Wednesday, October 22, 2008

A decision

1) I give myself permission not to write between now and Halloween. It wasn't going to happen, anyway, between costume hunts, field trips, parties, and assorted tv/book-themed events (Fancy Nancy AND Thomas the Train both this weekend, and a party that my husband and I are going to attend naked if we don't find costumes soon...).

2) I will get my Golden Heart submission printed and mailed by October 31st. It's sitting, ready, on my laptop. I need to burn my ms to CD. And I need to decide between purchasing a ream of paper + possibly a new ink cartridge vs taking the file to a Kinkos. Leaning towards Kinkos. The decision's complicated by the fact that my thumb drive is AWOL. I think one of the kids was playing with it (it's on a lanyard, and the 4-year old thought it was a necklace). But I don't know whether the drive took a last sojoun to Starbucks before or after it became jewelry. So, it could be anywhere. Darn it.

3) I give myself permission to let Accomplice simmer for a while. I have some research material on request through the library that might help get me back in the spirit. And I know that absence will make the words grow stronger.

4) After Halloween, I will begin querying Chivalrous. Maybe I'll have a writing "cred" to add to my query from the Gateway contest, maybe not. But I have a query letter, a synopsis, and a manuscript. All I can lose at this point is time :)

5) I intend to do NaNoWriMo. I will write (or at least begin) the paranormal that's been on my brain. If I can do like Chivalrous, and pound out the basics of the book during November, great. Then I can let it stew and go back to Accomplice. And then return in late winter/early spring to re-work the paranormal. Time did wonderful things for Chivalrous last year. I did little on it between December 1 and April. When I came back, it was fresh and my subconscious had worked out much of the emotional reasoning behind my characters actions--instinctively, I knew what they would do, but I had to examine the why.

6) I will clean my house! My kitchen floor is sticky, and there are spots under the rims of all toilets. Of course, mopping only lasts until the next meal/snacktime when I have a 19-month old who signals "full" by throwing food on the floor. But since I'm not writing for a week, I have no excuses. Not as many excuses. Ok, only a few excuses, but I'm going to do it anyway, darnit!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Best of luck with everything! Have a great week leading up to Halloween!

Amanda said...

Woohoo naked people at my party!!!

Amanda said...

Sorry I posted that last comment right after reading the first bit. I have laser printer. You use laser printer, k? Bring paper or use mine. Me no care.

Awesome feeling to give yourself public permission. I mean in writing you only have to answer to yourself at least at this point in our careers. See the comma police would be all over me for that sentence. Curse you, comma! Regardless, sometimes permission must be given and time must be taken. Oh, I also have some plastic cd cases if you need one.

I'm like a good bra, you know, supportive and crap. Wierd mood, can you tell?