Jun 15, 2009 | General |
I can't believe it's been so long since I've blogged regularly! I can now report that Book 3 is turned in, and Book 4 is forming in my mind. I'm sort of free — or at least until I get revisions for B3. Until that time, I've been catching up on much-needed housecleaning.
Oh dear heaven, how did these dust bunnies get so big?! And Spring totally passed me by — we're in summer, and I haven't planted the first flower in my pots yet. Oh, and I have a snake living in the wall. Yes, seriously. Not too surprised to discover that our builder didn't use proper weephole covers, actually. (A weephole is a gap in the brick so moisture doesn't accumulate inside the wall.) And without the covers, critters get inside. In my case, it's a black snake.
I don't want to hurt the snake. It's a good snake, not a bad one, so I keep hoping to see him go slithering away for a meal so I can cover the hole. This morning, I discovered that he'd shed his skin under my window. Ick. He's definitely still in there, sigh.
Aside from that fascinating news, nothing much going on. Waiting for my editor's opinion, thinking of next book, shocked conference is a month away (not prepared yet!), and trying to catch up on my promo efforts. Oh, and my mother-in-law gets the prize for reading my book the fastest of all the family. I shipped it to her last week; yesterday she called to say she'd read it and it made her cry (in a good way, yay!).
What's up with you?
Jun 2, 2009 | General, Life |
Seriously, I do know, but time is really running away on me at the moment. Such a busy month planned! Heck, it's a busy summer! I have a book to finish (one week and counting). A new proposal to submit. Conference to attend.
And then there are the parties and things that happen in summer anyway. A pig roast. A porch party. A Cajun dinner.
Let's not forget visitors over July 4th. Preparing for conference. Preparing for a book launch! (OMG!)
I don't think it's slowing down again until September. But then there's that October deadline. Retreat. Holidays.
Oh dear….
What are you looking forward to this summer? Is life slowing down or revving up for you this season?
Apr 27, 2009 | Contests, Fun, General, Shopping |
Friday, I mentioned doing some things this weekend that included shopping and the Farmer's Market. I also said something about relaxing.
Huh.
Apparently, I failed to realize that all these things I wanted to do entailed going places, walking, lugging, doing things, etc. The upshot is that there was very little relaxing involved.
Though it WAS fun.
Weekend itinerary went something like this:
1. Meet friends and family at winebar Friday night. Laugh, talk, drink wine for a couple of hours.
2. Sat: wake up early, go to Starbucks for coffee and a breakfast sandwich.
3. Farmer's Market. Where Hubby proceeded to gag on goat cheese while I explained to the artisan that though his cheese was indeed excellent, my Darling Hubby just can't stand goat cheese — no matter how many herbs and spices are mixed in. I bought some, of course, and not just out of sympathy. I thought it was excellent.
4. Yard sale. It was impromptu, and no one was more surprised than I when Hubby pulled over. Unfortunately, there was nothing interesting. Except a typewriter. An actual typewriter! (Kids, see Google.)
5. Costco. Where Hubby proceeded to look grouchier and grouchier as I piled stuff into the cart. Apparently, “we need a few things” and “I haven't been shopping in a while” mean something different to him than to me. Although he perked up when we bought two whole chickens for him to put in the smoker.
6. Drop Hubby and groceries at home. Go to mall. Walk around for 3 hours, looking for things for my readers' luncheon giveaways, but only find stuff for me. Spend a very long time trying on clothes and shoes. Leave with a big shopping bag or two (in my defense, it was a SALE).
7. Back home. Grill out with Hubby.
8. Watch Blade Runner — never saw it before, very good, but I had weird dreams afterward.
10. We're up to Sunday now. (Exhausted yet?) Wake up, have breakfast and coffee at home. Play on computer for a bit.
11. We've invited my parents over for smoked chicken. This means the house, otherwise known as an official disaster area, must be cleaned and tidied. This takes a very long time, entails scrubbing and decluttering, and makes my back hurt.
12. Prepare side dishes while Hubby smokes chicken.
13. Did I mention laundry?
14. Crap, have to go to the store and get a couple of things. Most important: some live flowers to replace the dying ones on the mantel.
15. I. Am. So. Tired.
16. Dinner is practically done, parents arrive, we eat and talk and have a good time.
17. More laundry. Some wine. Bed.
Apparently, having fun is a lot of work! I'm exhausted from this weekend. Did you relax this weekend? Or did you find out, like me, that weekends can be a workout? What's your favorite thing to do to relax, or your favorite activity, during the weekend?
Monday Giveaway: Leave a comment to be entered for a copy of Jessica Anderson's Nightkeepers!
Apr 24, 2009 | Blogging, Celebrations, General |
Okay, so how silly is it to celebrate the one week anniversary of my new site launch? I can't believe it's been a week, in fact. One week ago today, I was sitting here at my computer doing a Yahoo chat with my web designer while she instructed me how to do some basic things (like blog posts). And then the moment came when she told me to click a particular button — and voila, the whole site went live. It was a champagne moment for me. 🙂
See, I built my first website myself, using some freebie tools that Yahoo had. I wanted to know how it worked, and of course it was very rudimentary. I had Front Page, but couldn't figure out how to use it. Dreamweaver was way out of the question. Nope, I used what is commonly called WYSIWYG — what you see is what you get. I could drag elements around the page and hotlink like crazy.
But it was still homemade and still didn't look the way I envisioned my website would look. So I made a promise to myself that when I sold a book, I was hiring a professional to design my site. And I couldn't be happier.
So what are you up to this weekend? I think I'm dragging Hubby to the Farmer's Market. He will protest, but it's better to do it now, in April, because the summer months are so hot I can't get his Yankee butt out of the house. And there might be some shopping. Next weekend is the Heart of Dixie 12th Annual Readers' Luncheon and I want to look fabulous. There will also be writing, because June is approaching and I have a book to finish before the craziness that comes with preparing for RWA Nationals in July begins. There might also be some time outdoors, grilling on the patio, and relaxing with my favorite man.
Wow, think my weekend is full already! How about yours? Any favorite weekend activities when Spring arrives and the warm weather decides to stick around?
Apr 3, 2009 | General, Life, Oddities |
1. Is there a rule that says once you hit a certain age, you must cut your hair short? Because I attended a function the other day where every single woman there, with the exception of me and one other lady, was upwards of 50. And they ALL had short hair. Short. Gray, white, brown and blonde — didn't matter, every lady had short hair. Nearly gave me a panic, I tell you. I've already made the switch from long to layered, but I'm holding the line on that above-the-shoulder stuff. If it looked good on me, I wouldn't be so worried. But it doesn't. Trust me.
2. I am a horrible, horrible gadget-loving person! It's all my hubby's fault! I want a new MacBook Pro. I love my 13.3″ white MacBook, but I want a bigger screen. I've fallen in love with the sleek look of the new Macs.
3. By the same token, I want a new iPod shuffle. Why? Heck if I know! I already have an iPhone and a 32 GB Touch. I also have a first generation 4 GB Nano that I never use anymore. So why would I need a shuffle? Don't know, but it's so cool and little! And it talks!
4. I have already mentioned the Kindle. Still want.
5. Hubby is a shoe ho. He rivals me, though he swears he does not. The man made an *impulse* shoe buy the other day that rather surprised me. I am still recovering from the sticker shock. I could have bought a Kindle! (Well, I'd have needed to add some money, but still!) The man is insane.
6. We're having bad weather. Tornadoes possible. I really hate this time of year. 🙁
7. I *love* the person who copy-edited my last book. My voice is intact, and she barely touched my words. Love that!!
8. Love the ideas I brainstormed with my editor for book 3. Need to get busy rewriting and moving forward.
9. Taxes. Holy cow, it's time!
10. Dinner out with parents tonight! Dinner with friends tomorrow! Diet on Sunday!
What's up with you?
Mar 27, 2009 | Celebrations, Contests, General |
Not in my book! Or at least I don't think so, which is why I'm carefully reading my proofs that came on Wednesday for CAVELLI'S LOST HEIR and making sure everything still says what I want it to say. Which is also why I failed to write a blog post for Thursday, and why this one is so short. 🙂
The best news that happened around here in the last two days was finding out about all my friends who finaled in the Golden Heart and RITA contests! Thirteen of my 2008 Pixie sisters went on to the class of 2009 in the GH, and my dear friend and chapter mate from Heart of Dixie, Danniele Worsham, also finaled in the Short Contemporary category. Yay!!!!
You can read about Danniele's call at the Writing Playground. The party was yesterday, but I'm sure she won't get tired of reading all the congratulatory notes flowing in. 🙂
Hope you have a great weekend! Any big plans? Mine involve the wine bar tonight, something to do with yachts tomorrow (not on a Presents scale, alas), and maybe a movie at the fancy theater where they serve alcohol and food during the flick. 🙂
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