There’s something about a Thursday that makes them quiet days. Unassuming days. They sneak up on you – gateway to the weekend, but nothing in and of themselves. Which is to say that I have nothing planned today other than writing and house work (as in cleaning before Mom gets here).

I’ve decided to go with the double date thing as Serena’s big idea for George. I think it will work out. Poor George. But at least he winds up with the girl at the end and a whole family he thought he lost forever.

There’s a poem I wrote a long time ago (yeeks, eons) that sounds like it is about my mom, but it really isn’t. Pieces of it are her (the laugh, mainly), but the overall poem isn’t. She’s never been to Egypt. She’s not a jetsetter or anything. She’s not evil. Just a normal person. I keep meaning to finish it, but I never get around to it. The last two stanzas I’m not real fond of at all. Anyway, here it is. Maybe I’ll work on it sometime. I’d appreciate any comments. Is it worth finishing up (of course not now, not in the middle of my novel, like I need anything else to get in the way of that, but sometime later)?

Vainglorious

My mother used to
iron folded mini dresses on a towel
slapped hurriedly on the floor
there was never enough time for her—
the doorbell always rang before her hair was done

she owned the bathroom;
her perfume layered the air
and Vanity Fair lay on the floor
her nylons always hung, spider-like
over the rim of the bathtub
and threatened to fall when I stepped in

she told me once of a trip she took to Egypt,
before I was born
she had ridden on a camel and fallen off
into the arms of a tall, dark and handsome Egyptian
He had taught her how to swear

I saw her once, naked in the rain
laughing like a tear drop,
some man I didn’t know laughing with her
even the dark could not disguise that laugh
I would know it anywhere, even now

a few years ago,
she asked me to meet her for lunch
and arrived late and in sunglasses
she thought the waiter was cute
and went home with a napkin full of lipstick and a phone number

it didn’t matter that she didn’t take the glasses off
or look at me instead of the waiter
I knew her eyes were as flat as the plastic—
there wasn’t anything in them
that you couldn’t see without the glasses on

Turns out it was another full up day at the Dr.’s office. I sat on the floor so this one-legged guy could have my seat. Dr. Davis needs a larger office or less patients. Something. So the news is that a) I’m doing better, b) I’m to stay on the pills another month, c) but it’s okay for me to drink a little wine every now and again. So that’s something.

Between the long wait, getting slightly lost while looking for the bank (drove right on by it, la la la), and waiting for my prescriptions, I didn’t get home until well after 2, probably closer to 3. Oh well. The best laid plans and all that.

But I am up to 26,118 words. And a slight dilemmna. Serena had a bright idea about George as they’re eating lunch in the cafeteria with him, but I don’t know what it is. Hopefully it will come to me before tomorrow. I’ve got to be throwing him in the mix more, esp. as some kind of nice guy savior, since he’s the one Mina will ultimately wind up with. The only thing I’ve come up with so far is a double date with Nathan, George, Serena and Mina — but Mina thinks she’s there with Nathan and Nathan thinks he’s there with Serena. That might work. Since Nathan and Serena are going to wind up together. But maybe something else will come to me.

1,000 or so words in a sitting seems to be about my limit (I know, I know, I shouldn’t think about limits). That’s about how much I seem to hold in my head comfortably before I have to stop and think awhile. Kind of weird.

I did digress a little yesterday though. Bad me. I put 250 words into the first chapter of the next book. At least it’s the same series. I felt like I needed to get it down before I’d forget it. No telling how many snippets of things I’ve lost over the years.

I’m officially over the half way point and on the downward trudge: 25,209. I have less words to go than I’ve written. Yay!! Go, me! It’s still going pretty good. The only problem I’m having is that I don’t really like the Aubrey character, so I’m having trouble having Mina like him…she keeps wanting to criticize him, even though she is blinded by his Brad-Pitt-before-the-facial-hair-and-bad-haircut looks. Hopefully it will work out okay.

I started my morning off reading my regular blogs: Banality Fair (poor Joseph K. got in an accident), Secrets & Lies (Saundra’s been bit by an old idea), One Over-Caffeinated Mom (good crit session, yay), Pam! (my sister, no update today, but hardly surprising since Mom should arrive at her house today, so she’s probably busy wiping up dust and all the other little things that you never do except when Mom is coming to visit).

I’m feeling like quite a slacker. Saundra’s post today said she’s already written two books this year. I’m only half way through one…But I guess I’m still getting in the swing of things. And a bunch of writers like Cynthia Leitich Smith (hope I spelled her name right, I always mess up the e or i placement in the middle, but I’m too lazy to go look it up right now) blow me away. Not only do they write, but they obviously read blogs and newsletters and all kinds of things every day and blog about them as well AND attend conferences and critique groups and give talks and etc., etc., etc. And they all seem to have three kids. Some only two, but most seem to have three.

I have no idea how people do anything + have kids. When my sister visits with her three, I’m worn out in the first half hour. I can’t keep up. They aren’t bad kids or anything, they’re just so there.

I have enough trouble keeping up with two demanding cats and getting a 1,000 words in a day inbetween laundry and running the dishwasher. See, I’m such a slacker. Okay, I do also run a website, but still. I should have like 3 books done by now! LOL, I’d be happy with one.

Of course, there’s those other authors that say it takes them two years to write a book. Or ten. But they aren’t writing YA generally. Those are those literary people.

Anyway…I’m going to mail off some books to my new kid’s book reviewers, run to the bank, and run to the Dr. Then I’m going to settle in for a nice long rainy day writing session.

It’s a grey and rainy day here. I’m down in the parlor again (awake before 9 AM – wow!), all showered and prepared for the day, with the local ‘interesting’ radio station playing on our old-fashioned radio. There’s a good chance that a nap is in my future.

I’m waiting for the UPS man again today, this time for a delivery of two pieces of china to add to my Grandmother’s china that she passed down to me. A platter and a gravy boat, the better to use it for grand family dinners. I need to ask his name so I can stop calling him the UPS guy. Then I’ll be all “oh, I’m just waiting for Mark” or hopefully he has an odd name like Humphrey. Don’t worry anyone, he’s not all that cute and I’m not looking for a pool boy. And he’s married. We already talked about his wife.

Since I’m actually caught up on the site, my main goal today is to write. I do want to get some reviews done too, though. I’ve got a little stack of read-but-not-yet-reviewed books that I’d like to whittle down.

I almost forgot…I woke up this morning with a little snippet of poetry(?) or something running through my mind:

Welcome to the house of leaves
where just a gentle breeze
can bring the whole thing
tumbling down

The first line is from Poe (the singer, not Edgar A.). Just an odd little thing. I think there was more, but I don’t remember now. Sometimes I dream poetry, sometimes full technicolor movies. There’s another dream I need to write down some time, but I guess I’ll let it stew in my mind for now. Heh. That’s it. My brain is like soup.

I actually got my way through every single book and review on the site, so I’m all caught up. It took all day, but YAY! It’s no longer hanging over my head. And I even got a bit of writing in – up to 23,877. Would have gotten more, except I’m not exactly sure where this scene is headed. How much of a suck-up should Aubrey by? I have to make it convincing that she thinks he likes her, while the reader should be starting to think he’s not all that. A fine line to walk.

I also e-mailed a bunch of publishers today to kick off the whole new “Kid’s Book Central” thing. Got a pretty good reception, all in all.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m writing the type of book that I’m normally not all that fond of. Am I going for the easy, more marketable route when I could be doing something ‘literary’? but then I come to my senses.

1) Writing is a business. If you can’t sell books and write as a viable career, then it’s just a hobby.

2) Even the most vaccuous ‘popular’ books have purpose and value, even if it is only that they encourage people to read. I’m not a particularly huge fan of Francine Pascal or R. L. Stine (the books have a mass-produced kind of feel usually — I probably shouldn’t be saying that, as a reviewer, but hey, it’s true), but if even one kid loves their books and picks up another book, that’s a great thing. And tons of kids are doing just that.

3) Literary doesn’t necessarily mean something has merit. I’m still not convinced that Joyce’s Ulysses has any value at all. If you can’t even read the thing, what’s the point? It’s like there’s a hoity-toity literary clique out there and they don’t want to invite anyone else in. Exclusivity so they can all congratulate themselves and pat each other on the back. Not my favorite thing.

Alrighty. I guess I can step on off of that soapbox now. Not sure what bee went up my bonnet today.

I am determined to get through all the book submissions today. I’m up to the ‘L’s’ and still have a long way to go, but I hate them hanging out there. I know, I know, I should work on my novel instead, but the books have been sitting there for over a week and it is driving me crazy. I’ve been doing about 20 a day, but then people keep submitting more…so the total has only been going down by a few every day.

I’m hanging in the parlor again today, waiting for Mr. UPS to deliver some wine racks. We really need to get our doorbell fixed. Not that I mind being in the parlor. It’s a good room. And there’s the couch for me to nap on…

Wednesday I go back to the Dr. to see if he’s going to take me off the meds or what. I’m not sure what I want, since my back/leg was killing me last night, so it’s obvious I’m not completely better. It’s almost like I’ve gotten too used to the pills and they aren’t working as well now. Urgh.

Also need to clean house to get ready for Mom. We’ve already moved the guest bed from the (really warm) third floor to the second floor. We’ll put the blow up bed in the office for Pam. Goodness knows there’s enough room. I still want to get a daybed someday.

Yawn.

Hopefully I’ll have some time to work on my book today after the site updates.

I got a late start today and I’ve got a HUGE list of to-do’s. Gotta get my butt in gear. (digression: how exactly would one put a hypothetical posterior ‘in gear’ anyway?)

• Clean up office
• Laundry
• Get allergy shots
• Go to store and get cat food
• Feed cats before they drive me insane
• Programming and DB changes to support new Kid’s Book section of the site (not going to be quite as easy as I thought before, sadly)
• Add new reviewer’s info to About This Site page
• Contact publishers
• Call Window Ninjas and reschedule
• Take out the trash
• Make the bed
• Empty the dishwasher
• Remember to eat something
• Write, write, write

That’s mostly it. There are some other things that I also need to do, but that’s a start. I think I’m going to cheat a little on the new query I have to do for the site and take the cheater way out. It won’t be perfect, but my skills are really rusty. And I don’t feel like asking someone from my old team to help out. Heh, I’m not their manager anymore. Thank goodness. This is much more the life for me. I was meant to be a bohemian (albeit not an absinthe drinking one) typing away frantically as inspiration hits. Not that they weren’t a great team. They were. I’m just w-a-y over inter-office politics and corporate shenanigans. Some people enjoy that stuff. I don’t. Anyway, gotta run and get that butt in gear. Somehow.

The air is out again. Again. This time it was the outside unit fan motor. I’m sick of being sweaty. The guy is working on it now (time window: 12 – 4…arrival time…4:05 PM) and will hopefully have it running again soon. I know old houses are supposed to be money pits, but geez, the air conditioner is only from 1996. Given that everything else is from 1893, you’d think we’d have a problem with something else for a change. But no….

Did get some writing in, though — 23,276. And I got the prize books mailed out. So there’s something. I need to work some more on getting books approved.

I was reading through some blogs (translation: I was avoiding cleaning the office) and came across some various stories about Natalee Holloway, discussions of U.S. press coverage, why Fox News is evil…etc., etc.

It all makes me glad that I really don’t watch TV anymore.

We literally have only turned it on once since moving into the house, and that was just to check to make sure it was working. We’re thinking about getting rid of our cable. We’ve just had too many other things to do: writing, reading, playing chess, eating family dinner, playing scrabble (geek alert), having company over, fixing up the house…

Not that I want to get completely out of touch (well, sometimes I do), I just don’t want to be spoonfed the news. Not that the Internet sites are really much better – sometimes it seems like all news comes from the same source. But at least you have a chance to search around and find different view points, whether you agree with them or not.

And besides, most sitcoms nowadays are utter drivel. Whatever happened to good shows? Lordy, I sound like an old geezer, huh? “What’s that you whippersnappers are watching these days?? Why, in my day, we had to trudge up hill three miles to even find a TV. And remotes! We didn’t have no stinking remotes! But we had MASH! and Taxi!”

Tony set an alarm for me this morning (I asked him to). It was supposed to be for 9 AM, but he accidentally set it for 9 PM (I e-mailed him and went ‘what, you didn’t think I’d wake up by then??). So I woke up at 10 AM. An hour gone. Little bit of computer time, then I had to go bring my car in because the check engine light has been coming on every now and then. Sat and waited there, falling asleep in the waiting room, for about 3 hours. With travel time, 4 hours gone.

So not a very productive day.

Right now I’d rather be asleep, but Tony is playing chess with Brian and I’m working on the site. I’m trying to work through the massive amount of new books submitted and I need to start the programming changes to support the Kid’s Book section. I’m going to have two reviewers. More on that some other time. I think it will be good. Hopefully the new query I have to write won’t be too complex. I’m really out of practice. Last time I had to make a DB related change, I couldn’t remember whether I was supposed to use = or eq or something else. God help me if I need to do a join.

There are definitely some new trends kicking off in YA lit:

1. Guys with hair like brillo pads (10 Things to do Before I Die, Storky, and at least one other book I’ve read recently)
2. Girls with hair that frizz in the heat (any book by Meg Cabot)
3. Guys in high school dating older girls (Storky, Claws)

In all seriousness, it does seem like the diary format books have seen their hey-day. There are still some coming out (notably continuations of series), but nothing like before. Lots of 1st person books now. 3rd person seems scarce. The chick-lit trend continues, as does the mean girls trend. Some backlash from that = a small contingent of family-oriented, PG rated books (kind of nice to see). Interesting also to see the new crop of sci-fi stories, heavy on the inter-personal stuff and lighter on the science part.

Anyway.

Sometimes I feel like an introvert experiencing brief bouts of extrovert-ness. It’s not that I don’t like people, I just can’t deal with anyone but Tony for long periods of time. They wear me out. B has been stopping by almost daily and it’s getting to me a little bit. He’s a real nice guy, and interesting, I just feel worn down by the effort of keeping up. Maybe it’s just that I like quiet. He’s pretty loud and expressive. Nothing intoverted or shy about him at all. Some of my favorite times are when it’s just me and Tony sitting and reading together and not talking.

I suppose I just need to get over myself.

Starting today off with 22,100 words and a bunch of YA site stuff to review and approve: 15 authors, 215 books (!), and 25 reader reviews. And a long to-do list of household chores. Something’s gotta slip and I’m thinking it’ll be the laundry.