Beyond FINDING A WAY: It’s the Little Things

I’m having a rollercoaster week. The husband’s out of town, which I usually handle okay unless I try to get way too much done without him around to say “Relax and have a glass of wine, sit down and watch something funny on TV with me,” that sort of sweet thing. Good for my soul but not for my to-do list, and I have to admit I love getting things done. To an unhealthy degree sometimes, and this week is a case in point. Last week was my birthday and it was easy-going and fun. One of my sisters sent me a very sweet card that arrived on Saturday, the same day I received a rejection letter from an unimpressed agent of my dreams who’d been intrigued by my query but not so crazy about the partial of One Sister’s Song she’d recently read. In blatant rebellion on Monday and Tuesday I wrote 2,000 words each day to start a new novel. Not the first novel (One Sister’s Song) I’ve been trying to sell to a bigger publisher for over a year (with my original publisher’s blessing; thanks Sherry!); not the second novel (Under the Humming Tide) that’s been sitting, complete but unworkshopped, in a proverbial drawer for TWO years; not the collection of short stories (The Average Weight of the Female Heart) I’m halfway through. A third novel. Which I hope to finish within record time for me, maybe even a few months. We’ll see! Another reaction to my latest rejection letter (you know it’s bad news when they actually use that damn SASE!): I told someone yesterday I’m just going to write as much as possible and it can all be published after I’m dead for all I care. Some days that really does seem like a good way to go (literally!).

And in the midst of all this, I get:

1) a hilarious quirky tag from Carleen (see if you can read her quirks without cracking up);

2) a kind, encouraging note from Rebecca Burgess on my last post; and

3) a surprise review from Lisa Kenney, who recently read One Sister’s Song (which is still in print with my original publisher; thanks Sherry!) and apparently really enjoyed it. Either that, or she’s just being nice because I know where she lives. Either way, I’ll take it! Woohoo!

It’s friends like these who remind me that even when it’s cold and gray and snowing (!!) on May 1st here in the south suburbs of Denver, much sunnier days lie ahead.

And now for a brief glance at quirky me for Carleen’s meme:

1) I know all the words to the song “Misty”;

2) I’m a compulsive picker-upper (who would probably drive Carleen and Lisa’s Scott crazy; my husband swears the second he puts down anything in our house I’m there to snatch it and file it away);

3) I have a bizarre memory for things I saw or heard even in early childhood;

4) I’m blind as a bat (i.e., extremely nearsighted) but have acute hearing;

5) my ears hurt when I’m tired or stressed; and

6) I can wiggle both my ears.

I just realized half of my quirks involve my ears. Hmmmm!

As for tags for this unique meme (please see Carleen’s post for the official rules, ladies): Lisa, Rebecca, Larramie, Judy, Patti, and Kristen.

And one last quirk: I talk to myself. A lot. Which is probably why I love to blog so much! Thanks—as always—for listening.