The New Look

I've finally made it around to changing the look of the blog over to something more spring-like. Actually this one is called Summer Breeze. What can I say, I'm looking ahead.

I have managed to catch my first cold in five years. Not impressed. I think the stress of late suppressed my immune system and germy boy from work coughed his illness all over my pod. I'm considering his punishment as I type this. Not sure what it will be but needless to say it will be something vile and painful and there will likely be bamboo chutes involved at some point. Thankfully, I had some Cold Fx at home and as soon as I thought the cold might be coming on, I started popping them to head it off. It didn't stop the cold completely but it kept it from being a lot worse than it could have been. I'm starting to feel better, although my nose is still on fire and the sleepless night didn't help much. I stayed home from work today to rest and medicate and get rid of the last of it.

Thanks to the cold, I didn't get out to get the gardens cleaned out as planned despite the first really nice weekend we've had in a while. Sigh... I will get it done. I am determined to restore them to their former glory this summer if it kills me. But I have to do it soon. Things are starting to pop up and grow. I need to get cracking before the ugly stuff takes over the good stuff and I forget what's there.

The writing is going good. I've finished my read through of ITS and storyboarded it. Now I have to write the synopsis (oh joy) and prep the first 30 pages for a few contests I've decided to enter.

The workout bootcamp is now over. We did our final measurements and weigh-in and I'm happy to report it turned out to be a success. I didn't make my intended goal but I did pretty good, so I'm happy about that. Shrinkage all the way around and enough knowledge on what I need to do to keep it going in a downward direction.

And that is about all the news there is for now. It's been a busy month just not an overly exciting one.

Return of the Mojo

Wherever my mojo had wandered off to those first few months of the year, it has decided to return with a bang and bring with it reinforcements in the form of focus and determination. It’s a welcome homecoming but there’s no time for a party to herald the event.

I have decided to think more strategically this year. I have the potential to have 4 completed manuscripts in my possession by the end of this year as well as the first draft of a fifth. One is already completed, the other just needs a little tweaking to clean up a plot issue I discovered, one is thisclose to being done and the last one is in first draft form and ready for revision.

All that being said, I decided to take a look at what contests were available that would have final judges I would want to target with my work. Also, with the tweaking and revisions it would be great to get some feedback from people who haven’t read the manuscripts previously. So after some review, I picked six contests with deadlines in May and June.

Which means for the next two weeks I will have my nose to the grindstone while I prep the entries and write/revamp the existing synopses (oh joy).

Once the entries are sent off, my focus will turn to finishing the final run through of Salvation Falls and start marketing it, then fixing the plot issue in Brimstone I noticed the other day and sending out agent queries, then completing revisions on Invitation to Scandal and sending out queries on it.

That should take me up to end of October, leaving November open for NaNoWriMo and the opportunity to complete another first draft. I already have manuscript chosen. I am redoing Finding Home, Dash and Lucy’s story - or as my brother calls it – Juicy Lucy and Her Big Bat. There’s a reason I don’t let him pick my titles…

Finding Home is my contemporary that I began over a year ago but the plot just wasn’t working. So I’m scraping it, keeping the characters and most of their backstory and going back to the drawing board on the plot / storyline and conflicts.

December I will spend working on the outline for my historical fiction, The Tangled Garden.

So I have my work cut out for me in 2009 but I finally feel like I’m moving forward again with more momentum than I had when the year started.

All Kinds of Miscellany

First, on the writing front, I have finished the first round of revisions on Salvation Falls and have started the read through. I’m hoping to have the manuscript ready to send out by the end of the month. I’m considering a couple of contests as well but we’ll wait and see. Money is a bit tight for the next few months so I have to pinch some pennies and watch where I do my spending.

The historical novel, The Tangled Garden, is not progressing as quickly. I thought I could research while revising the other one, but I seem to keep forgetting how many hours are in a day and that no matter how much I want to get done, I still need to go to work and sleep. So for now, rather than overload my plate and feel frustrated, I’ve decided to get Salvation Falls and Invitation to Scandal out the door first, then settle in to work on The Tangled Garden. My mother reminded me the other day that I’m always trying to jam my entire life into five minutes and maybe I should just try tackling one thing at a time. Sometimes mother does know best…

Meanwhile, the sickness that invaded the other week is being beaten back with a vengeance and so we are all very, very thrilled about that, not to mention breathing a collective sigh of relief that things are going so well.

The puppy is also doing well. I get regular reports from my boss who said the pup, now named Bailey, has this annoying quirk where when Boss tells her no, she sits down and argues with him. He is convinced I trained her to do this. I did not bother to disabuse him of that notion.

The snow that hit us the other day is pretty much gone. I can’t wait for the weather to improve so I can finally get into my gardens. The past couple of years I’ve been horribly lax in tending to them (I have quite a few despite a relatively small yard). And now the lack of attention is beginning to show. Which is a shame because they used to be quite spectacular.

The garden at the bottom of the deck steps is going to be completely revamped. The tree I hate. It’s ugly and overgrown. It’s coming out. The grass in front of the garden is a nest of stupid ants every year. Something must be done about that. And the walkway and the weeds…sigh…so much work to be done.

And don’t even get me started on the stupid basketball court. JG wants to take a jackhammer to it and I’m not going to stop him. Have at it, I say. I never wanted the stupid thing and ever since the hurricane in 2005 the net has had a rather threatening lean to it.

The front garden I want to add some color to and maybe put out some baskets or flower boxes that hang off the step railing.

In a year or so, depending on the markets, JG and I are hoping to list my house and buy one of our own, so I want to get as many improvements done now to up the value and add curb appeal. Now if the weather will just cooperate, I can get to work…