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1) Blog at Jody Wallace’s blog, The Romance Studio, SPN Sisters, Natalie Damschroder’s blog and We Write Romance.
2) Grade papers so I can send home progress reports.
3) First round of BD edits. Let’s see if I can get this one done in 3 rounds. Hot Shot was 5, Surface was 4.
4) Work on RS
5) Get ready for critique
6) Traffic duty at school
7) NEW TV SHOWS!!!
8) Keep up house
9) Start exercising
10) Make purse

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I finished a short story Saturday night. I'm very happy with it, except the ending, natch. I need more emotion, I think.

My goal for today is to finish my paranormal. I have maybe 4 more scenes, including the climax. I'm already over 30,000 words, though, and need to snip in revisions.

I'm getting ready to set aside my revisions on Vampire Hunters. I think the plot is okay, but there's something missing. I can't put my finger on it. Also, it's very short, only 52,000 words. Who will buy that? One of my cps told me that her author help group, Rose's Colored Glasses is doing an online workshop with Donald Maass's workbook. Hm. I have that workbook. They're doing a chapter a week. I signed up, will see if it helps. Not sure what to do otherwise.

Have you used Donald Maass? This book has been sitting for almost 2 years (it was my second Nano book.) Have you ever not been able to figure out what's missing in a book? I'm just not as proud of it as I should be.

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I am irritated with Netflix. Out of the top 15 movies in my queue, only 3 are available now. Granted, six haven't released yet, but the rest all have waits, including TAKEN, which released, what, 2 months ago? I'm FINALLY getting SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, which released March 31. Yesterday I drove down to Blockbuster to get FRIDAY THE 13TH because I didn't want to wait "a very long wait." I wanted my Padalecki NOW.

The dh said it's because we haven't been members long, but I had the same problem with Blockbuster, and I'd been with them since the ds played video games (they'd have coupons for a free video game a month, when we started.) I left Blockbuster for this reason. I mean, hello, I'm on summer vacation, I want to see movies!!! My library is better at having them ready than Netflix.

Okay, just had to vent.

DLB is revised and resubmitted.

Texas is revised and with Trish.

The paranormal is a MESS.

I'm going to breakfast with Mom and baby brother in a few minutes, and the boy is not home from work yet. He left last night at 8. They said they might not be done until 8 AM. At least the boy can come home and sleep. My brother has to teach tonight, and his partner only had 3 hours of sleep yesterday.

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Who knew going to a movie and sitting in the audience at the talent show would be so exhausting. Yet, it was. Today will be a normal day, thank goodness. The more normal days, the better the behavior.

I may find out my fate for next year today. Either the new teacher or I will be moved out of 4th grade, probably to 1st. :::shudder::: My scores were better, but I may pray to go to first grade, seeing the behavior problems coming up to 4th grade.

I've done galleys on my short story, am halfway through my read-through of Surface before I send it back, and am 1/4 of the way through my paranormal. One of my students asked why I'm always wanting to write something else when I'm writing. Isn't that a good question?

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This weekend we watched THE WRESTLER.



It was certainly not the feel-good movie of the year, but it was excellent, and had a good message. Interestingly, the dh and I took different messages from it.

Mickey Roarke plays an aging wrestler, one who had a video game character modeled on him, as well as an action figure. He’s no longer at the top of his game, but every weekend wrestles at local events. He barely has money, works part time at a grocery store, and lives in a trailer park. He’s estranged from his daughter, and has a relationship with an aging stripper, played by Marisa Tomei. (I say aging, though she’s just a bit older than me, because it was an issue in the story.) She’s the only “friend” he has, other than the other wrestlers, who mostly just look up to him. Mickey Roarke has to make a few choices, and he makes good ones, and bad ones.

The lesson the dh took was that Mickey Roarke was living on past glories. He hadn’t accepted that his life had changed and moved on.

The lesson I took was that he isolated himself from others, including his family, in the pursuit of his dream, and when he needed others, no one was there for him. I need to be careful of the same, since my tendency is to be a hermit anyway.

The second movie we saw was STAR TREK.



I could have done without Spock and Kirk as kids, but once the crew were adults, the movie kicked into high gear. Pure delight. I only watched the show peripherally growing up, but my step-dad was a big fan, so I was aware of the characters, and how well Zachary Quinto and Karl Urban, in particular, absorbed their roles. Loved Scotty, too. The dh was more fans of the spin-off shows, so didn’t enjoy the movie as much, but I liked it a lot more than Wolverine, which makes me sad.

Have you seen either? What did you think?

I’ve cut 6000 words from the 7000 I’d done on the paranormal. I’m also rereading 30 pages a night on Surface before I type in the notes and send it back to my editor.

14 more days of school. Today is Awards Day and Thursday is a field trip and the talent show. How many movies can I show before the kids get restless??

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My Samhain editor is tough. The thing is, she's also good. I keep wanting to find fault with her comments, but you know, I never can. She has a great memory and a good eye for detail. She would NEVER let me get away with the stuff I'm reading right now (not the one pictured in the sidebar, btw. Haven't gotten around to changing it.)

In one paragraph, seven lines and seven sentences, there were the following cliches:

stopped her in her tracks
lose her cool
bigger fish to fry
duty called

In another, three sentences started with "It was."

I could never get away with that.

That said, I need to get back to work on Surface, give it another careful read (maybe even out loud) so I don't have to go through another round :)

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I'm up early early early to meet my goal because TONIGHT IS SEASON FINALE NIGHT!

Now, I haven't seen LOST because the gf was here and dh and ds didn't start watching until 9:30, which is already past my bedtime :) And tonight I might not see SPN because Grey's finale is 2 hours. UNLESS I take a nap when I get home, which I may do if I meet my goal before school. See?

Are you excited about any season finales? Did you see FRINGE? I watched that one last night and--whoa. Was stunned. Also, NCIS looks like the finale will be good, if this last episode was a hint. Of course, loved CASTLE.

Okay, off to revise!

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Wow, I've been chatty. I started this blog in May 2005, so that's a lot of posts in less than four years.

I'm debating whether or not to call in today. I left sub plans, and I have a TON of work to do here, but I never know if I'll need that day later in the year. We still have about 50 days left, and I only have 3 I can take off without having to pay. I usually budget myself one day a month, but remember last May, I got pneumonia.

I wish I'd gotten more done on the historical over the break. I was at a rough spot in the ms, so didn't push myself, and now I won't work on it until these revisions are done. I'm not quite half-way through. (The editor wants the ending changed, but she also mentioned I had a bunch of typos. So far I've found less than ten, and some of those are commas I didn't put in, so I'm wondering if there are more later. This will be the cleanest ms in the history of, well, me.) And I'm still waiting on the revisions for my other two contracted books. Maybe I should hold off there and just take an early out today instead. Oops, need to decide quickly!

I finished Toni's HER SANCTUARY last night. Very beautifully written, complex plot, hot cowboy :) Whew! I wonder if she's going to write more books with the same characters because Ryan needs a HEA. She's already built this cool world, so....(hint hint!)

I'm guest blogging at Mid-Willamette Valley about books made into movies and I blogged about last night's Supernatural episode at Supernatural Sisters. Spoilers everywhere, so beware!

The boy comes home tomorrow night. I didn't even talk to him yesterday because he was in class all day, then they went to a Broadway show. All the way home yesterday I was thinking he'd be here when I got home, and I had to keep reminding myself otherwise. The dh and I have been treating ourselves to dinner every night....spoiled!

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Working on revisions on DLB again for TWRP. Will someday be able to work on historical....too bad I like sleep. 5th grade testing today, so no computer, again.....no idea what I'm teaching other than math and more math.....zzzzzzzzz.

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Weird errand day yesterday: bank, half price bookstore, B&N. I keep ending up at bookstores without my postcards with my book info on them! And I bought Robyn Carr’s new book. Also, Marianne’s book came, and I found another ebook I want to read, an inspirational, but I’m so far behind!

I figured out why I don’t like Mira Sorvino’s character in The Last Templar….she’s not sympathetic at all. She’s smart and can kick butt, and I think they tried to soften her by giving her a kid, but I sure don’t like her. And I don’t see what Sean likes about her.

1) Get 2/3 through DLB
2) 2 interviews and article
3) blog at SPN Sisters about Jared
4) order author copies of Hot Shot and plan school signing
5) plan class field trip
6) get paperwork ready to do taxes
7) think about doing a signing at an independent book store
8) continue keeping a path through the house, fighting dust bunnies, and keeping laundry and dish piles to a minimum
9) exercise

Wow, lots of thinking about and planning there….hope I’m up for it J

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I met and exceeded my daily goal yesterday, need to rewrite the climax, and it's downhill from here. I hope to send Surface to Trish by Wednesday.

I watched Brideshead Revisited last night. I kept thinking that Charles is Ozymandius in Watchmen, which I can't wait to see.

1) finish revisions on Surface and send to Trish
2) read through DLB and begin revisions-get through page 50
3) blog on SPN Sisters
4) Do one promo thing
5) Finish grading, get classroom ready for next few weeks of science and centers
6) Resume tutoring (wahhhhh!)
7) Continue battling mountain of laundry and army of dust bunnies, cook dinner every night since payday is a lonnnng way away.
8) Get on the exercise bike. I was bad about it this week because my back was hurting.

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Did anyone see 24 last night? I always thought Tony was hot, but with the short hair....guh! Also, the FRI agent Renee would be excellent in Nora's High Noon. She was also the mom on the Supernatural episode "Playthings." This season looks gooooood, but has the same kind of plot as Spy Girl, aka the book I will never have time to work on :)

I got up to page 126, almost a third of the way through. I've also cut 20 pages so far. I need to rework the climax, so the closer I get to the end, the slower I'll be working.

I'm blogging about success today at The Romance Studio. Come say howdy!

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This picture is too scary to be funny.

I finally finished my first book of the year, Elisabeth's Stolen Fury! Very action-packed, and about archaeologists, which I love. Also pretty danged sexy.

Okay, so I'm rereading Surface before I work on revisions and yesterday....I got a revision request for my Africa story! Yup, that was my head exploding. So, taking a deep breath, planning ten pages a day on one book at a time....my stomach is in knots, but I don't want to blow this. I was printing out both books (and I have 2 versions of each) and ran out of toner, so that's where I get to go today. And to get a tire. And to the grocery store. :::headdesk:::: Um, need to read my book and REVISE. When, again?

Soooo, since this is the hero model in both stories, you'll be seeing a lot of this guy:

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I've read through the first 100 pages of Surface and I absolutely agree with the editor's comment about the circular development of the relationship. Yeesh, I beat the reader over the head with it.

I read my Google Reader while on the exercise bike. I rode 18 minutes, but didn't make 5 miles. I guess I can't pedal as fast as I read. But I did multi-task.

TV last night-JDM on Kimmel (only watched the interview), The Office and Grey's Anatomy. JDM is really gorgeous. And I love Sloan and Callie's friendship.

Yesterday was interminable....the kids were taking a writing test. All but 7 were done before lunch. 2 were still working ten minutes before school let out. The rest of the kids were pretty good, so I gave them the night off, no homework. They thought I was awesome. Yeesh, I should do that more often :)

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I got a revision letter on Surface yesterday. BIG revision letter. Gulp. Will be busy. But we'll be having Gerry pictures again for a bit :)

Watched an episode of The Office, NCIS and Leverage. JDM was on Jimmy Kimmel and Jensen will be on tonight. Thank goodness for Tivo.

Testing for the kids today. Makes a long day, but at least quiet, and I can think about the revisions.

Think good thoughts for Cindi today. She's going in for a biopsy on her lymph nodes. This isn't the same health scare as before - this actually started before the scary hand and feet discoloration. She's going to a rheumatologist for that. She's been getting bumps around her neck that appear and disappear - it's weird. So, anyway, thoughts that it's not bad news. She was mostly happy to get off two days ;)

I got my advance from Samhain yesterday...and a rejection on the second book I sent them. The bad - even with 20 mss (or so), I don't have something else ready to send. I'm looking at my completed ms folder and here's what we have:

Breaking Daylight - needs the last 60 pages to go through my critique group (I don't usually do that with a whole book, but this one kicked my butt) and to be honest, I want to try NY with it first.

Don't Look Back - still with Susan

Beneath the Surface - needs at LEAST backstory revisions and I'd LIKE to make it paranormal and send to NY

Ghost Hunters - needs revisions to make it less of a Supernatural clone

Vamp Hunters - my 2007 Nano book - needs MAJOR revisions

Second Chances - The first 4 chapters are okay, but I want to rewrite the rest of the book.

Spy Girl - my 2006 Nano book - needs MAJOR revisions

Eden's Promise - my futuristic - needs big revisions on the back half

Wow - out of all the books I've written, only HALF even have a revision's chance at getting published. That's kinda sad. What learning curve is THAT?

Cherry Adair did tell me, though, not to expect to sell my previous books, and I can see why. You learn SO MUCH going through the editing process and you can see the holes in books that you didn't see before.

I didn't get home till 7:00 on Tuesday and 7:30 on Wednesday. I've woken up around 3 the last three mornings and can't go back to sleep. Argh -I'm ready for summer!

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I spent ALL DAY yesterday on revisions. I did searches for overused words, I fixed eight plot points, most minor, but one the timeline question. I made him a former smokejumper. I still need to smooth that one out today. I need to fix 6 more things, some harder than others, like the fire shelter thing. Thankfully, I found an instruction manual for the burrito shelter. I was freaking because I didn't see how two people could fit in it, but the manual does say they can, though it's not recommended.

Anyway, I was going to steal Jill's excellent post idea about ten things you won't see in my books, but by the time I was done editing it was 8:30. I showered, watched some TV and CRASHED. Thank goodness today's testing!

I should find out soon when Smoke is coming out!

Finished Hot Shot, including a brand new ending. I'm going to let it sit the rest of the weekend, then send it back.

Now, to Nano.