Recently in Bad Hair Day Category

Well, I didn't feel like working today at all. Lack of sleep. Feeling stressed out about how to manage my dad's rehab schedule and all my speaking commitments. I just wanted to take today off, but I knew that if I didn't finish the first draft of Bad Hair Day, I'd probably not get to it for another week at least. I couldn't let the story get much colder, so I stepped into the ring and battled it out for about 12 pages, until I reached the end of the story. By no means is this a quality draft, but I have something I can punch up and rework. I'll most likely turf a lot of what I created, but at least I reached the end. I'm tired, but smiling at the accomplishment.

I think I was a bit less enamoured with the third book than I was with the first two. What I plan to do is go through the first and second book to address some notes and clean up the manuscripts. That might give me enough momentum to launch into the revisions of the third book.

I have to free up time in the next few months so that I can get cracking on the fourth and final book in the Marty Chan series. Now that I'm done the first draft on three Sasquatch novels, I feel pretty beat up, but I'm glad to have put myself through the paces. I have to do a little more work and test drive the novels, and then I can finish them off and send in my grant report for the project. The final report is due at the end of May, and I'll be able to meet the deadline no problem. Phew... that's a relief.

Off to nap.

I feel like one of those dieters who is trying desperately to lose their last ten pounds to get to their ideal weight. In this case, I'm trying to figure out how to write the last ten pages of Bad Hair Day. I was on such a roll last week, but then the flu hit and I'm just trying to suck enough air to make it through a day. I'm starting to feel better now and I hope to plunk down at the computer Friday morning to finish out the first draft. However, first, I have to deliver an article about my cats to the Edmonton Journal. No, I'm not back with the Life section; I'm writing an article for an advertising feature in the Journal. It's connected to the opening of the new Edmonton Humane Society building and the article should be a lot of fun to write. Only 500 words. I should be able to get it down Thursday afternoon... I hope.

I'm plunking away at Bad Hair Day this morning before I have to fly to Grande Prairie. The few days off has left a lot of rust on the story. I had to reread the last chapter I worked on to make sure I knew which direction I was headed. It'll take me some time to regain the spine of the story, but I'm hoping that being on the road will leave me with nothing to do but write... although, I always seem to find ways to procrastinate... Monday night TV!!!!

Yes! I just cracked 50 pages on the first draft of the third book in the Sasquatch series. And what a way to finish out the week. I introduced the big villain (who will turn out not to be the true villain). I'm thrilled with the progress despite some trying times. I will have even less time next week to work on the novel as I go into a week-long residency. What I will try to do is go back to the timer and try to bang out 5 pages per day. I still haven't decided if I'm going to write in the morning or the evening. I need to work in a run every day next week as well, so it's going to be a bit of a juggling act.

The other great news is that my agent read the second book in the series and enjoyed it. I still have another pass before I'm confident in the draft, but it's always nice to know I'm moving in the right direction. Of course, there's no publisher attached, so I can have all the fun I want now. The real pain comes when I get all the rejections. Part of the biz I keep reminding myself. Part of the biz.

So close to the halfway mark. I'm about five pages away from 50 pages of the manuscript for A Bad Hair Day. I know the manuscript will be longer, but I feel like if I can write 50 pages of a first draft, the rest is easy because I've proven I can write 50 pages. My schedule will be thrown a bit over the next few days as my dad is scheduled to go home tomorrow. Thank goodness for my laptop. I suspect I'll be spending a lot of time in transit.

I keep thinking that writing has been my anchor through this tough time. It's my one chance to get away from the reality of elderly parents, a cranky father who is too stubborn to change his ways and a very scared mom who lashes out as a way of coping with her own helplessness. Ah... the stuff of a y/a novel for junior high students. Maybe later... much later.

What was I thinking? I'm writing myself into a corner with the latest novel as I create one twist after another. I think there's too much exposition and not enough action right now. I'll keep going ahead until I get out of the rut that I'm in. Afterward, I can go through and revise, but right now I just want to get to the end of the story. It just feels like I have one too many elements going on and I need to find a central thruline. Sigh. That'll teach me for writing without an outline.

This morning started with a nice simple routine. I wrote 5 pages of the third novel in the Sasquatch series. Because of my dad, I'm moving a lot slower with my projects. I have to take my mom to the hospital and that puts a crimp in the day. I figure if I can stick to five pages a day, I'll have the first draft by the end of March, which gives me plenty of time to revise before my May 31 deadline. The key to the whole thing is just to maintain momentum. I hope to finish the draft before the bulk of my touring hits in early April. Yeesh. It's going to be a busy spring!