October Goals

Oops. Forgot to post these--again. Last month was:

Done--Rewrite 2 chapters of MMG.
Done (barely)--Write 31 pages of Vesta.
Done--Quick polish of Vesta for CWC.
Done--Complete CWC critiques. (3/3)

Done and dusted, just by the tips of my fingernails. If I'd clipped them, well, failure.

This month? More of the same. With an addition of Ali's challenge about reading a little differently.

--Rewrite 2 chapters of MMG.
--Write 31 pages of Vesta.
--Complete CWC critiques.
--Read Dexter and The Graveyard Book with an eye to "nuts and bolts."

I Love This!

I Hang Out With The Grooviest People

I just have to say it. For example:

John and Ali kicked some serious hinder with their writing challenge. Over 22k words for each of them. Holy shite! And I know I'll enjoy it when they're ready to let other eyes see it.

Fleur has already revised DtTF and submitted it to her agent. Now she's working on the next big thing.

Mary is moving those girls of hers right along in interesting ways, making me wish I could see what's in her head so I know what happens next.

Shane continues to amaze me with his stunning command of the English language and unusual take on the human condition.

Jenny? Well, she tells a helluva story extremely well. I'm reading FJR for the second time and am still on the edge of my seat.

Nicole always make me laugh, and frustrates me, too, that I don't get to read more of her work. Because I love it.

Then there are Bret, Laurel, Moe and I'm sure people I'm forgetting who may not be around as much, but still check in to see what's going on and to let me know how they're doing.
Plus, they're all great people to hang out with. Each with a unique perspective, but also open to what the others have to say. Gotta love that in this world. And just plain nice. When they ask, "How are you?" it is with real interest and concern.

I don't think I could do this writing thing without any of them. They keep me going.

All of this in prelude to letting you know that DB, another good friend, will not be around for a while. She's going through a lot of personal stuff right now that I'm not at liberty to divulge. But the whole group has rallied around to support her decision to take a sabbatical until she's ready to deal with all of this again. I know we all wish her well, in every sense of that phrase.

Flip!

There's a scene in The Cutting Edge--I've talked about the fact that I love this goofy, really bad movie right? Anyway, the scene in question is Moira Kelly talking about magnets. That if you try to put the wrong sides of magnets together, they just push each other away. But all you have to do is flip one over and they stick together. Okay, halfway through writing this I realized that the analogy is breaking down. But I'm not going to try to come up with a new one.

Anyway, I've been struggling lately to keep up with all the things I'm committed to doing: work in particular, NewsMag, CWC, writing, house, family, friends--you get the idea. There is never going to be enough time to do everything I want to. I realized that years ago. There are too many things and people I'm interested in for that to ever happen. I'm groovy with that. But my attitude about this juggling act has pretty much sucked over the past several weeks. That I do have control over, but haven't been taking it. I've been wallowing in my bad mood. Really enjoying it, ya know?

I had no plans to drag myself out of that wallow either. This morning I got ready early so I could get to work early so I could throw a couple more balls in the air for the day. Just more reasons to feel stressed and cranky.

Maybe it was driving in at a different time. Maybe it was not worrying about getting to work on time because I was so early. Maybe it was listening to music on the radio rather than NPR. Maybe it's watching Ali and John smack each other around while toting up big word count numbers. Who knows? But I spotted a hot air balloon floating over the city, and that made me smile. Then I saw a man on a bicycle. Not unusual. But he was a very thin man in an orange jumpsuit. He had an Afro that stuck out wider than his shoulders. That made me laugh. And all around the parking lot at work, the trees have decided to turn a brilliant orange. That made me feel connected.

I may have passed all those things yesterday, but I didn't notice them. For whatever reason, I did today. I don't have any fewer things to do--in fact, I added updating my blog to the list--but I don't feel quite so cranky.

Take a few seconds today to look around. You too, John and Ali, even while you're racing for the gold--or is it Golden Arches?

Oh, and "toe pick!"

Avast, Me Hearties!

Another Talk Like A Pirate Day hoves into view. Last year we all looked up our pirate names. Mine is Dirty Bess Cash. This year, look up your Pirate Personality at http://www.talklikeapirate.com/ppi.html

See the result of mine at the right.

Was there any doubt? Aye? Did I hear an aye from the scurvy dog in the bilge? Keel haul 'em!

Duck!

The challenges are flying fast and furiously around here as we get closer to the end of the month. Ali and John are in the middle of another smackdown. I'm feeling challenged just getting out of bed in the morning. Bad cold, project at work whupping my butt, yada yada yada. It's all by way of the old excuse of not enough time. Whatever. I'm over it.

I did make a change to my goals for the month based on some feedback from the ever brilliant Jenny. Chapter count is much easier to manage and more practical than page/word count when it comes to rewrites. Chapters are the units we're dealing in once the novel is done. Even if we query with word counts. So, chapters it is.

The NewsMag is out the door, and I have a couple weeks until the deadline for the next one. I have no plays or hockey games or parties or anything else to attend between now and the CWC meeting. So. 31 pages of Vesta is 2.8 pages a day in order to give myself time for a polish before I make copies. Really doable. I have the first chapter of MMG pretty well done, just one scene to add. A push to get another one done, but not at all out of the realm of possibility.

Time to just do it, as the ad says. There's a writing marathon next month and NaNoWriMo the month after that. I need to condition these flabby writing muscles before then. Who's with me?

Go, Fleur, Go!

Fleur has an agent! How cool is that? She is, as you would expect, happy and excited but also being much more realistic than I think I would be under the same circumstances. She understands that this is just the next step in the process. That there are several more steps before publication happens.

But it is something to celebrate.

And to use as inspiration. Because she worked at it. She's worked at her craft and at putting her work out there. As a rejection came in, she noted it and then sent out another query. She didn't let the word 'no' stop her.

So I'm sure she'll do just fine with all the other steps along the way.

Good on ya, Fleur!