Silly, crazy me ...

I usually make a concerted effort to not duplicate post titles. Trying to come up with something new and unique is a challenge I gladly welcome, but you can imagine (this being post #303) it's occasionally more of a challenge than I can meet.

Imagine my surprise ... I was trolling through some of my previous posts and found a couple items of interest - one was that my last post title "In like a lion ..." was NOT new and unique. I used it last year, around the 1st of March. In the exact words and format, complete with the ellipsis. And no, I hadn't seen it until today. If I had, I wouldn't have used it. Or I would've used it but modified it a bit.

Another thing I found was from a post I wrote last June, just after a week's vacation where I had to work 8-hour days to make up for the time off. My exact words were "never again." Hmph. The title for today's post was almost "Never Say Never Again", but then I found the repeated title and decided something along the lines of 'I'm losing my mind' might work better.

As far as I can tell I haven't really gone into great detail about this - although I probably have touched on it at least a few times - but I've been working "full-time" again since September. I've mentioned that it's taken some time for me to adapt to my new schedule. Well, this is it. Eight hours a day on the J-O-B. And as is my norm, some days are better than others. It's not that I really hate the job. It's just that I hate having to work full-time. It's not my calling. My calling is to be a writer, dangit. And how am I supposed to write and query and submit when I'm working all the flippin' time?? Although I must remind myself that I did manage it before - the first two books (actually, make that five manuscripts) were written while I was working in an office with a one-hour one-way commute five days a week. I'm trying to get back there. I think it must be that I'm older and have less energy than I used to - at least, that's the excuse I'm using. It's taken me longer to adapt to the change than I ever expected it would. And then you throw all the health problems on top of it and I'm pretty much doomed.

But enough whining. We won't stand for that. As evidenced by the fact that I have returned to the Lunch Room, things are definitely getting better. And after all, I am working from home, so the 2 hours' drive time have been transformed into writing time. Right?

Yuh-huh. Best laid plans ...

My life has become a series of stacks ... stacks of bills that need to be paid, stacks of books that need to be read ... stacks of CDs taking their turns on the boom-box ... and stacks of papers and other junk that have become a security blanket on my desk. Stacks of manuscript pages on the floor. Stacks upon stacks. Lots of stuff to do ... we just have to figure out which stack to start with.

Do you have a stack of books? I hope so. There's just something great about having a book to read. So go read one. Tackle the stack. I'm off to do the same.

=) JB

"I am a writer because writing is the thing I do best."
-- Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964) American author

In like a lion ...

It's me again, Margaret.

There's something to be said for the power of encouragement. And I've been getting a lot of that lately.

I won't bore you with the gory details of why I've been conspicuously absent for the past 2 months. May it suffice to say my life has been more than a bit ... well, insane is probably the most appropriate term. Many more brave than I would enumerate the circumstances which have kept me from writing, sharing with gusto their trials and tribulations whereby garnering sympathy and commiseration. I'm not that brave. I know perfectly well that you would all sympathize and commiserate with me. There are just some things better left unsaid.

So today I'm diving back into the pool again. At least, my foot is on the board. I've been working behind the scenes, catching up, slowly but surely. Today will be devoted to the last mountainous task, the one I've been putting off until the last possible moment, and when it's done I'll be able to say 'whew' with some degree of finality.

I'm still writing, although for the moment I'm concentrating on the reviews. And I'm planning to get back into the interview game soon as well, though I won't presume to think I can do one a day or even one a week. One occasionally is probably the best we can hope for.

On a very positive note, I was very honored recently to have my very first print publication article appear in the Jan/Feb issue of CrimeSpree Magazine - the one I wrote last summer about the Killer Year bunch - my Wonder Twin J.T. Ellison, Big Brother Brett Battles, the adorable and vivacious Toni McGee Causey and the rest of the KY fabulots. (Looky there, I coined a new word.)

Speaking of the WT, she put a great post up yesterday over at Murderati, an interview with the wise and gracious Neil Nyren, senior vice president, publisher and editor in chief of G.P. Putnam’s Sons. If you're so inclined, it's absolutely worth the read, so check it out here.

That's all we have time for today, kiddies. Lots to do, not the least of which is to send my poor starving college child (a.k.a. The Tall One) a nice little care package, and the post office closes at noon ...

I should be back more frequently henceforth, so I'll take the opportunity now to say thanks for sticking with me. Who knows, in the near future I might start waxing eloquent again.

In the meantime, read a book. It's good for you.

=) JB

"A faith is a necessity to a man. Woe to him who believes in nothing." - Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French poet, dramatist, and novelist