I admit, I’ve been sort of lazy with my blog posts lately. Paradoxically, I’m really busy, and yet nothing of interest seems to be happening to me. I’d love to run into a kooky character or two, but mostly my time is my own, and I spend it working around the house, shopping (for necessities, of course), and writing.

The writing is actually going pretty well–or seems to be. I think I’m kind of on a roll now and am really going to try to start working with actual mini-goals. My long-term goal is to finish (or nearly finish) by Christmas (or by the end of the year), but I think smaller, more compartmentalized goals will keep me motivated. Today for instance, I told myself I couldn’t eat lunch until I finished the chapter I was working on. Normally I’d just get up when my stomach growling got too disruptive to the writing, but today I stayed in the chair and finished it up. And then I came back from lunch and started up on the next chapter. Woo-hoo!

I’m going to go on record here and say that I’d like to have this next chapter tied up my Monday night. (This one needs a little more work, and with all the boys home for the weekend, my concentration is pretty iffy). So I will report back on Monday.

One interesting note about my critique partner… I keep sending her chapters, and she keeps making notes that my heroine shouldn’t do this or that, because it’s not believable. I find this rather curious given that a lot of my character quirks are my own. So basically…I act like this…believe it. She and I laugh about it–well, as much as you can laugh together via email–but she still tries to tone down the unrelatable behavior. When this book finally comes out (either traditionally or via my own press), I may have to post a Truth or Fiction Test for my blogging buddies. How well do you know me??

Have a great weekend!

I’m skipping my Thursday 3 this week for other news. My sister is going into business online. Her website is up but still has kinks. I’d link to it, but she’d kill me because it isn’t quite ready. She’s selling little wool felted animals mounted on wooden plaques–the type of thing that would be very cute and unique in children’s bedrooms. They are all one-of-a-kind. Aren’t they cute?

I had a lovely fall morning today. It was so cool when I dropped the boys off at school that I decided to skip the elliptical and walk outside instead. I enjoyed it very much, and those cool autumn breezes more than made up for the cramp I had in my leg when I got home. So then, thinking to cool down outside, I ran in to get my book The Family Fortune and finished it right up in the cool, shady spot on my driveway. I actually considered finding a lunch spot with a patio and taking my AlphaSmart to spend some time outdoors writing, but I didn’t. Didn’t know if it would work anyway–I’m pretty much a creature of habit. I like to have my entire document at my disposal, easily-reference-able. And then after all that, the writing got a very slow start. When I finally picked up some momentum, the boys were already home, and the little one kept asking me if we could do an experiment with baking soda and vinegar. So the momentum sputtered and died.

I did finish The Family Fortune though, and I highly recommend it. It’s a ‘Radiant Retelling of Jane Austen’s Persuasion’, if the publisher does say so themselves, and I have to agree. The author’s writing actually reminds me of Jane Austen’s with all her little witty jabs and clever inserts of social commentary. Having read Persuasion for the first time earlier this year, it was fun comparing the two and seeing how creative the author was with character matching. Go. Get it. Read it!