Monday, June 25, 2007

Late Posts and Multi-tasking

I'm not asleep... but that doesn't mean I'm awake. ~ Author Unknown

Sleep: a poor substitute for caffeine. ~ Author Unknown


Yesterday, I was gabbing with another lady from TWRP and we exchanged stories about what we were working on. My response went something like this:

I have two titles in edits right now (a Sweetheart Mini-Rose for Labor Day and a Champagne Rosette), I have a Champagne Mini-Rose for Christmas waiting for (hopefully!) approval & contract, a Yellow Rosebud waiting for the editor to read and fall in love with (and, of course contract it ::g::), and a Champagne Rose I just sent a query out on. Oh, and I'm working on another Vintage of unknown length... probably Rosette or Mini-Rose, but we'll see. And I have another full length novel in need of some work (it's only a first draft) that would probably fit in the Sweetheart line. I'm also about two-thirds through the first draft of my mystery... I can't decide if it should be Crimson or Yellow.
Actually, in truth, I'm working on even more than that -- several more short stories that are in the basic idea/beginning phase and a novel that's about 3/4 completed.

She indicated that she can't work on more than one thing at a time. She becomes totally immersed in the book she's working on. I've known many folks like that. But that's not me. My writing, like my life, is crazy and all about multi-tasking.

I love short stories. There are days when writing them saves my sanity, when I'm struggling with a longer piece and feel like I'll never reach "the end". Short stories can be a challenge to write, and they're terrifically different than novels, but their very virtue for me is that they ARE short. And I can finish them more quickly than a novel... at least the first draft.

There's great joy in writing the end.

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This blog post is later than usual today because last night, I did something I haven't done in I don't know how long -- I stayed up until 10:30! Yes... P. M.

After all the hullabaloo about "Oceans 13", I decided to see what was what and picked up "Oceans 11". DH and I watched it last night. What a hoot! There were some really great places. DH doesn't like Julia Roberts, doesn't understand why everyone thinks she's so pretty (and I partly agree with him -- I think she can look amazing some of the time, and really, really awful the rest), so that bugged him. Otherwise, though, it was a hit.

Those of you who have seen 12 & 13 -- were they any good? IMHO, sequels tend to not be as good as the original. Just curious.

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Today, I have big plans to update the sidebar at LASR with both genre links and "heat" links (i.e. how sexy a story is -- sweet, sensual or spicy) so you'll be able to search by those choices as well. I'm considering offering authors by the first letter of their last name, too.

Is there anything else you'd like to see us offer as a search option?

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You Are 60% Intuitive

Your intuition is often right, and you use it more than you may realize.
Your gut feelings are usually a good guide, but you need more to go on when making a decision.
You'll often check to see if the facts back up your feelings.
And when your intuition is wrong, you work to improve it for the future.

10 comments:

Ceri Hebert said...

I don't feel so bad multi-tasking than. But right now I only have 2 that I'm working on. I have a plan to do as much as I can on my novella this week. Its conceivable that I can finish it by Saturday (my kids willing) and on July 1st I'm going to do Julnowrimo with my new wip and see if I can get 50k done in a month.

Wish me luck!

anno said...

I was going to say that I don't multi-task at all. At least I'm never working on more than one blog post, one lesson plan, one research project, or one essay at a time. But I might be working on one of each all at once!

Oceans 11 was lots of fun. Oceans 12 was such a tired retread of Oceans 11 that we couldn't watch it. Haven't bothered with Oceans 13.

Judy said...

I'm in with Anno... imho, the first was the best of the bunch. I doubt if I'll bother with 13.

Melissa McClone said...

I have not seen any of the Oceans movie. They all came out in prime baby mode so going to the theater was a rarity and I just never picked up the DVDs to rent.

Anonymous said...

I've never seen any of the Ocean's movies either. And I'd probably like them.

Dru said...

I loved Ocean's 11, found Ocean's 12 boring and Ocean 13 somewhat funnier and better than 12.

Anonymous said...

I've never seen the Ocean movies. Maybe I'll get around to watching the first one sometime! That's funny what you said about Julia Roberts. My husband doesn't think she's pretty and doesn't like her movies either.

I do multi-task when I write. Sometimes it might be two different books or I might write a chapter of fiction, then work on a nonfiction article for an online publication.

Melody said...

Hi Marianne! I definitely agree with you about writing short stories. I understand some people don't really think highly of them, but writing a good short story can be as hard as writing a novel. Just my 2 cents.

Ceri Hebert said...

Oh, btw, I haven't seen any of the Ocean's movies. Not my kind of movie.

Alice said...

I got a 68% for the "How Intuitive Are You?" test...