I finally found a paying gig. It won't be a lot of work or money (maybe I can work myself into more if I'm, ya know, awesome), but I finally connected with a blogger that liked my writing style. And I must say, it's a good fit for me. She had me write her an article as a test. A paid test. *visualize Megan doing a happy dance*
What I love about it is I can be myself when I write. The blog wasn't looking for AP Style or Chicago Manual yadda yadda yadda. They were just looking for someone who could speak to their readers. Someone who could be honest, informative, witty, and funny. Someone that is on the same level. Someone relatable.
Um, over here...that's me.
So, I know you're asking yourself, what are you writing? (okay, just pretend you are) I get to share with the blogosphere, my dating and relationship experiences. How cool is that? (even if you don't think it's cool, just pretend you do) I get to write just like I do here. Casual, matter of fact. I even get
to throw in some gentle cussing. (sadly, no "f" bombs).
Ex boyfriends, you might want to steer clear.
When my first article is published, it will be on Attract The One - Smart, Blunt Relationship Advice for Women.
Don't worry, you'll be the 2nd to know when the article is out (okay, probably right after Facebook and Twitter).
I'm super excited and you should be too (maybe you just don't know it yet).
Sometimes when things are going good, the universe needs to balance itself out remind you that life cannot be perfect.
My daughters, I know they are not perfect, but they are beautiful and talented in their own ways and they are doing the best they can in school. They are weird and funny and inappropriate most the time and I love them for it.
I have a boyfriend who brings me flowers once a week and rarely lets me pay for dinner. When my vacuum breaks and he can't fix it (and he can fix mostly everything) he brings one to my house and tells me it fell off the back of a vacuum truck, then proceeds to vacuum half my house to check it out.
The work I do at my day job is awesome. I get to write and be creative and work part time so I can also write and be creative at home and try to continue to work on my goals of becoming a full time fiction writer some day.
I live in a lovely home, in a quiet neighborhood with a big yard, close to the girl's school.
Yes, that is all good. But then there are faulty memories and car accidents in life. There are delicate situations handled improperly by people who are supposed to care. There are those who do not know when to shut their mouths and leave well enough alone and those who do not speak up when they should.
Balance. The Yin and Yang of life. It's necessary I suppose. Without it, what would we be? A bunch of vapid, wastes of oxygen with no personality or purpose?
The balance, the struggles, the hard stuff, it challenges us, molds us, gives us character. I've faced many struggles in life and I wouldn't be who I am today without them, and I kind of like the me I am right now.
Also, adversity, it is a test of our strength. How much can we take? How much are we willing to take for the ones we care about, because sometimes the challenge isn't about us, sometimes it's in the name of our parent, child, or a complete stranger. Sometimes we have to be strong for someone else.
I'm not really a religious person, but all this reminds me of a quote from Mother Theresa:
So, I say bring it world. I thank you for all the good things I have, but I'm ready for the challenges too. I've been through worse. I've felt pain, I've seen death, I've hit rock bottom. It may be hard, I may cry, I may yell, but I'm pretty sure I can handle anything that comes my way.
Okay, in my usual cold, dead little heart I'm sure I have once, but usually I will blog about it (I think, don't I? Who knows at this point).
So today I will play catch up and blog about 6 things I am thankful for.
6. My health - Okay, maybe I'm tired all the time and maybe I'm batshit crazy, but I have all my limbs and they work properly. I can see and hear and speak. It is my job to keep this body healthy to the best of my ability.
5. My job - Here I mean my day job. I work for a law firm. I do most of their marketing, which includes their social networking, print ads, offline networking, website, blogging, etc, etc, etc. It never ends. I enjoy the work I do, I'm paid well, and we have added benefits at our job that I know other people don't get elsewhere. Plus, I work part time and can still pay my bills, and this still allows me the time to write and market my books.
4. My writing - Oh lord, where would I be without this. Those of you who have been reading my blog for some time know that I've been through some rough patches. I'm not shy about my experiences in life. I share them in the hopes maybe they can help someone else. During those times I've felt desolate and detached from the entire world, I had this. My writing has helped me grieve through losses, make my way through darkness, and give me an outlet when I've needed it.
I thought we were supposed to do the duck face.
3. My friends - These bitches. Some of these people know things worthy of blackmail and I hope they never use it against me. I have friends from high school, writing friends, work friends, friends I've reconnected with on Facebook from junior high, friends I've met through Facebook, I also include my siblings in this...it's cray cray...
My bestie
Work friends on a scavenger hunt.
Writing friends
My sisters and brother
Gae Polisner, awesome writing friend
My two besties
2. My parents - What these two have done for me...oy. I cannot even begin to explain. Let's just say, I owe them everything.
1. My daughters - Yeah, so maybe there is a toothbrush on my bannister and a pair of dirty socks in my car. Perhaps I have to clean up their dirty dishes on a daily basis, tell them to be quiet when I'm trying to sleep, and nag them to clean their rooms. But they're good kids. They stay out of trouble. The treat people with respect. They treat me with respect. They work at their grades and work hard at what they love, for one it's soccer, the other, music. Without them I would be lost. They are my light.
I'm using it as a metaphor (is that the right word? I can never keep them straight.) for the unveiling of truth about what I've been feeling lately. It will seem like this all has nothing to do with writing, but in the end it does.
Call it whining, call it self pity, whatever, but I've had all these feelings bottled up and I'm tired of feeling them.
Day job. It's hard. I've taken on more than I was ever supposed to. There is really no title or job description for what I do. I should be making the kind of money a professional makes, but I don't. However, I do enjoy it, so there's that.
Relationships. Me and the BF broke up. I did the breaking up though I liked him a lot. I had my reasons. I thought we could be friends, then I saw him, and I realized it was too soon because it's still very raw with me in fact I'm tearing up right now as I'm writing this because I really didn't want to let the relationship go, but knew for my happiness I had to.
Health. I've been exercising. I've been riding bike, playing soccer (I did pull a muscle, but getting back into it slowly, been stuck playing goalie), and walking a lot. I've found that I dislike running greatly (trying to stay away from the "H" word). I may try it again, but truly I can't stand it. I eat well. Pretty well. I like pizza every once in a while. I like to go to wing night, but I eat salads every week day for lunch, fruit, yogurt for breakfast. I never eat chips or other crap, I don't drink pop.
Money, let's just say ugh. Looking for more work or that second book deal.
I have been a little self destructive lately. I won't elaborate, but every so often I get in a funk, and I stay there until I feel like my own life is out of my control. And it doesn't matter if I'm trying to do good things for myself, as well, the bad always wins out. Because of this, my writing suffers.
I've tried to work on my revisions every day, I hate not seeing the stars on my calendar, and I've done okay, but I'm not very motivated and I've not done enough. I've been so tired. Sometimes I feel like the writing world is leaving me behind.
I started fresh Sunday though. I upped my game. I'm being good to myself, going to take time for just me (and my kids, can't ignore them I guess, right :)). I'm walking longer, (not riding bike right now because of a faulty tube, which I need to take back but haven't had time and can't afford to buy new tubes right now). I'm going to look at the positive in the things I do and try to ignore the negative.
And I'm going to finish these damn revisions and get it submitted. I'm going to get this second book deal.
Writing. Sometimes it seems so unrewarding. I mean, most people will never see their work published. Of course with the rise of self publishing I supposed that's changed, which has its advantages and drawbacks.
But I digress.
Even those that are published--how many unpublished manuscripts do they have collecting metaphorical dust on their computer. I have at least six.
And when you're published, self or traditionally no matter, you cannot believe how much work you have to do to market it. I mean, it's not going to sell itself. I've spent so much money and time trying publicize me, Never Eighteen. I'm constantly exhausted.
Sometimes it seems like it's not even worth the trouble.
But it is, isn't it?
Writers don't write for notoriety or money (well most, I mean there are those big names that are now just churning out shit to make a buck. They probably aren't even writing their own books anymore. I'm not naming names).
We write for ourselves. Because it's cheaper than therapy. We write to feel a sense of accomplishment. We write because simply, we love it. I'm not going to use the cliche that writing is like oxygen, I'm more about the whole therapy thing. Seriously though, some of us writers can't imagine a life without it.
It's what we do, it's who we are, and every word we write becomes part of us, like a cell or a mole, or an eyelash. Little bits that alone seem like nothing, but when put together become a whole.
Every so often I go through bouts of sleeplessness. Last night was one of those nights. I'd only slept for four hours when it was time to get up. I couldn't function, so I called in sick and went back to bed.
Why couldn't I sleep?
You know when you wake up and then your mind goes and you just can't get it to shut off? That was me last night.
I was thinking about my agent search, worrying about how long it was going to take. Wondering what happens if I don't get one.
I thought about finishing this rewrite that I've been working on for months now with no motivation.
Money
Relationships
Work
Writing
Medical issues
You know, all the life worries that pop into your head at 2 am.
I talked to my BF today. He gave me some very good advice. First, I need to make a list of the things that are in my control and work on them, the rewrite, the budget, querying agents.
Don't worry about the things that are beyond my control. There's nothing I can do about them.
He said I'm thinking backwards. He says I think "have, do be". If I have this, then I can do this, than I can be this. He says I should be thinking in reverse.
I've been taken advantage of in the worst way. While I've been busy finishing a manuscript, marketing, helping plan a release party, writing guest posts, setting up school visits, creating a poster for upcoming events, setting up other writer events, exercising, editing, and all day soccer (three effin' games) on Sunday, my children have boycotted all housework.
The other day when I woke up, the garbage was overflowing (from a day of a house full of teenagers), and instead of taking it out, they decided it would be a good idea to pile it up on the counter and mixing it in with the recyclables. There is crap all over the house from them and their friends, candy wrappers, socks, shoes, various soccer items, other dirty clothes, empty juice pouches and water bottles, I could go on and on.
I woke up today to a sink full of dirty dishes. I've asked Thing One for a week to fold the laundry for a week. I asked her did she do it when she got home from the basketball game last night and she said no.
So, the riot act was read (maybe yelled a little at various spots). I reminded them of all the things I do for them (driving them everywhere, supplying them with food, a bed, clothing, allowing them to go to friends, allowing friends over all the time). Then I asked them what they've done for me this week. Dead silence. I said, "Exactly." They were pissed, but what else can I do? They tell me not to tell them what to clean, they'll do it on their own, but they don't. I also pointed out that if they were getting good grades, I may not be so hard on them, but they're barely pulling average grades.
I don't like having to be hardcore with them, but at times I get to my wit's end, and they're leaving for their dad's today, and they will clean before they go. And next week when they're back with me, it's going to be like living on a military base.
Okay, Sleepless in Tacoma. For the last few years, I've had these spurts of sleeplessness, maybe two, three weeks at a time, followed by about a month of can't-get-up-in-the-morning-to-save-my-life. WTF?
I've never really tracked these weeks of sleeplessness, if they coexist with some form of stress, anxiety, or changes in life. If that were the case it would totally make sense right now. Things that are stressful, angst inducing, or have changed in Megan's life:
Holidays. mmhmmm. Here they are again. Presents to buy, baking to be done, lights to put up. Um, yeah, I've pretty much broken down for the last four years this time of year. Rock bottom here I come.
Option book. My debut book is almost out. Just over one month to go (panic sets in as I realize this). But wait, while I'm marketing the hell out of Never Eighteen, I have another book to write. Okay, I wrote it, it's done. But wait, there's more. Midway through I change direction. Now I have to rewrite it. And let me tell you. I've been less than motivated because I know it's a big project. At some point my agent is going to ask about it. (Actually she already has, told her done, just doing revisions, only a little fib). So, yeah, stress.
Book release. Parties to plan, reviews to worry about. The stress of wondering if it will sink or swim. I mean, yeah, of those who've read it so far, most have liked to loved it. But by US standards, that's a handful of people. Ugh!
Um, new relationship. This isn't stressful or angty. Its just a change in life. The most stress will come from introducing him to the kids, the rents, and subjecting him to the rest of my family at some point and hoping that's not a deal breaker. Otherwise, the relationship has been amazing.
Weight. The never-ending form of stress. I'm still down seven pounds, but my goal was twenty five by my release. That leaves me with 18 to go and two 1/2 months left to do it. Possible, yes, but I am weak when it comes to certain kinds of food and I must avoid them like the plague, which will be hard during the holiday season.
Work. I love my job, but I've taken on more responsibility, and my partner in crime at work has other responsibilities. And there are a few tasks that are frustrating the hell out of me. I feel so far behind and I can't catch up. I have to keep up with SEO, print ads, our newsletter, creating and uploading websites, helping plan the Christmas party. All stuff I like to do, yet, I feel overwhelmed at times and am multi-tasking beyond my abilities.
So, when I wake up at 3:30 am, my mind will not allow my body to go back to sleep. Anyone have any insomnia remedies?
I've not been blogging as you may or may not be able to tell. I've been too tired. For the most part, I've been too tired to do anything but type and sit on my ass. Apparently, according to my doctor, I'm exhausted. They did some blood work to check my thyroid and iron levels. Won't here back until mid next week.
I am one of the few people on the face of the planet unable to take iron because it makes me sick. I have tried to get it through food, but obviously (if that's my main problem) it's not enough.
I could not even get out of bed this morning. My kids are back in school (teacher strike over) and I had to find rides for them.
Hiring my girl Friday has helped, but it's not enough. I'm going to also hire someone to clean for me. I'm so tired.
Hence, the lack of blogs, hence, why I'm not at work today, hence why I haven't been able to exercise. I did force myself onto the soccer field last week, but haven't really moved since then or before then. I bought a yoga dvd. I thought it would give me some balance and exercise at the same time and I could do it even if I was tired. I haven't touched it.
So, I wait. And sleep. And lay around.
Send some good vibes my way. Some good energetic vibes, please.
On a happier note, me and my girls are having a girls night tomorrow night. No friends over, just the three of us. We'll make dinner together and watch Bridesmaids. Can't wait to see it.
Friday Scribbles (is that what I called it last week?)
Random iPod Shuffle Song: Tighten Up, Black Keys. Love it.
Movie of the Week: Bridesmaids of course.
Book of the Week: Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley and Henry Lodge MD. My dad bought this for me ages ago. I think it's time I read it.
Quote of the Week: "Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion...I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward." ~ Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
Life has changed so drastically for me the last few years. I haven't yet learned to balance everything. When I focus on one thing, something else gets ignored. For instance, I've been working on marketing my book this week, but I've not revised my manuscript hardly at all, and my house is definitely the self cleaning type.
And then there's soccer season. Now, I don't have as much responsibility this year as far as soccer goes. I don't help coach anymore. I'm not really managing the team anymore, but still with the constant driving. Thing One has practice every day unless she has a game. That's M-F. That's only the school team. She also has practice Mon & Wed with her select team. Her games are on Sundays.
Thing Two has practice also Mon & Wed. She gets out the same time as Thing One those nights. Her games are on Saturdays. And when school gets back in session (teachers are on strike) tryout will continue for her school team.
That's seven days of soccer stuff. I mean, don't get me wrong, I LOVE soccer, and I definitely love watching my kids play, and miss helping coach Thing Two's team (if I had the time I still would) but it's the driving that kills me (hence the hiring of my Girl Friday who starts work for me Monday).
And I'm sorry, but the day job is killing me. I mean, I have a great job, and I need it, and it's only part time, but I do much of the same stuff there as I do for my book stuff - blogging, facebook, twitter, and it kind of sucks the creativity out of me on top of taking away some of my writing hours. But what are you going to do, right?
I've decided to have myself cloned. I will have one clone to go to my day job, one to clean the house, one to do my marketing, and I will write and do the fun stuff with my kids while Girl Friday does the driving. I think that's a good plan, don't you?
Oh, and I'm going to throw some yoga into the mix. I've always hated yoga, but everyone's touting it these days, especially my friend Lori, so I'm going to try it. sigh.
Happy Friday, here are my Friday Scribbles (see that, I changed it from nibbles to scribbles so it's more writerly)
Random iPod shuffle song: No Love by Eminem featuring Lil Wayne (explicit lyrics). I love Eminem. Do you think he'd go out with me? We're around the same age.
Book of the week: I'm still reading OyMG by Amy Dominy, but since Banned Book Week is coming up, I decided to go with The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood, one of my favorite banned books.
Netflix of the week: Monk. I think I'm on Season 5. Loving it.
Quote of the week: "The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man." ~ Euripides
I've got no pithy title for Thursdays anymore. My brain is scattered with everything going on right now. This time of year always makes me a little crazy, and with the release of Never Eighteen in a few months, um, crazy has turned into hysterical. School, soccer, drivers ed, book everything, revising Sad, planning a release, marketing. Too much at once.
I took three naps last week.
I don't nap.
No, seriously, anyone who knows me can tell you I'm not a napper. I hate napping because there are other things I could be doing. But I think my body was rebelling against the perpetual motion. It screamed, "Slow the f#@% down!!!!"
So I hired a Girl Friday. Yep. I did. Can I afford it? Probably not, but I need to keep my sanity. And I need to get things done. But when you have a day job, then have to drive your kids various places until 7 pm with soccer games on the weekend, time is fleeting, and I'm too tired to work on book stuff.
She starts Monday. I've hired her mostly to drive my children around, but she'll also do light cleaning, yard work, errands etc, etc. I'm pretty stoked about this. It almost makes me feel important. Almost, but not quite.
I almost forgot it was Monday! I'm back from seclusion. A weekend at the beach where mostly I just worked worked worked, with intermittent walks on the beach and a trip to the casino.
I wrote out 169 postcards, dropped bookmarks off at the local bookstore and library, edited the 2k12 video, finished a first draft of a discussion guide for teachers and book clubs, wrote out lists for my release parties, wrote a poem, caught up on all my emails, and packaged up swag, books, etc, to send out. The postcards were the big think. Glad to have those all written out.
The walks on the beach really offered me not only exercise, but clarity. I've been in a little bit of a haze lately, and though maybe I've not solved anything, I'm thinking more clearly I think. And the big, bloated, dead seal is still on the beach and I accidentally got downwind of it. Ew! Stink!
I think that's all I've got today. Have a glorious Labor Day. Rest your butts off! I'm going to. I've done enough work this week. It's sunny and warm here in Tacoma. I'm going to enjoy it because it could change at any given moment. I mean, it IS September.
Okay, first off, who likes the new blogger look? I'm trying to use it, but I think I prefer the old. Why does everything have to change? I fear change.
Okay, I'm in seclusion. I have tons of work to do. Put swag packs together, write 5 million postcards, send arcs, work on a discussion guide, make lists, and hopefully, some revisions.
I have three days. (I did a little last night, but I also made a video and had a 2k12 twitter chat last night, plus I was pooped) I'm thinking with very little distraction (I am going to move away from the computer soon). I should be able to get most if not everything done. Oh yeah, and I'm going to visit a couple bookstores and the library here and drop off some book marks.
That's it. I have too much to do today.
Friday Nibbles. (I don't like the name nibbles, anyone got any other ideas?)
It's been a strange ride, this last few years. From the most horrible things to the most wonderful things: depression, nervous break down, book deal, divorce, dating, winning friends, losing others, and amazing trips to Disneyland, Sundance, Arizona, New York. Seriously, a tangible rollercoaster ride of life.
It's strange how our experiences in life can change us so dramatically. They can change our feelings and emotions, our mental capacity. They can change us physically (my changes added 25 pounds to me, which I need to get rid of STAT!) Our experiences mold us into who we become.
I was once a submissive housewife. Raising kids, cleaning, doing laundry, grocery shopping. I was the ultimate soccer mom, a title I don't think I deserve anymore. Life has changed me. I'm stronger mentally and emotionally. I still do the household stuff, I have to because now it's just me and Thing One and Thing Two. I only have my kids half time. I miss them terribly when they're not with me. I have yard work. Lots of it, which of course can only be done when the weather permits, which is sporadic at best here in the PNW. I'm still a soccer mom, only the ultimate has changed. I no longer help at practice, I basically run the money and buy the uniforms. That part of it saddens me.
I used to screw around on Facebook all the time, and writer forums. Now since I've divorced and had to get a day job, there's really no time for that. I sometimes feel I'm losing those connections I made through my writing. That I'm not there as much and I'll be forgotten. I miss many of those people who I daily emailed, who made me laugh all the time. Those who I flirted with. But like I said, life and experience changes people.
Now I'm a marketing coordinator. That's my title at my day job. And I'm damn good at it. I've saved the law firm thousands of dollars a year already.
And I'm a writer. But along with that comes even more, and I don't think people know how much. We have to sacrifice our time. Because along with the writing comes making connections, and hours of editing, marketing, and promotion. Sometimes the latter takes so much time I don't have time to write. In fact, I haven't written a new word in weeks.
Yep, a rollercoaster. Do I have regrets? Of course, who doesn't. But this is the life I chose. My experiences have taken me down this path, and it's a path I want.
This is me. Writer, Marketer, Promoter, Editor, Mom, Maid, Cook, Assistant to myself.
Sorry for the lengthy discourse. It happens when I think too much.
I'll leave you with the Friday Nibbles.
Random iPod shuffle song (Thing Two finally found her iPod, well actually, her dad did): Nicki Minaj, Right Through Me.
Book of the Week: OyMG by Amy Fellner Dominy. Starting it today. I've heard it's wonderful. Amy is wonderful in her own right. She is a member of the Class of 2k11.
Netflix of the Week: I'm sticking with Arrested Development. I just finished the entire series. A show that ended before it's time should have been up. It's hysterical
Quote of the Week: "If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies." ~Author Unknown
He's not a real monkey, but I love sock monkeys too.
I know, I know, I didn't blog Friday and you missed me terribly. Sorry. After almost a week of traveling for the day job, I suddenly had to prepare a visual presentation of what I learned for our firm retreat which was Thursday and Friday.
So Tuesday and Wednesday I hurriedly prepared outlines and a Powerpoint presentation, then first thing Thursday morning we were off to Leavenworth. The quaint German town here in Washington, not the prison.
Busy weekend and now here I am. Independence day has mostly been my least favorite holiday. People eat and drink to oblivion, it's normally crappy weather here in the PNW (today is beautiful though, hell must have frozen over). And then those drunk people light off fireworks. Whoever thought THAT was a good idea should have been bitch slapped.
While I was married (did I mention my divorce finally went through?) we'd go to the ocean and light our fireworks on July 5th when the beach looked like a garbage dump, but was mostly empty, me not being one for crowds, or obnoxious drunk people, or getting hit in the back of the head with a bottle rocket.
My kids are at the lake with friends and when they get home, they go to their dads. Today I'm spending it with a "friend" and his kids. I have no idea what we're doing. Probably just hanging in the backyard, bbqing, letting the kids swim (I got an above ground pool on the cheap) and catching some fireworks.
I'm wishing you all a happy Independence Day. Be safe, be sane, and don't blow your arm off.
I don't have any anymore it seems. None that's free anyway. I work. Then I go home and work some more. I don't think I could possibly have fathomed how much time and energy it takes to release a book. You write it, get a book deal, and the rest just falls into place, right? Um, no.
First there's swag. If you don't know what swag is, it's pretty much a group of promotional items you give away. Most people would hire someone to design these things for them, but since I have a bit of know-how (a small bit really, but enough not to pay to have it done) I'm designing them myself. Time. Yep. I just ordered buttons yesterday. I'm designing bookmarks. I'll probably do some stickers, pencils, and hopefully come up with some other really brilliant ideas.
Once you have the swag, it's time to make connections. You take them to your local bookstores and libraries and ask them to carry your book. You give them to LA teachers and school librarians to give to their students. You send them all over the country to any of your connections that will pass them out for you to their local bookstores and libraries.
Then there's donation letters. I'm reaching out to any company I mentioned in the book. Ford, Starbucks, the Space Needle, etc, and ask if they will donate ANYTHING for giveaways. I'm still working on this one.
I've booked one release gig. But I'll need to do at least three or four to include everyone I want to. And this will require me talking to my local indie store, which I as of now have no relationship whatsoever.
I'm trying to put some of these things in place now because I know the closer it gets to the release, the busier it's going to get.
There's way more than that too. AND I'm also working with the Class of 2k12 on basically the same stuff. I love it, but it's exhausting.
That's all for today. Getting sidetracked and feel poopy. Happy Friday and have a great holiday weekend. Remember all those who gave their lives for your freedom.
I'll leave you with the Friday Nibbles.
Random Pandora Song: Break Even by the Script. I freakin' love this song and it's so true.
Since I started work, it's been so hard to find the time to do anything let alone write. I used to be good at the balancing act, but that was BW (before work). Now, I'm like a crazy person running every which way, trying to multi-task but at the end of the day has accomplished nothing.
And I'm working out now. An hour a day. Where the hell does the time go? And I don't even work full time. I work five hours a day. I get home, I try to write for a bit, but there are distractions like email, bills, facebook (*shakes fists at Mark Zuckerberg*). Plus I blog, I have kids that need my attention, a house that needs cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping. By brain is cheese toast by 5 pm.
So how do you do it? How do you balance everything without plummeting to an untimely death (okay, that may be overdramatic)? This girl needs some advice.
Now that the whimsical sugar-plum-fairy-candy-cane-shopping-baking-wrapping-eating-drinking-talking-snowmen-santa-claus season is over it's time get back to it.
This includes work. I love my job, but it's always hard getting back to it after a long weekend.
A trip to the dump to get rid of the extra garbage and the 500 pounds of cardboard left over from Christmas (that could be a slight exaggeration).
I have two video book trailers to make for two 2011 YA/MG debut novels. I'm actually almost done with one of them, just adding the titles.
I received my copy edits in the mail just before Christmas. Needless to say, I've not touched them yet. Deadline is January 10th so I've GOT to get to work.
Lastly (well, probably not but all I can think of right now) getting back in shape after letting myself go for the last six months (ugh). Why is it so easy to fall OUT of shape, but so hard to get back into shape? sigh. I'm hoping the new xbox kinect will help. I really don't eat all that bad but my ass has pretty much been glued to my computer chair since July.
What I love about it is I can be myself when I write. The blog wasn't looking for AP Style or Chicago Manual yadda yadda yadda. They were just looking for someone who could speak to their readers. Someone who could be honest, informative, witty, and funny. Someone that is on the same level. Someone relatable.
Ex boyfriends, you might want to steer clear. 
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. Still enjoying phobic, OCD Adrian Monk. I have five seasons left.
, Right Through Me.
. I just finished the entire series. A show that ended before it's time should have been up. It's hysterical
. I freakin' love this song and it's so true.
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in there too. It's by 
Season Six. Just finished it. Hilarious
