Chat Hangover

In its early stages, insomnia is almost an oasis in which those who have to think or suffer darkly take refuge. ~Colette


see more Lolcats and funny pictures

I have chat hangover.

We had SO much fun at the chat -- I've never had hours pass so quickly. But, holy moly, the craziness!

Then, last night when we were finally officially done, and I closed the computer and crawled to bed, I could NOT get to sleep. I laid there. And laid there. And laid there.

I thought about my WIPs...

Should I add the new character to Stiller Creek, and what do I really know about police departments and forensics and crime? Maybe I should just trash the whole thing? Maybe I shouldn't have the hero be a cop? Maybe the original bad guy shouldn't be bad... but then, how does that affect the ending?

Should I get back to writing "A Jewel for Geoff"? What if Geoff leaves the law firm where he works and goes out on his own? Then how would I include info about Liv? Would he do something like that? What if he quits law altogether and does something completely different? How would that impact the story?

In "Playing House", maybe I should change the story back to where my hero isn't engaged to someone else when the story starts. Maybe he should only be dating Audree. This story is actually finished, so do I really want to change an integral plot point and then have to completely rewrite the entire thing?

What about Camilla? Is there a way I can have Jed have to live in her place without wounding him, since that's what hangs me up?

And...

... for two hours I thought about this stuff. Mulled it over. Felt like I should get up and write things down. My brain was a ping-pong ball, all over the place.

Finally, though, I crashed. Yay.

And then woke up at 3 a.m.

Yes, really. I laid in bed for an hour, certain I would get back to sleep, but the brain was awake again and singing to me. Yes, I had a song in my head ("Who Says You Can't Go Home" by Jon Bon Jovi and Jennifer Nettles, and no I don't know why) and it repeated until I thought I'd scream.

I got up. It wasn't like I didn't have work to do.

But... dear heavens I am tired.

How was your weekend?

===============================

The Weekend Adventures of Marianne

If God had really intended men to fly, he'd make it easier to get to the airport. ~George Winters

Wanted to do a meme. Couldn't find one that interested me this morning. How sad is that in this blog-world of endless memes?

It's just that I'm terrifically tired...again. I should start doing my blog posts at night instead of in the morning. I did that during NaNoWriMo, and it worked pretty well (Note to self: Write blog at night).

The shopping trip between DD and DH was a stupendous failure. DH simply doesn't understand how to shop. He said, "I walked up and down all the aisles and asked her if she wanted to get you something." **sigh** What he should have done was say things like, "WOW! Look at this! Wouldn't Mommy love THIS?" and DD would have said, "Do you really think so?" And would have held it up and examined it, and thought about it, and then made her decision. In a "world" as big as WalMart, it would have been overwhelming to try to decide on something.

And, so, DD still doesn't have a gift for me for Mother's Day. She's going to be devastated. Maybe I'll make up a little list of things and give it to him, and send him out the door with her again on Saturday. Sheesh.

=============================

I did a bit more editing on "Playing House" yesterday. I'm at the point where it's going to need major overhauls and just plain WRITING instead of REwriting. Originally, I had my hero propose to his girlfriend (not the heroine) over New Years, and the heroine found out and was destroyed by that and lots of stuff happened as a direct result. Now, I have him engaged as the story begins, so all of the fallout from the engagement won't work. Thankfully, I did think of a new and different (and hopefully exciting!) conflict to put in its place, but it will be a matter of writing it out, and then hoping I can get it to mesh with the rest of the story that follows.

I really, really, really hate editing. And this story needs more than most since it was the first I'd written (as an adult) and is well behind my learning curve.

That's okay. I think (I hope) it will be worth it.

==========================

Yay! The weather is supposed to be decent today!! Maybe, just maybe, I'll actually get some work done outside. Yesterday it POURED down rain until about five o'clock.

We had to take the in-laws truck back to the airport last night. They're flying in today. So, we dropped it off in the same parking lot and then headed to the exit. There was a line of cars. I went up and asked the guy what was going on. Seems his computer was broken and he was waiting for someone.

I said, "I've been her for two minutes, can't you just let me drive out over there?" and I pointed to the other little gate house that was closed.

"Nope."

"But I don't owe you anything. Look at my ticket."

"Nope."

So we sat. And we waited. We were endlessly amused by Dakota, though. Where we sat was right on the edge of the runway, so planes were taking off and landing constantly. And the dog was fascinated. And excited. She'd start to quiver with excitement the moment she heard a plane engine and would look out her window until it went in front, at which time she'd look out the front window and then run to the other side and stick her head out that one until the plane was out of sight. Then she'd hurry back to her window and do it all over again.

Do you suppose she thought they were big birds? LOL...

In any case, after a REALLY long time, they finally got the problem fixed. When it was my turn to go, he ran my ticket in and said, "Two dollars."

Uh. No.

Now, I realize it's just a lousy two dollars, but I didn't owe them anything. I reminded him that the only reason the computer said I owed was because I'd had to sit in line for EVER.

He didn't know what to do. Thankfully, the guy who had come to help him fix the problem DID, once we got his attention. While he was waiting, he grumbled, "I should be on break."

I looked at him and said, "And I should be HOME."

Grrr....

The airport. Always an adventure, even when you're not flying.

We're taking Dakota back for a field trip next week.

*G*

==============================

Your Slogan Should Be

Marianne. Champagne for the Brain.

The Slogan Generator

Overcast Saturday

Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. ~Henry James

It was supposed to be SUNNY today. Grrr.... I held off planting my bushes and moving the plants I want to move until today because I didn't want to work in the mud. Now, they're calling for heavy cloud cover ALL DAY LONG. And rain tomorrow. Still, the rain is good for new transplants, so I suppose I'll just get out there today and get muddy.

It's May. Where is the sunshine??

DH is fishing today. Last week, he caught a HUGE salmon. Everyone in the family enjoyed it, including the dog and the cat (though, admittedly, they didn't get much). Hopefully, he'll catch one again today.

=======================

I found some time to work on editing "Playing House" again yesterday. I'm endlessly amused (albeit a bit horrified) at the errors I've made in the document. I don't "head hop" within scenes, but I pretty much use EVERY character's POV at some point. Last night, I had to switch over a scene I'd written from Minerva's POV -- which broke my heart a bit because she's so funny and it was a really amusing scene. Writing it from Derek's POV wasn't the same, but I did my best to retain the humor.

It needs a lot of work, but I really, really love the characters and the storyline. So, I'm going to do my best to get through it. With any luck, it will be my next Samhain submission... or maybe a HQ American, though I'm not sure it fits their criteria. We'll see how I feel once I get to the end.

Yanno... I really, really love writing. Sometimes I forget the joy of it, but then I'll get into a story I love and find it again. I'm glad I keep rediscovering it.

=========================

Watched "The Black Stallion" with DD yesterday -- a "family movie". I try to sit and do that at least a couple times a month, complete with popcorn and red licorice. She loved the movie, but kept saying, "Mom, they don't talk very much in this!" Which is true. They don't.

I had to look up on IMdB about Kelly Reno (the kid who played Alec Ramsey), since it seemed he rather dropped off the face of the earth. Turns out he decided that acting was interfering too much with school, so he quit until he graduated high school. He'd just gotten a new agent and was getting ready to hit the acting scene again when his pickup was hit by a semi and he suffered horrific injuries. Evidently, by the time he healed, he'd lost his agents and his Hollywood contacts. Ironically, he's now a truck driver.

=============================

You Are Corn Flakes

You are traditional and easy going. If something is high quality, you're satisfied with it. You don't need much variety or novelty in your life. You're happy with what you have. You're quite loyal. You're the type of person who eats the same breakfast every day... And likely at the exact same time each day!

What Kind of Cereal Are You?

It's Raining, It's Pouring...And the First Sign Of Spring

The Act of God designation on all insurance policies... means roughly that you cannot be insured for the accidents that are most likely to happen to you. If your ox kicks a hole in your neighbor's Maserati, however, indemnity is instantaneous. ~Alan Coren, The Lady from Stalingrad Mansions, 1977

That quote has nothing to do with anything. I just thought it was funny. Ha.

Yesterday, I woke up to snow... lots of snow... then about mid-day it changed to rain and hasn't stopped. Dear heavens. The dog is bouncing off the walls, the DD is disappointed because I was going to take her to see "Horton Hears A Who", but it was blizzarding at showtime and I have no interest in risking life and limb for a movie.

Yesterday, none of us was in our happy place. Today, DH is working from home. Hmmm...

Two days ago, prior to the snow, I looked in the gardens in front of my house to see if anything was stirring. These tend to grow first because the front of our house bakes--it gets full sun pretty much all day, and it's light gray, so it reflects the heat. This is nice in the spring, not so nice in the summer when I struggle to keep anything alive in there.

Anyway...

I saw my first real sign of spring: about a half inch of one daffodil green. Yep, my daffodils are finally starting to sprout. And, no, I don't want to hear from ANY OF YOU IN WARMER CLIMES about your tomato plants or the fact that your daffodils bloomed last month. Let me enjoy myself for a minute or two.

====================

I worked on editing "Playing House" yesterday. Dear heavens. It needs a LOT of work. It's the first full length novel I wrote as an adult, and it shows. I think the story itself has potential, but OH MAMA the execution! The grammar! The "that" and "it" - itis! The adverbs! The stilted narrative.

I just want to apologize right now to everyone in that first romance class I took (and used this novel) for exposing them to this story in its present form: Charity, Darcy, Alison... will you forgive me? *G*

=====================

Hey, I know there are homeschoolers who read this blog--anyone know a good, fairly simple, elementary level Latin program that doesn't cost an arm and a leg? I'd like to keep all my limbs, if possible.

=====================

I got a release date for my next story! "A Change Of Heart" will be released by the Wild Rose Press on May 14th.

Returning to Wyoming after a six-year absence, Jake Langley finds more than just changes in the now run down family ranch. His warm feelings for a former girlfriend have cooled, and he finds himself drawn to her sister and his former best friend, Emily. His discovery of the sisters' well-kept secret, however, upsets his long-term plans and sets duty against his heart's desire. Now, four hearts and four lives will be changed, forever.

I'm working on a book trailer for it. It's nearly done, but I'm having a terrible time adding the transitions. I think I've learned something about Movie Maker: Do the photos, add the transitions, and THEN add the narrative. In fact, I may delete all my narrative and start over, cuz getting it timed right after you've messed with the slides is a bear.

==========================

Don't forget: a comment here = an entry into this contest. Good luck!

And, I posted a funny from "Perfect Strangers" here on my website.

===========================

What Book Character Are You?

Jo (from Little Women) You care deeply for your family, who are pretty much your best friends. You are a bit of wild child, who doesn't always play by the rules. You don't care an atom about what other people think. You have a brilliant imagination and your life never has a dull moment.

How do you compare? Take this test! | Tests from Testriffic