One Word At A Time

Presents Contest

2009-07-06T12:21:00.003-04:00

Presents is having another first chapter contest. You can find all the details at http://www.iheartpresents.com.

I am definitely going to enter. I have two first chapters on my laptop that I wrote during a couple of write-ins my RWA chapter does at a local coffee shop. The stories are a little dark for Desire. The deadline is Nov 9, so lots of time to make the entries nice and sparkly.

I love the intensity and glamour of Presents. Fantasy all the way.

Unsuitable is limping along. I think today's pages are the last of the completely new stuff and the rest of the book is just piecing together and revising the old stuff. I hope. I also have been jotting down notes on my new ideas for the next Desire. Krista Stroever, the new editor for Desire, did a chat at eharlequin and I asked a lot of questions. Doesn't seem as if the editorial direction will change but she seems open to looking at different ideas. I'm planning on sending Unsuitable back to Diana Ventimiglia since she suggested the revisions. I won't be able to send anything else to Desire until I hear back so I've been looking around for a contest with a Desire editor. Krista is judging Where the Magic Begins contest with a deadline of Sept 1. I hope to enter Executive Demands, and I've totally changed the external plot for that one.

On the home front, finally sucked it up and replaced the lawn mower, DVD player and the desk top computer my kids used. Promised myself no eating out or buying books or clothes for the next month. See if I can get my budget back into a healthier zone. And the weight loss is chugging along nicely - I'm almost half way to my goal.

Resurfacing

2009-06-25T09:49:00.004-04:00

I can't believe it's been three weeks since I blogged. June is a busy month with teenagers in the house. And I forget about all the yard work and how enticing it is to be outside in the beautiful spring weather. Although the last week has been nothing but rain - lots of rain. With incredible humidity that makes you sweat with the least little activity.

My rhododendrons loved the rain - very colourful blooms until the torrential downpours and wind whipped all the flowers to pieces. The picture shows what they look like this morning - a little ragged and wilted. My lawn mower died last week but it hasn't stopped raining long enough for me to need to buy a new one.

My youngest daughter is joining my oldest at the part time job for the summer. They have crazy, different schedules which makes it hard for me to plan the writing time. I've been getting up earlier in the morning to get some writing in and that's been working so far.

The rewrites for Unsuitable are coming along slowly. My critique partners really like where it's going and my Success Team suggested giving myself the finished MS as a birthday present on July 29th. Very doable so that's my goal. Still need to smother my inner critic though.

One of my crit partner has decided to take a step back and take the summer off. Reevaluate her writing and lack of success after so many years of trying. I feel sad. She's been a part of my writing life since I started this journey. I don't know if I can explain how I felt when I first met with a group of writers almost ten years ago who would become our local RWA chapter. I felt like I had come home. These funny, smart, interesting women became a part of my life. We didn't just talk about writing but about dreams, kids, careers, men, etc. And many of them have moved on or away and I feel the passing of a special era in my life.

As you can see by the ticker on the side the weight is coming off slowly but surely. I'm back at WW with a friend. Making a commitment to her to be there each week has made the difference. Last week I knew I hadn't lost much weight which would usually mean I'd skip the meeting - then the slide into going off WW completely would start once again. But, having a buddy to answer to made me go. I did lose a little weight, got motivated to keep on and lost a tiny bit more weight this week. When I say "slowly" I mean "slowly." It's getting too hot to keep up with my outside walks so it's back to the gym. Don't like it as much but at least it's air conditioned.

Karma

2009-06-07T22:00:00.003-04:00

From Webster's: Karma: often capitalized : the force generated by a person's actions held in Hinduism and Buddhism to perpetuate transmigration and in its ethical consequences to determine the nature of the person's next existence.

The "official" definiton refers to the conseqences of one's actions materializing in the next life.

In everyday usage though it seems to mean "what goes around, comes around." In other words, if you're nice the universe will reward you, if you're mean life will punish you.

Do you believe that? Is justice manifested in this life or the next?

Or not at all?

Same Song

2009-05-17T16:49:00.005-04:00

Dragged my sorry butt back to Weight Watchers on Saturday. A friend joined me. We're hoping the buddy system will help inspire us.

The bad news is I gained 2 of the 7 lbs I lost. Yikes. At least I went back before it was the entire 7 lbs++.

One of the biggest challenges I have is the amount of time and effort it takes to cook healthy, great tasting food. For supper this evening, my daughter and I had baked haddock with lemon and olive oil, brown rice and brocolli Yumm. And I'm full. But what a mess in the kitchen.

My oldest also has an infection from her wisdom teeth extraction which isn't fun. Hoping the massive amount of antibiotics she's taking will bring it under control without a second operation to drain the infection. My youngest fell out of bed the other night and has been complaining of back pain. If it doesn't soon improve, I'll be visiting the dr with her next week. And she's very cranky.

I'm planning a brisk walk this evening. Need a little space and fresh air from my ailing and complaining children.

Spring has Sprung

2009-05-14T20:42:00.002-04:00

I mowed my lawn today for the first time this Spring. Love the smell of fresh grass. Ran over the top of the gas jug and cut it to pieces with the mower. I've only done that three times. Off to Canadian Tire tomorrow to replace it and get some super duper ant kill to take care of the large ant hill in the back yard.

We used to have a nice vegetable garden in the back yard. Now, the only thing left are the furrows. Very difficult to mow. I think I'm going to order some fill and try to smooth it out. Hmm, yard work. Not my strength. How hard could it be? Maybe put a little stone patio out there while I'm at it then I wouldn't have to mow at all. Not that anyone in my family will sit out there. The black flies are already a nuisance.

Spending all day tomorrow writing. Yippee!

Grey's Anatomy and Optimism

2009-05-08T09:49:00.003-04:00

After a couple of years of giving this show a miss, I watched Grey's Anatomy last night. Now, I remember why I stopped watching. Saddest and most depressing show EVER! Of course, you could see the Bride switch coming a mile away and we still have the two hour final next week to wrap things up but I think I'm over it for good. Tears were streaming down my face. And yes, I know it isn't real. But young people die in car accidents all the time and people get diagnosed with inoperable cancer every day.

So, for a complete change of pace:

I watched Michael J Fox's documentary on Optimism. I want Michael as a best friend. How cool would it be to have a person like that in your life every day? I need to go read his book, because the documentary wasn't enough. I loved how much he valued the "journey." I've been thinking about that a lot lately. Not to be so hung up on the ultimate goal, to do the "next right thing." Watching him play golf and the guitar, very badly. And realizing that he would never be great at either one and it didn't matter. How freeing is that? To just do things because you want to, not because you will ever be a star at it.

To write because you love the act of writing each day. Not the thought of a big fat contract.

To take a walk because it feels good instead of worrying about your heart rate and is it in the "zone."

To run and dance and sing just because it brings you joy?

Optimism

2009-05-07T12:22:00.003-04:00

Michael J. Fox has a documentary on tonight, Adventures of an Incurable Optimist, at 10pm. I've been looking forward to it since he was interviewed a few weeks ago on Oprah. I was impressed by his upbeat, funny and spot on observations about life and his illness. No Pity Party Here.

I'm fascinated by the way different people approach life and react to setbacks. Some people just "get on with it" while others turn every bump on the road as a conspiracy to do them in. It's like life didn't turn out the way they planned, so they've given up on ever being happy. They're so mired in regret and missing what they don't have, they forget to celebrate and feel grateful for what they do have. As much as I hate to admit this about myself, sometimes I think I fall into that category. Gasp. It's only when I see it in other people though that I can recognize it in myself.

Happiness doesn't seem to be related to people's life circumstances. Some of the crankiest and meanest people have great lives while those who have faced tough times are funny and kind.

Jack Canfield talks about an "inverse paranoid." Rather than think the universe is out to get you, believe the world is conspiring to do you good. Expect great things from people and the universe and you'll get them.

But how do you retrain your brain to be more positive? Is it something you're born with, a genetic component? Or do we learn it?

Maybe I'll find out from Fox's documentary.

Are you an optimist or a pessimist?

Day 5 of BIAM

2009-05-05T11:41:00.007-04:00

I've written about 2,000 words out of the 5,000 that I should've had by now if I want to complete a book in a month.

I had to resort to writing by hand so I could try and recapture that creative muse. It's worked so well, I don't want to leave it and do other things that absolutely have to be done. Yeah! I haven't felt like that for awhile.

Our RWA chapter session on Sunday was on capturing the muse by Julia Smith, who also has a very creative blog, Piece of My Mind. It got me thinking to how much of my life was "work" related and how little fun I allow myself.

Tonight by youngest daughter and I are attending Neptune Theatre to see their version of High School Musical. I'm really looking forward to it.

Tomorrow my oldest daughter is getting all her wisdom teeth out. Not looking forward to that. But the hospital wait should get me through another one of the books I'm judging for the Daphne.

I want tomorrow to be over with.

AAh!

2009-04-30T08:22:00.004-04:00

I'm still rushing through Unsuitable and haven't completed my synopsis for Executive Demands. I have 5 books to read for the Daphne contest before May 10th. And what do I do? Instead of buckling down and writing last night, I stopped at the book store after Parent Teacher meetings (which went really well) and bought the newest Rachel Gibson. It was supposed to be a treat on the weekend for getting my work done. Didn't work that way. The book is excellent. Loved it. Better than her last several books.

Where is my discipline?

I'm off to find it...

Book In A Month In May

2009-04-21T07:45:00.003-04:00

I need to do something to shake up my writing and get that self-critic off my back. I'm doing Book In A Month in May. The project is Executive Demands and I hope to have it ready for the Desire pitch in June. I completed NANO in 2007 with a romantic suspense so I know I can do it.

I'm trying to figure out the best way to approach the book. A comprehensive synopsis? All the scenes outlined before I start? Or just dive in and get it done? I feel like I need a different approach because the old ones aren't working well for me. Or maybe the struggle is just part of my process.

Writing early in the morning might be an option. Before my day starts to go crazy, I could get 1,000 words in. I've never been a happy camper in the mornings but how hard can it be to stumble into the computer room and pour out the words? It's not like I have to be presentable or sociable.

I'll be racing to finish as much of Unsuitable as I can in the next nine days. I wrote a brief, one sentence outline of each of the scenes to come, so that might help. I still like the last 40 pgs so it's only about 30 pgs left to write. I have to refrain from making the story too dark and the external plot too complicated. Maybe that's a clue about what I should be writing? Any revisions not completed will get done in the evenings and on the weekend. But I don't want to leave it behind.

My oldest daughter finished her exams last week and made it through her first year of University. Yeah! So she's hanging around here for the next week, sleeping and vegging out - and talking to me and wanting my laptop. Next week her summer hours start at the job so she'll be out of my hair a little more.

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T10:09:00.003-04:00

My youngest turns sixteen today. She has the drivers handbook out. The thought of that child behind the wheel of my car makes me shudder.

Easter is pretty low key around here now that my kids are older. When they were little I used to make "bunny" footprints out of baking soda - leading from the entry to where the chocolate eggs were hidden. I started this cute tradition when my oldest was two or three. Little did I realize that I'd be doing it for the next ten or eleven years.

Do you have any Easter traditions?

House Shocker

2009-04-07T12:02:00.002-04:00

Did you see House last night?

What a shocker. Kal Penn's Kutner commits suicide. The cast doesn't know why. Didn't see it coming.

The show deals with depression - in other characters but not in Kutner, as far as we know. And House is rocked by the fact he didn't see it coming. That he didn't stop it.

So, as usual, it's all about House.

What a way to shake up a show. I love that about House. Always surprising.

A couple of years ago they completing cleaned out his old team and brought in a brand new one. Only two of the new crew are left - and one of those has Huntington's.

What's even more interesting is the reason the actor left the show. Kal Penn is taking a job at the White House. Yes, the real White House in Washington with the President.

Beauty and the Beast

2009-04-06T08:17:00.002-04:00

My youngest was in a high school play last week. What a lot of effort from the teachers, volunteers and students.

It was worth it.

The kids were fabulous. Who knew so many of them could sing, dance and act so well? Their confidence and talent was inspiring. It takes a lot of commitment and practice and they miss a lot of school work. My daughter will be spending this week catching up on Math.

She turns 16 on Easter Sunday. The drivers handbook is this week's extra reading.

Vegas, Baby

2009-04-06T07:34:00.004-04:00

My characters are heading to Vegas.

Desires I've read lately feature French Chateaux, private islands, Sheik's castles and movie sets. Somehow, a cramped apartment and an exclusive condo don't have the same exotic feel. My very ordinary caterer is heading to Vegas with the Hero.

And this is where I get to do fun research. I have a bunch of movies set in Las Vegas so I'm having a movie marathon today. It's a whole new scene in my book and I hope it powers me through the next thirty pages to the Black Moment.

What's the most fun you've had doing research?

I'm also reading a friend's GH final MS, which I've taken way too long with. It's so good and I'm on my second read through. Want to be careful I'm giving her helpful feedback. It would be terrible if I made her book worse.

Inner Conflict

2009-03-23T21:32:00.006-04:00

I've spent the day asking myself: if the external conflict is removed why can't my hero and heroine be together? In other words, what is the inner conflict?

Somehow, in all the changes and rewrites I lost track of what my characters were all about, what they believed about love and commitment - and their inability to sustain either.

It was hard work. But I think I can move on to the next chapter without the whole story falling into an incomprehensible mess. Much as it pains me, I believe I'm going to have to delete the next thirty or forty pages. For a slow writer that's painful. Hopefully, the scenes that replace them will make the book stronger. I'm going for emotional depth.

What do you find harder - internal or external conflict?

Last Day of March Break

2009-03-20T10:08:00.007-04:00

This week was March Break and I have a teenager who wants to be entertained while many of her friends are out of town, skiing, visiting relatives and a few lucky ones are down south.

Yesterday was shopping day and we found a great piece of storage furniture for my daughters room at Costco. Fabulous price. It's actually two pieces that can be used one on top of the other or side by side. You really have to want a piece of furniture badly to buy it from Costco. You retrieve the gurney (long, flat cart) from the entryway yourself. Because if you don't, you'll be standing in the aisle for an hour waiting for an employee to retrieve it for you. It takes two of us to load the two boxes on to the cart, the cashier charges us double. Once I explain that there's only one item but two boxes he fixes it up.

I forgot I no longer drive a jeep - the small trunk issue stares me in the face. It's raining hard by now and we try to shove those two awkward boxes in the tiny trunk. Not happening. Boxes are wet, we're wet. I decide to take the furniture out of the boxes. Assuming the furniture is disassembled. Ha! For the first time ever, the furniture is completely assembled. It's getting wet, we have boxes and parking stuff all over the place and we finally get those buggers into the car. Whew. We're too wet to finish our shopping so we head home and proceed to do everything in reverse as we try to extricate the furniture from the trunk to the house. And I almost cry when I see the scratches I've put on the wood. I suck it up and plan to get some stain and fix the scratches tomorrow.

Finally, the unit it in my daughter's room. She doesn't like it. It should be white. It's too tall. I'm ready to kill her.

Back to the writing:

Despite good intentions, I've only managed to write for a few hours this week. I'm still reading my book on Focus so haven't put the techniques to work yet. If I had maybe this week would have turned out better? I have received a lot of crits on my last two revised/rewritten chapters of Unsuitable and I realized two things: I repeat the same words and phrases and still use cliches and overworked phrases.

On eharlequin there's an article on pet peeves and I found this

"Also, all authors, slush or published, need to tone down their use of the word 'gaze.' It is entirely overused." ( http://www.eharlequin.com/articlepage.html?articleId=1218&chapter=0)

Guilty!

I've been reading through various writing books, trying to get guidelines on sharper writing, varying sentence structure, eliminating over-used cliches. Making Your Words Work by Gary Provost is the one I'm reading through this morning. The exercise after chapter one is list 10 commonly used words and come up with a synonym for each. Another exercise is write 5 nouns with adjectives then try to replace then with a strong verb. I think this is what I need to make my words sparkle. You've probably noticed I'm always in search of that magic technique that's going to turn me into a best seller. I might have found it.

Focus!

2009-03-15T16:02:00.004-04:00

I borrowed this book from the library. I'm hoping it's going to provide me with some tools to overcome the procrastination I'm dealing with at the moment.

The revisions are not getting done.

I even found myself back to searching TMZ .com and ParezHilton.com rather than working on those revisions. I don't even care about celebrities - or anyone else's social life for that matter (unless it includes me.)

The cover of this book tells me the plan will teach me to

-Do more in less time
-Stop procrastinating
-Succeed at my goals

My SuccessTeam suggested I set the timer and allow myself one hour of TMZ time in the evening - after I have my goals for the day completed. Good Idea.

Once I finish this book and put the timer to use. I'll let you know if it worked.

Is Honesty Always the Best Policy?

2009-03-10T08:10:00.002-04:00

I am a very straightforward person. You don't have to guess what I think or read my mind to know what my opinion is. And I appreciate this quality in others. I've always thought it was a good thing. But, is it?

Do people really want to know what you think or do they want you to agree with them and make them feel better?

I'm not talking about brutal honesty here - or insults. And I don't blurt out everything I'm thinking. But if someone asks for my opinion, I give them an honest one. If you see someone struggling with a situation, maybe they continue to make the same mistake over and over, you've listened, sympathised and finally you tell them what you really think - even though it isn't easy. Don't you owe that to people in your life?

I'm also sincere when I give a compliment. If I tell you I like your hair, your attitude or your writing. I mean it.

One weekend with my extended family, instead of telling the truth I only said nice things, things people wanted to hear. My mother asked me what was wrong with me. And my sister got frustrated because she said I was the only one she could rely on to give her an honest opinion.

What do you think? Do people really want the truth?

New Ideas

2009-03-05T10:25:00.008-05:00

In my infinite desire to procrastinate about finishing my revisions I've been working on my next Desire pitch. I have about five pages of notes, character names, company name, GMC's. Now I'm looking for photo's for my hero and heroine.
Julie Bowen, pictured here, is Julie Sinclair owner of a Vintage Clothing store.

Now, CEO and Billionaire Maximillian Winchester (not sure I like last name) is a little more difficult to pin down. Tall, dark and handsome? Blond, blue-eyed and charming? Hmm maybe two blonds isn't the way to go. How about Daniel Goddard?

And here he is below from the show BeastMasters.

Do you use pictures to help with characters? Character interviews?

I haven't come up with a title yet - which is odd since I'm the queen of titles. Whenever I judge a contest with a lacklustre title I want to send my suggestions. But that's one of those things, unless someone asks for your assistance, you're really just being annoying. I do know my book turns into a marriage of convenience and maybe a little blackmail thrown in. But the Blackmailed Bride sounds like a title that's been done a million times before.

Billionaire's Convenient Wife
Billionaire's Bargain Bride
Tycoon's Tempting Takeover
Seducing His Wife
A Business Proposal
Temporary Arrangement
The CEO's Convenient Wife
Second Hand Bride

Still not happy with any of those. Hopefully it will pop into my head when I'm not thinking so hard about it.

Cooking 101

2009-03-03T09:51:00.003-05:00

Yesterday evening, in an effort to save money on all those prepackaged, single-serving snacks the kids pack for lunch, I decided to make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. They're healthier than the Chocolate Chip cookies I make - which the girls (and me) love.

When I went to assemble the ingredients, I had no butter. Torrents of rain are streaming from the sky, it's so windy I'm scared another tree is going to fall in my yard but out in the miserable weather I go.

By the time I got back my youngest had the ingredients out and was looking rather pensive at the container of brown sugar. It was hard. I mean so hard no moisture was left in it to even pack in down like the recipe asked for. By this time it was raining even harder and the fog was rolling in but I went back out and bought fresh brown sugar.

Whew, back to baking the cookies with my daughter. With the two of us working together it takes no time at all to get them in the oven. Why don't I do this more often?

When the timer rang and I opened the oven, the cookies had all run together like a flat, burnt pancake. I don't know if you can get the full impact from the picture above of just how bad they turned out. We checked the recipe twice to make sure we didn't get the ingredients wrong but we had followed it exactly.

I tried lowering the temperature on the next batch - same thing. On the last batch I made the cookies smaller and used an even lower temperature - same mess.

They look bad but they taste worse.

How much money do you think I saved with that little experiment?

Focus

2009-02-24T07:50:00.005-05:00

It's almost the end of the second month of 2009 and I need to revisit my goals for the year.

Already.

I had planned to enter the Daphne with two mysteries. The deadline is March 16. Only 15 pgs and a short synopsis. How hard could it be? The problem is I have to take my focus off my Desire revisions that I'm in the middle of - put them aside for a couple of weeks. I'm just about to rewrite the next few chapters of An Unsuitable Mistress because they no longer fit. I also plan to enter the Desire pitch contest with a new MS - and that is supposed to be in June. If I don't get started on the new MS soon, it won't be ready. See my dilemma? I can't do both.

I believe strongly in the power of focus. Taking your eye off the prize everytime something new and shiny catches your attention is a sure way not to finish anything - and not achieve anything.

Putting it down in black and white like that, makes the decision clear, doesn't it?

Focus on the Desire.

Getting things done...

2009-02-18T14:40:00.003-05:00

This is a quote from my SuccessTeam journal: "Your future depends on many things but mostly on you."

Hmm. Not today.

I had a big list of niggly little things that needed to be completed so I could cross them off my list and move on to the next step. However, I think the Universe is conspiring against me. I made three phone calls to obtain information - and none of them were fruitful. One person is out of the office for two days, another person I left a voice mail with and she still hasn't returned my call and another person with a full voice mail and an automatic transfer that goes to a busy signal?! Grr. Do none of these people have backups or coworkers that handle their calls when they are out of the office? Does work just grind to a halt when they are away/on vacation/sick?

Back to the things I can control: I've sent the GH scores in. Yeah!

I'm half way through a book I promised to crit for a chapter mate. Absolutely fabulous writer. Why is this woman not published? But I've had the manuscript for awhile. I just haven't made it a priority. It's on my list to complete by our next chapter meeting on March 1.

I've gone through all the comments and suggestions from my crit partners for Unsuitable Mistress . I was feeling overwhelmed by all the pages I'd received back. It felt good to go through them and then send them out in the recycle bag.

I'm back to writing at Starbucks. That always works well for me. I'm moving through the middle pages, slowly but surely. I've set my goal for 5 pgs/day instead of 10. That gives me the opportunity to go through the pages at least a couple of times - layering in emotion, reaction, motivation, etc. It's working better than racing through and ending up with a disjointed mess.

My oldest daughter is in Ottawa this week so my taxi duties have been cut in half. It's her first trip without an adult family member and I sniveled a little bit when she left. I know the day she leaves home is just around the corner but each step away makes me a little sad. I'm proud of her though. She's strong and smart. And in the car this evening my youngest and I had the discussion about course selection for next year. She needs certain courses for the university program she wants to pursue while keeping her options open for second choices. When did they grow up?

Reading, writing...judging?

2009-02-10T09:46:00.004-05:00

Scored Suzanne Brockmann's newest TDD book at the library this morning. There's been a lot of controversy on boards and blogs about a choice she made in this book that didn't follow readers expectations. Deck and Sophia had a sexual encounter several books ago, so readers felt that their pairing was inevitable. However, Suz didn't agree. Each get their HEA in this book with other people. I'm surprised and a little taken aback by the venom some readers express to her during a Q&A and on her BB. I actually like when a writer does the unexpected - as long as they don't kill off or break up a previously HEA couple. Can't wait to read it. And her next book in the series is s straight mystery with Sam and Alyssa. Yeah!

MUST NOT OPEN IT BEFORE WRITING GOALS ARE MET.

If I keep saying that to myself I might adhere to it.

Finished up my GH entries. They were all well written and easy to read. Professionally presented with no glaring grammar, structural or pacing problems, etc. I've only scored one because I just can't decide what an appropriate score is for the each of the others. Sigh. I know how important this contest is to the participants so I want to make sure I'm fair.

I've been working on deepening the internal conflict in my Desire. I realized that was one of the reasons my heroine's motivation was sometimes unclear - I hadn't completely solidified her internal conflict. And I've added just a bit to his because I hate a whiney hero. I think this is really going to add more depth to the middle of the book. Not only will they have the external conflicts to deal with but also those deeper issues that keep them from trusting each other. The revisions are going a little slower than I had expected but I feel like the book is getting better.

Hopefully everything I've learned through this process will help me get the next book ready for the June pitch. I'm thinking office romance for that one. Love those and Diana V says she loves them too.

Another day, Another winter storm...

2009-02-03T17:40:00.005-05:00

Didn't make it to WW or the gym today. And my daughter made these because she was bored. She hasn't been to school since last Wed.

I'm going to tackle the GH entries this evening and try to avoid the pretty pink cupcakes.

Desire Pitch

2009-01-29T20:44:00.003-05:00

Just read on the Desire thread at eharlequin that they're having another Desire pitch in June. I'm happy they gave us such a long lead time. I'll be culling through all my Desire ideas to pick the next one to work on for the pitch. Of course, that's after an Unsuitable gets completed.

My online crit partner, Jen Lewis, started her publishing career via the Desire online pitch a couple of years ago. Her books are excellent and I love reading them long before they hit the shelves.

I had a challenging writing week. I developed a migraine yesterday. The first in a long time. I used to take quite a lot of medication for them but have gradually cut out the prescription meds completely. I tried over the counter medication first, didn't make a dent. Finally had to drag the prescription out and take a couple of doses before it started to lessen enough for me to function. It might be the flu though because I'm still feeling bad today and my throat is a little sore. Sometimes that happens in the aftermath of a migraine - takes several days for the nausea to subside.

The MS stayed tucked away yesterday and today. I'll be working on it tomorrow morning if all goes well, though. Hopefully I'll be feeling like my energetic self.