Friday Five for August 17th

1. I wrote a new flash piece, a twist on the myth of Cassandra and Apollo, and submitted it. I'm still keeping up with my goal this year to write one/submit one. Though, it's the only goal I've managed to keep. Time is slipping by so quickly, and I'm far behind on my other projects.

2. My steampunk Cthulhu short story that I wrote earlier this year was the one I really wanted to get accepted. It was short-listed. I was eager to contribute to the Mythos, but alas, my story was cut. I consumed a lot of ice cream and wallowed in the rejection. Now I'm making a few little adjustments and I'm submitting it to the YA steampunk anthology, REAL GIRLS DON'T RUST. The other story I started for that anthology fizzled out. I had a great character and story idea for her, but then I started writing about this huge mound in the desert and the workings of the people living in it. It was more fantasy than steampunk. The two concepts clashed and didn't work. I'll have to separate them and keep them in my idea files for later use.

3. FEARLESS continues to do very well. It makes my head spin to think of so many people reading it. I'm still promoting it, but I realize that I need to work on my other books and get them out there. One of the biggest thing that helps a writer with sales is putting out more books.

4. My husband is away at Gen Con. It's just me and the boy for three days. The boy hasn't been napping much lately. It's going to be a long three days. On Sunday, it's Family Day at Gen Con and we're all going.

5. The boy starts preschool next week. We have orientation on Tuesday and his first official day is Thursday. He'll be attending two mornings a week with five other two-year olds. For the past few weeks, I've been having stress dreams about this. Dreams where I end up being put in the position to teach the class, that I have to run all the parents' committees, and that my son won't let go of me or, if he does happily go, something bad happens. I'm use to dreaming about fighting monsters. I don't know how to fight parent stress dreams!

Have a good weekend, folks!

Saturday Six for July 7th

1. I've been without air-conditioning for a week. We might have it fixed on Sunday. Maybe. IF what the guy says is wrong with the unit is the only thing that's wrong. I can't think in the hot weather. I can't write. I'm barely tolerable. So no writing was done. It's incredibly frustrating. I'm so far behind where I want to be. Please excuse me that I didn't do much commenting or emailing this past week. Sitting at the computer drains me in the heat.

2. I haven't finished my steampunk short story. I'll have to pick something else to submit to my writer's group for critique this month. I might send in the first chapter of my newest project and get their opinion. Though I'm very nervous about doing so because I don't know if I'm living up to my standards writing from the male POV. Yes, perhaps I will send it in. The more nervous I am, the more it says I need to get it critiqued.

3. Don't forget I'll be interviewing M. Pepper Langlinais on Monday. She has a gift for all my awesome readers. Please join us!

4. We're having a garage sale with some friends today. We brought over a load of stuff to sell to their house and priced them. Then one friend dared to ask if we'd be selling any books. (Because everyone thinks our house has too many books! HA!) My husband and I looked at each other and laughed. Sorry, we're never selling any of our books.

5. Yesterday I took my son to McDonalds for the first time. The first time I've been in one in decades. (I kid you not!) I decided to go there because it's the only place in town with an indoor AIR-CONDITIONED playground. Not much of a playground, and it was more for older kids, but the boy had fun. He got nuggets, ice cream, and playtime in a nice cool place. We did spend an equal amount of time at the library before we went, so I think that makes up for me taking him there!

6. My husband, son, and I had a fun Fourth of July. We took the boy to his first parade. At first, he was put off by the crowd and wanted to go home. Yet the moment he got his first piece of candy, he was hooked! He loved the marching bands most of all. We all then napped, spent two hours at the pool, and met with friends in the evening for ice cream. Yum!