Friday, May 7, 2010

Weekly Update

Well, it's Friday again.  Time to look back at the past week and wonder what I did with my time.

Writing: I restarted DLN - which definitely won't be the name now because I changed the storyline such that the acronym is no longer valid.  After a false start, I found my stride and wrote some really good words.  Between those and melding a few scenes back into this book from the old one, I hit 13411 words this week.  I made the MC more sympathetic (I hope) and moved the location north out of an ambiguous suburb of Denver to the city of Estes Park.  I've also got plans to 'add more bodies' - per Daughter's beta notes - and tighten the book by snipping out backstory and secondary storylines.  Things I wrote before may end up in later books - if I ever get a contract and can continue with this series, that is.  Here's crossing my fingers that this new direction will work.  So far, I think it is.

Life:  I finally signed Daughter up for the June ACT and purchased the Prep program so she's ready when the date arrives.  Last year she took an online version of the prep test and scored a 32 overall, but since I wasn't sure of the validity of those results, I'm throwing it all at her again.  So far, she's taken two of the practice tests we purchased - English and Reading - and her scores were 30 and 34 respectively.  After a late night session researching colleges and business schools therein, we're still on the fence about where to send Daughter, though. I'm leaning toward Mizzou - because they have the best business school ranking in the tuition range we can afford.  Most likely she'll end up and CSU, though.  Their ranking isn't so bad and the tuition is cheap.  We'd love to send her to Michigan - but at $45K a year for out of state tuition, it's not looking good.

In other news, my 40th birthday is coming up as well as my 6th anniversary.  Husband wants me to buy myself a new computer and a digital camera.  I'm telling you, after looking at how much money we're going to have to spend on college, I'm not inclined to buy anything that costs more than $7.99.  My mom's backing Hubster on this one and she told me to tell him so.  I'm outnumbered, so you may see a post in the near future about me taking a break to set up my new system.  It's all a matter of who's more stubborn and whether my Scrooge-ness wins out over his generosity.

I mean, it's not like I never spend money on myself.  Just this week I placed a book order... Of course, half of the order was paid for with a gift certificate I won over at Murder She Writes, but that's not the point.  I spent money.  Honest I did.  Almost $15.

I'm such a skin-flint sometimes.

What's new in your world?  Am I being silly squirming over Hubby's gift?  Would you rather read a book set in a big city or a small one - or does the location even matter if the story's good enough?

Inquiring minds want to know.

5 comments:

  1. First, what does a 32 mean on an ACT? We dont have to take them so I'm sitting here blinking... Here, we have to take our grade 12 finals from the government worth 50% of our final grade *shrugs* We have province testing in grades 3,6,9, and 12.

    Second, BUY YOURSELF A NEW COMPUTER ALREADY! As well, if you go with something like a laptop, they arent as expensive and they're PORTABLE! LOL!

    Hm, I think setting does matter. If the book is in a small town vs. the city, it will change how your characters react to things and how your readers see the world you create

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  2. If you need the computer, get it. As for setting, I like both. Just depends on the book and the story.

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  3. Here's a third vote for a laptop. You neeeeeds it!

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  4. The ACT is weird. The high score is 36. After some research, we found out the average score for incoming freshmen for good schools is around 28. So 32 is pretty good.

    As of about an hour ago, I bought both the computer and the camera. Hubby insisted. I prefer the desktop models. This one is a tower, but it's so sweet. And the camera is cherry. I'll post pics tomorrow.

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  5. Well, I don't have to comment on the dilemma of computer and camera or not! Congrats on the new equipment - as a writer, new computer is always a good thing.

    Good luck with the Daughter and College. Boy, education is so expensive compared to when I went to school (not at Cave U, but back a ways). But the investment will pay off in the future.

    As to setting - depends on the story. But, big city or small town, if it's written in a believable way, I'll buy in - the change might alter your characters preconceived thoughts and the way they interact with others.

    Nice blog, B.E. I'll stop by often :)

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