A Meerkat's Bolthole

 The revisions to FIXED are off for one last read before going back to Madame Micki. The production matter for MILES TO GO is ready and waiting only for cover art.  All of my editorial client files are up to date (one response still waiting to be sent), and the one last bit of freelance writing I need to do is underway. One might think that everything was totally under control...

Still in queue:

• looking over a possible collaborative project file, to see if it gels.
• revision notes for PROMISES TO KEEP 
• revision notes from M. Agent on two different projects
• sample pages to go with a new project
• sample pages to go with another project
• the "outtake" stories for the Kickstarter readers
• oh yeah right start writing G&T #3!
• get the pending short stories off the hard drive an into the marketplace mix
• getting website 3.0 up and running (also: the new dymk site)

Still waiting to hear back on:

• the artwork for MILES TO GO
• a possible new project that could shift my schedule AGAIN
• my travel schedule for the rest of the year

Meanwhile, after years of that side being very quiet, I've been headhunted not once but twice this month.  We Shall See.... 

So yeah, when I said that February was shaping up to be considerably busier than January?  Also, March. Maybe all of 2013.

I'm not fond of the "New Year's Resolutions" thing, but I'm trying to bring 2013 in with some new - or at least improved - habits.

1. Showering in the morning. This seems like such a little thing, but for the first thirty years of my life, I took a shower every morning. It was part of how I woke up - the application of hot water externally, to go with the internal, caffeinated intake. And then, slowly, as I freelanced, and sometimes didn't have to leave the house all day, the shower got shoved down on the list of priorities (especially when I was on a deadline). And there was nothing wrong with if I took my shower in the afternoon rather than the morning...

but I could feel that I wasn't always as sharp as I used to be, in the morning. Plus, hanging around in my sweats gave me a "whatever" mood, even when I was under deadline. And that wasn't good, when you consider that my prime writing hours are 8am-1pm.

Also, it limited me. If I knew I'd have to take my shower before I went out, then I had to factor that time in to my plans, which mean spur of the moment, wasn't. That was... irking me.

2. Read more. I read a lot - but I wasn't reading as many books as I wanted to - and it sure didn't seem like Mount TBR was getting any smaller! So I'm embracing Twitter's "Friday Read" with a passion and determination. And doing it publicly, to keep me honest.

This week's Friday Read is: Julie Czerneda's A TURN OF LIGHT (continuing) and Fred Vargas' AN UNCERTAIN PLACE. One fantasy, one mystery. Also: both by non-USAn authors, just as a datapoint.


3. File. Every damn week. This decision brought to you by the end-of-month filing I was doing last year and...no. Small bites = less of a stomachache. Or that's the plan, anyway.

4-5. TBD.

Anyone else out there taking advantage of the new year to Do Something Better?

The difference between being an adult, and being a grown-up (Grup):

A grown-up would never think of having the last half of a giant cupcake for breakfast.
An adult would discover that she enjoyed the cupcake more than the frosting.
om nom nom


Things Accomplished yesterday:

- wrote 2500 new words, to bring me within striking distance of the 1/4 manuscript mark. Yay.
- rejiggered portion of outline for Vineart 2 to flow from what actually ended up happening in Book 1 (as opposed to what I thought was going to happen).
- cleaned (yay!)
- filed (yay!)
- wrote checks out for The Taxes (decidedly Not Yay)
- prepped contest winner mailings.
- updated financials (ugh)
- exercised

Things Not Accomplished yesterday
- the last redlining of the draft of PoL

Things to Accomplish Today:

- Installation of kitchen countertops! (YAYYYY!)
Drat. Pushed back to tomorrow morning. *is sad*

oh, yeah, and some of that working stuff, too.
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Okay, I now hereby throw this post open for Castle-squeeing. Or, as we like to call him -- "Kitten."

( behind the cut for the DVR-enabled )