The Diva of Lists

I'm a chronic list-maker. I make lists of things to do, mainly, but sometimes it's other things: things to pack, things to finish, things to remember.

I just made a list of things to pack for an upcoming trip. My husband looked at it and said, "You know what you're going to take. Why write it down?"

I pointed out that by making the list, I realized I was probaby overpacking for a 3 day trip. Seeing the items on the list made that clear to me.

"Why not just pack then realize you've got too much?"

I explained that packing is a headache and should be done once or twice at the most.

He just smiled and said, "Whatever."

Yep. Venus. Mars. We're from there.

The convergence of blogs

This is one of those weekend where I am scheduled to blog in 4 places in addition to the 2 I normally blog at on the weekends.

Can you say ... 'duplicate'? I think some cutting and pasting will be done. I like to save my originality for my writing, if you know what I mean. Luckily I have little else planned for the weekend. Cirque du Soleil later this afternoon, a gathering of friends tomorrow. So I'm hoping I'll get snippets of inspiration throughout the weekend as I focus on my writing.

Speaking of which ... it's going very well. I had one of those 'well, duh' moments earlier this week and I went back to look at what I'd written, tore it up, and now have a fresh new start. I'm much, much more energized about the story. I want to keep that momentum going, so this blog is ending now so I can get back to work!

Beautiful summer day, windows open, birds singing, and writing ahead of me ... yep, Life is Good.

The happy of non-travel

A lot of my writing friends are at the RWA National Conference this week. I've gone to 4 or 5 of these, and have to say: I am SO glad I'm not there.

It's noisy. It's busy. It's exhausting. It's one thing after another. A lot of people come home feeling energized. I always felt drained when I got back. I think I'll try it again in a few years, but I'm not in a rush to do it soon.

A large part of my ambivalent feelings is how I'm treated there. I'm not a 'real' published author to them even though I have 11 books out and contracts for 9 more. Yep, because I publish with a small press, I'm not considered career-minded. Don't bother telling me why that's silly: we all know why.

So I'm happily not traveling this week and while I wish I could be with my friends who are out in D.C., I'm busy making progress on my latest novel, which I believe I'll see published in 2012 -- that's how far out I have contracts. Maybe someday I'll be considered published by Those Who Think They Know. For now, I know I am.

A good fit

I bop around on various social network sites: MySpace, Facebook, Goodreads, etc. I dutifully check them once a week or so to update my 'status' and I check if I get an email that tells me someone has posted a note to me.

I think of these as obligatory promo spots where I hang out briefly but none of them have really been a hit with me. They're all places that are intriguing, but I don't much care.

Twitter, though ....

I know -- Twitter? My life in 140 characters (or less)? It's taken me a few weeks, but I'm finding myself more and more fascinated by it. I have a fairly small amount of 'friends' (I hate calling them 'followers'), and I follow most of them in return. It's a very, very interesting way of interacting with total strangers. I only see a tiny slice of their life (unlike Facebook or MySpace, where I can easily see a 'history'). And I see such a wide variety of people, interests, ideas, thoughts. I get directed to interesting blogs and web sites, and it's very easy to 'turn off' and ignore.

Yep. It might be my niche. It suits me so well: I have a short attention span, I like to work fast (no matter what I do), and I like a wide variety of people/places/things.

Check with me in a month and see if the bloom is off the vine yet ::grin::

The ... ho-hum days of summer?

I'm in a group blog with some other authors, and we're supposed to take turns blogging every day about a topic I hand out on Sunday. Lately I've been the only one blogging. One or another of them blogs randomly, but it's mainly me blogging about my topic.

I don't mind, really. I can blog at the drop of the hat any time. But then something else made me notice this irregularity: I often dine with a group of ladies. We've dined on Wednesday, every other week, for years now. But lately it's getting hard to get people together. We're starting to become random diners. I'm hosting a party at my house later this month, and it'll be the first time we've gotten together in 2 or 3 months.

Now that's weird. What are the odds that 2 groups of friends are starting to drift? That made me think ... I wonder if it's a summer thing. In the summer, people tend to not stick to schedules. Things are busier, life is more flexible, kids are out of school, life is a bit more spontaneous. Do you think that's it?

I'll be curious to see what happens this fall when life gets back to 'normal'. Until then, I'll keep blogging & use those free dining days to meet with other friends. There's *always* someone to get caught up with!

How I spend my holiday

I have a 4-day vacation right now. We got yesterday off at work as a holiday and I'm taking Monday off. How am I spending it?

Well, I'm getting caught up on some things: prepping for a class I'm teaching in the fall, organizing notes, weeding through files. Yesterday I went to the Mall of America and walked and gawked, something I do 3x a year or so. It's right in my backyard but I seldom get there, so it's always amusing when I go. I finished page-proofs on a book releasing next year and started my newsletter for July.

Today I'm going to the local casino to drop $20 in a slot machine. I love playing slots and I never go to the casino near me. I thought, hey, that might be amusing. I'll go in an hour or so since mornings are absolutely the best time to go to a casino. There aren't many people up and around at 6 in the morning. I'll play for a couple of hours then hit the stores early, come back and write. I'm working on my ghost story now and I figured out a way to incorporate Facebook into it. I'm anxious to get going on it.

Tomorrow -- nothing planned. I may go to a nearby town and do a bit of antique shopping and hit a couple of tiny gift stores. We may do some grilling or maybe go out to eat. I may just write all day. Not sure yet.

On Monday I'm going to Northfield, a nearby town which is about 30 miles away. It's a nice shopping experience with unique stores, and it's a very, very cute town -- very small town. And I'll write, of course.

The main theme of the weekend: relax. This is the only weekend in a month and a half where I don't have events planned, some of which involve traveling. So I'm going to take advantage of being in town and just hang out and relax before the craziness begins.

I hope you have as much fun as I plan to have!