Hey, it's me again...

Thanks to everyone who commented, either here or on the livejournal version of my blog, about my writing dilemma. It really helped. I've not abandoned that project but definitely set it aside for the time being. I have plenty to do with the sequel to The Silver Spoon in terms of giving it a final edit and getting it ready for publication--soon, I hope.

I think part of my problem is I've been down a little lately. It's been hard knowing that The Silver Spoon is out of print (or will be shortly), and I'm getting ready to head into the new year without a new book available or even the first one in print again. I worked so hard to get to that point, and it feels like I'm just sliding slowly backward. I know that's not the case, but it's frustrating because I just want to make SOME progress somewhere, you know? It feels hard to justify the time and angst I put into this without some result. And I know that's dumb because the work itself is the result. So maybe it's not the results but the feeling of going backward. I don't want to write just to get something published--I want to write because I love the story and somehow I feel like I'm losing that. Or maybe it's just that the way I measure success has changed. Now instead of just writing a story that I love, I want it to be a story I love that is also publishable. I mean, I'm still writing the story I love, but that is no longer the single qualification for it. Is that wrong? I don't know.

Uck, my head is such a mess right now. : ) Some of it, I think, is because I have so little time these days. So I feel all this pressure that I have to accomplish something significant everyday because otherwise I'm not going to make any progress anytime soon. That's a stupid idea, obviously, because it's just a little bit everyday that makes a difference. See what I mean, messy head here, all the time!

Anyway, done with the whining.

Fun Stuff:
-Read a great YA novel called Glass Houses by Rachel Caine. I have a couple of YA ideas, and this is a great example of what I hope to do.

-Love that Carrie Underwood song, "Before He Cheats." I'm so not a country fan, at all. (Even though this one is listed as pop, it is definitely country, in my opinion). But the lyrics are awesome, and it's great example of how specificity really adds to the quality of the writing. With writing stories, we're always told to be more specific because it helps paint a better word picture. It's the difference between "an old car" and "a 1982 powder blue Chevy impala with rust patches on the passenger side door and a sticky patch on the dashboard where a Virgin Mary statue once reigned supreme."

Here, to the best of my ability to figure them out, are the lyrics to "Before He Cheats":

Verse One:
Right now, he's probably slow dancing with a bleached blond tramp and she's probably getting frisky. Right now, he's probably buying her some fruity little drink cause she can't shoot whiskey. Right now, he's probably up behind her with a pool stick, showing her how to shoot a combo...and he don't know...

Chorus:
I dug my key into the side of his pretty, little souped-up four wheel drive, carved my name into his leather seats. I took a Louisville Slugger to both headlights, slashed a hole in all four tires. Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.

Verse Two:
Right now, she's probably up singing some white-trash version of Shania karaoke. Right now, she's probably saying, "I'm drunk," and he's a-thinking that he's gonna get lucky. Right now, he's probably dabbing on three-dollars worth of that bathroom Polo. Oh, and he don't know that...

Chorus:
I dug my key into the side of his pretty, little souped-up four wheel drive, carved my name into his leather seats. I took a Louisville Slugger to both headlights, slashed a hole in all four tires. Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.

I might have saved a little trouble for the next girl...cause the next time that he cheats, oh, you know it won't be on me...no, not on me. Cause...

Chorus:
I dug my key into the side of his pretty, little souped-up four wheel drive, carved my name into his leather seats. I took a Louisville Slugger to both headlights, slashed a hole in all four tires. Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats. Oh, maybe next time he'll think before he cheats.

Love it!!! And to think I might have missed it because I don't (or didn't) like country. Dude. : )