Friday Fiver, Birthday Style

My sis is having a birthday this weekend and so in her honor:

1. Happy, happy birthday! No snow this morning, so hopefully the storm missed us. Snow right now is just ridiculous, I think. My hyacinth and tulips are shivering.

2. T-o-o-o Y-o-u. Day job is going great; I have to participate as a speaker at the big symposium in London in May. So I need a suit. Darn.

3. Happy birthday, dear sister! Freelance work is in constant motion, jumping off one project today because of the bad vibes. Feel bad for those left on the job, but my gut hath spoken.

4. Happy birthday . . . The agent sent the pitch to the editor. Yowza. This is real.

5. To YOU! Three-day weekend begins. Waiting on my bookshelves and wallowing in my new chair.

Happy Friday! Keep writing, everyone!

Currently reading: about perspective
Currently listening to: Michael W. Smith

Simplify, simplify

Trying to do this, and starting on this blog:

Basically my five-year plan consists of one non-fiction book and one fiction book sold each year (starting last year, but I didn't sell a nf book last year) for the next three years. I then hope to increase that number, but rather than boring you all with my complex algorithms on exactly how I plan to do that, I will just keep it simple.

Two news stories worth talking about today:

An Observer piece on memoirs where people need to change their lives, so they get book deals and then get paid to change their lives (think Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert).

And a Times piece on the Seven Deadly Words for Book Reviewers. This stung, because I've used a few of these in my reviewing. Time to haul out the Flip Dictionary again.

And then a good piece on Jodi Picoult (who has a new novel out) from last year, but that inspired me yet again.

And voila, the writing corner of my office:



Please ignore the drapes that still need to be hemmed and the mess of books and papers. All that mess used to be in my living room. This is simplifying for me. I'm delighted. Amazing how one stupid chair and ottoman from IKEA makes such a difference.

Currently reading: Writing Tools (Roy Peter Clark)
Currently listening to: Newsboys

Crazy Day and Before 9 AM

So things went haywire here and I had to move up all my errands to before 9 am this morning. Fun. But all is well now and I'm on my series of conference calls for the next few hours.

Update: Conference calls are now over and I'm off to my daily work.

Argh. Need to take a picture of my new writing corner. I love it. And my five-year plan. Tomorrow for sure!

Must run now. Lots of writing to be done.

Currently reading: The Making of Story (Alice LaPlante)
Currently listening to: Carrie Underwood

Flying Through

Lots to do today, so this will be short. Tomorrow will be pictures of my new office addition and the beginning of my five-year plan for public consumption.

Today though, there is this news, which delights me to no end, because I adore the Price is Right and Drew Carey and never get to watch during the day. I will definitely be tuning in to CBS for these.

Then this news about Facebook, which slightly freaks me out. I am trying to decide if my profile is worth keeping.

Tonight is a meeting of our writer's group, so this day is going to fly by. Off I go!

Currently reading: sample pages for writers group
Currently listening to: Imogen Heap

Post-Easter Weekend

Hope everyone had a wonderful day yesterday with family, with renewed hope for their future. I hope everyone was loved.

It was a quick weekend and we all weren't moving very fast. Everyone has been stressed about one thing or another and so lots of talking and encouraging and lots of good eats and the inevitable chocolate. I loved playing with my baby niece, who is so cute, and spending time chatting with mom, dad, sisters, and brother. It was great. I completely put the writing issues out of my mind, until last night when they came flooding back, but all is well in light of day now. I think I'll make it.

Revision letter back from the editor on my novel on Friday. I thought about it all weekend (sure, I fretted a bit too), but today I'm ready to go again. I will take the next six months to revise it as I got incredible ideas from the editor and I think I can see what it I want this book to be now. So, if everything goes according to plan, by mid-fall 2008, I will write a fiction book and a non-fiction book! It's more than I thought possible for this year and gets me farther ahead on my five-year plan! It's cool.

I'm still reworking my essay this week too. Lots of writing going on this week as day job is at a dull roar, freelance work is down to a thin trickle, and I know exactly what steps to take to get the writing done. So here we go!

Tomorrow, I need to post my five-year writing plan. I realized that if this needs to happen, I need to be more professional about it.

Currently reading: Writing Tools (Roy Peter Clark)
Currently listening to: NCAA tourney on tv