The Last of March

Tis the last day of March. Does that mean spring is really just around the corner? The sunny days would seem to imply that, but oh boy, the temps are still so chilly here in West Michigan. There is still a patch of snow in the corner of our front yard that refuses to melt away, but the briars in the woods in the backyard are starting to look green. And the birds! I've seen so many different varieties of birds already back from their winter vacations. Now if the grass would brighten with green and the forsythia would bud, then I'd feel confident that spring really had sprung.

Monday Morning!

Yay! Monday! A new day at the beginning of a new week. Time to shed off the trials and tribulations of the previous week and start fresh.

I feel like I've been stalled in chapter 3 of my latest WIP. When I looked at my total word count from last week, it was obvious that I was indeed stalled. I only wrote about 1500 words when I usually write 5K, and I only wrote 4 out of 5 days.

So now it's Monday and a chance to start out the week right with lots of writing. I'm re-energized about my story too. I met with my critique partners on Friday and they got their first look at my new WIP. Lots of great suggestions for chapter one. (Those first chapters are so hard to get exactly right.) And they had lots of enthusiasm about my story. (It's so much more enjoyable to write for an audience.) I also had some breakthrough ideas on the exercise bike this morning, so I am rearing to get started.

Happy Monday!

Thoughts on Copyright Law and Libraries

I know that sounds like a hideously boring topic by the title. But I really must commend you to check out Courtney Milan's thoughts On Eating Your Seed Corn. She gives a very good personal argument why libraries should be supported by everyone in the book business.

Fevers, Coughs and Sore Throats - Oh My!

Got another one home sick this week. My baby (okay, he's seven) is home for the second day with a fever. He's responding well to the ibuprofen every six hours so I'm not too worried. Which means I can totally blame him for my new addiction.

Yesterday morning when I flipped through the TV channels to find him something to watch, I found the Bravo channel by mistake, and a show called Millionaire Matchmaker.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Research!

I don't think I've mentioned that I'm currently working on a billionaire love story. So watching the rich and famous struggle with finding their perfect mate is TOTALLY legit research.

Two episodes and two hours later, I was convinced too, especially when I got a new idea for my next billionaire love story from the second episode.

As soon as I could this morning, I checked the TV listings, but the show's not on again today. Which is actually a good thing because I have writing to do and billionaires waiting for their happily-ever-afters.

A Plot by any other name

For some reason when I thought about the need to plot my current project I froze up. I tried several times to write what I expected to happen in the first chapter and the next and the next, but I never got beyond chapter three. But as I was writing through the first couple of pages of chapter two, I realized I needed to have some idea of what was going to happen next and on which days of the week.

I whipped out a lined notebook page and a pen to start writing a timeline for the story. I wrote down the first day my story begins (Thursday) and what happened in the AM and the PM. Then I wrote the next day, and the next. Before I knew it, I had pages and pages filled with scene notes and bits of dialogue. Character background details and a list of required research grew from the scenes as I wrote freely on the lined pages, my handwriting resembling chicken scratch when the ideas flowed the fastest. I gathered so many pages that I had to label them using T1, T2, T3 for the timeline pages. 1, 2, 3 for the scenes going directly in the book and A, B, C for the pages describing the escalating stakes/conflict.

Already today, the ideas are awake and flowing on the pages. As I pedaled my stationary bike this morning, I finished 5 handwritten pages of scene notes and dialogue and questions to be answered in the context of the story.

Of course, once the muse is awaken, she loves to talk to me in the shower. I had to throw a towel around myself quickly and scribble down the dialogue that swirled in my brain before throwing on my clothes and getting the boys to the bus stop on time.

Whew! Who knew that a simple 'timeline' was going to generate so much writing frenzy?

Chicken Legs in the Morning

Is 8:30 am too early to eat chicken?

You see, here's my problem. I get up at 6:30 am and get on my stationary bike by 6:45. Then I pedal for 50 minutes while drinking my breakfast shake full of protein and healthy fats and carbs. Actually I finish drinking my shake within the first ten minutes, then I work on my 16 ounces of water.

When I finish exercising, I dash upstairs to shower, get the youngest two boys off to the bus stop and return home by 8:30. And that's when my stomach rumbles as if it's forgotten that it's already been served a 240 calorie breakfast shake just 2 hours prior. Obviously, it thinks it is time for breakfast round two.

I've tried various ideas for a 'morning snack' and end up feeling dissatisfied and HUNGRY until I finally feel it's an appropriate time to eat lunch.

So today, I decided 'lunch' should be at 8:30 am and heated up two leftover chicken legs. De-lish! And my tummy is much more satisfied.

So, do you think 8:30 am is too early to eat chicken?