Sweating with Sven

I'm finally back in the saddle and happy to report 865 new words written today. Whew.

10,382 / 65,000 (15.0%)

Manic Monday Treats

My treat this week is that my computer is finally working again! My subscription to Norton expired and I started to install a version of McAfee, only to discover that it wasn't compatible with Windows Vista. I told it to stop installing but, of course, the computer didn't listen to me (my main complaint about Windows these days.) Naturally, the unacceptable version of McAfee played havoc with my computer. After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I was able to boot in safe mode and uninstall McAfee, which left the computer running again except IE -- which still isn't running despite my efforts and those of my computer manufacturer's tech support. Of course, this had to happen when I was traveling to Chicago for some CEO training, so I wasn't able to follow through in my normal obsessed fashion, and immediately upon my return home I was inundated by a number of things that kept me from being obsessed about the internet and my computer's ability to function for a few more days. However, last night in a burst of (totally unexpected) brilliance, I remembered that there are other browsers besides IE and downloaded a copy of Mozilla Firefox. I've been happily reattached to the internet ever since!

70 Days of Sweat with Sven -- Day 3

I didn't write a word yesterday. Managed to revise four chapters, but didn't add much to my total page count. Still, it's progress!

The 70 Days Begins - Day 1

Okay, so it's Monday the 15th and it's time to start the 70 Days of Sweat with Sven challenge! I've committed to writing somewhere between 750 to 1500 words every day for 70 days between now and January 15th. That's roughly 3 to 6 pages, which doesn't sound like much, really. In fact, it isn't much when the work's going well. But that's the key, isn't it? When the work's going well ... I've been having some trouble connecting with the heroine of my current work in progress. I know the hero, Michael, really well. My trouble is in finding just the right woman for him to tall in love with. Up until now, every incarnation of her has been kind of wimpy and uninteresting. She's starting to take shape in my head now, and I'm digging deeper and deeper into her psyche, trying to find that place where she and I connect so I can really feel her as I write her character. Maybe today I'll try writing her scenes in first person instead of third. That sometimes helps me connect with the people I'm writing about. I really hope it does because this book is due really soon and I have revisions waiting on another book that are due in mid-November.

16,676 / 70,000 (23.8%)

I'll check back in later to report my progress! Later .... I have play tickets tonight, so I have to be finished for the day. Lots of phone calls for RWA things ate up some of my writing time, but I did make some progress. Better than the word count is the fact that I felt myself connecting to my heroine ... finally.

17,128 / 70,000 (24.5%)

Sweating with Sven

I'm not sure if I'm doing a smart thing or a dumb thing, but I've signed up to participate in the 70 Days of Sweat with Sven Challenge beginning on Monday, October 15. I have two deadlines coming up, and lately I've been needing a swift kick in the seat of the pants to get me started every day, so I'm hoping that this will do the trick. I'll be posting here as the challenge continues, talking about my progress or lamenting my lack thereof. One of the reasons I think this challenge will work for me is that it takes place from October 15 to January 15 -- a total of 93 days. The challenge takes place over 70 days, which means I can take 23 days off to meet my own schedule over the holidays. Since I have to travel twice in that time period, once to Chicago for training, and once in November for a Board meeting, having time built in for days off will keep me from feeling as if I've "blown" it if I can't write every day. If you're a writer looking for a swift kick in the seat of the pants, check out the Challenge!

Friday's Feast #3

Friday's Feast

Appetizer

When was the last time you were surprised? When my daughter wished me a happy birthday on the morning of my birthday. I'd just woken up and forgotten it was that day.

Soup

Fill in the blanks: My eyes are brown, but I wish they were um....still brown? Browner? Or maybe just not getting old and needing glasses so much!

Salad

If you were a Beanie Baby, what would you look like and what would your name be? Good grief, what a question! I know absolutely nothing about Beanie Babies. Excuse me while I Google them. ..... ..... ..... <tapping foot impatiently> ..... ..... ..... I think I'd be a Panda and my name would be Ling Ling. I had a special relationship with the real Ling Ling, even though we never "met" in real life. We both got pregnant and miscarried at the same time for several years.

Main Course

Name two things you consistently do that you consider to be healthy habits. Healthy habits? Um.....I umm..... Okay! I get plenty of sleep most nights, and I drink lots of water -- admittedly, it's in the form of ice which I keep in my big red cup that is constantly at my side, but it still becomes water!

Dessert

What brand of toothpaste are you using these days? Sheesh. I don't know. It's whatever seemed the most reasonably priced for the alleged protection it offers when I bought it. I think it might be Aqua Fresh, but I'm not sure.

Do you like it? It's okay.

Why or why not? It's toothpaste. It doesn't make me gag. What's not to like?

Thursday Thirteen #8

Thirteen Distractions from the Dreaded Deadline I have a November 1 deadline, and I'm crawling toward it just as slowly as I can move. First, the characters bore me, then I run into a glaring piece of illogical plotting that takes me days to resolve ... But those aren't the only things that can throw a writer off her stride. Here are 13 things that can throw me out of my groove faster than you can blink: 1. Dirty Dishes in the sink. Not that I always stop what I'm doing to wash them, but thinking about washing them can provide a great distraction from the manuscript at hand. (No! This is not a picture of my kitchen!) 2. Dogs who need to be let outside to potty. First, they have to pull my attention away from my contemplation of the back fence (which is necessary to think through plot points), then they have to convince me that even though they just pottied 20 minutes ago, and the neighbors have a strange dog in their backyard that really must be barked at, that's not why they want to go outside. They really do have to potty again. Honest! Then there's the whole vying for position at the back door thing because heaven forbid Sammi should get outside before Angel does ... This interruption is good for at least 15 minutes. 3. Phone calls from grandchildren. This is now part of my daily ritual, and it's the part that brings me the greatest joy. My day doesn't really start until Vanessa dials my number and Abigail squeals with joy at the sound of my voice. 4. Meals -- or perhaps more accurately, the blank staring at the kitchen cupboard and/or refrigerator trying to figure out what I can make that will take less than 5 minutes, taste good, be visually appealing, and even pass for healthy. 5. E-mail. You all know what I'm talking about. 6. The sudden inexplicable urge to clean my desk. (No, this isn't my desk, either.) This urge strikes at the worst possible time, always followed by the justification that I really should do it since I'll be able to think more clearly once the mess is gone. 7. The sudden inexplicable urge to catalog my books. To make this distraction even more attractive there are on-line communities like Shelfari that can eat up tons of time while you find and upload the covers for every book on your list. If you need further distraction, you can add tags for each book, rate each book, and write comments about each book. It's an incredible resource! 8. The sudden inexplicable urge to get my DVDs and VCR tapes in order. How can anyone expect me to write when tapes and DVDs are scattered about willy-nilly? What if I needed to find my copy of "America's Sweethearts" for research? Think of how much time I'd waste searching for it! 9. The realization that I really should be better organized. 10. Searching for tools to help me be better organized. 11. Family stuff. You know the drill. Aging parents, siblings, kids, illnesses, bad luck, loss of jobs, surgeries .... 12. The fly or mosquito that slips inside when you let the aforementioned dogs out to potty, and then spends the rest of the day circling your head and making annoying noises. 13. The inevitable result if the dogs aren't able to convince me that they really did need to go outside to potty.

Thursday Thirteen #7

Thirteen Pictures I'd Like to Cross Stitch

I'm taking the lazy woman's approach this week since I'm so far under the gun with deadlines and stuff. Sorry I couldn't be more creative. 1.

2 & 3. My niece, Heidi, has made stockings for everyone in her family, for her sister, her brother-in-law, and her niece and newphews. The stockings look so cool hanging above the fireplace, I've decided I'd like to make some, too. 4.

5, 6, 7 & 8. I love old-fashioned samplers, but I don't think I've ever stitched one. (I haven't yet kept any of my cross-stitching. I give it all away, so I can't remember everything I've done.) Anyway, I found this set of four and fell instantly in love :) 9. It just looks so peaceful. 10. 11. 12. 13. Have I mentioned that I love holidays? No? Well, I love holidays. If I had the time, energy and money, my house would be decorated to the hilt for every one of them throughout the year!

Orange

I've spent most of the day on the phone, calling people to let them know the outcome of the Romance Writers of America elections. It's been a fun day, and now that I've had a chance to talk to some of the candidates I'd never met before, I'm really getting excited about the coming year. I think we're going to have an outstanding Board of Directors next year. Meanwhile, it's Manic Monday, and the theme of the day is orange. Orange? What?!? Orange? What do I have to say about orange, except that my dear friend Jo Ann hates the color orange. I, however, have no feelings one way or the other about orange, but I do have a childhood memory, so I guess I'll share that. When I was a very little girl, maybe 4, my parents enrolled me in pre-school. I think our parents took turns carpooling, but I'm not sure. What I remember is that we must have been required to bring snacks from home because the other little girls and I would sit in the back seat and give each other clues about what we had in our snack bags. I was not good at this game, and I hated playing every day. The other girls seemed to have no problem guessing what I had in my bag, and I never could guess what they had in theirs. Of course, my mother always sent me to pre-school with a piece of fruit, and I probably gave brilliant clues like, "It's long and yellow," or "It's round and orange." Well, one day, my mother finally, finally sent me to school with the kind of treat I'd been longing to take ... an orange frosted Halloween cookie in the shape of a Jack-O-Lantern. I was elated because not only did I get something other than fruit for lunch, but I had a treat that surely would stump the other kids in the carpool. I would tell them my treat was round and orange, and they would guess that I had an actual orange in the paper bag I clutched in my little hands. I remember getting into the car that day. I remember being almost giddy with excitement. I remember not being able to guess what anyone else had, but for once it didn't matter. Finally, it was my turn to give my clues. My treat, I announced proudly, was round and orange. I waited with bated breath for the others to guess the wrong thing, but the first little girl popped up like a real smart-aleck and said, "A pumpkin cookie!" I can still remember the crushing disappointment I felt when she guessed, and I don't remember ever playing that stupid game again. :(