Torture. Whose Turn is it Tonight?

Eh, I got some words out and I threw another blow at Rue's midsection.  We're both still reeling from it.  Today wasn't for torturing Rue, though.  It was for torturing myself.  I reworked the query for the umpteenth time and ended up with a version I kinda like.  At this point, even those versions I liked now suck, so I'm happy with 'kinda like'.  Needless to say, I sent one out tonight.  We'll see if it garners a happy response or a big Bronx cheer.

How're things in your little part of the world tonight?  Anything torturing you?

ETA:  How stupid is it for a writer to use who's instead of whose in the title for a friggin' blog post that will be on the internet for like ever.  D'oh.  (BTW, I fixed it, but it will live forever in the URL.)

At the Crossroads

Okay.  I admit it.  I'm standing at a crossroads and don't know which way is the right path to take.  That's why I haven't written anything in days.  Hell, it's probably why I haven't blogged either.  Or maybe I'm just dragging my feet and using that as an excuse.  I dunno.

You see, I just finished a scene ending with a fairly explosive and pivotal event.  I didn't know this was going to happen until I wrote it, but it's perfect for what has come before and what has to happen in the end.  It's just deciding which road to take that has me all screwed up.  Several will get me where I need to go.  Several more will most likely just get me lost.  But only one is the right one.

I guess the only thing to do is to pick a road and take it.  I'll try that tomorrow.  If My choice leads into a cul-de-sac, well, then I guess I'll just have to backtrack to this turning point and try again.  Here's crossing my fingers that I don't get hopelessly lost and wind up at the end realizing it wasn't the end I was wanting.  Been there, done that.  I don't want this to wind up as a rewrite.  Those take too long and I'm an impatient gal.

So, tell me... What do you do when you're stuck at a crossroads with your story?  Forge ahead?  Or do you have everything planned out in advance so you don't get tangled up?

*If the voice of this post seems a little off, I just finished watching The Big Sleep** with Bogart and Bacall.  Consider this Bogie's temporary possession of one screwy writer.  ;o)

**  If you haven't seen The Big Sleep, it is perhaps one of the best movies ever - in my opinion, of course.  I bought it for myself for Christmas.  A little early hohoho for me.  =oD

Observations on a Winter's Evening

Outside in the dark, it's very hard to tell the difference between a crazy person walking down the sidewalk talking to themselves and a normal person walking down the same sidewalk talking on a cell phone.


;o)

You Might Be a Crazy Cat Lady

* If you carry a can of cat food in your pocket, you might be a crazy cat lady.

* If there's a cat brush sitting just outside your door, you might be a crazy cat lady.

* If you've created a cat housing complex either in your house or in your yard, you might be a crazy cat lady.

* If you name every cat you see, whether it's yours or not, you might be a crazy cat lady.

* If you keep various bowls of cat food around the house - inside and out - in case someone gets hungry, you might be a crazy cat lady.

* If the first person you want to see when entering your neighbor's house is the orange tabby, you might be a crazy cat lady.

* If you spend more than ten minutes a week talking about your cats with strangers, you might be a crazy cat lady.

* If you spend more than an hour a week talking about your cats with friends and family, you might be a crazy cat lady.

* If you talk TO your cats more than to other humans, you might be a crazy cat lady.  

* If you spend more money on your cat food than your kid's food, you might be a crazy cat lady.

* If the cat has more seats and beds in the house than the people, you might be a crazy cat lady.

* If you've posted more pictures to your blog of your cats than your kid, you might be a crazy cat lady.

* If you worry more about where your cats are at than where your kid is at, you might be a crazy cat lady.

* If you babytalk to a cat that's older than you are in cat years, you might be a crazy cat lady.

* If you think of things in terms of 'cat years', you might be a crazy cat lady.

* If you see your vet in the supermarket and the first words out of your mouth aren't 'Hi, how are you' but 'The cats are doing fine', you might be a crazy cat lady.

And finally...

If your husband starts this list as a joke first thing in the morning and you spend time adding to it for your blog, he may be right...  

You might be a crazy cat lady.



(Pics: Kira, Simon, BB Kitty, Old Tom, Jay, Mama Kitty and Max.  Only Kira and Max are actually mine.)

Time to Get Back on Track

November is over.  Thanksgiving, including the leftovers, is finished.  NaNoWriMo has come to a close.  Even the roofers packed (almost) everything up and split last night - which was good because it snowed overnight.  Now it's time to get back on track.

Because, you see, I got off track during November with certain aspects of my life and since November, I've gotten off track in others.

During November, I fell off my diet.  I also fell off any kind of cleaning schedule.  With only one book finished during the month, my reading was way off.  I haven't taken Daughter out for a drive since October (bad mom) and I can't remember the last time I did anything nice for my husband.  Additionally, I stopped querying.  All of that needs to resume.

Since 11/28, I haven't written a damn thing.  Writing needs to resume, too.

So, I'm making a pact with myself.  As of this morning, I am going to get back on track.  No more cake - which will be hard since I have two half cakes left from Friday.  No more laying around watching reruns of the same old shows for the dozenth time.  No more walking past the dust bunnies on the way into the kitchen for more snacks.  And no more putting off the work that my writing career requires*.

I guess you could call all of the above my pre-New Year's resolution package.

What are you doing to get back on track?  If you've stayed on track, how did you manage it?

*Yes, I know querying right now is problematic because of the approaching holidays, but if I allow myself that excuse, it'll be next year before I get anything done and who knows, by then I may get distracted by my NaNo novel and never get back to querying for Djinnocide.  (It's happened before.)

Quickie Post

I thought I'd have more time this morning, but they're here and I have to shut the computer off. 

Oh yeah.  Who are they?  They're the roofers.  For the past couple days, they've been re-roofing this pseudo-duplex thingie I live in.  I can't think amidst noise, so I've been sitting on the couch, vegging out with the TV.  Beyond that, every time they fire up their compressor, we get a brown-out in the house - which is why I shut off the computer.  No way am I risking the inner workings of this computer.

That's part of the reason I was so quiet yesterday.  And why I'll be quiet today.  Thank goodness they didn't start this project before I finished my NaNo words.

Have a great weekend, folks.  What are you up to this weekend?  How do you handle distractions while you're working?  

I'll stop by later to approve comments (when the guys take lunch), so comment away.

Day Off?

Yesterday was my pre-scheduled, post-NaNo day off.  I didn't write a thing.  And you know what?  It felt really weird.  Like when the neighbor's dog has barked every night for a month and when you finally get used to the constant woof woof woof enough to fall asleep, it stops.  And you wake up wondering what the hell that noise was to find you were awakened by the absence of noise. 

I didn't write Tuesday either, but it didn't feel as weird.  Maybe because I spent the evening inside my head editing a totally different book. 

Anyway, yesterday was my day off.  Know what I did?  I cleaned the house.  While I was cleaning, I realized the couch would look better over there, but in order to move it, I needed to move the bookcase - you know the one with all the textbooks on it.  Oh, and once I moved the couch, the TV cabinet would be easier to see if I moved it a foot to the right.  And that end table I moved into the bedroom last month?  Well, it would fit in the living room again.  Also, I could move the torch lamp to give me better reading light on the couch. 

Umm, day off anyone?

Needless to say, Daughter and I cleaned, moved furniture and then decorated the house on my 'day off'.  It looks lovely and the TV will be much easier to see - after Christmas when I take the tree down (because right now the left side of the screen is obscured by branches, so I have to lean right to see left). 

I did all that and completely forgot to call Nikon to scream about my camera being three weeks past their estimated fix date.  On the upside, though, I checked online this morning and the 'Parts Hold' status miraculously changed to 'Shipped'.  Yay. 

All I can say is about yesterday is: Thank goodness for Thanksgiving leftovers because there was no way I was cooking anything major last night. 

I'm taking today off writing.  I'm taking today off heavy lifting, cleaning and decorating.  I'm going to sit on the couch and read.  Damn it. 

Unless I get a wild hair to shoot off a couple query letters.  ;o)

What does a day off look like to you?  Do you really take one, or do you use a day off to accomplish other work?