--You can dress it up like Malibu Barbie, but crazy is crazy. I had to deal with crazy yesterday and it gave me a headache. (If you want the full story, e-mail me.)
--I was too busy enjoying my fifteen minutes of fame on Alison’s blog yesterday to blog on my own blog. Blog. Felt like I had to say it again. (If you know me in real life and don’t want to be traumatized, take my advice and skip the link.)
--My baby is going back in the shop today. Hopefully my talented mechanic Rob will get her to purrrrr again instead of the chug-chug-chugging she’s doing now.
--I have non-Thanksgiving, extremely post-birthday champagne brunch plans this Sunday. Exciting! I may not eat again until Sunday.
--I still haven’t quite figured out what direction I’m going in, writing-wise. But I’m writing, and that’s the main thing. I have two more months before I have to think about school (as teacher and student, again), so I’m going to focus, focus, focus and write my ass off. (I really need to stop obsessing about my ass.)
--I currently have ten short stories out (and one screenplay in a contest). I hope to double the short story submissions by the end of summer, as well as get the screenplay rewritten and back out in the world in its truly finished form and finish one novel, one novella and a novel proposal. It is good to have goals.
--I need to get a plane ticket to Florida for next month so I can see Jay!
--I need to figure out when I can go visit Sheri in Chicago (and see Leslee, and finally meet the munchkin and Jessie!).
--Summer has only just arrived and it’s unbearably hot, but I’m longing for fall.
I’ve been reading everything I can about what I missed at Book Expo America last weekend. Why? Because it’s book heaven! Rachel Kramer Bussel refers to BEA as a “book orgy.” Oh my… sign me up. I really, really need to make a pilgrimage to BEA next year.
Salon’s Laura Miller covered BEA and titled her observations Would You Like Some Books With That Totebag? Anyone who has ever attended any sort of conference related to the publishing industry knows the truth in that question!
I found this snippet particularly amusing:
In unguarded moments, however, publishers complained that they received more pitches than they had a chance to deliver. “It’s relentless,” one sales rep sighed at a party for Connelly in L.A.’s Union Station. “Every time you turn around, someone’s shoving a manuscript into your hands. I keep telling them I’m not an editor, but they don’t seem to understand the difference.” Aspiring writers planted themselves in autograph lines in a bid to pass unpublished manuscripts to established authors or to beg celebrities to plug their book on TV. (Apparently, all those Americans who claim to be too busy to buy or read books can still find plenty of time to write them.)
The next three locations for BEA are New York City in 2009, Washington, DC in 2010 and Las Vegas in 2011. I will make it to one of them and I will not shove a manuscript at anyone.
I know Mondays aren’t supposed to be much fun, but my Monday has turned out pretty well so far! This afternoon, I went to see Sex and the City. I really enjoyed it, loved seeing “the girls” together again and love, love, love seeing women my age and older on screen playing sexy, confident women instead of… mommies and psychotics. Okay, so a couple of the girls are mothers, but it’s not all they are… and that’s nice to see.
Then I came home to an e-mail from the editor at XCite Books informing me that my story “Private Lessons” will appear in Satisfy Me, due out in August. Fun news!
XCite’s covers are always vibrant and distinctive and this one reminds me of Alison Tyler and her CFPP (Call for Panty Pictures). I love these hot pink rhumba panties!
I can’t find a table of contents online for Satisfy Me-- are any of my writing buddies in the lineup? I hope so! It’s going to be a steamy summer.
Hope you all had a good Monday, too! 
I’ve never been a big believer in Writer’s Block. Writer’s Paralysis, maybe. Writer’s Apathy, certainly. But Writer’s Block? Nah. I’ve never felt blocked from writing-- there are just too many thoughts and ideas and snippets of dialogue and characters rolling around in my brain for me to ever feel blocked. I know what I want to write, I just can’t figure out which thing to write first.
Which is where I am today.
I have what seems to be an endless list of projects-- some started, some near completion, some in the final editing stages, some no more than a few notes jotted down in a notebook or a brief synopsis typed and saved as “Novel Idea.” So many ideas swirling around and I can’t figure out what I should be writing. I try to be logical, practical-- figure out where I need to be in six months, a year… but that doesn’t work. I can imagine different paths and I’m standing at a crossroads.
Do I focus on that literary novel idea that still seems beautiful and tragic and will be painful to write? Or the half-finished mystery that’s been floating around in my brain for going on three years? Or the nearly-finished chick lit novel I wrote for NaNoWriMo two years ago? Should I scrap all the old stuff and focus on something new, like the paranormal dreamer/insomniac story I’ve been working on the past few days? Turn my attention to that YA story that popped into my brain after my rant about Nivea’s anti-cellulite gel-cream (grr… I still hate that gel-cream term!)? What do I write next?
Should I forget working on a novel right now since I’m so torn by which story to write? Should I focus on the third draft of my screenplay For Ever? Should I go ahead and start that new screenplay idea that makes me smile when I think about it? Should I just focus on getting caught up on short fiction deadlines so I’m not submitting stuff the week it’s due? What do I write next?
What do I write next?
This is not what I consider Writer’s Block. I have an abundance of ideas, not a shortage. It’s like the kid who gets too many toys at Christmas and suffers from sensory overload. It’s hard to enjoy any one thing when there are so many other good things competing for your attention. It is definitely a mental overload of sorts. And the more I think on it, the more bogged down I get. Being logical doesn’t work. Reading mailing lists to see which publishers/lines are looking for stuff right now, checking Publishers Marketplace to see what the hot new deals have been made, going over publishers’ guidelines to see if one particular idea I have is suited to a certain publisher, combing my wishlist of agents and perusing the blogs of Writers I Want to Be When I Grow Up, only muddies the waters further. Too many distractions and not enough writing, that’s the problem.
I need to go with my instincts, but I fear my instincts are at odds with my heart. And we all know which one wins (at least for me). I can’t write everything right now, but I need to start somewhere. I need to just shut off all the voices in my head and start writing-- or continue writing-- something. (Something other than a blog post.)
I’ll write 20 pages and let you know how I feel in the morning.
Life. Love. Writing. Friendship.
Sex. Books. Movies. Travel. Politics. Feminism. Academia. Insomnia. Rants. Raves. Chocolate. Lots of chocolate. Some names have been changed, some stories have been embellished. Thanks for stopping by and beware of the dog. Read more...
