Not Writing

Inspired by Amanda Hocking's Things I've Done Today That Weren't Writing, here's a list of things from today keeping me from doing what I do:

• Inventory at work
• Chatting with hubby about moving and awesome apartment ads.
• Waiting 15 minutes to connect to the N train.
• Buying Chips Ahoy! cookies and having the clerk ask if I was having a chocolate chip cookie party tonight. Answer: no - went to work on my day off, therefore, they're all mine. He was satisfied with the answer.
• Watching the forced comedy of a recent Simpson's episode. Why do I do this to myself?
• Joined a new forum
• Watched some video clips on YouTube
• Heated up some tempura chicken from Trader Joe's
• Wasted time on various social media (which leads me here).

I had a great run of editing yesterday after work, and I was looking forward to doing it again today. However, counting some 1000+ hair products turned my brain to jelly, and I can't get in the groove. I did buy another proof copy of The Silent Treatment after making some adjustments to the last one I received. Probably not going to change anything else, regardless, because I can't afford to keep buying proofs. I think it's for sale on lulu.com, though, but won't distribute to Amazon until the proof is approved. Will let you know, as I'm sure you're all on the edges of your seats. I've had to price it much more expensively than I wanted to because the commission from Amazon is pretty low. So for now, I'm offering a 30% discount, which brings the price down to a reasonable $11.20.

So before I waste any more time, I'll go read, rest up for a long day of work tomorrow, and then go apartment viewing the day after that.

Please tell me: what did you do today?

Worth Lying For

GOOD LIFE 

Mary Minke knows she should be grateful: a mostly happy marriage, mostly grown kids and a mostly steady paycheck. But at forty, she finds herself fantasizing about sprawling Tuscan villas and fitting into ‘juniors department’ fashions. Instead, another twenty years in a two-bedroom ranch, sale-rack slacks and a receptionist job at Idid-a-Rod Auto Garage seem to be her destiny. Until… 

GOOD GRIEF 

Mary stumbles on a bag of cash in the car of two-bit drug dealer Jimmy Adler… and steals it. Confiding in best friend, Caryn, she vows to make good by playing Robin Hood in the sleepy town of Stillwater Village. Only she must keep the plan under wraps from devoted husband, Nick, who just happens to be the local sheriff. 

GOOD INTENTIONS 

As one unexpected event after another turns Mary’s once tapioca-bland life hotter than three-alarm chili, she is more than a little tempted to indulge in a few retail therapy sessions. Charity begins at home, after all, but where should it end? When the fate of her imperfect yet loving family is put on the line, Mary must decide what the good life really means, and if it is Worth Lying For.

When I got the chance to rub elbows with Lisa Cheney and Lisa Craig, authors of Worth Lying For, I asked if they'd be interested in doing an interview. They said "no." I bought them an expensive meal (and a few rounds), and I finally wore them down. 

You just released Worth Lying For, about forty-year-old Mary Minke, who ramps up her midlife doldrums by pilfering a big bag of money. Have you ever done anything illegal or immoral? 

Cheney: Never. Craig: Yes, but I used Cheney's name so my record is clear. 

What was your greatest inspiration for this book? 

Cheney: I have no idea, considering I've never done anything illegal or immoral. Craig: Wanting to write a book by, for and about 40-something Midwestern women. Particularly a book in which the protagonist is (mostly) happily married. How did the two of you meet? 

Cheney: It wasn't match.com? Craig: Ninth grade English class. We had to create a collage and we thought that was childish. We invented snarky, only we called it lisarky. It never quite caught on. 

Speaking of childish, you also write children's books -- what made you delve into the this genre? 

Cheney: My grandmothers used to read me Grimm's Fairy Tales and buy me Tales from the Crypt comic books. All children deserve such idyllic memories. 

Craig: I love writing children's books--the characters can be so silly and fun. And the books are usually shorter which is a boon for our fading middle-aged memory banks. 

So what's next for The Lisas? Any new projects we should look out for? 

Cheney: I'm taking up urban graffiti art. Craig: We are working on a novel about a fifty-year-old writer married to an NHL hockey coach. It's about 89% written and we should soon be in the grueling editing process. 

Music is a huge part of my writing process. What do you listen to while you work? 

Cheney: Does Hoda's playlist on the Today Show count? 

Craig: I never play music when writing. The quieter, the better. 

Writers are notorious for having multiple jobs in their lifetimes. What are some interesting things you've done? 

Cheney: Tossed a few pizzas in my day. Customers were not amused. I've also been a fruit picker, book packer and newspaper reporter. I can't keep a day job. 

Craig: Other than college jobs waitressing, I am the exception to the rule and have been a librarian and only a librarian.

... After that, things just got silly.

What the hell is up with Melanie?

(Yes, I stole and modified the title from my friend Jenny, but only because I love her.)

Unless you count spending far too much time on social networking sites trying to get people to pay attention to me like an ignored 5-year-old, there isn't much to report. If I don't go food shopping soon, I'll be eating cereal for dinner (not that there's anything wrong with that). The pile of clothes in the corner of my room hasn't diminished for quite some time.

On the plus side, I got some comments back recently for the 2nd book in the Kat Shergill series, so I've been working on that. Still trying to come up with a title. Maybe I'll hold a contest. This ties nicely into the "wanting attention" category.

Also a plus: I love my job! This is good because I spent a lot of money to get a job like this. It still amazes me that some days I think, "Maybe I'll go in to work and get some highlights," or, "My friend needs a haircut -- I'll take her to work on my day off." I would have shot myself if I'd ever thought, "you know, those reinsurance status reports aren't going to process themselves. I have some extra time on Saturday ... think I'll go in for free."

my tools are even pretty!

I also re-watched The Lord of the Rings recently. Not only is the imagery in that movie gorgeous, but the characters are so dimensional. I appreciate things like this more now that I'm writing with a fury: not everyone is completely good or bad. Take Frodo for example: he's the underdog who saves the world and destroys the ring. Hooray! Except it wasn't as simple as that. He starts out friendly, loving, slowly becomes untrusting and weary, identifies more with someone who's been through similar trials more than his best friend, makes Sam cry, changes his mind about saving the world, and succeeds BY ACCIDENT. It's so beautifully done. Even when Frodo shows his ugly side, we still know he's a good guy.



Not in the same category, but I also re-read Kyra Davis' Sex, Murder and a Double Latte. The humor in this book is nothing short of charming. Still suspenseful even though I knew what was going to happen. (It's always disappointing to go back to a book or movie I thought I loved only to find I just hyped it up.) When my little monetary slump is over, I'll buy her newest in the series (she's now indie like me!).

Back to editing.