I've been on hiatus...

I won't lie and say that my last rejection didn't take the wind out of my sails. So I took a break and regrouped and focused solely on family and the tasks I need to accomplish. I haven't even had time to write lately. Especially with all the trauma this last week has held! We found a water leak in our house (disaster--I won't go into it or I'll have to start throwing things at indefensible objects) and our Radon test came out absurdly high--which means that we get to spend an absurd amount of $$ and get a mitigation system put into our basement. Well, it's better than the alternative--Lung Cancer. Ick.
I had the darnedest thing happen this morning--it was 6am and I was lying on my bed, listening to my daughter downstairs, playing with the puppy. She was teasing him with a chew toy and he was growling playfully at her. Suddenly, a story idea "popped" into my head with an almost audible "WHOOSH", and I had to leap from the bed and grab a fresh composition notebook, to write my thoughts down. Now I have a new story idea, and it's a fun one, and I am very excited to get started on it. My muse is back!!! Woo hoo! The sting of rejection has faded, and now, I am BACK IN BUSINESS. I will start writing it immediately.
But first I have to run to the post office, the dry cleaners and the store, pay bills, clean my 1st floor of my house, walk the dog, take my kids to school and learn how to sew a halloween costume...

Rejection Sucks

I didn't post yesterday because I was too beside myself--my novel got rejected by the editor at the big publishing company. I got the email from my agent in the morning, and frankly, I was stunned throughout most of the day, until I got on the phone with my mom (she always brings out the waterworks--and I revert to being a teenager it seems) so I got it all out.
I sort of spent the day in a perilous stupor, thinking dangerous thoughts like "why do I even write--I obviously stink" and "I'll never do this again, I'm throwing in the proverbial towel," etc..

I had a conversation with my agent today and he seems very optimistic that we'll place the novel, I mean after all, the editor LOVED it and raved about it, until she did an about-face and decided it was really "not for her." (maybe she works with John Kerry?)
Ok that was a cheap shot but it was strange that she did such an about-face, with little or no explanation. Life goes on. I will go on. Hopefully this will make me a better person, and I'll want to go out and save the world, be kind to stray animals, recycle, etc..
For now I'm concentrating on something new, and not letting it get me down. The weather is so beautiful here, with the fall colors, and the crisp air, and I LOVE the fact that I have a corner desk in my office with two big windows on either side, so I can enjoy the view while I write.
Life is good. I just need to be patient.

Happy Fall Y'all!

I am so glad it's October! I bought my cornstalks and hay bales and fake pumpkins (I'm not into real ones, they rot and turn very gross) and I've decked out my lightpole and front porch. The inside of my house is officially done too.
My maple in my front yard is now a beautiful red color, and all the trees around here are turning.
It's been pretty dang windy too--my puppy loves to chase the leaves--it's hilarious.
I'd type more but CSI Miami is on in one minute...

I must be a Luddite...

I am BEHIND the times. I must be. All my writer pals have AlphaSmarts and Thumb Drives, and lots of little accessories for their computers. I have a basic laptop with DIAL-UP (I know, *gasp*! The horror!) and other than a printer and mouse, I don't have anything else.
(I did, however graduate to a digital camera a few years ago, but other than that, I must be resistant to technological change.)
My recent experience with dowloading Microsoft's Windows XP Service Pack 2 set me back a few decades in thought as well. I now have formulated a theory, though unproven:

Microsoft DELIBERATELY (yes, deliberately) puts "bugs" in their programs, so that when all us average-joe lemmings download their programs without question (I mean, hell, it's Microsoft for pete's sake, you have to trust them!) our computers mysteriously "lock up". Then, as anticipated, we all run like the wind to the phone so we can call to "save our babies" (aka computers).
This is unfortunate, because the phone call always seems to end with Average-Joe Lemming speaking with a NON-Computer-Savvy Person reading from a troubleshooting manual in New Dehli, (that's INDIA for you geographically challenged) who is probably earning about $2 an hour, and charging us $19.95 to he can read verbatim from the manual we received with our computers, which by the way we already have, but in our panic have forgotten to read.

Am I bitter? No. I finally got everything back, but that little annoying "updates ready to download" icon at the bottom right of my screen keeps flashing at me, and when I check to see what the download is, my blood runs cold. Windows XP Service Pack 2.
I even went so far as to call my husband at work and tell him if he downloads any updates on my computer I will KILL him. (He said he already knows not to mess with my computer, so not to worry).
So, I'll just have to keep clicking "cancel" for now. If my theory is correct, I would be in a heap of trouble if I didn't.
As for the Luddite thing, at least there's hope for me. I am looking into buying a modest webcam, so my parents can see their grandkids more than once a year...