Labels: life
Today's drive to work should be fun.
Note: I live on the unshoveled half of the townhouse. LOL!
I have a new writing desk! I've nearly got it assembled. It looks bigger than I expected it would, but it has bookshelves on the side, which is nice. I'll have all my books for writing and research in one place now, which will be nice. I'll post a picture when I'm all done. Labels: life
So, I've been caught up in the 70 Days of Sweat. Then on Wednesday, I was writing along and I hit save. I got a message saying something like, "Some characters will be lost if you continue." That was odd, since I'd saved this file before with no problem, so I tried to get out of it. Unfortunately, MS Word shut down completely and somehow deleted the file.
I was a bit heartbroken about it. I told myself to look at it as an opportunity to rewrite the story now that I know the characters and make it better, but it still killed me to think of losing 50 pages. So, I ended up jotting down notes for another story to keep my mind occupied.
In the meantime, I had a couple of friends take a look at my computer to try and find the file. On Sunday, I was able to recover most of the text. Talk about going from trick to treat! Yes, I could have rewritten it, but I'm so glad I don't have to.
Backups. Always a good thing. I knew that, but I guess I needed the reminder.
Not feeling so good today, though I feel marginally better after taking a long nap. Unfortunately, I missed out on a fun concert with six bands. I'm kind of vexed about that. Why can't we get sick at convenient times? (Is there ever a convenient time to be sick?) /End Whine.
I've been listening to more RWA conference classes this week. One was on finding your writing style, and I found it quite illuminating. The speaker talked about being a left-brained writer or a right-brained writer, and on the importance of reaching a kind of synergy.
For writers like me who start a lot of stories, finding that synergy means going back to a story and finishing it. Other writers may struggle with the internal editor who keeps them from moving forward in a story until the previous chapter is perfect. Those writers somehow need to tap into whatever will allow them to get the story out.
I'm oversimplifying, but I encourage writers to listen to this presentation if they have a chance: Figuring Out Your Creative Process by Carla Neggers. You might find it as illuminating as I did.
It's Labor Day weekend, and in addition to getting some much needed rest and relaxation, I'm determined to get a bunch of work done on my WIP. I'm posting it publicly, so now I need to live up to it. I do have some fun things planned for the weekend, including family time and some reading, so it won't be all work.
Yesterday I bought the Harry Potter 5 soundtrack. The music for that is great. Anyone else a fan of soundtracks?
I've been desperate to listen to MP3s of the 2007 RWA conference classes. However, they aren't available at the conference; they'll be shipped later. It suddenly occurred to me that I have dozens of classes from last year's conference on MP3 that I hadn't listened to. So now I'm making up for lost time. Labels: life, writing conferences
So far, I've listened to Writing Realistic Emotions and Screw the Muse, I'm on Deadline. Good stuff, and it makes the daily work commute more interesting. This week, I plan to listen to Write 50 Books in a Year and Plotting the Erotic Romance. And a few others that look interesting.
The RWA conference is just days away. I've cancelled my hotel reservations (don't need them now that I'm at the conference hotel), gotten my hair cut and colored, and started to pack. The trick is packing lightly so that there's plenty of room for books on the return trip. Labels: life, writing conferences
Trouble is I don't pack lightly. Ever. Even when I go to work, I carry a purse and a bag jammed with stuff: a book to read, game to play, notebook (you never know when a writing idea will strike), etc. Do I ever use any of these things? Well, not at work, but I take them anyway. What can I say? It's a quirk.
Knowing me, I'll be packing right to the day of the trip.
I'm also trying to get in touch with my inner extrovert. This is not an easy task, since I'm definitely an introvert. But I'm working on it.
The air conditioning is working now--I can't tell you how nice my house feels now. Labels: life
Bliss.
I'm having fun with a couple of writing projects. I'll share more when I get further along.
On a weird note, the plastic cover on my laptop keyboard for the letter "I" has fallen off. Anyone have any success putting the covers back on? I could use a tip. Right now, the key looks naked.
The RWA National Conference is a few weeks away . . . where does the time go? It amazes me that it's the last week of June already. I'm very excited--I'm ready for a break from work, and I'm looking forward to seeing friends I haven't seen since last year. I'm also beyond delighted to meet Kelley Armstrong and some of the other people I've "met" through her message board. Labels: life, writing conferences
I did manage to get reservations at the conference hotel. I called them directly, and apparently there had been a cancellation. I'll be paying more for the room than I would have at the other hotel, but it's worth it to be right there.
I've got a lot to do before leaving for Dallas. The first item is getting my air conditioning fixed. I'm sweltering in my house, which is just plain wrong since my furnace/air conditioning unit is all of two years old. That should be fixed on Thursday.
Next week, it's time to get my hair colored. It amazes me how quickly the gray takes over.
I'm sure I'll post before I go, but I will have lots of photos and fun stuff to post when I get back!
Let me start with a little background. I loved the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. It was vibrant and original. The fact that I love Orlando Bloom didn't hurt.
I saw the second movie once. I had problems with it for a couple of reasons: first, I didn't love the direction they took with Elizabeth. Second, I thought it tried to do too much. It was packed with plot lines. Don't get me wrong--I enjoyed the movie and found it entertaining. But it lost some of the wonder I'd had in the first movie.
I went to the third movie last weekend. I liked it, thought it was much better than the second movie. It was entertaining, I liked Elizabeth's journey, and Orlando was great. But I don't know if I'll see it again.
Why?
Spoilers ahead . . .
. . . so be prepared . . .
Two words: the ending.
For me, part of the pleasure of the first movie was its feel-good ending. That's not evident in the second or third movies. With At World's End, I found myself thinking about the ending for days afterward. On one level, that makes it a success. But it disturbed me.
Not every movie or book has a happy ending, and that's fine with me. But I'd hoped Pirates 3 would provide a feel-good ending just like Pirates 1.
I write romance for many reasons. One of them is because I love feel-good endings. Life is a cycle, full of ups and downs. Writing romance helps me remember those good times, even when work is hard, health issues are pressing, gas prices are going up, etc.
I won't argue that the ending isn't original. It is. I can't help but admire it on that level. But on a gut level, the movie let me down. It didn't live up to the promise it made--albeit implicitly--in the first movie.
You may disagree, and that's fine. For me, I needed that movie to have a happy ending, and I got bittersweet instead.
It reminded me why I write romance--I love happy endings.
Scrapbooking is something I really enjoy, and I've been doing some pages lately. Here's one about last year's RWA book signing. Labels: life
Long time no write. It's funny how life knocks you for a loop sometimes. A few weeks ago, my dad had a very mild stroke. He's doing a lot better now, but it really shook me. I'm spending more time with my family these days, and I'm finding a lot of comfort in reading and scrapbooking.
The day job is squeezing me a bit right now. Alison Kent wrote a blog entry about being able to write at her job. She links to another writer's blog entry (excerpt below):If you keep using the same creative muscle over and over and over at your job, my personal experience indicates that doing the same type of activity is probably not gonna happen in your spare time.
As someone who is a full-time writer and editor at my day job, I can say that some days it is hard to come home and write. Right now it's not happening at all, because it is a very busy time at work.
The good news is I have several stories in various states of completion--I just have to pick the one I want to go with. Once work eases up a bit, I'll get back to it.
In writing news, I've finished the third round of edits to The Seventh Sense. I'll post the official release date soon.
I found my jump drive! It was in a compartment of my purse that I never check. Isn't that typical? Labels: life
It's been a few days and I'm trying not to panic, but I can't find my jump drive. I had it on Friday--I remember grabbing it and leaving the house. I don't know where it went after that, but when I went to pull it out at work, I couldn't find it. Labels: life
Why am I almost panicking? Well, it's got a bunch of photos on it. Those I can replace; they're on my hard drive and I can get others from friends. The big problem, of course, is the writing. I've got a lot of writing on it that I don't have anywhere else. Story ideas, partially written manuscripts, and more.
Guess I need to be more vigilant about having backup. In the meantime, send some good thoughts my way so I can find it. I need all the help I can get.
My latest Avon Fan Lit entry didn't make the top 10. I was pretty disappointed, but I rebounded quickly. I'll wait until seeing the requirements for the next chapter before I decide whether to try again. Labels: FanLit, life, The Seventh Sense
In the meantime, I'm focusing my energy on revising The Seventh Sense and on plotting my NaNoWriMo story. The Seventh Sense is with two test readers, and I'm planning to submit it to Cobblestone Press by the end of the month. It will be my first paranormal, although the paranormal aspect is a bit unusual. If CP accepts the story, I'll post a blurb so you can see what it's about.
I've been listening to the latest Evanescence CD. I love that group--their music is amazing.
After a lot of internal debate, I decided to enter the Avon Fan Lit contest. I just uploaded my chapter and it's ready for rating. Putting your work out there is always a bit anxiety-inducing. In this case, it's more so because of the sheer number of people who can read and rate it. It's gotten a couple of comments so far, both more positive than negative. We'll see how this goes.
I was feeling a bit awkward about whether to let people know about it. I've never been fond of the "click here and vote for me" approach to things because it feels too much like a popularity contest. But once I finalized my entry, I ended up at a page allowing me to invite 25 friends to read and rate it. This levels the playing field somewhat, so I decided to announce it. I've invited about 10 people so far, so if you're interested in taking a look, send me a message with your e-mail address and I'll send one of the remaining invitations to you.
The subject line of this blog comes from my niece, who more than once has said, "Be brave." I think she got it from Scooby-Doo. It was pretty cute when she said it, and it's good advice too.
It's been nearly two weeks since my doctor visit and a little more than two weeks since I started exercising again. I started out by walking, but now that it's getting dark earlier, I've been doing exercise videos. So far, I'm enjoying the cardio dance ones. From past experience, I know that kick boxing ones get my heart rate a bit too high. (And that's a serious understatement.) If you know of any good dance cardio videos, feel free to suggest them. Labels: life, NaNoWriMo, Otherworld Writing Group
I haven't weighed myself and don't plan to. First of all, I don't have a scale. Second, my doctor asked me to avoid the self-weighing thing. We'll see how it's going at my next appointment at the end of October.
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is coming up in November. The goal is to write 50,000 words that month. I'm planning to do it again this year. I've joined Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld Writing Group (OWG), and she's got several helpful outlining exercises I want to do. My outline saved me last year, so I've got to get going on one for this year's story. Several people at the OWG are participating in NaNoWriMo, so that will help with the motivation. We'll be the NaNoWriMo Pack. :)
Yes, it's Labor Day, and I'm laboring away! It's been almost a week since my doctor appointment, and I'm more than a week into my exercise routine. I'm starting small, with 15-20 minutes a day, which is basically what the doctor recommended. Oh, he did say not to drink alcohol, but that's not a problem, since I don't anyway. One less thing to worry about quitting. Labels: life, MySpace, The Seventh Sense
I'm making small progress on the writing front. I've finally sent The Seventh Sense off to my critiquer. I was hoping to revise it a little first, but I've passed the point of objectivity, and I can trust Jana to tell me what more the story needs.
I'm now working on Tony's story, and have set a personal goal to finish it by September 15.
Also, after a great deal of resistance, I decided to join MySpace! Visit my page at http://www.myspace.com/liasebastian. And feel free to add me as a friend.
Just wanted to give a quick update. This has been a tough month. First, there have been some shake-ups at work. No layoffs, but some restructuring. I have to make some decisions about what I want to do. I also have to hang in there for the next few months while everything is sorted out.
And if that weren't enough, I received the results from a medical test last week. I've been feeling very tired lately, something I've noticed for a while, but had reinforced when I was writing my RWA conference report (I'll still write about Saturday, I promise) and realized that a nice, long nap was a big part of every day. I'm going to talk to the doctor on Tuesday, and that's when I'll get the complete details, but my internet research has turned up some information. More changes there, starting with exercise and a better diet. I've already started on both, but feel free to send good thoughts my way for Tuesday's doctor visit.
These days I'm trying to take things easy. I'm still writing, but nothing new is contracted as yet. In the meantime, Office Relations and Between Floors has been getting some terrific reviews. You can see some review excerpts here.
Thanks for visiting. Hope you have a great week!
This week I am confronting one of the biggest challenges I've had in months. I'm trying to find a dress. Labels: life, writing conferences
I'm going to the Romance Writers of America conference later this month, and I want a nice dress for the award ceremony. Doesn't sound too difficult, right? But I spent several hours shopping without success. Why do so many dresses have an empire waist (or something similar)? Looks great on some women. On me, it just looks like I have miles of legs and nothing on top. Not an attractive look.
And here's another thing. I'm overweight, not inches away from the grave. Surely there are dresses out there that are somewhere between teeny-bopper and matronly dignified.
I found a couple on the internet (via a catalog that arrived in today's mail, yay!), and I'm now debating whether I should give one of them a try. You never can tell how it will look until you have it on, though, so I'm a tiny bit reluctant. Ah, well. I can always send it back if it doesn't work.
I'm not even up for any awards. I don't know why I'm so concerned about my outfit. Sigh.
