Sorry!
I'm retreating from reality because my reality is quickly piling up the stress.
I'm nervous about my edits because I have a hideous feeling they're going to hit me right in the middle of the move.
I'm nervous about this query contest because I think I lied. I said I could finish the story by the end of August, but I don't know if I can. I haven't really written in weeks. No kidding. Weeks. Yeah, I did that WW thing, which I still haven't polished and sent off. Yeah, I started a new story. Yeah, I did my edits. But I'm feeling very snowed under by unfinished projects. The biggest of which is this damned move.
I could have spent my weekend writing or cleaning/packing. That's what a wise person would have done. I am not wise. I am panicked. Panicking pretty much sucks all the wise right out of you.
Anyway, since someone should get something out of my unbelievably unproductive weekend, here you go.
Mostly, I re-read books, but I also finally picked up a couple of new ones.
Lynn Viehl's newest Darkyn novel, DARK NEED. LOVED IT! I really enjoyed the first Darkyn book, was ambivalent about the second, but this one rocked. Lucan is such a great hero and Samantha is a kick-ass heroine I can sympathize with.
I finally read Kathy Love's WANTING SOMETHING MORE, which I actually picked up last year at RWA. I enjoyed it. I believed in the heroine, but the hero didn't move me as much as I hoped he would. But Kathy writes a great heroine. Marty is great fun.
Marjorie Liu's SHADOW TOUCH. I read it once and couldn't really decide whether it was a keeper or not. Lots of running, lots of chasing, pretty large cast of characters. Read it again and, like all her other books, it's a keeper. She's got a great series going here, with a vital and interesting paranormal element.
JR Ward's LOVER ETERNAL, the second in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series, is another keeper. Infinitely sweeter than her first novel, this one also had to grow on me. If you love vampire romances and haven't picked up the Brotherhood books yet, make a point of it. They're edgy, hip and sexy. Ignore the names.
4 Comments:
"I was okay with "winging it" for a long time, but now I need a plan. I need a deadline for this move and I need to know where I'm going.
I'm nervous about my edits because I have a hideous feeling they're going to hit me right in the middle of the move."
This sounds like my past few months, Sela. A lot going on, knowing edits were coming at me, not knowing exactly when, trying to juggle.
I made a list of all the things I needed to do over a four month window, then looked at all the things that I could get done now. I started with those and when the big things pending came up, I could look at my calendar, knowing I had a fairly clean slate. It helped me cope with the anticipation, anyway. I'm doing the edits now, and in a way, you'd think timing couldn't be worse, with a new Spinetingler just up and a special one due out July 1 and then edits for Fall that need to go out in July, plus I'm going overseas, but honestly, the timing's great because everything else is done or well ahead of schedule.
It's really eased the stress.
By 
Sandra Ruttan, at
10:00 PM
You're Back!! Yay!!
Hmmm the deadline. You sound like me. I tend to always wait until I'm overwhelmed then it seems to help me stop thinking and just write. I however, live alone, have no kids. I thinkthis way of working might not be the best for you. Hmm Maybe a challenge? Shoudl we have a challenge. I have two deadleines looming.. Email me if you want..we can maybe do a SW'ers one ???
By Sasha White, at
3:26 AM
Wow, Sandra. You've got a lot on your plate, too! I've got the list going, but it's pages long. Yikes! However, we are chipping away at the big tasks, like completing the bathroom renovation, clearing out the garage and all the excess *stuff* we've collected. Once those are done, it's the constant state of perfection as we keep the house ready for showing.
I hate keeping house.
Sasha, a challenge sounds good, but I think it might send me round the bend. I feel incredibly guilty taking time to write right now with everything else going on. Other than edits and revising the novella I won the query contest with, I'm just going to have to wait until we're settled in a new home.
By Sela Carsen, at
8:52 AM
Stop panicking, sweetheart, although I can totally understand why you are. :-(
((((hugs)))) It's going to come right, hang on in there. Maybe make a list of what's freaking you out, and then list what elements of it you can control. If you can't control a thing, let it be.
By Anna Louise Lucia, at
11:01 AM