The Bouncy Castle in Space

MsJudy

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Oh, my, Sheila, I need to find that kid. He and my son could be BFFs! Or maybe it's the separated-at-birth thing. I passed out there for a while, so maybe...

And if anyone knows where I can get me a doughnut-fetching unicorn, please PM me at once.
 

MsJudy

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No spring break yet, but I do get a 3-day weekend. No reason. The calendar committee just looked at March and said, Man, do we ever need a 3-day weekend in there somewhere. So, yippee!
 

Kitty Pryde

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I was supposed to go surfing today for my birthday, and skiing tomorrow. The surf shop called this morning during breakfast to cancel my lesson for adverse conditions (pouring rain and 20 knot winds). Bowling, paintball, and laser tag were all vetoed, so we decided on rock climbing today. It was fun and three of my friends tried it for the first time. And they had a SCARY THING there and I TRIED IT.

There was a "cave" built into the wall, a square opening about a height and width slightly larger than average adult shoulders. It was pitch dark inside and they were giving out glowsticks to take inside. There were twists and turns and ascents and descents and slides and fireman poles and ladders and a plexiglass floor thirty feet above the floor. I went in ten feet and decided I shouldn't do it.

But then I thought that since I am always convincing people to do scary things, then I should be able to try a scary thing myself. If I won't try something new, I'll just be stuck doing the same old stuff. I went through the whole thing chanting "not scary, not scary, not scary" to myself. It was scary. And awesome. They had a second cave and I went through that one too. The worst part was turning from head-first to feet-first, and hoping the fire department would not be called out for a Removal Of Tightly-Wedged Plump Woman From Climbing Gym Wall Tunnel using the jaws of life. (Pictures of the scary cave!)

And spring break is in a week! Happy weekend to all!
 
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JoyMC

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Congrats, Kitty! That gives me terrible flashbacks to the playground equipment at my elementary school that had one of those curving tubes to climb up (like a slide, but enclosed, and it twisted) and it petrified me so much but I wanted to master it so much my mom brought me on the weekend to try to do it without the pressure of other kids and I still couldn't.

Bet I could now, though. :D
 

MsJudy

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Good job, Kitty. Sometimes we just have to conquer those fears, even though we don't really want to...

I must be permitted a small bounce, too. I have reached the halfway point of my WIP! Not bad for 10 weeks work.

Even better--I'm totally getting how to outline now, thanks to Blake Snyder's Beat Sheet method. Now I see why my second halfs never quite live up to my first halfs, and I feel pretty confident that this time I know what I need to do.

So... boing! boing!
 

SheilaJG

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Yay Kitty! What a thrill it is to do something that terrifies you (for me, it's speaking in public).

Yay MsJudy! That's some great work. I've been meaning to give Save The Cat a look. I checked out his website, and I love what he says about midpoints. If you can crack your midpoint, you can crack the story. And he says the midpoint is where two things happen - the stakes are raised, and a time clock appears.
 

heza

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Congratulations on the progress, MsJudy.

I'm in awe of Kitty's mastering her Scary Thing, especially THAT Scary Thing, as I am claustrophobic!

I don't have a big bounce, but I had a small breakthrough in world building for my WIP that has unlocked a few scenes and tied together some subplots.... So, no actual written progress on that--just lots of thinking progress (the staring-out-the-window kind).

(We had spring break last week. Traffic was soooo nice [30 minutes to the office], but this week, I'm back to my hour-and-a-half [one way] commute.)
 

sissybaby

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Okay - I've been keeping quiet about this because I don't have any idea what I'm supposed to do with it, but I sort of have a bouncy story.

The publisher I sent my PB to got back to me several weeks ago. She said she really liked it, but had several questions she wanted answered. (some of them were pretty interesting).

Then she ultimately said she would definitely like to keep it in her MAYBE file.

Now, I am not sure what I'm supposed to do with that. Since this particular story has been received fairly well from agents, and now a publisher, should I query it further? Or should I wait and hope that she moves it up to her DEFINITE file?

I've never been in this spot, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. You're all much smarter than I am about the publishing world.


Heza - an hour and a half, one way?????? Sometimes the fact that I can't work makes me feel utterly useless, but then I read things like this, and I realize that we often don't manage to recognize blessings. City traffic makes me literally ill - I mean, we're talking find a gas station or a McDonald's NOW! Sorry for the over-share.
 

heza

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It's a tough dilema, Sissy. Did you agree to an exclusive? I might be way off base, but if there's no agreement to an exclusive (with a reasonable timeframe), then I would keep subbing. If you get another offer, you can let her know you've had an offer and she can decide whether she wants to move it to her DEFINITE file.

You can set your own deadline for how long you want to wait on her, but I don't think you're obligated to live in limbo, with no indication of a timeframe on a decision, if she hasn't committed to anything more than a maybe.

If she actually makes an offer while you're on sub elsewhere, you can just kindly inform anyone else who asked for pages.

That's my assumption about how things work, but someone more experienced probably has a better answer.

Re: Commute. I've had to learn to be very zen-like while I'm sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic, that's for sure. Sometimes it drives me batty when I actually let myself understand that I sit in traffic three hours a day!
 

Morrell

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Yay for you, Sissybaby! That's a wonderful dilemma to have. Not sure exactly what the "Maybe" file means or how long she would expect to keep it there, but it's a really nice vote of confidence. I would continue to submit; someone else may have room in their "Yes, please!" file.

And now I must share the joke my 6-year-old nephew made up:

What is it when two tyrannosauruses crash into each other?

A T-wreck.

Then, obviously not having much faith in our powers of reasoning, he said, "Get it? W-R-E-C-K, not R-E-X."
 

MsJudy

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And now I must share the joke my 6-year-old nephew made up:

What is it when two tyrannosauruses crash into each other?

A T-wreck.

Then, obviously not having much faith in our powers of reasoning, he said, "Get it? W-R-E-C-K, not R-E-X."

I think I'll try that one out on my kids tomorrow.
 

Morrell

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:) Let me know if they like it, MsJudy. He came up with another one today:

Q: How can you put a sandwich in a famous composer?
A: Put it in your lunch Bach.
 

Kitty Pryde

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I am mostly recovered from awesome birthday skiing in a proper good blizzard on Sunday. I have one cupcake left so I'm not calling this birthday over yet :D (It's from Sprinkles, which everyone tells me is on the news because they have a Cupcake ATM.)

My terribly naughty student who throws a tantrum or runs out of the room when anyone suggests he do any assignment involving writing (really), actually finished reading a book today (Babymouse) and did an actual assignment in which he wrote actual things down (character chart). Woo-hoo! Progress. With bouncers as my witness, I swear that one day he will write a book report.
 

Cyrus

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Hi everyone, I'm new here, and the bouncy castle seems to be the place to be! The school I work at rents a bouncy castle several times a year and I jump when I get the chance.

Kitty- one day at a time and he'll get there!
 

Kitty Pryde

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Hi Cyrus!

I like to run up to the bouncy castle, yell HEY, FREE ICE CREAM!!! and then when the kids vacate the place I get my bounce on :D

I have one day left before spring break! And I just turned in my application to go back to school (one year online program to be a teacher) so I feel like a couple of :Jump::Jump::Jump::Jump::Jump: are in order. Bounce with your fingers crossed for me!
 

Smish

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Did someone say ice cream? :D

:welcome: Cyrus!

Fingers crossed for you, Kitty! :Jump: :Jump: :Jump:
 

Smish

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Question - can your wisdom teeth grow in when you're 30? 'Cause my gum is sore back there...

Carry on with your bouncing. :Jump: :Jump: :Jump:
 

Cyrus

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I'm pretty sure that your adult teeth are formed and a very early age, i would think your dentist would know if they were back there
 

Smish

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A few years ago, my dentist sent me to a specialist to see if they'd need to be removed. I have really good teeth, actually (which is only fair, since my vision sucks), but a smallish mouth. At that time, the specialist said they were fine and didn't need to be removed unless I had trouble flossing or whatever (which I don't do often, I'll confess -- no cavities, so far! I hope the soreness doesn't mean I have one now...).

Oh, well. Nevermind. Keep bouncing. I'm gonna go floss... :D