditioner. It was on sale for buy one, get one for $0.88 cents. I couldn’t pass it up. And it’s awesome. It smells great.

Saturday afternoon, the kiddo went back with his dad – we split the weekend – and then Man and I went out and about. We headed to Best Buy and drooled over the 46 and 52 inch flat panel TVs, 1080p. We are both dying for one. I think by next year, maybe, we’ll get one.  Lots of other things we have to get through first. We’re both going on a vacation this summer and we both need to save our pennies.  I also drooled over the iPods and the new Pantech Matrix.  Then we went to the book store and I found this really cool book based on Celtic mythology. It’s a fantasy. Can’t wait to read that! It’s added to the TBR pile. Which continues to grow.

Sunday started off fairly lazy but I got myself busy with cleaning out closets. The church is asking for donations for a single mom who lost everything she had in an apartment fire, so I gathered up some stuff to give to her and get rid of. I still have some things I could probably go through – I didn’t get to the kid’s stuff (and she has a boy). So I may have to make another donation later in the week. But I’ve decided to get rid of a lot of small appliances I don’t use or need anymore. They’re just taking up space and if someone else can use it – well, I’d rather it be her.

So as I started that project, I ended up cleaning out two closets. I threw away some things and reorganized the closet in the office. It’s so much better now. Plus I got rid of a bunch of stuff in my closet I don’t need. I love spring cleaning. It makes it all worthwhile when you de-clutter.

I still have a long way to go, but at least it’s something!

The kiddo had a soccer game Sunday afternoon and they won 10-0. And we were short three players. Those boys played really hard.

And I was pleasantly surprised to see I am one month ahead on my cell phone bill. I have no idea how I managed that but YAY ME! That means I don’t have to pay it this month and I have extra money to play with. I am so loving that. The kiddo and I are going to the movies next weekend to see Monsters vs. Aliens. I think we’re both looking forward to it.

Worked on Phoenix some more too. It’s really shaping up. I really love it. I hope others love it as much as I do.

Hope everyone has a lovely Monday. I’m sure this will be another fast week!

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Another Week Gone

April 17, 2009 by

It amazes me how fast the time goes! Here it is Friday again.

Last night was all about the paperwork. I had to get some stuff done and since Man wasn’t here, I sat at the computer after I got the kiddo in bed and got caught up. I still have paperwork to do but at least there’s not as much of it now. I also worked on my Pop Culture Diva blog entry for next week so that’s all done. Or almost. I had a weird thing happen with a website when I was hunting for pictures. The same window kept popping up over and over and over again. I couldn’t get it to stop, so I had to shut down. Of course, then I was afraid I’d gotten a virus and then it was off to scan the entire computer. What a pain. I try to be careful, but sometimes I caught unaware.

We had soccer practice last night. Another windy evening. Afterward, we went to McDonald’s as per the kiddo’s request. Blech. It was like a hard rock in my stomach. There was not a darn thing on the TV last night, so as I was flipping channels, I came across Turner Classic Movies and they were showing Seven Brides For Seven Brothers. I hadn’t seen that in a really long time, so I watched that.

Earlier this week, I had to get to the doctor because I was having some really bad hand pain. I couldn’t close my left hand into a fist, it was so painful. Turns out I have a bruised tendon, so the doctor prescribed me an anti-inflammatory and told me to rest it. Rest, eh? Like that’s gonna happen. I spend 90 percent of my life at a computer. I don’t have time to rest. ;) At least the hand is feeling better now. It’s still a little sore, but it’s not nearly as swollen as it was the other day which is good. He told me if it didn’t get better in a few days, I’d have to see a specialist. Well, so far so good.

I have been working on Phoenix. I made it past a major hump in the story this week, so it’s all downhill from now. I’m so looking forward to seeing this turns out with the deeper POVs. I’m up to nearly 75,000 words.

I’m also working on a cross-promotional idea with a friend. So far, we’ve hatched some really cool ideas. I’m excited about the collaborative effort!

We have soccer Saturday and Sunday, so I guess I know what I’m doing this weekend. I’m also getting my hair cut tomorrow. YAY! The ends are looking scraggly and it needs it.

Thought I’d live you this week with a little snippet from Phoenix Rising. Just click on the more link below and enjoy!

[Read more...]

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Not So Fast, Spring

March 28, 2009 by

Old Man Winter is back today and he’s ticked off. He’s kicked Lady Spring right out with his blustery cold winds and frigid temps. And let me tell you…it is BRUTAL out there.

Had soccer pictures this morning at 11 am and then a game this afternoon at 1:30. This morning, waiting outside in the cold for the pictures to commence was…painful. I thought just wearing my heavy coat would suffice but the wind cut right through that. And the poor kiddo! As soon as we walked outside, he said, “My legs are cold!” Thank goodness the picture thing didn’t last that long. We got home and had a warm lunch.

The game…another story. I wore thermals, jeans, my thick socks and hiking boots (my feet were toasty!). I wore a long sleeved shirt, a pull-over fleece and my heavy coat with a fleece lining as well as my hat and gloves. I even took a blanket. And it was still frigging cold.

For the kiddo, I put long pants on him, his soccer shorts over that. Then I found a turtleneck shirt and put that on him. Then layered that with his zip-up fleece jacket. Then his jersey. I put a hat on him to cover his ears and then he wore his heavy coat to and from the field.

COLD. So cold. His poor hands were ice cubes by the time the game was over. But the ref was super – he knew we were all freezing, so he kept the game going. And we won, 4-2.

Got home and had a pot of coffee waiting for me. MmMm. And the laundry is all done! I’m going to try and take it easy tomorrow.

Still working on the contest. I have some entries still out. And two of the judges haven’t responded at all. Hm.

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Query Letters 101

February 27, 2009 by

Recently, I wrote my query letter for Rise of the Phoenix. I had reduced the story into four full sentences. I was so proud of myself! I really thought it was the best query letter I’d ever written.

WRONG.

I sent it out for critique. Drab. Boring. Doesn’t tell what the book is about. Those were the comments.

It was a good reality check for me and knocked me off that pedestal. Cuz, you know, I was thinking I was so bad-ass with my query. So I read it again, along with the comments.

And I thought… CRAP. They’re right.

I posted a message on one of the loops I’m on about query letters and where I could get some pointers – like a book or something. A few folks were kind enough to email me and offer up some help. One of the ladies sent me some really good information on query letters. She even gave me a really cool opening line (thank you, Edie!).

I got to thinking about it and it was like the light bulb went on. Well – OF COURSE – it’s like writing a blurb for one of the ebooks! That’s how I approached it in the rewrite. And then it was so much easier. And it popped and was snappy and matched the voice of the book. It’s much better now. I’m very happy with it.

Man ordered a book for me on query letters, though, from Writer’s Digest. Can’t hurt to read it. Ultimately I think the best thing you can do for your query letters is let other writers read it. Especially other writers who have been there, done that, got the jacket. Maybe this letter will get some bites. Here’s hoping!

But first… so much to do! Last night was soccer practice so I took my book with me and read until it was too dark to read. Then we hit Sonic on the way home (that really ruined my Lean Cuisine and salad I had for lunch but oh well. At least I didn’t have to cook), did homework, did bath, and got him in bed.

I write a blog post for Sole Struck Fashions due on Monday. And then I got down to busy on the edits for Take Me I’m Yours. By that time, exhaustion had set it but I soldiered on. I finished off the second round and fired them off.

I did finish six of my contest entries. Four of them wouldn’t open so I have to wait for the coordinator to get them to me again. I plan to knock those out super fast, too. I keep chanting in my head that I will never over-extend myself again. (Uh huh…we’ll see how that goes…)

Thank goodness it’s Friday. I have no idea what the weekend is going to bring, other than a soccer game.

Happy weekend!

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Up Late

February 26, 2009 by

Worked on edits of TAKE ME I’M YOURS. Sometimes I read this stuff back and think it’s a big pile of dung. Oh well. More work to be done on that tonight. Have to finish by Friday, no exceptions.

Going to be another gorgeous day – in the 80s! But then the cold front comes just in time for the weekend. Have no idea what the plans are other than the first soccer game of the season on Sunday. Should be good and chilly for that.

And that’s all folks. Short and sweet today.

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Yay! It’s Friday!

February 20, 2009 by

I’m blogging today (I know – AGAIN, you say?) at Samhain. My post will be up at 3 pm, entitled Plotting The Michelle Way. Check it out if you get a chance and THANK YOU for all your continued support. :)

It’s Friday! Always a great day of the week. I’ve got the kid this weekend, which is always fun, and tomorrow is my mommy’s birthday. We’re headed out to her house for barbeque chicken, potato salad, pasta salad, garlic bread and fun. Man has agreed to contribute toward the gift, so I’m going to order a nice flower arrangement from a local florist.

The kiddo has been quite funny lately. I bought him this children’s dictionary and he finds great fun in looking up words. Plus, it’s chockfull of pictures and all kinds of cool fun facts in the back. He was reading the dictionary the other night at the table while Man worked. He comment was, “Only your kid would like reading the dictionary.” HA! It’s true, though. My child is a lot like me, which could be scary to the rest of the world. ;)

Since the kiddo has had some troubles at school (he tends to lose focus and HM I wonder where he gets THAT?) so the ex and I have been really trying hard to keep him on track. The ex taught him what procrastination means and I taught him what concentration means. Yesterday morning as we got ready for school, I reminded him what those words mean. I said, “Don’t procrastinate but DO concentrate!” Maybe that will help.

I also gave the ex the Cub Scouts information – they meet on Monday nights – so he said he’d get in contact with them since that’s his day. I get soccer days (Thursday – and I nearly froze to death last night). I think Scouts will help the kiddo get his head out of the clouds some and back to Earth. Maybe he’ll get that focus back. Plus, I think it’ll be really good for him and his dad to spend some quality time together that doesn’t involve, you know, shooting things. Hehe

And in other news… I’ve decided to go for it. I’m going to take the plunge and do the query-go-round and see what I get out of it. Probably a stack of rejections. :) But I figured I’ll just give it a try and see what happens. Couldn’t hurt, right? All they can say is no, RIGHT?

Okay, so I’m researching agents and starting to compile my list. I’ve even written a draft of a query letter but I want to research more in-depth to see what these folks rep before I just shoot off 23409 query letters. I want to get personal. (Okay, not TOO personal. I’m not a stalker after all.) And I have to admit, I have this little tingle of excitement. Which will probably turn into the tingle of depression, but hey! You don’t know until you try! So. I’m going to try.

Hold me. I’m scared.

Just kidding. I’m shooting to have the edits done and ready to go by March 1. I hope I can get it done but I have 10 contest entries to read between now and March15. And a friend’s WIP.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.

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