Ahh...that's better

Wanted to get past that 113th post.  So here I am, the 114th.  A nice, safe number.  I got good feedback from another reader of my manuscript, but she also thinks my book has a lot of room to grow.  It needs to be stronger in character building, also the relationships between the characters, especially between the protagonist and her parents.  I actually look forward to writing a couple of brand new chapters to start off the book.  I don't know exactly what should happen in them, but it's real writing, not just editing.  Then, of course, the rest of the damn thing will need to be edited again, but I can't just give up on this.  Right? ...

Happy New Year!

My baby is refusing to be born.  She's due on Monday, in her defense, but my daughter was born at 37 weeks so I already feel 3 weeks overdue.  I've tried all the self-inducing tricks, I ate two full pineapples, I'm taking walks constantly, I drink raspberry tea leaf all day, the doc did some membrane stripping on Monday (ouch), tried sex, I even pumped for 15 minutes today….nothin.  And when I say nothing, I mean barely any contractions and no other signs that this little girl wants to be anywhere but inside her warm and cozy uterus.  She needs to get moving soon or she's going to miss the visitors that drove all the way from PA to meet her.

I was swamped with jewelry orders last month, along with busy things going on at work and preparations for the holidays and this baby's arrival.  I've still been editing, but I didn't meet my goal of finishing this round of edits before the new year.  I got close, only 100 pages left, give or take a few, but I'm at the area of the book that needed the most improvement.  Some days I'll read the book and think 'this is exactly what I hoped it'd be' and other days I feel like it's awful.  It'll get done.  Right now I just feel like I'm in limbo…I keep expecting to go into labor, and when I don't, I over think how many things can go wrong, or how bad it's going to hurt, or how much sleep I'm not going to get in the next 6 months (wishful thinking).  Then my mind finds some peace and confidence for a minute or two, then she still doesn't come and it all starts again.  I wonder what stage I'll be at when I actually go into labor. If I ever go into labor.

Did I mention we call her Peanut Butter?  As goofy as it sounds, I'll probably start calling the two of them PB & J once she's here.

Today we took J and grandparents to the park.

Now I'm going to get ready to go grocery shopping and walk around a track (maybe hop a bit) to try and coax PB out while the husband goes to the gym.

I can't wait to be able to get real exercise again.  I miss going for runs (ones where my legs don't feel like they're carrying 50 lb weights) and feeling active.  I'm so sluggish and off balance.  

Ughh….any day now, please.

Weekends are the best.

Our friend from Louisiana is visiting us this weekend.  He's one of the three people that read my manuscript for feedback.  He's also the only of the three who isn't related to me, so I really valued his opinion.  Knowing he was coming to visit, I kept telling my husband that I was really worried he'd get drunk and tell me he hated my book.  After reading it, he told me he really enjoyed it and gave me really positive feedback, along with good suggestions.  So knowing he's also the type of guy who is very complimentary and gentleman like, I obviously always wondered if he was just trying to be nice and when the truth would come out.  So last night...after dinner at an amazing German restaurant called Haus Murphy's where my husband and our friend each drank two ENOURMOUS beers

(I'm pregnant, so I'm the designated driver, of course...we couldn't have our toddler drive, duh)

I worried that this would be the time our friend would start telling me the truth about the book.  It did come up...and he brought it up...but the conversation was actually extremely favorable.  He asked what I'm doing with it, so I told him some of the changes I've made and the editing I'm still doing, then he proceeded to tell me what he liked about it the best (after saying 'I like all of it, but this is what I liked the best...').  So even his drunken uninhibited opinion is positive.  Hurray!  And that seriously makes me very happy and reinforces the confidence I've built already in regards to the manuscript. 
I have been lazy about the second round of editing.  I did get done doing the written edits on the manuscript, and now I'm onto the second round of actually writing the changes into the manuscript on Scrivener.  I've fallen behind though, and if I want to finish it before the end of the year, I need to have a bit more discipline.

Otherwise...I've had a fun few days of getting my Christmas gifts really early..one is a Gardenmaster Nesco Dehydrator and the other is a Basis B1 watch.  I'm loving both gifts a lot.  Already dehydrated a batch of strawberries, apples, and bananas and I've been burning around 2700 calories or more per day (I'm pregnant, and trying to stay active), and my heart rate is usually in the 90s (also gonna say that's from the pregnancy).

And just now, I made a batch of no bake cookies. 

I'm going to dehydrate another batch of stuff soon (more apples...they're awesome...zucchini and green beans). 

My domestic streak is in full force...nesting again?  Also, the husband and friend are at the Cardinals game right now so I'm enjoying some mostly alone time (little girl just got up from her nap though, so now it's time to feed her a delicious cookie).

Wish weekends could last longer...just an extra day or so.

Trying to get back into it...

I'm really having trouble juggling my responsibilities with the amount of time I have (it feels like none). I'm in my third trimester, I'm uncomfortable and tired and excited to have this baby. We got her room together, which is exciting. J got a real toddler bed and her old bed was converted back to a crib. I washed a huge load of clothes from when J was an infant (this little girl, we'll call her A, will have enough to wear a new outfit everyday for a month with just that load of laundry). I washed the cover to my 'Brest Friend' pillow (awesome way to breastfeed a baby...just wait, you're going to hear a TON of stuff about breastfeeding soon...when I breastfed J for 14 months it was sort of an obsession for me, I'm kind of a crazy person when it comes to whether someone should breastfeed if they are able to).

Anyway...I got a little sidetracked...the reason I'm writing today (finally) is because I'm trying to make myself accountable (again) and I really want to finish editing the manuscript before the end of 2013. I hate the number 13...so it's only appropriate that I get this cleaned up and have a fresh start with it in 2014. I'm also due to have A on 1/6/14 so I know I really won't have any time to do this part of it after she's here. So one of the things I'd like to be able to focus on after she's here is working again on the query letter and getting it out to agents.

I also started using a new app to edit the pdf version of my full manuscript (after I make my notes, I'll move over to my light Asus laptop so I can work side by side with the pdf in Scrivener....Scrivener, if you could release an app for your program in the next couple of weeks, I'd be SOO grateful). The new app I'm using is Notability...which is AWESOME. My all time favorite app to date. You can add photos, pdfs, AUDIO notes, handwritten notes etc. AND it syncs between iPhone and iPad AUTOMATICALLY....it's incredible. Below is a note I made about the schedule I'd like to follow in order to get this manuscript edited and finished up.

We'll see how I do!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

It's a Girl!!!

We're having another baby girl!!  Our three year old will be so excited!  She has chosen 'Doc McStuffins' as the name...we're working on her though.  Don't want to start the sibling rivalry right off the bat, haha.

Honestly though, no names yet...Steve has been leaning towards Abigale, which I like a lot...but I just realized that I feel the need to spell check the name right now and that's probably a bad sign.

I need to get back into editing.  Now that the big work event is done I'm just trying to catch up in every other aspect of my life, and unfortunately, the editing keeps getting pushed to last (our floors were in desperate need of vacuuming and cleaning and I have deadlines I can't ignore with the jewelry business, which is going great).  Soon....I'm promising myself...soon.

Edited a lot

I didn't really have a surge of inspiration tonight but I did force myself to do the things I should have done last night.  I posted two new rings to my jewelry shop.  One of them is two fingerprints forming a heart on a ring and the other is an infinity symbol ring.

Infinity

 

Two Fingerprints Form a Heart

 

So I was happy to have gotten them listed. 

I also edited more than normal.  I did a chapter and started the next chapter (worked as far as a page into the next chapter).  The reason for my overachieving was because I saw that I only have two more chapters (now one chapter and about 2/3rds of another chapter) before I catch up with where I made notes on my PDF version.  So when I catch up, I can recompress the manuscript with all the updated edits and start from there on my iPad again with a stylus and my Goodreader app.  I'm just looking forward to the change.  It has felt good to have a mixing up of editing methods.  Keeps me looking forward to shorter term goals instead of just the overall goal.

So I'm at...
Page 65 of 155

Yay...Getting this thing polished up...FINALLY.

Another Chapter

Only 4 pages for this one.  So I'm at:

60 of 155

Only 3 chapters left before I've caught up on typing out my edits from the pdf.  I'll create a new pdf with the edits because I know I changed around a later chapter that isn't updated on this pdf, then I'll start reading through and writing specific edits on the pdf again.  It'll be nice to have a change and have the chance to use the iPad for this project again for a bit.  I might read through the rest of the manuscript and make all the notes and edits before I go back to typing them out on Scrivener again. 

Almost halfway done :)

Woohoo, a whole chapter!

So I'm pretty psyched about how well this is going.  Knowing I need to report the amount of pages I've edited each day keeps it in the back of my mind.  So when I have a free minute or two, I try and dedicate it to editing.  Not only that, but now when I'm reading a book or listening to an audiobook, I'm constantly thinking about my own manuscript and feeling a desire to quit reading and continue editing.  It's like that feeling that drives you to finish reading a book, but my mind is putting that desire toward my own manuscript.  What an awesome way to feel motivated.  Like it isn't a chore, but an actual hobby and something to feel proud of/excited about. 

Anyway, today I edited FIVE pages.  A whole chapter (which is about 10 book sized pages...like I've said before, the pdf I'm editing from fits a lot more words per page than a printed book would).  So I'm at:

56 of 155

And I think I stopped the handwritten edits around Chapter 16 or 17, so I'm only about 5 chapters away from catching up with myself (I made edits and sometimes they're easy 'missing comma' type edits, and other times they're more time consuming and general 'fix' type edits, which take way more time).  Once I catch up with myself, I need to:

• Compress the whole file again with the edits from Scrivener into a new PDF. 
• Upload that PDF back to Goodreader.
• Start reading/editing the actual manuscript again.
• Send that back to Scrivener and open the PDF side by side with the actual manuscript to type out the edits.
• Finish this whole round of edits (I can't wait).
• Make a kindle file of this draft of the book.
• Reread the whole book from start to finish while taking just general overall notes. 
• Reedit (hopefully with much less tedious fixes).

That is, unless Scrivener comes out with an iPad version of their program before I catch up with myself.  I can't wait until that day comes!  No more converting to PDF, editing, then putting files side by side...just make the edits directly to the manuscript on my iPad...the convenience factor there makes my mouth water.

I'm feeling good about this though! 

And I've started working on ideas for a new YA Dystopian (I don't care if publishers don't want dystopian right now...it's such a cool theory to consider...especially with all the changes technology brings to cultures...imagining what our future is going to look like is fun).  I'm using the Index Card app for that, and I'm really enjoying it.  It also syncs with Scrivener (but only through the Mac version of Scrivener, which is a bummer, because I'm using my PC far more often lately).  I have the app on both my iPhone and my iPad and, annoyingly enough, the files don't automatically sync between the apps.  If I upload them to Dropbox, I can then make sure the files stay constant between both, but I have to do that manually, and it's frustrating.  So I am mostly just using this app on my iPhone and jotting down ideas when I think of them.

I guess that's enough for this blog post...I made a short story long.

Edited to the End of a Chapter

I'm so proud of myself for tonight's efforts.  I edited a page earlier in the afternoon and got interrupted by my husband when he suggested we watch an episode of Dexter during J's nap.  We've been watching the series On Demand on DirecTV and we had 3 episodes left of the second season to watch today.  I've been way more obsessed with the show than him, so I jumped on the chance to watch the episode and skip out on the editing.  Then we watched the last two episodes earlier tonight and not only did I take a break between to walk the dog, but when we finished the season, I edited THREE pages in addition to the one I had done earlier today.  So that brings me to...

51 of 155

Looking forward to Season 3 of Dexter...

Journal and Editing Update

8/21/96

Diary, today I woke up to rain!  I hope I don't tomorrow! (We're going to Hershey!).  I haven't ran for 2 days and I can't tomorrow or the next day!  At least I'll get exercise from swimming and walking.
   Did you ever think rain comes from something other than precipitation?  Maybe it comes from God.  He might be crying.  I hope he's not sad.  I wonder why he's crying over us and not some other country?  one of the houses in our country must have done something wrong. 
                           Millie
Diary, I went to the open house today.  It sucked.  Actually, it wasn't that bad but it was a waste of time!  Guess what my parents said we're not going tomorrow!  Just kiddin :D!  Gotta go!
         
                          Millie

 

This isn't something I talk about much or tell too many people (especially not religious people).  I'm atheist.  I have been since sometime in high school and I was for longer than I admitted to myself.  Obviously, I wasn't when I was 13.  When I was around that age, I was very religious.  I would pray every time I heard a fire engine or an ambulance.  I prayed for my sister constantly.  I didn't do any bible reading or much church attending, but I believed with my whole heart.  Then, somewhere along the way, I started to think more about everything in a less faithful and more logical way.  I'm not saying that what I believe is undoubtedly true, but I can't see how there truly is a God.  I don't even believe in a higher power.  I'm straight out atheist.  And unless someone reads this blog post or chats about religion with me while I'm drinking or vulnerable, you probably wouldn't know that.  It's something I consider to be personal.  And there's a very good chance that I'll someday edit this post to delete this paragraph, but for right now, I figured I'd fess up.  I censored enough from the journal so far, I don't want to censor how I feel about these 17 year old entries.  I still worry for people and hope for things, but I don't pray.  My worrying and hoping feels the same.

Today, I edited 2 pages.  I finished Chapter 9, which is exciting because I'm in the double digit chapters now :)

So...

Page 47 of 155.

Hope you're having a lovely Saturday.

Edited a Page

I edited one page this evening.  So I'm on...

Page 43 out of 155

I swear, sometimes I do a whole chapter in a day.  Obviously, that's not typical, but even if I only do a page a day (ish) I'll be finished in a few months.  Ughh...that doesn't sound ideal at all, ha.  Oh well...it has to be done.

One Page

Did one page of my PDF version of the manuscript.  It's better than nothing! And I suspect that's what I would have done if I hadn't written today's blog post.

So to keep extra better track:

I'm up to page 42 of 155 (the whole thing is actually over 80,000 words, but the PDF I opened and edited in Goodreader has very large pages...so as far as a book goes, it'd be around 290 pages).

Where'd You Go, Motivation?

I listened to the audiobook of 'Where'd you go, Bernadette?' on Audible a few months ago and it was one of those ones that keeps popping up out of my subconscious every few days.  I liked it a lot, even though while I was listening to it I had mixed feelings.  I attribute that now to the fact that I was in the worst stage of my First Trimester then.  I was exhausted and nauseous most of the time and I suspect I took it out on my opinion of the book.  A friend of mine is listening to it now and I'm just happy I got someone to listen to an audiobook.  I don't want to be the only one in the world to think audiobooks (especially when paired with a smart phone) are freakin awesome.  More on that some other time....

So my motivation for editing has started to trickle to a slow stream.  And not the steady calm after a fast area of rapids on a river (like it was a week or two ago) but more like the drying up part of a stream that happens during a drought.  I'm trying to think of ways to increase precipitation, but I'm worried all it'll take is another rejection to dry up completely.  Hm...no more water metaphors...I think I might start needing to make myself accountable again on my progress.  Maybe track it in the app I used to track my writing with on my phone.  Then also keep daily updates on my progress here on this blog?  Like I had intended to do back when I started this blog and was writing an older version of this same manuscript?  Obviously, that didn't go so well....I kept track here for about 2 weeks (if that), then avoided the blog like I avoided the plague and my writing. 

But as long as I can keep doing a page or two of editing a day, I can expect to actually finish the damn thing...it's not even that daunting, just time consuming.  And I've worked this hard...gotten this far with it...why would I let it fall by the wayside now?  I'll tell you what a little voice inside my head is saying in response to that though...it's saying "because your manuscript is crap"..."because you can never hope to get published"..."because look at all the thousands upon thousands of people in this country trying to do exactly what you're doing...what makes you think you'll be successful??".

Guess I also need to work on ways to shut that voice up...

Inspiring Quotes about Writing

I've always liked this one:

First get it written, then get it right.
(not sure who wrote it)

And

Writing is like driving at night in the fog.  You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
-E.L. Doctorow

And since I'm in the type of mood that can use a motivational pick-me-up, I searched around for more...the following are the ones I like.

If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter a damn how you write.
- Somerset Maugham

I need to tattoo this one to the back of my hand right now:

It is perfectly okay to write garbage—as long as you edit brilliantly.
- C. J. Cherryh

Haha, I like this one because it goes along with what I always say about published writers...there are some really crappy books out there still getting really famous.  So I need to just keep my chin up and remain persistent...if this is what I want to do, there's nothing stopping me but me:

It took me fifteen years to discover I had no talent for writing, but I couldn’t give it up because by that time I was too famous.
- Robert Benchley

I think I'll end with this one, since it feels like my life right now:

Half my life is an act of revision.
- John Irving

And my all time favorite quote, which has nothing to do with writing:

If there were a mile-high mountain made of granite and once every 10,000 years a bird flew past and brushed it with a feather, by the time the mountain eroded away, only a fraction of a second would have past in the context of eternity.
-Lois Duncan (which I just now learned by googling the quote)

Editing a Manuscript-Using Scrivener and Goodreader

I know I've written about this before, but I have to reiterate.  Saving my manuscript from Scrivener into a PDF, opening it on Goodreader on my mini iPad, using a stylus and the freehand writing tool and making edits directly onto the page, then flattening the file and sending it back to Scrivener is the easiest and most efficient way I've found to edit my manuscript thus far.  I then can open the edited version in Scrivener (having saved it in the "Research" section), split the screen, and type out the edits right in the actual manuscript like so:

So today, for my 'work on Earths Project' task, I finished editing and polishing up to chapter five, made sure I was happy with the synopsis, and sent a query to another agent.  The agent requires the first 50 pages, synopsis, and query.  I like the idea of sending more in the query, even though I was grumpy about it when I first realized it was a requirement for so many agents.  The reason I've warmed up to the idea is because if the query itself catches an agent's eye, they can easily read more and decide what they think.  And since I've obviously got confidence in my work (or else, why would I be working so hard on its behalf), I feel like my chances can only get better the more they read.

That's all for today...I'll continue with my 1996 journal tomorrow.

No Journal Today

I have to take a break because the next couple of entries are almost as embarrassing as the previous one, and I need a breath between them.  Sadly, today, I saw all over Facebook that the town I just moved from (DuBois, PA) is flooding right now.  I truly hope everyone who I know, and everyone who lives there, is remaining safe.  For a minute there today, I was extremely thankful for the fact that I'm no longer there so I didn't have to deal with the fear of how to get to the daycare to get my daughter.  My heart goes out to any parents who are there having that type of scary situation as a reality right now. 

I hope our former home is staying dry...especially because my husband spent many thousands of dollars and hours finishing the basement. 


I feel like there's no good way to transition to another subject, so I'm just going to bluntly do so.  This afternoon, I spent a few minutes deciding on a few things I want to do EVERY day for my writing.  The writing, in the long run, is what I want to do...with a passion...so I need to realize that I can't just expect this to happen without any hard work on my part.  So I made a list of three things that will pop up as reminders on my phone every day at 8:30pm, partly just as a constant daily reminder, but also because if it does slip my mind, the best time of day for me to force myself to make time is after my kiddo goes to bed.  The three things are:

 

Write at least 15 minutes

(I wish I could find it realistic to make that a longer amount of time, but I know I can't...and I don't want to shoot myself in the foot right off the bat)

Blog

(that's you!  so I'll either be adding a journal entry or writing about writing or jewelry or life)

Edit or do something with Earths Project

(lately...well, yesterday and the day before...I started reading the book out loud to my iPhone memo thing...I actually downloaded an app called DropVox, which puts my recording directly into a folder in Dropbox...which is helpful because if I save them with the Voice Memos app, I have to connect them directly to my computer to get them off my phone when they're past a certain length)

 



 

So we'll see how this new process goes, but it's a way to remind myself daily that this is what I want, and I can't just expect it to happen for me...I have to work for it.  Even if I have a full-time job, jewelry business on the side, husband, child and a baby on the way.  Ha.  But seriously....I don't function well with too much free time...so filling it is second nature to me.  And why not fill it with something like making my dreams come true?

 

Cheesy...but whatever.

:)

Break and Day 3 of Journal (8/3/96)

I'm taking a short, rare break from my tasks.  I just needed a breather from the task I'm working on, so I figured I'd use the moment here.  Also, I'm eating lunch and there's no one here to take an official break with.

I still haven't made a new game plan on how I'm going to approach the last edits on my manuscript.  After which I need to write a good synopsis and send out more queries.  I figure this time away from the book is only going to help.  Diving back in with a fresh outlook is usually recommended, so aside from the fact that I don't want to put it off so long that I just never get around to it, I'm not beating myself up over this time not editing.

The jewelry is going well.  I've been busy to the point where I'm making something or polishing and finishing something on a nightly basis.  That's all fine except for the fact that I really want a break from everything once in a while and it has been a few days since I've felt like I've been able to have that.  I get home from work after picking up the kiddo from daycare, then she and I watch a cartoon, play, eat dinner, she goes to bed and I start working on jewelry.  I get done by 9:30 and I'm too tired to read or do anything much for myself. 

On Sunday, I made time for myself (even during Father's Day, haha) to go to the Central Library in Phoenix during the kiddo's nap.  It was GORGEOUS.  Five floors!!

I checked out a bunch of kids' books and two books for myself.  Every time I go to the library I have a mental battle over whether I should get myself a book.  I always break down and check one or two out but I usually never end up reading them or even opening them. 

The first of the two I checked out is Tenth of December by George Saunders.  I had heard a lot about it when it was first released, and since it was available and I knew it was a compilation of short stories, I didn't feel bad about checking it out.  I've already read a couple of the short stories and I'm really enjoying it.  The second is a full novel but it looked like a light read so I'm hoping I can start it in a week or so and actually have it done before they're due back.


Now on to my journal entry from August of 1996...

 

Diary 8/3/96

Forget those first pages!  That was a while ago and now I am not who I was!
  The other day I went for a run and on my way home I was walking up a hill and (I was too tierd to run!) I saw a huming bird!  It was as big as a wasp!  The thing that was so great about it is that I touched it!
  I'm crying now because I think, I don't know how to put this in words so I'll explain.  Never Mind!
  I still HATE Jessica and Sarah!  Their both BITCHES! (excuse my french) I'm trying to make new friends but that's hard to do during the summer!
  I haven't done much during the summer, just stuff with Rose and Jeanette.
  On the 22nd My family and me are going to Hershey park.
  Why is my handwriting so bad?!?!  It gets worse every day!  I guess I'll just have to live with it!
  Sarah would have made a good friend but she hung out with Jessica too much!

                                Oh Well!

                                         Millie


Why do the French get all the blame for bad language?

Exciting Response

So back in March, a few weeks after I finished my first edit on my manuscript for Earths Project: Book One, First Earth, I decided to try out my first batch of querying agents to represent my book.  I sent out five queries.  Within days, and then weeks, I received my standard rejection letters.  Each one looking similar to the next.  Sorry, try someone else (and usually nicer than that...but obviously standard emails that they just mass send out to each manuscript they don't consider at all).  One response was actually really short and sort of mean...but I am prepared not to take rejections personally (you know, unless someone takes the time to actually personalize a mean rejection...something like "This is the worst idea for a book we have EVER seen"...then I would have no choice but to cry for a little while).

Annnnnyways.......like I said, I got four out of five rejection emails.  I always assumed the fifth would just never come, but could be brushed off as another rejection.  My response came on 6/10/2013 at 2:38 pm (EST).  Don't get too excited, it's a rejection, but I'll put the letter here to show you why it still made my heart race a little faster:

Carmella Dillman,                  

 

            Your query regarding “The Earths Project: Book 1, First Earth” has been evaluated. The concept of numerous Earths, with each unaware of their origins or the existence of other Earths, is definitely a novel concept. The journey of the protagonist as she uncovers these truths and learns what must be done to save her own Earth have a lot of potential and could make a solid place for itself in the sci-fi genre. Unfortunately, ******* is not able to represent your manuscript at this time. We concentrate on high-quality fiction and non-fiction works that have the strong possibility for crossover to film and television. Additionally, as digital technology and social media has advanced, it has become a fact that it often takes more than good work for a publisher to recognize the value of a manuscript. A strong social media presence is necessary to demonstrate a guaranteed readership and assure publishers that the cost of publishing and distributing a book will result in commercial success. Should you bolster your social media presence or otherwise demonstrate a dedicated following of your work, please resubmit your query to ******@**.*** with evidence of this for re-evaluation. I wish you the best with both this and future endeavors.

 

Additionally, a Time Magazine article featuring one of our clients, Sir Ken Robinson, is enclosed regarding his book, “Finding Your Element,” which will be on the New York Times bestseller list June 16th.

 

Regards,

*******

They even took the time to take a photo of the Time Magazine article and attach it as a jpg.  So, I'm super psyched that from such a small batch of queries, I got one real personal response (granted, it's a rejection, but it's still something they took the time to consider).

As you can see in the response, it might be helpful to start focusing more on the whole social networking world.  I certainly have the tools and knowledge to be more active through those avenues, but I'm just unsure of how to go about getting more followers.  I don't even have enough followers on this blog to ask for advice.  But if you happen to be reading this and you're an expert at building a large amount of followers by blogging and/or tweeting, please comment!!

In the meantime, I'll try and decide the best way to approach that suggestion.  I also have to finish doing a second round of good editing on the manuscript, but with the job I have now and the jewelry shop doing really well lately, I've had a really limited amount of time to focus on the book.  I'll have to come up with a better system...

So, hopefully I didn't put too many readers to sleep through this long-winded blog post.  Everytime I think about that query response I get excited and feel more motivated, so I couldn't help but share :)

Have a great weekend!!

Today

I'm so glad I cleaned my house yesterday.  I've been keeping it tidy since and whenever everything around me is tidy I feel so much more optimistic about the day.  This morning, after I'm done injecting caffeine into my veins, I'll be taking the toddler for a run in her jogging stroller.  We've been semi-regularly going for runs over the past few weeks, which I have been loving.  I wish I had the time and self-motivation to become a real distance runner.  When I do 3+ miles I get this rush and the whole day I delude myself to thinking I'll do 4+ miles the next day, then I always end up not running at all the next day.  In DuBois, through Treasure Lake, that wasn't the case.  I was tracking how many miles I would run per month and I did really good at going longer and longer distances (about 5 miles was my furthest).  I did that with my dog though, for the most part, and I haven't put the time toward finding good routes around here that I can go longer distances on and it's harder to map them out when I know I'll have a jogging stroller that I'd rather not take on roads without sidewalks (or busy roads).  We didn't have sidewalks in Treasure Lake, but the roads were never busy with traffic like they are here.

Anyway...I didn't mean to take such a tangent there.  After the jog, I'll take the kiddo to the park for a while, try and let her burn off some of that energy so she goes down for the nap on time and not as late as 3:30 like yesterday.  She'll take a bath, while I take a shower (the bathtub in our masterbath is separate from the shower, which is super handy for killing two birds with one stone while also keeping an eye on her).  Lunch, then nap.  Then at 4:15, I have a haircut scheduled at the LifeSpa in our gym (Lifetime...I'll have her play in the daycare area while I get my hair done).

I like days like this.  Lots of things on the to-do list and none of them unpleasant in any way.  Most of them involve getting to spend time with my daughter but in a way I know she'll enjoy, which is tough with a 2.5 year old.

So maybe I should postpone scheduling this blogpost since reviewing it made me realize that if anyone wanted to stalk me today, they wouldn't even have to make a real effort to figure out where I'll be at any particular time.

I hope to edit during the playtime at the park and/or during naptime.

Back to Work

I've finally been offered a job! I don't want to go too far into details but it'll be with the Arizona Hemophilia Association and everything about it seems amazing. I start April 22nd so since I only have a little over a week left of the unemployed life, I'm catching up on crappy TV shows and over cleaning my house so I'm ahead of the game when I'm adjusting back to the 40 hour workweek lifestyle. For the first time in my life, I only have a few extra things on my plate when I'm back to work. Used to always have graduate school on top of everything else (which was definitely a huge extra time burden), but now it's just the jewelry shop and the time I'll put toward getting the book edited and queried (until it's published). Along with spending time with the toddler and husband, I'm going to be busy, but very very fulfilled and happy. I can't wait to get this next chapter of my life started!!

As far as the jewelry and book goes...I've been busy with the jewelry and taking a longer than comfortable break with the editing. I NEED to get back into the editing and making it a major priority again. Like always, I'm the only thing standing in my way.

As for now, my baby girl is napping (for another hour probably), I'm feeling achy from a mild cold but my house is clean and I'm looking for that renewed motivation to edit, edit, edit. That's sort of what brought me here...my other neglected outlet.

Time to lay down, try and overcome the achiness, and maybe crack open the Goodreader app to do some editing.


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Location:Litchfield Park,United States