baby, baby it's a wild world

No blog tonight - I won Rail Baron this afternoon, which was so exhilarating that I have no words left. Okay, that's not why I don't care to blog - the real reason is that I need to get up relatively early tomorrow to finish packing and go to the airport (with plans for lunch with the family up in Des Moines + a visit to my grandmother in the hospital), so I should get some sleep. But today was lovely, replete with leftovers + fresh food, my Rail Baron win, and a Garth Brooks special on tv that was surprisingly good. And now, to sleep - goodnight!

blood is like wine, unconscious all the time

I'm still not nearly caught up on sleep, but today was a v. lovely day. I slept close to ten hours, then ate some sausage, then showered, then had Thanksgiving dinner (aka lunch) with my parents and my brother. This is the first time the four of us have ever had Thanksgiving by ourselves; even in Ukraine, our grandparents came to visit that week, so we weren't alone then either (although I doubt that it was as tasty as today's meal). But it was all smashingly delicious and the solitude was actually kind of nice (this shouldn't surprise you, since I am a hermit).

The four of us eventually started playing a game of Rail Baron, which we weren't able to finish today. We were just getting into a groove when Sammi, my oldest niece, came over with her daughter. I hadn't spent any quality time with them in ages, so it was nice that they came; we hung out for an hour or two, and I was reminded that a) children can be super adorable (Sammi's daughter is four and is highly intelligent and very cute) and b) children can also be really sticky. So sticky that I'm not sure I can have kids (see hermity tendencies above - I am not used to being sticky). But it was fun to see them, and hopefully we'll see them again at Christmas.

After she left, [censored] and I went down to [censored] to leave water for the [censored], and then we all got back into Rail Baron. Sadly, we didn't finish tonight, so we're going to have to finish tomorrow - and by then, everyone's luck may change, which could do bad things for me and good things for my father (whose dice rolling has been so massively unlucky that I may have wet myself at some point from laughing so hard). So now, I must sleep so that I can enjoy my last full day at home tomorrow - goodnight!

hemorrhage

Today was a v. long day, but I suppose it was a good one. I woke up a little before eight under extreme duress, took a shower, grabbed some tea, and was out the door with [censored] by nine to go to Des Moines. My grandmother had an endoscopy today, so most of the family convened at the hospital up there since she'd been transferred up there from our hospital earlier this week. She's in the same hospital that my dad was in last year, so I'm all too familiar with its setup and am unhappy that I had the morbid realization that my visits home in the future are statistically likely to contain more hospital visits than they did in the first ten or twelve years that I lived in California. Boo.

Anyway, [censored] and I got there around eleven, and we saw her a couple of times in between preprocedure procedures. When the phlebotomist came in to draw blood, I had to step out, then felt vaguely faint, so I abandoned my dad and brother and went to Starbucks (the only saving grace of that hospital) to get some quick sugar. [censored] came down to join me, and our group soon expanded to include Aunt B (who must be brutally tired since she just got back from New Zealand, was working like crazy, and spent last night at the hospital), Uncle Mark, Aunt Kathy, and Drewbaby (who must be brutally tired since he had to hang out with his family without the benefit of all that cheap college beer he's probably used to). We ended up having lunch in the hospital cafeteria, where three out of three children would agree that the food wasn't entirely up to our expectations.

After lunch, we went back upstairs just as they were wrapping up the procedure, so I delivered food to my dad and the siblings got the verdict while [censored], Drew, Kathy and I waited in the waiting room. I also may have forever destroyed my fertility by accident, since I was washing my hands in a leisurely manner after using the bathroom and then noticed the sign that said 'female patients of childbearing years must check in with the receptionist before using the restroom'. Uh. I'm going to assume that this has something to do with wanting to do a pregnancy test and not that the restroom is unavoidably contaminated, but if that's not what it was, I apologize to my unborn children.

As it turns out, it appears that Gram's issues are going to resolve themselves, and she should be out of the hospital on Friday. So [censored] and I came home, followed closely by our father, and we rendezvoused with our mother and went out for supper in town. There, we ran into the town pharmacist and his wife and encouraged them to have a drink with us while we ate, since they were on the way out the door. So that was super lovely; I see the pharmacist occasionally since the pharmacy is one of the stores I go into when I'm home, but it's usually a thirty-second conversation since he's always busy there. I also saw Ashley and Nikki, who were in my class in high school, and I think we're going to try to get together when I'm home over Christmas (thus violating my usual hermitville tendencies, but it would be fun to see them).

And now I must sleep since I'm failing *miserably* at my goal of resting and relaxing on this vacation - goodnight!

hemoglobin is the key

I'm too tired to blog and I really need to stop staring at screens. But today was fine - I ate fresh eggs, drank great coffee, enjoyed my family, wrote a third of a page of notes for my next book, saw my latest book featured on USA Today's romance blog, watched "Rudolph" and realized that Santa is an asshole, saw some fine CBS programming, and got to hang out with [censored]. All in all it was a good day! And now I must sleep since you can never be too prepared for what tomorrow may bring - goodnight!

the only way you can know is to give it all you have

Today was far longer than I should have let it be, and I'm so far failing woefully on my goal of catching up on sleep during my vacation. That's probably because it's only a vacation from the day job; the writing job grinds on undeterred by things like sleep and hunger and caffeine withdrawal. Also, when I woke up at 8:30 this morning, I stupidly decided to get out of bed and have breakfast rather than sleeping for another four hours like my body probably needed. Oops.

But breakfast was good (I was in time to eat the sausage my parents had made, although I had to cook my own eggs), and then I messed around for a couple of hours before showering. I spent the afternoon creating the paperback for Prudence's story; I'd done most of the interior formatting on the plane from SF to Denver, but I had to finalize all of that and make the cover, which took a lot of time because I'm really nitpicky. So I was on my computer for about six hours straight, with a break to make some delicious french press coffee like the yuppie I am. Then I had supper with my parents, watched a tiny bit of fine CBS programming, and did a hangout with Steph and her boyfriend to talk about the boyfriend's self-publishing endeavors.

And then I swore I was going to go to bed, and I signed off chat and was on my way out...but then I got sucked into more work stuff, and suddenly it's after eleven. But I did some foam rolling (which hurt like hell since my back was a mess after my day of hunching over the laptop) and washed my face (sad that that's considered a break), so it all could be worse. And now I really must sleep - goodnight!

i woke up in mid-afternoon 'cause that's when it all hurts the most

I should have gone to bed four hours ago, but as per usual I got sucked into work (updating spreadsheets, sending emails to reviewers and marketing sites, etc.) and have suddenly discovered that it's after midnight. It's only 10:15pm in California, and 11:15pm in Denver, but I'm no longer in either of those places. I only slept three hours last night, which wasn't nearly enough, but it was so good to see Katie (and her husband, and their spawn) that the exhaustion was totally worth it. Katie was kind enough to get up at four a.m. to the sound of me showering rather than her daughter screaming, which made me feel somewhat guilty since this may have been one of those rare, magical nights when she could have slept straight through rather than getting up in the dark. Sadness. But Katie took me to the airport, I got through with no issues, was upgraded to first class, and got some extra sleep because we sat on the runway for forty minutes while they dealt with a software issues. Stupid.

But my parents were waiting in Des Moines when I got there, and we had a lovely breakfast at Perkins (well, the eggs weren't that great, but the company was good). Then we ran a couple of errands and came home. Iowa in November is much preferable to Iowa in March, I think - there are still some green things, even if it's freezing cold, and there is way less mud. However, as my father pointed out, this is the season when the deer run across the road with their heads down, which makes it harder to see the reflection of their eyes in your headlights, which makes for a dangerous drive.

We made it, though, and when we got home I unpacked, organized my room, and took care of some tings. Then I talked to my parents until my energy ran out, and I came downstairs with the intention of taking a shower or a nap (I failed at the first and only did thirty minutes of the second). Then I accompanied my father into town to visit my grandma; she's in the hospital (was admitted yesterday while my parents were trying to pick me up the first time) and it's unclear exactly what's going on. So that was all vaguely depressing. But I got over my depression when my mother made zucchini lasagna - it's just like regular lasagna, but with zucchini slices instead of pasta, and it was really super delicious.

And then I came downstairs to work, and you know the rest. I need to take some time off this week, but I also want to keep flogging EARL at all interested parties since I want this book to break out a bit more (and it has a chance to - it's still in the top fifty regency romances on Amazon and B&N, which is nothing to sneeze at). But I also don't want to die of exhaustion - this ain't the Donner Party, after all, and I can theoretically take a break and rest my proverbial horses without worrying that a blizzard is going to trap me for the rest of the winter and leave me totally fucked. Yes, my Puritanical roots are at war with all the attempts I've made to make myself a more relaxed, more enlightened person. We shall see if the Puritans win or if I can somehow will them away through deep, deep relaxation. Goodnight!

lord i'm coming home to you

Too tired to blog - I got stranded in Denver due to mechanical issues, which was unfortunate. But luckily Katie was home, so rather than leaving me to the tender mercies of a creepy airport hotel, she picked me up, we got wine and takeout Thai food, and then hung out with her adorable daughter (
until the daughter went to bed. Then Katie, James and I engaged in some sort of Scandinavian ritual that mostly just seemed to be taking over drinks and candles without checking our phones - highly civilized.

But Katie and I stayed up until midnight taking, and I have to get up in three hours to go back to the airport, which may have been ill advised. Wish me luck - goodnight!

this greed, it's bigger than you and me

Terry said that I buried the lede in the last post, so I'll say it again -- 'The Earl Who Played With Fire' is out now. Yay! No paperbacks yet, but you can get the ebooks on Google/Amazon/B&N/Kobo (Apple coming as soon as they approve the file, which could take a century or two). And it's doing better than I expected it to do - as of tonight it has cracked the top 100 historical romances on both Amazon and B&N, so that's a totally awesome start. Hopefully I can keep the momentum going, since awesome sales would be a soothing balm for the nervewracking period while I wait for the first reviews to come in. Yes, I'm a masochist.

sssanyway, I had to work today, but I was able to work from home, so it wasn't all bad. And I was able to slack off a bit early and send out my newsletter, which was clearly responsible for kicking the sales into gear. After that, I looked up a bit blearily, discovered that Terry was home (I knew she'd been home for hours, but I had basically ignored her even though we were in the same room), and made plans for a celebratory dinner. We went to my favorite overpriced French place, where Todd made sure to introduce me to Erica, and the general feeling of warmth and steakiness was enough to almost make me happy to be there instead of in Paris (where I would rather have been). We had champagne, which felt v. celebratory, and I had a glass of wine with my steak, and all was right with the world.

After steak, we came home and I undertook the task of packing for Iowa, since I leave for the best state in the union tomorrow morning. And now I must go to sleep so that I can get up, shower, get on a plane, and sleep some more -- goodnight!

i'll sell you a meaning

I was going to skip blogging tonight since I mostly can't tell you anything you don't already know. But then I remembered that's true almost every night of the week. So suffice it to say that I got up far earlier than I wanted to but far later than I probably should have, left the house at 6:45, and made it to Palo Alto in time to train with Alyssa. My body is totally wrecked from the last few weeks of limited sleep and maximum wine, so I'm looking forward to taking a break when I go back to ye olde Iowa on Saturday.

Post workout, I showered, put on a dress and some red lipstick to make myself feel like a stylish professional instead of a ruined hag, and went to work, where I slogged all day. I was trying to get out early to beat traffic, but someone put a meeting on my calendar for 3:30 - and it turned out that the team had gotten me cupcakes and champagne to celebrate my book launch. They even got two gluten-free cupcakes so I could choose between them (I went with coconut, which was delectable), and they gave me a card and everything. It was super sweet, and it was a nice reminder that I'm v. lucky to work somewhere where I don't have to hide my side profession.

After that, I hung out some more and eventually left the office at six, which was prime horrible time for the commute, so I had dinner at Palo Alto Sol while working on some marketing stuff for zee romance novel. Then I drove home and messed around until now because my brain is too fried to be productive but also too wired for sleep. But I'm going to make a valiant attempt right now, since I could get nine hours tonight if I play my cards right. Goodnight!

oh...not goodnight. If you can't wait a moment longer for Alex and Prudence, they're available on Google and Kindle. Apple/Kobo/B&N will be up in the next couple of days, whenever they finish processing. Enjoy!

when all you've got is hurt

Another day, another series of triumphs and extreme annoyances. Mostly annoyances, to be honest. I worked from home today (triumph), which meant I was able to sleep nine hours (double triumph). But I ate a ridiculous assortment of things because I had no groceries, and it rained most of the day, and I was generally cranky and surly and petulant. I'm pulling myself out of my surly spiral, but it's challenging because the surly spiral is so warm from all of my rage energy. This is all a somewhat oblique way of saying that some day job stuff this week got on my last nerve, but I'm recovering and am determined to go in tomorrow with a different attitude (or at least brighter lipstick).

So I slogged until 6:30, put on a dress (and brighter lipstick) and had dinner with Lauren (aka Subz) and Terry at Presidio Social Club. The waiter was a bit off; when he cleared my plate, he first asked, 'are you done with your steak?', which should have been obvious since there was no steak left. Then he said, 'oh, did they forget your mashed potatoes?' and I had to say 'no, I ate them all,' which he asked me to repeat since he apparently didn't understand what I said. Tanks for making me feel like a heifer, waiter. This would never happen to a VIP at Des Amis, is all I'm saying.

But it was good to see Lauren and Terry, of course, and good to take a break. Then I came home and worked for the last two hours, which was good in the sense that I got some stuff set up promo-wise for the next book (triumph), but super annoying because my formatter sent me an email claiming he'd finished my files, but then he didn't attach them (major annoyance). So now I have to wait for him to actually send me the files before uploading, which will delay the onsale time by at least nine hours. Since I had hoped to upload tonight and go live tomorrow, this is super annoying. But I have been more angry for less reason before, so I'm sure I'll overcome this as well. And on that note, goodnight!

love lies bleeding in my hands

Today was mostly not winning, but I'm in a surprisingly good mood despite that. I woke up at six, got out the door and on the road before traffic was too bad, and made it to the office around 7:40. I know, so crazy. To do this, I didn't wash my hair, and I chose to wear yoga pants to my director's staff meeting - perhaps a career limiting move, but it was better than sacrificing an extra half an hour of sleep. And since the director wasn't there, I feel v. justified in my decision. So I had meetings from eight to ten-thirty, skipped out to train with Alyssa, came back, and had meetings from one to four. At that point I suppose I was supposed to answer email and do all the work I don't get a chance to do while sitting in meetings, but instead I chose to skip out and drive home before the first rain of the season caused a total carpocalypse.

It only took me ninety minutes to get home, so I think I won, but I won by taking 85 to 280, then getting off 280 in Noe Valley and driving all the way back through the city rather than staying on the freeway. I think this was a win, since maps was predicting 2hrs on 101. When I got here, I ended up slacking off for a couple of hours, which was unprecedented - Terry and I ordered a pizza and opened a bottle of wine, and we watched 'How I Met Your Mother', 'New Girl', and the pilot of 'Dracula' (which is fascinating because I have a scary crush on the lead, but the show itself is pretty terrible). Finally, I dragged myself back to my to-do list and slogged through some of it for the past two hours, which isn't enough but is better than nothing. And now I'm going to try to sleep for nine hours - I'm working from home tomorrow, so hopefully I can catch up on sleep and also catch up on work.

But first, two things:
- happy birthday to my father! yay!
- Prudence and Alex's book is now available on Google Play, if you feel you must read it immediately (or if Play happens to be your media vendor of choice). It should be out everywhere else by the end of the week, if my formatter doesn't keep sitting on it.

Goodnight!

arriviste

Today mostly passed without anything of interest to you, particularly since I spent three hours commuting and nine hours at the office. However, I made it home in a fog of complete exhaustion and knew that I needed to get something that would revive my dying spirits. So I went to my favorite French place, where I had a steak and two glasses of wine and a pot of green tea while drafting my newsletters (my real one and my friends and family one) and writing in my journal. This was just what the doctor ordered, if the doctor is a sadistic asshole who is determined to make me work sixteen hours a day.

I kid, I kid. I got through what I wanted to get through and left feeling satisfied. I also me the official VIP list at the restaurant, thanks to Fabian and Todd, who decided that they love me enough (and, likely more importantly, that I spend enough) that they should hook me up. Not that hooking me up means anything, since I always order the same thing and tend to show up when the place is relatively quiet. But they got my phone number, which apparently means I can call ahead if I need something special. Or something. As long as they keep pouring me wine and bringing me steak, and don't care that I have my laptop with me, the rest of it is pretty superfluous.

But unfortunately the commute has not put me on the VIP list, so I have to go to bed immediately. I'm so tired that I may make the questionable move of going to my boss's boss's staff meeting in yoga pants tomorrow because I can't be bothered to shower. Yes, it has come to this. Goodnight!

i ain't got no crystal ball

I'm going to bed nearly two hours later than I had hoped, but I'm v. pleased with the progress I made today to finish Prudence and Alex's book. I finished proofreading, input all of my edits to my own source doc for use in the paperback, sent the edits to my ebook formatter for use in the ebook files, and also made a test epub of my own for some nefarious purpose (not really nefarious, just stupid). And I managed to talk to my parents and flirt with the bartender at one of the restaurants I usually go to (and wave at the sommelier at the other restaurant I usually go to - he probably wondered why I've forsaken him), so it's almost like I was social.

But really, I wasn't social; I missed the only thing I was supposed to go to this weekend (Jess's recital) because I couldn't take an hour and a half off. This probably needs to end soon - it's not really sustainable to work fourteen hour days every day of the week without rest or respite, but I also don't want to drop the ball on either of my jobs, and I'm determined to be successful in all arenas. The problem is that my life is also an arena, and I'm clearly dropping the ball there if you look at how many times my blog posts have mentioned 'work' instead of 'friends' in the last couple of months. Sigh.

Still, I'm super psyched to get Prudence and Alex out this week so that I can maybe take a couple of days off over Thanksgiving - I don't even know what I'll do with myself if that dream of not doing anything for forty-eight hours comes true. And on that sad, stupid dream, I'm going to bed - goodnight!

i've got my rock moves

My productivity per hour is really falling - I blame the fact that I'm constantly tired and slightly surly. Of course, I did get stuff done today; I proofread about half of Alex and Prudence, I bought a new laptop since my old one was on the verge of dying just when I need it most, and I took care of some various and sundry tasks. I also had a lovely dinner with Priyanka, where we split a bottle of BYOB wine, ate some spicy vegetarian Thai food (I realized that I didn't eat any meat at all today, which is a new, unwelcome record), and discussed our mutual obsession for the royal family.

But I still have far more stuff to do this weekend than I have time for...so we shall see how this works out for me. Now, though, I'm desperate to sleep - goodnight!

won't you smile awhile for me

You can probably guess how today went down. I sat in traffic, had a bunch of meetings, had lunch with some people from my team (you can't guess that we went to San Jose for poutine, which I couldn't eat because the gravy had flour in it), had more meetings, and then escaped to drive back to the city with one of my coworkers in tow.

You can also guess that I was exhausted through all of this, since I say it all the time. But I put on a dress and rallied, then grabbed Terry and met up with Kathia and her sister for drinks. A single glass of champagne turned into multiple bottles of wine and some finger food, which was lovely, particularly since we kept asking for sexy reds and the owner kept complying. I was out with them for four hours, but when kathia and her husband decided to go out beyond that, I called it a night. And now I must sleep as much as possible so that I can work all day tomorrow - goodnight!

some days i just pray to the gods of sex and drums and rock and roll

I continue to be hideously overworked between my two jobs, which is quite unfortunate, so I haven't come anywhere close to catching up on my sleep or getting caught up in general. Today was more of the same; I got up early to train with Alyssa at eight, then made it to work by ten, where I had meetings straight from ten to five. Then I worked for an hour, had dinner with Heather (aka dear respected madam), drove home, talked to Terry, and worked on a variety of tings until now. And now I desperately need to go to bed so that I can attempt to function appropriately tomorrow. If I don't sleep this weekend I'm going to die - but I also have to wrap up final stuff with the book, do some marketing stuff, make a couple (or three) presentations for the day job, organize some household tings, and try to get through more of my to-do list. Ugh. Yes, I know everyone is busy and this is not particularly exciting - tanks for listening. And now, I must sleep - goodnight!

why are you my gravity

I think I've hit a massive wall - I was so tired this morning that I couldn't really think properly, which was detrimental to my plans to get caught up on all the million things on my day job list. But I worked from home so that I could sleep until the glorious hour of eight a.m., and then I worked pretty steadily until 6:30 (other than the times when I caught myself staring off into space). After work, Terry and I went to Des Amis, where Todd may or may not have been surprised to discover that I have a friend (I won't go so far as to say that he assumes I have multiple friends, but this is a start). We celebrated the fact that I'm done with my book, so that's exciting, even if I still have many many things to do to release it. I had intended to go out more hardcore tonight, but between my extreme exhaustion and the fact that Alyssa's workout yesterday left me barely able to walk (seriously), sticking close to home was a good call.

We got home around eight, and we v. serendipitously ran into our downstairs neighbor, who told us all about the man who gives him and his wife private yoga lessons (and has for a decade) - the guy is apparently a yoga instructor and a nude model for one of the art schools in the area, as well as being an ex-Navy guy, and the guy's girlfriend (or ex?) is or was a professional dominatrix on the side. It was all v. odd, but Terry remains more convinced than ever that someday I will be a seventy-year-old Marina-dweller with those kind of stories (which is probably true). Then I planned to work for 30mins, which turned into 2.5hrs. Oops. There go my plans of getting nine hours of sleep - at this rate, I'll get less than 7.5. But that's better than five, and hopefully this weekend I can get caught up. And on that boring note, it's time for bed!

in a tidal wave of mystery

I'M DONE. YAY.

Of course, this would be more exciting if I had slept last night, or if I didn't still have a million things to do to release the book. But I sent off the entire file to the formatter, so I should have an epub to put up for sale next week (unless I decide to push it out). And I really am excited, despite my nausea-inducing lack of sleep - I think this book is possibly my strongest yet (although I'll always have a soft spot for Nick and Ellie), so hopefully the readers enjoy it.

The rest of my day was long and also exhaustion-inducing - I woke up at eight after sleeping for five hours and did two hours of work from home before driving down to train with Alyssa. I was super tight from sitting at my desk working for a million hours, so it was a struggle, but a good struggle. Then I had just enough time to shower and grab a smoothie before going to work and sitting in meetings for 4.5 hours (most of which I was leading, but I didn't get caught taking micronaps between my sentences, so that's good). Then I had dinner with a writer friend of mine who happened to be in town from Dallas for one night only, and it was fabulous to catch up with her even though it put me three hours behind on my night.

But now I'm done, I can sleep the sleep of the just (if the just only get seven hours of sleep), and I'm going to work from home tomorrow so that I can get more stuff done with the day job without burning three hours on the commute. Goodnight!

timber

Today was a remarkably miserable day, considering that I spent it doing mostly what I wanted to do. I got up, worked from home for a couple of hours, then went into the office, where I was marginally productive and got through the three performance reviews I needed to give. Then I bounced around 4:30, picked up John, and carpooled back to the evil city. That was a nice interlude between my two jobs, since I got home and promptly worked from 5:30 until now. You will notice that 'now' is almost three a.m. I'm going to die tomorrow.

But I'm so very very close to being done with Prudence - I might have made it tonight if I hadn't remembered that I needed to write a guest blog post for a historical blog, which took way more time than I anticipated spending on it. Sadness. Now, though, I think I had best go to bed before I stay up all night, since I have to be on tomorrow at work. Goodnight!

feliz navidad

Today was more of the same, mostly - in fact, Priyanka guessed what I did today based on the last month's worth of blog posts that she's read, and she got an 8/10 for accuracy (I deviated from course by ordering pizza instead of going out for steak, and she couldn't have guessed that I met up with John after my writing date). So you can probably guess it too - I met up with Kathia at 8:45, wrote for a couple of hours, and then had coffee with John. Then, I had a late breakfast, during which I wrote some more. When I got home, I had an hour of administrative tasks to take care of, and then I took a nap before writing for another couple of hours. Then I ate pizza with Terry, dolled myself up, and went out.

Yes, I went out. Shocking, I know. Tonight was Adit and Priyanka's holiday party, which is absurdly early so that they can throw the first one. It was at a bar in the financial district, and Terry drove us there since she planned to leave early, but I had to uber it home. I had been looking forward to this with high anticipation and mild dread for a couple of weeks - high anticipation because I always have fun at their parties, and dread because I can't afford to be hungover tomorrow. And I'm shocked and surprised to report that I didn't get drunk tonight. I had a couple of cocktails (a Hemingway daiquiri, because they're my fave, and a 'doctor's orders', which was a gin fizz renamed for Priyanka for the night), but I was too freaked out about finishing the book to really let myself go.

However, the party was still fun. I saw all the usual suspects early; Chris and Connie (who are having a little Boyd in February) were there, as were Jav and Folkman, so it was good to catch up with them. Katrina and Chandlord were there, although I didn't talk to them for very long, and John and Jess showed up late and left early in a rather confusing turn of events. I also talked to strangers (gasp), including a guy named Andrew who was my year at Stanford and said that the page I made for our ten-year class book was deemed by consensus in his friend group to be the second-best page in the book (probably because I crassly and obviously marketed my romance novels and put my racy covers on my page instead of standard pics of babies and weddings). And I chatted to Jose, who I had met before, and Sumeet, who I had also met before. In fact, there were probably quite a few people I had met before, but I'm so terrible with names that I totally forgot most of them. Sadness.

But I left a little after one, despite some serious peer pressure from Adit and Priyanka, and now I'm going to sleep the sleep of the just and get up tomorrow to crank out the final edits. Goodnight!

don't make a scene don't make a sound

I'm typing on my phone, so please forgive any typos. Today was the kind of day I wish most of my days were - I took it off from the day job, so I was able to do whatever I pleased. And whatever I pleased meant that I met Kathia for a writing date at 8:40, wrote for a couple of hours, and then adjourned to spend a couple of hours with the girl I've hired to be my part-time marketing assistant. In really excited to work with her, and I'm hopeful that investing in some more marketing now will result in better sales in the future. I just don't have the time to execute all the ideas that I have right now, and since I'm the only one who can write my books, it makes sense to outsource the rest.

After that, I got a facial and a haircut too repair the ravages of the last few weeks of too much sleep and not enough primping. Then I went to Nettie's and had fish tacos and chardonnay while writing and flirting with the bartender (who is in a committed relationship, so he's safe from cougars like me). And now I must sleep so that I can write like mad tomorrow - goodnight!

i want to be the sand inside that hourglass

Today was ridiculously busy, but I'm oddly in quite a good mood despite it all. I woke up around six and took too much time getting ready, so I wasn't able to write before going to the gym, but that may have been too much to expect. But I left in time to make it to Palo Alto without being late, so that was something. I trained with Alyssa, showered, went to work, slogged for a couple of hours (with a break to attempt to eat a rib, which was a messy proposition while standing at a table near my cube), and then had meetings from one to five. I then washed my coffee mug, switched into yoga pants, and drove home - and I'm glad I got comfortable, since it took an hour and forty-five minutes, with enough stop-and-go that I almost made myself carsick. Blech.

But when I got home, I spent ninety minutes talking to another historical romance writer on the phone, and then I watched the last quarter of the Stanford/Oregon game, which got far too exciting for a few minutes. Then, when victory was in hand, I went down the street to my favorite expensive French bistro, where I worked on Prudence, ate steak, and continued to befriend the staff (the main guy on duty, Stephen/Steven, comped me some wine, so clearly they have added me to their list of odd eccentrics who must be appeased). And now I must go to bed - I'm taking tomorrow off so that I have a three-day weekend in which to wrap up the most pressing remaining stuff with Prudence, so I have grand plans to make tomorrow super productive. And I'm getting a facial and a haircut, which is less productive but perhaps just as necessary for my vanity. Hopefully I can get through everything this weekend, get the book out in ten days or so, and then be done with this so that I can take a break, remind my friends that I exist and that I love them despite my absence, and then begin this whole sad, epic torture all over again with my next book. Goodnight!

i hope you spend your days and they all add up

I'm typing on my tablet, so apologies for any typos - I left my laptop in the car in an effort to avoid doing more work, which I think was wise despite the inefficiencies caused by trying to your on this thing. Today was much better than yesterday from a mood standpoint, although I was at the office until 8:30, which was a bummer. And driving down today took an hour and forty minutes even when I left at 6:40, so that was a double bummer.

But work was mostly fun, including a champagne social at for, and I took a break at five to have dinner at Fiesta with Terry. So, don't cry for me, Argentina (or, don't cry for me, people who have regular hours but can't drink at work). And now I must go to bed do that I can get up at six and start this all over again. Goodnight!

settle down, it'll all be clear

The internet isn't working, so you don't get a blog post. Which is probably for the best since I'm in an utterly foul mood. But I ate zucchini tonight, so that's a positive! And now I'm going to journal all the feelings so they will let me sleep - goodnight!

a hurricane of frowns

You don't get a blog tonight - I feel incredibly nauseated for some unknown reason, as I have for most of the afternoon/evening, so I'm going to lie down instead of typing anything fun for you to read. If you really want something to read, go to my romance site and check out the back cover copy for Prudence's book. Otherwise, carry on with your day and perhaps I won't want to throw up on my keyboard when it's time to write my blog tomorrow night. Goodnight!

safe and sound

I think I'm about to die, but I sent the final draft to my editor just now. Today's interminable writing slogfest was brought to you by caffeine (I overdosed by noon and felt queasy all afternoon), steak and wine (which would have been great, except my new best friend/host at my favorite French place sent me a small chocolate brownie for dessert, which I shouldn't have eaten, but it was delicious enough that I'll take the gluten hit), two naps, and a lot of pain. I was out the door by 8:45 this morning and wrote with Kathia until almost one. Then I took a couple of hours off to eat lunch, nap, talk to my parents, shower, and procrastinate. But I hit it again at 6:30 and worked until now, with a short break to take a nap at 9:45 that I somehow miraculously awoke from feeling more clear-headed (which never happens with ill-advised ten p.m. naps). And I somehow managed to write a decent new scene for near the end of the book while watching a couple make out for ninety minutes at Des Amis, which I found quite odd and just slightly offputting.

But the final draft is done!! This would be more exciting if I didn't know that I have another thirty hours of work to do in the next two weeks to research little bits of stuff that I hadn't looked up yet, do a deep copyedit of the second half (I neglected copyedit/word choice issues on the last half in the interest of getting it to the editor), proofread the whole thing, set it up for print and proofread it again, and write the dedication/acknowledgements/etc. Ugh. Still, I'm really happy with how this book is turning out - I think it might be my best yet. Or if it's not, I won't know it for another few weeks, when the reviews will begin and all my sunny optimism can be crushed by the interwebs.

Now, though, I desperately need to sleep, since I have to slog all day for the day job tomorrow. Goodnight!

the final countdown

I'm out of words. I went to Goody at 9:30, where I met up with Kathia, and I wrote for four hours straight, with a short break to have 'lunch' of two hard-boiled eggs and a Mexican Coke. Yes, I'm living the dream. Then I came home, took a bath, wrote the back cover copy for Alex and Prudence's book (a necessary evil that I'd been putting off forever), and then met up with Kathia at a wine bar to write for another two hours. Thus rendered completely braindead, I abandoned her and met Terry at Nettie's, where I had an absolutely amazing dish of halibut, clams, and slow-cooked pork. Yes, that sounds like a mistake, but it was totally wonderful. And the 'high tea' cocktail I had with it wasn't so shabby either.

But now I'm desperate to sleep; tomorrow is going to come all too soon, and I am so fucking desperate to finish this book that I need to get myself in gear early tomorrow and write all day without relief. Goodnight!

carry on, carry on

Today was long and brutal, but I'm in a much better mood than I was a few hours ago, so I'll take it. I got up somewhat early, drove to the office, and slogged for five hours or so before deciding that I would beat traffic and come home early. Once here, I worked for another couple of hours, took a nap, and then fought my own surly nature to decide what to do next. A big part of me wanted to crawl even deeper under the covers and pretend that I had never decided to become a writer. But I forced myself out of that mood, put on a fancy dress, and met Kathia for a writing date. We ended up going to Nectar, which was hilarious because we ran into Terry there, who had met another of her friends for a drink.

So Kathia and I ended up being the eccentric writer friends who talked for five minutes, then abruptly said that it had been lovely but that we had work to do. We grabbed a table and wrote for three hours, with help from a couple of glasses of wine and champagne. And I must say that I'm in a much better place than I thought I was - hopefully tomorrow will be enough to get through the bulk of the rest, but we shall see. It was nice, though, to have a friend in the hell I was going through, since Kathia was feeling similarly despondent and our dark nadirs somehow canceled each other out.

We finished around eight, and then we retrieved Terry from the group of people she was with and dragged her to dinner with us. I ate copious amounts of steak, although I didn't finish it, and I am still friends with Terry even though she ordered a chicken salad. Then we parted ways with Kathia and came home. And now I must sleep as much as possible, since I'm meeting Kathia tomorrow morning to end this fucker once and for all. Goodnight!