Retail therapy

Today I went shopping and totally blew my wad at the bookstore. "The Muppet Show" season 1, Apocolypse 2012, and two books by Lilith Saintcrow found their way into the proverbial shopping cart. Next week I have four glorious days off work, one of which is my birthday, and I intend on spending the time reading and writing and watching nostalgic TV. Hopefully it will take my mind off the empty e-mail inbox. Or at least slow my incessant checking. We'll see.

Ken and I are going to sign up for the local mini-triathlon this year. No, we really are this time. So I suppose I can't spend all my time holed up on the couch. At least some of it has to be spent on a bike and a treadmill.

Two things to make the work week go faster: Jericho on Tuesday and Lost on Thursday. Well, I'll probably end up watching Lost on Friday because of Valentine's Day. Ken wants to make a big multi-course meal to celebrate. Salad, pasta, garlic bread, cheesecake ... oh, yeah. My jeans feel tight already.

Milestone

I reached 10,000 words on the WIP tonight. Last night a funeral scene tried to make me stumble, but tonight I owned it. That whimper you hear? That's the scene begging for mercy.

Lifted weights, too. If I can walk tomorrow I'll be a happy girl.

accomplished

It's only 2 p.m. and I've already been to the gym, mailed Christmas cards, and survived the grocery store. I say "survived" because we're at the beginning of an ice storm the place was nuts. I didn't see any fights break out or anything, but I think I personally bumped into about 20 people. I don't know why everyone was there--yeah, we've got an ice storm coming, but it's going to be 52 degrees tomorrow. It's all going to melt, people!

Ken and I were at the grocery store because we've joined a "biggest loser" program at our gym. This morning we got weighed and measured, which motivated us to buy lots of fruits and veggies and fiberous cereals. I'm actually pretty jazzed about it. Between working out and writing and reading and internetting, I won't have time for much else. But let's face it, what else do you need?

This and that

Last night I went to see "Knocked Up" with some friends of mine. I loved it! Full of cursing and crude jokes and a prosthetic vagina. The pink-eye scene is hysterical. Besides all the horsing around, the writing was good and the characters were all awesome. The dude who plays Marshall on "How I Met Your Mother" has a role and he's frickin' hilarious. I've always been a fan of Paul Rudd, and his performance didn't disappoint. He's like a younger John Cusack. If you're not going to be offended by hearing "fuck" approximately 1,547 times, go see it. I'd pay to see it again. Afterwards we drank wine and ate appetizers at a wine shop. Good times.

Today Ken and I bought a new scale. Apparently our old one under-weighed us by about 9 pounds. Yeah, it sucks. More exercise and less food for us. I refuse to give in.

I haven't written much this week. I need to sit down with a note book, answer some questions about my characters, and dissect my plot to see how I can make things worse for each of my characters. One of my readers agreed that the story had good bones but needed more meat. A project for the weekend.

Da-Da-Dun

Today I shipped of the anemic manuscript of Stormy Weather to two readers. A third reader got the first two chapters. I'm excited because this story's been clangin' around my head for so long that I'm anxious to see what other people think of it. They're going to give me such great input that I bet I can have a really great 2nd draft by August 1st, maybe sooner. That's right, a new deadline! And then I'd like to have it out the door to agents by September 1st. We shall see.

Now that I'm waiting on responses, I can start looking at other projects. I'd like to pull out my old Gemstone Prophecy trilogy and update (read: completely change) it. I want to change the protagonist's background and condense it all into one book. That could take some time but I think it'll improve the project and make it more salable. Then I'll do the agent routine with that one.

And then after that, I'd like to start researching/outlining a sci-fi/thriller/mystery I've been mulling over for a while that has to do with AI chips and autism. That's going to take a fair amount of research and plotting. It's intimidating but you don't grow as a writer (or a person, for that matter) by doing the same thing all the time.

This is all, of course, contingent on not having any more deadlines. There's been rumblings of short-story type offerings in my future, though, so fingers crossed on that front. I'll make an announcement when/if such whispers become official.

On the exercising front, I jogged 2 miles and lifted some weights. The yard probably needs mowed, too-we've gotten a fair amount of rain in the area lately and it's best to keep on top of these things. I hate yard work. I swear our next house is going to be a condo with wood floors and a pool. Or maybe I'll just hire a hunky landscaper.

F&SF ...

won the draw to get "The Brethren" today. JJA's missed me, I suspect. It's been a few months since I've sent them anything.

I just got back from the gym, where I did 2.5 miles on the treadmill. I find I don't loathe the treadmill as much as I once did. Perhaps it's my mindset. Running outside is better, of course, but with these stupidly cold temperatures settling in, I'll be inside for the next week or so.

Now I'm surfing the 'net before I read a little bit of the new Jim Butcher book. Then I'll probably nap, because Ken and I are going to eat at a diner at midnight. Biscuits with sausage gravy and a side of bacon, here I come!