Slightly better weekend... but it's a new week, right?

All except for a few brain pounding, hair pulling, eye twitching moments, my weekend went much better than the week did. I'm thankfully on a new shift now, 4-12, so I only have to see my boss about an hour before he is gone for the remainder of the night (YEAH!!!!). I came awfully close to turning in my badge and tie numerous times last week, but this week IS going to be better. *on knees praying that is true* Although, being back at work is probably still not the best place for me to be at the moment.... some incidents are still lingering there to raise my blood pressure and temperature.

Didn't get any work done on my book, 'cause I was afraid that if I hit a rough spot where I couldn't think of anything, I'd snap and do serious, irreversable damage to my laptop, and I can't afford a new one. I think I made a truly safe decision by doing that. A weekend of simply vegging out, watching DVDs and listening to music and reading some from my TBR pile was the best thing for me.... and I did a good job if I do say so myself.

I would have liked to go outside and work myself into exhaustion and work out all of the aggression, slamming the basketball against the backboard, or pounding the pavement (stuff I should be doing but don't as regularly as I should), but it was just too damn hot here. A/C was the only way to survive this weekend.

Well, here's to hoping I survive this week, I am off to actually get some work done. Hope ya'll are having a good week so far yourselves.

Off again

I'll be off for a few days again, but I am hoping to get access to the internet this weekend. So I hope to check all of my favorite sites and update my blog again. I haven't updates my blog for a few days, because frankly I would do nothing but bitch and moan and no one wants/needs to hear that.... especially with the mood that I am still in from the fiasco that was yesterday. All I can say is thanks to the heavens above for the next 4 days off. I hope that everyone else is having a better week than I have had.

Opinions needed

I am trying to work on a 2 line synopsis of my manuscript to see if it will make the reader want to read the whole story to find out the answers to the questions it brings to mind. I eventually want to use it when I finish my manuscript and begin sending out query letters to agents and publishers to get some interest. I've had these lines running through my head the last couple of days, so I wanted to write them down and get some opinions on them. Here goes...


After disappearing 7 years ago, Emily is back, but the danger she thought she left behind must have followed her. Now, just when Jeremy forgives her for disappearing without a trace, she vanishes once again.


Somehow, it sounded better in my head. I think I have reworded it in my head too many times and now it's all jumbled together, 'cause it seems awkwardly worded to me now. But, it's a start. Does this grab your attention? Make you want to see what the whole story is? I need some opinions. Let me know what you think, what I might need to change. And I will be happy to answer any of your curiosities that pertain to the actual story... 'cause I am sure I could use some opinions on certain aspects of the story and whether or not they work together. Thank you in advance for any and all opinions.... I can't wait to hear from you.

Another day, another dollar

Work, work and more work. At least it is the weekend and we should be the only ones in the stadium.... NO GAMES!!!!!!!!!! Yeah! The sucky team is away. Thank God for small favors. Since it will be so slow, I am hoping to use some of the down time to work on my manuscript a little.... but, we'll see.

I can't believe it though, I fell asleep last night at like 6 o'clock. I was so tired I couldn't even keep my eyes open to watch Rachel Ray cook a 30 minute meal!!! How sad is that??? I love that show. I get such good ideas from it, but man, I was out like a light! Only to be awakened time and time again by my asshole neighbors who veered away from simply screaming at each other to now throwing things and slamming their doors. I really need to move. The screaming and slamming finally stopped around 5am, right when I had to get up to go to work.

But, yesterday at work was exciting. There was a really big woman who wanted to kick my ass. I found it a great source of amusement, which pissed her off even more. Now, this is not her first year working here. She knows that in order to pick up your paycheck, you must bring your stadium ID, not just a driver's license. Well, she wanted her paycheck and she wanted it now. She was seriously pissed that I wouldn't let her go back to the Aramark office to pick it up. But, no ID, no entrance.... that simple. She was yelling and screaming at me through the window, but the more calm that I stayed, the more pissed off she got. It took all the energy I had not to bust out laughing. I mean come on. In the amount of time that she spent standing here and screaming, she could have gone home, picked up her ID, came back and walked right through without any issue. One of the new guys was sitting in the office with me, just sitting back and observing. He was quite amused himself. Seriously, how hard is it to bring in your ID. It is only the size and weight of a credit card, not like it weighs 50 lbs. But hey, what do I know.

Alrighty, back to work I go... this killed a whole 5 minutes of my shift... only 7 hours and 55 minutes to go.

I'm Baaack!!!

Back online once again. Yeah! Probably the only good thing about coming to work. Working with my dad during my days off was fun as usual, except that at the one job site they were spreading hay... as someone who has severe hayfever, this was not a fun experience. I came pretty close to having my eyes swell shut... not fun. Then I strained a muscle in my inner thigh, not really all that fun. But, stretching a little has helped, so I don't think I did too much damage.

I haven't gotten anymore done on my manuscript yet, 'cause I've been trying to get off of the midnight shift 'cause I started daylight today, and I usually can't form a coherant thought during that time. Sleep deprivation and writing don't work well together.

Thank God my boss is off for a couple days. Life is good. I get a nice break and I shouldn't have to see him until Monday, if my luck holds. *does a little dance* Could be a very good weekend here at work.

OK, I am off to do some work.

*Does a little dance*

I got all 10 pages done that I wanted to. YEAH ME!!! I'm very proud of myself. 22 pages in 2 days... actually in a total of about 4 hours. And I think that for the most part it sounds pretty smooth. I think that there is at least one part that I need to work on a little more, but I need to walk away from it for a bit, because I can't think of another way to put it. It sounds a little awkward and long winded. But hey, that's why it's only the first draft, right?

Unfortunately, I am going to be internet-less until Friday so I won't be able to post again or check my comments until then, but I thought that this would be a perfect time for me to put in a little 'survey'. This way maybe I can get a whole bunch of opinions to help me decide.

Here goes. My parents are quickly approaching their 30 year wedding anniversay and I am trying (if my boss ever cooperates and pays me:(. ) to save some money to send them to Hawaii (they've never been there) for a week. I have sort of narrowed it down to a secluded little cabin in a resort on Kauai or a "Diamond Head View" hotel just off of Waikiki Beach on Oahu, with an amazing view of the Diamond Head volcano. But I can't decide which.

Kauai pros:

1.Secluded (Mom likes the quiet. She's content to just sit and read for hours. Dad also likes to just sit on the beach and hang out. They both like to take walks and here they would have the opportunity to walk along the shore, or along trails that go through wooded areas)

2. 3 PGA level golf courses among others (Daddy would LOVE this!!! My dad golfs every Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday.... and any other day someone asks him to go!)

Kauai cons:

1. Boring? Maybe they'd like the seclusion, but there isn't much else on the island, unless they drive pretty far, or island hop.

2. Mom doesn't really golf. I mean, she might go 1 or 2 times, but it's just not her cup of tea.


Oahu pros:

1. The gorgeous view. (With that view, I wanna go too:) )

2. There is a lot to do. The hotel is walking distance from lots of museums and aquariums and other attractions, and only a block away from Waikiki beach.

3. There are golf courses there too.

Oahu cons:

1. Too many people? Now, I am going to send them over their anniversary which is in January, so there may not be as many people there as if I would send them in the summer, but still, it is Hawaii.

2. I know that my mom won't go anyplace, except shopping, unless she has someone with her. And, if dad is golfing, as much as I like the view I think that she would spend most of her time in the hotel waiting for him to come back before she went out.

I suppose some are wondering why not just ask them? Well, I am doing this as a surprise. I have no choice but to tell my dad early (he's a musician and I would need to make sure he doesn't set up any gigs for the week that I am sending them), but I am only going to tell him that I am sending them somewhere and he has to make sure he is free to go.

If it helps, my dad just turned 50 and my mom is a year younger. Put yourself in their shoes. Where would you rather go if you were them.... and where would you rather go if it were you? Why/ Why not? Any ideas or help would be greatly appreciated.

Grrrr

I went from being absolutely buzzing this morning when I left from work to being ready to do serious damage to my boss.... And, I hadn't even seen him. The only thing the man has to do is payroll. He has delegated all of his other responsibilities to the officers in my department. The only thing I have ever seen him do is talk on the phone (personal calls, not professional) and play games and look as websites that he SHOULDN'T be looking at while at work. The only thing that he has to do is put our hours into the computer. We have 17 employees in my department. 13 of those checks were wrong. And we are not talking 1 hour off. Try 8, 10, 13, 14 hours off, just to name a few. Mine... 16 hours short! Now help me with this math, I have $207 in my checking account right now. Our next paycheck will be issued on the 25th. I have a bill for $450 due on the 21st. And, he doesn't want to talk to payroll about getting me a check cut for the 17th to make right HIS mistake. Now, he is seriously pissed off at me because I went directly to payroll, after he refused to do it. Tough shit. I have yet to be late paying any bill and I am certainly not about to start now! It's their mistake, not mine. I'm living paycheck to paycheck, when I get screwed out of that much money at one clip, I feel I have a right to get it back as soon as possible. I worked those hours. I didn't VOLUNTEER my time. I should get paid. GRRRRRRRRR!!!!

OK, all better now. I needed to vent for a minute. I was so pissed off that I couldn't work on my manuscript any more. I was hoping to make my way to 20 if I could, but that didn't happen. I am setting a goal for me for tonight of 10 pages. If I get more done, YEAH ME, if not... I'll try to work on it when I get home from work tommorow. The only problem with that is that I will work until 5pm, after starting at midnight tonight. Hopefully I'll be able to write a coherent sentence after being awake nearly 24 hours.

Great Job Jill, on the 8 pages. We both accomplished quite a bit. I think we deserve some much needed ICE CREAM and CHOCOLATE!!!! Yummy! It was great to hear from you again! Thank you.

Update

12 pages... Whoo Hoo!!! Go ME!!!!! After not getting more than 3 pages written in the last couple of weeks, I stormed through 12 pages in 2 hours. I may work on it a little more yet today, before I go to sleep. Thank God for slow nights during my night shift when I get a little time to work. The responses that I got from those authors inspired me to get my butt movin' and I still haven't lost the now 'perma-grin' on my face. Again to those authors (should they check out this site again, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!

I really appreciate them talking the time to talk to lil' ol' me.

Wow

First and foremost, I would like to say a huge thank you to the three authors who responded to me. It made my night. I now have a smile pasted on my face that won't seem to go away, so THANK YOU! I have been inspired to write tonight. I can't wait to get started. I set a high goal for myself of 20 pages tonight.... very optimistic, well probably unrealistic, but I'm so excited about hearing from the three authors that I think I just may pull it off.

Well, I am off to write, so THANK YOU again! I'll let you know how far I get!

Crazy nights

Working on the night shift, although one of my favorites (because my bosses aren't here to mess everything up), is not agreeing with me tonight. Yick! I didn't sleep as well as I'd hoped during the day and I am starting to run low on fuel... halfway through my shift! I was trying to work on my manuscript a little, hoping it would perk me up and get my mind in hyperdrive (like it usually does), but tonight I just seem to be dragging and can't really get into my characters heads.... I think they are sleeping, like every other sane person on the planet. Not that I ever claimed to be sane ;)

I haven't gotten much done in the last couple of weeks, to my utter frustration, because work has been crazy. I'd love to be able to set aside the same time everyday to just sit down and concentrate on my story, but I work a revolving shift that changes every week. By the time I am finally getting my body used to one shift, it is time to move on to another. I guess I'll find a pattern sooner or later. But, when I get started most times, I am able to get a lot written. Maybe I'm just in a rut at the moment.

My First Post

As my first post, I will first introduce myself. I am a 25 year old aspiring writer, writing mostly various types of romance. I have virtually no formal training when it comes to writing novels, but have written stories for years, because my mind has trouble sitting still. For my day job, at the moment, I am a security officer for a sports team in PA (a not so good sports team... who am I kidding, THEY SUCK!). Soon, I hope to be out of here. A job prospect in Federal Law Enforcement is on the horizon. I can't wait!!! My part time job is working with my dad, installing heating and airconditioning equiptment, as well as water and sewer lines.... GETTING DIRTY IS FUN!!!

I am a huge sports fan... Hockey is my favorite.... although with this damn strike, I am going through some serious withdrawl. As they get closer and closer to signing a deal (thank the Lord!), I can't help but wonder if they are going to ever come back from the loss of their fans. They didn't have a strong fan base to begin with and going a whole year without games is certainly not a good way to get new fans, let alone keep the ones you've got.

As an aspiring writer, I have noticed that a lot of authors use blogs as a way to get feedback on some of their story ideas. This seemed like a good idea and I am currently searching for a critique group in my area (Western PA) to possibly get together and work on critiquing each others' books. I am also in the process of joining the RWA. As a member, I am hoping to be able to get to go to some of their workshops to network and find an agent and/or publisher who might be interested in me and/or my latest (first attempt at being published) novel.

I read close to 25 or 30 books a month, depending on my work schedule and how busy I am. My favorite authors are Linda Howard, Linda Lael Miller, Nora Roberts and Patti O'Shea.... along with many more.

Any and all responses are welcome and I look forward to hearing from you.