Tuesday, January 30, 2012

It's been a roller coaster ride lately.  What?  Oh, my life of course.  Right after I posted about everything being back on track with my writing and the gym, things went nuts.  My dad put his car in the shop and I ahd to become his driver, my husband had eye surgery and can't drive, and now my mom (who has pancreatic cancer and just finished her Chemo and Radiation) has pneumonia.  Not good.  Not good at all.

On top of that, I have revisions due.  However, for some bizarre reason, in the middle of yesterday's craziness (we didn't know what was wrong with my mom), the new ending for my book occurred to me.  And I wrote/revised like a fiend.  I'm about 20 pages from the end, with a lot more to cut and more to write (trying to keep the word count where it needs to be).  So far I've cut over 8000 words (40 pages) and written more than that.  On the plus side, this story is a LOT stronger.  On the minus side, I haven't been able to work on my Nocturne that's due 3-1. 

Off the wall question - why is it when I finally quit the day job and become a full time writer, my life goes insane? 

Ah well.  My husband is healing well - we went to the doctor's yesterday.  He just needs to be patient.  I programmed my father's GPS so he can always find his way home.  And my mom is on strong antibiotics so hopefully she'll make a full recovery.  Whew. 

Now I just need to finish these revisions and I'm golden!

Random Thursday 1-26-2012

It's been nearly a week since I posted on this blog - my humble apologies.  Between revisions and my dad's car being in the shop and my husband's eye surgery and subsequent doctor appointments, I've barely been able to work, never mind post.

The good news is I'm nearly finished with the revisions.  Hopefully, please God, fingers crossed.  I'm rewriting the ending and then I've got to read it through and pray it makes sense.  Once I get it off via email to the editor, I can go back to work on the Nocturne that's due 3-1 (and probably will be late.  I hope not, because that causes a boomerang effect on the books following it, but we'll see.)

So it's back to work for me.  Hopefully, I'll resume regular posting when life gets back to normal.

Friday, January 20, 2012

I'm still working on revisions.  It's funny how when I (or any writer) writes a story, it's like an intricate web.  Each scene and sequel is connected.  Every action has a reaction.  So when you go in and add stuff, it's like tossing a rock into a calm lake - the ripples go out forever. 

So far I've added a couple of characters and some incidents.  All of these have far-flung consequences, turning a simple addition into a major rewrite.  And, despite having worked EVERY SINGLE DAY on this since the end of December, I'm not yet done.  Thank God the editor gave me 4-6 weeks.  Because it would appear that I'm going to need every second of that time. 

That said, it's Friday - my absolute favorite day of the week.  Now that Libby (see previous post) is six months old, it's time to start the leash training part of her training.  She'll learn how to heel and the all-important recall.  She already knows sit and we've been half-assed working on down, but that needs a lot of work.  Also scheduled in the near future - she will be getting spayed.  Poor baby.

I started testing out my walking by doing laps around the pool.  Yesterday I did 1000 extra steps without any pain.  Thanks to one of my favorite bloggers - One Twenty-Five - I've downloaded the free app Lose It for my phone.  And found out I can only have 1356 calories a day if I want to lose weight.  For two days now I've been dutifully logging food and exercise and - drum roll - I've already dropped a pound.  I need to shed the ten (yes TEN) pounds I picked back up after losing them last year.  And I will.  I'm done procrastinating. 

Speaking of which (who knew I was such a procrastinator), I'd better get back to revising. 

Thursday, January 19, 2011

Some of you faithful readers will remember back in September, I got a new Boxer puppy.  Her name is Liberty Bell.  She just turned six months old.

She went from this

To this

 From this

To this

Right now she's all legs and gangly.  But she's growing into the beautiful dog she will become. 

And we love her.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

I'm BAAAACCCKKK!

Or at least it's starting to feel that way.  Yesterday I went to the gym for the second time this week.  In addition to cardio on the exercise bike and elliptical, I did some machines and free weights.  Nothing too strenuous as I didn't want to stress my poor, lazy-ass muscles.  But still.  It felt wonderful.  Absolutely wonderful. 

Something funny - and nice - my former personal trainer texted me because he hadn't seen me at the gym in forever and was worried all the work I'd put in was going to be for nothing.  He offered to write me up some workouts free of charge.  I got this text on my way out the door to the gym.  I need to thank him, because that is really nice of him.

Bonus points for me - I might have talked my dad, who is 80 and in horrible shape, into getting the free Silver Sneakers gym membership and coming up once a day to walk on the treadmill.  Slowly, of course, but some exercise is better than nothing.  He doesn't own a pair of sneakers and can't tie laces anymore, but I found him some Dr. Scholls at Famous Footwear with velcro closures, so we're going to try those on this afternoon.  That would be great for him - he can get out and also get a little bit of exercise. 

The revisions are coming along nicely and I got word yesterday that the title has changed slightly to THE COP'S MISSING CHILD.  Still cute and catchy, yes?

Anyway, on The Facebook, several readers expressed interest in doing a Painting With A Twist event with me.  So far I've got five people, plus me and my daughter.  I need to get more so I can schedule a private showing, so if you think you'd like to do this in Grapevine, Texas on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon in February, shoot me an email at KWhiddon1@aol.com.  Put Painting With A Twist in the subject line.  Here's me from another time, with my masterpiece .

And the finished product

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

I'm listening to The Band Perry and writing, loving life.  Earlier today, I purchased a Long Term Care policy, ensuring that my daughter will not have to make any difficult decisions when I get old.  I saw very clearly the need for this with all I went through with my Dad and his wife.

I got my Rita books today.  For those of you who aren't writers, every year Romance Writers of America has a contest for published books, kind of like the Oscars for movies.  They're called the Ritas.  Everyone who enters has to judge another category.  I got my books today and have already started to read them (at lunch.)  I always find this exciting as sometimes I discover a new author to love. 

A cold front finally blew in and I watched the outside temp drop 20 degrees in the space of a few hours.  I'm actually glad - it IS January after all.  This 70-80 degree stuff is just WRONG! 

I went back to the gym yesterday for the first time in what felt like forever - I think nearly two months since I started physical therapy.  I found to my surprise that I didn't want to go, but I forced myself and I'm glad I did.  I only did a half hour of cardio (exercise bike and elliptical - my ankle won't allow much more).  Easing back into it.  Today I'm going to do some weights.  I need to get back on the ball. 

And with that, I'll bid you adieu for now.  Back to revisions. 

Monday, January 16, 2012

Another Monday rolls around and once again, I'm reminded that I have the absolute best job in the world.  Every single day, I get to create worlds and people and love.  What could be better?

I'm also finally at peace with my ankle.  I did a bunch of on-line reading and learned I've been too impatient.  Healing this type of problem takes time, even up to six months.  And while I don't have unlimited funds and can't do physical therapy for too much longer, the therapist is working with me and gave me exercises to do at home.  I go one time this week and then I might just check in periodically.  I'm not making any rash decisions about surgery.  In fact, I've ordered a couple more braces and am going to try them out as well.

I'm sitting at my desk sipping coffee with cinnamon and feeling quite lucky and happy.  Getting ready to face another week of revising The Cop's Missing Baby.  This story is going to be so much stronger once I get done!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Hi.  Me again.  Sorry I've been MIA.  I've been sort of busy - planning a wake and a buriel, helping my father with various legal and medical issues.  I've taken him to the eye doctor and gotten new glasses ordered, and am waiting on the new Texas insurance card to get him in for a physical.  I've also taken my dog to the vet and kept attending physical therapy for my ankle. 

I'm a bit frustrated there.  I do what I'm supposed to.  I diligently do the exercises, wear the brace, and take care not to put too much stress on the ankle.  Yet - and this has been since June that I hurt it and October since I started wearing the boot cast - I still have a lot of pain and occasional swelling.  At physical therapy, every time they try to advance me to the next set of exercises, the pain stops it cold.  My therapist doesn't want me working through the pain - he says that will do too much damage.  So I'm supposed to stop when it hurts.  End result, while I'm a tiny bit better than I was when I started, not enough to justify the cost (over 1k so far).  I see my podiatrist on Jan 24th and will discuss options with him.  I'm still not sold on the surgical implant he wants to do in my foot. 

My husband is still having eye issues - his glaucoma is bad in one eye and it looks like he's going to have to do the surgery.  He had one kind of laser surgery on that eye, tried all kinds of drops and medications, but the pressure is still 40 and there are days when he's in a lot of pain. 

In between all this, I've been working on the massive revisions for my next HRS.  They are truly awesome and make the story a hundred times stronger, but they are time consuming and incredibly detailed, requiring one hundred percent of my writing time.  All writing has virtually stopped on the Nocturne which is due March 1st.  Ah well, looks like I'll be writing my arse off on that come February. 

Today it's sunny and supposed to be warm before a cold front blows in tomorrow.  Quite a far cry from last years snow and ice. 

Friday, January 5, 2011

It's Friday and hopefully today I'll be able to work at my writing job all day for the first time in what feels like forever.  I have a blog to write for another web site, I've got five books that I had formatted for Smashwords to put up on that site, and revisions to work on.  A full day.   I'm on my second cup of coffee and hoping I can get a lot done before I have to go to physical therapy for my ankle later this afternoon.

Wish me luck!

January 4, 2012 Wednesday

Well, the last time I posted it was 2011.  A lot has happened since then, first and foremost, my father's wife passed away on January 2nd.  I've been attending to family, trying to do a bit of writing when I can (far too infrequently), and dealing with mini-crisis after mini-crisis. 

Hopefully, soon everything will settle down and I'll be back.