As I’ve mentioned before, I put a hold on Dani’s story because I’m still in a bit of limbo over where the first one is at. I have one hell of a time writing the second in a series (even if it stands alone) when the fate of book one is unknown. I’m debating some sweeping changes to book one now based on some feedback I received recently, but I still have some outstanding submissions out there, and with everything else going on, it just isn’t a priority.

Then there’s the pararom I started. I’m moving on it, but it’s not sold. It’s not a guaranteed sale (or even a hint thereof), so there’s no pressure to finish it.

The only one giving me deadlines at this point in my career is me. On the one hand, it’s incredibly freeing. If one project is giving me fits, I don’t have to push through to get it done. Hell, I can set it aside for a while if I need to. But on the other hand, there’s no one pushing me for more which is a little terrifying. It’d be so easy to just flit around, only finishing stuff when my muse was feeling particularly frisky, but that’s not what an author does.

So, I’m back to imposing my own deadlines. Line edits for Badlands are due before the end of the month. If possible, I want them turned in next week. There’s a call at Decadent for holiday stories, due by the end of October. I’m jumping on that with both feet. And since I want to start fresh for NaNo, I’m going to make myself finish the pararom by the end of October as well. I’d prefer sooner, but with two things to work on, I don’t want to stress myself out too much (and I’d prefer to get the holiday one in early). Oh, and I want to get plot points done for my NaNo project (I already have character info, so I’m good to go there).

That’s an estimated 40-50k that I need to write by Halloween, and a good chunk of that will need to be edited, go to betas, and be edited again. It’s not NaNo speed, but it’s still a lot. The thing is, if I can pull this off, then NaNo shouldn’t be so hard. It’ll be a fresh project and one I’m really excited about.

So basically, you heard it here, I am self-imposing deadlines. Badlands edits in by next week. Untitled holiday story done and revised to submit by Halloween at the latest. Pararom done by October 31 as well, and 50k+ words on the NaNo project by the end of November.

Spill it. Do you give yourself deadlines? Does someone else? If you have any right now, what are they?  Come on, people, make me feel better about mine.

Back then we still had naptime in kindergarten. People randomly brought in snacks loaded with sugar, and no one worried about the peanut content of anything. Mom drove me to and from school every day because we lived too far for her to let me walk, but too close for the bus. We lived roughly a mile from the school. Looking back, I wish I could remember how many kids actually rode the bus. I don’t think it was a lot.

It’s now 2010 and times have changed a lot. My son had a girl in his class last year who lived half-way down a street a block away from the school who rode the bus. Some classrooms are removing anything other than fruits and veggies from the approved snack list because of allergies. Holiday parties and birthdays are going to be far different than anything we were used to growing up. I’m not saying it’s worse or better, just different. But don’t get me started on the homework thing LOL.

Even though we went and checked out her class yesterday, today is my daughter’s first real day of kindergarten. She’s going to get on the bus in a few short hours and set off on the next stage of growing up. It’s a little surreal. Part of me wants to drive her because the bus just seems like too big a step. Then I remember that I let my son take the bus and he was younger when he started than she is now. And I seriously doubt there will be tears, or if there are they’ll be mine.

She isn’t the shy, quiet kid I was back in the day (and still am depending on the situation). Nope, my little girl will be the one diving right in and doing her thing. She’ll talk to anyone and everyone, and I’m pretty sure if they decide they don’t want to talk to her, she’ll shrug it off. As much as I love that about her, her attitude and stubbornness are going to make other parts of school a challenge for her. I fully anticipate several calls from her teacher.

Once those start rolling in, my tears over my baby growing up will disappear, and I’ll have to remind myself that the very nature that is getting her in trouble now will serve her well later in life. Because the same little girl who mentally tells jerks to screw off starting in kindergarten is less likely to let them break her heart when she’s a teenager. And the one who argues with the teacher now is the one who will buck convention and change the world.

Then again, she did mention a couple months back that she wanted to be an evil genius when she grew up.

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Yeah. I’m in trouble.

Summer television season is winding down, which means I’m losing Leverage, Warehouse 13, Eureka, and White Collar soon (along with a bunch of other shows, but those are my summer faves). While I wish they weren’t going off the air just yet, I am excited about the new fall season. And as much as it leaves my husband groaning, Vampire Diaries starts this week!

To be totally fair, I haven’t read the books. Yet. I have the first two in my TBR pile, but I’ve been warned that the show doesn’t really follow the books and I fear how that will affect my enjoyment. I mean, I love Bones, but because the characters in the books are so different, I just couldn’t get into reading them. I would hate to have that happen with Vampire Diaries.

My husband, on the other hand, would be elated. He can’t get past the angst in the show and spends the forty minutes every time I watch (we DVR everything) rolling his eyes and making sarcastic comments. He would love it if I read the books and they made me give up on the show, but you know what? I LOVE Damon.

It isn’t really an Ian Somerhalder thing. When he played Boone on Lost, I could’ve taken or left him. So, it isn’t that I think he’s OMG Hawt! But he plays the character of Damon with so much relish and depth that he leaves the rest of the cast in the dust. If it wasn’t for him, I probably wouldn’t bother with the show. And I’m more a shifter girl than a vamp girl. I openly admit that though I’ve watched True Blood, none of the vamps appeal to me. And I’ve pretty much always been that way. Brad Pitt and Antonio Banderas were great in Interview with the Vampire, but I didn’t swoon for them.

It’s just Damon.

And when I examine him carefully, even I don’t get the appeal. He is the angstiest one of the bunch, and while he’s got great definition, he’s skinny–like breakable skinny. (Ian, if you’re reading this, there’s absolutely no offense intended there.) There’s no logical reason for my attraction.

Except for the fact that I love a bad boy, especially one who seems deep enough to be redeemable. *swoon*

Plus, he has all of the best lines on the show. Sarcastic responses FTW

Yet in the past week, I’ve heard tell of others who just don’t seem to get it.

In one case, an editor of an online magazine went off on an author when she expected him to stick to the contract she’d signed. The editor went so far as to call her not only an ingrate, but a bitch as well.

Seriously? That’s unacceptable from anyone, much less a person in a position of power. I, for one, will never sub to any magazine I know is affiliated with him. This particular editor wins the asshat of the week award.

The other case was an author with one publication credit to her name getting all up in arms because her next submission to the same publisher wasn’t snatched up right away. She was asked to make some basic level revisions, you know, the kind of thing that would get most people a form rejection. And she whined about it.

Now I don’t know, maybe that actually works for some people. Maybe some fledgling authors can bitch and whine about revisions and the work they’re expected to do and get away with it. Maybe they sell like hotcakes and publishers will put up with them because they are cash cows. But that just isn’t reality for 99% of authors. You wanted this career. Out of everything you could be doing with your life, you chose this. If you’re too good for the work, get out and make room for someone who would love to be in your shoes.

Having said all that, I know most people in the business aren’t jerks. Just this week I received amazing feedback from an editor who could have much more easily sent me a form rejection. I’ve received invaluable information from editors and agents that had nothing to do with anything I’ve subbed. Other authors bend over backwards for each other. I see this every day. Those are the people who make being the business worth it. They’re the ones who make it fun.

As solitary as writing is, this business is still a lot about people, and when you’re dealing with others, your attitude really is everything. Check your baggage at the door and show up to work with a smile on your face. Remember, you’re supposed to be here because you love it.

Looking at that as an adult, it’s a horrible message. This is your place in life, don’t even try to better yourself. (Very Animal Farm.) Having said that, a lot of television shows for kids have that sort of pecking order. Good, bad, or indifferent, it’s there.

But…

Scooby Doo has changed. I’m not sure if it happened in the wake of the live action movies or if the changes were in place before hand, but it isn’t the same show people of my generation grew up with. It’s almost as if people looked at the show and picked and chose which parts could stay. I can almost understand abandoning the “guy in a costume trying to scare people away” in favor of actual monsters. After all, it’s a new generation, and quite frankly the real life monsters kids have to worry about now are a hell of a lot scarier than vampires and ghosts. So I get that. What I don’t understand is the changes they made to the characters. Freddy and Velma aren’t so very different from how they used to be. Freddy is still the rather arrogant leader, and Velma is still the smart & nerdy one.

Then there’s Daphne. She’s supposed to be the beautiful damsel in distress, but somewhere along the way, she stopped being the one that always screwed up and got caught. Because apparently it’s still okay to be smart and nerdy, but not okay to be beautiful and clumsy or stupid.

And what the hell happened to Shaggy and Scooby? This isn’t a big thing, but … vegetarians? WTF? If they were always vegetarians, what the hell was the stuff that looked like meat that they grabbed out of random refrigerators and piled on their sandwiches? And if it’s a change, um, why? It doesn’t make them funnier.

Someone please fill me in. Why the changes? And do you think they really make the messages in the show any better?

• Fitness — I’ve done a ton of walking here in Toronto (as my poor feet can attest), but I haven’t even tried to stick to my diet. Kind of dreading getting on the scale once I’m home.
• The Devil You Know — Got some rather detailed feedback and I’m strongly considering a re-write. It’ll have to wait until after I’m done with the draft of the current project though.
• Badlands — Since my editor and I will both be back from our trips today, odds are I’ll hear back about the revisions I did within the next couple of weeks, so everything is on track there.
• When Angels Fall — (aka Dani’s story) Happily marinating on the shelf.
• New project —  I knew 30k was a little too optimistic considering everything that’s been going on. I’m at 24k and after I finish the beta I’m doing on the flight home, I should be free and clear to get back to work on it.
• The house/yard (non-writing obviously) — Um, I really hope my darling husband has kept this up as much as possible in my absence. I know he at least did the yard, so I don’t have to worry about that.
• Keep a positive attitude — Toronto was awesome — exactly what the doctor called for I think. Just hoping I can shift back into normal mode at home without too much trouble. To all the friends I got to see here this weekend: thanks for being wonderful. I love you and miss you already.

So, looking back, the summer wasn’t quite as productive as I hoped, but a lot still got done and I’m pretty happy about where I’m at. Next week starts a new feature on Mondays, and I might toss in a monthly update on the last Monday of the month.

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For those of you not in the know, Glee follows the story of a high school show choir and its members through the ups and downs of high school, including being social outcasts because of  their glee club status. The only group seemingly more reviled than the glee clubbers is the marching band.

*blink*

Now, don’t get me wrong, the cheerleaders still had their pick of guys at my high school, but cliques at my school weren’t quite so cut and dry. We had football players in show choir — and not because they were tricked into it. We had really smart guys on the football team. I was in both marching band and choir and I often hung out with cheerleaders. In fact, the cheerleaders at my school were some of our marching band’s biggest supporters (though that might have been because our football team was hit or miss in the best seasons). But one of the biggest things that pulls me out of my Glee love is that it’s so far removed from the reality that I knew in high school as well as from the reality I saw when teaching and what I hear my nieces and nephews talk about now.

Don’t get me wrong, cliques with dividing lines that dare not be crossed make for some great teen dramedy, but how real is it? And more than that, how real should it be? It isn’t present in most of the YA I read, but the majority of those stories don’t center around the mundane aspects of high school life (I read mostly paranormal, so school and extracurriculars take a back seat to vampires, werewolves and demons). It just seems like every time I see a film or TV show about such things, they rely on the cliche of very well-defined cliques.

Okay, now I’ve said for years that the high school I attended was pretty special, but considering how big this show is, I have to wonder if maybe it wasn’t more unique than I gave it credit for. What was your experience like in high school as far as this sort of thing?

• Fitness — Working out? What’s that? Yeah. I kind of fell off my exercise program, but on a high note I’ve been sticking to the diet for the most part (weekends are a bear).
• The Devil You Know — Pondering more queries on this now that con season is coming to a close, but needless to say it’ll probably wait until I’m back from my trip to Canada.
• Badlands — Sent the revisions back to my editor. Hopefully she’s happy with what I did.
• When Angels Fall — (aka Dani’s story) Happily marinating on the shelf.
• New project —  Managed to top 21k before edits came in. Planning to start working on it again tonight. Very optimistically hoping for 30k before I take off.
• The house/yard (non-writing obviously) — New carpet is all in, cleaning out closets, and all in all trying to streamline the house.
• Keep a positive attitude — Family stuff and friends going through rough times have brought me down a little, but I’m really looking forward to Toronto this week and getting together with some friends I haven’t seen in a long time.

A lot to do before I take off this week, so I should probably get to work

No, it isn’t fabulous, but it’ll do because we had nothing before.

Now onto the important stuff. I’m supposed to tell you five things I learned this past year.

1)    Do not fear failure. It’s taken a long time for rejections to stop stinging every time I get one, but it finally started happening this year. I’ve learned (for the most part) to get a rejection, shake it off and send more. I will say when I receive constructive feedback, I will apply it before sending more, but I still send more. If I don’t keep sending, I’ll never succeed. Giving up is the only sure road to failure.

2)    Write something new. I don’t mean this in the standard way of don’t sit on your hands while you’re querying/submitting. Twice in the past year, I’ve started follow-ups to the novel I had on submission, and both times getting words was way too akin to pulling teeth. So, at least for myself, I need to make sure I start something completely new. Words flow soooooo much better that way.

3)    Good beta readers are worth their weight in diamonds. Seriously, my betas are amazing. They know when to kick my ass and when to make me laugh and when I need someone to just say, “Keep going, you’re going to get there.” Hell, even now that I have a story out there for the world, one of my betas seems like she’s making it her mission to tell everyone she knows to buy Max’s story. <3

4)    Sometimes the story that didn’t work just needs to work a different way. For NaNo last year, I tried to write this space western. Loved the concept behind it, but it just didn’t work at all, so the first week of December I shelved it. Around March I pulled it back out and re-worked it as something else. The core story stayed the same, but I got rid of the whole other worlds thing in favor of something a bit more familiar. It ended up being the first thing I sold.

5)    The path you succeed on might not be the one you expected. My first completed novel was a fantasy romance (or fantasy with strong romantic elements depending on who you ask), but I didn’t think I had it in me to write romance, so I shifted to young adult. Someone pointed out that every story I wrote had a lot of romance in it. It drove me back to trying my hand at romance again to take a break while I was revising and subbing the YA. Both of my sales this summer were in romance. I’m not giving up on YA, but I’ve decided to embrace the romance. Maybe I did have it in me after all.

So there you have it. Those are the five things I learned this year. Now I get to tag three more people who have to do this. So, I want to send this on to PJ Schnyder, Janelle Alexander, and Ken McDaniel. You three are up. Spill it! What did you learn last year?

Honestly, in the 80s a lot of slang was what we referred to as “Valley Girl Speak”. One of my personal favorites is still “to the max”, more specifically “grody to the max”. As far as I know, people don’t generally use Valley Girl Speak, or at the very least, it’s no longer accompanied by the requisite alterations in vocal pitch.

This is a good thing.

On the other hand, come slang that originated in the 80s doesn’t seem to have disappeared from use. I’m pretty sure Bart Simpson still says “Eat my shorts” and “Don’t have a cow, man.” While I don’t hear the first in everyday usage very often, the second is still pretty common.

Others have evolved, which I love. Chill from the 80s has morphed into chillax.

So what slang words or phrases can you think of that are thankfully dead (to most people at least), still around in their same form, or have morphed into something new and fantabulous?