Random Stuff Friday

1) I recently (as in, this past Monday) just moved into a new position at the day job (yay me!). More responsibility, more travel, a little more $ (we all like that!), and a lot more of me going "omg, what have I gotten myself into." So please bear with me if I seem a bit more scatterbrained than normal. Like this is possible or something, right? I'm just trying to figure out the new balance of things as they are, things to come and how all of this is going to land around me.

2) It's still September right? Like, until tomorrow? Yeah, I thought so too. So what the what is up with the stores already having CHRISTMAS stuff out? I mean, for reals? Like it's not bad enough that every store every where kicks up the carols and all that the day after Thanksgiving, but seriously? Husband hasn't even let me put up our Halloween decorations yet because "let's have a little respect for September" so I have to wait until Saturday, but big plastic Santa Claus is hanging out at Walmart with Rudolph and Frosty already? Are you kidding me? *steps off soapbox* 

3) I've been terrible at commenting on blogs recently. For this, I apologize. However, in my defense, I have been reading, I just don't always comment because, sometimes what I was going to say has already been said. Multiple times. Or, I just don't have anything pithy and insightful to add to your otherwise profound and intellectually stimulating shared thoughts.

4) Kidlets and I went (with my dear friend Christine) to the Taylor Swift concert on Wednesday night and it was a great show. We've got some cute pictures that I can't seem to find right now, so I'll have to post those next week sometime. My friend Simon (aka Christine's boyfriend) was kind enough to chauffeur us to and from the show, so we didn't have to pay for parking OR fight the crazy traffic. This is the only way to do a concert at ESA, SLC people. Just saying.

5) This weekend is IT! I've been saying it for a little while now and timing just has not worked out. But this weekend is IT. I am planting my tulips this weekend or I'm just not going to let Monday come. *thought lightbulb flash* Hmm, not letting Monday come around. Maybe I won't plant the tulips and we'll just not have Monday. I'm sure most of you wouldn't mind that right? A super extended weekend to last, oh, say a week or something?

Well, have a great weekend - however long it turns out to be.

Sleep Deprivation

I've not slept much the last several days. Sick kidlet will do that to you.

In the mean time, I've tried to be productive. I read-through my backstory and sent it off to a CP to see if I missed any details we'd discussed. I started my draft 1 of a previously drafted story, the last version of which should've been called something like, draft -237. And I've been very careful NOT to start typing any plot bunnies up because, well, I have writerly ADD and then my revisions and new drafts of existing projects and all that stuff would NEVER get done.

Oh, and I discovered a new show on Netflix: Life Unexpected. Yes, I know, to most of you it's NOT technically a "new" show, but I *gasp* don't watch much television aside from the news, and even that I catch sporadically (most news I get online). So imagine my sadness when I realized I discovered this angsty new show only for it to have already been canceled and there's only 13 episodes, total. Sad day *sigh*. At least that means I don't have to wait forever for the next season to come onto Netflix, I guess.

Why does this always happen to me? Well, probably because we have no cable at our house, no dish. We have very lacking basic television with Watch Instantly Netflix. I know, that's like a cardinal sin for a writer, right? No wonder half the time I feel so out of the loop when people talk pop culture. I really need to try to keep up better ... 

So that was my weekend: sick kid, Life Unexpected, random writerly stuff. How was yours?

Random Stuff Friday

 1) It's Friday. In case y'all missed the memo. I guess that's not really a random statement, but I just wanted to reiterate it, hoping that as I enter into the weekend with 2 sick children and 1 husband who will be working all weekend, it will not be as bad as I think it will be.

2) My right foot is falling asleep as I type this. I hate that feeling, but at the same time, it's sort of reassuring that my limbs are reminding me, by tingling like crazy, that they are still there and functional and stuff. Right now the tingling is mostly closer to my ankle and on the top of my foot. I'm wondering if I keep typing about this, if my foot will realize I am blogging about it and quit the attempt to nap or if it will try even harder to fall asleep faster.

3) Husband and I went to the Sunflower Market this week. It's like a quasi-farmer's market sort of store, but anyway, they were filming "The Program" in the store and someday, sometime in the future, you may see us in the background of some show. We're not sure what show. We're not sure what channel, but we are future background tv stars.

4) I asked this question on Twitter and FB yesterday, but no one answered me and I actually wanted someone to give me thoughts. I was sad when no one said anything. Is that weird? I feel all lame for feeling like I was neglected because no one cared about my random question. I'm such a dork. So really, if you have thoughts, let me know.

5) A thought just occurred to me, and this is probably not one of those "Mom of the Year" thoughts: Sick kids require medication. That means they should sleep more right? Like, during the day? Maybe that means I can get some more done on my revisions. And with Husband gone and kids sleeping, that could mean I'd get lots of quiet sort of alone. Hmm, maybe this weekend really won't be as bad as I'm imagining. I can always be hopeful right?

All right, peeps. Hope everyone has a great weekend free of illness!

P.S. In case you were wondering, my foot chose to not fall asleep. I know it was all because I was blogging about it. It got self-conscious.

Oh, and one other note! I'm blogging over at Pots 'n Pens today, so go check out a fabulous interview with the lovely Tess Hilmo, get a tasty noodle recipe AND enter for a chance to win a personalized signed copy of her debut WITH A NAME LIKE LOVE!

It's A Start

Thanks for the input, you guys! Apparently I'm one of the few who are a bit abnormal and don't write chronologically.

My brain doesn't think that way until way after the fact.

So I start, well, I just start with what I see in my head. And only ONCE has it ever been what turned out to be the beginning. When I write, it's like building a big giant puzzle with, say, a thousand pieces where you don't know what the picture looks like. While I've got about 200 or so laid out and ready to assemble, I'm still missing the other 800 pieces, right? Somehow, they hopped out of the box and skittered off somewhere to bide their time. So I work with what I've got until I stumble across another handful of pieces. And then another and another.

All these pieces come to me in what's basically a jumbled mess. As I piece together a little scene here and another one there, I start to figure out where they all tie together. It may be just one tiny little sequence association, meaning I'll have to figure out the big chunk between two parts, but it's something right?

It's a start.

And that's what I've learned through what you guys have told me and my experiences. Whether to start with a totally sucky beginning and then go back to fix it later or just starting with what you think might be the beginning and going from there, we just need to do what works for us. And as much as I wish I could be one of those writers who tweet things like "one more chapter to go and I'll be done with this draft!" I'm realizing I just need to accept that that's not me as a writer.

So I'm off to do some drafting (after I finish this revision from hell that I can't seem to get through) ... and hopefully I'll know what this puzzle picture looks like sooner rather than later :)

In the Beginning

That Plato. He was one smart dude, right?

So the beginning ... always sucks for me. I never know where to, well, start.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Maybe because I've got about 10 storylines bouncing around in my brain and none of them have an actual "beginning."

But really, what constitutes a beginning when you first start? Is it your Once upon a time ... or the On a dark and stormy night ...

Or is it that little plot bunny that has gone from being just a cute little furry fluff ball to some sort of giant Easter basket carrying creature who drops eggs at random intervals in your brain causing you to forget what you're really supposed to be focused on. You know the one I'm talking about, the little rabbit that showed up and planted the seed of an idea in your brain. I don't know about you guys, but my plot bunnies do not leave me with directions saying "this is where you start." They leave me with "this is a perfect scene that should go on page 139."

Well, what do I do with that??

I've asked before and I'm going to ask again, because the thought fascinates me. Do you write chronologically? As in, you start with Chapter 1, page 1 (or what you hope will be a good ch 1/pg 1). Or do you do ... other? And if you do write chronologically ... how do you just know that's the place to start?

Beginnings. Like I said, they always suck for me, but I'm open to advice from anyone who's got thoughts on becoming a great beginner!

Quote of the Week

"The beginning is the most important part of the work."

Plato

Random Stuff Friday

1) It's only Wednesday night as I start my Friday post, but I had to get this down now because I didn't want to forget. Seriously, I do NOT live in the hood. Even if it totally sounds like there are gunshots going off outside right now.

2) It's September now and guess what that means? The tulip bulbs I bought can be planted now! Husband thinks I'm pretty insane since, you know ... I bought 2 packages of bulbs that combined have, oh, a hundred flowers. That's what you get when you buy from Costco. Go big or go home, right? And next spring, I'll hopefully have a little tulip festival right in my front yard!

3) 6yo tried out karate. We had some awesome back to school deal and she got to try out 2 private lessons and now we're "discussing" if she's earned it. One of the rules from the karate master who she was training with? No Fighting. The text message I got from Husband this morning: "Ugh. Kids fighting again." Not sure she's quite figured out this isn't going to help her cause.

4) My sister got a new computer. It's just a tiny little netbook, but it's given me gadget-envy. I want a new computer now. I've only had this one for a year and, well, as much as I love my Little Greeny, I'm about ready for a new one. Plus, I really want to get rid of our HUGE, OLD, LOUD pc. We can just use Little Greeny as the "family" computer. That's what I told Husband. He said something like "add it to your want list. Oh, and how's your Want Stuff savings coming along?" *sigh*

5) Husband's going hunting with a few buddies this weekend. One guy got the elk tag and the others are going along for moral support. Plus, the tag-guy is not exactly what I'd call a total sportsman. I think the last time he shot something hunting Husband and one of the other buddies had to take care of all the game-dressing stuff. Still, Husband's excited. And me? Well, turns out, other than margarita night I've had planned with some girlfriends for ages tonight, the kidlets and I have virtually no plans this weekend. And I'm actually pretty ok with that. :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

What's Your Random?

I talk about myself a fair bit on this blog. My experiences and my strange and random life. But in all this getting back to blogging thing for me, I'd love to know more about you guys!

Are you writers who read? Readers who write? Lovers of books or just fascinated by my randomness?

Tell me a little about you guys! 

What have you been working on? 

What genres do you read and or write? 

And honestly, a question I so need help answering ... what books do I NEED to get reading asap? I haven't read anything new in ages (though I did just get Maggie Stiefvater's FOREVER and couldn't wait to start the end of that trilogy - thanks Cole!).

Anything else wildly entertaining or just plain random you want to share? I'd love to get to know you guys a little better!

Not a Quote, a Question Instead

This was supposed to post yesterday. Apparently I've been offline for far longer than I realized and have forgotten how to use just about everything. Ugh. Working on retraining myself. But anyway, think of this as waking up, thinking it's Monday, but really it's already TUESDAY so I totally just cut your week by a whole day. Cool? Yeah, I thought so too.

It's Monday. And I have no quote for you.

Well, that's not true. I've got lots of quotes, just none that felt right for today. So instead of some worldly wisdom from greater minds, you just get me. Hope you're not too disappointed.

I started this post last night and kept deleting it. Which is why it didn't post first thing this morning like it usually would if I was on top of my game and all that jazz. I just didn't know what to blog about.

I know I've been MIA for a while, due in some part to the dayjob, in other parts to being hit with what feels like every possible sickness / virus / ailment that could cling itself to me. But I've missed you guys.

I've been reading / blogging for a few years now, read lots on writing and books and authors and all that stuff. I don't claim to be an expert on anything, but like anyone else, I have my own thoughts on things. So why don't you tell me what you want, blog-speaking? Topic suggestions, book recommendations, random questions for me. I'm game.