Procrastination is an art form....

...of which I seem to be a master. I can't even say that I don't have the idea in my head because I do - I have a rough outline of what I want to write, and approximately 1000 words already written. I just - can't seem to make myself write the next couple of thousand.

There's a deadline - 15th April - which is getting closer and closer, especially as I have to travel to take LM up to visit her grandparents; counselling appointments for LM; and hopefully visting family.

I've opened the word document, re-read what I've already written, pulled out the writing book with my notes - all set to get started. And now all I want to do is sleep, watch TV and read fanfic. It doesn't even need to be good fanfic - just pages and pages of something to focus on instead of writing.

Part of it is fear I think. The story is due out soon and I'm concerned about the reaction to it. I got seriously burned by Alien Christmas so can't help being anxious for this one. Add to that the fact that Silver Publishing is being taken over and I may never see the royalties from Alien Christmas - all of it just seems a bit overwhelming.

LM been screaming on and off for four hours because she was asked to sweep the (miniscule) hallway and I just want to put my head into a bucket of water and scream.

Hmmm, maybe it's not procrastination - maybe it's just plain old depression!

Second Edits and Mini Update

Very tired bunny here.

Today we went for the last part of MD's Christmas pressie - a make up and photo session for her and her alone. OMG, I wanted every single one of the piccies but I couldn't afford them.  They did her make up as 'glamourous' and I am going to be in SO much trouble when she decides to notice boys because she looked absolutely amazing!!

In the end, we managed to resist the sales pitch and just accept the two that were part of the package but it was seriously hard.  It also meant we didn't get home until after 10 p.m. which meant LM was hyper and way past her bedtime and me and MD are kinda zombie like.

So of course, I decided to do the second edits I received from Dreamspinner. I have found this set of edits much easier to deal with - whether it's because I wrote the story a long time ago (it was actually last September-ish time and I submitted it about three months early) so I have the distance to not take anything too personal, or I'm just better aware of what needs to be done to tighten a story up. Whatever it is, I've learnt a lot - I know about splices, how many Britishisms I use in my stories - I can recognise when I use the same word too many times. Yeah, definitely coping better. And of course I've already done them and sent them back.

I don't think it's that I'm not reading them properly or taking them seriously. I think it's just I can see quite clearly what they're saying, my brain seems happy to provide alternatives or explanations, so they whoosh by.  Whatever it is, I've more than made my 24th March deadline.

In other news, I bought a iPhone from eBay, at last using my birthday money. And typical of my luck, it was a complete dodo. The seller said the battery was on it's way out but that the phone worked fine. What they neglected to say was that the phone only works if it's plugged into a charger which hardly makes it 'mobile'. Cue a week of back and forth with seller, with them getting more and more irate with my refusal to accept the phone, calling me ignorant and accusing me of damaging the phone myself because I had changed my mind about wanting it.

It took a lot of walking away before replying so that I didn't get snotty back. I'm posting it back tomorrow and should get a full refund but have a case open with eBay just in case. And I found an alternative phone that comes with a year's warranty so hopefully that should be here tomorrow and I will finally have my birthday present.

I re-read the start of 'Good with his Hands' and am going to try to write it for the April 15th submission of 'Bears' at Dreamspinner. I've already completed my Taming the Muse for the week so time is free, apart from a parent meeting tomorrow morning about LM.

All in all, an interesting week - I've been a bit out of it in terms of light-headedness, feeling a bit sick, over-tired - but my back hasn't been too bad and my knees have stopped clicking although they are still swollen. God I sound like I should be put down!!

Overall a green day, and yeah me this makes two weeks of Atkins I've stuck to!! I think one of my chins is fading and I could sit down in my jeans without being cut in half so I shall see it as a success. Not quite the success of Kim Khardashian but not bad!

Over 4,000 words.....

.....and absolutely none of them were on the original WIPs they should have been. Sigh.

Of course, now I've finished both of my prompts for Taming the Muse, there is no reason why I can't work on something original now. So tomorrow, after I've finished the school run I am coming home and opening one of the WIPs - whether it be 'Good with his Hands', 'The Taming of Bren' or 'Anthemic'. Just - something original!!

First Edits Complete.....

I can't figure out if I'm an editor's worst nightmare or a teacher's pet?

Sorry been MIA - we moved from the house to the flat and it was pretty nightmarish. Squeezing a four bedroom house's contents to fit into a small three bedroom flat has not been fun and the car still has boxes shoved in it whilst my bedroom is a bit of an obstacle course of suitcases and boxes.

Last weekend we celebrated my Dad's birthday which was really cool - sat around and ate and talked for hours - but of course it meant we didn't spend enough time unpacking/cleaning that we should have, and everyone has been back to school this week so, yeah, it's all a bit of a mess.

My back is playing up, as are my hips and knees - all that time on my hands and knees scrubbing carpets at the old house - but all worth it as we are getting our full deposit back. (Round of applause and sigh of relief as it means I can repay some of the money we used to move). All of this means I'm not sleeping very well - 6.42 a.m and I haven't been to bed yet!

LM is being - well, difficult is probably the best word. She's just being really defiant and rude about everything, doing silly things that she knows will get her in trouble, that sort of thing. It's difficult as MD is as tired as I am and trying not to react but it's hard.

However, we finally managed to book MD in for her last Christmas present - a makeover, pamper and photography session. Four hours of being pampered and treated, followed by playing dress up and having photos taken - hopefully it will make her feel good, and of course it never hurts to have yet more pictures of my babies to put up on the wall.

And onward to editing news. Received my first set of edits for '2 weeks 6 days 2 long' today and sort of girded myself to want to cry, etc. I was offered some how-to sheets to make sure I knew what not to do with track changes, etc on Word which was really nice as it's all been self-taught up until now. Of course, me being me and pretty much awake, I decided to see what edits there were to do. It was actually quite painless - some were my use of formatting, some were Britishisms I use; some were me running sentences on. So I finished them and sent them back. Hence the starter question: teacher's pet or worst nightmare?

Because now I'm worried I did them too quickly and should have thought about them longer? And should I have made more comments about why I agreed/disagreed? Gah, sometimes being in a different time-zone is a real pain in the butt!  Of course, I can't take credit for how well edited the story was - that was all Silk-Labyrinth who went through it with her fine-tooth comb before I even submitted it last year. So I shall ensure I send my thanks her way instead of just preening and pretending I somehow managed to achieve that myself!!

So yeah, first edits complete and I agreed the blurb. As soon as I'm allowed, I'll put the proper blurb and picture up but you guys already know it cos I did the mini banner of the two guys on the poppies way back to last year.

And now that the first edits are over, maybe I should stop writing that Teen Wolf/BtVS crossover and try to write something original?! Ooh look, 6.50 a.m., time for bed!