Category: Uncategorized

What does it say when I’m exhausted by 10 am?  Now granted I’ve been pretty busy this morning.  My daughter and I went to the gas station, Sorgs (butcher shop), two libraries, met with a friend to drop off something, and came home.  I’ve been on the phone to talk about the new phones for Stephanie and I – have I mentioned I hate phone shopping?

Now I’m home and planning to go sit by the fireplace until TJ shows up for lunch and work on the book.  I’m hoping for a bit of quiet before more chaos.  This afternoon will hopefully be creative and fun in going over all the amazing pictures TJ has created – I can’t wait to see them.  She is an amazing artist and I love her work. 

We also click when it comes to our vision for our work.  My words inspire her in a way that inspires me.  If that makes any sense at all…

So a little down time before a productive and creative afternoon… care to join me?  The fireplace awaits…

I must be crazy.  I worked on 50 pages last night, reading and editing.  I got through it all and went to bed at a reasonable hour (for me anyways).  I lay in bed and thought – that whole scene needs reworking.  Over and over in my mind it rumbled and  I knew it had to be redone.  For 15 minutes I lay there thinking about how it should be rearranged – the pieces were mostly good but they were in the wrong order. 

After a weekend of editing, rewriting, and reviewing, I’ve managed to get about 100 pages edited.  I’m not surprised because I made some pretty big changes to the beginning of the novel.  Now it’s going quicker but I know there are several sections coming up that I’ll be making more big changes to.  Hopefully one more weekend of editing (or maybe several long nights) and I’ll have it done.  Then I have to get the edits into the computer and investigate more on publishing it on Kindle. 

I’ve not read this novel in over five or six years.  I’ve tried to market and sell it but it has been no go.  In re-reading it, I think it is a good story.  It moves along at a good pace.  It keeps the reader involved – at least I think so. 

The changes I’ve made this weekend were definitely needed.  They make the story more believable and realistic.  Revisiting it like this has helped me be objective and see the changes needed to update the story and improve the entire manuscript.  It isn’t a matter of putting commas in the right place or fixing the typographical errors but of refining the story.  It is work – a lot of it – but I’m glad I’m doing it.

It is hard to be objective about my own work.  I read it and I see the flaws.  I’m also my own toughest critic.  But in reading this again, I find a good story.  I’m pleased with my work and how it’s turned out.  This was my first full length novel and I think I did a good job.  Now I have to see if others agree…

For about ten years now I’ve had a romance novel that I submit to different publishers.  I’ve never sold it unfortunately.  I had somewhat given up on selling it. 

Recently I decided that I needed to revisit this manuscript.  I am going to edit and revise it.  It’s been a long while since I’ve read it so it will be interesting to see how this goes.  It is nearly 300 typed double spaced pages long and over 100,000 words. 

What motivated this sudden interest in this manuscript again?  Well my youngest daughter, Stephanie emailed me a link to the publishing guidelines for Kindle. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html/ref=amb_link_352814142_14?ie=UTF8&docId=1000234621&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=left-1&pf_rd_r=039VVXERM92NS9FNV14H&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1276313662&pf_rd_i=133141011) The small bit that I’ve read seems like a good idea so I am going to edit this book and see if I can get it published there.  I might also try to put together a couple of poetry books to see how they do as well.  It can’t hurt and maybe there will be a demand for my work.  If that happens then it might help to move my other manuscripts forward with either traditional publishers or more on Kindle or even other self publishing opportunities.

The day is rainy. I’ve been cleaning my desk and doing all sorts of different things for writing and the house.  I have at least made organized piles.  I will at some point need to go through those piles and deal with the items in them – some sooner rather than later. 

This is all part of my prep for getting ready to write.  It may sound strange but it helps me organize my thoughts and gives me a chance to clear out the clutter quite literally as well as a bit figuratively.

Today I’m hoping to get through a complete edit of this manuscript but I’m sure that the others in the household will have impact on my progress.  Ken and Vicki are both under the weather.  Now if I could just get the two of them to sleep and leave me alone I’m sure I could get more done….

Since I’ve been up for nearly two hours now, I should stop putzing around and dig in….

I’m halfway through the second week on the new job.  It has been exhausting and exhilarating all at once.  I’ve been tired for the last two weeks but I’m also learning a lot. 

The difference in the atmospheres and environment is very interesting.  The DOT was sort of casual for dress and in some ways for the working environment.  There was a lot of stress but we also knew how to blow off some of that stress too.

The university is definitely dressier and a bit more formal.  I think the people are a lot more understanding.  I’ve worked with a lot of men over the years – a lot of engineers.  Now I’m working with mostly women.  I think I like it.  They kind of do their thing and I do mine.  There isn’t a lot of interference and there is a lot of respect for my knowledge and ability.

I got a great compliment from my boss today.  She said she couldn’t understand why she was getting so much done.  She had cleared so much off her desk and had been very productive.  Then she came to my office and saw that I’d also been very productive.  Piles that had been cluttering up the office had been cleaned up, dealt with, and put away.  I still have a few little piles but mostly I’ve gotten the piles on the surfaces cleared up. 

I have not conquered this job.  I’ve removed some of the backlog of work and learned one or two aspects of the job.  There a lot more layers to learn and adjust to.  I’m looking forward to the challenge of them. 

Another bonus… I’ve started going to the pool nightly.  I started last night and went again tonight.  It is heaven to end my day sitting in the hot tub.  I de-stress a lot and the aches in my bones go away.  I come home in a better mood because I’m not in pain or on drugs.

I’m still exhausted.  I’m still waking up at 4:30 (wish that would stop already).  I am thrilled that I went eight workdays without filling my gas tank.  I used to put two tanks of gas in my car a week.  I’ve gone a week and a half on one tank.  That is an exciting savings.

This is a good move…

Obviously politics is a hot topic and on every one’s  mind.  I’m not going to get into a debate on who is the better candidate or whatever.. I think we all know that the decision when we go to the polls is generally  a matter of who will do the least damage (though there are a few good candidates).

Christine O’Donnell from Delaware I think is a tea party candidate and has been sticking her foot in her mouth.  Like Palin she makes women look bad.  The latest hoopla is concerning the first amendment. 

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know the amendments or their exact wording.  I’m also not a candidate for a public office.  But I do know google.  I know that if I go to google I can find a reputable source that will give me some information on almost any topic. 

I don’t know what O’Donnell said as I didn’t hear it but what I heard was that she was questioning whether the constitution actually says separation of church and state.  She apparently sees nothing wrong with mixing the two. 

If you are like me you want to go to the source and see what the constitution actually says.  So here it is from a fairly reputable source:”

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Am1

Now what people need to realize is that this was an amendment tapped on to the constitution in 1791 (that is from that site too).  Since 1791 we have had laws and other legal documents that have refined, updated, and clarified these amendments (and the constitution).  If my math is right that is 219 years of modification.  But one thing I think O’Donnell needs to do is read the original content.  It says clearly that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.  That is the opening phrase. 

She seems to want Christianity to be the state religion.  Well not everyone in the US is Christian.  So what does she propose?  For a month we all be Christian.  Then the next month we can all be Buddhists or Pagan or Muslim. Or if we are all going to be Christian, then which Christian?  Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran? 

The point of this amendment is so that people will be able to choose what they want to believe and the government can’t dictate those beliefs and ideas.  This is my opinion and I’m not a constitutional scholar or anything.  Historically I believe (if I remember my history lessons right) that one of the biggest reasons that people came to this country was to escape the religious oppression that they were enduring in England and Europe.  We fought a war to be free from those beliefs.  It was in my history book.  There was a pretty big section on it – it was called the Revolutionary War.  Do we really want to go back a point where people can be persecuted, prosecuted, and demoralized for their ideas and beliefs?  People need to study history in order to understand the mistakes made and and learn from them.

Is it November 3rd yet?  I can’t wait for the idiocy to be done.  Of course then we have to see what sort of idiocy the American public opted to do… it is one insane cycle….

I spent a very lazy day yesterday reading and lounging in front of the fireplace.  It was a spectacular day which I enjoyed no end.  It was very energizing.  The books I read were Dragon in the Driveway (young adult book), Libraries of Ancient Times, and Lady Knight.  The libraries one is a non-fiction and I read a chapter or so in it.  The other two were fiction and exceedingly enjoyable.  I laughed and cried with the books.

The other day at work I listened as a woman explained she could not read books because of her learning disability.  This is such sadness.  I think of all the books I have and read.  I would be lost without my books. 

I was reading Lady Knight last night and forced myself to put the book down because it was 11:30 and I had to work today.  I only had another 120 pages but I wanted to thoroughly enjoy the ending of this book.  I finished it off tonight and did just that.

Reading takes me away from everything.  If done right it can make me laugh, cry, and ache for the characters to win through to their goal.  It doesn’t really matter the genre if it is well written it can move me.  For those who don’t get to read or won’t read – I feel sad that they don’t know the pleasure I know in reading.

Tonight I’ve finished Lady Knight and there are two more lovely fictional books to read but I’ll be good and go to bed.  I’ve got my book on ancient libraries to read during lunch tomorrow.  I’m almost done with that book.  Then I have the Gerda Lerner book on the Creation of Patriarchy.  The non-fiction books make me think.  They don’t necessarily transport me to a different time and place (well that depends) but they make me think about the topics covered.  I think this is why it takes me so long to read them – I need time to digest all that I take in.

I realized today as I was packing up at work and thinking about reading tonight that I was actually still reading three books – the two non-fiction and the one fiction.  Now I’m down to two and thinking I need more.  I must be sick or something….