Happy Tuesday all!
If you haven't read this, do. It will make you laugh. This too.
Both are my current fave truthy-type posts by some super talented writers.
As far as I go, I have a rogue credit card and am in need of some cash. Being the industrious gal that I am, I accepted a couple weeks of temp jobs and Holy...Mackeral... I have a newfound appreciation for writers who also work.
For two weeks I haven't had time to return any emails or calls, much less do laundry and take showers. I basically work all day, then come home and nap for 20 minutes while my kids hover around my bed and ask me stuff. Then, I drag myself up, crack a diet Coke and make dinner.
(allow me to stop and say that I like to cook. I am, in fact, a great cook. But, working has sadly taken away any desire to cook anything other than microwaved take-out.)
So, we eat take-out. Then I clean up, sign papers or whatever, get the kids to bed, and then up to my office to re-plot my masterpiece which is wonderful and exciting, but also very hard, and requires intense concentration.
Did I mention my poor hubby who likes for me to watch TV with him for a little while every night? Not to mention his other favorite pastime? Yeah, well I do that too.
But guess what that leaves last on the list?
Blogging...
Yes, blogging has sadly fallen to last on the list. Thank goodness the rest of you are doing such a great job! Won't it be a great day when all of this work actually pays off and I have a real book on the shelves. 'Til then, I guess it's take-out and lots of caffeine.
Hello Dear Readers :)
Welcome to TTTT (Tell the Truth Tuesday). Today I want to start by telling you that I was a mediocre high school student. That means I didn't have the grades to go to Harvard or Princeton. Which meant that I had to go to a mediocre college, where once again, I got mediocre grades. This tragedy occured due to my obsession with one thing...
boys.
Sure, blame it on the boys. I know. I know. No, the truth is that I skipped intensive book studying in favor of studying them. That being said, I now tell my girls (and any college friends I know) to "finish strong!" Now that I've experienced the results of screwing around when it counted, I firmly believe in a strong work ethic. So, whether or not you get good grades isn't the issue with me, it's the working hard part. I want my girls to do their best right up to the wire. And as far as the boys go... They'll always be around. I promise.
This week I had to swallow my own pill. You see, I have this little novel you may have heard me talk about it. It's the one I say is wicked cool (which it is). Well, WC novel has an issue that needs fixin' and I haven't really wanted to think about it.
But last week, while whippin' up some grits, I was struck by the mother of all ideas. An idea so friggin' cool that it will make the wicked cool novel, epic. But an idea that means that I will have to get inside the book and work like a dog for weeks on end - something I don't really wanna do. I want to work on the glossy, new, second novel that makes me feel like racing Ferrari's. But then I remembered that I need to Finish Strong, even if it breaks my back and hurts my head. So, unlike Little Katie from the 80's, I decided to take Wise Katie from 2000's advice and finish strong.
I have decided that whether or not my novel ends up in a drawer or on the bestseller list, it's going to be the best friggin' novel I can write. And if I don't sell the sucker before I die, surely my children will find a way to, and retire millionaires. That's how good I'm gonna make this damn thing before I allow myself to move on to the next one. I'm scared of the mountain I'm about to climb, but I'm lacing up my boots. If you wanna climb with me, feel free to copy the FS logo that I stole online and post it on the side of your blog too. We can do it together.
Okay, enough of that. Now, for our new Plot This Food Feature (which will end all of our posts, much like the typical inspirational quote) SF and I will share with you our current favorite craving. A craving du jour, if you will. The only requirement is that the item must be available for purchase within the Oxford city limits.
Drum roll please.... My craving of the day is from Leonore's. Artichoke bottoms sauteed in garlic butter, topped with jumbo lump crabmeat and sauce bearnaise.
Ahhhh I love the south.
Work is hard! But, y' know, it pays off, sort of...
Good luck with all the plotting/writing/cooking, and keeping hubby happy =) Believe me, I can sympathize!
Oh, the poor husbands! They really do suffer, don't they? Tell The Truth Tuesdays are awesome!
Good luck workin' 9-5, baby. And keep rocking those revisions. I love that you guys have little progress bars on the side of your screen. I need to add one so Laura hurries up and sends Unclaimed Baggage back to me. I think her full hope tank is distracting her from her job.
I'm living it right now, too! Just remember that every little bit of writing helps. (My humble goal is a page a day.)
Good Luck!
Shelley
Thanks Sherrie! It does pay off. My revision is getting better by the day!
Lila, my WIP bar will be stagnant for a while during the Mighty KISS revision... but SF is hoppin'! Just click on it and it will take you to the place where you can make your own :)
Storyqueen, good luck with your page today! And thanks for the encouragement.
Even without a day job and a book on its way to the shelves, I *still* live like that (and feel guilty about it). I played hooky from revising yesterday because my kids start school next week and all they've heard from me for the past two weeks is "not now, mommy's busy." I felt like I needed to cram in some quality time...pronto!
Hey Kim, did you see that I linked to your "six stages of revision hell"??
LOVE that!
I'm doing some free lance graphic design work this week (which is a little frustrating because I'm dealing with some new technology . . . okay, it's real frustrating)--definitely cuts into the day, but at least I am building my portfolio.
Hats off to you working moms. I don't know how you pull it all together.
Plus, I'm getting to the point in my WIP where I need to quit free-writing and figure out what's going to happen. You know--plot. Ugh.
sf
I saw...thank you!!! :)
I hear ya on this one. Getting back into the schedule of working is terrible. Good luck!
Preach, sister. I don't know how I'm going to be famous with this durn job.
Hang in there!!!
Working and writing are not the best combination in the world, and your writing about them is very funny (think of it as material!), but I have found that a job creates a very healthy kind of jealousy for writing. It's fuel.