Taking a Break

I'm totally fried.  With everything going on in my life and in my head, I need to take a little break from everything.  I'll probably still be reading blogs and visiting Facebook, but I probably won't be posting anything - at least for a few days.  (And hopefully no longer than a week or two.)  Maybe by then, I'll have my head out of my...  dark place.

Something to Talk About

Anyone?  Seriously.  I mean, I could rant about the debt ceiling.  I mean, I'm sick to death of hearing about another round of 'eek, eek, whatever shall we do?' that I could scream, but I'd rather not add to the mess.

I could talk about my day - which consisted of taking the cats to the vet (one at a time, because Kira hates Max) and doing a never-ending pile of laundry.  But really... bleh.

We could talk about Alex Trebeck and his amazing attempt to chase down a thief.  He snapped his achilles tendon, but security caught the bitch, so it's not all horrible.  Way to go, Alex.  Full of trivia and courageous!  Too bad the body betrayed you or I'm sure you would've kicked her ass.

I got the first bill for Daughter's college...  I definitely don't want to talk about that.  CSU raised their rates (they should hire me to cut their expenses so they wouldn't have to raise rates, but they wouldn't like my suggestions... they never do) and I about barfed when I saw how much the first semester is going to cost.  At least we saved enough to not have to go into debt about it (okay, maybe her senior year, if costs keep rising), but still... :urp:

I finally vacuumed.  And now it needs to be vacuumed again.  Kira seems to think a clean carpet is a sign that she needs to clean her fur by picking out tufts and spitting them in the middle of the living room.  Where she finds tufts to spit is beyond me.  She's a shorthair and I brush her every night.  I swear she's got magical powers.  (Like rapid shedding on vet day.  I was covered in cat fur.)

Mosquitoes should be outlawed. 

And there's the dryer telling me switch loads and fold clothes.  Talk amongst yourselves.  What kind of random things do you have to talk about today?

Don't It Just Figger

I'm up to my ass right now.  In the next month, I have a vacation planned - an actual one where we leave the house and junk, I cart my kid off to school... Okay, those are the only big things, but there's so much prep work beforehand, I'm feeling a little like I'm drowning in a sea of lime jello (and I hate lime jello).  I've got to clean the house, sort through boxes of stuff, help the kid pack. Plus, I decided to reorganize and do an inventory on my store. 

Anyway, I'm up to my ass in alligators and the swamp is rising.  So what happens?  After months of totally not feeling creative at all, and not being able to write new words, I got a flash of inspiration last night.  The beginning of a new book sprang into my head like Athena rising out of Zeus's noggin.  I jumped out of bed to write it down, of course, and in the clear light of day, it's pretty damn good.

But I don't have time for this right now.  I want to sit down and writewritewrite, but I have to cleancleanclean ('cuz like who wants to come home to a messy house and I've left some of it too long anyway).  :headdesk: 

Don't it just figger.  I swear my muse has it in for me.  Silly trollop.  Where was this inspiration when I was sitting around watching my dust bunnies grow?  Absent, that's where.  But today, when I had promised myself I would tackle washing that big bag of old clothes so I can get them out of the basement, I get inspired.  Sunuva...

What do you do when inspiration strikes but you're already committed to other things?  You know, like rewriting this NaNo novel I've been typing away on for the past month... 

(Note:  I am not complaining.  Not really.  This post was meant to be funny griping.  I'm just happy to feel like writing again.)

Take All the Time You Need

You might not know this about me, but I lurk around query critique websites.  Sometimes I comment.  Sometimes I just read other people's queries, trying to learn from their mistakes, or I read the comments trying to learn better ways to do things.  One thing I've noticed - that I've been guilty of myself - is that the queriers don't seem to take enough time to absorb comments before they churn out another version of their query.  It's especially troubling when the query goes up one day and the revision goes up the next - and nothing has really changed. 

People, people, people.  Come on. 

I, of all people, know how hard it is to be patient.  I want it done and I want it done now.  If it has problems, I will fix them, turn it around and crank it out.  And more often than not, the newer version still sucks hard.  The main cause?  I didn't take enough time. 

Take the time you need to digest what people are telling you.  If what they're saying is that you need a major rewrite, take all the time you need - and recognize that 'all the time' is going to be a helluva lot longer than 24 hours.  Even if you work non-stop for 24 hours.  (Something you should never do, because if you're at that kind of frantic stage, you need to step away and gain perspective anyway.)

Anything good takes time.  Learning takes time.  Allow yourself time to learn and grow and get good.  It may be frustrating, but it's so worth it in the long run.

Ack, I Did It

I joined Google+ last night.  I still don't have it all figured out, but I can see this turning into a major timesuck. 

Anyway, if you're on Google+, let me know so we can like be friends or buddies or circlers - or whatever G+ calls us.  Find me under the same name as here - B.E. Sanderson.  Or if you're not on it yet, but might like to be, let me know.  I guess I can invite people there like I can with Gmail.  :shrug:

The world, it's a changin' place.  Roll with it.

Drawing a Blank

I lay in bed at night thinking up new and awesome posts.  In the morning, those wonderful ideas are gone like butterflies on a windy day.  This is one of those mornings.

So, I'll leave it up to you. Tell me something good.  Did you read an awesome book recently?  Get some incredible news?  Find the cutest little pair of shoes?  See a little falcon bathing in the neighbor's sprinkler*?

*That last one happened to me Tuesday on my morning walk.  We have a pair of Merlins living nearby and one of them was enjoying a bath on the sidewalk.  =o)

(Picture borrowed from a shot someone took at the Colorado Raptor Center in Pueblo, CO.  This Merlin is a little darker than the one I saw, but you get the idea.)  *Image Deleted.  If you want to see a merlin, go there and look.)

Review: Creep by Jennifer Hillier

Today I'm going to cheat and snag the review of Creep by Jennifer Hillier that I wrote yesterday for Amazon...

I sat down this morning with Jennifer Hillier's debut novel, Creep. Twelve hours later, I felt a shiver go down my spine as I read the last few words. From start to finish, Ms. Hillier nailed this story. True, I don't think it's a typical 'edge of your seat' kind of action, but the mind-blow from scene to scene definitely makes this a page-turner. The main characters are sympathetic without being wimpy. The villain is unabashedly bad, but with enough charm to not make him flat. And the twists this author throws at you will keep you reading - to the exception of things like lunch, housework and those re-runs I'm glued to every afternoon. Definitely worth the money and the time. Just make sure you don't have anything pressing to do - like sleep or eat. 

It's a psychological thriller.  I'll admit that I haven't read one of those in a while, back I really like Jennifer as a person, so I thought I'd take a chance.  It really was worth the money I spent and the day.  (Okay, sure, I didn't spent the entire twelve hours reading.  I had errands and junk, and yeah, I didn't miss lunch - I wish.  But it did take up most of my afternoon reading, and even after the power* came back on, I left the TV off so I could finish the book.)

And if you can't take my word for it, here's Amazon's Product Description:

If he can’t have her . . .
Dr. Sheila Tao is a professor of psychology. An expert in human behavior. And when she began an affair with sexy, charming graduate student Ethan Wolfe, she knew she was playing with fire. Consumed by lust when they were together, riddled with guilt when they weren’t, she knows the three-month fling with her teaching assistant has to end. After all, she’s finally engaged to a kind and loving investment banker who adores her, and she’s taking control of her life. But when she attempts to end the affair, Ethan Wolfe won’t let her walk away.
. . . no one else can.
Ethan has plans for Sheila, plans that involve posting a sex video that would surely get her fired and destroy her prestigious career. Plans to make her pay for rejecting him. And as she attempts to counter his every threatening move without her colleagues or her fiancé discovering her most intimate secrets, a shattering crime rocks Puget Sound State University: a female student, a star athlete, is found stabbed to death. Someone is raising the stakes of violence, sex, and blackmail . . . and before she knows it, Sheila is caught in a terrifying cat-and-mouse game with the lover she couldn’t resist—who is now the monster who won’t let her go.

Anyway, get over to your favorite bookseller and get yourself a copy (unless your favorite is Walmart, because last I checked, they didn't have a copy on the shelves - I had to order mine and wait a week :pout:).

* Oh yeah.  I lost power for 3 hours yesterday, so that helped me finish sooner, but I would've still finished last night.  Probably after reading while I ate dinner.