Dude, Where's My Muse?

Saturday, December 31, 2005

2005 Highlights and looking ahead

Since its New Year's Eve, I've sorta done some thinking back. All in all, I guess 2005 wasn't a bad year. It brought a few good things professionally and the return of NHL hockey! hehe (I had to throw that in there ya know) Had an interesting reading with the clairvoyant, which I finally got a edited version of when they replayed it on the radio a few weeks ago. I think *hope* I've grown as a writer. And right now I'm branching into areas I really didn't think I'd go. (Chick-lit, who would have ever guessed?)
Anyways, some personal, professional highlights of the year, in some sort of chronological order
~ Won chance to pitch something to talk about to KY for then named New Temptation.
~ Got request for full of STTA from pitch
~ Finished STTA and mailed it out, only a little behind my personal deadline...though it ultimately reached the 19 week waiting period from Richmond
~ 2005 Beez Virtual Conference - held my first workshops, Writing The Dreaded Synopsis, Agents and Writing With Emotion
~ Took my first official workshop from Suzanne in September...
~ 3 agent requests to see partials of STTA Sept/Oct.
~ NaNoWriMo first attempt and winner with almost 60K done on Sabrina in November alone
~ Met some wonderful fellow writers through the Beez working chats :o)
Want to send out a few shout-outs and thank yous to some wonderful ladies in my life. So glad to know you and even happier we're friends. Nell, Olga, Barb. For all your time, chats and emails of encouragement. *hugs* Wishing you guys nothing but the best in 06. The working chatters at the Beez, Sabrina wouldn't be in her current form without you! The excerpt should be up tomorrow!! I promise!!
And to anyone else I forgot who thinks they should be here, happy new year to you and yours and thanks for putting up with moody ol' me!! :o)
posted by Lis at 2:59 p.m. 1 comments

Friday, December 30, 2005

Best Of...

So I admit it...on the blog tour tonight while trying to clear away writer's block I stumbled across this at Bronwyn's blog and hereby copy :o)

Best book: Okay there's so many, and tons in my TBR pile, I liked Hot Number by Carly
Phillips; the Goddess books in Bombshell, bunch more that are slipping my mind
Best movie: Since I don't do a lot of movies till they come out on DVD, Mr & Mrs. Smith. Got it
for Christmas and love it love it love it.
Best TV show: Episode? The RAW & Smackdown tributes to Eddie were just...heartbreaking
and amazing. Other shows: Rodney; Las Vegas and I want to say Gilmore Girls
but I don't know if I like the twist with Luke. General Hospital would be here if it
wasn't for the horrible 1st Carly recast *cringe* oh and honorable mention to
Desperate Housewives and that retro throwback Miami Vice just because I
*heart* Sonny Crockett
Best song: Just Want You To Know - Backstreet Boys/Alive - Melissa O'Neal/Don't Cha -
Pussycat Dolls
Best moment: When the NHL came back :o) Getting the request for a full of STTA & Winning
NaNoWriMo
Best location: erm, here I guess. Didn't go anywhere
Best event: NHL coming back
Best shopping experience: online, VS brought back my favorites
Best purchase: my bookshelf, NHL centre ice
Best Guilty Pleasure: hmmm, either my Kid Rock CDs or my Miami Vice addiction.
Best thing I did for myself: bought the season subscription to NHL Centre Ice. Almost all the
games. So I can watch every Phoenix and Islanders game!
posted by Lis at 8:22 p.m. 0 comments

A posty post post...

Greetings all!

Things are very very slow around here. Computer time has been nil the last few days, as has writing time *gulp* but I have watched some really good movies, including Mr & Mrs. Smith. Stirring a few story ideas that one...but they have to get in line!

So my writerly news of last week is nothing that exciting, more something that makes a person a little p.o'ed. Which is why I didn't want to post it during the holidays. See, on Friday December 23rd, I recieved an R on an agent query. Nothing wrong with that right? Well let's see how it was handled.
Not from the agent.
But from the agent's assistant.
Still nothing really wrong with that. This agent is one of the supposed Biggie's. Of course she'd have an assistant right?
But how the agent assistent sent the FORM R is the problem.
To apparently all SIXTY-THREE people who had the misfortune of their query sitting in her inbox.
You see, the assistant, probably running late to the last day holiday party, copied and pasted every single author's name and put it in the to: field and hit send.
Ah, happy holidays writer's everywhere :o) *sarcasm here*
I had a few fuming words going through my mind, which my parents didn't understand until people amongst those special 63 started emailing one another. First came an offer from an agency I hadn't ever heard of offering to look at 5 pages. Then came more responses from authors. Telling it far more better than I could have phrased it. Disrespectful. Rude. Arrogant.
Anyway, lesson learned. One supposed big-time agent and her and her assistant's attitude scratched off my list with permanent marker.
Hope santa filled her stocking with coal! *g*
posted by Lis at 1:44 p.m. 3 comments

Monday, December 26, 2005

Thoughts...

As a good little girl I was promptly up at 6:30 this morning and in line to get into Zellers to shop at 6:55. Ah, my first foray into the crazy world of Boxing Day shopping. Usually my mom worked boxing day first thing in the morning so we never really went. But since mom's off, we decided to hit some of the sales. :o)

I am now the proud owner of my birthday pressies early. Bought myself the first season of Desperate Housewives ($30 baby!) and mom and dad got me Miami Vice season 2 (Crockett baby, Crockett!!!!) plus a couple books (December bombshell & Jane Millionaire) and BSB Never Gone - The Videos. Ah, I can replay Just Want You To Know over and over and over... *g* There's nothing like the part when Nick grabs his alter ego's leg I tell ya!

So while Zellers wasn't busy, ran into a friend of a friend and surprisingly he was the one who found the box with what I was looking for in it, and Canadian Tire was mildly busy, Wal-Mart was a crazy crazy mess. Huge line ups and just yuck. Glad we got in and out of there pretty quick with my presents. Though however I am now officially feeling yuck. Too much stress? Maybe. But after two nights of no sleep at all, I think I could crash anytime now.

Probably gonna post a bit of a writerly rant this week. Something er happened, occurred last week that I wanted to post about but didn't want to put it up during Xmas. So, look out for that one. My first authorly post!! :o)

Hope everyone had a great Christmas

~L
posted by Lis at 10:45 p.m. 1 comments

Monday, December 19, 2005

Dear Santa...

I got the idea from a post over on www.romancingtheblog.com
Here's my version:

Dear Santa,

I've been a very good girl this year (minus of course, the swearing, the crush on the "Legend Killer" Randy Orton since good girls NEVER like the bad boys lol, sneaking in VHS tapes to feed my wwe habit and snooping at my Christmas presents that arrived last week. Pussycat Dolls CD, woohoo!!!) Now that I've convinced you of my merit, here's what I'd like under the tree this year:

~ Well it won't fit under the tree but if you could help my favorite player get dealt let's say west, to oh, the Edmonton Oilers, that'd be pretty darn cool.

~ a laptop, because the basement office does get a little cold in the winter :o) Just think how productive I could be if I could write anywhere...erm you think I can do that already with my binder and gel pens? But Santa, its 2005! *g* Every promising writer needs a laptop doesn't she?

~ an agent who loves my voice and my work and wants to rep me

~ my muse to co-operate. Which means to not run out and grab another idea out of thin air to tempt me away from the current WIP. Please Santa... Maybe I need a new muse...I wouldn't object to one who looks like a) Nick, b) John Cena or c) Josh Duhamel. I'm sure at least one would fit under the tree...

~ my music collection could use an update...I can't write in silence all the time can I?

~ good things for my writing buddies, contracts and sales and agents oh my :o)

~ and a new bag of peanut M&Ms since Daddy decided to eat them all...can't have a late night writing session without them!

Merry Christmas everybody!!!

~Lissy



posted by Lis at 3:41 p.m. 0 comments

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Stalled...

I'm 600 words from hitting 60K on Sabrina, and I'm pretty much all stalled out.

I don't think making myself hit 50K during NaNo was this rough, though I don't quite want to look back at last month's entries lol I'm just hoping it'll stop giving me headaches soon. I went back and looked over the first printed draft last night (a whopping 15K words) and actually some of its pretty funny! Hard to believe :o)
posted by Lis at 3:49 p.m. 3 comments

Merry Xmas and All That Jazz...

So the cards have started arriving, along with the pressies from my best friend :o)
Woohoo! I'm one of those 'lucky' folk whose birthday falls just right after Xmas (Jan. 3rd, though apparently I was expected on December 26th. Yikes!) so its the gifty time of year for me.
Still have two packages to go out and one of those I have to decide what to buy. Nothing like getting down to a deadline eh? Plus still need to shop for mom a little, have her stocking stuff but really nothing else. Nothing like going to west edmonton mall, home of 6 or 700 stores and coming back with only soap from the body shop.

What else is new?

Emailed one agent to check on the status of the partial, just to make sure it did arrive - since the one last year never did make it - and she emailed to say thanks for being patient. So at least I know its there and I can delve right back into Sabrina's story for awhile.

That's about it!
posted by Lis at 11:48 a.m. 1 comments

Friday, December 09, 2005

Whoosh...

That sound would be oh a whole bunch of things, ala confidence, self esteem and a bunch others just tumbling to the ground. I was going to quote a traveling wilburys song, but I can't remember a few of the lines other then 'never saw them when they were standing, never saw them when they fell, all the way to hell'
Which sorta sums up how I feel about my writing right now.
Like its all going/gone to hell.
And after 8 years, maybe everything up till now has really been one gigantic fluke.
Because really, I suck.
So. I think with that said, I's done.

*final sweeping bow*
posted by Lis at 10:28 a.m. 5 comments

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Leftie's Home and Other Stuff...

Dad's taken to calling himself leftie :o)
Which fits because his right arm is a nice blue sling which he says matches his pretty blue eyes lol As you can probably tell, Dad's back home. He was released yesterday morning and is only feeling pain now, though not really in his shoulder unless he's doing his physio. He says he feels like he's been in a car accident from the way they had him strapped in the chair and rotated during surgery. But he's up and around and he's actually able to sleep which was what he was most worried about.

Went by romance divas & my entry's up. Sometimes I wonder why I even enter sometimes. I know I head hop, always have, probably always will. Its my voice. Agents haven't said to change it. Editors haven't said to change it but other writers are giving me low scores for it. *shrug* So whatever. Maybe I should have entered Her Protector instead.

In other writing news, still going strong on Sabrina. Need to change that counter sometime this week but I should be hitting 60K soon. I think I'll print it at 70K and edit it later. Need to go back to a few others and see what I want to do with them. Do I want to do MX? Do I want to try something else? Plus I have two other paranormal ideas floating around that I'm actually excited about getting down.

Anyway, off to do the blog tour and get some of the handwritten Sabrina typed up.
posted by Lis at 2:28 p.m. 3 comments

Monday, December 05, 2005

Things I Never Want To Do Again...

~ Spend 13+ straight hours in a hospital
~ See my dad so not himself...
~ And relive any part of today.

I'm surprised if I'm actually coherent in any part of this. But I'm so wiped out, and freaking sick after today I doubt I'll be online much this week at all. We woke up at 4, had a cab by 5:15 and were at the hospital at 5:30 this morning.
(And I am SO not a morning person)
Then spent two hours in the TV room - most of the time with dad - waiting for him to get called.
One hour in the cafeteria, trying not to think about surgery.
Two and a half hours upstairs, trying to find a nurse who could tell us a) where the hell was he? and b) everything that they asked. Was he day surgery? Uhm yeah that's what you told him this morning. Or was he in a unit? Uh well...gee...don't think so because you switched that when he came upstairs. Grrrr...
Then to finally found out he just came up and is in a room then be told...no he's not there go to the TV room. I'm sorry but that chick is lucky I didn't explode on her at that moment.
Lets see if I'm doing my math, that makes 7 hours left in Dad's hospital room. Trying (the operative word) to get him to a) cough, b) breathe deeply, c) move his legs and oh yeah d) stay awake.
And I kinda don't ever want to relive that moment where his eyes rolled.
If that's not too much to ask.
Its not bad enough I'm probably pmsing, but I freakin' hate crying when I walked out of his room when we left. He was still so freaking groggy 7+ hours later.
Just hope its wearing off tonight and he'll be better in the morning.
And I can sleep somewhat because right now I feel like absolute shit.
Totally, completely.
posted by Lis at 11:30 p.m. 0 comments

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Update...

First half of things finally went in the mail last night, er at least the cards did. Still have a few packages to mail, hoping on tomorrow but it could get bumped later in the week if need be. So if it shows up late, sorry!

Another fyi, I probably won't be online much this week period. So if you need me, leave me a message on IM, that's probably the best way since email may or may not get checked.
posted by Lis at 12:04 p.m. 2 comments

Thursday, December 01, 2005

December already?

Must mean my good friend Nell's launched her website :o)
so swing by and take a look!

www.nelldixon.com
posted by Lis at 11:44 a.m. 3 comments