Book titles

Not sure if I ever mentioned this before but I was in a theater watching the previews (it might have been before The Hang Over?) and this preview comes on that starts describing my book. Chris looked over at me and laughed but I just sat there in awe. The only difference was the main character was a guy instead of a girl. What movie was it? 17 Again. I was like, "Wow, I guess I can't use that title now!" It would have fit my story perfectly, too. I was so sad. I ended up deciding on Kayla's Second Chance, but I feel like I got gypped…by a movie that's not even that popular.

Twitter is dumb

So, starting the submission process again.  It seems like it should be easy; type up a synopsis, make up a query letter, blahdy blah, hit send, and done.  Nope.  I spent a few hours yesterday working on my whole "package" and only did one submission (I think).  I got some suggestions for my query letter from a publisher who, after reading their multiple blogs, I decided I did not want to go with.  I am a laid back person; I try not to be stuck up.  I can not submit my "baby" to a stuck up publisher.

Anyway, I had taken their suggestion of putting a biography of sorts in the query letter.  An editor sent me an email tonight and told me to leave that part off.  So there, stuck up publisher!  I thanked her.  I really do appreciate feedback.  Normally, I feel like my emails and queries go off into cyber space and float around forever.

I've also gone back to Twitter.  Good Lord, I hate that place.  My home page looks like someone took a Scrabble bag of letters and dumped in on the floor. @ this and # that.

If anyone wants a good read, Google the Freeh report on Sandusky.  I'm on page 80-something of 267.  It's just unbelievable how the people in charge just kept putting it off and putting it off.  At one point, they pretty much admit in an email that they might get in trouble for not reporting the incidents.

Right now, I'm just trying to put off running to Sheetz for Chris.  I'm always sent on the Sheetz runs.  I should make him go.  The car is set for him.

Snore

I'm not sure if this is a bad sign, but I'm working on putting chapters and such in my second book to get it ready to send to publishers and I cannot keep my eyes open.  It is so slow at work today; I can't say that aloud, though.  I'll jynx it.  Anyway, hopefully it's not my story putting me to sleep, and even if it is, it's probably because I already know what happens.

My subscription to Writer's Market's website ran out so I'm just going off the list of publishers I sent my other book to, plus any that I happen to stumble on that I think my work would fit in well with.  (<--I just ended a sentence with a preposition!  Ha ha, remember that ongoing joke through Beavis and Butthead Do America?)

A coworker asked how much weight I was losing.  If we're all going by the scale the Employee Health lady used, compared to my scale at home, I've lost 13 lbs.  I think that's total BS, but whatever.  I've asked other ladies.  They're scales at home compared to the EH scale are pretty close- 1-3 pound differences.  Not 13 like mine.  So maybe I am losing weight?  The coworker said she noticed.  I haven't really.  Maybe in my butt; of course, the place I didn't really want to lose weight.

Beautiful day

The view from my window.  The sun's going down now so it's not as pretty (and the picture quality on my phone sucks).

I plan on working on my newest story tonight.  I must work on it...I think I've only written ten pages so far, if I'm lucky.  I just haven't been able to get in to it.

New site

I'm loving this site I found.  Especially this transcript of a letter Benjamin Franklin wrote:

Philada. July 5. 1775

Mr. Strahan

You are a Member of Parliament, and one of that Majority which has doomed my Country to Destruction. You have begun to burn our Towns and murder our People. — Look upon your hands! They are stained with the Blood of your Relations! — You and I were long Friends:— You are now my Enemy, — and

I am,

Yours.

B. Franklin

Cars, make up, house work

I finally took the Kia in for an oil change.  It was only five months past due.  I half-expected the guys at Walmart to laugh me out of the garage.  Monday must've been oil-change day for Altoona because there was an hour and half to two hour wait.  I said it was fine; I had to eat and do my grocery shopping anyway.

I stopped by electronics to check out Xboxes.  I'm thinking of getting Chris a new one for his birthday.  One that's wireless, so we don't have to drape that ugly blue cord all over the living room any more.  Then I walked up to McDonald's and got some food.  That took a while.  They claimed it was for my chicken nuggets, but I think they fried my fries three times while I waited; they were hard as wooden rods.

Anyway, after I ate, I started grocery shopping.  Halfway through the car/bathroom/paint section, I realized my ticket for the oil change had "walked" out of my back pocket.  (That's short for, "My ass is so big, as I walked, it pushed the paper out of my pocket.")  So I retraced my steps and found it in the cat food aisle.  Back to shopping.  I shopped on auto-pilot, mainly because, I hate grocery shopping.

I found a line that wasn't too bad and checked out.  I felt like a weirdo walking back through Walmart with my cart full of bagged groceries, but I certainly wasn't going to go outside and walk around the building to get to the garage!  My car wasn't done yet; it was about another half hour wait back there, as my eggs and milk got warm.  I opened the Hard Candy makeup set I picked up and looked at it.

I love the make up aisles.  I looked at the Hard Candy stuff for a looong time, and finally decided on a pack of new blush that came with highlighter, primer, and lip gloss sample-sized tubes.  I tried the primer today.  It was weird.  I'm not sure it made any kind of difference on my face or with my makeup, but I really like the new blush.  I don't have to use as much as my old one to get the color to show up and it's a little sparkly.

At Walmart, I also got plastic for the windows.  Tomorrow, since I'm off work, I think I'm going to plastic-up all the windows and start going through the mess of clothes Chris and I have.  Nothing is put away; each of us has a dresser that is pretty much empty.  I'm getting sick of living out of laundry baskets.  Now, I've been meaning to do this for a while now and I always get too lazy.  I'm really going to try tomorrow.

Oh, working on a new story.  I've pretty much finished the book I started for NaNoWriMo and, even "finished" it doesn't make the 50k mark.  Blah.  I'll let it sit for a while and go back to it some other time.

Failure

Well, I failed at NaNoWriMo.  5,000 words short.  The last day of it, I was coming down with a cold (which I still am fighting off).  I sat on my "thinking chair" (ha ha, Blue's Clues!) and just stared at my lap top.  I couldn't even think.  I'm still going to finish the book.  Chris keeps telling me to hurry up and get it and the other one I finished published so he can "retire".  Right...

Debating what to do for Christmas for the girls at the office.  I was thinking about getting them each a nail polish that I think would fit them, but if I go with OPI (my natural choice), I'll be pushing $115 total, not including cards or any kind of wrapping.  I don't want to go cheap, though.  Sally Hansen nail polish is...ok, but not the best.  Maybe I can find some middle ground with Orly or China Glaze at Sally's...that is, if Chris works out our bills and such and says it's ok for me to spend the money. 

Originally, I was going to make my car payment late this month (like I pay it on time any other month or something) and get my Christmas present: a tattoo.  But now we have to give Chris' mom money, we need groceries desperately, and I want to get stuff for my coworkers.  My tattoo might have to wait til next year.  :'(

I had a dream about getting a tattoo.  For some reason, I wanted to get flames or something on my toes and I was calling tattoo places, or text them maybe?, and asking when they could get me in.  They were being really mean to me.

It's been a while

Since I usually blog at work, I haven't been blogging much because now at work I either work or write my book for NaNoWriMo.  My schedule coming up really sucks.  I'm going to be 9-5.  :P  Actually, a couple days next week I have to be there at 8 to learn the mail room.  Hooray.  As far as I can tell, the mail room really sucks, so not looking forward to that.

I'm trying to convince Chris to get me a tattoo for Christmas.  I have so many ideas for tattoos!

  

Movie catch-up

Watched three movies this weekend that most of the general population have already seen.

Green Lantern- Rented.  It was alright.  Not quite X-Men, but I like Ryan Reynolds.  I don't understand how the main fight took place in space, though.  I mean, I know the Green Lanterns have powers, but the power to not have to breathe?  That was off-putting.

Bridesmaids- Rented.  Wow, this movie was dumb.  I only laughed once or twice, mainly at the pooping/vomiting part.  The whole movie was trying way to hard to be funny, or at least that's what it felt like to me.  It had so much potential and I was really disappointed.  And for having all those SNL ladies acting (and most likely writing) it, I was semi-surprised at the lack of humor.  Not too surprised, though, because, let's face it: SNL isn't that funny anymore.

Twilight- DVR.  FX premiered Twilight the other day and I set the DVR to record it.  Something to do on a rainy day and I've been meaning to buy the books (when I get some money).  I liked it.  Again, I like the Patterson guy who plays Edward (his name escapes me at the moment), but the story was cool.  Chris actually watched it with me and didn't complain.  We both like vampires and stuff along those lines.  The action was pretty sweet and it had some funny parts.  I might look into buying the books AND the movies some day.

The Twilight movie made me think of a book I haven't worked on in a while.  Maybe I'll resurrect that and work on it for NaNoWriMo.  It's funny; I wrote the book almost ten years ago but the story is kinda similar to Twilight.  Instead of vampires, it's ghosts.  Then again, there's no such thing as an original story.

Catching up on some reading!

I've read two books this weekend and I'm working on my third.  All by Tess Gerritsen, who I'm becoming to love.  But now comes the weird part: does anyone else, after a weekend of reading, suddenly start having an inner monologue/narration?  i.e.

I pull my Kia up the wrong side of the road (oh, my dad would kill me if he was in the car right now) as close as I can get to the weird neighbor's crotch rocket parked at an angle against the curb.  Why does she even still have that stupid thing out?  It's October.  I haven't seen her ride it since July!  Oh well.  Mr. Previously-a-cop-car-driving-Neighbor likes to park right at the edge of the alley so it makes parking (for me, anyway) on the other side of the alley a little harder.  Well, if you ask Chris, it's a driveway, even though it has a slope of almost 90 degrees...so I guess it doesn't make it a very good alley either.

Mom and Dad's van is gone.  That's weird.  It's a little after 8 on a Sunday.  When Dad goes to school, he usually takes the Subaru.  Maybe they went to visit Great Aunt Verna in the nursing home. Probably.  I look up at our small, rented house.  Chris doesn't have the porch light or inside light on.  Only the $5 lighted skull decoration we bought at Walmart greets me.  Our neighbor has lights, wind chimes, and a huge blow-up black cat that turns in head back and forth.  What do we have to celebrate Halloween?  A lighted skull.  I don't care, I'm still proud of it. 

I can see the glow from the TV through the shut screen door.  Chris has the front door open for fresh air.  I head up the steps, hiking my jeans up as I go; remembering the horrid days we moved in last March.  I'm sure the whole neighborhood got to see my various underwear choices that week.  I could not keep my pants up going up and down those steps. Cold pizza, dirty paper plates, and red plastic cups greet me as I walk through the door.  Chris is in his usual spot: the recliner.  He's holding Baby and she greets me with squinty eyes.

Anyone else go through this?  All day, I've been narrating and talking to myself.

Err..

Well, we did end up having water in our basement.  I called the landlord today and asked if he had a dehumidifier that we could use; he didn't, but he went out and bought one.  It's running right now; hopefully it'll take out the musty smell the basement has.  We might have to take the piece of carpet out that's down there; I'm afraid it's going to get mildewed.

I went for my second step TB test yesterday.  The nurse asked me if she should get an ice pack ready, 'cause of what happened last time, lol.  I told her, no, I'd be ok.  I just can't look at it.  It's so gross!  A gross bump under your skin....ew.

Everyone at work is finding out that I wrote a book.  I didn't want it to get out.  There's always a thousand questions: what's it about, who's it written for, is it a kids' book.  Kids' books.  Ha!  Anyone could write those...well, maybe not.  We had an assignment once in history class (I think, I can't remember too well) to write a historical children's story.  Then we had to trade papers with someone and critique their work.  I forget what mine was about, probably pilgrims or something.  The girl I traded with, however, wrote this semi-love story about Indians wherein the main guy character dies and she describes his blood spilling into a puddle of water.  I immediately handed it back to her like, "Um, Brandy...this is supposed to be for little kids."  She didn't see what the problem was.

I'm already planning a vacation for next summer.  Well, it won't really be a vacation; it'll be our honeymoon since Chris and I haven't had one yet.  I would really like to go to the beach, but Gatlinburg, TN sounds good, too.  I really enjoyed it when I was down there.

The time has come...

...for me to lose weight.  Chris and I were babysitting last night and he called me into the bathroom.

"Step on this," he said, pointing to a scale.
"Um, ok."  I step on it.  "Wow, it's reading, like, fourteen pounds heavier than it should."
"I'm sure." 

I'm getting dangerously close to the weight I never wanted to be at.  The weight where I would force myself to stop eating.  The time has come.  I need to start eating like I did when I was married to my first husband: never.  I wasn't allowed.  We ate when he wanted to eat and what he wanted to eat and if I wanted a Tasty Kake, he'd give me greif.  DARN YOU, CHRISTOPHER, FOR NOT BEING AN ASSHAT!

Just kidding.  I looked into Weight Watchers again; holy balls, is that expensive.  I glanced at the Nutrisystem website.  Even with $100 off it's $300 for a month's worth of food.  Sensa was something else that caught my eye, but their "free trial" doesn't sound so free; it's $80 for a 60 day supply after the "free" is done.

Suddenly, I can't stop thinking about the candy bars in my lunch box.  Well, I'm not going to waste them!

Maybe this will help me write more.  Do you think I can "write" the hunger away?  Me either.