When True Blood Gets in the Way

We hiked Lily this morning to tucker her out for the day. Having a dog is all about management. Good owners know the old adage to be true - a good dog is a tired dog. They don't wear themselves out either. A yard doesn't exercise your dog. I may have been good at entertaining myself growing up by writing stories, but I certainly didn't run around the neighborhood by myself. I needed my brothers or friends. I wouldn't lace up those rollerskates and skate to those great Air Supply hits alone. Actually, I wouldn't do that with my brothers either. They would have been dead before being caught listening to Air Supply with their sister. Dogs are just like kids - leave them to their own devices and they're going to entertain themselves with whatever they have available whether it's your shoes or your new roses in the garden. Giving up a few hours to hike is not only good for us, our dog, our sanity, but it's good for our shoes and our garden. She sacked out and I did the last of the cleaning before running errands. I had a schedule to stick to today in anticipation of tonight.

I was counting down the hours until True Blood. It did not disappoint, hooker (Lafayette reference there). Tell me how I can go months without a new episode of this show and somehow survive, but the next week now feels slow and torturous and I'm not sure that I can make it through? I don't want to wait until next Sunday night. It seems soooooooo far away. I'm suddenly that young girl with her rollerskates on pouting because no one will come skate with me. I have to admit to getting into True Blood late (like after the first season came out DVD late) and I loved being able to watch episode after episode without stopping. I had to take a train to San Diego for the weekend and I downloaded a few episodes to pass the time. I sat next to the bathroom because I have a small bladder (this seems like TMI, but I'm going somewhere with this so hang in there). Have you seen the first episode? Well, that lovely seen with Jason and Maudette and the crazy vampire? Yeah, that startled me...it also startled the two marines waiting in line for the bathroom that were watching over my shoulder. I didn't know they were there until I hit 'pause' in a complete panic and heard a voice say, "Aw, don't stop now!" I was beet red. And I blurted out..."It'snotporn." Awesome. I was concerned that complete strangers would think I was watching porn on my iPod on the train. I was in such a state of panic that I couldn't even remember the title of the show to tell the guys. Not that I could talk after my blurt out anyways. Too embarrassed. I didn't turn it back on until they were gone despite their protests. By the end of Strange Love, I was hooked (and not because of the sex scenes). I bought the first season on DVD as soon as I got off the train. Then I made my poor mother watch every episode with me in a 24 hour period. That Jason and Maudette and crazy vampire scene? "Oh, that's just lovely Jennifer." If you have watched the first season, you can imagine how many times I heard that in a 24 hour period. My mother usually enjoys my visits. I think that one might have been one of her least favorites.

With what little is left of my night, I'm off to write. Lily is snoring on the couch next to me. I've got Sia singing softly through my earphones. Time to head deep into the forest. Well, not too deep. Tonight we're starting in the cabin instead. We'll see if we make it into the woods. Happy writing, everyone! Hope you have a GREAT week!

Steaming the Floors and Polishing that Manuscript

I spent the afternoon cleaning the house. I love love love the smell of cleaning products. I love a clean house even more. There's something about walking barefoot on my hardwood floors after they've been steamed that just makes my heart sing. If I had little wings, I would flit around the house. Although, what would be the point of the washed floors? There is something so cathartic about scrubbing the place top to bottom, getting rid of the dust bunnies that are hiding way under the bed, in the back of the closet and under the couch, scrubbing the walls and floors until they sparkle like a vampire. While I was dusting, vacuuming and shining, I was thinking about my WIP (which is never far from my mind). I wish that I had been so enthusiastic about diving into the first round of clean up with it. Why? Because once I jumped in, it wasn't bad. You might look at the picture above (and the one below so you get the side view as well) and think I'm joking. I got through it in less than a week. Yes, I allowed my anal side to appear - the blue post-its are the new storyline, the maroon are character (spicing up my villian, strengthening other characters) and the green are plot. Very colorful. It's not clean and shiny, but it is on its way. Tonight I feel a bit of inspiration in my spotless house. I've lit a few candles, thrown open the windows for the cool breeze to carry the scent through the rooms and will be settling in to tackle those post-its. I'll be removing them and working them into the book like I worked the cleanser into the counters, making it shine!

How do you tackle your rewrites? Do you chunk them or dive right in and just plow through the entire work?

Mixing Fun with a Dash of Inspiration

What's more fun than making cookies with grandma? Contests! Well, maybe not AS fun, but when you're too old to make cookies with grandma anymore and eating them adds to those love handles, stomach and behind, you need fun that doesn't involve food. That's where this blog post comes in. There are a few cool contests that I wanted to point out to my friends and a really great guest blog by Elana Johnson that you all should read as well. First, to the contests:

Sara B. Larson is giving away a first edition of the new Stephanie Meyers book! We're all hearing great things about Bree. You can enter her contest here.

This contest sounds both cool AND fun. GREAT combination. It starts Thursday morning at 6am. You submit the first line of your novel. If it makes them want to read more, you get invited to share your next line. And so on. The winners will benefit greatly (Natalie Fischer of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency will judge and offer a 25-page manuscript critique to the 1st place winner, a 10-page manuscript critique to the 2nd place winner - how amazing is that!?! But wait, there's more...you have to go there to read the more for yourself) Please share with us if you make it past your opening line so that we can celebrate along with you!

Shannon Whitney is giving away an autographed copy of The Body Finder AND some cool swag here.


An almost contest:

Jen at unedited has almost reached 500 followers. When she does reach that magical number, she will be having a contest of some sort to celebrate. Jen always has FUN contests (see the videos below). She also has a really great blog so you benefit by following in more ways than one. Show her some love, people!


An upcoming contest:
I will be having a contest for our July theme. I've decided the months need themes. We borrowed Jolies MIS - Make It Shine - for the month of June. Let's come up with one for July. I'll do a separate thread for that next week so that people can submit their ideas to that thread. Winner will get their choice of a $15 Starbucks giftcard or Borders giftcard. It's not much but it's 4 grande Skinny Vanilla Lattes or a paperback book and 3/4s at Borders. I run a nonprofit. I have to stretch my budget if I plan to do this every month. MIF - Make It Fun!


Last, but not least, Elana Johnson popped over to Sara B. Larson's blog and laid out her numbers for us. FINISH STRONG was her advice. I found it inspirational and wanted to share. I know we all go through those times where we start to question our own sanity or our ability to make it. This is the perfect post for those times!

Enjoy!

Monday Musings

I went to the library on my way from teaching this afternoon on a whim. I'm at the end of A Wrinkle in Time and the rest of the series is somewhere in boxes in the garage. I figured I could pick up the books there. I was wrong. What kind of library doesn't have Madeleine L'Engle books? Mine. In a big city. Go figure. No worries, though, I have a list of books I've been wanting to check out - authors or titles that I've picked up on other blogs, magazine reviews, etc. I'll just open my purse and...Of course the list wasn't in my purse. I have a ticket stub from the Chargers playoff loss to the Jets in January, I have an expired CVS coupon that I needed to use yesterday (oh! that's where that was), I have a brochure from a new pet kennel and daycare that someone gave to me at an adoption event last month, I have a business card from the tooth fairy, I have benedryl and sudafed and vitamins and ibuprofen, but no list of books. Naturally, I feel pressured to remember the names and I can't. It's like I'm suddenly back in high school and I've been studying for weeks for an exam. I'm overprepared and excited for it. Bring it ON! Only I get the test in front of me and my mind goes blank. That happens to me in libraries and bookstores frequently. I couldn't recall a single author or title. I spent almost an hour going book by book trying to recognize a few. I've been over my list a hundred times (well, maybe not quite that many, but several times at least) surely looking at them will jog my memory. Not. A. One. I came home with four that look promising but none of which were even remotely on my list. I'll just crack one open tonight and hope for the best. Sometimes I find great treasures this way. My life becomes too full of lists and I find that the true adventures, the measure of myself is really off the lists.

I've thrown open the windows, put Lily in the yard for some sun, lit my inspiration candle (Balsim Fir at the moment), turned on Soundscapes and am about to dive into my rewrite. A bird has built her nest in bush in the yard right next to Lily's favorite spot. Lily is oblivious to the poor things cries of panic and dives at her posterior. She sleeps on. She's actually protecting them. The neighbors mischievious cats won't come into the yard when Lily is out there so they are safe from harm. I keep trying to get a picture of the bird as it dives at Lily. My poor monster. She's just clueless when it comes to most things. That's part of the sweetness that is Lily, though.

Happy Monday, everyone! And happy writing this week! As Jolie says - Make It Shine.

(On a side note: My copy of Wrinkle in Time is so old that it cost me $3.25. Remember when paperbacks were that cheap? I was in the 5th grade.)

Video Friday

Here is my latest entry for the fun video contest that Jen is having over at unedited! This week it was Edward vs. Jacob. I had a little fun playing around with "monster myths". Hope you enjoy.



Be sure to check out the other contestants videos as well!

Jessica - The Alliterative Allomorph
Candace - The Misadventures in Candyland
Sarah - T.J. Carson's Writing Endeavors
Katie - Creepy Query Girl
Shannon - Shannon McMahon
Rachel - Open a Window
Susan - Susan Fields
Clara - Pinches of Madness
Angela - Slushpile Slut

The Theme For June

I've been perusing my favorite blogs while taking breaks from my rewrites throughout the day and happened upon a gem over at Cuppa Jolie. If you haven't happened upon her blog yet or been directed there, I encourage you to hop over. She has Monday Moments - writing prompts to get you going on Monday mornings when things aren't always flowing so easily. Anyways, over at Cuppa Jolie, the theme for the month is: Make It Shine! I think this is absolutely wonderful and fits us all so perfectly as we are polishing those rewrites up. I wanted to share both the blog and the theme for our June rewrites as we polish our way to perfection. Or at the very least a nice semi-gloss. So head on over to check out Jolie's blog for a bit, then it's back to work polishing our WIPs (that even sounds a little dirty!) until they shine shine shine!

Happy Writing everyone!

The Bear and the Favorite Childhood Book

My rewrite has become quite the bear...a grizzly bear even. We're talking 700 pound grizzly bear at the beginning of Fall scrambling to pack on the fat so it can hibernate for the winter and I feel like a salmon trying to make it up a very shallow river before I get caught in its jaws or swatted by an enormous paw. It's hard to keep yourself motivated when there is so much to be done. I would be willing to bet that half of my 57,000+ words are going to be gone by the time I am done. This is only the first pass. While the meat of the story is still there, I am stregthening other characters with this secondary story line. It had to be done. I can only go where the story takes me. At the moment, it seems a bit overwhelming, though. Like the boat is headed for a huge waterfall and I need to find a way to the shore despite having gotten rid of my oar. What do I do? I set goals (thanks Jes!). Tomorrow, by hook or by crook, I will be done with the first pass. I'm running two errands and then will be home for the rest of the day. It will be done! Then I'll reassess tomorrow to set more goals.

On a brighter note, Jen over at unedited posted some really awe inspiring photos of libraries today on her blog. The kind of libraries you could get lost in. It brought back memories of our own humble Poway library tucked into the back of the small shopping center. Does anyone from Poway remember that one? Mom would take us there a few times a month. She would have to really work with Drew to get him to pick even one book while I would race around like a madwoman picking out as many books as I could before mom would say "time's up!" It brought back such fond memories. I might have had an unhappy childhood if it weren't for books. My parents loved me, but they fought a lot. My father was a very intimidating and imposing man who believed in the power of the belt. They were blessed with a very stubborn (pig headed even), extremely outspoken child prone to mouthing off. We lived in a small, small town when I was in elementary and middle school. There wasn't a whole lot to do. You could ride horses but we didn't own one and my parents didn't have the money for lessons or rentals. But we had that wonderous library where I could ride horses in Narnia! Or in the Phantom Tollbooth! I opened a book and I was suddenly out of Poway and into a whole new world full of exciting adventures. The pictures of the libraries took me tumbling back into my childhood today. Lucky for Facebook friends, I didn't have time to peruse photo albums and post old pictures because I was too busy going through my old books. Remember this one?

I busted this one out tonight. My copy is so old that the cover is torn and the pages have yellowed. It has that musty smell that only very old books have. I bought it at a book fair brand new in elementary school. Most kids saved their allowance for candy (Drew did!). I saved mine for books. Favorites from the library that I had checked over and over and over again - the librarian raising an eyebrow at me as she stamped it with the DUE date. I would feel guilty, like I was robbing someone else of the joy of the book. It felt good to purchase it with my hard earned money. It was a true testament of my love. So I'm done with the rewrite (or the crossout, as it's becoming to resemble that more than anything) and I'm off to read some Madeleine L'Engle.

Happy reading and happy, happy writing week!