Saturday, Saturday!

So--the neighbors are still alive. That's a relief! ;-)

And today has already been wonderful. Is there a writer alive who doesn't have an addiction to interesting (or even not so) pens, pencils, papers? The girl needed some stuff for school. I needed a pen or--okay two pens and a new pencil because someone (offspring) appropriated my fave mechanical one. So, we're office-supplied to the gills, and I'm trying everything out on my brainstorming notebook!

As for brainstorming, so far, lackluster progress. I'll get an idea, thud away at it, and then comes the moment--Why don't they just talk about it? Which means what I have is an argument--not a conflict.

Also, I'd like to write a more Alpha type hero in this next one, but I find Alphas very attractive (I have a difficult time using the word "very" since a high school writing teacher described it rightly as a nothing word--the eye skips over and it evokes no emotion--back to the Alphas), and yet, the best Alpha hero is so on the border of being so male he isn't a real man. You know? To the edge of too arrogant and stereotypically masculine. For a much better discussion, zip over to my friend, Kate Walker's blog, and read her March 7 and March 9 posts.

And have a glorious weekend! I hope you find a task almost as pleasant as replenishing your office supplies! :-)

Let's All Meet At the Coffee Shop!

I'm there because I tend to get distracted in the quiet at home these days. Plus, my girl is on her way, and we love to spend time swilling caffeine, doing our respective works. [Oh, for anyone following this blog, she had a class-topping germ harvest! :-) ]

Anywhooo, someone else got the word about the coffee shop. There are 6 global-type delivery service trucks in the parking lot. Their drivers aren't in here, but ya gotta wonder how they all ended up in one place at the same time. I'm making up stories.

Making stuff up seems to run in the family lately. We have neighbors moving in up the hill from us. So far up the hill that they drove their truck from their garage, down the hill to the moving van and moved their belongings from van to house in the back of the truck. We're talking neo-Everest, here. Anyway, they worked till almost ten last night, when finally, the moving van began to rumble as if the hill were actually a volcano, attempting to erupt. Then the van pulled out, all lights went out and pitch darkness was restored. My beloved, came out of the laundry room and said, "Wonder if the moving guys killed the people in that house?"

Hmm. I don't know.

Proposals Away!

They're gone! I'm exhausted but excited about a night of watching movies. Yay!

And I've suddenly noticed it's Spring. I'm not a big fan of Spring because it means Summer is coming, but gosh, those blooms blooming are lovely!

Now to work on backup proposals! :-) And-as a further treat, that idea that keeps teasing me. I'm going to get the tone right on that yet!

Free time and forstythia in bloom. Nice!

Frustration

I like to look as if writing flows as naturally as--hmm--can't think of anything that isn't a cliche--and therein lies my problem. Not that I'm writing cliches, cause I love a cliche best when you can turn it on its ear.

Ahhh, that whole paragraph is my problem. Not that it's a real paragraph, which has structure--a thesis and a continuation that explains the thesis and an end that wraps up its idea.

I'm working on proposals. I've had some interruptions, but I'm steadily working on proposals. In the last couple of years life has been a bit screwy and writing has been difficult, but finally, I can "feel" my voice again. I'm not fighting to find it. I am fighting to find structure in this final synopsis. It's just all over the place, and I'd love to fling it at my editor and say, "Trust me. I'll get the story right despite this being about twenty pages of stuff in no particular arrangement." But we've always had a good working relationship and I respect her, so I'd kind of like to give her something that wouldn't be such hard work for her.

Note--Even I can see I've clearly abandoned all attempt at structure, so I'm printing the synopsis today and letting it sit for 24 hours without touching it. If this blog had sound, you'd be hearing a brittle, broken laugh. Aargh! Look at the cliches going on here! :-)

Off Topic

Working hard, so finding posting difficult, and my daughter's down in school, on her own, with a bad cold. But, lucky her--she has a biology course which required them to grow a germ culture. She was able to just swab her own mouth! :-)

All right--I thought that was off-topic, but there must be a way to work it into a book. Busy, sick student, quailing at the idea of searching out a nice germ harvest...

Pesky Proprosal Procrastination

I just need to polish those babies and send them to my editor, but the Rita deadlines suddenly popped out of nowhere. (Didn't that used to come later in March?) Anyway, no proposal writing today, but lots of reading. I wish I could talk about the books. Some years bring amazing surprises. Last year, one of the books I read was in a genre I never would have chosen on my own, and it's made that author an autobuy for me, including her backlist. I love when that happens! :-)

So--back to Ritas tonight, and tomorrow I can do a little of both. I'd love to hear how other people manage their time because I don't seem to. Time just happens around here and I'm along for the ride. (Picture knees scraping on sand as hapless time-wave rider gets to shore despite herself!)

Storming

I don't want to write. I want to listen to the thunder that's shaking the house. I should be searching for a surge protector to protect my laptop, but I just want to lie outside on the grass in the pounding rain. Talk about a massage! Unfortunately, that might provide an efficient ground for the lightning.

But isn't nature a force?