Okay, I'm trying not to feel guilty about taking a couple of weeks off for Christmas. I know I have to deal with notes on my fourth book and I have to finish two outlines, but I'm going to shut down the computer today and not start it up again until the New Year. Instead, I'll read from my shelf of shame (books bought months ago but never read). If I feel really ashamed for not working, I'll do some research. Happy Holidays, guilt. You're not going to bother me this year.
December 2009 Archives
Just when I thought I was finished for 2010, I get notes on my fourth book. The irony is that the notes came just as I started the outline for a different novel. Talk about Murphy's Law. The good news is that the general notes are pretty manageable. There's nothing there that makes me want to crawl under a rock. I do have to make a few major adjustments, but I think they'll make the story better. I also have to look at updating the technological references to reflect what's happening today. Of course, the problem is that once the book is published, my cutting edge technological references will be as outdated as my iPod shuffle. I still have one more set of notes coming, and I'm guessing they'll arrive sometime between now and Christmas Eve. I think that no matter when the notes arrive, I'm going to hold off on the revisions until the New Year. January and February are dead months for school visits, so I'm going to have plenty of time to write, and that's a nice change.
The strangest thing happened yesterday while I was debating whether to read a book or clean my office. I hit upon the way to write my y/a novel, The Incredible Boy who Never Was. Needless to say, my office is a mess and my bookshelf of shame (books bought but never read) is still full. I'm hard at work, plotting out my outline pitch for the publisher. I hope to get something done by the end of today. I'll send it out later this week. I sure hope this idea works. It's just fun enough to keep me interested. I figure if it can keep my interest for a year's worth of writing and revising, it might actually hold the interest of a reluctant reader.
I've been trying to get to my outlines, honestly, I have, but between teaching at the U of A and running around to do school visits, I've run out of time and energy. Today, is my last school visit and tonight I intend to finish marking the final projects for my course. That means I'll have time to work on my outlines later this week. Of course, this will probably mean that the notes for my fourth book will show up right about now. Sigh. I feel like Alice running to stay in one place.
