The No News is No News Purgatory Thread, Volume 8

Tasmin21 said:

My pet peeve is the folk who refuse to clean off the top of their snow-covered car before driving down the highway at 70+ mph. Eight inches of snow on top of a car looks like a giant freakin' birthday cake, right up until it slides off and smashes all over the windshield of the car right behind them.

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Oh hell, yes. I got completely blinded on the highway the other week by some jackass who didn't clean the roof of his SUV. Almost drove into the median because the highway was splitting and my wipers were having a hard time clearing the snow away. I couldn't see a damn thing.

callalily61 said:

Talked to The Agent about new series idea. He wants to see an outline. Now I just need a month of 37-hour days.

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Yay for new series. And may I also have 37-hour day?

ink wench said:

YAY, ROLY!!!

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Steals.

Finished two chapters that were due to my writing partner...last week. Ah well, better late than never.

Rick said:

Damn - already 10 am. I vowed that this 10 day stint off from work was going to be more productive than the last, so I decided to make a To Do list of everything that needs to get done, and then I can goof off. On my To Do list for today? Make a To Do list.

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Good luck, Rick. I'm right there with you this am, trying to make this non-teaching day a productive one. Alas, my to-do list is so long that I've wandered into "I'm not going to get it all done so I might as well goof off" territory...

Rick said:

(((Aardvark))) 10 queries? Fingers crossed for you, but you're just beginning. Most of us queried well over 100 and some even 200 agents before we got an offer. And them it begins again with submissions.

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And some of us never got an offer from an agent and subbed to small/medium presses on our own and got accepted. Some of the younger folks here are still subbing new things to agents. I'm not going to bother at my age. I look at it as saving 15% of the $10 I might make on my book sales. (What??? I can sell a book...maybe even three!!!)

Luv ya, Purgies. If anyone else needs an interview, I'm still doing my feature on the blog for published authors. Rep me.

Also, there is a very cool group I've joined that helps each other out with social media. You do have to apply on their website, but I'm happy to expand my network any way I can. They post on FB and tweet and such.

In other news, the dogs have decided to go back on their 23 hour clock and have been demanding to eat earlier and earlier. I am making them wait until 9 AM. Brats. Of course that means Chloe is up her hind legs and patting my arm every five minutes (in between staring at me from the middle of the room). Tréa knows better and went back to sleep when she realized I wasn't caving in.

It got cold here again, but nothing like you folks back east. The wind cuts right through you, though, so I'm avoiding going out.

I've tried to keep up with reps, but apologies if I missed anything cool. Hugs and cheers as appropriate.

FruitTree said:

Good luck, Rick. I'm right there with you this am, trying to make this non-teaching day a productive one. Alas, my to-do list is so long that I've wandered into "I'm not going to get it all done so I might as well goof off" territory...

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*Raises hand* Me too. I'm staring at the to-do list on my whiteboard and thinking, There's so much, and I'm really behind on my television shows...

Maryn said:

We have about two inches of that slushy, heavy snow--the locals call it heart attack snow because so many people who are not as fit as they thought literally give themselves heart attacks moving and lifting it. Mr. Maryn was easily able to get out and the plows had been by, so I finished my coffee before tackling it.

The snow removal is slow going. I'm both thick and strong, but I could only lift and fling a shovel-full using the smallest shovel. Its plastic blade snapped at the weight, and I learned pretty quick not to fill the second-smallest shovel.

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That's a great story about the jogger. (And kudos to that person for jogging in this!) But heart attack snow is right. We got 3-6" of it last night. I shoveled it in the evening. I'm in-shape and I'm strong. (I regularly deadlift, for god's sake.) By the time I finished doing my sidewalk, I thought I was going to pass out. I had to come inside and eat like four cookies before I had the will to make dinner. It was terrible.

I was so grateful to make a new snow friend, too. My neighbor Martha has a friend with a snow blower. Byron came by while she was at work to clear her walk & drive. He saw me wrestling with the ancient red bud tree that exploded under the weight of this slushie snow. Not only did he stop and help me drag three giant branches off my drive, he then snow blowed my drive and walk. Granted, I then had to clear the bottom three inches of slush and ice, but having the top six or so inches of snow taken off was both a back saver and a shovel saver.

Tasmin21 said:

My pet peeve is the folk who refuse to clean off the top of their snow-covered car before driving down the highway at 70+ mph. Eight inches of snow on top of a car looks like a giant freakin' birthday cake, right up until it slides off and smashes all over the windshield of the car right behind them.

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THIS! I hate when that happens. Especially when the top of the snow forms into a hard crust (which might work well for creme brûlée but not for snow on top of cars traveling 70 mph), and then it slings off and smacks into your car. I cracked a window shield once that way.

Snappy said:

Yay for new series.

Finished two chapters that were due to my writing partner...last week. Ah well, better late than never.

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Lily - I missed that the first time through - vamp dust for you!

And congrats on your tardy chapters, Snappy!

Maryn said:

I could only lift and fling a shovel-full using the smallest shovel. Its plastic blade snapped at the weight

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I learned that lesson the hard way, too. Not that we get much snow around here, but I really hate shoveling that wet, heavy "Heart-attack" snow. Makes great snowballs, though.

FruitTree said:

Good luck, Rick. I'm right there with you this am, trying to make this non-teaching day a productive one. Alas, my to-do list is so long that I've wandered into "I'm not going to get it all done so I might as well goof off" territory...

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I'm actually making some progress. I walked past a CO2 detector downstairs that had the batteries removed, waiting on new batteries I bought yesterday, and I replaced them. But that wasn't on my To-Do list, so I added it just so I could cross it off. Anyone else do that, or am I just weird.

callalily61 said:

"graupeling"

I like it.

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For some reason, this triggered a thought for the title of a new horror novel - "The Haupeling"

mayqueen said:

I'm in-shape and I'm strong. (I regularly deadlift, for god's sake.)

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I've been meaning to ask you - deadlift is an unusual lift for a woman, unless you're into bodybuilding. What got you doing those?

Oooh - Snappy gave me a good idea. I can put "procrastinate" on my To-Do list, and I'll have no trouble checking that off.

New bookcase coming Sat. Well, new bookcase pieces. Still have to assemble it.

Rick said:

I've been meaning to ask you - deadlift is an unusual lift for a woman, unless you're into bodybuilding. What got you doing those?

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:/ *sorta grumpy trainer lela chimes in* Cause it's a foundational move and she's interested in not interested in wasting time with crap "toning" exercises that don't actually do much?

Sick. Stupid normal-for-me- sick but....

*runs away*

Rick said:

Oooh - Snappy gave me a good idea. I can put "procrastinate" on my To-Do list, and I'll have no trouble checking that off.

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I put this first on my list. This way if it's the only one that gets done, I've technically succeeded.

mornin' puglets!

hang in there aardvark!
remember, you can always REVENGE QUERY
against the maddening silence!

still excited for taipei trip.
my aunt (mom's older sister) doesn't
know my mom is coming yet, she'll
be so surprised! 8)

off to art volunteering again soon.

Morning!

Though it's closer to the afternoon now I guess.

I hope I gave everyone who asked reps! Let me know if I missed anyone.

Rick I've got a To-Do-List too. I have today and tomorrow to read the rest of these articles I have to read and edit my papers before I hand them in on Friday (lol which is my birthday - I'm REALLY hoping I won't have to do any academic work on my birthday tbh).

So far I've wasted a few hours. I wanted to wake up at 4 and start working on it but I woke up at 9 instead (since I don't have work today). Really frustrating, but I guess my body needed it given the lack of sleep I've been getting.

Also: here's a very interesting post from Andr3A H0st: https://sites.google.com/a/andreakhost.com/the-glacier/

I can't believe that pub had her ms for TEN YEARS.

Roly said:

Also: here's a very interesting post from Andr3A H0st: https://sites.google.com/a/andreakhost.com/the-glacier/

I can't believe that pub had her ms for TEN YEARS.

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ARRRRGGGGHHHHHH (<---- is now in my autocomplete phrases). 10 years!!!!

I wrote one off after 6 months, with only two nudges. 14 months later I heard back. It was too late and I'd moved on. I cannot imagine 10 years.

I swear the universe is conspiring against me today!!!

*turns off phone*

Wow.

I'm with Maryn, I can't believe she kept at it for that long. I have to imagine by the time she hit year two it was just something that was more habit than anything.

I just can't wrap my head around that story.