Rebecca suggested I update my blog. "You're like a toddler running around after preschool," she said. "You need to find yourself a juice box. Metaphorically speaking."
She's right. What made things worse was when I came to update, I'd forgotten the URL. I was so ashamed.
What's new on the news front? Nothing, which is one of the reasons I haven't updated in so long. It's a little embarrassing, like trivial Facebook status messages. Starving Author... is excited about spinning class. Starving Author... needs a new set of brakes. Really, it's hard to keep an interesting blog when things are so dully consistent.
What's happened since the last post? I went on a second job interview and, afterward, emailed the interviewer to tell them I was no longer interested in the position. This is a dangerous trend, I suspect. But I pulled out a slip of paper from my last position filled with notes I wrote in a conference, and here are a few highlights:
"Quiche ? (?)"
"Cant do this for a living WAFFLES"
"Im part of presentation WTF?!?"
"Jeopardy got UGLY"
There's an trend of strong capitalization and ludicrous punctuation that I don't like. I need (or, at the very least, want) to find a position with minimal ... bureaucracy, to put it nicely. It's not that I mind work; I love work. I love thinking, planning, and acting. And I understand the need for bureaucracy. But when I have to go to meetings where I have time to play Jeopardy, think about multiple breakfast foods, and consider a dead-end future, I either have to love the job or be adequately compensated. Or both.
In any case, so that I can move on, let me note that both positions were not only steeped in bureaucracy, but also paid less than what I'd need to live off of. I'd gladly work doing something I love for cheap - at least for a time. Trader Joe's: I'm talking to you.
I've made little discoveries and observations about life in the last two weeks: namely, that things are better than I could hope for, life is lovely, and I hate tuna fish. I hadn't realized before.
I'm nearly done with my newest book - it should be wrapped up in the next couple of weeks. I have the same reservations as I did before; I like the idea, but I don't know how well it works. I'm going to sit on it a couple of months and reread it. So when I'm finished, I'm going to take a break until June or so; Rebecca and I are going back to Memphis for our anniversary, my birthday is the following week, and I think a week without writing would be reasonable. Then I can get back to The Cherubim, and - maybe - get it into shape so I can begin querying.
I need to buy you some coloring books or something to keep you busy. <3
ReplyDeleteStarving Author... is still interesting, regardless of dull consitency.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting again.
Jenny - thank you so much for your kind words. It's so good to know that someone is out there, reading :-)
ReplyDeleteOne of my coworkers also follows your site. He's quite the writer, and when he suffered from his latest block I sent him your link. You might enjoy his musings at http://closeshavergmail.blogspot.com/. It's a bit of Thoreau meets Keillor, and his approach is to write anything, just write.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we're still out here reading.
Brother! I can't wait to see you and Rebecca. I like to imagine that you guys will have a mini-combination-birthday party for me and you, and we'll have a cake and gifts, and I'll give you an address book with NSFW pictures and you'll give me a custom short-story about a time-traveling hedgehog who changes America forever! Ohmygoodnessgracious.
ReplyDeleteJenny - thank you for the link! I've been reading through his entries for the past couple of months. I really like his writing style! Especially over the past month, I'm sick of writer's block - it's hitting me hard. I think I'm over a rocky patch, and as of tomorrow, I should be finished with the very roughest of rough drafts for my next book. It's just a matter of forcing out crap onto the page and to the next part that excites me, no matter how far away that is. And much easier said than done.
ReplyDeleteSarah - YEAH! It's only... three weeks away? I'm already cake-dreaming. (Pineapple upside down, mostly. For no good reason.)
Ack! I kind of stopped checking for updates over here because you hadn't updated in - ahem - a while. Rebecca was right. Update = good plan.
ReplyDeleteThings are boring over here, too. All wrapped up with school (kids) and min-crises with remodel, and that's about it.
Leisure's having a horror (broadly defined) novel contest, so I might enter it. If you want to check it out, go to Dorchester Publishing's website. I think there's a link there. Contest is titled "Fresh Blood." Have until Sept. to submit MS.
Sorry your job hunt isn't going as well as you like, but you'll run into the right one at the right time, I bet.
Glad to see you updating again. Keep 'em coming!
Liz
It's been way, WAY too long - I got way too wrapped up and stressed out over this last book. I've gone in the opposite direction now; I'm hardly doing anything. Then again, it's only been a few days :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to hear from you! And CONGRATULATIONS on winning Rebecca's contest! The prize is completely amazing. She found it at a burlesque garage sale across the city - the woman who ran it was selling stacks of amazing magazines from the 40s and 50s. They were all these wonderful snapshots into the past.
The contest looks really exciting - I wish I had something to enter :( It looks like there's user voting; we'll make sure to vote for you when the time comes. I think I'm going to take off writing new material for a while; focus on cleaning up what I have. And updating my blog!