M.J. Fredrick's Blog, page 82

Goals for the First Week with the Kids

You probably think I fell off the face of the earth! Thursday my cousin was in town to get his son from Lackland AFB, and we spent 3 hours catching up. I got home way past my bedtime. Friday was meet-the-teacher, but none of my parents came. I came home and crashed. Also, I got my revision letter on Road Signs, due in 3 weeks. We spent 3 hours today finishing the painting of my m-i-l's house. We just really need one more day. I slept until 9 this AM, and took a 3 hour nap! So I need to get...

Super Tuesday

Soooo….Monday night I emailed my Carina editor and when she responded, she said she was so excited about ROAD SIGNS, the book I'd sent her in July. I shot back an email with many caps and question marks, only to hear that other readers had liked it, and she'd email Angela James to see what the official status was.

I didn't sleep Monday night.

Tuesday morning before work–nothing. First break–nothing. I went to the restroom, came back and checked my email one more time–and there was the email I w...

Catching Fire

I survived the first day, came home, made dinner and did NOTHING else. Was asleep by 10, and now am up at 2 with a very bad headache. Sigh.

I'm listening to Catching Fire, the second book in the Hunger Games series. I've been toying with my own post-apocalyptic idea (in fact, I have a rough ROUGH draft around here somewhere) but most of the post-apocalyptic novels I've read–Hunger Games, the Joss Ware series, or even the movie The Book of Eli–take place decades after the apocalyptic event. 75 ...

Things I DIDN'T Do on my Summer Vacation

Saying good-bye to summer vacation–good-bye to yoga pants and T-shirts, good-bye to my big comfy chair (it's too hot in that room in the afternoons, until about October), good-bye to my morning walks.

But I finished my book Thursday and a short story Sunday, updated my website, read 14 books…

Here's what I didn't do:

Things I Didn't Do on my Summer Vacation

1)      Go someplace to write—every year I say I'm going to take the laptop to Panera or something, but I never do.

2)      Sew the knit...

Goals For Back to Work

1)      Get back into the schedule—waking up won't be bad, but no naps…

2)      50 pages revised on MS

3)      Finish short story

4)      Send out press releases and guest blogs

5)      Finish newsletter

6)      Work on website

7)      SARA meeting

8)      Cousin's visit

9)      Keep up house/continue cooking

10)   Figure out how I'm going to exercise in 100 degree temps since I can't walk in the AM and the boy broke my exercise bike.

Good Writing Week

I ended the week on a high note, despite an R on a short story. I got my author copies of Sunrise, finished the rough draft of Midnight Sun and got the cover for the novella I contracted with The Wild Rose Press earlier this summer.

Isn't it gorgeous? My hero is a movie star, thus the screen. And the lighthouse is a real place in this town, which is cool. I love the little stars in the title.

Things I'm Looking Forward To

1)      Seeing my buddies

2)      Starting the year with a clean classroom

3)      Meeting my kids—please God, I hope the class overall is better behaved than last year.

4)      My trip to CA

5)      The release of Sunrise, DLB and Star Power.

6)      Cooler weather—eventually

7)      Getting to listen to audio books. I brought home speakers so I could listen while I cleaned, but found a different system worked better.

The new TV season!!!

Things I'm Dreading

1)      Making lunches

2)      Traffic

3)      My teeny-tiny window

4)      Getting into a hot car—our parking lot has NO shade.

5)      Twitter withdrawal

6)      The end of silence. Now I have full-on silence for at least 2 hours in the AM and a couple more in the afternoon. I'll say good-bye to that once I get out of my car on Monday.

7)      Fighting with the copy machine. I hate that thing like damn and whoa.

8)      Tutoring—at least I don't have to worry about that until October.

9)      PTA p...

Things I'm Savoring This Last Week

Funny picture–also, I have that throw in my class.

1)      Being outside. One of the things I'm dreading the most about going back to work is the TEENY window I have overlooking…another building. So I'm soaking up sunshine while I can.

2)      Cold sodas in icy mugs. One of the things I discovered this summer is Diet A&W. It's sweet so  if you just want a sweet taste, it'll do, no chocolate needed.

3)      My flavored water. (Okay, I have 3 pitchers in my fridge—blackberry tea, orange juice...

Things I Won't Miss About Summer Vacation

This cat looks so much like Skippy it's not funny. He even sleeps on the couch like that.

Summer is ending and there are a FEW things I'll be glad to leave behind.

1) I won't miss obsessively checking Amazon and the Carina website to see if my book is listed.

2) I won't miss weekends spent painting at my MIL's.

3) I won't miss the electric bills. Being home all day–running AC and washer/dryer/dishwasher.

4) I won't miss doing everything. I've been letting the guys slide, but I can't do that...