This is torture...

I hate Daylight Savings Time. Spring forward, my ass. It's like "stumble forward, groggy from the lack of sleep." But I guess that wouldn't fit very well on the little calendar square. : ) I always stay up too late on Sundays as it is and last night because of the time change was even worse. Most people kind of pooh-pooh the idea that it makes that big of a difference, but I think I once read an article, like a million years ago, that said more car accidents take place the week following a time change. I miss Indiana : ) For those who don't know, Indiana, or parts of it, stubbornly refuses to cave to peer pressure from all the "cooler" states who do this arbitrary loss/gain of an hour. *sigh* But at least this means it will still be light by the time I get home!

Other stuff:

-Weird thing happened to me on the way home from work on Friday. Sitting at an intersection, I saw sparks falling from a power line across the street. Eeek. I thought about calling someone, but I had one bar of battery left on my cell and I didn't know the direct number for the power company. And I'm extremely leery of calling the police on something like that. I don't want them ticked at me for calling them on something that's not really their territory. But then, as I'm driving on, feeling guilty about not doing SOMETHING, I realize that I have an old ComEd bill in my car. The very bill I used to jot down ideas for this blog. So, I did have their direct number. How weird is that?!? So, I made the call and the woman said they'd send trucks.

-I should never, ever read reviews for The Silver Spoon when I'm writing new stuff. Not everybody's going to like my book or the way I write, and I'm good with that. There are some very popular authors that I don't like to read. Doesn't mean they're bad, just not my style. It's all just opinion. And yet, it causes a major crisis of self-esteem and writing ability when I stumble across one of these reviews directed at my book. Ick. But here's the thing. I have to remember I'm writing for myself, first. Everybody else comes second to that. Sounds selfish, right? Except if I'm not entertained by what I'm doing, then I have the hunch that no one else will be, especially any potential critics. I do it for myself, because I love it. And that's the best reason : )

-April is going to be an insanely busy month. I'm going to speak to a church group about my book this coming Sunday. I'm a little nervous about this, as some parts of my book are possibly not really church-friendly, depending on how you look at it. My theory has always been God knows exactly what's going on anyway, so why do we try to pretend?

Then this week, I expect to get the short fiction entries for Valpo's Wordfest literary contest. I'm a judge again this year! I'm so excited to get the packet and start reading. It's so interesting to see what they've come up with, creatively.

On April 14, I'm speaking at Valpo to a group of Creative Writing students and then doing a reading to a larger audience, I believe. Here's a link to check it out. Kind of fun to see my book featured like this!

Then starting on April 26, I'm beginning my roadtrip down to St. Louis for the Romantic Times Booklovers' Convention. Dude. So many of my favorite authors are going to be there! Laurell K. Hamilton, Kelley Armstrong, MaryJanice Davidson, Charlaine Harris, Kim Harrison, M. J. Rose, and Linnea Sinclair. And that's just a few! I'll be participating in the book fair, which I think is open to the public. Basically, fans can come in and buy books and get them signed. So there will be little old me, sitting with all these famous authors. Oh, yeah, I already feel like throwing up. Plus, the convention runs for nearly a week. And it's rumored to be...wild. Costume balls, theme parties...so not my thing. I'm just such a darn introvert. But I'll bring a couple of my basic black dresses and then maybe I can go to the costume ball as "the quiet one nobody knows"! I will provide you guys with a full and accurate travel report, I promise. Here's a link if you want to see all the names of the authors attending the book fair.

Guess that's about it except...
-Season finale of Battlestar Galactica had a major "holy sh*t" moment in the last five minutes. Now I have to wait until July to find out what happens next!!! No more Battlestar Galactica Fridays for three months--that sucks! On the other hand, they will, I believe, be rerunning the mini-series that started the new series sometime this month on SciFi Channel. So be sure to check it out, if you want to know why I'm always freaking babbling about this show. It's SOOOO good. : )

-Read an excellent book this weekend, The 37th hour by Jodi Compton. One of the best books I've read this year. Okay, as I was getting the link for you guys, I happened to notice that not all the reviewers agreed with me. Some even gave it one star. So, you'll have to check it out for yourselves. There's a sample chapter, if you follow the link I gave you. (Beck, I think this is one you would enjoy.)

But I really, really liked it. Some of the writing was a little rough in some spots. Mainly when she was trying to attribute a thought to the main character. Instead of just doing it this way: "He was handsome in that nerdy, Bill Gates-sort of way." (Italics usually indicate interior thought in modern novels). The author did it this way: "He was handsome in that nerdy, Bill Gates-sort of way, I thought." The "I thought" is kind of bumpy and unnecessary, but a minor sin all things considering. By the way, that is not a real quote from the book. I made it up to illustrate my point, so don't hold that against the book! This was the first book in a long time where I immediately wanted the next book in the series. In fact, I went out and bought it today at lunch. Hardcover and everything. Actually, it kind of makes me feel better to see those one-star reviews on a book I enjoyed, reminds me that what I wrote above is true!