Patience, a virtue I lack . . .

I'm not very good at playing the waiting game. As a matter of fact I hate it in any aspect of my life. I'm thinking that comes from the utter control freak that resides at my core. I've learned to loosen up in a lot of aspects over the years, but impatience is not one that little pain in the ass will let go of.

There are a whole host of things I'm waiting for right now and they all have me on edge.

First, word from a publisher on my non-erotic thriller, Dark Reckoning. I'm trying to be patient - but it's like asking a child who's been waiting for the ice cream truck all day to wait at the back of the line because their mother hasn't made her way to the curb with the money yet. Especially since I’ve worked out the cover with my favorite cover artist from down under, Willsin Rowe.

I’m waiting for a couple more author blurbs for Survival Games as well as the reviews to start rolling in - although I know on the review front that these can take up to 90 days - which is why I sent them out at the beginning of the month. All of which have me really nervous. The one blurb I did receive blew me away but I’m sure I’ll get mixed reviews from the masses because of the very dark subject matter. So I wait, with my nails bit down to the stub.

I'm also waiting to find out what's next on the day job. What project are we going to tackle next? I don't like ambivalent periods and yes we're supporting a system we just implemented - which is an important task, but I'm getting anxious to start on the next creative challenge.

The last thing I’m waiting for is May 1 and the nice spring / summer weather - which don’t necessarily coincide. As I said last week - with the spring teaser, this has become a more pronounced want that I have to wait for. And with the return of the cold weather (we actually had snow flurries this morning) it just makes this that much worse.

Not one of these items is within my control and as I said before, the control freak in me is wigging out. More so this year than in the past - although spring is traditionally a restless time for me. Right now I’m feeling like a caged lion, pacing in my confines just waiting for the next chance at a great escape - or a tasty meal.

I just need to get through these last few days of March and then I’ll be knee deep in the Backspace April Marathon - which will take my mind off some of the idle restlessness. I’ve got at least 30k to add to the sequels to Dark Reckoning along with some refining editing before I can get them ready for submission and I have a few unfinished manuscripts that need attention.

I do have a few things to organize and iron out - like reaching out to bloggers to set up a blog tour for Survival Games - but unfortunately that won’t keep my restlessness at bay.

So folks . . . What do you do to keep your mind occupied when you’re impatiently waiting for something? Any words of advice, antic dotes, commiserations?

Also - anyone who has a book release in April, please shoot me a message so I can include you in my monthly shout outs!

Have a great weekend!
Ciao.

Spring Fever!

A’ight, it’s March 19th and this week the weather has been fantastic. Enough so that I’m getting antsy to get out in the sunshine and tan up. I hate being winter pale, don’t you?

This kind of weather makes it so hard not to break down and play hooky from daily responsibilities. I remember being in college and the first spring heat wave (or near spring) always brought on a beach run. Of course seventy degrees doesn’t necessarily constitute a heat wave – but after so many thirty-two degrees and below days, seventy seems balmy and the beach was always crowded with those of us who ditched school. If I wasn’t so damned responsible, I would have coerced some folks into a beach run today.
Ugh, being a grown up sucks.

But there is hope on the horizon . . . I have six weeks, count them, s-i-x weeks left before my husband takes his normal weekend trek with my father and brother-in-law to open up our campsite in Maine - which means, seven weeks before I can have weekends jogging on the beach again - and frankly, I need the exercise. Winter has not been kind to my ever expanding ass.

This kind of weather also degrades my concentration level to the point of less than a gnat because, frankly, I’d rather be at the beach.  Specifically, I’d rather be writing on the beach.

Spring cleaning is on the horizon too, and anyone who knows me knows how much I hate any domestic tasks. Cleaning, cooking, yard work. If I could get a maid, a cook and a landscaper, I’d be the ultimate happy camper. The old adage – Girls Just Want To Have Fun – well folks, that’s me. And the first hint of spring weather gets that mindset itching to be released from the bonds of responsibility.

Anyway – that’s my blog for this Friday – and this weekend, I’m planning on getting outside and enjoying the wonderful weather instead of staring longingly from an office cubicle!

Change is good, right?

All right, I just upgraded my phone - first time in over three years and now I have to learn new technology and reset my speed dials and get my nice ring tones again.

I resisted because my phone was perfectly good - a perfectly good dinosaur that is - but I was at the store with my daughter and she got the Samsung Intensity with the slide keyboard for texting. Considering I take forever and a day to write a short text message on the number pad - the idea of a mini keyboard was appealing.

It's a little bigger than my other phone so I can't just slip it in my pocket but another nifty function that my daughter informed me of is I can do mobile IM. Don't know if I'm going to set that up or not but it's nice to know I have the option.

Anyhow - just figured I'd chat a little about change - even though its a small change, one that I was hesitant on pursuing but now that I've taken the small step, I'm very happy I made the choice.

Now I have to focus my energy on editing. Have a nice weekend folks!

JET

Life without my computer. . .

Before I get into my normal rambling, I’d like to give a shout out for my Backspace friends and their March releases and March is a busy month.

March 1 had three releases, Claudia Gray’s HOURGLASS, Clea Simon’s GREY MATTERS and J. T. Ellison – THE COLD ROOM. March 2nd releases include Suzanne Dunlap’s ANASTASIA’S SECRET and Jonathan Mayberry’s THE DRAGON FACTORY. We’ve also got Carrie Ryan’s THE DEAD-TOSSED SEA on March 9th and last but not least – on March 16th, Jenny Gardiner’s WINGING IT: A Memoir of Caring for a Vengeful Parrot Who’s Determined to Kill Me.

Now, onto the subject of my technology withdrawals. I did not realize how completely dependent I've become on my little netbook. It's been in the shop for a week now and I feel so lost without that mechanical extension. I floundered, confiscating my son’s little Dell for my vicarious use, surfing the net, researching Europe in the 1200’s and getting some of my muse on paper. But even so, his computer isn’t mine; it doesn’t have the same speed or operating system for that matter.

But there is a light at the end of the tunnel, my computer’s due back on Monday and I can't wait.

Anyhow, I've got a lot of catching up to do over the weekend both on the day job front as well as the writing front. You see, this weekend we have a major installation going in so my time is split between the writing and making sure things go smoothly at work.

In the meantime, I'm counting down the hours . . .