Busy busy busy

People love to read about work. I know I do. I love being busy, reading about being busy (although if I’m reading about how busy others are, am I that busy?) But anyway…what is my point?

Right. I guess my point is my work. I’m a workaholic. I love having my hands in five different fires at once. Writing two or three books at once. Once in the plotting stage, one I’m writing, and another I’m editing, either contracted or not. Plus I’m probably researching something for another proposal.

Being busy gives me peace of mind. I think a writer tends to get “weird” if not busy. I know I get a little squirrelly if I’m away from the day job too long. The nine to five is my interaction. Coworkers keep me grounded in my otherwise pretty boring, unsociable life. Unfortunately, I don’t often get the opportunity to visit with writers. Living in the country, writers are a rare breed around here. So the only time I can talk books is if I travel to conferences or chat online. And with today’s economy, it’s been mostly online, but that’s okay too.

So, enough rambling…Did this blog have a point?…not sure.

Mid week stuff

My laptop is growing a mind of it's own, and I fear it may be a virus. Exactly the same thing my old one did just before the Blue Screen Of Death appeared and she was gone forever.

If this laptop goes, I will buy a Netbook. Looking on the bright side of things...

Anyway, I bought some index cards today to try a new plotting experiment. I'm an organic writer by nature. I love the not knowing what happens next in writing a novel. But this isn't always the best way. I know that. Yet I still repeat old habits, and end up doing a lot of rewriting and throwing away some good stuff because it just doesn't fit into the scheme of the plot.

So I will write down each scene on an index card, shuffle them around, arrange the order of some things, and see what happens. I can't guarantee this will be a sure thing for my plotting, but I'll keep you in on the progress.

Update

One week of physical therapy down, three more to go. Two of the therapists are great, but the one, man, she’s like Jillian on The Biggest Loser. She’s tough. I had her yesterday. She focuses on getting my knee bending properly, which is the most painful seeing it’s still swollen and has some fluid around it.

On the writing side, I’m coming along with editing a historical. The subplots are giving some problems, but I’m still plugging away.

Happy Easter!

Today's scoop

I sent a submission out. Fingers crossed they like it. Therapy seemed to be a little easier today. I made a milestone. I was able to pedal the stationary bike all the way around. Hurt like mad, but I did it. Baby steps.

So tomorrow, I have another therapy session, then I go back to the orthopedic surgeon to get my stitches out. And hopefully he will let me get off crutches. I’m doubting it because he was adamant about my staying on them due to the torn ligament. But we’ll see.

When I’m up and around and have all this knee recovery business behind me, I’m going to adopt another cat. I think Pumpkin is lonely. Here’s a picture of her. Doesn’t she seem lonely to you?

That’s all going on today. Tonight I’m settling in to watch America’s Next Top Model (Hey, I’m a reality show junkie) then finish the Dean Koontz novel, By The Light Of The Moon. It’s really good, but that’s a given with Mr. Koontz.

Things I've learned while recovering from surgery

Things I’ve discovered while recovering from surgery:

1. The quality of daytime television is severely lacking. Soaps, talk shows about who’s baby really belongs to which father, court shows. It's rotting my brain, and I have to stop before my cranium turns to mush.
2. The mail arrives at a very late time of day, like around 3 in the afternoon.
3. The telephone rings non-stop and it’s usually an annoying person on the end of the line wanting to sell me basement sealant, cable television service, or new windows.
4. My cat, Pumpkin, is luuuuuving having me home all day. (She's become very snuggly lately.)
5. Pain meds do not enhance the writing quality...or quantity for that matter.
6. But I'm reading lots.

Oh, and therapy? Physical therapy is very, very painful....I have another appointment tomorrow afternoon.

Here’s a picture of my knee. On Friday, I had athroscopy surgery to remove two meniscus tears, a ligament sewn back together, and something along the lines of scraping “to create a bed for the scar tissue.” I don’t understand that last part. I’ll have to question that when I go back to see him. Of course I was pretty heavily sedated, LOL!

So I’ve spent the weekend staring at the walls, watching TV, although I’m not a big fan of television, and I fear it’s already rotting my brain. But I’m coming along. I can get to the bathroom on crutches relatively well, although still very clumsy. My cat, Pumpkin, has learned to get out of the way quickly when she sees me grab them. When I first got home I squashed her tail under one.
Thank God I can access my laptop. I don’t know what I’d do without the Internet. I’m catching up on my blog reading, Twittering (or is it Tweeting?) and all the fun online stuff I didn’t have time to do before.

And the surprising thing through all of this is that I’m staying positive. I knew this surgery was coming up for a long while, so I guess you could say I had plenty of time to prepare for it, mentally, that is. I’m very active by nature. I’m no physical powerhouse, mind you, but I do like to ram the roads, go shopping, do gardening, things like that. So being inactive is hard for me mentally. Not something I’m used to.

Physical therapy starts tomorrow. I’m actually looking forward to it, painful as it may be. Therapy is another step toward getting back to normal, toward getting my old life back.

And my old life may have been simple and boring, but I liked it, and I can’t wait to return to it.

Reading Corner

Show me a writer who doesn’t love to talk about books. I’m currently reading By The Light Of The Moon by Dean Koontz. I just started it, but it's been non-stop action/suspense from the first page.

What are you reading?

My favorite reading spot is my bed. Buried in flannel sheets and a big quilt, and of course, accompanied by my cat, Pumpkin.

Do you have a special place you like to read?

Plotting

Plotting was never a word that scared me. I've been writing my whole life. Sometimes I think I was born with a pen in hand. Plotting never made me nervous, was never something to dread.

Maybe it's just this one plot I'm currently working on. It's a historical and paranormal romance. I've always dabbled in both genres, but separately. This is a combination of everything I've ever done. There's a lot going on, correction: there should be a lot going on. That is, if I could plot correctly. Right now, the plot is thin, and I'm not quite sure how to fix it.

Sigh...that's today dilemma.