in a tidal wave of mystery

I'M DONE. YAY.

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

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

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

timber

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

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

feliz navidad

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

i want to be the sand inside that hourglass

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

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

i hope you spend your days and they all add up

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

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

settle down, it'll all be clear

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

a hurricane of frowns

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

safe and sound

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

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

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

the final countdown

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

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

carry on, carry on

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

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

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

sunday evening in your street

I continue to work nonstop - it's like it's 2006 again, except I spend three hours less per day working because I'm driving back and forth from San Francisco instead of Palo Alto. And some of my work is for myself, rather than the man. But still. Today was somewhat brutal; I woke up at 5:45, was out the door by 6:15, and made it to Palo Alto around seven to do some writing at Starbucks before seeing Alyssa. The traffic was so blissfully good that early in the morning that it's almost enough to tempt me to do that every day. But then I remember that I hate mornings with the fire of all the sunrises that I never want to see, so I doubt that will happen regularly. Still, I'm going to try to get up early tomorrow as well...wish me luck.

Anyway, I wrote for an hour, then trained with Alyssa, then tried to make myself look presentable (I was clothed, so that's good enough), then sat in meetings straight from ten to three with approximately ten minutes to grab lunch. Yay. I cleared out as soon as I was done with meetings, since I didn't want to deal with Halloween traffic, and when I got to the city I wrote for ninety minutes at Philz. Then I came home and Terry and I had dinner at Zushi Puzzle, which was tasty even though I think it gave me a headache. Or maybe my ulcer friend sent a headache for me as a present. Then we came home, and I abandoned her to do day job stuff for the past two hours. Alternating between writing and the day job is actually going surprisingly well right now, if you ignore the fact that I'm essentially working two full-time jobs and do not see any of my friends who don't live with me.

And on that bleak note, I'm going to go to bed and hope that my rage at the loud, drunk Marina kids doesn't keep me awake. Goodnight!

she's holding her tonic like a cross

I think my brain has melted. This is an unfortunate situation, since I must think during every active moment of the day for the next few weeks if I'm going to stay on top of my many games. Today was brutal, though; I met Kathia for a writing date at seven (okay, I showed up at 7:20), wrote until 8:30, and then caught a v. nausea-inducing bus to Mountain View, which deposited me at 10:15. Then I had a string of meetings and tasks all afternoon, which was quite painful, but I got out of there at 5:50 to catch another nausea-inducing bus back to the city. The commute is not my friend, and I am reminded that I'm happier when I drive even if I have theoretically less chance to work (although since I can't work anyway, it doesn't really matter).

So I got to the city at 7:15, and then met up with a girl who may do some marketing/promo stuff for me (or, rather, for my alter ego). She seemed really smart and cool, but I was a little braindead since I had just woken up from a nausea-avoiding nap and didn't really wake up until halfway into our meeting, at which point she probably already thought that I was a lost cause. But we're going to talk again next week, so hopefully this will work out. Then I went to Roam for a burger and ended up writing over truffle fries and a glass of wine for close to two hours, which means that I finished writing a new first chapter for Alex and Prudence. I have grand plans to get up at 5:30 tomorrow and read through it one more time before sending it off to my editor (and then training with Alyssa), but this grand plan already sounds like a bad idea.

But I'm too tired to edit it tonight, particularly after getting home and dealing with a day job issue, so I think I'll go to bed instead and hope for the best tomorrow. Goodnight!

no sugar tonight

You get another boring blog post because I had another boring day - actually, it was a heavily productive, interesting day, but none of it is of interest to you. I woke up early, wrote for a couple of hours, did some day job stuff, trained with Alyssa, and then was in the office from one to six-thirty. Then I grabbed some coffee with the intention of writing some more, but that was a failure. Then I came home and tried to write again, but it was still a failure, so I'm throwing in the towel. Tomorrow is another day, though - one that will start with a writing date at seven a.m., since I'm bound and determined to finish this book no matter how many friends I lose or how many people I leave dead and bloodied along the way [yes, that's a Zoolander quote]. And on that note, goodnight!

we are all just runaways

I had meant to write tonight, but I'm too tired, so I'm going to go to bed and hit it hard before work. I did the same this morning - I met Kathia at 7:15 and wrote until 9:30, when it was time to speed down to the office. This was actually a v. good plan, since I avoided all traffic, put in a full day of work, left at 6:30, ate some Chipotle, and avoided traffic on the way back as well. If I could get out of having morning meetings I would do this every day, but unfortunately it's not possible.

However, I'm going to try to write again tomorrow, so wish me luck. And that, sadly, is all I have to say - all work and no play, etc. Goodnight!

maybe i'm a different breed

First, I must say that I wasn't drunk last night - I was typing on my tablet because I didn't feel like getting out of bed to get my laptop, and I didn't realize how many typos I'd created. Oops. sssanyway, today was another writing odyssey, or at least the morning was; I met up with Kathia in North Beach at 9:30 and wrote for a couple of hours, which was excellent. I'm feeling good about where I am, although I need to work all week when I'm not at the day job to meet my current goals. After that, I walked back to the Marina, had lunch (huevos) down the street, and didn't get shot in whatever shootout happened on Chestnut Street, since I luckily had decided not to go down there as I had previously considered.

I spent an hour or so procrastinating after that, then had a ninety-minute massage, which did wonders for me. Then I talked to my parents, who were in good form as usual. After that, Terry and I had dinner at Nettie's, since I was craving fish tacos - and we were v. sad to learn that they're going out of business at the end of the year, no doubt because having a restaurant in San Francisco is not a great proposition unless you're totally full every night. Then we came home and I worked on a variety of administrative tasks while watching "Project Runway".

But that's all boring. This tidbit isn't: I found out that the Russian version of HEIRESS is now available! I hadn't heard that it had been released, but I started getting the occasional hit for my name in Russian on zee romance blog, so I started searching. And I found this: http://www.labirint.ru/books/411681/. Isn't the cover gorgeous? I can't read Russian, but I can understand just enough to tell that the first chapter sample is indeed the first chapter of my book. They've retitled it something that translates to 'Forbidden Pleasures', but that's to be expected; Madeleine and Ferguson still have the same names (Мадлен and Фергюсон), so that's cool.

So that's my exciting news for the day. And now I must go to sleep since I have to get up for a writing date before going to work - goodnight!

you're giving me such sweet nothing

The writing is going shockingly well - I keep waiting for it all to go sideways, but thus far I'm on track. I was, v uncharacteristically, out the door this morning before Terry was, since I had a writing date with Kathia at 8:30. I wrote very diligently for two hours, then abandoned Kathia and my laptop to go to a museum with Chandlord.

The museum was the deYoung, and the exhibit was a retrospective of Bulgari jewelry from the '60s to the'90s. Some of it was truly hideous, in keeping with the times, but there were some gorgeous trembnlant brooches in diamond and platinum that I would wear m if I had a) the occasion aand b) the funds. And I found myself in love with the emeralds in the collection, which makes it somewhat likely that someone in one of my boss will get some fabulous emeralds at some point.

After that, Chandlord and I found an ice cream truck with the usual artisanal soft serve (okay, only usual in San Francisco and probably Portland). Then I dropprd her off, took a nap, took a shoGoodnighhtet Kathia at a wine bar for another marathon writing session. I accomplished way more than I deserved since I was quite distracted by all the marina kids in their stupid must-get-drunk-at-5 kind of life. I eventually left, had dinner with Terry, read a magazine, and realized my body is now trying to sleep. And I shall let it - I have another writing date tomorrow and I want the end to be in sight before I go back to the editor. Goodnight!

i push the trigger and i pull the thread

Today was utterly lovely, as productive days that end in steak always are. I woke up, showered, put on yoga pants, and went to the office, where I claimed that my yoga pants and fingerless gloves were my Halloween costume and that I had dressed as a romance writer. Yes, I'm lazy. But I got a lot of random stuff done, which was good. Then I left around 2:00 to beat traffic (but not enough, since the approach to the city was a standstill), got home, checked email, did a bit more stuff, changed into a dress and redid my makeup, and then met up with Kathia at a cafe down the street. We wrote for some time before being joined by Terry, who is on probation until we determine whether her work style meshes with ours. Yes, this sounds harsh, but there are few people whom I can meet up with at a cafe and work with, and the need for productivity right now forsakes all bonds of fellowship (yes, that's a Lord of the Rings quote).

Anyway, we wrote at Rapha, then adjourned to the wine bar across the street and wrote some more. All told it was about three and a half hours, and I feel great about what I got done - I probably wrote ten or fifteen pages and edited another five or ten. Then Terry went to a party and Kathia and I had dinner, which consisted of prime rib and a whole vat of wine. Her husband joined us, which was lovely, and a great time was had by all.

But now I really must sleep, since I have grand plans to write in the morning - goodnight!

heading for the open road

I meant to go to bed an hour ago, but I started messing around online and that was the end of me. Today was pretty good, despite my ridiculous headache; I trained with Alyssa, made it into the office by ten, had some really productive meetings, had lunch with Alaska Matt, and got down to <20 emails in my work inbox (my personal inboxes have abandoned all hope). And I spent some serious quality time talking to Heather (aka dear respected madam) in her car like the sketchy people we are; we were supposed to have dinner, but she canceled because her stomach hurt, but then she stopped by my building and we talked almost as long as we would have talked at a restaurant. The only downside was that I didn't get fed, so I had to survive a v. unexpectedly unpleasant shuttle ride home by eating some string cheese and taking a nap.

But now, I must sleep so that I can go to work, get done everything I need to get done, and leave so I can write a million words this weekend. Goodnight!

i've wasted my nights, you've turned out the lights

Today was somehow v. productive, v. social, and v. frustrating all at once - I think my head is about to explode from trying to manage it all. Or maybe my head is about to explode because I'm on the knife-edge of getting sick - nothing feels quite right, and I keep losing my train of thought in a most uncharacteristic way. But I'm hoping that I can be in bed in ten minutes and get eight hours of sleep (the math doesn't add up, unfortunately).

sssanyway, I got up at 6:15, caught the 7:15 shuttle, and regretted that I had taken the time to dry my hair since that shuttle took an hour and forty minutes to get to the office. Ugh, nightmare. I had meetings almost straight through all day, and the bits of time that had originally been free got filled with impromptu conversations with people. So that was all good, although I didn't answer any email or do anything else worth noting.

But I held true to my goal of leaving at four so that I could get back to the city for a writing date. And I happened to run into Chandlord at the shuttle stop, so we sat together and talked all the way back, which probably means that someone is going to find a way to get us fired, since talking on the shuttle is the biggest faux pas known to man. She made some excellent jhokes, though, including one with a guidebook that cannot be recreated in a way that will give you satisfaction - so if I get fired, it was worth it. I made it to the city at 5:30, and I got off at the stop after my own so that I could meet up with Kathia for a writing date. On my way to the date, I stopped in at Benefit and got them to put mascara on me, since I somehow forgot to put mascara on this morning - total amateur move that left me ashamed all day.

But the ladies at Benefit rectified my tragic situation, and so I was able to walk into the cocktail bar with my head held high. Kathia and I wrote for almost two hours, which was v. necessary; I rewrote most of a scene and I think I'm happy with the results. Then we parted company and I met up with Terry and Lauren (aka Subz) at A16 to have a v. v. belated birthday celebration for Lauren. Her birthday was in August, but we hadn't formally recognized it, so the three of us had dinner and a much-needed catchup (since I hadn't seen Lauren since our infamous drink-fest to celebrate Terry's birthday six weeks ago).

And now, I'm falling asleep and must get up early to train with Alyssa at eight a.m. Ugh. Goodnight!