"Laziness will cause you pain." ~ Slogan on T-shirt worn at the Vee Arnis Jitsu
School of Self-Defense
We’re having a snow day on a Sunday, which really isn’t
convenient at all. It meant my RWA Chapter meeting was cancelled and any plans
I have for writing are nebulous at best with a nine year old running about.
Even when he tries to be quiet it means he only sounds like half a herd of
elephants as opposed to the whole herd.
I’m still reworking my outline for A Heart Betrayed. Today
is my last day to outline because starting tomorrow I need to dive into the
actual writing and then produce 30 pages a week until the first week of April
in order to get the first draft down. I’m not sure how doable that is, but
given I’m running out of time and still need to incorporate time in there for
revisions, it’s going to have to be.
Hubby suggested we take 5 day in April or May to go to
Universal Studios with the boy. I looked at him like he had two heads and said
something to the effect of, “Are you crazy?! I can’t go anywhere until I turn
this book in May 31st!” I then suggested sightings of me may be scarce
between now and then and he might want to take a picture. We’re not looking at
early June for the trip to the Universal. By then, I may need a few
days away from anything resembling a manuscript.
But, because I like to heap a bunch of crap on myself at the
same time, I have also embarked on a new job with an old boss and re-started my
weight training and running program which sort of fell by the wayside over
the summer. I figure if nothing else, the muscle building will give me the
energy/stamina to manage the writing and the new job.
And that is about all that is new on this front. I’m going
to sign off now and go finish that outline. Now that I’ve totally revamped it
(yet again), it had better fall into place!
The waste of life occasioned by trying to do too many things at once is
appalling. ~ Orison Marden
But I can explain. Really. I've spent the past few months with my nose to the grindstone, grinding away at revisions on An Invitation to Scandal. Now, it is finally done and has been sent out to the editor and agent that requested it, and I am onto something new! Woo hoo!!! I've spent so much of the past 2.5 years doing revisions on previously written material I almost forget what it's like to write a brand new book. Even the new manuscripts I've written in the past few years have been NaNoWriMo books, which meant spewing it out in 30 days or less. To actually take my time (okay, 3 months as opposed to 1) will be a nice luxury.
The book that is up next is book 2 in the Brides of Fatal Bluff series, The Widow Bride, and a follow up to The Outlaw Bride. I'm looking forward to returning to the town of Fatal Bluff and see what is going on with the other two brides who were on the same train with Kate.
To help with my plotting and note taking, I'm using Microsoft Office's OneNote. I had been hearing about it from a few different people but hadn't had time to look at it. Then at our RWA Chapter meeting yesterday, Michelle Helliwell did a presentation, part of which was extolling the virtues of OneNote. After getting started with it this morning I can officially say I love it! All my notes in one tidy little spot. Character pixs, plots, subfolders. It's enough to make a girl lose her mind. I'm big on organization, and I really haven't been keeping up my usual standard of late, so this will help big time.
In other news, I have become totally addicted to Pinterest. I expect I'm a few short weeks away from needing a 12-step program. On the plus side, I'm finding the visuals incredibly inspiring for writing and I'm creating little collage like boards for my books that have been a lot of fun. If you haven't tried Pinterest, I highly recommend. I've found plenty of character, setting and atmosphere type pictures. I've also found hoards of different recipes and workouts and humorous sayings. I've even built my own dream closet (that periodically makes me weep because it isn't my real closet).
So now that I have lifted my head up from revisions, I'm hoping life gets a little bit back to normal. Regular postings here. The website updated with new material. Back to regular workouts at the gym and training for the 10K race in May. I may even finally get my honeymoon pictures to Prague uploaded onto Facebook one of these days...
"Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts." ~ Steve Prefontaine
This one I blame my sister-in-law for. She started running last year and we batted around the idea of doing a 10K together. We had both run 5Ks before (she this past summer, me a few years ago), but she wanted to up the ante. Unfortunately a bad chest cold and injuries thwarted our plans.
But the other day, while I was at my nephew’s birthday party (and while she was waving a cheesie in front of my face), my SIL suggested we both sign up for the Bluenose Marathon 10K. The early bird sign up ended the next day, so if we wanted to get the cheaper rate, we had to act fast.
Now this suggestion was made on Feb 27th. The race is on May 22nd. And unless I’ve lost my ability to count properly, that means I have a whopping 2.5 months to go from not running for about a year, to running 10K.
I blame the mesmerizing power of the cheesie that made me nod and mumble something that sounded like, ‘sure…sounds like a plan…you gonna eat that cheesie?’
So here I am, in training mode. My friend, Christine, took me out running on my lunch hour the other day indicating she had a great route in mind. Christine is a runner. That should have been my first clue that this was not going to be an easy little jaunt. By the 4K mark I was starting to feel it. By the 5K mark I wasn’t sure I could lift my legs much longer. Thankfully, the route ended at 5.13K.
I hobbled back to the office wondering what the criteria for a lung transplant was.
Still, I had done it. After not running, I managed to live through a 5K run. Sure I felt it the next day (or three), but I was already half way to my goal, and still had a little over two months to build on that.
Am I crazy? Maybe. But every time I think I’ve completely lost my mind, I remind myself that summer is right around the corner. The time of shorts and skirts and bathing suits, and suddenly, running 10K seems like a really good idea…
Vanity. The world’s greatest motivator.
