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What I'm writing in YEAR OF THE DOG

I just finished writing Year of the Dog ! It had a massive plot hole that I had to fix which turned out to be more work than I expected. Here’s a snippet: “Hey, Auntie Nell.” He wrapped his arms around her, bussing her on the cheek and breathing in pikake flowers and shortbread cookies. And suddenly he was nine years old again, and her solid presence had made his chaotic world stable once more. “What are you doing here?” He usually took her to dinner on Wednesday nights, but today was Tuesday. The edges of her smile faltered a little before brightening right back up again. “What, I can’t visit my nephew?” She angled around him to enter his home. “Is this your new house? Looks lovely.” Which was a blatant lie, because the fixer-upper was barely livable, much less acceptable to a neat-freak like his aunt. She also left four matching pink and purple floral suitcases on the stoop behind her. Only then did Ashwin notice the cab driver standing slightly to the side of the walkway. “Can ...
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Odds and ends

Captain's Log, Stardate 01.13.2006

I want to start with prayer:

Lord God, I lift up Wintervision to you. Be with all the teens preparing to go to the retreat, and let your spirit move in each of them to draw them closer to you. You've planned every cabin and cabin leader. Give them all a great time and a powerful experience with you.

eHarlequin.com

I am amazed and deliriously happy with Harlequin's customer service. This time, I ordered 7 books from eHarlequin.com but only received 6 books in the box. I called their 888 number and got a busy signal, but then I called again in about 20 minutes and got a live person. After giving her my account number and the missing title, she checked to see if the book was in stock and put in a request to send it to me asap. She also said that if I got an Out of Stock card, to call customer service again. Now is that premium service or what?

Bible in 90 Days: day 5. The Israelites are at Mt. Sinai.

Writing: Yesterday, I got everything done on my Winners List except one thing. Got some characterization done last night, and hope to get more done today. I'm still behind in my Defeating Self-Defeating Behaviors class, but I got another lesson done today.

I've been reading NO PLOT? NO PROBLEM! by Chris Baty, who started NaNoWriMo. It's been very encouraging and inspiring, even though I don't think I'd ever try to do a novel in a month. However, it's very motivating for me to try to write faster.

It takes a writer, on average, about 55 hours to pound out 50,000 words (about 900 words an hour). I should be writing books faster than I do! I think it's a matter of discipline.

Diet: Went to PT today and had a late lunch of fish sticks, 500 calories. During the afternoon, I snacked on celery sticks and peanut butter, about 400 calories. Hopefully, I'll eat a well-proportioned meal at dinner--gotta remember to eat lots of vegetables.

I've been drinking my tea without Splenda, but with soymilk. It's really nice! I still prefer it to be sweet, but without sweetener isn't so bad. Let's see if the absence of artificial sweeteners helps my diet. I heard it increases insulin secretion even though it doesn't add calories.

Update: I'm totally ashamed to confess I had three slices of pizza and half a cinnamon pie. I totally need to get on the exercise bike tomorrow. Good thing I went to PT today--I rode about 10 minutes on the bike and spent 30 minutes doing weights.
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Comments

Dineen A. Miller said…
Hye girl,
I'm there with you on the writing speed and dieting. Thanks for posting all that. It helps keep me moving in the right direction too. :-)
Fri Jan 13, 09:59:00 PM 2006
Unknown said…
Hmmm.....I'm the oddball so I won't comment, I don't want to get popped upside my head by you and D! LOL

But keep on truckin', girl...that's all any of us can do!
Sat Jan 14, 10:15:00 AM 2006
Unknown said…
I see a trend. I'd write faster if I ate less. Hard to type with one hand. I'm in the same boat. Gotta lose my "Christmas 10."
Sat Jan 14, 01:04:00 PM 2006
Ronie Kendig said…
Heya, Camy! 900 words an hour? I've never timed myself. Wonder how many I do in an hour. Hmmmm.....
Sat Jan 14, 07:23:00 PM 2006
Lynette Sowell said…
Yep. Watching my portions, etc.
Yep. Writing up a storm.
BUT. I have a prayer request. My Alphasmart's infrared detector won't "detect" right now. Please pray I can figure out how to get it fixed. I have a deadline in about 2 weeks, and I'd rather use my Alphasmart in my comfy chair instead of the office chair. Thanks!! :)
Sat Jan 14, 07:32:00 PM 2006
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