Juggling is so hard to do!

I have to make a confession here. I am finding it so hard to juggle everything lately. The ball that seems to be dropping a lot lately is my writing. I am finding it difficult to fit it in. I have a lot of story outlines going on right now but my WIP is not flowing at the moment. Which has me asking the question, is it ok to put a WIP on hold for a while and work on something else. Maybe, my problem is that I am such a linear thinker. In my head, I'm thinking that I need to finish what I am working on before moving to the next topic. It's probably not the best way to think when you are writing. Or is it that I haven't had time to sit down and do any sustained writing and I am out of practice. I didn't have this problem with my first manuscript. The words just seems to flow. I was always writing. Even at work, when I had a break, I would write on scraps of paper.

I think that tonight, my plan will be to do some free writing and see what comes out it.

Peace out,
MRD

Feel like complaining?

I am not feeling well today. Not being a person that will ever verbally complain, I am going to make a list of things that I want to complain about.

1. My throat feels like I swallowed glass and my ears hurt.
2. I have a headache.
3. I hate that I have to go to the market at least 3 times a week to buy milk. With the way my husband drinks it, I should invest in a cow.
4. The thought of more snow is actually physically making me ill.
5. I am tired of waiting for feedback from publishers. Does it really take 5 to 6 weeks or 12-16 weeks to get back to someone?
6. Just got my W-2 from work today, where did all that money go?
7. Why am I always short money for bills? I hate bills.
8. It's only 5pm and I want to take a bath and go to bed.

I guess I am done venting now.

Peace Out,
MRD

Enough already!

I say NO TO SNOW! Done, done, done, done, done! There are 58 more days until spring. It seems so far away. Next month, I am being sent to Atlanta for a work conference. I am hoping to see some temperatures in the 50's or dare I say 60's. It's so sad that those are the temperatures that I am hoping for but it would be nice. We have yet another snow day. When you were little, snow days were the best. You didn't have to go school. You watched tv all day and then went out played in the snow and came in when you were cold to watch more tv.

Snow doesn't have all bad memories for me. When I was 13 years old, two new neighbors moved in. One around the block and the other directly behind us. Maryann and John, who moved directly behind us became very good friends with my mother. Such good friend that there was a gate put in between the fence, so we could go into their pool whenever they were home. Those are summer stories. Maryann's sister moved in around the block. She had two sons and at 13 years old, I fell in love for the first time. It was that type of love where, your heart races, and your palms sweat. The type of love that you feel when you are 13. Russell was beautiful, played golf, and unfortunately for me 17 years old. (I still to this day remember his licence plate number.) With my mother being a widow, he would come over in the winter and shovel snow. I, of course, would go out and help. One snow storm, we had a snowball fight in the yard with my brothers and sister. We chased each other around and laughed like crazy. At one point during the game, he tackled and started tickling me. Once the tickling stopped and we were staring at each other, for one brief moment, I thought that he wanted to kiss me. I honestly did. Thinking back, he probably did, but no it didn't happen. I honestly think that we met too early. It was just a moment that wasn't meant to be.

So as I am shoveling today (and praying  for my brother David to save me with his snowblower), I am going to hold on to that memory.

Peace out,
MRD

More???

I can't believe that we are going to get more snow.  We are expected to get 5-8 inches on top of what we already have. UGGGG! I am thinking of moving somewhere south, where the weather is warm. Any ideas??

I have been in a writing lull lately. I am not going to make excuses but since we had all of these snow days, I have been swamped at work and at home. I am bringing home all paperwork that I can't seem to get to at school. I also started teaching at the university last night. I forgot how tired that I used to get and boy am I tired today. When my husband came to bed a little while ago (after playing video games with his friends all night!), he said he had to nudge me because he didn't think that I was breathing. I was so still. To be honest, I haven't had time to think about writing which makes me sad. What I am consumed with is hearing back from publishers, I race home every day to check my e-mail. It was almost torture yesterday to wait until 7:30pm at night. The last time I usually check is before I leave for work, which is around 6:15am. Now I know what you are thinking, why doesn't she check it on her phone. If you saw my phone, you would understand why. I am not a "gadget" girl. I find that there is no real need for me to be able to access the Internet on my phone. I also don't want to pay for it. If the phone can call and text, that is good enough for me. Maybe, I am a dinosaur!

Peace out,
MRD

Ready for Spring

With the windchill, it is about -11 outside this morning. Doesn't that just make you want to jump up and go to work? I am so over the cold. I am more of of Spring/Summer girl. I know people who say that they would rather be cold because you can layer clothes and then take off each layer as you get warm. But when you are hot, there are no layers that you can take off. Can someone, somewhere, sent us some heat?

Do you ever notice that until someone brings something up, you never have thought about it before, then once they do, you can think nothing but think about it? I will explain. I never once thought about pipes in the house freezing. I read an article on our local new channel about pipes freezing in this cold, now all I can think about is the pipes freezing. My sister just got a new car, a snarky congrats to her. At breakfast yesterday, she looked at me and told me that I should be worried about my car traveling to the university where I am teaching a class on Tuesday nights. Now, all I can think about is my car and traveling those dark, cold highways alone. Why can't someone put good ideas in my head? Having my ms published, winning Powerball...You get the idea. 

Off to take a shower and brave the elements...

MRD

Congrats

I would like to give a huge congrats to Amber Skyze. She and Tara Nichols, Jude Mason, and Keta Diablo have been nominated for Best Anthology of 2010 for Spank Me Twice from Noble. If you have a minute, go and vote for them at:

http://lovesbooksandmore.blogspot.com/2011/01/nominees-for-best-anthologymulti-author.html

It is incredibly cold here today, supposedly not getting out of the the teens. It's so bad that I even tried to drink some tea to warm up because I always seem to be out of coffee. It actually made me nausea. Isn't tea supposed to have the opposite effect.

I had an idea for a new story last night but I want some opinions on it. My heroine has gotten herself in a financial pickle. The hero is offering to help her out because he has been secretly in love with her ever since she came to work for him. She offers to pay him back by being his sex slave for the weekend. In her eyes, this a way to indulge in her fantasies that she has been having about him for years but never approached him because he is her boss. Would it be perceived that she is trading sex for money?

Peace Out,
MRD

Another snow day

Well, it's snowing AGAIN here in Rhode Island and I have another snow day. I have to say that the last time I remember snow like this I was young. So far this winter, we have doubled our snowfall from last year. Basically, all schools in the state are closed. It is a little crazy. All of my colleagues are complaining on Facebook about having to make up the day at the end of the year. I want to really respond with a rude comment. COME ON PEOPLE, this is what gives teachers a bad name. When school is cancelled, it is all about safety, mainly the safety of the children. In my district, the majority of the students walk to school. There is no where for them to walk right now but in the street. My school has an annex, so I have to walk about two blocks between the buildings. As of yesterday, the sidewalks were not cleared from the last snowstorm. I had to walk in the street, sometimes walking in the middle of the street! It is quite the sight, me walking the streets of south Providence. (I know some of you who know me are actually chuckling right now.) So who cares if we have to go to school a few more days in June. I would much rather go into school when it is ninety degrees than travel with my heart in my throat during a snow storm. Let's face it, the students who would show up during a snow storm, will be the students who are going to show up for those last days in June. There would be nothing covered today and there will be nothing covered at the end of the year.

So I am going to cuddle up on the couch, watch some dvr'd shows and do some writing. If I was really prepared, I would have picked up some wine last night but I can always do that later if I feel like it. The snow will be out of here this afternoon.  Enjoy your day!

Peace Out,
MRD

Why is waiting so hard

Why when I know that most publishers will take weeks to get back to me about my manuscript do I race home to check my e-mail every day? It doesn't make sense. I am a rational person but every day, I expectantly, with one eye closed check my e-mail in hopes that I will receive some type of good news. I am lucky that I can't check home e-mail at work because I would probably check it every free moment.

My plan to write while proctoring some tests went out the window. Sometimes what is expected of children is unreasonable. I know this first hand. I feel like I am torturing children this week. My district is giving English proficiencies to all of our English Language Learners. So here I am giving an English test to second grade students who are only instructed in Spanish and are also special ed. So every look is like they are pleading with me to help them when I can't. It just makes me angry. Are we setting them up to fail?  So no writing during this time. Yesterday, I was able to sketch out a story outline before school started.

They are forecasting more snow tonight, so maybe there will be another snow day tomorrow and I can get some writing done then. I would say tonight but the husband is sick, maybe with the flu and being such a baby about it. It's actually quite funny because he made an excuse to get out of going somewhere last weekend using the flu as an excuse and now it seems like he is coming down with it. Karma, hmmm... Just stay away from me.  I might have shoveling to do!

Peace Out,
MRD

Tired and not wanting to face the day

After my very abrupt rejection the other day, I have taken a few days off from writing. It has only been the physical act. More and more ideas have been hammering in my brain to get out. So soon I will be start writing again. It won't be today though. I have to work until 5:45 and after that I will probably be brain dead.

Today, we start testing at school. So maybe while the students are testing, I will write down my list of possible story ideas.

On another note, did something incredibly stupid. So I think that another rejection letter will be coming my way just out of sure stupidity. While I was subbing out my ms on Sunday, I sent it to a particular publishing house. For the past two days, I have been receiving error messages that the email has not gone through but will keep on trying. So last night, I sent a very nice e-mail explaining my problem. I received an immediate response to send it to an actual person and they would forward my ms to the right department because this particular publisher has multiple line. It was great. I sent if off feeling good. Immediately after that I receive an e-mail from the OWNER of the publishing company telling me that the e-mail was checked and nothing seemed to be wrong. I should check what e-mail I used, not snarky but just matter of factly.  Sure enough, I friggin' forgot the "the" in the e-mail. I would reject me because of that, talk about not paying attention and being stupid. I hate making stupid mistakes, hate, hate, hate!!!

Peace Out,
MRD

The question of the day is...

How do you keep your enthusiasm up about writing after receiving a harsh rejection letter? Yesterday, I sent off my finished manuscript again along with an updated query letter and synopsis. Almost immediately one of the publishing companies sent me a rejection that said "right from the beginning, it didn't capture my interest". Harsh! Talk about telling me it sucks right away. So here's the thing, does it really suck?  Am I deluding myself that I can become a published writer? Maybe I am one of those people who really enjoys doing it but doesn't have the special talent that gets noticed. There are a lot of them out there. Just think about guys that play baseball, there are a lot of good players out there but only the GREAT ones get drafted to the major league teams.

I think that I will do some extra cleaning of the house today. I have let writing become my first priority lately and the house has really suffered for it.

Peace Out,
MRD

Such a proud aunt!

Yesterday, I went to my nephew's birthday party. It was a good time. As with every function at my sister's house, the alcohol was flowing. So needless to say, you always have a good time. It was when my sister told a story about my niece that I became so proud that I almost burst. I couldn't have been prouder of this kid, if she was my own.

I will have to start at the beginning. I don't have children as of yet. We are working on it but we have had some road blocks but that is a story for another time. When my sister gave birth to my niece G ten years ago she took one look at her and started crying. When asked why she was crying, she stated, "She's not what I thought she'd look like. I just gave birth to my sister's baby." Not that she really was upset about what her daughter looked like, she just thought that after carrying this child around for nine months that it would look like her. My sister has blond hair and hazel eyes. G looked exactly like me. Still to this day, when we are out, people think that she is my daughter instead of my sister's. Not only does the child look like me, but she has inherited many of my traits, some good and some bad.

So yesterday, my sister was explaining to everyone that she spent three hours cleaning G's room and getting rid of old toys and clothes. "I think that G is a hoarder," she told everyone. "And do you know what she hoards? Notebooks! The child has at least fifty notebooks and everyone of them is totally written in. She writes stories all time. But do you know what she writes about..dragons, magic, vampires, and werewolves. Where does she get this stuff?" My mother just looked at me with raised eyebrows.

Hmm...I wonder. Here's to another trait inherited from Auntie!  I'm so proud, I could burst. So I lifted my glass to my niece who is already practicing her craft at ten years old. Too bad, she doesn't have a mother who appreciates that type of imagination but I am only a phone call away.

Peace Out,
MRD

Color me clueless

As I was blogging last night about how much time I was going to have for writing this weekend, I was totally clueless about how many things that I actually have to do this weekend.

Last night as I was watching the husband set up his new x-box (yes I caved. I love the man. We might be eating a lot of rice for the next two weeks but it is for a good cause.) and surfing the romance publishers site to get submission guidelines, I was struck with what was going on this weekend. I have to honestly say that I am not a clueless person but I think that my mind has been really focused on my manuscript and WIP. Also, I am getting some other good ideas to write about that I have been writing down in different files. Normally, this is an excellent thing. I really enjoy writing and wish that I could do it full time but unfortunately if I want to keep a roof over my head and the husband in a steady supply of xbox things, it's not going to happen.
The first thing that I have to do this weekend is attend a birthday part for an eight year old. C is my sister's youngest son and my godchild. Normally I wouldn't forget his birthday party except I was invited to it via a text message. What is it about my family sending things through texts? Does the phone not work anymore? Even snail mail? Or e-mail? So the message said, "Having C's b-day on Sat. Ur invited." I wrote back, "Gee, thanks." My sister called then and asked me if I was being sarcastic. Duh! Of course I was being sarcastic. So silly! I am sitting here blogging when I should be getting my ass to Toys R Us because I don't have a gift and we are t-minus 4 hours until the party. I might be a slacker and get him a gift card. What do I know about getting toys for an eight year old boy? But as my brother explains it to me, as long as it is loud and crashes, it is good enough. But I think it will still be a gift card. It's cold out there. I think the last time I checked the temperature it was 7 degrees outside. It was too cold for me to go out and get coffee. Anyone who knows me, knows that this is serious!

The other thing that I am obligated to go to is a funeral for a friend's fiancee's father. During this last major snowstorm, the man had a heart attack while trying to shovel his driveway. It is a terrible tragedy. He was only 67 years old. I think that is young because I look at it as the man was younger than my own mother, I don't think that she is old at all. So the husband is going to have to dig out his suit sometime today and see if it fits but considering that he has lost weight, I am not worried. I know that the actual service is going to be hard on my husband. Having lost both of his parents and his best friend in recent years, he hates going and will be miserable about it. Now I am going to sound like a typical Rhode Islander, it is also way across the state in a town that I have never heard of. Considering that RI is the smallest state in the entire country, it is a very funny statement. But it is true. I live in the "East Bay" section. We don't usually venture out of it and people who live in other sections of the state don't usually come into the East Bay. Very weird but very true.

So I figure it is time for me to get dressed and start my day.

Peace Out,
MRD

Weekend at last

I really shouldn't be complaining. I had two days off this week because of the snow. One of them didn't feel like a day off. I did have to shovel some of the driveway.  Thankfully, my brother arrived just before the "crying" point. I call that mound of snow at the end of the driveway, the one that's piled up at least 3 feet high because of the plow. It's the type of snow that's so heavy and hard that you have to hack at it before you can shovel. It's that part of the driveway where I usually start to cry, hence the name. But I was rescued and what would have taken me hours to shovel, his snow blower took care of it within 10 minutes. He was actually whistling while he was doing it to demonstrate how easy it was to do. Bastard! I can say this because he called me a nasty name when I had the second day off and he only had a two hour delay.

I am glad that it is the long weekend. I can do some quality writing.

Peace out,
MRD

Snow day (take 2)

Like most of the state, I have another snow day today. What is going to be different today is that I am going to be productive. Today, I am going to do the writing that I should have done yesterday. I think that I will start writing some more of my WIP. My characters Tasha and Dev have sat on the shelf long enough. I have ignored them as I made edits and revisions on Fate Mates. I am going to trying to try not to "put all of my eggs in one basket". I don't know about any of you but I don't seem to be able to work on more than one manuscript at a time. The story consumes me and I can't switch gears. I am going to try and better at multitasking. I have too many stories in my brain that are hammering to be let out.

So today I WILL continue with Tasha and Dev's story, Saddle Up and write my synopsis for Fated Mates. I would like to send FM off this weekend. So let's see how I make out with my I WILL... list today. I am feeling confident.

Peace Out,
MRD

Going to vent a little

I beg all of your pardons because I am going to vent a little. I have talked before about how much I hate snow. Well, snowed in again with no snowblower in sight. I made sure that I contacted my brother yesterday and asked him to come over and get me out of my snow mess. It's noon and nothing. Do I call him, I don't know? I don't like to rely on other people. I just might have to go out and do it myself.

Rant #2 My husband plays video games. It keeps him sane and sometimes me insane. Last night, I heard a horrible yell from the living room. My husband got the x-box red ring of death which basically means that the system is toast. Now this was after he bought a $70 controller yesterday afternoon because his went bad. So now he has a new controller, a $140 headset that I bought for Christmas but no gaming system. My life is going to be insane until, I can get him another one. He really is going to be a miserable bitch!

Rant #3 I wanted a stress free snow day to work on my synopsis and hopefully send off the manuscript today but I don't think it is going to happen because of rant 1 and 2.

Maybe I'll just drink wine.

Peace Out,
MRD

So...

Now that my manuscript is finished, the hard work begins. Apparently, the hardest part (at least for me) is writing the summary because it is not a normal summary. Since yesterday, I have been investigating "how to write a summary". Again not a normal summary, it is your manuscript boiled down to a few hundred words. The purpose of this is to "sell" the editor into reading your actual manuscript. It has to be in the present tense, interesting, and has to grab the reader immediately. It's funny that there are so many "hidden" steps to the process of getting a manuscript published. Who would know? How did author's find these things out without the Internet? Who thought that writing the manuscript was ht easiest part of the process.

Not only that but my investigation turned up that there are certain ways to write query letters! Oh horror!

Writing friends, any advise. It looks like I will have some time to write tomorrow. We are expecting a lot more snow tonight and tomorrow. I am going to be smart about this and talk to my brother tonight to come and plow us out. There is no way that I am ever picking up a shovel again. I have been trying to convince people for years that I am a delicate flower. I just don't understand why no one is listening!

Peace Out,
MRD

Done

I am finally done again with my manuscript. I took all of the recommendations that the editor provided and expanded on them. I think that it is a good product. I am going to be writing my summary and then I will be sending it off to a few more publishers.

It was the start to a crazy work week. I didn't have time to blog this morning, so I figured that I could do it during my lunch. But low and behold, all blog sites have been block on my work computer. So not only can't I access my home e-mail or my "author" e-mail, I can not blog now either. I think that I am working under Stalin! I mean, what is up with that?

Peace out,
MRD

New chapters

It has been a crazy week back to work from vacation. So I haven't had a lot of time to blog. To tell you the truth, I haven't had a lot of time to do anything but work but I am trying to fit in writing wherever I can. What I have been doing is going into work extremely early, it is quiet and for about 45 minutes no one will bother me. So I have been working on my manuscript then. I have taken the editor's critique to heart and am adding more "meat" to the story. I had originally thought that one more chapter would complete it but the story and my characters have taken control and it seems that there might be two chapters to finish writing. I am really excited about this and think about it all the time. I know it doesn't sound good but I am actually taking my lunch break at work to also do some writing.

On another note, we are expecting more snow in Rhode Island today into tomorrow. I don't like it. I am afraid that it is going to impact me going to the local meeting of romance writers. There are not going to be outrageous totals of snow like the last time but I tend not to go anywhere when the white stuff is falling. So we will see what the weather brings.

Peace out,
MRD

Guilty Pleasure

I am going to admit to a guilty pleasure here on my blog. I really enjoy watching a reality show called Millionaire Matchmaker. I find it intriguing when you mix people with money trying to find love. Usually, I find the show a hoot. I enjoy Patti Stanger who is the matchmaker. She has a frankness that I could never have but am jealous of, she tells people the truth at all times. Unfortunately, last night, I found the episode disturbing on so many different levels. There were two millionaires last night, as usual, one male and one female. The male line, I had no problem with but the other one...

The millionairess was a large woman. I am all for curvy woman, being one myself. In her initial interview, she stated that she was looking for a "Matthew McConaughey" type of man. It was then said on the show, "Why does she think that she deserves a Matthew McConaughey?" This is where the show initially lost me. Why doesn't she deserve to have the type of man that she is attracted to? Because she is overweight? They went on to say that they had to find her a "5" because those were the type of men who were going to treat her right. So let me get this straight, bigger woman should only settle for a "5"? (Now let me step back from this for second. I don't believe in a rating system for men and women. I truly believe that you are attracted who you are attracted to because looks are not the only basis for a relationship.) I was a little insulted for all of us curvy woman in the world. Now of course, the woman turned out to be a huge twit. She was presented with this very cute ex-cop who seemed genuinely interested in her but she chose the "hot" plumber who wanted her money and nothing else.

I guess the "pollyana" romance writer in me was also insulted because I truly feel that finding love is a lot more than just finding your equal number on a rating scale. This is what we write about. Is it fiction? Yes to some extent, but I think why it is so popular is that the readers believe that what we write about is a possibility somewhere. It is that possibility that keeps them reading.

So I am lifting my coffee cup this morning to all of the possibilities out there and telling everyone not to let the rating systems get you down. You are only "rated" if you allow yourself to be "rated".

Peace out,
MRD

Reality Bites

Back to reality today, my vacation is over and it's back to work I go. This past week was wonderful. It was unusually drama-lite, which I will take anytime. I didn't do anything special but relax at home. The most strenuous thing I did was shovel the driveway on Monday. I probably ate way too much food and drank way too much wine but isn't that what vacations are for? I did a great amount of writing this week also without the benefits of being stressed by it. My manuscript has been revised and edited. The editor suggested that I put more "meat" in the story. So, I have taken out a lot of the back story about he heroine's ex-husband and replaced it with a phone conversation between the two of them. I also think that I am going to write another chapter to wrap everything up. It might end up being two chapters, I have come up with some other ideas for my two characters. The question is when is done, really done?

So back to reality. The alarm clock woke me up which is the first sign of reality after a vacation. I did not think about work at all this week. All of my colleagues were posting on Facebook that last few day about all of the work that they have been doing. Me, I didn't do a thing. Is that bad? Who cares? I know that I have a lot of work waiting for me but I will accomplish it during the hours of 8-2. If I am feeling especially guilty, I will bring some home.

One of my non-spoken "I wills.." is do write every day. Understand that it has become a priority in my life. It is something that I enjoy doing. So I will write tonight (not just blog) despite how much work that I have.

I also will be stopping by my mother's house after work. She told me, it was the least I could do on my birthday. I believe that on your birthday, it's other people's job to do "the least that they could do". So as my nephew C used to say, "WHATEVER!"

Reality- pack my lunch, iron my clothes, eat breakfast, take a shower, and drive 17 miles to work. I will do all of these things before 7 am.

Peace Out,
MRD

Happy New Year

Happy New Year one and all! I am not the type of person to make resolutions for myself. It is too much pressure. All I am going to say is that I will be going into this year with a new motto. It is going to be, "I will...". So however that sentence ends in my life that is what I am going to accomplish. It could be that I will get my first of many manuscripts published this year. It could be that I am going to accomplish a few personal goals within this year. I don't know. I just know that "I will...".

So today, I know I will...
1. Get some coffee.
2. Finish the edits on Fated Mates
3. Write a chapter wrapping up the whole manuscript

Right now, looking forward this a year with possibilities and I am not going to limit my self.

Just pick up the motto, "I will..." and see what it brings you!

Peace out,
MRD