...random thoughts

...I know my mind is wandering when I don't have caffeine in my system and I'm reading other people's blogs and doing internal spin-off. Alice, "with her what I see", Thursday Thirteen...

I see a mess of paper about three inches high, my PDA, a pen, a coaster, four kinds of post-its, three dry erase boards, two file-systems, a little bust of Thoth the god of writing that I got in a puzzle somewhere, a Salem-the cat that somehow showed up, and a lucifer box made out of copper with a crane on it that my husband dug out of the ground in Knotts Island when he worked for a cable company. He also dug up a eight piece tea set, gave it to me and threw it away the next day because it was "old". I saved the box.

I also visited Kaige, and thought about Divas. I like RD. I'm almost sort of kind of looking forward to seeing a bunch of them on Wednesday. Uhm...the trouble with seeing people in person is there's no "edit" key, and you can't delete a comment. I thought about the bar thing and went...well, I make a maudlin' drunk (and that's my regency roots coming out) so...maybe I'll just go check out Beard Papa.

In my navy blue suit (one of two) with my pumps, lol.

I've been wearing my pumps around the house, getting used to them again. I've pretty much pared my Going-To-Conference wardrobe down to two suits, one business casual slack/blouse set, a LBD and my briefcase. I...er, think that's what I took last time too. Maybe I need to get out of my rut.

Andi was talking about her imaginary first boyfriend, and then sucked me into Twilight. The movie does look good, and maybe I'll check out the book. I just hate reading stuff everyone and their mama have read before me.

But I always thought--when I imagined my first boyfriend, that I wouldn't have a boyfriend, I'd simply find "the one", and somehow, somewhere, he was thinking the same thing. And we'd see each other, and "know" and fall desperately in love, and he'd sort of look and talk like Tell Sackett. *sigh* So I have precog, lol.

Deanna was talking about family and pitching her book.

God knows, I wish her well. I'm pitching next Saturday. I finally gave up the memorization thing and went with index cards.

Jeanna did a long riff on those malt balls I've been seeing. There's something about Strawberry milkshake malt balls. I don't think I'd be able to get one in my mouth--through my lips. I bought some of the peanut butter ones for my kids and they're still there. I might pop it open later tonight and try one. It's just...they're peanut butter colored.

Like those Ocean Spray Twisters commercials a few years back, "That's just wrong."

She also asked how I cope with rejection. You know...in the beginning it hurt a lot. I still can't look at the early ones. I also think about how naive I was to take "nice" form letters as encouragement. Although I appreciate the people who had the courtesy to create them.

I just knew selling was what I wanted more than anything in the world, and I kept going.

...this is my very last rejection letter. (...and no, Laura. It's not from you. :)

I think you have great potential here, but before I can consider offering a contract, I'd like to see if you can take a step back and give me a little more set up before you plunge me into the heart of high-stakes action. Explain what Jen's running from. Tell me how Keegan got shot, right up front. Maybe you could go back one scene and show those things happening on the page.

As it is, your submission reads a little like I've turned on an action movie five minutes after the start, and I'm frustrated by not being able to go back and see what I've missed. I believe that you have the ability to draw me into this story and take me along on a fantastic ride, but you'll have to explain things a little more before I understand where we're going, if that makes sense.