I am not where I intended to be tonight - on Thursdays, I can typically be found in my own bed, but instead I'm in Heather and Salim's guest room, after an unfortunate encounters with several margaritas. Ha.
First things first. Today was South Bay Fun Day, which meant that I got up, showered, dried my hair, and vacated the house by ten a.m. to run errands and work at Stanford library. The first errand was at the Apple store at Stanford Shopping Center; my laptop battery started throwing a 'service battery' warning, and I decided I should get it checked out. After twenty minutes of waiting for my appointment, a fairly surly dude helped me, but I forgave him for being surly when he said that replacing the battery (normally $129 + $30 labor even though it took them <10mins) was free because it was covered under my warranty. I laughed internally at that, since my AppleCare plan expires tomorrow (ha!), but I took it, and now I have a lovely new battery that should last another three years. That makes me happy, since I was *thisclose* to saying that if the battery cost anything to replace I should just buy the 11" MacBook Air - yes, I realize that's not a cost savings.
So after my battery got fixed, I grabbed lunch at my fave cafe in the south bay, then went to the post office, then went to a shoe store to return a pair of shoes that I ordered online. I bonded with the sales clerks, but unfortunately they didn't have anything in my size that I wanted, or else I would have bought something from them. The return was ridiculous, since their system was calculating the return sales tax incorrectly, so I think I was out about $0.10 (although when I asked if they had any candy to give me, they offered me some dog treats - clearly they were trying to make it up to me). Then I went to Stanford library, where I spent four hours researching the Regency, British travelers in foreign lands, etc.
My evening plan was to have dinner with Heather (aka dear respected madam), and I dragged her to Fiesta Del Mar. Before we even got seated, I went *off* about a bad review I got on HEIRESS this morning, which basically said that my historical knowledge was terrible and that the whole thing was unbelievable. If you've spent more than three seconds with me, you know that I hate to be told that I'm wrong, particularly when I'm oh-so-right, and so I was pretty much livid all day. There's nothing I can do about it, since it's the reviewer's right to be snarky and there's no way that I or anyone else can address it without making the situation worse, but suffice it to say that I did my research and there's nothing I can do to combat the 'Romancelandia' version of history (which is not real history, as much as readers who've read hundreds of romances would like to believe it is). Ugh. I'm still angry. sssanyway, I was going to stick to diet coke, but I ended up having a margarita...and then my favorite waiter (who loooooves me) brought me a special blend margarita that was omgthebestthingever, and then Heather ordered one after she tasted mine, and then I had another. And long story short, I got drunk and almost weepy and so when Salim came to pick Heather up, I had to go home with them. Ha.
So when we got to their place, I sobered up just enough that they plied me with a gin and tonic, and we talked about weddings and construction and watched 'Always Sunny in Philadelphia'. And now I should sleep; I have to get up at eight so that dear respected madam can take me back to my car when she goes to work, and then I have to decide whether to a) do the drive of shame home or b) go to the mall, put on makeup in sephora, buy some underwear, and go to the library. I'm too old for this shit, but there are days (like when reviewers claim I don't know history) that it feels good. Goodnight!
Friday, August 17, 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
let me give your heart a break
I didn't write today; after typing up fifteen pages of handwritten writing that I did yesterday, and not feeling quite right all day (not sure if I'm getting sick, or if it's allergies, or if it's some helpful hypochondria trying to keep me from writing), I didn't really feel like tackling the next scene.
So instead, I indulged in an orgy of research, which I could easily continue forever because I'm just that much of a dork. I'm reading this book on East India Company warehouse workers in London from 1800-1858, and it's all ridiculously interesting (to me, not to you). Beyond just learning about the East India Company's domestic operations, there are tons of fascinating tidbits that shine some light on broader social issues of the time, like how many people were employed, what they made, what the construction of massive warehouses in the City of London area did to the so-called neighborhood, what goods were being imported, etc. It's so good that I ended up resurrecting an old database that I'd started long ago and abandoned so that I could type up my notes from the book in a v. fluid, searchable format, since the book has to go back to Stanford library at some point. Resurrecting the database makes me want to read the dozens of half-read/unopened research books on my shelves, which I suppose is a good thing since any fiction I read these days seems to make me incredibly surly.
Now, though, I need to go to bed; I've got plans tomorrow, including a trip to the Apple Store to fix my laptop battery and other various and sundry errands, so I should get some sleep. Goodnight!
So instead, I indulged in an orgy of research, which I could easily continue forever because I'm just that much of a dork. I'm reading this book on East India Company warehouse workers in London from 1800-1858, and it's all ridiculously interesting (to me, not to you). Beyond just learning about the East India Company's domestic operations, there are tons of fascinating tidbits that shine some light on broader social issues of the time, like how many people were employed, what they made, what the construction of massive warehouses in the City of London area did to the so-called neighborhood, what goods were being imported, etc. It's so good that I ended up resurrecting an old database that I'd started long ago and abandoned so that I could type up my notes from the book in a v. fluid, searchable format, since the book has to go back to Stanford library at some point. Resurrecting the database makes me want to read the dozens of half-read/unopened research books on my shelves, which I suppose is a good thing since any fiction I read these days seems to make me incredibly surly.
Now, though, I need to go to bed; I've got plans tomorrow, including a trip to the Apple Store to fix my laptop battery and other various and sundry errands, so I should get some sleep. Goodnight!
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
it'll make a million for you overnight
Today was nothing, and I mean nothing, but writing. Oh, and naptaking, and a relatively small amount of procrastinating. But I forced my way through two scenes and approximately twelve pages (eight handwritten, but as I'm using the tiniest college-ruled lines in a fairly large notebook, the typed version should be longer), so score to that. But it was a hard, brutal slog; I wrote at my desk, in the bathtub, on the roof in the fog, at my desk again, and in my bed in an attempt to keep myself awake and stimulated enough to keep writing rather than stopping every time I felt like I could go no further. And it worked - not sure it will work again tomorrow, but I certainly feel better about the book than I did yesterday.
And I feel better about life than I did yesterday, too; I'm no longer quite so annoyed with everyone and everything, so perhaps tomorrow I can safely venture out of my hermitville and, you know, get some coffee or interact with strangers or something. Nothing too wild and crazy. But the writing is the most important thing, so if I can venture out and be productive, great; if I must do my weird peregrinations through the apartment in search of varying places to work, then I'll do that instead. Goodnight!
And I feel better about life than I did yesterday, too; I'm no longer quite so annoyed with everyone and everything, so perhaps tomorrow I can safely venture out of my hermitville and, you know, get some coffee or interact with strangers or something. Nothing too wild and crazy. But the writing is the most important thing, so if I can venture out and be productive, great; if I must do my weird peregrinations through the apartment in search of varying places to work, then I'll do that instead. Goodnight!
start anew when your heart is an empty room
I wasn't in the mood to blog last night, and I'm not particularly in the mood to blog tonight, but I suspected there might be a mutiny of all hands (aka my mother) if I skipped for a second night in a row. Suffice it to say that I am in an utterly foul and wretched mood -- not for any particular reason that I can discern, even though Nick and Ellie's continued recalcitrance is grating on my last nerve. I spent several hours this morning procrastinating to avoid this guest blog post that I had to write; I really must stop agreeing to do them, since I think they sell v. few books and I hate writing them. Then, I ate lunch (comfort food: tuna salad sandwich made with miracle whip, on toasted gluten free bread), messed around a bit, and took Terry (who was working from home for the day) to pick up her car from the mechanic. Then, knowing that I needed a change of scene, I went to a cafe and nursed some tea while writing for a couple of hours.
So I'm happy with the progress I made on Nick and Ellie today, even if it's never, ever enough (yes, I see the conflict inherent in this sentence and recognize it's probably why I'm angry and sometimes get ulcers). When I got home, I wrote a bit more, then went downstairs and heated up some of my leftover chili. I ate it sullenly at the dining room table, thinking of everything and nothing, and then hung out in the dining room for another hour while Terry cooked and ate her own supper. Then I came upstairs, knew I was too unsettled to write (Samovar would say I have monkey mind and try to sell me some overpriced lapsang souchong to cure it), and so decided to read a book instead. But of course I hated it, too; my reading has brought me little joy lately, either because I'm choosing the wrong stuff or because I'm in a harshly critical mood about everything and everyone and it would take a work of surpassing brilliance to make me forget to hate on it.
Anyway, the end. My rages don't last very long, so with any luck tomorrow will be much brighter (but I wouldn't count on it; I always fall into weird eddies and doldrums of emotions when I'm in the throes of the middle/end of a book, so this is kind of to be expected). Goodnight!
So I'm happy with the progress I made on Nick and Ellie today, even if it's never, ever enough (yes, I see the conflict inherent in this sentence and recognize it's probably why I'm angry and sometimes get ulcers). When I got home, I wrote a bit more, then went downstairs and heated up some of my leftover chili. I ate it sullenly at the dining room table, thinking of everything and nothing, and then hung out in the dining room for another hour while Terry cooked and ate her own supper. Then I came upstairs, knew I was too unsettled to write (Samovar would say I have monkey mind and try to sell me some overpriced lapsang souchong to cure it), and so decided to read a book instead. But of course I hated it, too; my reading has brought me little joy lately, either because I'm choosing the wrong stuff or because I'm in a harshly critical mood about everything and everyone and it would take a work of surpassing brilliance to make me forget to hate on it.
Anyway, the end. My rages don't last very long, so with any luck tomorrow will be much brighter (but I wouldn't count on it; I always fall into weird eddies and doldrums of emotions when I'm in the throes of the middle/end of a book, so this is kind of to be expected). Goodnight!
Sunday, August 12, 2012
poetry of defiance
I'm beyond tired; why did I think that, after getting up at 7:30 this morning (and not sleeping particularly well last night), I should then stay up until two a.m. reading a book? Stupid. But that's how I roll, as we all know. I had my romance writer meeting this morning, and it went v. well; my freelance editor was a successful speaker, and I had a v. lovely, v. long lunch with the group after the meeting. Then, the speaker and I made our slow progress back across the bay bridge and I dropped her off at the Ferry Building to meet up with a friend of hers; the editor is a former New Yorker and was more than happy to take herself on the BART to the airport rather than using me to take her tonight, which was more than welcome to me.
So since I didn't have to take her to the airport, I came home, hung out with Terry, and ended up drinking three daiquiris, eating leftover homemade curry, and watching the Olympics/reading all night. You'll notice there was no writing in that statement, but I need to read occasionally or I forget why I love books and why I struggle so valiantly (whinily) to write them. The Olympics tonight were v. odd, though; they opened with a full HOUR of Tom Brokaw doing a full-on documentary about the beginning of World War II, the Battle of Britain, the Blitz, etc. It was really a fantastic bit of television, but other than mentioning that the first American to die in combat in WWII (a fighter pilot who volunteered for Britain) was a two-time Olympic gold medalist in bobsled in 1928 and 1932, and to mention that for most of the current athletes WWII is just a bunch of black and white documentaries, the piece really seemed to have nothing at all to do with the Olympics. So it was bizarre that it existed, and bizarre that Terry and I both wrote honors theses on WWII and so could sit there and drink too many daiquiris while debating Hitler's strategy. Ha.
After that, the Olympics paled in comparison, although men's diving was v. exciting. And while I kept an eye on track and field, I also read a book, which I really should have stopped reading; it was awful, but the story was just interesting enough that I kept reading because I kept hoping it would be better. And so now, fueled with the fact that other mediocre writers get published and have massive success, I'm going to bed -- goodnight!
So since I didn't have to take her to the airport, I came home, hung out with Terry, and ended up drinking three daiquiris, eating leftover homemade curry, and watching the Olympics/reading all night. You'll notice there was no writing in that statement, but I need to read occasionally or I forget why I love books and why I struggle so valiantly (whinily) to write them. The Olympics tonight were v. odd, though; they opened with a full HOUR of Tom Brokaw doing a full-on documentary about the beginning of World War II, the Battle of Britain, the Blitz, etc. It was really a fantastic bit of television, but other than mentioning that the first American to die in combat in WWII (a fighter pilot who volunteered for Britain) was a two-time Olympic gold medalist in bobsled in 1928 and 1932, and to mention that for most of the current athletes WWII is just a bunch of black and white documentaries, the piece really seemed to have nothing at all to do with the Olympics. So it was bizarre that it existed, and bizarre that Terry and I both wrote honors theses on WWII and so could sit there and drink too many daiquiris while debating Hitler's strategy. Ha.
After that, the Olympics paled in comparison, although men's diving was v. exciting. And while I kept an eye on track and field, I also read a book, which I really should have stopped reading; it was awful, but the story was just interesting enough that I kept reading because I kept hoping it would be better. And so now, fueled with the fact that other mediocre writers get published and have massive success, I'm going to bed -- goodnight!
Saturday, August 11, 2012
every day i'm shuffling
Today was lovely - while I can't say that Nick and Ellie are cooperating, precisely, I did manage to wring six pages out of them tonight, which is six more pages than I expected to wring given that I had plans this afternoon. I spent the morning showering, eating, and procrastinating before driving to the airport to pick up my freelance editor, who is speaking to my romance chapter tomorrow. We then hung out for a couple of hours at Samovar in Yerba Buena, which was super fun since a) I adore Samovar no matter who I go with, and b) she's been in the industry forever, so she is both insightful and full of entertaining gossip. Yay.
She was hanging out with a friend later this afternoon/evening, so I dropped her off at her hotel and came home, where I felt super sleepy and so ate some stale cake (I know, bad decision making). Finally I decided to wake myself by going to Philz and getting a coffee + half a pound of coffee beans, since I was out and needed the jolt to feed my addiction. Properly caffeinated, I came home, wrote, ate leftover curry, and wrote some more before throwing in the towel and reading a bit of a writing book that my editor recommended.
And now, even though I'm not done writing this book (hahahahahahaha sob), I am going to go to bed; I have to get up at 7:30 to get ready for zee romance meeting, which is cruel and unusual punishment. Goodnight!
She was hanging out with a friend later this afternoon/evening, so I dropped her off at her hotel and came home, where I felt super sleepy and so ate some stale cake (I know, bad decision making). Finally I decided to wake myself by going to Philz and getting a coffee + half a pound of coffee beans, since I was out and needed the jolt to feed my addiction. Properly caffeinated, I came home, wrote, ate leftover curry, and wrote some more before throwing in the towel and reading a bit of a writing book that my editor recommended.
And now, even though I'm not done writing this book (hahahahahahaha sob), I am going to go to bed; I have to get up at 7:30 to get ready for zee romance meeting, which is cruel and unusual punishment. Goodnight!
Friday, August 10, 2012
deep beneath the cover of another perfect wonder
I would whine about Nick and Ellie, but I'm sure you're tired of hearing about it. Perhaps not as tired as I am of living through it, but I'll grant you, my loyal readers, some stake in this drama. I did abandon my house this morning to do some writing at Morning Due, and I did some more writing at home this afternoon, netting about five pages (not bad for me, not good when I want to be writing twenty pages).
And I might have written all night like I originally planned to, but we'll never know because Terry came home from work and I succumbed to temptation and went out for wine and an early dinner with her instead. It was gorgeous in the city today, so we sat at an outside table at Des Amis and split a small carafe of wine, and then I had steak frites, which I adore (although in this case the frites were better than the steak; it was just a bit too done for my liking, but still delicious enough that I didn't want to wait to send it back). When we came home I was too happy to force myself back into the writing, and so I watched many hours of Olympics coverage instead.
Tomorrow's another day, and I hope to do some writing in the morning, since I'm spending the afternoon picking up my freelance editor from the airport and then taking her around the city. No, I'm not important enough that she's flying up to see me. But I arranged for her to give this month's program at my romance chapter meeting on Saturday, and I'm getting additional benefit since I get to hang out with her. So I should probably go to bed so that I can write tomorrow so that I can feel mildly successful rather than pissed off about Nick and Ellie when I pick her up. Goodnight!
And I might have written all night like I originally planned to, but we'll never know because Terry came home from work and I succumbed to temptation and went out for wine and an early dinner with her instead. It was gorgeous in the city today, so we sat at an outside table at Des Amis and split a small carafe of wine, and then I had steak frites, which I adore (although in this case the frites were better than the steak; it was just a bit too done for my liking, but still delicious enough that I didn't want to wait to send it back). When we came home I was too happy to force myself back into the writing, and so I watched many hours of Olympics coverage instead.
Tomorrow's another day, and I hope to do some writing in the morning, since I'm spending the afternoon picking up my freelance editor from the airport and then taking her around the city. No, I'm not important enough that she's flying up to see me. But I arranged for her to give this month's program at my romance chapter meeting on Saturday, and I'm getting additional benefit since I get to hang out with her. So I should probably go to bed so that I can write tomorrow so that I can feel mildly successful rather than pissed off about Nick and Ellie when I pick her up. Goodnight!
Thursday, August 09, 2012
we're gonna play in the dark til it's golden again
I hate this book. Hate it. I mean, not really - but today was completely unpleasant. I need to make a decision about this killer business, but after much wailing and gnashing of teeth (and writing in my journal and eating cake and taking a nap, and cleaning out the pump filter in the washing machine - a true sign of procrastination), I decided to go for a walk. So I went to the grocery store, bought some produce, then went to Starbucks and wrote for an hour or so. I decided to just write the next scene without deciding about the killer, which is probably the right strategy - I know I just have to keep writing, find out 100 pages later that I was wrong, and rewrite it, but that doesn't mean knowing that the next few days will be all for naught is any easier to bear.
sssanyway, when I got home, I used my produce to make supper - an attempt at thai green curry, using curry paste, light coconut milk, chicken, carrot, potato, green beans, and fish sauce. It turned out really well, actually; I overcooked it slightly, after thinking I'd undercooked it, and I think next time I'll leave out the chicken broth it called for since it ended up being too thin, but it was tasty, just the right amount of spice for me, and really easy to make. Good thing I like it, since I'll be eating leftovers for the next couple of days. And then I watched Olympics with Terry (of course) and probably made one too many jhokes about beach volleyball for her liking. And now I think I shall go to bed, and hope that Nick and Ellie stop being little bitches and cooperate with me tomorrow. Goodnight!
sssanyway, when I got home, I used my produce to make supper - an attempt at thai green curry, using curry paste, light coconut milk, chicken, carrot, potato, green beans, and fish sauce. It turned out really well, actually; I overcooked it slightly, after thinking I'd undercooked it, and I think next time I'll leave out the chicken broth it called for since it ended up being too thin, but it was tasty, just the right amount of spice for me, and really easy to make. Good thing I like it, since I'll be eating leftovers for the next couple of days. And then I watched Olympics with Terry (of course) and probably made one too many jhokes about beach volleyball for her liking. And now I think I shall go to bed, and hope that Nick and Ellie stop being little bitches and cooperate with me tomorrow. Goodnight!
Wednesday, August 08, 2012
don't pay no mind to the demons they fill you with fear
Today was lovely, but I did no writing - I did, however, decide to maybe keep the old killer, so let's hope that decision still stands when I wake up tomorrow. I got up at 8:30, which was early enough to shower but not early enough to eat breakfast before the complex's water got shut off. Then I went to Palo Alto to check my mail and mail some giveaways, and then I went to my old place of work to have lunch with Gyre, who was in fine form.
After lunch, I went to Saratoga (which I never go to, as it is even farther south) to have coffee with a romance writer from Australia who finaled for the golden heart the same years that I did - she came to Anaheim for the conference, stayed with her dad in LA for a bit, then flew up here to see two concerts at Saratoga's Mountain Winery tonight and tomorrow night - Chris Isaak and Duran Duran. Since she was coming in around midday today and had nothing to do, we got together for coffee, and then I drove her up to the winery just to show her how to get there, since she was nervous about driving on the wrong side of the road on an unfamiliar, windy mountain path - possibly with good reason, since it was super steep and super curvy. But that's why the venue is so cool, so hopefully she made it back up there later tonight.
I finally left Saratoga around 4:30, and had to deal with traffic on the way home, but I made it in time to eat some leftover spaghetti while watching women's indoor volleyball with Terry. Lauren (aka Subz) came over and watched a couple of hours of primetime with us, which was fun, and when she left and Terry went to bed, I continued to watch until the women's floor routine was done (yay). But then I turned off the tv and took care of some tings, thus missing the men's gymnastics - I'll have to watch them in the morning. But for now, I must sleep - goodnight!
After lunch, I went to Saratoga (which I never go to, as it is even farther south) to have coffee with a romance writer from Australia who finaled for the golden heart the same years that I did - she came to Anaheim for the conference, stayed with her dad in LA for a bit, then flew up here to see two concerts at Saratoga's Mountain Winery tonight and tomorrow night - Chris Isaak and Duran Duran. Since she was coming in around midday today and had nothing to do, we got together for coffee, and then I drove her up to the winery just to show her how to get there, since she was nervous about driving on the wrong side of the road on an unfamiliar, windy mountain path - possibly with good reason, since it was super steep and super curvy. But that's why the venue is so cool, so hopefully she made it back up there later tonight.
I finally left Saratoga around 4:30, and had to deal with traffic on the way home, but I made it in time to eat some leftover spaghetti while watching women's indoor volleyball with Terry. Lauren (aka Subz) came over and watched a couple of hours of primetime with us, which was fun, and when she left and Terry went to bed, I continued to watch until the women's floor routine was done (yay). But then I turned off the tv and took care of some tings, thus missing the men's gymnastics - I'll have to watch them in the morning. But for now, I must sleep - goodnight!
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
i'm gonna make this place your home
Nick and Ellie are still being assholes - I had successfully avoided distractions, cleared my mind, started writing, and was going great guns plotting out the next two or three scenes today when suddenly, out of NOWHERE, I realized that maybe the person who is trying to kill Nick is actually someone other than the person who I thought was the murderer for the past year. WTF?! That threw me for a complete loop - I mean, how can the villain be someone other than who I had planned, given that I plotted the damn thing and am in complete control of their destinies? Writing is a strange thing, I tell you.
So I spent the whole afternoon stewing over this development, writing out bits and pieces of possible plot to support the new killer, and continuing to debate whether the new killer was the right killer or whether s/he was just a shiny new toy killer who must, regretfully, be returned when I realize the older model is stronger/better/more logical. I'm stymied. So I finally left the house and went for a walk, which helped to clear my head a bit, but unfortunately when my head was clear it refused to be uncleared by going back to writing. So I spent the evening making pasta (yum), then watching some Olympics. I'm not done with tonight's coverage, but I need to sleep; apparently the water in the complex is getting shut off at nine tomorrow, which means I actually need to get up at eight if I want to shower/eat breakfast/etc. Boo. I hope that I dream about whoever the real killer is so I can move forward...it may be time to try the Aaron Sorkin method and score some coke. Or maybe I can continue to get buy on my unholy mix of Philz coffee and diet mountain dew. Goodnight!
So I spent the whole afternoon stewing over this development, writing out bits and pieces of possible plot to support the new killer, and continuing to debate whether the new killer was the right killer or whether s/he was just a shiny new toy killer who must, regretfully, be returned when I realize the older model is stronger/better/more logical. I'm stymied. So I finally left the house and went for a walk, which helped to clear my head a bit, but unfortunately when my head was clear it refused to be uncleared by going back to writing. So I spent the evening making pasta (yum), then watching some Olympics. I'm not done with tonight's coverage, but I need to sleep; apparently the water in the complex is getting shut off at nine tomorrow, which means I actually need to get up at eight if I want to shower/eat breakfast/etc. Boo. I hope that I dream about whoever the real killer is so I can move forward...it may be time to try the Aaron Sorkin method and score some coke. Or maybe I can continue to get buy on my unholy mix of Philz coffee and diet mountain dew. Goodnight!
Monday, August 06, 2012
blow me one last kiss
While I wasn't hungover, precisely, I was pretty much useless today. I slept until sometime after ten, when I awoke to the smell of smoke and the sound of men being stupid. The window above my bed (which I can't see out without standing on the bed, so the view doesn't matter) looks out over the garage/carport area of the apartment complex behind us, and some dudes were back there attempting to get some sort of homemade grilling apparatus going. Needless to say, I was displeased. But, awake, I forced myself downstairs and finished cleaning up from the party, which took v. little time since I'd taken care of almost everything yesterday. Then I enjoyed a sandwich with some of the last bits of leftover deli meat (yum), contemplated life, and then attempted to write.
But I didn't attempt very hard, which meant I accomplished nothing. All this laser determination and focus that I'm seeing from Olympic athletes is not rubbing off on me. However, tomorrow is another day, one in which I will have no traces of hangover, and I'm excited to see where Nick and Ellie take me next. I typed up everything I wrote two days ago, mourned the fact that I somehow wrote a thirty-page sex scene that I will probably need to cut back, and am now moving on to the next segment of the book.
Today, though, I took a nap. Then I talked to zee parents for an hour and a half. Then I read part of a research book: "Jane Austen's Town and Country Style," which is interesting, but I lost interest when the Olympics came on and the book had a too-long segment on architectural philosophies. The Olympics made me slightly sad tonight, since most of the people whom I wanted to see win gold did not win gold (including Cassidy Krug, whom I actually took a continuing studies class with; she was in medal contention in diving, but it didn't end up going her way). The Olympics giveth, the Olympics taketh away.
And now I really should sleep; I'm going to power through as much manuscript as possible this week, so wish me luck. Goodnight!
But I didn't attempt very hard, which meant I accomplished nothing. All this laser determination and focus that I'm seeing from Olympic athletes is not rubbing off on me. However, tomorrow is another day, one in which I will have no traces of hangover, and I'm excited to see where Nick and Ellie take me next. I typed up everything I wrote two days ago, mourned the fact that I somehow wrote a thirty-page sex scene that I will probably need to cut back, and am now moving on to the next segment of the book.
Today, though, I took a nap. Then I talked to zee parents for an hour and a half. Then I read part of a research book: "Jane Austen's Town and Country Style," which is interesting, but I lost interest when the Olympics came on and the book had a too-long segment on architectural philosophies. The Olympics made me slightly sad tonight, since most of the people whom I wanted to see win gold did not win gold (including Cassidy Krug, whom I actually took a continuing studies class with; she was in medal contention in diving, but it didn't end up going her way). The Olympics giveth, the Olympics taketh away.
And now I really should sleep; I'm going to power through as much manuscript as possible this week, so wish me luck. Goodnight!
Sunday, August 05, 2012
settle down, it'll all be clear
YAY OLYMPICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So today was my Olympic Rings Cakes party, and it was a smashing success. It all came together beautifully; baking four of the five cakes yesterday no doubt helped, as did buying stuff for nice sandwiches rather than attempting to make supper. By the time the first guests showed up, everything was basically in place and done and lovely (and my hair was tinseled with the Olympics colors) - perhaps I'll post pictures tomorrow, but tonight I'm too tired to figure out zee technology.
However, I was delighted with both the quantity and quality of the attendees - approximately thirty people showed up, which was approximately enough to eat half the cake I baked. We officially cut the cake at eight p.m., but people started showing up two or three hours before that and stayed until after midnight, so that's quite a showing. And there was much watching of Olympics, much rejoicing over eating cake rather than training for decades for small, fleeting bits of glory, and much drinking of rum and other beverages. I made a giant pitcher of mojitos (which were utterly delish), and a vat and a half of mai tais (involving six cups of rum - I usually don't measure mixed drinks using my 4-cup pyrex measuring cup, but it was quite helpful for this party). Once the food coloring started pouring, shit got real, although we only did one shot this year (and that one was diluted - more like half a shot) - a rum/club soda shot with a squeeze of lime and a bit of salt, dyed light blue like the ocean, with one single drop of black food coloring diffusing through it, which was called the Deepwater Horizon. Not yummy, but certainly entertaining enough to deserve a medal.
Speaking of medals, I had twelve or so that I gave out whimsically and capriciously - for such things as arriving first (Felicia), parking the farthest away (Oniel), knowing an Olympian (Chandlord), wearing all five Olympics colors (Adit - who else?), saying that if we can't be Russia we might as well be out of the volleyball competition (Tom), etc. It is entertaining to watch people get mildly competitive over something with no rules and no tangible monetary value - but I'm sure I would have been striving for a medal had I not been the equivalent of the IOC (and like the IOC, I allowed myself to be seduced by my own power and ended up giving myself a medal, yay).
As I said, the last group left around 12:30, and I might have been tempted to go with them - but I was quite happy at my current state of inebriation, and since I'm on deadline and need to write furiously tomorrow (and all next week), I decided to be a good girl and stay home so that I wouldn't die. After they left, I ended up cleaning the apartment - perhaps I should have just gone to bed, but I was just drunk enough to not mind cleaning, and not tired yet, so I put everything away. I need to run the dishwasher in the morning, wash a few handwash only things, and scrub down the counters (after I buy paper towels, since I made a rookie mistake and forgot to buy more before the party) - but cleanup was super easy, and now I don't have to dread getting out of bed and facing the kitchen in the morning.
So beyond cleaning, I really can't recount how delightful of an evening I had - and I didn't even really get all that drunk, despite the vat of delicious mai tais, because I was just so darned excited for zee party that I kept forgetting to drink my beverages. I'm already planning for my Sochi 2014 party - I believe borscht is a requirement, and I'll have to do vodka drinks instead of rum drinks (not that rum is really a British drink, but Britain does still have Jamaica as part of the commonwealth, and there was a lot of rum drunk by the British navy, so I'm making a tenuous connection there). Anyway, it will be super fun - so save the date for February 15, 2014. Goodnight!
So today was my Olympic Rings Cakes party, and it was a smashing success. It all came together beautifully; baking four of the five cakes yesterday no doubt helped, as did buying stuff for nice sandwiches rather than attempting to make supper. By the time the first guests showed up, everything was basically in place and done and lovely (and my hair was tinseled with the Olympics colors) - perhaps I'll post pictures tomorrow, but tonight I'm too tired to figure out zee technology.
However, I was delighted with both the quantity and quality of the attendees - approximately thirty people showed up, which was approximately enough to eat half the cake I baked. We officially cut the cake at eight p.m., but people started showing up two or three hours before that and stayed until after midnight, so that's quite a showing. And there was much watching of Olympics, much rejoicing over eating cake rather than training for decades for small, fleeting bits of glory, and much drinking of rum and other beverages. I made a giant pitcher of mojitos (which were utterly delish), and a vat and a half of mai tais (involving six cups of rum - I usually don't measure mixed drinks using my 4-cup pyrex measuring cup, but it was quite helpful for this party). Once the food coloring started pouring, shit got real, although we only did one shot this year (and that one was diluted - more like half a shot) - a rum/club soda shot with a squeeze of lime and a bit of salt, dyed light blue like the ocean, with one single drop of black food coloring diffusing through it, which was called the Deepwater Horizon. Not yummy, but certainly entertaining enough to deserve a medal.
Speaking of medals, I had twelve or so that I gave out whimsically and capriciously - for such things as arriving first (Felicia), parking the farthest away (Oniel), knowing an Olympian (Chandlord), wearing all five Olympics colors (Adit - who else?), saying that if we can't be Russia we might as well be out of the volleyball competition (Tom), etc. It is entertaining to watch people get mildly competitive over something with no rules and no tangible monetary value - but I'm sure I would have been striving for a medal had I not been the equivalent of the IOC (and like the IOC, I allowed myself to be seduced by my own power and ended up giving myself a medal, yay).
As I said, the last group left around 12:30, and I might have been tempted to go with them - but I was quite happy at my current state of inebriation, and since I'm on deadline and need to write furiously tomorrow (and all next week), I decided to be a good girl and stay home so that I wouldn't die. After they left, I ended up cleaning the apartment - perhaps I should have just gone to bed, but I was just drunk enough to not mind cleaning, and not tired yet, so I put everything away. I need to run the dishwasher in the morning, wash a few handwash only things, and scrub down the counters (after I buy paper towels, since I made a rookie mistake and forgot to buy more before the party) - but cleanup was super easy, and now I don't have to dread getting out of bed and facing the kitchen in the morning.
So beyond cleaning, I really can't recount how delightful of an evening I had - and I didn't even really get all that drunk, despite the vat of delicious mai tais, because I was just so darned excited for zee party that I kept forgetting to drink my beverages. I'm already planning for my Sochi 2014 party - I believe borscht is a requirement, and I'll have to do vodka drinks instead of rum drinks (not that rum is really a British drink, but Britain does still have Jamaica as part of the commonwealth, and there was a lot of rum drunk by the British navy, so I'm making a tenuous connection there). Anyway, it will be super fun - so save the date for February 15, 2014. Goodnight!
Saturday, August 04, 2012
i think i've finally had enough, i think i maybe think too much
I'm super tired, but preparations for my grand Olympics party are proceeding exactly according to plan. I got up this morning, took care of stuff around the house, and then forced myself to go to a cafe and write for two hours (and finally, finally finish that Nick and Ellie scene that has been driving me nuts), since I can't completely ignore the fact that I'm supposed to be finishing this book while I'm obsessed with the Olympics. Then I went to a party supply store to get a plastic tablecloth to protect Terry's table from the depredations of drunks with food coloring, and then I went to Safeway to stock up on dry goods and mixers.
By the time I got home, it was approximately three p.m. And then I engaged in a baking death march and made four of the five cakes between 3:30pm and 7:30pm. I made lemon cake, chocolate cake, red velvet cake, and blueberry cream cheese cake - and they're all gluten free, which I'm super excited about. The lemon cake is the same recipe as what my mom and aunt make, but I used a gluten free white cake mix (modified per their lemon cake instructions by adding lemon zest and lemon extract). The blueberry cake is the one I experimented with a couple of weeks ago, but I baked it the proper length of time this time. The chocolate cake used a gluten free chocolate cake mix, and while I don't know exactly how it turned out, the batter was lovely. It's frosted with a homemade chocolate ganache, so if nothing else, the frosting will taste great.
The biggest challenge was the red velvet cake, which was a total experiment...I used the gluten free flour mix that I make from scratch using a recipe from the cookbook my parents gave me (involving brown rice flour, sorghum flour, corn starch, potato starch, potato flour, and xantham gum), and we'll see whether it's any good. And I made a homemade cream cheese frosting (dyed red, por supuesto), which turned out really well. I may have overbaked the cake, but we shall see...and anyway, I don't love red velvet cake, so if it sucks, I won't miss it.
But I was more than ready to take a break from baking by 7:30, so I left the house and met up with Terry for Mexican food in San Bruno. We hadn't really caught up since my conference, so roommate dinner was a good thing. Then we came home, I frosted the chocolate cake, unloaded the dishwasher, and washed up the last couple of pans (not hard, since I washed up after every cake, so the kitchen is still sparkling). You'll notice that I did not watch the Olympics -- I know, shocker. But I really need to sleep if I'm going to survive my party, and if I'm really good I may try to squeeze some writing in beforehand...we shall see. Goodnight!
By the time I got home, it was approximately three p.m. And then I engaged in a baking death march and made four of the five cakes between 3:30pm and 7:30pm. I made lemon cake, chocolate cake, red velvet cake, and blueberry cream cheese cake - and they're all gluten free, which I'm super excited about. The lemon cake is the same recipe as what my mom and aunt make, but I used a gluten free white cake mix (modified per their lemon cake instructions by adding lemon zest and lemon extract). The blueberry cake is the one I experimented with a couple of weeks ago, but I baked it the proper length of time this time. The chocolate cake used a gluten free chocolate cake mix, and while I don't know exactly how it turned out, the batter was lovely. It's frosted with a homemade chocolate ganache, so if nothing else, the frosting will taste great.
The biggest challenge was the red velvet cake, which was a total experiment...I used the gluten free flour mix that I make from scratch using a recipe from the cookbook my parents gave me (involving brown rice flour, sorghum flour, corn starch, potato starch, potato flour, and xantham gum), and we'll see whether it's any good. And I made a homemade cream cheese frosting (dyed red, por supuesto), which turned out really well. I may have overbaked the cake, but we shall see...and anyway, I don't love red velvet cake, so if it sucks, I won't miss it.
But I was more than ready to take a break from baking by 7:30, so I left the house and met up with Terry for Mexican food in San Bruno. We hadn't really caught up since my conference, so roommate dinner was a good thing. Then we came home, I frosted the chocolate cake, unloaded the dishwasher, and washed up the last couple of pans (not hard, since I washed up after every cake, so the kitchen is still sparkling). You'll notice that I did not watch the Olympics -- I know, shocker. But I really need to sleep if I'm going to survive my party, and if I'm really good I may try to squeeze some writing in beforehand...we shall see. Goodnight!
Friday, August 03, 2012
i will turn your face to alabaster
I should have gone to bed two hours ago, but I started watching Olympics coverage v. late (after ten p.m.) since I had plans tonight (a measure of my affection for the people I had plans with, since I didn't cancel on them). And since tonight was the women's all around gymnastics final + several important swimming races, I didn't want to put it off until tomorrow, particularly since I don't have time to watch tomorrow in addition to all the other preparations I have to make.
But today was good, even if it was mostly about getting ready for my massive Olympics party on Saturday. And by 'massive' I mean I have a lot of baking to do - I think there will be a v. good turnout, but we're all getting old, so while I expect I will do some shots of dubious provenance and spend Sunday regretting all my life decisions, I also don't expect this to be particularly rowdy. sssanyway, I spent the morning unpacking from my conference last week, doing laundry, etc. Then I spent the afternoon working on Nick and Ellie before throwing in the towel and working on my grocery list/preparation plan for the party. Nothing is hard, but baking five cakes requires some planning, and I don't want to forget stuff at the store and have to go back.
So I made my list, then decided to clean out the pantry so I have room for the stuff I'm buying. And then I made chocolate chip chewies with a gluten free flour blend - not that I need to bake anything else, but one of the cakes (red velvet) would be best if I baked it from scratch, and I wanted to test my flour mix on something I know how to make so that I could tell whether/how it was off. And I must say that the chewies turned out fantastically - there's just the slightest difference (some sort of grainier/nuttier taste), but I don't think anyone could tell they were gluten free. Yay!
After baking, I went to Whole Foods to pick up gluten free cake mixes, then went to BevMo to pick up rum, vodka, orgeat, gin, etc. Then I went to Chandlord's for what was supposed to be book club, but I think we're on summer break - this was going to be a watch-a-movie book club, but we didn't even bother to watch the movie. Instead, we hung out and wished Lauren a day-late happy birthday, and Chandlord made an awesome salad and some awesome homemade pasta sauce, and it was all v. lowkey and lovely. And then I came home and pounded through several hours of Olympics coverage - I know, you're so impressed.
And now I really need to sleep - I have to write, go grocery shopping, and bake at least three cakes tomorrow, so wish me luck. Goodnight!
But today was good, even if it was mostly about getting ready for my massive Olympics party on Saturday. And by 'massive' I mean I have a lot of baking to do - I think there will be a v. good turnout, but we're all getting old, so while I expect I will do some shots of dubious provenance and spend Sunday regretting all my life decisions, I also don't expect this to be particularly rowdy. sssanyway, I spent the morning unpacking from my conference last week, doing laundry, etc. Then I spent the afternoon working on Nick and Ellie before throwing in the towel and working on my grocery list/preparation plan for the party. Nothing is hard, but baking five cakes requires some planning, and I don't want to forget stuff at the store and have to go back.
So I made my list, then decided to clean out the pantry so I have room for the stuff I'm buying. And then I made chocolate chip chewies with a gluten free flour blend - not that I need to bake anything else, but one of the cakes (red velvet) would be best if I baked it from scratch, and I wanted to test my flour mix on something I know how to make so that I could tell whether/how it was off. And I must say that the chewies turned out fantastically - there's just the slightest difference (some sort of grainier/nuttier taste), but I don't think anyone could tell they were gluten free. Yay!
After baking, I went to Whole Foods to pick up gluten free cake mixes, then went to BevMo to pick up rum, vodka, orgeat, gin, etc. Then I went to Chandlord's for what was supposed to be book club, but I think we're on summer break - this was going to be a watch-a-movie book club, but we didn't even bother to watch the movie. Instead, we hung out and wished Lauren a day-late happy birthday, and Chandlord made an awesome salad and some awesome homemade pasta sauce, and it was all v. lowkey and lovely. And then I came home and pounded through several hours of Olympics coverage - I know, you're so impressed.
And now I really need to sleep - I have to write, go grocery shopping, and bake at least three cakes tomorrow, so wish me luck. Goodnight!
Thursday, August 02, 2012
lacrimae
I'm blogging while watching the last few minutes of gymnastics so that I can go to bed as soon as coverage is over - it's rather interesting to try to guess what will happen based on what they save for last, and right now I'm guessing that Danell Leyva gets some sort of medal even though it was looking bleak several hours ago when they started gymnastics coverage. And they're actually showing six of the final routines, rather than just him, so whatever happens has gotta be interesting. I'm guessing either a) bronze or b) scoring controversy (yay!!).
Anyway, the rest of my day was quiet but productive...I wrote all afternoon, which was slow going, but what I wrote seems good, so I'm happy about that. And I avoided all spoilers, but the Olympics tonight have felt kinda slow - probably because they've been showing a ton of swimming and putting off this gymnastics stuff until the very end - bastards. And now I'm going to post, shut down, finish watching, and go to bed - goodnight!
Anyway, the rest of my day was quiet but productive...I wrote all afternoon, which was slow going, but what I wrote seems good, so I'm happy about that. And I avoided all spoilers, but the Olympics tonight have felt kinda slow - probably because they've been showing a ton of swimming and putting off this gymnastics stuff until the very end - bastards. And now I'm going to post, shut down, finish watching, and go to bed - goodnight!
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
skyfall
Another day, another successful media blackout. I slept ridiculously late (probably because I didn't go to bed until 2:30am), but I won't let myself regret it because this afternoon I started to feel like I might be getting sick...so I immediately pounded some orange juice and hoped for the best.
But beyond that, today was all Olympics. I spent most of the afternoon watching tivo'd coverage from late last night/early this morning, which was mostly team equestrian, which I ADORED. The commentators were particularly good - not annoying, but the female commentator was also a bit catty about how the riders looked, so that entertained me. And I got to see lots of shots of my beloved Prince Harry (aka Prince Hot Ginge), who had turned out to support his cousin Zara as she rode for Great Britain (obvi). I took a break after that to leave the house briefly and run an errand, and then I came back and attempted to work on Nick and Ellie. I'm still a bit stymied with what I'm changing, but I think I've got it more figured out, so hopefully I can move forward tomorrow.
Tonight was all about primetime Olympics coverage, which unfortunately doesn't start until eight p.m. and lasts until midnight. But I watched it all, and was v. pleased with the results - and especially pleased that it felt like old Cold War times, since women's gymnastics came down to the US, Russia, and Romania (yay nostalgia). Then I worked on Nick and Ellie some more, caught up on social media, watched the new James Bond trailer (awesome), found out that 'The Hobbit' is going to be three movies (theoretically awesome, although I don't see how that's possible), and am now going back into media blackout in preparation for tomorrow. Goodnight!
But beyond that, today was all Olympics. I spent most of the afternoon watching tivo'd coverage from late last night/early this morning, which was mostly team equestrian, which I ADORED. The commentators were particularly good - not annoying, but the female commentator was also a bit catty about how the riders looked, so that entertained me. And I got to see lots of shots of my beloved Prince Harry (aka Prince Hot Ginge), who had turned out to support his cousin Zara as she rode for Great Britain (obvi). I took a break after that to leave the house briefly and run an errand, and then I came back and attempted to work on Nick and Ellie. I'm still a bit stymied with what I'm changing, but I think I've got it more figured out, so hopefully I can move forward tomorrow.
Tonight was all about primetime Olympics coverage, which unfortunately doesn't start until eight p.m. and lasts until midnight. But I watched it all, and was v. pleased with the results - and especially pleased that it felt like old Cold War times, since women's gymnastics came down to the US, Russia, and Romania (yay nostalgia). Then I worked on Nick and Ellie some more, caught up on social media, watched the new James Bond trailer (awesome), found out that 'The Hobbit' is going to be three movies (theoretically awesome, although I don't see how that's possible), and am now going back into media blackout in preparation for tomorrow. Goodnight!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
fields of gold
[note: while I am desperately trying to avoid spoilers, I assume that if you're reading this after all coverage is done in the Pacific time zone, you already know what has happened. Don't read if you tivo'd tonight's coverage to watch later!]
I managed to avoid every single Olympics spoiler today, which proves the depths of my dedication to this task...I didn't check twitter, facebook, google plus, cnn, nytimes, yahoo mail, my phone news app, or anything else, which pretty much eliminated everything I do online. Of course, it helped that I accidentally slept until almost eleven, which has been increasingly unusual of late. But I think I really needed it after the past week, so I took it. Then I showered, realized I had no food in the house, and so went to a cafe and ate breakfast/lunch while working on Nick and Ellie for a couple of hours. Then I came home, worked some more, talked to the parents, went to the grocery store to stock up on groceries, and came home to indulge my obsessions...
First up was the tivo coverage from Saturday night's primetime events, since I'd avoided most of those spoilers as well - I had to watch them to know who got into the men's team gymnastics finals. Now I kinda wish I hadn't watched it, since I had high hopes for the US men going into tonight's coverage and...well, that didn't work out so well. But I got through Saturday's coverage just as Terry came home, and we ended up rewatching the end of last night's coverage since she'd gone to bed before gymnastics finished. Then it was on to tonight's primetime, which lived up to my expectations - great swimming and diving, a gymnastics scoring controversy (as usual, although I love that they now require a cash payment to accept a judging protest, which resulted in a great shot of the Japanese coach handing American dollars to the judges a few minutes before they changed the score and put the Japanese back on the podium), and some shots of Princes William and Harry (or, as my fave gossip blogger calls him, Prince Hot Ginge) in the audience. YAY.
I was thinking about getting up tomorrow and watching women's gymnastics streaming live, but I need to write like twenty pages tomorrow, so perhaps I'll pursue today's media blackout strategy and work until primetime instead. Either way, I'm super psyched. Goodnight!
I managed to avoid every single Olympics spoiler today, which proves the depths of my dedication to this task...I didn't check twitter, facebook, google plus, cnn, nytimes, yahoo mail, my phone news app, or anything else, which pretty much eliminated everything I do online. Of course, it helped that I accidentally slept until almost eleven, which has been increasingly unusual of late. But I think I really needed it after the past week, so I took it. Then I showered, realized I had no food in the house, and so went to a cafe and ate breakfast/lunch while working on Nick and Ellie for a couple of hours. Then I came home, worked some more, talked to the parents, went to the grocery store to stock up on groceries, and came home to indulge my obsessions...
First up was the tivo coverage from Saturday night's primetime events, since I'd avoided most of those spoilers as well - I had to watch them to know who got into the men's team gymnastics finals. Now I kinda wish I hadn't watched it, since I had high hopes for the US men going into tonight's coverage and...well, that didn't work out so well. But I got through Saturday's coverage just as Terry came home, and we ended up rewatching the end of last night's coverage since she'd gone to bed before gymnastics finished. Then it was on to tonight's primetime, which lived up to my expectations - great swimming and diving, a gymnastics scoring controversy (as usual, although I love that they now require a cash payment to accept a judging protest, which resulted in a great shot of the Japanese coach handing American dollars to the judges a few minutes before they changed the score and put the Japanese back on the podium), and some shots of Princes William and Harry (or, as my fave gossip blogger calls him, Prince Hot Ginge) in the audience. YAY.
I was thinking about getting up tomorrow and watching women's gymnastics streaming live, but I need to write like twenty pages tomorrow, so perhaps I'll pursue today's media blackout strategy and work until primetime instead. Either way, I'm super psyched. Goodnight!
Monday, July 30, 2012
a shredded leg that still bears the scar
I am beyond exhausted - I'm pretty sure that my inner introvert used every last shred of remaining social energy to hang out in the bar after last night's awards ceremony, and so this morning there was nothing left to get me back to San Francisco. Luckily I powered through on an unholy mixture of latte, diet mountain dew, diet coke, and earl grey tea, and I'm writing this from my bed, which I don't want to leave again anytime soon.
However, as I believe came across even though I was writing from my ipad the entire week to avoid paying the $13/night wireless fee at the hotel, I had an absolutely fabulous time at the conference. I think I left it feeling better than any of the others I've attended, with the possible exception of the year I won the Golden Heart -- and in some ways those experiences mirror each other. It's like those medieval circular labyrinths that you walk on to meditate -- I've reached a similar point in the cycle that I visited before, but I have new insight this time around. I have a similar feeling of promise and excitement and eagerness to tackle the next project, but this time it's tempered by the failures of not selling my previous two books traditionally, and yet also buoyed by the sheer number of well-known writers whom I spent some quality time with this week.
Long story short, I feel good about where things are, even if it's going to be a nailbiting photo finish to see if the writing earns me enough to prevent me from ever having to get a real job. I was out of the hotel by ten a.m. this morning, but the drive back took a surprisingly long time, since I5 construction/congestion was worse than it was on Monday, and it was also the Gilroy garlic festival, which means coming back up through Gilroy to see Heather was a mistake. But I made it to her house around 5:30, and she fed me supper while she went through the 40+ free books that I brought back so that she could read them. We also watched "First Position", a documentary about young ballerinas, which was interesting. Then I came home, found Terry and Terry's brother Tom holed up on the couch watching Olympics, and even though I was exhausted and had seen spoilers for two of the biggest outcomes tonight (because Tom Brokaw, that asshole, was discussing them on NBC Nightly News when I walked into Heather's house).
And now that I'm home, I really must sleep - it will be interesting to see if my extreme Olympics-related social media blackout helps me write as much as I plan to write this week. Goodnight!
However, as I believe came across even though I was writing from my ipad the entire week to avoid paying the $13/night wireless fee at the hotel, I had an absolutely fabulous time at the conference. I think I left it feeling better than any of the others I've attended, with the possible exception of the year I won the Golden Heart -- and in some ways those experiences mirror each other. It's like those medieval circular labyrinths that you walk on to meditate -- I've reached a similar point in the cycle that I visited before, but I have new insight this time around. I have a similar feeling of promise and excitement and eagerness to tackle the next project, but this time it's tempered by the failures of not selling my previous two books traditionally, and yet also buoyed by the sheer number of well-known writers whom I spent some quality time with this week.
Long story short, I feel good about where things are, even if it's going to be a nailbiting photo finish to see if the writing earns me enough to prevent me from ever having to get a real job. I was out of the hotel by ten a.m. this morning, but the drive back took a surprisingly long time, since I5 construction/congestion was worse than it was on Monday, and it was also the Gilroy garlic festival, which means coming back up through Gilroy to see Heather was a mistake. But I made it to her house around 5:30, and she fed me supper while she went through the 40+ free books that I brought back so that she could read them. We also watched "First Position", a documentary about young ballerinas, which was interesting. Then I came home, found Terry and Terry's brother Tom holed up on the couch watching Olympics, and even though I was exhausted and had seen spoilers for two of the biggest outcomes tonight (because Tom Brokaw, that asshole, was discussing them on NBC Nightly News when I walked into Heather's house).
And now that I'm home, I really must sleep - it will be interesting to see if my extreme Olympics-related social media blackout helps me write as much as I plan to write this week. Goodnight!
Sunday, July 29, 2012
just say yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
I'm flipping exhausted, but I had a v successful end to a very great conference. I woke up this morning, got ready, took care of some things, and had a quiet breakfast by myself in the hotel restaurant. Then I had rehearsals from 11:45 to 5, which all went really smoothly - they all ended on time or early, which is good. Then I had another quiet couple of hours - shower, nap (for like ten minutes), room service, and watching Olympics while I had the chance to. I got to see the medal ceremony for Vinokurov (sp?), the Kazakh biker whom I remember from many Tours de France ago, who planned to retire after this race and ended up winning gold. He was do emotional and so trying to hold it back that I basically cried too. Ha.
But contrary to what you might believe, that wasn't the highlight of my day (well...maybe). Instead, it was the awards ceremony, which the culmination of several months of work. And it all went off very smoothly and without any hitches, which was a tremendous relief - and it ended a minute early, and the music and videos were received really well. So yay to all that. I may do it again in a few years, but I'm looking forward to taking a break (and writing a bunch of books).
Post ceremony, Vivi and I went to her publisher party, where I had a baileys on the rocks, and then we went to the bar, where we had strawberry margaritas and flirted with our Greek waiter. And now, I'm all packed up and ready to leave tomorrow - I just need to get massive quantities of sleep so that I can survive the drive. Goodnight!
But contrary to what you might believe, that wasn't the highlight of my day (well...maybe). Instead, it was the awards ceremony, which the culmination of several months of work. And it all went off very smoothly and without any hitches, which was a tremendous relief - and it ended a minute early, and the music and videos were received really well. So yay to all that. I may do it again in a few years, but I'm looking forward to taking a break (and writing a bunch of books).
Post ceremony, Vivi and I went to her publisher party, where I had a baileys on the rocks, and then we went to the bar, where we had strawberry margaritas and flirted with our Greek waiter. And now, I'm all packed up and ready to leave tomorrow - I just need to get massive quantities of sleep so that I can survive the drive. Goodnight!
Saturday, July 28, 2012
the world is not enough
YAY OLYMPICS!!!!!
Now that I've said the most important thing, I'll catch you up on the rest of my day. I spent the morning sitting in bits of workshops and trying to score as many free books as possible. Then I skipped the official lunch to have lunch on my own so that I would have a bit of alone time, which was totally a good call (and I forced myself to overcome my reticence and introduce myself to a dude from Amazon who happened to be in the bar). After lunch, I had rehearsals for the awards ceremony for three hours - I think it's going to go well tomorrow, but we shall see. I had to run out of the rehearsal right at five to meet with my freelance editor - mostly to get a chance to meet with her in person, but also to chat about the first part of Nick and Ellie's book. She hadn't had a chance to read every bit that I had sent her, but she had some awesome suggestions for things that I could fix - and, thank goodness, they weren't things that require substantial rewrites, but rather just clarifications of certain things, possible removal of a minor subplot, etc. And she said that she loved my voice and would have tried to buy this if she were still working for a publisher...so yay me. Now if Nick and Ellie will cooperate so that I can finish their damn book, I will be even happier...
After we met, I had twenty minutes to compose myself, and then I met up with a new writer who I had chatted with on the phone last week to have dinner. She was similarly eager to watch Olympics stuff, so we walked to Downtown Disney and had dinner and drinks at ESPN Zone while watching all opening ceremonies up to the start of the parade of nations. Unfortunately they weren't playing the audio of the ceremonies, so I'm going to have to rewatch, but it was fun to drink mai tais and try to guess what was going on. And now that the cauldron has been lit and the games have been opened, I need to sleep - I have rehearsals all afternoon, followed by the awards ceremony (which now looks rather pale and sad compared to the Olympics), followed by a party, followed by sleeping so I can leave as soon as possible on Sunday and make it home for the Olympics. Goodnight!
Now that I've said the most important thing, I'll catch you up on the rest of my day. I spent the morning sitting in bits of workshops and trying to score as many free books as possible. Then I skipped the official lunch to have lunch on my own so that I would have a bit of alone time, which was totally a good call (and I forced myself to overcome my reticence and introduce myself to a dude from Amazon who happened to be in the bar). After lunch, I had rehearsals for the awards ceremony for three hours - I think it's going to go well tomorrow, but we shall see. I had to run out of the rehearsal right at five to meet with my freelance editor - mostly to get a chance to meet with her in person, but also to chat about the first part of Nick and Ellie's book. She hadn't had a chance to read every bit that I had sent her, but she had some awesome suggestions for things that I could fix - and, thank goodness, they weren't things that require substantial rewrites, but rather just clarifications of certain things, possible removal of a minor subplot, etc. And she said that she loved my voice and would have tried to buy this if she were still working for a publisher...so yay me. Now if Nick and Ellie will cooperate so that I can finish their damn book, I will be even happier...
After we met, I had twenty minutes to compose myself, and then I met up with a new writer who I had chatted with on the phone last week to have dinner. She was similarly eager to watch Olympics stuff, so we walked to Downtown Disney and had dinner and drinks at ESPN Zone while watching all opening ceremonies up to the start of the parade of nations. Unfortunately they weren't playing the audio of the ceremonies, so I'm going to have to rewatch, but it was fun to drink mai tais and try to guess what was going on. And now that the cauldron has been lit and the games have been opened, I need to sleep - I have rehearsals all afternoon, followed by the awards ceremony (which now looks rather pale and sad compared to the Olympics), followed by a party, followed by sleeping so I can leave as soon as possible on Sunday and make it home for the Olympics. Goodnight!
Friday, July 27, 2012
I feel my heart start beating to my favorite song
Today was utterly wonderful...and I think I would feel that way even if I didnt drink off and on for nine hours. I got up early and made it to two v good panels on digital publishing, including some market analysis (which another tech person and I snarkily laughed at after, since one exec was so proud that her company started doing market research two years ago, when they should have been doing it for decades). Then I sat with my SF chapter president and my friend Vivi for the keynote lunch (which was gluten free!) - the keynote was given by stephanie laurens, who is kind of a big deal, and she gave a talk that was v popular with the authors (and perhaps not so popular with her editors who have spent two decades helping to build her career, who were at the table next to me and were mostly stonily silent).
Post lunch, I took a break, then had a drink with my awards ceremony assistant chair, then met with my agent for an hour, which was great. Then I grabbed dinner with a friend, ran upstairs, changed from a daytime green dress to an evening green dress, and went to the VIP cocktail party, where I drank free wine in a suite and made great new friends with some other writers. Then I dragged Vivi to the bar to get some food in her while I had a mojito and ice cream, and then I hung out with some historical writers (and let Tessa Dare buy me a drink, which I truly didn't need). And then Vivi and I closed down the lobby. And now that I'm getting carpal tunnel from typing on my iPad, I really must go to bed - not sure how I can survive another two days of this, but I shall persevere. Goodnight!
Post lunch, I took a break, then had a drink with my awards ceremony assistant chair, then met with my agent for an hour, which was great. Then I grabbed dinner with a friend, ran upstairs, changed from a daytime green dress to an evening green dress, and went to the VIP cocktail party, where I drank free wine in a suite and made great new friends with some other writers. Then I dragged Vivi to the bar to get some food in her while I had a mojito and ice cream, and then I hung out with some historical writers (and let Tessa Dare buy me a drink, which I truly didn't need). And then Vivi and I closed down the lobby. And now that I'm getting carpal tunnel from typing on my iPad, I really must go to bed - not sure how I can survive another two days of this, but I shall persevere. Goodnight!
Thursday, July 26, 2012
it's not living a lie if you're not living at all
Im way way too tired to blog tonight, particularly on zee iPad - while I had a truly and utterly fabulous day (or at least better than Kristen Stewart's day), I got up of my own volition at 6:45 (why?!), and had approximately 25min alone the entire rest of the day, which is not nearly enough for my hermity self. But I did a fantastic job of forcing myself outside my comfort zone and introducing myself, hanging out, etc., etc. And I will do so again tomorrow - but for now, I must sleep if I have any hope of recovering by morning. Goodnight!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
maybe we can find new ways to fall apart
Quick post from zee iPad - I have arrived safely at my romance conference and am having an awesome time so far. Coming most of the way yesterday was an excellent decision on my part - I was able to sleep in, then have a v leisurely morning coffee with Terry's mom before coming down to Anaheim. When I got here, I had chilequiles at a Mexican place nearby, then hung out in the lobby for a few hours and ran into people I know (either really or on twitter).
This evening was even better - I had arranged weeks ago to have dinner with my friend Stephanie Dray, who shares my agent. But she randomly also invited Sarah MacLean to join us, who is kind of a big deal in my genre, which was super awesome and thoughtful of her. So we had dinner at some random Italian place that I found on yelp, and it was quite lovely. When we got back to the hotel, I went with Sarah to the bar and had a mojito (my weakness), then came back upstairs and found that my roommate Vivi (who you should remember) had arrived, so we spent the past two hours gossiping. And now, I should really sleep so that I can get up at 7:15 for more conference stuff. Goodnight!
This evening was even better - I had arranged weeks ago to have dinner with my friend Stephanie Dray, who shares my agent. But she randomly also invited Sarah MacLean to join us, who is kind of a big deal in my genre, which was super awesome and thoughtful of her. So we had dinner at some random Italian place that I found on yelp, and it was quite lovely. When we got back to the hotel, I went with Sarah to the bar and had a mojito (my weakness), then came back upstairs and found that my roommate Vivi (who you should remember) had arrived, so we spent the past two hours gossiping. And now, I should really sleep so that I can get up at 7:15 for more conference stuff. Goodnight!
Monday, July 23, 2012
days of wine and roses
I'm slightly more intoxicated than I might have expected today -- this was supposed to be the quiet night before the madness of the conference, but I'll just have to hope that tomorrow is the quiet night instead. I made it down to LA in really good time today -- I had intended to leave around 9:30, and instead got on the road at 11:15 (oops). As I so smugly mentioned yesterday, I packed almost everything and had loaded my car already, and so thought all I would have to do today was roll out of bed, shower, and put my laptop in the car before heading off into the distance. Instead, even though I got up at eight, I kept remembering things I needed to do and emails I needed to send. I'm sure I wouldn't have had such a lackadaisical approach if I were flying instead of driving, but it all turned out totally fine.
So, I stopped at Philz on the way out of the city to caffeinate, then drove all the way to Harris Ranch before stopping again. I should have tried to hold out for In and Out at Kettleman City, but I just couldn't wait any longer. I also stopped just before the Grapevine with the intention of getting Starbucks, but the line was ridiculous, so I contented myself with an oh-so-trashy diet mountain dew before going over the pass to the great bowl-shaped dump that is Los Angeles.
I kid, I kid. And anyway, I'm staying with Terry's parents, who live near Pasadena, which is v. much like my beloved Palo Alto and v. unlike whatever you may picture of LA (either Hollywood or the Rodney King riots). I'm driving to Anaheim and the conference tomorrow, but I'm spending the night in Pasadena to a) socialize with the 'rents, b) save on hotel, and c) avoid having to drive through LA at rush hour. I arrived right at six p.m. and gave Terry's mom a tasty bottle of chardonnay, which we immediately opened and had a glass of (yay). When Terry's dad got home, they took me out for dinner, and I have to give two thumbs up to the choice -- it was a steakhouse, which meant I got prime rib AND a baked potato AND an amazing salad, which is a recipe for happiness. And Terry's dad and I split a bottle of pinot noir, so I left both full and happy. And even if they had taken me to Taco Bell (which I will never turn my nose up to), I would have had a good time - I probably know Terry's parents better than any friend's parents (other than Katie, but then, I grew up with her), so we had a v. lovely meal and an entertaining conversation.
Now, though, even though it's only ten p.m., I think I may go to bed -- I need to be on when I get to the conference tomorrow, so sleep tonight would be smart. The conference doesn't start tomorrow, but I have plans to meet up with various people and have dinner plans with a fellow author, so I should at least be awake for them. Goodnight!
So, I stopped at Philz on the way out of the city to caffeinate, then drove all the way to Harris Ranch before stopping again. I should have tried to hold out for In and Out at Kettleman City, but I just couldn't wait any longer. I also stopped just before the Grapevine with the intention of getting Starbucks, but the line was ridiculous, so I contented myself with an oh-so-trashy diet mountain dew before going over the pass to the great bowl-shaped dump that is Los Angeles.
I kid, I kid. And anyway, I'm staying with Terry's parents, who live near Pasadena, which is v. much like my beloved Palo Alto and v. unlike whatever you may picture of LA (either Hollywood or the Rodney King riots). I'm driving to Anaheim and the conference tomorrow, but I'm spending the night in Pasadena to a) socialize with the 'rents, b) save on hotel, and c) avoid having to drive through LA at rush hour. I arrived right at six p.m. and gave Terry's mom a tasty bottle of chardonnay, which we immediately opened and had a glass of (yay). When Terry's dad got home, they took me out for dinner, and I have to give two thumbs up to the choice -- it was a steakhouse, which meant I got prime rib AND a baked potato AND an amazing salad, which is a recipe for happiness. And Terry's dad and I split a bottle of pinot noir, so I left both full and happy. And even if they had taken me to Taco Bell (which I will never turn my nose up to), I would have had a good time - I probably know Terry's parents better than any friend's parents (other than Katie, but then, I grew up with her), so we had a v. lovely meal and an entertaining conversation.
Now, though, even though it's only ten p.m., I think I may go to bed -- I need to be on when I get to the conference tomorrow, so sleep tonight would be smart. The conference doesn't start tomorrow, but I have plans to meet up with various people and have dinner plans with a fellow author, so I should at least be awake for them. Goodnight!
Sunday, July 22, 2012
i see the light, touch the light, we're together now
I was actually packed for my trip tomorrow before noon today, which must be some kind of record. I wanted to pack early so that I could do my nails at some point without wrecking them by schlepping things downstairs, so I got up at eight, packed, loaded the car, etc. And then I spent the rest of the day taking care of a variety of tings -- grooming (fingernails, toenails, hair tinsel), writing (barely), talking to parents (extensively), etc.
I will certainly be blogging from Anaheim, but there is a decent chance that most of the blogging will happen on zee romance blog -- stay tuned. And now I'm going to go to bed (or read for a bit, or something) so that I can get out of town at a reasonable hour tomorrow. Goodnight!
I will certainly be blogging from Anaheim, but there is a decent chance that most of the blogging will happen on zee romance blog -- stay tuned. And now I'm going to go to bed (or read for a bit, or something) so that I can get out of town at a reasonable hour tomorrow. Goodnight!
until forever comes, you'll find us chasing the sun
Perhaps I should have packed for RWA today, but I don't leave until Monday, and that feels like it's forever from now. Instead, I spent most of the day banging my head against Nick and Ellie, and most of the evening playing with spreadsheets while watching tv. The scene I'm writing is actually lovely, but it's so emotional and so fraught with tension that it's slow going (and I may or may not have had to get a tape measure out to, ahem, research whether their respective heights made something possible). So despite working some this morning and more this afternoon, I think I only got four pages - but they were a good four pages, so I'll take it.
I woke up a bit later than I have been recently, but since I limited myself to two vodka cranberries last night, I felt totally fine. And I didn't have to con Terry into taking me to retrieve my car; she read my blog before I got up and offered it freely, which was nice of her. So after she worked out and showered and all that (and I guzzled coffee and wrote), we went to Morning Due and ate/worked for a few hours. Then she dropped me off at my car, we came home, and I spent the evening making a detailed spreadsheet to reconcile all my payments from my agent with all the sales reports from the various vendors selling my books. It's something I've been meaning to do for ages so that I can see at a glance how many books I've sold where (even if it's two months behind, since the official reports are sixty days after the close of the business month). So I did that while watching a bunch of Big Bang Theory with Terry. We also tried to watch "Lonesome Dove", but after twenty minutes of both of us repeatedly saying "I don't remember this part at all," we finally figured out that Tivo was wrong and that this was instead "The Outsider", a Western starring Naomi Watts as an Amish frontier woman whose husband is killed by bad ranchers, and who falls into a forbidden courtship with a mysterious gunslinger. Maybe the Amish should have been a tipoff, and I certainly was sad there was no Gus or Blue Duck (although I'm glad I didn't have to see the cottonmouth scene again).
sssanyway, I also got a lovely series of texts (followed by a phone call when we realized that texting was silly) from Heather (aka dear respected madam); I'd foisted the first hundred pages of Nick and Ellie on her earlier in the week, and she texted/called to tell me she loved it. Thank you, Jesus -- as you all know, I hate writing beginnings, and this book is giving me fits because it's harder than what I've written before, and Nick and Ellie are so crazy, etc., etc. I'm still waiting to hear back from my editor, but I can't express how relieved I was to find out that someone liked it, even if I still have a lot of work to do to finish the whole thing.
So yay to that. And now I should go to sleep; I want to finish the scene I'm working on tomorrow, and I need to pack and reload my car and take care of all the other little last minute things that I need to do before driving to RWA on Monday. Goodnight!
I woke up a bit later than I have been recently, but since I limited myself to two vodka cranberries last night, I felt totally fine. And I didn't have to con Terry into taking me to retrieve my car; she read my blog before I got up and offered it freely, which was nice of her. So after she worked out and showered and all that (and I guzzled coffee and wrote), we went to Morning Due and ate/worked for a few hours. Then she dropped me off at my car, we came home, and I spent the evening making a detailed spreadsheet to reconcile all my payments from my agent with all the sales reports from the various vendors selling my books. It's something I've been meaning to do for ages so that I can see at a glance how many books I've sold where (even if it's two months behind, since the official reports are sixty days after the close of the business month). So I did that while watching a bunch of Big Bang Theory with Terry. We also tried to watch "Lonesome Dove", but after twenty minutes of both of us repeatedly saying "I don't remember this part at all," we finally figured out that Tivo was wrong and that this was instead "The Outsider", a Western starring Naomi Watts as an Amish frontier woman whose husband is killed by bad ranchers, and who falls into a forbidden courtship with a mysterious gunslinger. Maybe the Amish should have been a tipoff, and I certainly was sad there was no Gus or Blue Duck (although I'm glad I didn't have to see the cottonmouth scene again).
sssanyway, I also got a lovely series of texts (followed by a phone call when we realized that texting was silly) from Heather (aka dear respected madam); I'd foisted the first hundred pages of Nick and Ellie on her earlier in the week, and she texted/called to tell me she loved it. Thank you, Jesus -- as you all know, I hate writing beginnings, and this book is giving me fits because it's harder than what I've written before, and Nick and Ellie are so crazy, etc., etc. I'm still waiting to hear back from my editor, but I can't express how relieved I was to find out that someone liked it, even if I still have a lot of work to do to finish the whole thing.
So yay to that. And now I should go to sleep; I want to finish the scene I'm working on tomorrow, and I need to pack and reload my car and take care of all the other little last minute things that I need to do before driving to RWA on Monday. Goodnight!
Saturday, July 21, 2012
let me ride that donkey
Nick and Ellie didn't cooperate today - I could daydream the scene I was writing, and I have the overall bones of it (no pun intended, even though it is a sex scene), but the words were flowing in a v. tortuous, slow way that gave me no joy. Hopefully tomorrow will be better on that front. But I did at least get a couple of pages out, and I took care of some business tings, and I went on a walk to run a bunch of errands (returning tops to the Gap, returning a book to Books Inc that I'd bought last week and later realized I already had in audiobook format, cashing a check, picking up alterations, etc). I need to start thinking about what I'm taking to my romance conference, since it's in two days, but I feel less urgency than usual since I'm driving there and so can just keep throwing stuff in my trunk rather than having to plan ahead so everything fits in a single bag.
Anyway, I finally gave in to the inevitable, put on real clothing, and went out in the wide city of sin to have dinner with John and Jess. A perusal of the blog revealed that I haven't seen them since April, which is astonishing; I was gone the entire month of May, though, and I've spent the last two months only hanging out when someone else made a plan and forced me into it, since I'm theoretically trying to stay hermity and productive. However, three months is too long, so we had sushi at a little place near them (delish), followed by drinks at a bar near them (the dive bar that we ended up at after the more popular bars down the street proved too popular). John eventually gave me a ride home, which was v. nice of him; I'll have to take a bus or taxi or con my roommate into a ride back there to pick up my car tomorrow, but that's a penalty I'm willing to pay for a lovely evening.
Now, though, I should really sleep; I want to at least finish this scene before I go to RWA, and there are a lot of other tings I need to do before then as well. Goodnight!
Anyway, I finally gave in to the inevitable, put on real clothing, and went out in the wide city of sin to have dinner with John and Jess. A perusal of the blog revealed that I haven't seen them since April, which is astonishing; I was gone the entire month of May, though, and I've spent the last two months only hanging out when someone else made a plan and forced me into it, since I'm theoretically trying to stay hermity and productive. However, three months is too long, so we had sushi at a little place near them (delish), followed by drinks at a bar near them (the dive bar that we ended up at after the more popular bars down the street proved too popular). John eventually gave me a ride home, which was v. nice of him; I'll have to take a bus or taxi or con my roommate into a ride back there to pick up my car tomorrow, but that's a penalty I'm willing to pay for a lovely evening.
Now, though, I should really sleep; I want to at least finish this scene before I go to RWA, and there are a lot of other tings I need to do before then as well. Goodnight!
Thursday, July 19, 2012
half remembered dream
I'm sleepy; I blame Chandlord and the wine she plied me with, or perhaps the four miles I walked today. I did a couple of hours of work this morning, and then took the bus down to SoMa to get my eyebrows waxed so that I don't look like Granddad when I go to my romance conference next week. I'm cutting back on eyebrow waxing (even though the real reason I go there is to get my eyebrows tinted, since they're going white - but I have bangs, so surely I don't need to care?), but I do want to look slightly feminine for my conference, so waxing was necessary. Post wax, I walked home (2.7mi, plus a detour to my dry cleaner to pick up a dress and a top), which was a good endeavor even if my feet now hurt. I took a break in the middle to stop for a couple of hours and write at Leland Tea, which was a v. nice, productive break in my trudge back to the Marina.
When I got home, I took care of some emails and other tings, and was going to write some more, but I inadvertently distracted myself by asking Chandlord if she wanted some of this blueberry cake I'd made, since otherwise I would eat it all. She offered to trade me some of my cake for some of her guacamole that she'd made for our book club, which was canceled two days ago. So I went to her house, gave her cake, and took two arugula/mushroom/black bean/feta tacos, which were totally delicious. Then we walked down to a wine bar and had a glass of wine each (adding 1+ miles to today's walking). After we parted ways, I came home and read the rest of the book I was reading yesterday ("Mysteries of the Middle Ages", which I ended up liking but not loving). And now, I'm either going to read a bit more or go to sleep - and I think sleep is going to win. Goodnight!
When I got home, I took care of some emails and other tings, and was going to write some more, but I inadvertently distracted myself by asking Chandlord if she wanted some of this blueberry cake I'd made, since otherwise I would eat it all. She offered to trade me some of my cake for some of her guacamole that she'd made for our book club, which was canceled two days ago. So I went to her house, gave her cake, and took two arugula/mushroom/black bean/feta tacos, which were totally delicious. Then we walked down to a wine bar and had a glass of wine each (adding 1+ miles to today's walking). After we parted ways, I came home and read the rest of the book I was reading yesterday ("Mysteries of the Middle Ages", which I ended up liking but not loving). And now, I'm either going to read a bit more or go to sleep - and I think sleep is going to win. Goodnight!
my sign is vital, my hands are cold
Today was lovely and oddly productive, although productive in ways that aren't immediately useful to me. I woke up before my alarm, showered, and spent some quality time answering emails about the conference and preparing for this afternoon's class in Berkeley. Class went v. well; we were talking about self publishing, which I could talk about for days, so that was interesting. I'm actually really sad that the class is already over - it was five sessions, but I'm missing next week's since I was already booked for RWA, so I had to bid a fond farewell to the students this afternoon. It's always a little bizarre at the end of a class, since you've formed a connection with people and will likely never see them again - how strange.
After class, I came back to the west side (best side) of the bay, ate an early supper at Chipotle, then came home, cleaned the kitchen, and was going to write. But then I decided to screw the writing and read a book instead - I need to finish "Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe" and return it to the library, so I read 250 pages or so of that tonight. It's not really what I was expecting, and I don't think I've gotten as much out of it for the non-gargoyle young adult book as I had hoped, but it's all still v. interesting (to me, if not to any of you). But now, I really should sleep; tomorrow I've vowed to stop obsessing over all the things I obsess over and just write all day, and I should rest up for the epic battle in which I will attempt to stop obsessing. Goodnight!
After class, I came back to the west side (best side) of the bay, ate an early supper at Chipotle, then came home, cleaned the kitchen, and was going to write. But then I decided to screw the writing and read a book instead - I need to finish "Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe" and return it to the library, so I read 250 pages or so of that tonight. It's not really what I was expecting, and I don't think I've gotten as much out of it for the non-gargoyle young adult book as I had hoped, but it's all still v. interesting (to me, if not to any of you). But now, I really should sleep; tomorrow I've vowed to stop obsessing over all the things I obsess over and just write all day, and I should rest up for the epic battle in which I will attempt to stop obsessing. Goodnight!
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
i think i'm gonna marry you
I was super productive today, but unfortunately I didn't write anything - instead, I was taking care of all the business/volunteer stuff that I'd neglected in my push to send my manuscript to my editor (and yesterday's talkfest, which ate into my work time). I finished the proposal for a workshop for a convention next year, and got some big name people to do it with me, so that was awesome. I spent the past five hours dealing with the last edits for the awards ceremony script and burning/ripping music to strip the DRM and make sure it would play for the show tech crew. I wrote a guest blog post that is going up on some site on Saturday. I looked at what I'm supposed to teach in class tomorrow and promptly decided to deal with it in the morning.
But the best two things were that I got a massage and baked a cake. The massage had slowly moved from luxury to necessity, since my neck is well and truly fucked, and it's been getting harder and harder to sit at my desk and work (or sit anywhere, really) since it hurts all the time. So I booked a 90-minute massage with someone I found on Yelp who happens to be a block and a half away from my apartment and also had great recommendations for her deep tissue work. And she was *awesome* - possibly the best massage I've ever had. And my neck didn't hurt for, like, two hours afterward, although I've promptly undone her efforts by spending the whole night at my desk. But hopefully this is a first step toward fixing it, and since I won't be sitting at my desk all next week while I'm at the conference, maybe everything will get better.
The second issue was the cake that I baked - it was a delicious disaster. I'm stressing over how to make gluten-free Olympic Rings Cakes (tm), and I thought I should do a trial run, so tonight I made the traditional blue ring - a blueberry cream cheese coffee cake (what Adit calls next level cake, since it's delish), although I left out the blue food coloring that I would use for the actual event. I substituted a gluten free vanilla cake mix that I bought at Whole Foods for the usual vanilla cake mix I would have used instead, but kept everything else the same. However, the baking times stymied me - there seemed to be no correlation at all between the baking times on the GF mix and the regular mix, even though theoretically there should have been some similar ratios for different types of pans, etc. And I was deathly afraid of overbaking it, since a gluten free cake could turn into something truly dry and dire if it's overbaked.
So I baked it for what I thought was a good approximation, checked it with a toothpick (apparently in the wrong part of the cake, as I discovered to my horror moments later), and thought it was done. I took it out, flipped it onto a wire cooling rack with a cookie sheet underneath it, and poured the glaze on top (a simple, not too glaze-y mix of blueberry juice and powdered sugar). However, the cake slowly seemed to be deflating - and upon further investigation, a bunch of uncooked cake batter was falling out of the middle of the ring and oozing through the cake rack. Damn. So I tipped the cake back into the pan (unevenly), scraped the cake ooze back into it, and baked it for another fifteen minutes. Despite that disaster, it actually tastes pretty good (although it's lopsided now) - so now that I have the cooking times down, I think the Gluten Free Olympic Rings Cakes will be a success! I will probably still make funfetti, though - I can't sacrifice funfetti, or I might as well die.
And now I must go to bed so that I can get up and go to the dirty east bay tomorrow -- goodnight!
But the best two things were that I got a massage and baked a cake. The massage had slowly moved from luxury to necessity, since my neck is well and truly fucked, and it's been getting harder and harder to sit at my desk and work (or sit anywhere, really) since it hurts all the time. So I booked a 90-minute massage with someone I found on Yelp who happens to be a block and a half away from my apartment and also had great recommendations for her deep tissue work. And she was *awesome* - possibly the best massage I've ever had. And my neck didn't hurt for, like, two hours afterward, although I've promptly undone her efforts by spending the whole night at my desk. But hopefully this is a first step toward fixing it, and since I won't be sitting at my desk all next week while I'm at the conference, maybe everything will get better.
The second issue was the cake that I baked - it was a delicious disaster. I'm stressing over how to make gluten-free Olympic Rings Cakes (tm), and I thought I should do a trial run, so tonight I made the traditional blue ring - a blueberry cream cheese coffee cake (what Adit calls next level cake, since it's delish), although I left out the blue food coloring that I would use for the actual event. I substituted a gluten free vanilla cake mix that I bought at Whole Foods for the usual vanilla cake mix I would have used instead, but kept everything else the same. However, the baking times stymied me - there seemed to be no correlation at all between the baking times on the GF mix and the regular mix, even though theoretically there should have been some similar ratios for different types of pans, etc. And I was deathly afraid of overbaking it, since a gluten free cake could turn into something truly dry and dire if it's overbaked.
So I baked it for what I thought was a good approximation, checked it with a toothpick (apparently in the wrong part of the cake, as I discovered to my horror moments later), and thought it was done. I took it out, flipped it onto a wire cooling rack with a cookie sheet underneath it, and poured the glaze on top (a simple, not too glaze-y mix of blueberry juice and powdered sugar). However, the cake slowly seemed to be deflating - and upon further investigation, a bunch of uncooked cake batter was falling out of the middle of the ring and oozing through the cake rack. Damn. So I tipped the cake back into the pan (unevenly), scraped the cake ooze back into it, and baked it for another fifteen minutes. Despite that disaster, it actually tastes pretty good (although it's lopsided now) - so now that I have the cooking times down, I think the Gluten Free Olympic Rings Cakes will be a success! I will probably still make funfetti, though - I can't sacrifice funfetti, or I might as well die.
And now I must go to bed so that I can get up and go to the dirty east bay tomorrow -- goodnight!
Monday, July 16, 2012
no words, no talk, we'll go dreaming
I'm flipping exhausted - ridiculously, unnecessarily tired, and I think it's because I've burned out the word processing centers in my brain, and without words I totally lose my shit. Yes, I'm that crazy.
Today was lovely, really, but it was alllllll talllllkkkkkinnngggggg, which I haven't done in ages because I am a hermit and have been trying to focus on Nick and Ellie. I think my jaw is tired, even. And my neck hurts like someone stepped on it with a stiletto, so it's probably a good thing I'm getting a massage tomorrow. The day started with a 9:30am call with the younger sister of someone I didn't know at my old company who happened to see the flyer for my Authors@Google talk and asked if I'd be willing to talk to his sister about romance writing since she's attending the RWA convention for the first time this year. Yes, a tenuous connection at best - but I remember being young and having dreams, and I wanted to help her to realize hers. Or, feed off her youth like the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Huntsman. Either way.
Our conversation was lovely, though, and we'll likely get together for dinner or something during the conference, so that's nice. After talking to her, I made some coffee and took care of a couple of hours of romance career stuff - namely developing this Regency gaming hell workshop idea for a conference I'm attending next year, since the proposals are due tomorrow. That's actually going well, and I've lined up a surprisingly high-powered cast of supporting characters, so yay. Then I left my lovely fog-ridden neighborhood and drove to the south bay, where I had lunch at my favorite cafe with two of my favorite writer friends, Becky and Christine. We caught up on all sorts of life stuff over an hour and a half or so, but then Becky had to go to work (boo). At that point, I was going to go to the library or a coffee shop or something and feign productivity...
...but instead Chris offered to buy me a drink as congratulations for all my book stuff, which turned into us spending three hours at the Nut House, where I nursed a vodka cranberry and a Diet Coke (consecutive, not concurrent) while we discussed self-publishing, the writing life, etc., etc. She's going to Portugal with her husband this week - lucky bitch. So it was good to catch up, since I hadn't seen either Chris or Becky since before I went to Iowa.
Post Nut House, I went to Mountain View and had my semi-regular Friendship Renewal Dinner (tm) with Tolu, Jane, Joann, and Sarah (a rare five-person Friendship Renewal, since we usually lose somebody - usually Sarah). We had sushi, which I had been craving...and I suppose it was good to see them too, although all I really needed was some tasty eel and a bowl of agedashi tofu. I kid, I kid. We had a lot to catch up on, or at least I did, since I hadn't seen them since Iowa either, and I hadn't seen Sarah in even longer. So we hung out for quite some time, and then I gave Sarah a ride back to the evil city, which prolonged both the fun times and the talking.
And now I'm all talked out. Poor Terry got the briefest hello-how-are-you I've given her in quite some time, since the thought of talking any more made me a little ill. Then I came upstairs, sent some emails, and then proceeded to write this unexpectedly long blog post - I guess I'm not out of words after all. Sigh. Goodnight!
Today was lovely, really, but it was alllllll talllllkkkkkinnngggggg, which I haven't done in ages because I am a hermit and have been trying to focus on Nick and Ellie. I think my jaw is tired, even. And my neck hurts like someone stepped on it with a stiletto, so it's probably a good thing I'm getting a massage tomorrow. The day started with a 9:30am call with the younger sister of someone I didn't know at my old company who happened to see the flyer for my Authors@Google talk and asked if I'd be willing to talk to his sister about romance writing since she's attending the RWA convention for the first time this year. Yes, a tenuous connection at best - but I remember being young and having dreams, and I wanted to help her to realize hers. Or, feed off her youth like the Evil Queen in Snow White and the Huntsman. Either way.
Our conversation was lovely, though, and we'll likely get together for dinner or something during the conference, so that's nice. After talking to her, I made some coffee and took care of a couple of hours of romance career stuff - namely developing this Regency gaming hell workshop idea for a conference I'm attending next year, since the proposals are due tomorrow. That's actually going well, and I've lined up a surprisingly high-powered cast of supporting characters, so yay. Then I left my lovely fog-ridden neighborhood and drove to the south bay, where I had lunch at my favorite cafe with two of my favorite writer friends, Becky and Christine. We caught up on all sorts of life stuff over an hour and a half or so, but then Becky had to go to work (boo). At that point, I was going to go to the library or a coffee shop or something and feign productivity...
...but instead Chris offered to buy me a drink as congratulations for all my book stuff, which turned into us spending three hours at the Nut House, where I nursed a vodka cranberry and a Diet Coke (consecutive, not concurrent) while we discussed self-publishing, the writing life, etc., etc. She's going to Portugal with her husband this week - lucky bitch. So it was good to catch up, since I hadn't seen either Chris or Becky since before I went to Iowa.
Post Nut House, I went to Mountain View and had my semi-regular Friendship Renewal Dinner (tm) with Tolu, Jane, Joann, and Sarah (a rare five-person Friendship Renewal, since we usually lose somebody - usually Sarah). We had sushi, which I had been craving...and I suppose it was good to see them too, although all I really needed was some tasty eel and a bowl of agedashi tofu. I kid, I kid. We had a lot to catch up on, or at least I did, since I hadn't seen them since Iowa either, and I hadn't seen Sarah in even longer. So we hung out for quite some time, and then I gave Sarah a ride back to the evil city, which prolonged both the fun times and the talking.
And now I'm all talked out. Poor Terry got the briefest hello-how-are-you I've given her in quite some time, since the thought of talking any more made me a little ill. Then I came upstairs, sent some emails, and then proceeded to write this unexpectedly long blog post - I guess I'm not out of words after all. Sigh. Goodnight!
forth eorlingas
Leaving my phone on my desk instead of taking it to bed with me was surprisingly v. effective -- rather shockingly so, actually. I woke up at eight, laid in bed thinking about Nick and Ellie for a bit, and then was so desperate to check my email that I got out of bed. Once I was out of bed (and saw that I had no interesting emails, of course), I was up for the day -- so I put on some clothes, put in my contacts, and wandered downstairs to make coffee. This shocked Terry, who is used to seeing me at a more civilized hour of ten or eleven on weekends, and so she asked if I was okay before immediately discovering that I was in full-blown crazy writer mode and wisely deciding to leave me to my own devices.
So I was at my desk and writing by nine a.m., which is utterly crazy. And I wrote pretty much straight until noon or one, when I took a break and went downstairs for cottage cheese. Terry saw me again then, and verified again that I was crazy (she can tell when I've been writing a lot because I answer in monosyllables, having burned out all my word processing synapses). Then I tried to write some more, but it was slower going. I went to Starbucks at some point to refuel, but my mocha made me sleepy, so I painted my toenails (I know that isn't a real cause-and-effect relationship) and called my parents, who graciously put up with ninety minutes of me whining about my life decisions.
After my whining was done, I spent the rest of the evening doing some more editing, with a weird break to eat some pizza and watch some "Dawson's Creek" with Terry (her doing, not mine, although I'm glad that I unintentionally got to see the scene that spawned the Dawson Crying meme, since it was hilarious). I finally, finally, FINALLY finished editing/completely rewriting the first 130 pages so that I could send them to my editor, since I want some feedback before I go too much farther with the rewrites and she had said I could use her to give feedback on the partial. So now I shall be sick with dread that she'll say I have to rewrite it all, but also moving forward tentatively/hopefully with the next phase of writing/rewriting. Luckily the last two-thirds always goes significantly faster than the first third, and I think the first third is in good shape, so perhaps the end of the Ellie/Nick tunnel is drawing nigh.
And now I really must sleep -- goodnight!
So I was at my desk and writing by nine a.m., which is utterly crazy. And I wrote pretty much straight until noon or one, when I took a break and went downstairs for cottage cheese. Terry saw me again then, and verified again that I was crazy (she can tell when I've been writing a lot because I answer in monosyllables, having burned out all my word processing synapses). Then I tried to write some more, but it was slower going. I went to Starbucks at some point to refuel, but my mocha made me sleepy, so I painted my toenails (I know that isn't a real cause-and-effect relationship) and called my parents, who graciously put up with ninety minutes of me whining about my life decisions.
After my whining was done, I spent the rest of the evening doing some more editing, with a weird break to eat some pizza and watch some "Dawson's Creek" with Terry (her doing, not mine, although I'm glad that I unintentionally got to see the scene that spawned the Dawson Crying meme, since it was hilarious). I finally, finally, FINALLY finished editing/completely rewriting the first 130 pages so that I could send them to my editor, since I want some feedback before I go too much farther with the rewrites and she had said I could use her to give feedback on the partial. So now I shall be sick with dread that she'll say I have to rewrite it all, but also moving forward tentatively/hopefully with the next phase of writing/rewriting. Luckily the last two-thirds always goes significantly faster than the first third, and I think the first third is in good shape, so perhaps the end of the Ellie/Nick tunnel is drawing nigh.
And now I really must sleep -- goodnight!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
the songmaker says it ain't so bad
I've nothing of interest to share tonight. However, I have a new goal - I need to get an alarm clock so that I can stop sleeping with my phone, so that I stop waking up in the morning and spending an hour reading stuff online before getting out of bed. Or perhaps, since I only have to set an alarm once a week or so, I should just sleep with my phone on the nights when I need an alarm clock, and ignore clocks on all other nights.
Clearly if I'm obsessing over this, the writing is not going well.
Happily, though, I finally powered through the scene that has been giving me fits, even if it did take all day of sitting at my desk hating myself. I started the morning with a call with another romance writer, though, so that was fun. And I took a break in the afternoon to go get measured for a bridesmaid dress (another opportunity to hate myself, for entirely different reasons). The seamstress, who is hemming two pairs of jeans and altering a dress that I love but that has never quite fit properly in addition to taking my measurements so that I could call the bridal salon, thanked me for being short because it keeps her in business. Tanks.
Anyway, I finally called it quits around 7:30, when I reached the end of that scene. Then I ate leftover pasta and drank leftover wine while talking to Terry for a couple of hours, which was a nice break. And now I'm going to go to bed (WITHOUT MY PHONE), and maybe read or write in my journal for a bit. Or maybe I'll just go to bed and sleep the sleep of the just. Goodnight!
Clearly if I'm obsessing over this, the writing is not going well.
Happily, though, I finally powered through the scene that has been giving me fits, even if it did take all day of sitting at my desk hating myself. I started the morning with a call with another romance writer, though, so that was fun. And I took a break in the afternoon to go get measured for a bridesmaid dress (another opportunity to hate myself, for entirely different reasons). The seamstress, who is hemming two pairs of jeans and altering a dress that I love but that has never quite fit properly in addition to taking my measurements so that I could call the bridal salon, thanked me for being short because it keeps her in business. Tanks.
Anyway, I finally called it quits around 7:30, when I reached the end of that scene. Then I ate leftover pasta and drank leftover wine while talking to Terry for a couple of hours, which was a nice break. And now I'm going to go to bed (WITHOUT MY PHONE), and maybe read or write in my journal for a bit. Or maybe I'll just go to bed and sleep the sleep of the just. Goodnight!
i dream of gardens in the desert sand
Today was mostly frustrating. I would like to say that Ellie and Nick aren't cooperating, but what really wasn't cooperating were my endlessly churning thoughts on what to do next and how much to sacrifice/give up to keep writing vs. when my tolerance for risk will be exhausted. As I still have no answer to that question, today may have been a wasted exercise. But I did get some writing done, and I had a breakthrough on Ellie/Nick's development in a microsecond while watching "So You Think You Can Dance" with Terry, so that's a win!
I actually got up around eight this morning, which is pure craziness, although I messed around online for a bit before showering, throwing my sheets in the laundry, and making breakfast (eggs and oatmeal and coffee). Then the cleaning lady showed up, which was great because I wanted her to show up and annoying because she should have been here yesterday (but apparently forgot her key) and so interrupted some prime writing time rather than coming when I wasn't in the apartment. Boo. So I vacated and walked down Chestnut, stopping at a cafe to do some writing for awhile. After the cafe, I stopped at the Gap and bought some jeans (because I like the way they fit, even if they do seem to wear out abnormally fast), then stopped at the Marina library and was tempted to check out all sorts of books on art and world history (for the non-gargoyle young adult book) before sternly reminding myself that I'm supposed to be writing Ellie and Nick, and anyway, if I'm going to research, I should be reading about the East India Company and 19th century painters.
sssanyway, when I got home, I remade my bed, thought about writing, and instead procrastinated and procrastinated some more. Eventually I made supper - gluten free pasta and a Mario Batali sauce mixed with hamburger, all of which had been sitting in the cupboard or the freezer for months. It wasn't quite as satisfying as the pizza I'd wanted to order, but it was still pretty tasty, substantially cheaper, and faster than waiting for Friday night delivery. I also opened a bottle of wine, since I was in one of those rare moods where I feel like drinking alone. Luckily Terry showed up before I finished my glass, so I didn't drink alone even though she didn't join me in imbibing. We watched tv together, I brainstormed Ellie and Nick while watching (yay non-obvious multitasking), and now I should sleep so that I can try to write everything I brainstormed tomorrow. Goodnight!
I actually got up around eight this morning, which is pure craziness, although I messed around online for a bit before showering, throwing my sheets in the laundry, and making breakfast (eggs and oatmeal and coffee). Then the cleaning lady showed up, which was great because I wanted her to show up and annoying because she should have been here yesterday (but apparently forgot her key) and so interrupted some prime writing time rather than coming when I wasn't in the apartment. Boo. So I vacated and walked down Chestnut, stopping at a cafe to do some writing for awhile. After the cafe, I stopped at the Gap and bought some jeans (because I like the way they fit, even if they do seem to wear out abnormally fast), then stopped at the Marina library and was tempted to check out all sorts of books on art and world history (for the non-gargoyle young adult book) before sternly reminding myself that I'm supposed to be writing Ellie and Nick, and anyway, if I'm going to research, I should be reading about the East India Company and 19th century painters.
sssanyway, when I got home, I remade my bed, thought about writing, and instead procrastinated and procrastinated some more. Eventually I made supper - gluten free pasta and a Mario Batali sauce mixed with hamburger, all of which had been sitting in the cupboard or the freezer for months. It wasn't quite as satisfying as the pizza I'd wanted to order, but it was still pretty tasty, substantially cheaper, and faster than waiting for Friday night delivery. I also opened a bottle of wine, since I was in one of those rare moods where I feel like drinking alone. Luckily Terry showed up before I finished my glass, so I didn't drink alone even though she didn't join me in imbibing. We watched tv together, I brainstormed Ellie and Nick while watching (yay non-obvious multitasking), and now I should sleep so that I can try to write everything I brainstormed tomorrow. Goodnight!
Thursday, July 12, 2012
holding grudges over love is ancient artifacts
I'm way too tired to be voluble tonight, so allow me to hit only the highlights. I had lunch with Gyre today, which was made more exciting by the fact that his team (and all of sales) moved buildings for the first time since 2007, so I had a totally new space to explore/enjoy/mock. They're deeper in the bowels of Mountain View, which would suck from a commuting standpoint, but the space itself is lovely enough. And it was good to see Gyre as well, even if we spent most of lunch dissecting my life choices and critiquing what I've done so far and what I should do next. Ha.
After lunch, I went to Target (yes, that's a highlight), and then met up for coffee with Steph, who was in town from Washington, D.C. I hadn't seen her in quite some time, so I'm glad we were able to get together and catch up. Then I went to Books Inc (originally to use the bathroom, as I was waiting in line at the cafe for the bathroom there - at minute four I heard water run for a minute and so knocked on the door, at minute six I heard a third flush, at minute seven I yelled through the door asking if the person was okay, to which I got a v. belated affirmative, and at minute eight me and the other dude in line agreed that we would go our separate ways and not wait for the bathroom, since clearly whatever was going on in there was apocalyptic in nature), used the bathroom at Books Inc, and then bought a book on the Middle Ages since I do want to get back to my non-gargoyle young adult book someday.
Eventually, it was time for my third social activity - dinner with Heather (aka dear respected madam) and Durand, which was totally lovely. We hung out for 2.5 hours, which was long enough to catch up (but never long enough total), and then I came back to the evil city, wanted to crawl into bed, and instead messed around online until now. But now I really am going to bed; in an ultimate #firstworldproblem, the cleaning lady failed to come today as usual, which means I need to get up tomorrow since she'll probably show up at nine, which is super annoying since I had planned to sleep in tomorrow. Ah, well, I should get up and write anyway. Goodnight!
After lunch, I went to Target (yes, that's a highlight), and then met up for coffee with Steph, who was in town from Washington, D.C. I hadn't seen her in quite some time, so I'm glad we were able to get together and catch up. Then I went to Books Inc (originally to use the bathroom, as I was waiting in line at the cafe for the bathroom there - at minute four I heard water run for a minute and so knocked on the door, at minute six I heard a third flush, at minute seven I yelled through the door asking if the person was okay, to which I got a v. belated affirmative, and at minute eight me and the other dude in line agreed that we would go our separate ways and not wait for the bathroom, since clearly whatever was going on in there was apocalyptic in nature), used the bathroom at Books Inc, and then bought a book on the Middle Ages since I do want to get back to my non-gargoyle young adult book someday.
Eventually, it was time for my third social activity - dinner with Heather (aka dear respected madam) and Durand, which was totally lovely. We hung out for 2.5 hours, which was long enough to catch up (but never long enough total), and then I came back to the evil city, wanted to crawl into bed, and instead messed around online until now. But now I really am going to bed; in an ultimate #firstworldproblem, the cleaning lady failed to come today as usual, which means I need to get up tomorrow since she'll probably show up at nine, which is super annoying since I had planned to sleep in tomorrow. Ah, well, I should get up and write anyway. Goodnight!
i'm never gonna leave this bed
I'm bitterly tired...was bitterly tired at five, and should have just taken a nap or read a book or something, but instead I forced myself to power through. I had to teach at Berkeley this afternoon, which always throws off my schedule (if you can say 'always' about something that has happened three times and will only happen once more) - getting up and around and out the door in time to catch a bus and a BART and make copies on campus before going to class is a slight struggle, especially after a night of debauchery like last night. Ugh - no wonder I feel like death.
But class was very good, and I am really enjoying it - I must pitch a continuing studies class sooner rather than later. After class, I came home, cleaned up my room, stared at the wall for awhile, and eventually settled in to do some stuff for the awards ceremony (aborted) and answer email (of which I have scads and hordes, so if you're waiting on a personal email, you'll have to keep waiting). And now that it's basically one a.m., I should probably sleep. But while my love for San Francisco has subsided back into grudging appreciation in the wake of my hangover, my love for writing/publishing remains undimmed. Now if Nick and Ellie would just cooperate...
But class was very good, and I am really enjoying it - I must pitch a continuing studies class sooner rather than later. After class, I came home, cleaned up my room, stared at the wall for awhile, and eventually settled in to do some stuff for the awards ceremony (aborted) and answer email (of which I have scads and hordes, so if you're waiting on a personal email, you'll have to keep waiting). And now that it's basically one a.m., I should probably sleep. But while my love for San Francisco has subsided back into grudging appreciation in the wake of my hangover, my love for writing/publishing remains undimmed. Now if Nick and Ellie would just cooperate...
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
it takes my pain away
If there is an app that would send me a text at, say, six p.m. and remind me that I vowed never to drink again, I would download it and install it on every device in my possession. Alas, though, I failed to remember this crucial vow...but more on that in a moment.
Today was mostly really productive; I got up at eight (shocker), messed around on the internet, made some eggs and coffee, and worked for several hours, with a break for lunch and multiple tiny breaks to check my sales rankings (as usual). Around two p.m., I discovered that I'd missed a call from my mother, so I called her back while taking a walk -- I ended up walking for about forty-five minutes, which was a good way to clear my head and get some fresh air (which is, strangely, sadly lacking at my desk).
After my walk, I came home, procrastinated, showered, procrastinated some more, wrote another page, and took a nap. Then I wrote until Terry came home, at which point I was promptly distracted, and I had a glass of wine with her while eating leftover chili and watching Aaron Sorkin's latest exercise in self-indulgence (aka "The Newsroom"). I was supposed to go out tonight, but I was well on the way towards bailing, since I was already in my pajamas (which I put on after showering at four p.m.) and feeling like I desperately needed to chain myself to my desk for another three or four hours.
But Chandlord knows me well, and she called to verify tonight's plans, and once she had me on the phone I didn't think to back down. So I put on real people clothes, swiped some bronzer on my pale and hermity cheeks, and went to Burritt Room (down in Union Square) to meet up with her. It wasn't just her, though - we were going out in honor of Chris and Priyanka, our two exciting new friends from last summer's German wedding. They were in town for a couple of days with Priyanka's brother Nikhil, and so we had drinks and food and general merriment for several hours. This may be the only time I have ever hung out in San Francisco in a group where a majority of people have been to Centerville, Iowa -- I suppose times when Katie or [censored] were out here and we were with one other person might count, but still. Priyanka and Nikhil grew up there, Priyanka for less time (the last two years of high school, although we graduated the same year and never met each other), and Nikhil for most of his formative years since he's six years younger than her. So, that was bizarre and amusing.
More amusing was that I had planned to have one drink and peace out, but it was so fun to see them again that I kept forgetting. So I had three cocktails at Burritt (two Strawberry Macaroons, which were delicious and tasted like strawberry soda, and one something else that involved egg white and gin and other deliciousness), and we ended up eating a lot (polenta, fries, dungeness crab tart, salmon, prosciutto, etc). Then we went to Big, home of last weekend's merriment, where I had one more cocktail - I asked for something not so alcoholic, and they delivered in the form of some amazing concoction made with wines, vermouths, etc. (still alcoholic, though). I left them around one, when they were still going strong, so that I could take a cab home and try to recover before it's time to get up and go to Berkeley in the morning.
But I must say (and yes, I'm tipsy if I'm saying this) that San Francisco is a wonderful city, despite all the weird people and overpriced drinks and fifty-five degree summer days. And I'm glad I'm here, even if the thought of trying to make a living as a full-time writer without any stock options to fall back on is enough to give me (multiple) ulcers. But I've just gotta have faith that I'll get there -- and if I don't get there, at least the bars are great and the drinks are strong. Goodnight!
Today was mostly really productive; I got up at eight (shocker), messed around on the internet, made some eggs and coffee, and worked for several hours, with a break for lunch and multiple tiny breaks to check my sales rankings (as usual). Around two p.m., I discovered that I'd missed a call from my mother, so I called her back while taking a walk -- I ended up walking for about forty-five minutes, which was a good way to clear my head and get some fresh air (which is, strangely, sadly lacking at my desk).
After my walk, I came home, procrastinated, showered, procrastinated some more, wrote another page, and took a nap. Then I wrote until Terry came home, at which point I was promptly distracted, and I had a glass of wine with her while eating leftover chili and watching Aaron Sorkin's latest exercise in self-indulgence (aka "The Newsroom"). I was supposed to go out tonight, but I was well on the way towards bailing, since I was already in my pajamas (which I put on after showering at four p.m.) and feeling like I desperately needed to chain myself to my desk for another three or four hours.
But Chandlord knows me well, and she called to verify tonight's plans, and once she had me on the phone I didn't think to back down. So I put on real people clothes, swiped some bronzer on my pale and hermity cheeks, and went to Burritt Room (down in Union Square) to meet up with her. It wasn't just her, though - we were going out in honor of Chris and Priyanka, our two exciting new friends from last summer's German wedding. They were in town for a couple of days with Priyanka's brother Nikhil, and so we had drinks and food and general merriment for several hours. This may be the only time I have ever hung out in San Francisco in a group where a majority of people have been to Centerville, Iowa -- I suppose times when Katie or [censored] were out here and we were with one other person might count, but still. Priyanka and Nikhil grew up there, Priyanka for less time (the last two years of high school, although we graduated the same year and never met each other), and Nikhil for most of his formative years since he's six years younger than her. So, that was bizarre and amusing.
More amusing was that I had planned to have one drink and peace out, but it was so fun to see them again that I kept forgetting. So I had three cocktails at Burritt (two Strawberry Macaroons, which were delicious and tasted like strawberry soda, and one something else that involved egg white and gin and other deliciousness), and we ended up eating a lot (polenta, fries, dungeness crab tart, salmon, prosciutto, etc). Then we went to Big, home of last weekend's merriment, where I had one more cocktail - I asked for something not so alcoholic, and they delivered in the form of some amazing concoction made with wines, vermouths, etc. (still alcoholic, though). I left them around one, when they were still going strong, so that I could take a cab home and try to recover before it's time to get up and go to Berkeley in the morning.
But I must say (and yes, I'm tipsy if I'm saying this) that San Francisco is a wonderful city, despite all the weird people and overpriced drinks and fifty-five degree summer days. And I'm glad I'm here, even if the thought of trying to make a living as a full-time writer without any stock options to fall back on is enough to give me (multiple) ulcers. But I've just gotta have faith that I'll get there -- and if I don't get there, at least the bars are great and the drinks are strong. Goodnight!
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
before you came into my life i missed you so bad
Today was v., v. writerly - if you think I'm a strange combination of Ernest Hemingway and a cougar. I slept late, which seems impossible since the fire alarm between me and Terry's rooms was apparently chirping since five a.m., but my ability to sleep is legendary. So when I finally rolled out of bed at an embarrassing hour, I checked my email, took care of some writerly tings, and then went to Safeway to buy a new battery for the alarm and some groceries for my tummy. I also went to Philz on Van Ness, since I was run out of the Philz in Palo Alto by an overly-chatty barista (I mean, I would go back there, I just can't anticipate getting any work done) and got a coffee + a pound of coffee beans to sustain myself through the next round of fierce writing/edits.
When I got home, I changed the battery (successfully, albeit semi-deafeningly), trimmed my bangs, showered, and took care of some more writerly tings. Then I took a taxi (because I am such a princess) to a cafe, where I met up with my co-teacher for this class I'm teaching at Berkeley so that we could plan the next two lessons. That mission accomplished, I took a bus (because I like to find out how the masses live - and they live crazily, judging by the guy who was ranting loudly to himself for fifteen blocks or so) up Fillmore and spent a couple of hours at the Grove, where I nursed a diet coke and wrote a few pages of Ellie and Nick's book. This is a crucial scene where he's an asshole (don't women love assholes? sales records would say yes), and since I'm about as conflict-avoidant as a person can be without being a total doormat, it's kind of tough for me to write this. But it's going okay (knock on wood), so I'm glad I made some progress.
Post Grove, I met up with Terry and Lauren (aka Subz) for an early dinner at Dosa, where I had two cocktails (remember my vow never to drink again? me neither) and some curry, and we caught up on all the many things that have happened to us since we saw each other twenty-four hours ago (answer: nothing). Then we went across the street and saw "Magic Mike", which I was required by all the laws of romance writerdom to see or else I would be kicked out of the sisterhood and forced to go write inspirational Christian romance instead. And I must say, I wish there had been more stripping and less tawdry drug-centered secondary plot. And I must also say, I wasted far too much of my youth trying to pause a VHS tape of "A Time To Kill" on exactly the moment when Matthew McConaughey sits down on the remnants of his blown-up front porch and trying to verify whether there was a hole in the crotch of his jeans, since he shows almost all the goods in HD up on the big screen in this one. My, how far I've come from my sad and misspent youth.
sssanyway, the movie was entertaining, even if I roll my eyes at all the women acting like innocent little girls, shrieking and blushing over things like "Magic Mike" and "50 Shades of Grey" - while some part of me is pleased that we may be reaching a cultural turning point and starting to objectify men (yum), there's another part of me that feels like this is all just a little ridiculous.
sssanyway again, we had fun, and now I should go to sleep and pray that I wake up sans hangover so that I can finish this scene and send the first third of the book off to my editor. Wish me luck (parenthetically, if you desire - apparently parentheses exceed even my love for the beloved em-dash tonight) - goodnight!
When I got home, I changed the battery (successfully, albeit semi-deafeningly), trimmed my bangs, showered, and took care of some more writerly tings. Then I took a taxi (because I am such a princess) to a cafe, where I met up with my co-teacher for this class I'm teaching at Berkeley so that we could plan the next two lessons. That mission accomplished, I took a bus (because I like to find out how the masses live - and they live crazily, judging by the guy who was ranting loudly to himself for fifteen blocks or so) up Fillmore and spent a couple of hours at the Grove, where I nursed a diet coke and wrote a few pages of Ellie and Nick's book. This is a crucial scene where he's an asshole (don't women love assholes? sales records would say yes), and since I'm about as conflict-avoidant as a person can be without being a total doormat, it's kind of tough for me to write this. But it's going okay (knock on wood), so I'm glad I made some progress.
Post Grove, I met up with Terry and Lauren (aka Subz) for an early dinner at Dosa, where I had two cocktails (remember my vow never to drink again? me neither) and some curry, and we caught up on all the many things that have happened to us since we saw each other twenty-four hours ago (answer: nothing). Then we went across the street and saw "Magic Mike", which I was required by all the laws of romance writerdom to see or else I would be kicked out of the sisterhood and forced to go write inspirational Christian romance instead. And I must say, I wish there had been more stripping and less tawdry drug-centered secondary plot. And I must also say, I wasted far too much of my youth trying to pause a VHS tape of "A Time To Kill" on exactly the moment when Matthew McConaughey sits down on the remnants of his blown-up front porch and trying to verify whether there was a hole in the crotch of his jeans, since he shows almost all the goods in HD up on the big screen in this one. My, how far I've come from my sad and misspent youth.
sssanyway, the movie was entertaining, even if I roll my eyes at all the women acting like innocent little girls, shrieking and blushing over things like "Magic Mike" and "50 Shades of Grey" - while some part of me is pleased that we may be reaching a cultural turning point and starting to objectify men (yum), there's another part of me that feels like this is all just a little ridiculous.
sssanyway again, we had fun, and now I should go to sleep and pray that I wake up sans hangover so that I can finish this scene and send the first third of the book off to my editor. Wish me luck (parenthetically, if you desire - apparently parentheses exceed even my love for the beloved em-dash tonight) - goodnight!
Monday, July 09, 2012
with fingernails that shine like justice
I should really start these posts with something more interesting than "I didn't write as much as I wanted today," shouldn't I? Part of it was happenstance; my two cocktails last night were the very picture of restraint, but I still woke up feeling surly and sick. Not as sick as the aftermath of my failed triple margarita challenge at Latin America Club, but still not happy. So I laid around in bed, then showered, made some oatmeal and coffee, and wrote for a couple of hours in the early afternoon. Ellie and Nick are being little bitches and not doing exactly what I tell them, and while I think I could have forced them to get on with things (things being undressing each other), I had plans this afternoon and had to abandon them. But before my plans, I talked to my mother, which threw off her schedule since I was three hours earlier in calling her than I usually am on Sundays. She took it in stride, though, and it was good to catch up - and tentatively plan my next trip home, which will likely be at the end of summer when I need to detox from the Olympics and all the food coloring my Olympics commemorations entail.
I was good and didn't bail on a social activity today (even though I wanted to be good-er and finish this section I'm struggling with). Instead, I met up with Lauren (aka Subz, a name she hates) and Terry at the Fillmore Jazz Festival. They closed off multiple blocks of Fillmore and put up food tents, beer gardens, and outdoor stages, with a bunch of different jazz performances happening up and down Fillmore. We spent the first hour or so nursing drinks in a beer garden and catching up on life, since I hadn't seen Lauren since pre-RomCon (which means pre-Chocolate Mangasm, an event that all my friends seem to want to hear about). Then we wandered down the street, ate some kettle corn, and listened to a particularly delightful female vocalist for a few songs. I also almost bought a red fascinator from a hat store, but it was hard to justify spending the money on it even though I have more use for a fascinator than anyone I know (not that I needed to tell you that).
As we were walking, we ran into some acquaintances (some guy from my old workplace whom I hadn't seen in years, although he's friends with Nathan), who ran into some more acquaintances, which turned into a v. fun impromptu street gathering. The music in the background made it all much more entertaining, since it's hard to be shy with strangers when there's a seductive beat going on underneath it all. So, that was all v. nice, but eventually we parted ways and Terry and I came home, where I made us some chili (yum). And then I was going to write, but I failed; instead, I took care of a few small tings and wrote some answers for an interview/forum chat I'm doing on some romance site tomorrow (this is my life). So now I'm going to sleep so that I can get up and participate in the chat and hopefully write like a million words of this book. Goodnight!
I was good and didn't bail on a social activity today (even though I wanted to be good-er and finish this section I'm struggling with). Instead, I met up with Lauren (aka Subz, a name she hates) and Terry at the Fillmore Jazz Festival. They closed off multiple blocks of Fillmore and put up food tents, beer gardens, and outdoor stages, with a bunch of different jazz performances happening up and down Fillmore. We spent the first hour or so nursing drinks in a beer garden and catching up on life, since I hadn't seen Lauren since pre-RomCon (which means pre-Chocolate Mangasm, an event that all my friends seem to want to hear about). Then we wandered down the street, ate some kettle corn, and listened to a particularly delightful female vocalist for a few songs. I also almost bought a red fascinator from a hat store, but it was hard to justify spending the money on it even though I have more use for a fascinator than anyone I know (not that I needed to tell you that).
As we were walking, we ran into some acquaintances (some guy from my old workplace whom I hadn't seen in years, although he's friends with Nathan), who ran into some more acquaintances, which turned into a v. fun impromptu street gathering. The music in the background made it all much more entertaining, since it's hard to be shy with strangers when there's a seductive beat going on underneath it all. So, that was all v. nice, but eventually we parted ways and Terry and I came home, where I made us some chili (yum). And then I was going to write, but I failed; instead, I took care of a few small tings and wrote some answers for an interview/forum chat I'm doing on some romance site tomorrow (this is my life). So now I'm going to sleep so that I can get up and participate in the chat and hopefully write like a million words of this book. Goodnight!
Sunday, July 08, 2012
if you want it done right
Ugh. I did not intend to go out tonight, and I really shouldn't have -- I suppose it's theoretically acceptable to take a Saturday night off, but that doesn't make me feel any better given how tantalizingly close I am to being done with the portion of the book that I'm working on. At least I was happy with what I accomplished during the day -- I woke up, showered, did some editing, and was just making coffee when I saw I'd missed a text from Adit saying to call him because it was urgent. Of course this turned out to be a boldfaced lie, as I expected with 94% certainty when I called him, but I called him anyway like the fool I am -- and was immediately harassed into meeting up with him to get some work done.
This was harassment I gave into easily; I'm in hardcore writing/editing mode, which works well in coffeeshops, and Adit is one of the few people I can go to a coffeeshop and get legitimate work done with. So we spent several hours at Leland Tea, although I was late enough (due to printer issues) that he had to have some tea for one rather than doing tea for two/two for tea like we usually do. I needed to get out of there around 5:00, which dismayed him, so I brought him back to my place to do some more work -- but when I got home I discovered that Terry was back from LA (yay!). So I caught up with her, then we dumped Adit off at his car and picked up some salads for dinner.
After dinner, I started working again, but around 8:30 I gave into temptation and went out. Katrina and Chandlord were having drinks near Chandlord's place (the oh-so-lovely Tendernob area, aka the weird gentrifying-but-still-unappealing area between Tenderloin and Nob Hill, although closer to Union Square than Chandlord is), and I had said I would meet up with them at seven -- which turned out to be a boldfaced lie on my part. Adit feigns urgency where there is none, and I say I will leave the house when I won't -- we all know this. I was going to drive, and had even started my car when I decided to screw it and take a cab there, which turned out great even though I inadvertently went with neither enough cash nor my debit card. Tanks for floating me, friends!
The bar was super fun and the cocktails were excellent, We went to this place called Big, which is of course tiny. The bartenders there are cocktail artists, and so there is no menu and you would probably be kicked out if you tried to order a cosmo. Instead, for the folks back home in Iowa, this means that you tell the bartender some vague definition of what you like, and he makes something on the fly that he thinks you'll enjoy.
I scored big with my first one, in what may have been my favorite cocktail of the night -- I said I like citrus and rum, such as a Hemingway daiquiri, and he came back with some delightful thing that contained rum, lime, gooseberries, and some other tasty magic. My second drink was less delightful, but that was because I didn't say that I'm not particularly fond of whisky -- he gave me the berries that I asked for, but he made what he called a whisky/sherry cobbler, which was more alcohol than I bargained for. Chandlord had the other contender for best drink of the evening (which I'll concede to her, since it was both delicious and wildly different than anything I'd had before) - gin, muddled blueberries, apricot liqueur, walnut liqueur, and some other stuff I forget, all of which was winning.
sssanyway, we hung out there for a couple of hours, and at some point Adit and Priyanka showed up, since I'd mentioned these tentative plans whilst at Leland Tea. When we were done drinking, Katrina biked home, but Adit took Priyanka, me, Chandlord, and Chandlord's friend Kathy back to the Marina (yay home neighborhood) to have a late supper at Delarosa. I haven't been there, even though it's not super far from us -- but the main drag of Chestnut is just far enough away that Terry and I tend not to walk there. It's an Italian place with a fun ambience, and the food was excellent -- I had some meatballs that were fantastic, and a polenta that was good but too filling for what I needed. I also succumbed to gluten temptation and ate a bit of the burrata mozzarella pizza with spicy marinara that they ordered, and it was worth whatever repercussions I suffer. And then Adit dropped me off at home, and now I must sleep so that I can write tomorrow -- I swear I will send this manuscript to my editor if it kills me. Goodnight!
This was harassment I gave into easily; I'm in hardcore writing/editing mode, which works well in coffeeshops, and Adit is one of the few people I can go to a coffeeshop and get legitimate work done with. So we spent several hours at Leland Tea, although I was late enough (due to printer issues) that he had to have some tea for one rather than doing tea for two/two for tea like we usually do. I needed to get out of there around 5:00, which dismayed him, so I brought him back to my place to do some more work -- but when I got home I discovered that Terry was back from LA (yay!). So I caught up with her, then we dumped Adit off at his car and picked up some salads for dinner.
After dinner, I started working again, but around 8:30 I gave into temptation and went out. Katrina and Chandlord were having drinks near Chandlord's place (the oh-so-lovely Tendernob area, aka the weird gentrifying-but-still-unappealing area between Tenderloin and Nob Hill, although closer to Union Square than Chandlord is), and I had said I would meet up with them at seven -- which turned out to be a boldfaced lie on my part. Adit feigns urgency where there is none, and I say I will leave the house when I won't -- we all know this. I was going to drive, and had even started my car when I decided to screw it and take a cab there, which turned out great even though I inadvertently went with neither enough cash nor my debit card. Tanks for floating me, friends!
The bar was super fun and the cocktails were excellent, We went to this place called Big, which is of course tiny. The bartenders there are cocktail artists, and so there is no menu and you would probably be kicked out if you tried to order a cosmo. Instead, for the folks back home in Iowa, this means that you tell the bartender some vague definition of what you like, and he makes something on the fly that he thinks you'll enjoy.
I scored big with my first one, in what may have been my favorite cocktail of the night -- I said I like citrus and rum, such as a Hemingway daiquiri, and he came back with some delightful thing that contained rum, lime, gooseberries, and some other tasty magic. My second drink was less delightful, but that was because I didn't say that I'm not particularly fond of whisky -- he gave me the berries that I asked for, but he made what he called a whisky/sherry cobbler, which was more alcohol than I bargained for. Chandlord had the other contender for best drink of the evening (which I'll concede to her, since it was both delicious and wildly different than anything I'd had before) - gin, muddled blueberries, apricot liqueur, walnut liqueur, and some other stuff I forget, all of which was winning.
sssanyway, we hung out there for a couple of hours, and at some point Adit and Priyanka showed up, since I'd mentioned these tentative plans whilst at Leland Tea. When we were done drinking, Katrina biked home, but Adit took Priyanka, me, Chandlord, and Chandlord's friend Kathy back to the Marina (yay home neighborhood) to have a late supper at Delarosa. I haven't been there, even though it's not super far from us -- but the main drag of Chestnut is just far enough away that Terry and I tend not to walk there. It's an Italian place with a fun ambience, and the food was excellent -- I had some meatballs that were fantastic, and a polenta that was good but too filling for what I needed. I also succumbed to gluten temptation and ate a bit of the burrata mozzarella pizza with spicy marinara that they ordered, and it was worth whatever repercussions I suffer. And then Adit dropped me off at home, and now I must sleep so that I can write tomorrow -- I swear I will send this manuscript to my editor if it kills me. Goodnight!
Saturday, July 07, 2012
but i've gotta let it go
I'm exhausted, which means I got nothing done tonight - yes, I realize that theoretically I should probably take Friday night off, but that phrase is not computing in my head. I slept something less than six hours last night, which is never good for me, but I happened to wake up an hour and a half before my alarm and see an email that I needed to respond to with a phone call. Since I am v. bad on the phone in the morning, I took the time to wake up, brush my teeth, put in my contacts, and make some tea before calling the person back. And it all turned out good - it's a well-known (in the industry) book blogger/reporter/general connector of people who hosts a reader event in Milwaukee, and my publicist had suggested that I try to get into it as an author. I'd emailed last night, she asked me to call her this morning, and it turns out that I'm invited - so yay to that. It's not until next spring, so it's nothing urgent for me, but she wanted to lock down the last slots before putting her site up next week.
Basically my whole promotion strategy is to pretend that I'm a big deal until I am a big deal, and it seems to be working -- HEIRESS is now #77 in the entire Nook store, which is pretty incredible. I have no idea what that means in terms of units sold since my agent is off for the weekend, and it's obviously a much smaller number dollar-wise than it might have been since it's only $0.99 -- but the goal is attracting new readers and stimulating interest in future books in the series, so hopefully that works. And I will happily celebrate being in the top one hundred books on Nook for as long as it lasts!
Anyway, after the call, I took care of a bunch of stuff for the awards ceremony, answered a few other emails, and drove down to the south bay to run errands. Yes, ridiculous. I had to go to Home Depot to buy a collapsible hand truck to haul around all the thirty-pound boxes of excerpt booklets that have been the bane of my existence. Then I grabbed lunch, went to the post office and mailed six boxes of those books (thus making them the bane of the postal workers' existences) plus a couple of other giveaways, exchanged $25 of loose change for an Amazon giftcard at a Coinstar machine, and took my car to the carwash to try to get the egg off it from the unjust egging it received in Menlo Park on the Fourth of July (verdict: my paint job may never be the same - may be time to file a claim). Then I went to Stanford library and checked out a bunch of books on 19th century painters, and another bunch of books on the East India Company. I was all excited to start reading them tonight, too, but by the time I got home all I wanted to do was sleep. So I crawled into bed, but since it was still slightly light out, I forced myself to stay up - and I read an entire romance novel (of course).
But now, I really should go to sleep - I need to write tomorrow, and I plan to avoid all distractions until I'm done. Goodnight!
Basically my whole promotion strategy is to pretend that I'm a big deal until I am a big deal, and it seems to be working -- HEIRESS is now #77 in the entire Nook store, which is pretty incredible. I have no idea what that means in terms of units sold since my agent is off for the weekend, and it's obviously a much smaller number dollar-wise than it might have been since it's only $0.99 -- but the goal is attracting new readers and stimulating interest in future books in the series, so hopefully that works. And I will happily celebrate being in the top one hundred books on Nook for as long as it lasts!
Anyway, after the call, I took care of a bunch of stuff for the awards ceremony, answered a few other emails, and drove down to the south bay to run errands. Yes, ridiculous. I had to go to Home Depot to buy a collapsible hand truck to haul around all the thirty-pound boxes of excerpt booklets that have been the bane of my existence. Then I grabbed lunch, went to the post office and mailed six boxes of those books (thus making them the bane of the postal workers' existences) plus a couple of other giveaways, exchanged $25 of loose change for an Amazon giftcard at a Coinstar machine, and took my car to the carwash to try to get the egg off it from the unjust egging it received in Menlo Park on the Fourth of July (verdict: my paint job may never be the same - may be time to file a claim). Then I went to Stanford library and checked out a bunch of books on 19th century painters, and another bunch of books on the East India Company. I was all excited to start reading them tonight, too, but by the time I got home all I wanted to do was sleep. So I crawled into bed, but since it was still slightly light out, I forced myself to stay up - and I read an entire romance novel (of course).
But now, I really should go to sleep - I need to write tomorrow, and I plan to avoid all distractions until I'm done. Goodnight!
Friday, July 06, 2012
foundations of stone
I was v. productive today, at the cost of my neck - I probably should have left the house or something. Or gotten out of bed before ten a.m. - I laid around way too late. Anyway, my accomplishments feel quite...accomplish-y. I did a thorough cleaning and reorganizing of my room, which felt long overdue since I had piles of books and papers everywhere and it was starting to impact my ability to focus (or maybe I was procrastinating - unclear). So now everything is organized and neat, and hopefully it will stay that way while I slog through this draft.
Then I procrastinated for awhile, checking rankings and the like - HEIRESS is #2 in Regency romance on B&N, and is slowly creeping up, although the last slots to overtake #1 are likely impossible to bridge. I'm at like 132 overall in the Nook store right now and the other book is at 22...which means it either needs to drop like a rock, or I somehow have to surpass the other 100 books between us (which includes books like, say, THE HUNGER GAMES and a whole shitload of James Patterson and George R.R. Martin). Yes, I'm obsessed. I was taken down a notch by someone who gave it a one-star review on Goodreads, but since that person gave one of my favorite books ever (SUNSHINE by Robin McKinley) a one-star review because "she uses the f-word", I have a feeling she's not my target reader.
When I finally stopped procrastinating, I wrote four pages of Nick and Ellie, then slogged through my email inboxes, then took care of one of the big remaining tasks for the awards ceremony (writing all the presenter intros), which I had been putting off. And now, I should really sleep - tomorrow includes fun things like going to the post office and trying to finish this first 100 pages so I can send it to my editor, and I need to sleep (and get my neck to stop hurting). Goodnight!
Then I procrastinated for awhile, checking rankings and the like - HEIRESS is #2 in Regency romance on B&N, and is slowly creeping up, although the last slots to overtake #1 are likely impossible to bridge. I'm at like 132 overall in the Nook store right now and the other book is at 22...which means it either needs to drop like a rock, or I somehow have to surpass the other 100 books between us (which includes books like, say, THE HUNGER GAMES and a whole shitload of James Patterson and George R.R. Martin). Yes, I'm obsessed. I was taken down a notch by someone who gave it a one-star review on Goodreads, but since that person gave one of my favorite books ever (SUNSHINE by Robin McKinley) a one-star review because "she uses the f-word", I have a feeling she's not my target reader.
When I finally stopped procrastinating, I wrote four pages of Nick and Ellie, then slogged through my email inboxes, then took care of one of the big remaining tasks for the awards ceremony (writing all the presenter intros), which I had been putting off. And now, I should really sleep - tomorrow includes fun things like going to the post office and trying to finish this first 100 pages so I can send it to my editor, and I need to sleep (and get my neck to stop hurting). Goodnight!
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
back to the start
Today was mostly lovely, even if I didn't write nearly as much as I had intended. When I woke up this morning, I considered backing out of my social commitments for the day so that I could write -- and I even wrote three pages or so before noon, which never happens for me. But then I decided to be a good friend (and to save myself from the anger of hearing the entire Marina neighborhood engage in raucous day drinking while I was slaving away at my desk) and went to both parties I was supposed to go to -- Heather and Salim's barbecue in San Jose, and Chris and Connie's barbecue in Menlo Park.
Those of you who know anything about the geography of the bay area know that this means I had to drive an hour+ to get to Heather and Salim's, where it was approximately thirty degrees warmer than the city. I rolled in around 1:30, but the meat wasn't ready until four, so I spent some quality time hanging out with dear respected madam and their friends. I need to see Heather again for a proper catch-up v. soon, but I had a good time seeing people, and the food was absolutely delicious.
After that barbecue, I swung by Chris and Connie's, where I ended up lingering for a couple of hours and closing out the party since I was about an hour and a half later arriving than I had planned to be. I hadn't seen them since before I went to Iowa, so we had a lot to catch up on (over watermelon mojitos, which were amazingly tasty). I left their place around eight, which was much later than I had planned to leave the south bay - I was expecting bad traffic and had intended to come home around five, but both parties went way longer than I had anticipated (which was good, since I had fun!). Luckily traffic was remarkably light, so I made it home in good time. I'm going to have to leave the city again sometime soon to take my car to a carwash, though - when I left Chris's, I discovered that someone had egged my car, which was particularly disgusting given that it immediately cooked onto the car in the heat of the south bay. And there's eggshells stuck inside the housing of my side view mirror, which is super annoying. Boo.
Anyway, I came home, watched a bit of fireworks from my roof, read part of an absolutely terrible book that I couldn't finish, and am now going to go to bed. More writing tomorrow -- luckily I think I'm hitting a groove and understand the story better now, so hopefully I'll have a bit of smooth sailing until I hit another wall. Goodnight!
Those of you who know anything about the geography of the bay area know that this means I had to drive an hour+ to get to Heather and Salim's, where it was approximately thirty degrees warmer than the city. I rolled in around 1:30, but the meat wasn't ready until four, so I spent some quality time hanging out with dear respected madam and their friends. I need to see Heather again for a proper catch-up v. soon, but I had a good time seeing people, and the food was absolutely delicious.
After that barbecue, I swung by Chris and Connie's, where I ended up lingering for a couple of hours and closing out the party since I was about an hour and a half later arriving than I had planned to be. I hadn't seen them since before I went to Iowa, so we had a lot to catch up on (over watermelon mojitos, which were amazingly tasty). I left their place around eight, which was much later than I had planned to leave the south bay - I was expecting bad traffic and had intended to come home around five, but both parties went way longer than I had anticipated (which was good, since I had fun!). Luckily traffic was remarkably light, so I made it home in good time. I'm going to have to leave the city again sometime soon to take my car to a carwash, though - when I left Chris's, I discovered that someone had egged my car, which was particularly disgusting given that it immediately cooked onto the car in the heat of the south bay. And there's eggshells stuck inside the housing of my side view mirror, which is super annoying. Boo.
Anyway, I came home, watched a bit of fireworks from my roof, read part of an absolutely terrible book that I couldn't finish, and am now going to go to bed. More writing tomorrow -- luckily I think I'm hitting a groove and understand the story better now, so hopefully I'll have a bit of smooth sailing until I hit another wall. Goodnight!
now you're just somebody that i used to know
Sorry about last night's blog post; it got eaten by blogger, a fact that I didn't know until Terry sent me an email this afternoon asking if I was alive. Ha. Yes, I am alive, albeit exhausted and so deeply entrenched into my writing world that I'm not sure I can come out for the activities I'm supposed to do tomorrow.
First things first, though. I woke up this morning and took care of some tings before heading down to Palo Alto to train with Alyssa (you may remember her) -- I'm not sure what to do about my fitness regimen, exactly, since I don't want to continue paying for personal training but also haven't figure out other things I like to do that are closer to home. And I desperately needed some stretching exercises, since my neck is better but still touchy, so she helped a bit with that. After working out with her, I did some treadmill while reading a book, then showered, then had a late lunch at a cafe before heading to Stanford library. Unfortunately, the library closed at five today, and so I only had a couple of hours to work there, but I got a lot done and am really happy with how the beginning of the book is coming together.
After getting unceremoniously booted from the library, I came home, and I had some revelations on the drive. I procrastinated for quite awhile when I got home, but when I eventually sat down to write again, I poured out a whole bunch of notes that may have solved the remaining lingering problems with the book - so that was a relief. So much of a relief that I took the rest of the night off and finished the book I was reading at the gym. But now I must sleep so that I can write all those lovely ideas in the morning - goodnight!
First things first, though. I woke up this morning and took care of some tings before heading down to Palo Alto to train with Alyssa (you may remember her) -- I'm not sure what to do about my fitness regimen, exactly, since I don't want to continue paying for personal training but also haven't figure out other things I like to do that are closer to home. And I desperately needed some stretching exercises, since my neck is better but still touchy, so she helped a bit with that. After working out with her, I did some treadmill while reading a book, then showered, then had a late lunch at a cafe before heading to Stanford library. Unfortunately, the library closed at five today, and so I only had a couple of hours to work there, but I got a lot done and am really happy with how the beginning of the book is coming together.
After getting unceremoniously booted from the library, I came home, and I had some revelations on the drive. I procrastinated for quite awhile when I got home, but when I eventually sat down to write again, I poured out a whole bunch of notes that may have solved the remaining lingering problems with the book - so that was a relief. So much of a relief that I took the rest of the night off and finished the book I was reading at the gym. But now I must sleep so that I can write all those lovely ideas in the morning - goodnight!
Tuesday, July 03, 2012
in december drinking horchata
Editor's note....BOO. I actually wrote a post last night and Blogger ate it. So you can read this half-post that it saved but didn't make live. I'm sure you missed nothing at the end other than me saying goodnight. Sorry!
Kisses,
Sara
**********************
I need to go to bed immediately - I was quite productive today, so that's nice (I suppose). I wrote six or seven pages and printed off the first 120 pages of my manuscript, then edited the first 80 pages - so I'm getting to the point where the first third feels a bit more finalized, even though I always hate the first third and am likely to keep rewriting it until the bitter end. It's so tricky to set up a book well, and I'm struggling with this one because there's so much history between the hero and heroine that has to be alluded to and/or ignored in the intro.
But I guess I'm getting there, so that's good. I also answered a bunch of emails that came in over night and took care of some stuff for the awards ceremony, and made chicken with the intention of having a salad for dinner tonight (and instead had chips because I was stressed and craving salt)
Kisses,
Sara
**********************
I need to go to bed immediately - I was quite productive today, so that's nice (I suppose). I wrote six or seven pages and printed off the first 120 pages of my manuscript, then edited the first 80 pages - so I'm getting to the point where the first third feels a bit more finalized, even though I always hate the first third and am likely to keep rewriting it until the bitter end. It's so tricky to set up a book well, and I'm struggling with this one because there's so much history between the hero and heroine that has to be alluded to and/or ignored in the intro.
But I guess I'm getting there, so that's good. I also answered a bunch of emails that came in over night and took care of some stuff for the awards ceremony, and made chicken with the intention of having a salad for dinner tonight (and instead had chips because I was stressed and craving salt)
Monday, July 02, 2012
manic monday
First, apologies for not blogging last night; I wanted to blog, but my internet was frozen when I made my attempt, and I was in no mood to blog laboriously from my phone instead. Suffice it to say, though, that it was a blame it on the alcohol kind of night - I had dinner with Adit and Priyanka at Radish, which was delish (and surprisingly meaty for a restaurant named after a vegetable; I had a barbecue pork sandwich on a gluten-free bun, which was awesome). And we split a nice bottle of malbec, which would have been just right for me, since I've barely drank anything since Mexico and am happy to keep it that way so that I can be productive and writerly (without being an Ernest Hemingway kind of writer)...
...but things went sideways, as they usually do when I'm with Adit, and he and I abandoned Priyanka to meet up with one of his friends for a drink at the Latin American Club. He told me that the place is known for its margaritas, but I believe 'infamous' would be a better word than 'famous' - it turns out that a margarita there is served in a pint glass and is approximately 80% tequila, with a bit of triple sec and a lime wedge for looks. We had one round while talking about the damn kids these days, how technology is moving too fast to keep up, and whether we're going to hit a singularity - and then Adit bought another round, which seemed like a good idea at the time (as it always does). By the time I made it through a third of the glass, I knew I had to stop, and so we vacated and I took a cab home.
And then I woke up this morning with the worst hangover I've had in months, and a skinned elbow that I don't remember skinning. I guess a pint of cheap tequila on top of two glasses of wine will do that to you. I got out of bed at nine, shocking Terry, and laid on the couch for twenty minutes before the spins became too much for me and I decided to sleep through the next couple of hours of pain. I woke up again at noon to discover that Terry had left for LA (goodbye roommate!), and that my hangover had progressed to mere surliness rather than dire awfulness.
I spent the rest of the afternoon recovering, and I took a taxi back to Adit's to pick up my car and do a bit of writing at a cafe near there. Then I came home, talked to my parents, procrastinated, and eventually settled into to make progress on my to do list - and worked nonstop for the past six hours. I'm not all the way to inbox zero, which is particularly difficult since I have three active email accounts and two more that I lurk on, but I crossed a ton of pesky stuff off my to-do list. The goal was to clean up enough stuff that I could better focus on Nick and Ellie tomorrow, and so far so good.
But now I really need to go to sleep - I'm not used to staying up this late, and I need to get up and get cracking on the writing. Goodnight!
...but things went sideways, as they usually do when I'm with Adit, and he and I abandoned Priyanka to meet up with one of his friends for a drink at the Latin American Club. He told me that the place is known for its margaritas, but I believe 'infamous' would be a better word than 'famous' - it turns out that a margarita there is served in a pint glass and is approximately 80% tequila, with a bit of triple sec and a lime wedge for looks. We had one round while talking about the damn kids these days, how technology is moving too fast to keep up, and whether we're going to hit a singularity - and then Adit bought another round, which seemed like a good idea at the time (as it always does). By the time I made it through a third of the glass, I knew I had to stop, and so we vacated and I took a cab home.
And then I woke up this morning with the worst hangover I've had in months, and a skinned elbow that I don't remember skinning. I guess a pint of cheap tequila on top of two glasses of wine will do that to you. I got out of bed at nine, shocking Terry, and laid on the couch for twenty minutes before the spins became too much for me and I decided to sleep through the next couple of hours of pain. I woke up again at noon to discover that Terry had left for LA (goodbye roommate!), and that my hangover had progressed to mere surliness rather than dire awfulness.
I spent the rest of the afternoon recovering, and I took a taxi back to Adit's to pick up my car and do a bit of writing at a cafe near there. Then I came home, talked to my parents, procrastinated, and eventually settled into to make progress on my to do list - and worked nonstop for the past six hours. I'm not all the way to inbox zero, which is particularly difficult since I have three active email accounts and two more that I lurk on, but I crossed a ton of pesky stuff off my to-do list. The goal was to clean up enough stuff that I could better focus on Nick and Ellie tomorrow, and so far so good.
But now I really need to go to sleep - I'm not used to staying up this late, and I need to get up and get cracking on the writing. Goodnight!
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