I sent in my application to Orson Scott Card’s Literary Boot Camp this week. It will be a little over a month before I’ll know whether or not I’ve been accepted. OSC makes his determination based on a single page of writing. Which seems sensible to me; you can tell an awful lot about a…
I Am Such A Dirty Cheater
Twelve days ago I made myself a deal: I would not buy any books until I had worked out for 30 days in a row. I made this bargain with myself because I’ve been working out for such a long time now, and if I had just done it consistently, I’d be pretty smokin’ about…
Full On
So, yesterday I got my first request for the full manuscript by an agent. Life is good. For the next couple of hours, I literally went around singing. I’d had a partial out with this agent for three weeks, or maybe a month. And yesterday when I saw I had a response from her, my…
Reading the Classics
The sci fi classics, that is. Mark and I recently got an Audible subscription, and so far we’ve worked our way through The Mote in God’s Eye (Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle) and Ringworld (Niven alone). I have to say, it’s wild reading sci fi from the seventies. People keep using futuristic versions of outdated…
The Terror, The Terror
Sending out more query letters today. I tell you, every time I hit send it’s like a cold shot of ice water right through my veins. And for heaven’s sake, could someone tell me why? I have confidence in my book, and also confidence in the facts that (1) tastes differ (2) some agents will…
Flax Seed Meal Acquired
Conversation at 1:24 this morning: Mark: “Do you want this flax seed meal that’s in the Amazon cart?” Me: “Ooh. I don’t know. I think so.” “It sounds weird.” “I was just planning to put it in our morning oatmeal.” “Okay. Why do we want flax seeds again?” “They’re a high source of omega 3’s. …
Life of a Bridge Bunny
Mark and I are in Sarasota, Florida this week for a bridge competition. Well, Mark is here for a bridge competition. I’m here to lounge around in the hotel room and use the sauna. Our friend, Robert, is a bridge pro. Like, yes, there are bridge pros. Bridge isn’t like poker; there’s not a lot…
Working Out
Have y’all heard of this phenomenon called “co-working?â€Â The idea is that just because you are a work-at-home entrepreneur doesn’t mean you want to be cut off from all human contact. So instead of working at home, you work at an office building, renting space there along with several other entrepreneurs. And you can talk…
Are We Still Doing Resolutions?
My computer organization is still ongoing (or slow-going, as the case may be (and in fact is)). One of the files I’ve come across is this rather depressing list. Things I Want More of in my Life Healthy food Home-cooked meals Work Reading Exercise Regular sleeping hours Keeping up with family and friends Cleanliness Why…
The World in Stories
One of the big items in the news today is the stimulus: failure or success? No, this isn’t a political post. It’s a post, believe it or not, about story. Consider the cases of two average (and fictional) Americans; we’ll call them Patty and Paul. Patty has been laid off from her job as a…