A Pile of Puppies

I don't remember why, but I was thinking the other day that nothing would be better than being covered in a pile of puppies.  It's been years since I was anywhere near a litter of 6wk old bundles of doggie-love.  All at once, though, I really missed the sensation.

I need to find a pile of puppies.  If I remember right, nothing else matters when you're covered in puppy kisses and wriggling bodies and tiny nose-nips.  Someone in town here has a litter of mongrels to give away.  I can't take one home, but I wonder if they'll let me snuggle the bunch for an hour or so.

Consider it Puptail Therapy.  (Tuesday's retail therapy wasn't nearly as therapeutic as I'd hoped.)

What's one thing you can think of that just brings you joy like that?

*Original post was filled with pics of puppies.  All images deleted due to possible copyright infringement*

Picture Pause

Back from another day trip to Fort Collins - 7am to 4 pm.  It wouldn't be so bad if 6 hrs of that wasn't driving both ways.  Some one tell me how sitting in a car can make anyone so damn tired.  Bleh.

Anyway, here's a picture to keep y'all amused until I recuperate.

Talk about bed-head.  Maybe Max needs a day to rest up, too.  What d'ya think?

Why I Don't Read Snippets, Teasers, Etc.

Okay, by now we should all be perfectly aware that I'm weird.  Today I'd like to talk about my weird thing about not reading posted snippets and teasers.  I mean, if you've posted some advanced chapters on your blog, I'll scroll right past them.  (Unless you're asking for crit help, then I'll help if I can, but that's another post.)  I don't want to know.  Seriously.

You see, chances are if I'm already reading your blog or visiting your website, I plan on buying your book.  And I hate...  HATE... hate finding out anything about your story before I have your book in my hot little hands and can read the whole damn thing.  I want the mystery of discovering your book page by page.

Of course, I realize I'm strange.  Most people don't want to read books that way, and that's fine.  Hell, when I get published (someday, maybe) I'll post teasers and snippets just like everyone else.  Read away.  Just don't feel bad if I don't comment on snippets you post.  It doesn't mean I don't like your work.  It means I like it so much I want to savor the experience.

How do you feel about snippets and teasers? 

Red Ink Edits

I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but sometimes I can't spend another day looking at my manuscript on a monitor.  No matter what I do, one of two things happens - I can't find any errors OR the whole thing is an error and I want desperately to wipe it from the face of the earth.  So, to avoid the unpleasant consequences of either happenstance, I print the damn thing out - chapter by chapter - and attack it with a red pen.

I step away from my desk.  I sit on the couch with my stack of paperclipped chapters, a 5-subject notebook, and a red pen.  And I read it like I'm critting for someone else.  (And, judging from the notes I leave, someone else I really don't care about pissing off.)  I make it bleed.  Slash, scribble, astute observation (aka nasty remark), underline, question mark...  you get the gist.

Right now, I'm attacking my 2010 NaNo novel.  I tried to get back to it in February, but happenstance #2 occurred.  Rather than delete the damn thing from my harddrive and every backup source, I put it away until I could be more objective.  Fast forward to June.  After we got back from Fort Collins, I sat down and started printing.  And you know what?

Once I fixed the beginning - which well and truly sucked - I really like this book.  Sure, it's got a few problems - it is a first draft, after all - but it's not nearly as crappy as I thought back in February.  The flow is good.  I'm feeling myself caring about the characters again.  The plot twists I put in are surprising even me.  Yep.  This one is a winner.*

How are things going in your writing?  Ever pick up a manuscript to edit it and feel like it's #2?  How do you get past the #2 feeling?

*Yeah, I think they're all winners until the rejections start pouring in and then I feel like a loser.  It's a vicious cycle, but it's my chosen endeavor, so I'm going with it.

What Makes You Follow

I was thinking this morning and I wanted to ask you all a question.

What makes you follow a blog? And where do you find new blogs to follow in the first place?

Personally, if one of the blogs I already follow posts a link to a different blog, and it sounds interesting, I click through.  If when I get there, the blog really is fun or interesting - or sometimes if the person just seems nice - I follow the blog.  Every rare once in a while, I find a new blog to follow from the sidebar of another blog.  And when I'm feeling really bored, I surf for new blogs.  (That last one hasn't happened in a long time because I'm following tons of blogs already.)

And finally, are there any really great blogs I should be following that I somehow might've missed?  Feel free to leave a link or something in the comments.

*Pay no attention to the woodchuck.  He really has nothing at all to do with this post.  I just thought he was cute.

** All images deleted due to possible copyright infringement**

Getting in the Groove

With Daughter's college thing approaching, I've been out of any kind of normal groove for months now.  My writing has fallen by the wayside, as has my querying.  Any shallow attempt at dieting has failed.  Exercise?  Puleeze.  The blanket I was crocheting for my other sister sits in a bag, a quarter done. 

Are you seeing a pattern here? 

Now that orientation is over, I'm trying to get back in the groove.  The kid and I have exercised two days in a row.  I haven't done too too bad at watching what I eat.  (Stupid blueberry muffin attack.)  The writing and the querying are still shelved, but I did pull out my 2010 NaNo novel and start editing it.  And that blanket is getting done - slowly but surely. 

Two days of healthy living doesn't seem like a whole lot, but I'm calling it a win.  Being five chapters into a 35 chapter edit might not seem like much, but when you're red-inking up printed chapters and rewriting as you go, it's a good start.  And even if I'm only getting a strip of crochet done a day, it's more than I was producing before.

For me, it's just a matter of making these things a priority and stop using excuses to get away with being lazy.  (Yes, the college thing - while very important and gray-matter consuming - was an excuse.)  It's all part of getting in the groove.  Toss the excuses and focus on accomplishing something. 

Rah rah rah and all that jazz.

I'm not sure how long this will last.  I've had the best of intentions before and they never lasted more than a few months.  (Usually a few days, but hey, the longest was a few months.)  Cross a few fingers for me.

How are you at getting back in the groove after you slipped out?  Or are you one of those people who never seems to lose their groove?  How do you do that?

Picture Pause - Max

Don't we all feel like that some days?

What can I say? Max's favorite place to sleep is on top of the trashcan.

For those of you who remember what Max looked like when we rescued him last year, doesn't he look amazing?

And for those who weren't here or don't remember...

Yep, thin and sickly then, fat and sassy now.