I QUIT!

If you have not already stumbled on it, there is a wonderful website called Cordelia Calls It Quits, which is the brainchild of the talented Kelly Gurnett.  Kelly decided to quit settling and to reclaim her life.  (More power to her!)  There is a feature on the site called the Quit List, where Kelly and her readers share what they are quitting.  I am proud to announce that my personal Quit will be posted there on February 27th (don't worry, I will remind you). 

In other news, I sold a short story.  Sorry, didn't mean to shout.  But I am inordinately proud and relieved and walking around feeling quite authorly (however, I will deny that last bit, so don't go blabbing about it).  I realize that it is one short story (out of...how many that I have written?!??!), but still...pretty pleased about it.  It won't be published for another 3-6 months, but as soon as I get a firm date I will let you know.

On the down side, all of this makes it even harder to sit down and write the articles that are helping to pay the bills.  While there are things I quite like writing about, there are other topics that suck those Authorly Feelings right out of me.

I am working on a couple of short stories now that I hope to send off.  The long waiting periods are murder, though.  I think they had it for about six months before I heard anything.  I had pretty much given up on the one I had just sold.  Ironically enough, my dear friend Angela B asked me about it just last week and I had just kind of shrugged it off.  (Perhaps that is a misuse of the word ironic*...maybe it is more creepy than ironic.  But if so, it is of the "creepy cool" variety, so I will take it!)



Actually, this is the
Antennae Galaxies undergoing a collision

So maybe this is the Universe telling me that I just needed to take a step back and let things happen.  Perhaps I just need to shrug things off more and take comfort in the fact that things always seem to work out.

Hmmmm, if that is all it takes--maybe I should just shrug off those lottery tickets I just bought.

So, 'fess up--how long have you had to wait to hear back on a story?  Had you given up?

*  No, it wasn't a misuse.  I checked:  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ironic

My "To Don't" List

Life is too short to accomplish all the things expected of me. With the day job, three kids (two of whom have been ill since the weekend), seven cats, three blogs, my novel, my freelance work, and a marriage that too often gets shuffled around to make room for other things. There is simply too much on the "To Do" List.

Clearly I need to move some things over to the "To Don't" List.

1. Neatly Made Beds - I think that this is a "To Don't" no-brainer.  While I admit that I appreciate the comforting smell of fresh linens, and the joy of sliding between freshly laundered sheets neatly turned down and waiting, this does seem to be one of the few housekeeping areas that might be able to slide--at least temporarily.  I am more partial to clean underwear than a made bed.
2. A Clean Car - wait, my car is never clean, so this won't really buy me any time.  Damn.
3. A Made-up Face - I wear very little make-up anyway--normally just some powder, a bit of mascara, and a dab of lipgloss first thing in the morning.  I never bother to reapply.  I am not sure if giving this up will garner any "real" time, but I am willing to try. 
4. Lunch Options - I may need to revert back to my time-saving strategy of taking a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter to my office and calling that lunch for the next month.  This actually saves time and money.  WIN!
5. Valentine's Day - luckily, hubby has to work Valentine's evening (Sorry, sweetie!  I mean that in the nicest way possible!), so that takes the pressure off both of us to find something "new" and "exciting" to do after 23 Valentine's Days together.  We have mutually agreed to celebrate it at a later date and, since this means that the jacked up prices might be back to normal by then, I am considering this a time and money win as well!

But let's just plan our Heart- Day Meal
for another time...

There has to be more things that I can avoid doing...help me out, here!   

What have you given up to make more time for reading, writing, or family?

Death by Procrastination

There is the writing I love...the writing that wakes me up at night whispering ideas.  Then there is the writing that helps pay the bills.  Certainly, until I get the novel finished, the two will likely remain quite separate. 

The writing I love is so all encompassing that I scribble notes at stop lights, jots reminders on my arm with Sharpie, and chant bits of dialogue for fear of losing the idea before I can memorialize it.

The "other writing" can be a...chore. At times I feel like a rebellious ten year old, whining in her messy room, spending the day doing anything other than what needs to be done. 

I had no idea that procrastination was so exhausting.

What do you do when there are thing to be done, but you can't quite make yourself do them?