reasons i suck

On the perils of being well-rested

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Saturday, I worked on Man Bites World. I had a good day, but I didn’t finish. Afterward, I met my family for dinner at a little Greek place and we caught two buses to Green Lake. Well, after three long, draining days of story revisions, I was a little too befuddled to appreciate the evening lights along the path around the lake, and the musicians (including a very large ukulele band playing “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree”). It was a long trip across town and there was, as usual, pain.

I returned home exhausted and slumped off to bed at 9pm. I woke up on Sunday at 7 am. Great, right?

Except I’m a night person. I keep an early schedule because of near-continual exhaustion, and without that exhaustion I can’t sleep. I was up until 3:30 last night. (What I should have done is more revision, but I knew if I started that I would never ever go to bed.)

Yay for a screwed up day! I strongly suspect I’ll be back on my old schedule tonight.

I’m back in the Starbucks again

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… but I’m about to leave. The section I’m revising is going to come out much shorter now, which is a good thing, since I’m 11K over the word count I promised. It doesn’t matter in a substantial way, but it makes me less anxious.

But I’ll be getting up in about five minutes to head to the library for another interview, and this time it may be on video. Maybe not, but maybe. I shaved, just in case.

Nervous? Me? No!

Update: No video! Phew! It went pretty well, I think. I went fumble mouth once or twice, but it wasn’t too bad.

Meanwhile, a hypothetical…

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If you could change your own personality in one way, what would you change? Or would you not change a thing? Please answer here in comments or on your own blogs.

Personally, I would rather have a brain that derived mild pleasure/relaxation from moderate exercise. I’d be better off if I didn’t find it so tedious.

Here I am

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I’m sitting in Starbucks on a day when I’d normally be at Day Job. I’ve taken two days off this week to work on Man Bites World. Hopefully, I’ll have it close enough to done that I can send it to my agent on Saturday or Monday.

Research has been concluded (I hope). Internet squabble dabbled in.

Time to work.

Dammit.

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Everything takes too long, including revisions.

Long healthful walk? No!

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The plan to take a long, healthful walk to the library to work on Man Bites World went out the window when I looked out my window and saw freezing fog and black ice everywhere. The sidewalks were crazy slippery, and the walk I’d need to take has an 18% grade in some parts. Time for the bus.

But I have a question for the internet mind before I head off for lunch and more editing: What do you use for quality color printing (if at all)? My color printer is on its last legs, and my wife would like to be able to print high-quality photos for reference. Not just on photo paper, either.

Thanks.

Guh!

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It turns out that Joshua Jackson has been cast as Captain Foster in the feature film adaptation of the British SF TV show UFO. No word yet on who will be cast as the ultra-fashionable but mean as hell Commander Straker.

And yeah, that sound you hear is me falling over like I’ve been punched in the gut.

Joshua Jackson! In an Interceptor! You know he won’t be stuck with that one stupid missile on the front of his ship. Mr. TV Star is going to have, like, ten!

And he’s going to slide feet-first through an opening in the wall to board his space ship, and I never, ever will. The bastard. I wonder if I can sneak onto the set.

Book too short?

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I don’t often give out writing advice here on my blog (seems pretty presumptuous at this point in my career[1]) but on message boards you can’t shut me up. So instead of writing something original this morning, I’m going to link to a post I made for people who find they need to add plot to a novel that came out too short in the first draft.

Feel free to tell me I’m wrong, there or here, or offer additional ideas.

[1] Holy crap I just called it a career.

According to Google

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According to Google, the search term:

“Nick Biter” vampire

gets no hits. Yes! If the Twenty Palaces books don’t take off, I know what I’m writing next!

(Yes, work is dead slow today and I’m getting antsy.)

The most boring Turkey Day report ever

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You know what’s interesting? Conflict, crisis, disaster, and unhappiness. That’s why this will be an incredibly boring post.

Everything I made turned out. My wife and son made an apple pie that was a little too wet, but it still tasted wonderful and the boy ate almost a third of it that day. The stuffing could have been more moist, but that’s my personal preference for clumpability; it certainly wasn’t dry by any standards. Our oven has been a little wonky lately, but the turkey was very nice and juicy. Even the last minute decision to make dinner rolls after all turned out beautifully.

My wife and I had Alton Brown’s sweet potato pie, which is fantastic for breakfast the next day, and made me feel like a Yankee. I’m going to have a lunch break in a few minutes, and a turkey/cranberry sandwich (on yesterday’s roll) is waiting.

It was a simpler year, with simpler recipes and a smaller spread. Even though we brought out the large plates (we usually eat our meals on small lunch plates to discourage binges) I took moderate helpings and left the table feeling full but not mistreated. And the giblet gravy was fantastic.

I even managed to do a little writing, play a board game with the family, and take a nice walk around the neighborhood to admire some of the fancier houses up the hill. I wish we could have more days just like it.

Today I’m at the day job, and things are very quiet. I guess everyone’s buying Lego Rock Band or whatever instead of refilling their meds. It’ll be nice to sit down with my lap top and get more writing done.

If you missed the Black Friday Leftover contest in my previous post, check it out.