Thursday, August 02, 2007

The Balm of Rescue Dawn

Welcome to my week from hell.

Monday dawns and it is time to start revisions. I am about to jump in the shower but first hop on the scale. Wait...what? I squint at the numbers. Jump off and get back on. They stay the same. It appears a few extra pounds had decided to attach themselves onto my body somewhere (probably in the vicinity of my ass). Great. Lovely. Welcome to the week. Sigh.

I shrug it off and decide to dive into revisions. It proves slow going. I need to cut 50 pages, but where? A little frustrated that nothing jumps out and says ‘cut me’ in the first few chapters, I head off to work. There I suffer through the annoyance of a co-worker who seems determined to drive me to drink. At lunch, I pop onto the web and view my library account. I have a DVD overdue. Crap. I console myself with the fact that come the end of the day I will be on my way to the theatre with Julia to see Rescue Dawn for the second time. Yay! The movie was just what the doctor ordered, and every bit as good the second time as it was the first. Monday redeems itself on a high note.

Tuesday I step on the scale. The odious pounds are still there and I’m pretty sure they invited a friend or two. I wonder if humidity could cause water to retain in my cells and thereby expand the size of my ass. I should have paid more attention in science class. I am about to start my revisions when it hits me—I am supposed to meet with my critique partner on Thursday. Which means I have to send her the last installment of Brimstone this morning. I do that before I start into the revisions. Revisions go slow again. No major cuts. Argh.

Another day, another dollar. My neck is sore from being hunched over the computer all day and sometime between 9:00 and 5:00 I realize not only do I need to finish knitting the baby hat for my cousin’s shower on Saturday, but I also need to knit two more baby hats for a friend before the end of the week which I had forgotten about. Great. More things to do this week. Lovely. While I’m chastising myself for bad time management, I sort through the next few days and try to figure out how I am going to knit 3 hats and critique 24 pages for my CP. It doesn’t look good. To make myself feel better, I go on line and order a copy of the Harsh Times DVD, an independent movie Christian Bale did between Batman Begins and Rescue Dawn. Nothing like retail therapy and CB to brighten the day. Fired up, I finish the first baby hat.

Wednesday. Stupid @#$% scale. The revisions are going. That is about all. Still no major cuts to be found. Wonderful. I pack up my knitting and head to work. I spend the day working on rent rolls, hunched over my computer until my spine begins to atrophy. I haven’t walked in five days thanks to rain, high temperatures and hideous amounts of humidity that would have me passing out by the time I hit the first corner. I’m wondering if this day could get any worse.

But wait, it isn’t quite so hot today. I manage a walk after work and pick up my mail. And what is there only 24 hours after ordering? Harsh Times. And finally my entries from the Windy City contest! Oh happy day! Oh happy, happy—

What? I look at the final judges scores. They are less than stellar. Not bad exactly, even perhaps respectable, but yet...I glance at the numbers again as if somehow staring at them long enough will somehow get it into my brain just why they gave me said numbers. There are three sheets, three sets of scores, but only one set of comments from one of the judges. They are somewhat helpful, and a whole lot disheartening. There is still work to be done. More than I had anticipated. And little direction other than a number which could mean anything, everything or even nothing. One didn’t even like my title.

I consider finding a dark hole and crawling in.

But it is Wednesday. And Wednesday means it is movie night. Maxx and I are off to see Rescue Dawn. She for the first time, me for the third. I grab my keys and go. I get my times screwed up and am late. Late. Me. Miss Notoriously Punctual to the Point of Irritating. Maxx razzes me for not being on time. I try to bite my tongue with only moderate success. No point taking out my bad mood on her. And after all, I was late. Not much I can defend there. Luckily we still had time for her to get popcorn and catch the coming attractions.

It’s been a crappy week so far, a definite come down from the high on Saturday of finishing the second draft. Reality is a harsh mistress.

The opening credits role. Screw reality, I decide. It’s highly overrated anyway. I settle in and get lost in the fantasy and once again all is right with the world.

12 comments:

Julia Phillips Smith said...

LOL on humidity causing water retention in your ass!!! But it works for me, I must say.

Judges, schmudges. Scores, schmores. You placed - who cares what the scores were? I'm sure you'll know what to tweak and what not to tweak. Do the Happy Dance for placing, Kelly!

Anonymous said...

Hugs, Kelly! Some weeks are just like that. And remember contests are often judged by people who don't know what they're talking about. I never won or placed in a single contest. :/

Melissa Amateis said...

Wow. You've had quite the week! But I'm glad Christian Bale helped, though. ;-)

Kelly Boyce said...

Unfortunately Michelle, those final scores were from the editor/agent who did the final rankings. So I can't even use that excuse!!

Unknown said...

Sometimes life bites.

I have no sense of body image. When I was really skinny I didn't feel like it. I gained 40lbs and I couldn't see that big a difference. Deep denial? I was feeling good about my lower poundage this week until I caught sight of myself in a store mirror. Yikes! There's still a lot of work to be done.

Hugs on the tough scores and the lack of comments - not very useful. I've heard that Maddie Rowe from Harlequin mentioned in Dallas that she's looking for Regency and Western historicals.

Fantasy definitely trumps reality some days.

Unknown said...

Oh Yeah. If you need an extra hand cutting that book down to size let me know. I'm really good at getting rid of stuff.

Lexi said...

Hey, but tomorrow's Friday!

Dixie Belle said...

Glad to hear Rescue Dawn is good. If it comes to the theater here, I plan to go see it. I can't wait until 3:10 to Yuma is released. I watched the trailer online and it looks great!!

Kelly Boyce said...

I watched the 3:10 to Yuma trailer on line last night for the first time and WOW!! I cannot wait for it to come. My bestfriend is convinced I'm going to be living at the theatre the entire time it is here. She may be right.

Unknown said...

I'll back you up with the whole water retention thing. I swear that's where my weight has come from.

HUGS on the bad week. I'm sure things will look up for you this weekend. Now I want to go see Recuse Dawn...

MJFredrick said...

HUGS on the rough week. As for the contest, well, at least you got comments! I hope they're easily addressed!

Julie S said...

I hope this week improves for you. If not, I recommend renting more Christian Bale movies. Actually, I recommend that even if your week rocks!