CAKE!

Nothing like a low carb diet to make you desperately want cake.





Check out Hyperbole and a Half! You won't regret it. Must reads include:
This is why I'll never be an adult
Party
The God of Cake

Visible Change

Some change you can see right away, a new haircut, the devastation from a storm, a de-cluttered office.

What about glacial change? The kind that definitely has a lasting impact, but is barely perceptible?

After attending a weekend “Warrior Writer” workshop that explains the green beret way to conquer fear and succeed, I think I “get it”: identify your biggest blind spot/weakness and face it.

Picture Louis Gosset Jr. screaming at Richard Gere while RG holds that ab crunching legs out position.
“I want your DOR!”
“I got nowhere else to go.”
Okay that’s a little extreme, but we get the point: Gere has faced his biggest fear: this is the end of the line for him. If he can’t make it, he’s got nowhere else to go.


My biggest weakness and blind spot is self-doubt. I hold myself back. What do I fear? Rejection. Ridicule. I got nowhere else to go!!

How can I tell if I’ve really changed my thought patterns or behavior? I keep writing, and keep sending my chapters to my critique group even if I think they stink. Have I really changed my thinking?
Or is quantifying everything and trying to rank it a sign that I’m still up to my old tricks? Sadly, I won’t know until I can look back and see the effects of my actions.

Here’s my new ‘glass is half-full’ positive roundup of writing-related news:

One of my critique group members signed with an agent! Yahoo!

I devoured The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and have arranged my weekend to allow time to read the sequel Catching Fire.

I revised my “to do” schedule so that I have daily writing goals, but the weekend is free for reading and watching movies. I have NEVER been a work 24/7 kind of person, so why would I write 24/7? It makes no sense.


Hey, cool - just found this warriorwriters blog...

Who will play Ranger?

Katherine Heigl will play Stephanie in the movie version of One for the Money - maybe this project will get off the ground!

I think they should find an unknown to play Ranger - a cross between Antonio Banderas and The Rock. I'm just saying...

: )





If you haven't read it yet, what are you waiting for?

That Covey Guy May Have Been on to Something

I read Stephen Covey's 7 Habits book a while ago, and while it all made sense, I never seemed to put first things first. Finally, this year I decided that even though I am not a morning person, I will get up an hour earlier each morning and work on my book every day. And... it's actually working. Who knew? I'm seeing progress!
I can't go straight to it in my 'dream state' because I'm in a fog without a cup of latte, but I set up my little latte machine each night and my steaming, frothy mug is ready in a few minutes in the morning. I fire up my laptop and ka-bam, I'm in the zone.
Turns out that first things first stuff works!
I'd try the other habits Covey recommends, but I don't want to push my luck.
As for my laugh more resolution, we just re-watched Mr. & Mrs. Smith for the bazillionth time. We're starting to notice small details, like that the 'hostage' is wearing a Fight Club t-shirt. Funny.

Laugh more and eat more ice cream

Those are E’s resolutions, not mine. He was trying to get me to relax about goal setting and strategizing for the new year. I officially agreed to keep “laugh more” as my resolution, but I am a goal-oriented person, and I need specific long-term objectives in front of me or else I feel lost.

1- Finish my current YA work-in progress from NaNoWriMo. So far so good. I’m on a new schedule where I spend the 1st hour of my day working on this project and I’m sticking to it.

2- Revise my women’s fiction manuscript. When I’m ready for a break from the above project I’ll jump back on this one.

3 - Train for and enjoy a physically challenging but rewarding active vacation this summer. We’re looking at visiting the Columbia ice fields in August.

The above three goals should govern where my time and money are spent throughout the year. When deciding whether or not to do or buy something, I’ll come back to this list.

In the mean time, for laughs I am watching the Big Bang Theory.

Awesome weekend

Celebrated my birthday in Quebec City - went xc skiing, followed by a swim plus an icy sprint across a snow-covered courtyard to an outdoor jacuzzi. It was -12C (that's 14 F).



Enjoyed wonderful food (rabbit, duck, lots of chocolate!) plus wine.

Quebec City is beautiful- we've got to go back.

Then as a bonus, when I got home I found out I won a box of books! I LOVE free books: )

I'm really happy. Thank you Cindy Procter-King

50K HOORAY!

It got ugly by the final weekend - I had to crank out 5k per day but I did it. Thanks for the kudos Dodi (or 609b e3455...)

E kept himself entertained by going out drinking with ex-girlfriends from high school Saturday night and then "hunting" Sunday which again resulted in him coming home with nothing to show for it. On any other weekend I might have been suspicious and imagined all sorts of sordid scenarios, but all my imagination was focused on NaNo, so as long as he was keeping himself entertained without cutting the power to the house I didn't ask too many questions.

Now I'm taking a break from that project, reading some more how to books and devouring more YA lit for analysis.

And oh, right, it's December which means we'll be celebrating the birth of me, E, and Jesus soon. Need to get the house decked out, make some lists, bake some cookies.

Everyone wants books as gifts, right? I know that's my favorite gift : )