Monday Update

It’s Monday again, and time for an update.

And man, what a Monday it has been. Work was just ROUGH today! Partially because I didn’t get much sleep last night. It’s my own fault. I was organizing my WIP’s and my Submissions in a spreadsheet, so I could keep track of everything I was doing.

Yes, that’s right, all that talk a week ago about getting such a sheet done, and I finally do it… last night. And why? Because I needed to figure out what WIP had the next deadline. It’s ridiculous. But, at least it’s done, and now it’s just a matter of maintaining it. Which will be easy.

But, the result was, today was rough. Busiest day of the week for me, and to top it off, we’re in the beginning of a peak period for my company, so the’s even more work to do than normal. And what do I do? Go to be late. Ugh. I’ll do my best to get some serious sleep tonight, but it probably means no real work done on my WIP. Still, sleep and health are important, so I will do those things first. Writing can come when I’m awake.

And speaking of writing… I submitted again! I sent of a query letter to an agent for the Windsmith. It’s always a little frightening when I do that. I have butterflies in my stomach even talking about doing it. Still, I have hopes for this one! And even if she rejects me, there are many more agents out there. I’m hopeful that this book will get published.

I had a good weekend. The fam went to the local Earth Day festival, and marched in the parade with the boy’s school. Except for the anti-abortion extremists with their extremely graphic pictures, the faire was fun as usual.

And I think that’s it from the world of me. I’ll see you all tomorrow with a new Tiny Tales Tuesday! Until then, keep remembering the future!

Of Geeks and Car Troubles

Phew! What a week!

First, let me update you all on the writing angle. No submissions this week, but, I am working on three projects right now. Two short stories are in the work and a flash fiction piece for a podcast is also up and running. I’m working on draft two for the flash piece (the one I posted on Friday, in fact), and I am working on draft one for the other two stories, which will be submitted to magazines, one that pays and one that doesn’t. I know, submitting to a mag that doesn’t pay? But, it’s a new mag, and a publishing credit if they take me. So, while I continue to research them, I’ll work on a story assuming I want to submit to them. If I decide not to submit, I still have a story I can submit to other places. And if I do, and they take me, then like I said, publishing credit.

So, that’s the writing front. In other areas of my life, things are very interesting. My wife and I just dropped a huge chunk of change to get some needed maintenance on our car. You know, stuff like oil filter changed, new oil, new tires, alignment, tune up, that kind of stuff. Then, this very morning, on the way to work/school with our boy, the car breaks down. Turns out the plug for the oil filter fell off, and there was river of oil on the side of the road. So, back to the dealership for the fix and a rental car. The good news is that the engine itself was not damaged, they’re going to do the fix, and also replace our wearing breaks (not really in need, but it would be soon, so hey, cool) and a detail, all for free to make up for it being their fault in the first place.

So, rough day today. But this weekend?

Man, it was awesome! A group of friends of mine do this thing every year, a weekly gaming get together we call Hyphen-Con. It’s a two day affair where a bunch of RPG geeks get together and play RPG’s on one day, and board/card games on the second. And I had a blast! I ran a game of Danger Patrol (retro-future pulp sci-fi narrative game, it’s fun, you should Google it) and played in a fantasy game that used the mechanics from the Smallville RPG, which was also fun. I’m not sure I’d be really interested in a Smallvilleesque campaign, but the one-off was pretty cool.

And board game day was filled with awesomeness. Settlers of Catan, Dominion, Puerto Rico, Zombies, Kung-Fu Fighting, and those are just the games I played in. There were a ton of others.

So, great weekend, filled with geeky goodness, and while I am exhausted now, it was well worth it. I’ll probably take a night off of writing today, for recovery as well as other prior engagements, but I’m ready to jump back into the pool tomorrow. So, until then, remember:

No matter where you go, there you are!

Rough Week

Man, it really has been a rough week. And not just for me. The Earth shook, rocked Japan, and it seems to have affected everyone’s lives in various was, from small to major. For me, it’s been a series of things. The biggest one, of course, was that a friend of mine died. But, it’s been little things, too. I’ve had trouble sleeping, which I usually blame on the time change. I freaking hate Daylight Savings. My wife was sick over the weekend, and even my kid has had trouble this week, with just a general feeling of dis-ease. And I’ve heard the same from almost everyone that I know. Last week was just rough.

But in the middle of all that, or maybe at the end of it, I’m not sure, I am trying to find the positive. Because if I don’t, I’ll sink into a miasma of despair, start wondering what am I doing (either at work and quit, or at my writing and quit) and just be generally miserable.

So, here’s some positive things going on in my life.

I have a job. It doesn’t pay much, but it is sometimes the difference between eating this week and not. And there are a number of people out there that still don’t have jobs at all. So I am grateful for that.

I have a wife and child that are both healthy and both love me. I am ever grateful for that.

This weekend will be my birthday party (several weeks after the fact, but, hey, who cares? It’s a party!). We’re doing a Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy theme. No, I’m not 42, but that might make a good excuse to do it again in a few years when I am.

In a few weeks will be a gathering of local table top role playing gamers for our annual game fest. I always have a ton of fun at this, and look forward to it all year long.

I am grateful for a ton of other things, too, that may seem small and petty, but their really not. I’m grateful that our car runs. I am grateful that we have food in the house. I am grateful that I have a working computer, so I can continue writing. I am grateful that I have internet access.

I am even grateful for all of you, for putting up with me rambling on about things like this on my blog. Thanks for that!

And I am grateful for this blog for one other reason: my weekly check ins. I submitted a story proposal to a website this week, one that is doing an anthology set in a shared world. I like the setting and am excited to write something for them, so I hope they accept my proposal. We’ll see. And, I’ve managed to do some writing, no matter how small, every day this last week. I’m stoked about that, it’s the first time since December that I have.

So, there you have it. Last week was rough. But, it’s over, and now it’s time to look forward to this week.

I plan on making it decidedly not rough.