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The Things That Need Doing

1. Because I thrive (go mad-hatter crazy on) deadlines, I have put off compiling this poetry chapbook until the day before the competition ends. At least it’s only 16-18 pages. *sigh*

2. Oh, and I’ve also signed up for the 10 by 10 Short Script Challenge, which has begun this week. I now have ten nine days to complete a short indie horror script that challenges the genre’s portrayal of women.

3. And lets not forget that I have to provide a rewrite of Chapter One and/or Chapter Two of Under the Midday Moon, my YA werewolf novel to my writing group by next Wednesday.

4. Did I also mention that my entire Saturday will be taken up by attending the AMC Best Picture Showcase, leaving me next to no time to do any of this stuff? No. Well, I am.

5. Somewhere in there, I’m also supposed to exercise.

6. *dies*

[Cross-posted to my livejournal. You are welcome to comment either here or there.]
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A slight derailment

occurred this week with the car situation. It was resolved at lightning speed — and M’Lady is a dream — but still required a significant amount of stress and time to work out. Very little writing was done and only two days of running were achieved, so some work accomplished, but not as much as I had hoped.

The car situation also forced me to spend two hours digging through unfiled paperwork, causing me to come to the conclusion that having two years worth of unfiled paperwork is a bad thing that needs to be rectified. This requires me to purchase new a new filing cabinet(s), buy folders/large envelopes, and set time to go through the process of sorting and putting everything in its place. Ideally, I would keep things organized after accomplishing this feat, and though past history has shown I will not, I remain hopeful.

The Poetry Collection must be postmarked by the middle of this week, so writing goals shall be mainly focused on that. I can’t tell you how much I thrive on the stress of a deadline. I’m not entirely sure it’s a good thing to thrive on, but I do and so I’m going to use it to my best advantage.

Things to do in the coming week:
– Make final edits to the poems I know I want to include in Poetry Collection, compile said collection, and submit to contest.
– Rewrite Chapter One/Write Chapter Two of Novel
– Walk/Run at least three days this week & at least 2 miles each day (0/3)
– Do yoga (three sun salutations minimum) each morning before work (0/5)
– Contact my sisters accountant to find out about setting up an IRA
– Get info and such together to send taxes in.
– Either purchase new a new filing cabinet(s), and/or buy folders/large envelopes, and/or go through the process of sorting and putting everything in its place.
– Contact Apple store or computer guys and get data transferred from the old computer to the new one (may require giving up my computer for a few days) – May hold off on this till next week, which seems to be my ongoing motto here. *sigh*
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How was your weekend, lovelies? Full of joy and accomplishments, I hope.

[Cross-posted to my livejournal. You are welcome to comment here or there.]
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Books Completed in January

1. Harry the Dirty Dog, by Gene Zion, illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham
2. Are You My Mother? A Comic Drama, by Alison Bechdel
3. Demon Hunts, by C.E. Murphy
4. Swamplandia!, by Karen Russell
5. The Foot Book, by Dr. Suess
6. Blood Magic, by Tessa Gratton
7. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, by Alison Bechdel
8. The Game of Boxes: Poems, by Catherine Barnett

Read the reviews on my livejournal.

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Lots of steps. No words.

(Look a’ that. Late by only a day this time.)

In terms of exercise, I was a very good girl! I did one morning of yoga and four days of walking and have started incorporating run intervals via the 5K Runner app on the iPhone. So far, it’s working great for me, and I can see how I’m
getting stronger already. Having the intervals managed through a program, rather than my own volition, is helpful. I don’t have to think about it too much, and over thinking and mental stuff has been a big block to my ability to make progress.

In terms of words…, writing last week was a no go. Though things have been gestating and plans are being plotted, which is a form of progress, right? Right? The good news is I have to get my next section of the novel in to the Writing Gang by Wednesday night or Thursday morn this week, so words will be appearing without question this week.

In terms of the poetry collection, oye. I blew through the submission deadline for a chapbook publication that I really, really wanted to try for, so I’m a bit disappointed on that front. But what’s done is done. — WAIT! I just found out the deadline’s been extended! I can totally do this still! There’s another publisher that is looking for full length manuscripts with an upcoming deadline, so I’m thinking I should gear up for that one now.

In terms of financials, no progress has been made.
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Things to do in the coming week:
– Rewrite Chapter One/Write Chapter Two of Novel
– Walk/Run at least three days this week & at least 2 miles each day (1/3)
– Do yoga (three sun salutations minimum) each morning before work (1/5)
– Make a list of poems I want to include in the collection
– Make edits to two of the poems I know I want to include
– Contact my sisters accountant to find out about setting up an IRA
– Get info and such together to send taxes in.
– Contact Apple store or computer guys and get data transferred from the old computer to the new one (may require giving up my computer for a few days)

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How’s did last week go for you?

[Cross posted to my livejournal. You are welcome to comment either here or there.]
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Things I have been meaning to post about…

1. lar_laughs posted about swordpunk, which is a way to approach fantasy writing and have fun. She quotes from the Swordpunk Manifesto, and I shall do the same: “I think the fear that fantasy writers have is that if they don’t
reinvent the wheel, they won’t be taken seriously. Like Tad Williams is
going to roll up and revoke their Fantasy License.”

2. What the Dragon Said: A Love Story, by Catherynne M. Valente, is a stunning poem. Seriously, go read it.

3. Speaking of poems, Rose Lemberg has asked editors of speculative poetry to recommend what they consider to be the five best poems of 2012. There is a lot of good poetry reading to be had.

4. Jim Hines has posted his income from writing for 2012, something he does every year in order to be open about the reality of the writing life and dispel myths about all writers being millionaires.

5. Have you read Nova Ren Suma’s Turning Points series, in which she asks authors what the turning point in their writing life was? If not, I highly recommend you do. Amazing posts from great writers abound.

6. Malinda Lo has a great post up about heteronormativity in fantasy. In the two-part post she focuses on two questions:

  1. What constitutes “subtlety” when it comes to describing same-sex relationships in fiction?
  2. Is it believable to have same-sex relationships in a medieval-esque fantasy world?
[Cross-posted to my livejournal. You are welcome to comment either here or there.]