My novel

Thank you to all of you have waited with baited breath for...well, for too long. I must confess, it took a deadline to jumpstart the editing process. A deadline that is, in fact, quite scary and way too soon.

Let me explain.

While visiting the NaNoWriMo site yesterday, I found this link. My heart started palpitating and my breath caught in my throat. Then I visited gather.com, the host site for this contest, and I read the rules, and my excitement grew. I also read parts of the first chapters of some of the entries. The ones I read (which, admittedly, were only two out of probably a few hundred or so) were...ahem...well...they were boring. (Again, I only read two.)

People, I am going to submit my story to a national contest, with the hopes of winning $5000 and a book contract. (Winces in fear of what this means.) The deadline for submitting is March 15th. (Winces again in fear of what this means.) This is my NaNoWriMo, part 2. I essentially have one month to complete and edit my story. It makes me very, very scared. And, to be honest, it motivates the fire out of me. I guess that that in itself has huge value. Even if I don't make it past the first round, at least I will have finished this darn story.

So, to that end, I read and lightly edited chapters 1-3 yesterday. (I told you deadlines do something to me.) I have also made my NaNo blog private. I've been getting nervous about my story being out there for all to see (or steal) for so long. If you would like an invite, please leave a comment or email me and I will send you one.

Let me be clear--you should not expect any new installments on the story for at least a week. As part of getting back into the writing mode, I'm reading the story all the way through, since I haven't done that. (I haven't read my own story!) And, as I am an editor by nature, "reading" my story involves more than just reading. Which is good, I think, but it does take a while. I'll notify you when I've posted a new chapter on the novel blog.

Until then, you all need to go to gather.com and become members so that you can vote for my story when I submit it. The voting is done by "rating" a story from 1-10, so you can "vote" honestly.

A little scary

I have gmail. When I read an email, google helpfully (or not) pulls up "related" websites and links them on the right side of my screen. I found this link when reading an innocuous, completely non-political email from Jackson (although, maybe my computer somehow knew about his comment on this post and made the connection. AI, man, AI.) This book scares me. Check out the sample pages. I had to laugh out loud. To be so convinced that a political party (ANY political party) has all the answers to the world's problems is just beyond me, but to write a children's book based on that belief? For once, I have to agree with Rush Limbaugh's assessment. Also, to me, this is just another example of how screwed up our political system is. We talk about middle ground, and about how much could be accomplished if we come together, but as long as we are SO polarized based on the NAME of our political party (because, after all, this book isn't really about values, it's about a particular party), no middle ground will really be achieved. And that is sad.

TO CLARIFY: if the book were titled "Why Mommy is a Republican", I would be just as freaked out by it. Truly.

Rubies and diamonds and such

I was going to share this the day that it happened, but, you know, I didn't. I was cleaning out my "My Documents" folder today (don't ask--I get fits of random organizational angst, but only for things that don't matter) and found this. (From some time in December, when Noah was sick.)

Aaron: Are you sick?
Noah: Yes.
Aaron: What hurts?
Noah: (Scans his body, as if assessing the damage, looking here and there, and finally, catching sight of a three-day-old scratch on his hand, replies,) My finger.
Aaron: Your finger hurts? Do you want me to kiss it?
Noah: Yes. (Offers up hand for obligatory boo-boo kiss.)
Aaron: Has mama been giving you medicine?
Noah: Yes.
Aaron: What did she give you?
Noah: (Thinks for a moment.) Milk.

And, some repeats, because they make me laugh.

Chloe: Mom, can I have a paper towel?
me: Sure … wait. Why do you need a paper towel?
Chloe: Halle has one!
me: Yes, but why do you need one?
Chloe: I need to put it on top of my cup.
me: You need to …what? Why?
Chloe: So it doesn’t spill!

Chloe was playing that she had died in a volcano accident. She was killed by the “hot llama”.

We had two Kirby vacuum cleaner guys come in our house to sell us a vacuum cleaner. I had no intention of buying, but he said he’d clean part of my house – like I’m gonna turn that down! The girls were just enthralled with the whole presentation, but Halle had some questions.
Halle: Mom, why did those guys come to our house yesterday?
me: Well, they were trying to sell us that vacuum cleaner.
Halle: Why? Because they didn’t want it?

Chloe said Halle had her arms around Chloe’s neck. Halle insisted this wasn’t true, that she’d had her arms straight out to her sides. So I asked how Chloe’s neck had gotten red, and Halle replied, “I don’t know, maybe it’s hot outside”.