In Which I Answer Questions

It's such a pleasure to write down splendid words - almost as though one were inventing them. ~Rupert Hart-Davis

I've been awful at responding to folks lately, but this morning I feel a bit more on an even keel again. I'll be able to start stalking ... er... visiting your blogs again, I think and I also wanted to answer some questions and respond to some comments that were asked over the past few days.

*

Charity said:

Feel free to throw things at me, but ...

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?

Uh, are you going to send it out in its current state? If not ...

**sigh**

Charity and I have a bit of a history where she calls me on something and then challenges me and I grumble and then listen to her. Because, folks, she's an awesome writer.

So, yeah, C you're right as always. *G* It's just that unlike SOME very strange folks (**cough** YOU **cough**), I hate editing. But when it needs doing, it needs doing. Bother.

*

Ceri commented:

Have a friend looking over one of them to see if she can see where I can cut 30K to make it Harlequin length.

And then there's NaNoWriMo (oops, sorry).

Cut THIRTY-THOUSAND WORDS? Holy smokes... good luck with that.

And, you don't live so far away I can't come and smack you for the NaNoWriMo thing. Just saying.

*

MomJane and Dru had similar thoughts:

How do you keep up with everything? I couldn't even begin to remember all the things you are involved in.

I don't know how you do all that you do, but I would be tired and looking for a 48-hour day.

I'm a HUGE multi-tasker and I seldom sit still. I don't find relaxing, well, relaxing. Taking time off is stressful for me. But, I would really like a 48-hour day.

*

Wendi Zwaduk said:

I'm up for doing JaNaNo with you.

YAY!!! I'll make a note of it and send out an invite to the blog when we're ready.

*

Tori said:

Cleo Coyle also writes the ghost mystery series I've been reading, just under the name Alice Kimberly. :)

Woo Hoo! That's great, because I really enjoy her voice. Adding her to my list of things to read... eventually.

*

Groovy said:

Hope your school year is AWESOME! What curriculum are you going to use?

We're using Abeka's DVD curriculum. It's fantastic -- sort of cheating, IMHO, but I get the best of both worlds: she'd being taught by a trained teacher AND I get to keep my finger on the pulse of her schooling and stay involved. I even enjoy watching the classes, and will sit in with her now and then.

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

In other news, I got DD enrolled in the art class for this semester. She's excited. So am I. I think she's really going to enjoy it.

The Y still doesn't have its fall schedule online, so that may be a bust for us. And, I've called and left messages for the leader of the 4H group we wanted to join, but haven't gotten a call back yet. If I don't hear this week, I'm going to call the headquarters again and ask for their help.

AND... the part for my washer came in yesterday. I have a repair appointment for this Saturday. I hope it works, because I do NOT like not having a washer in the house. My SIL has graciously opened her laundry room to us, and though I am very thankful, it's just not the same.

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

Your Defense Mechanism is Humor

When life gets you down, you just have to laugh. And that's a very healthy reaction. It's not that you don't take your problems seriously. You do. You just don't let them control you. You are able to make the best of things, even when things look very, very bleak. Some people may consider your sense of humor to be dark, but it has served you well!

What's Your Defense Mechanism?

Hmmm... sort of right...

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

Questions Answered!

I'm such a dork... I keep forgetting to answer questions. I'm going to do my darnedest to reply in comments after today, okay? Cuz, I hate it when I go to a blog and feel like MY comment is ignored.

So, without further ado--

Dru asked (in regards to the yellow jacket nest): What does spraying and putting the grass back on do to the nest?

Spraying will hopefully kill anything that comes in contact with the poison, and putting the grass back keeps them from being able to escape easily. I checked yesterday, and nothing buzzed when I wiggled the grass so it seems to have worked.

Amy said: I'm a nudist!

That made me ROFLOL... thx. :-)

Amy said (in response to my comment about the Monarch parasite): Sad on the Monarchs. Will you be involving DD in the process of checking?

Yep, she will. And, the "good" news is, to kill them, you just freeze them. I would imagine it's fairly painless and I don't have to get bloody. Still, it's breaking my heart ahead of time to think about destroying something as lovely as a Monarch. **sigh**

I think I got them all, but if I missed you, I'm sorry. I'll do my best to stay on top of things from now on.

Have a lovely day :-)

Facebook, Fungus and 'fessing up

No road is long with good company. ~Turkish Proverb

So... I joined Facebook. Yep. Cuz, yanno, I didn't have anything else to do. If you're on Facebook, feel free to friend me. Here's my page. It seems that Michele now owns me as a pet. She's a good owner, because she bought me a crab. I'm not sure what that means, but there you are.

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

Now... to answer a few questions from the last couple of days:

Jen - "Return to Stiller Creek" is with a friend, waiting for an eyeball. And then, yes, it'll be ready to submit. Soon. That's also the one I'm considering for HQ, but am on the fence.

Allie - I believe that the woman on the "Kitchen Matches" cover is making a salad. Though I would guess that's not where her attention is *G*.

Jen - Yes, Micah can cook. It's what he does for a living. Cori, OTOH, um... I'm guessing even dishwasher salmon is beyond her skills.

I think I covered it all. I'm trying to get in there and start commenting in the comments, but sometimes I just forget. Sorry!!!

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

RE: Writing and reading... so here's the thing. I haven't written much about my writing because I haven't written much.

And, I haven't written much about reading, because I haven't done much of that either. Most of my time is taken up with the LASR website and a side job that I do for, yanno, modest income. The rest? I do things like play board games with my daughter (who is the person sacrificing the most because of my busy-ness).

Something has to give, and the only thing I want to give up is the only thing that puts food on the table (albeit, not MUCH food). Or, maybe it's that I don't use my time as efficiently as I can.

I've actually lost free time with the end of our school year, because DD isn't busy every afternoon. Dakota doesn't help, either, because she's oh-so high energy.

But mostly, it's just the other stuff.

I love working as the LASR webmistress and reviews (and advertising) coordinator (and woman of many other hats). I really, really do. But there are days... oh, there are days... when I question my sanity.

I think things will be better once winter arrives. And, I can't believe I'm saying that.

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

We released two more butterflies yesterday: A boy and a girl. There are two more ready to pop today. That will leave me with one in the dill box, and four in the parsley box. I'm ready to be done ... and yet, just about the time the swallowtails are done, the monarchs will be here.

Worse, I discovered that there is a bacterial infection (a fungus among us) carried by monarchs (I know that at least one of mine last year had it, because he died as a pupa with all the symptoms) and you need to check for it, if possible, before releasing your butterflies so that you don't make things worse. Unfortunately, I don't have a miscroscope, so I'm going to have to try to do it with my eyeballs.

Worse, if they have it, you have to destroy them. **sigh**

It's a cold, cruel world.

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

You Are Hot Sauce

You are the life of any party, because you're so good at bringing people out of their shell. You have a knack for helping people happily embrace their true selves. You are ambitious, driven, and fearless. You love taking risks. Your taste in food is 100% adventurous. You're up for sampling any exotic cuisine or someone's kitchen experiments. You live for trying new things, and you get sick of eating the same food (even if it's very delicious).

What Condiment Are You?

Questions Answered!

It's frustrating when you know all the answers, but nobody bothers to ask you the questions. ~Author Unknown

To answer a few questions from yesterday:

Allie, "Kitchen Matches" is a short story of about 18,000 words. My previous editor mentioned that Samhain, as a whole, was a bit frustrated that they weren't getting many less-than-novel-length submissions, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

Dru, most contracts specify the longest period of time you'll have to wait to have your piece published. For instance, The Wild Rose Press contract states they will have you pubbed no later than one year from contract. Really, it depends on the amount of editing necessary on a piece. My previous editor, Eve, was thrilled because "Liv" was relatively clean and needed little editing. My time from contract to publication was amazingly short. I'd like to hope the same will be true of "Kitchen Matches".

Chris, it took Dakota a while to figure out that she had to carry the stick in the middle... watching her get it jammed into the lawn when she had it from one end or the other was amusing, as was watching her try to get up on the deck with it in her mouth, because it is longer than the opening was wide. Ha....

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

I had a bit of shock yesterday. I decided I was going to buy the movie "Phantom of the Opera" finally. My library's copy was destroyed, and they have another on order, but I wanted it NOW (it was the Andrew Lloyd Webber theme on American Idol that got me going, I think).

So, I went to WalMart first. Looked, but didn't see it. Went to the guy who worked there to ask him if he knew whether it existed in the store or not. This guy was probably about 20 y.o., and going to town with a feather duster.

Anyway... I said, "Do you have the movie 'Phantom of the Opera'?"

He looked at me blankly. And silently.

I said, "You know, with Gerard Butler."

He shook his head. "Never heard of it."

WHAT?? How can you live in the commercial world and not have heard of this show? I saw "Phantom" numerous times on the stage before I saw the movie. I love this show. I couldn't begin to believe someone hadn't at least heard of it. After all, besides being a huge Broadway hit, and a much touted movie, its music was on the hugely commercial hit TV show, American Idol (of course, Jason hadn't heard of "Cats", either. Clearly, we're raising out children wrong).

Color me shocked.

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

What Your Front Door Says

You have simple tastes. You like the classic basics, especially when they're done well. Lots of space in your life is very important. You don't like physical or mental clutter.

The Front Door Test

But see... here's the problem with this test: they didn't have my first two choices. ::shrugs:: Oh well!

A Quick Note to Respond to your Comments

Hey all... yes, it's guest blogger day again, so just a quick post. And FYI... in case you didn't catch it, there was just a *hint* of sarcasm in yesterday's post *G*.

Dena said...
That tick is creepy, you sure are surrounded by some creepy bugs,cowbird,cutworms? Never heard of them.

Cowbirds are BAD birds. They lay their eggs in any available nest, kick out the right eggs and then play the year away instead of raising chicks, leaving that duty to the foster parents who have no idea their own children are gone.

Cutworms are equally bad, and can completely wipe out plants from dirt level. We lost an entire row of bushes one year to cut worms. They inexplicably died and when I went to dig them up, a slight tug was all it took -- the roots were GONE.

Amy Addison said...
This is why I adore you: You say things like, "I guess I'd better start pulling my bird-feeders in at night so the bear doesn't grab them" and you're excited by the appearance of a tick (ticks creep me out--they're like subversive little spiders)...as though those are everyday thoughts. :)

You mean they AREN'T everyday thoughts? LOL... they are here. Living at my house with the woods behind us is an adventure. Yesterday, I'd taken the dog out, stepped down from the deck and heard a galloping sound behind me. I thought, "Uh oh, neighbor's dog." when about a foot away, a squirrel dashed by for a tree. I had no idea they made so much noise when they ran. And, I am truly pleased he didn't mistake ME for a tree!

groovyoldlady said...(in part)
I took the quiz and they said that I was braindead. I just don't get it!

Hey. I joined Scriptfrenzy for April. Goal? 100 pages of any sort of script.

LOL... you crack me up, as always! And, hey--what about Jason???

Sylvia Dickey Smith said...
Sounds like you're just full of fun Spring ewe's. That and dog poop! It was in the high 80's here today. Ok, I'll shut up bragging!

Uh.. yeah... no sharing your happy southern weather, Syl!!

Have a great day, all!