FRIDAY STIR FRY - Waiting

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So, I'm not so patiently waiting on my second round of edits. I know my editor (love getting to say that) is busy, busy, busy and I'm not her only insecure author. It's the same thing my clients at work don't understand. I have tons of you people I have to coordinate and appease. Be Patient.

In the meantime I'm working on another novel. Actually, I've been working on it for a long time. The idea first appeared soon after my mother died in a nursing home. What if a young woman had to return home to bury her mother and ran smack dab into some old memories?

I've attempted several NaNo reincarnations going in all kinds of different directions. First my main character was going to try and locate her father. Dropped that idea. Then there was going to be some kind of investigation at the nursing home involving euthanasia. Decided against that. Then I was going to kill off a character. Struggled with that one. Now, I'm reconsidering the finding father angle. Anyway, it's a mess. I just need to sit my butt in the chair and write. It will work itself out. I hope. Because this story won't let me go.

I would love to know if you have a story that won't let you go.

FRIDAY STIR FRY - Already?

I can't believe it's Friday already. This week has flown by. Probably because I was deep in edits and didn't have time to think about anything else. Time does fly when you're having fun.

Last Saturday I attended one of my writer's group meetings - http://sleuthsink.blogspot.com/p/whodunnit-guidelines.html   Check out our writing contest - inexpensive to enter and fun to write.

Anyway, when we have some sort of publishing success, we get to pick out a stone with an inspirational quote on it. I've been a member four years and I got to pick my first stone because I signed a publishing contract. I picked "HOPE". I don't know why. Honestly there wasn't much choice left. We have a very active group of writers.

I got to thinking. What are we if we don't have hope. I've know people who've given up. Heck, I have plenty of times. It's not a happy place to be. It's sad and lonely there. I'd lost hope I would ever get my novel published, but here I am on the brink of my story being out there for millions to read. (Hey, it's possible)

So here's to hoping you have a good week and please keep your hopes alive.

FRIDAY STIR FRY - Learning Curve

So, I received my first round of edits from Breathless Press for my novel Beyond The Horizon. Wow. Talk about intimidating. I have to learn how to use Track Changes in Word. I'm sure it's not that hard, right? After all, I wrote an entire novel, surely I can do this in a few days. Yep, that's right, my deadline is less than a week from now.

I also found out there are different styles of quotation marks - straight and curved and you can pick which one Word uses. Who knew? I had to Google how to do that, because the ones I used are wrong and need to be changed.

Mind you, I'm not complaining. After all, I've dreamed of saying the words edits, publisher, and deadline for a long time. It's exciting! I just have to keep telling myself that. It's exciting! Plus, I have so many people pulling for me and cheering me on. I can't fail. It's not an option.

I need to load up on caffeine, chocolate and pizza. See you next Friday.

FRIDAY STIR FRY - The Aging Process

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Why is it hard for some people to get old and for others it seems to be a breeze? I've never really dreaded a certain birthday - like turning 40 or 50 or even now closing in on 60. I mean, what are you going to do. But, some people resist it, screaming and kicking the whole way.
And this resistance attacks both men and women.

Case in point - (names have been eliminated to prevent embarrassment)

A friend of mine is 40ish and a bartender. The other night some 21 year old sorority girls came in and ordered shots. Of course, he shamelessly flirted with them. They had a function to go to and for some reason needed a relative to go with them. One asked my friend if he would pretend to be her dad. Talk about deflating his ego. It was like seeing him get kicked in the gut. I of course thought it was hilarious.

There comes a point in every one's life when it hits you in the gut that you're not as young as you used to be. It could be aches and pains or somebody believing you are old enough to be their dad. Handle it with grace people. Because the alternative to aging really sucks.