The Bouncy Castle in Space

DanielaTorre

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Dave - sounds like the re-editing is working for you. I'm so pleased.

I've found in the past that I've suddenly opened the wrong document and am editing an older version of a WIP, and only realize after I've done some significant work on it. When I then compare the two documents, they may be a little different, but both are good in different ways. Sometimes editing for a second time produces a better edit.

I tend to have 157 versions of each ms saved, and occasionally can't remember which was the latest and greatest. It's all a process, so no writing is wasted.

Thank goodness for cut & paste, and save as. These things are the writer's friends.

OMG. I did that once and I nearly cried because I couldn't remember what those changes were. So logically I didn't want to overwrite. Needless to say that I just had to do the editing all over again. *sigh*

I tend to keep one word file per draft. So I have four in total. My 5th will come after betas (the suspense is killing me). I'm anticipating it being ripped apart, and for some strange reason, I welcome it. Is it masochistic to want people to tell you it's terrible? My reasoning behind it is 1) I think my ms is complete trash 2) There's only room for improvement.

There's nothing more satisfying to me than seeing comments on my work - be it positive or negative - because it allows me to see what I cannot see because I'm too close to my work. Logically I'm devastated at first, but after I give it a bit of time and thought, I feel like my writing is better for it. :)
 

Smish

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Also, Daniela, my two-year-old was mesmerized by your stripper pole dance-y character earlier.

I was actually tempted to break out my mod powers and terminate that thing. It's kind of creepy! What is it?!

:D
 

DanielaTorre

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:roll:

I can confirm that Daniela lives. I just got an email from her.

Also, Daniela, my two-year-old was mesmerized by your stripper pole dance-y character earlier.

LMAO. I'm actually surprised of the ruckus that little character has caused on this board. It's like Gandalf strolled into the Shire only to encounter the disapproving stares of the Sackville-Bagginses. Of course, you have those youngish hobbits who are quite taken by the old wizard.

:D Glad your babe enjoyed it!

I was actually tempted to break out my mod powers and terminate that thing. It's kind of creepy! What is it?!

:D

Noooo! Don't do it I swear I'll be good! I swears it on... on... the precious!

It's actually a chibi Deadpool. He's a comic book character. Chibi refers to the cutie, stout qualities. :)
 

Kitty Pryde

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Is there a word for when every single kid and adult in the entire school goes absolutely bonkers? Good lord. This is like an apocalyptic event. The naughty kids are off the rails, the regular kids are mouthing off and fighting each other, the sensitive kids are in tears. I am...bleaching my hair. But I swear it is not a symptom of this rampant madness. If I have to say "stop touching each other," "the tetherball is not a little seat," or "quit picking at it" one more time, I am going to tear my hair out, and the blonde will not show up as much on the floor.

How are my fellow bouncers on this fine evening?
 

DanielaTorre

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Is there a word for when every single kid and adult in the entire school goes absolutely bonkers? Good lord. This is like an apocalyptic event. The naughty kids are off the rails, the regular kids are mouthing off and fighting each other, the sensitive kids are in tears. I am...bleaching my hair. But I swear it is not a symptom of this rampant madness. If I have to say "stop touching each other," "the tetherball is not a little seat," or "quit picking at it" one more time, I am going to tear my hair out, and the blonde will not show up as much on the floor.

How are my fellow bouncers on this fine evening?

Wow. Glad I didn't get into teaching like I intended way back when my head wasn't properly attached to my body. I like kids... but only from far way. Oh the irony, as I aspire to write MG. :eek:

As a fellow bouncer, I am dealing with a migraine as we speak. I feel like blowing chunks and I can barely open my eyes. Luckily, being a woman, I am blessed with a high threshold for pain (child birthing and all — like super powers) and I am able to keep my eyes open long enough to type whilst watching reruns of Doctor Who. How long I will be able to keep this up remains to be seen.

I have a Microbiology exam on Friday and but can't study because of this migraine that is blowing my neurons to high hell. Oh well. Cram tomorrow after work.
 

Britwriter

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Yep. I just keep on writing, working on other projects. Often I've been surprised that a project I'd almost forgotten about was published ahead of one I was viewing as far more active.

There are so many parts of publishing that are outside of our control. The best thing we can do is query a project, then carry on writing.
 

Britwriter

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Is there a word for when every single kid and adult in the entire school goes absolutely bonkers?

I remember it as always being Friday afternoon, and the weather was wet and windy. So you couldn't get them all outside to go nuts and get the energy out.

But it's only Wednesday. What's happening?!!
 

Smish

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It's actually a chibi Deadpool. He's a comic book character. Chibi refers to the cutie, stout qualities. :)

Well, I can sympathize with being stout, so I guess I'll give the chibi-thingy a chance. :Jump:

Is there a word for when every single kid and adult in the entire school goes absolutely bonkers? Good lord. This is like an apocalyptic event. The naughty kids are off the rails, the regular kids are mouthing off and fighting each other, the sensitive kids are in tears. I am...bleaching my hair. But I swear it is not a symptom of this rampant madness. If I have to say "stop touching each other," "the tetherball is not a little seat," or "quit picking at it" one more time, I am going to tear my hair out, and the blonde will not show up as much on the floor.

How are my fellow bouncers on this fine evening?

So glad I've never had to say any of those things before. :D Hope today was better!

I have a Microbiology exam on Friday and but can't study because of this migraine that is blowing my neurons to high hell. Oh well. Cram tomorrow after work.

Hope you're feeling better today. Good luck on the test tomorrow!

There are so many parts of publishing that are outside of our control. The best thing we can do is query a project, then carry on writing.

Good advice. :Thumbs:
 

Britwriter

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I am so not bouncing today. Spent all day on computer hassles and glitches.

My email suddenly started bouncing random emails. So now I'm worrying about all those queries I just sent out, and the requesting agents.

After two hours spent with tech support, we got some stuff sorted out, but the email is still a problem. At one point I changed some settings and it tried to download 10,000 emails. Yep, ten thousand. Boy, did I get back into the account fast to switch the settings back! Then I spent an hour deleting about a thousand old emails dating back to 2007. That was totally weird.

I think I have no choice but to get a new email address and start again.

Agh. I have so much work to do, and this took up the entire day. Plus, now I'm having to log back onto every single website and put in account info, as we had to reset everything to try to fix this.

Hopefully I'll be back to bouncing happily soon. (On the writing front, everything's going fabulously -it's my computer I want to strangle, figuratively speaking).

(Note to others, it is likely that this all happened because of a couple of people who send me emails along with a huge group list. I constantly ask folks not to include me on these types of emails and tell them that I don't read them, but a few people persist. I always delete them immediately, but will now be much firmer about telling well-meaning folks to stop sending them to me. Ever. I don't want anything buggy ever landing in my inbox again!)
 

sissybaby

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I need to loan out the granddaughter. As much as I love her, and know that she needs to be with us right now, I'm near my limit.

Can't write. Too much distraction and, "Nana, I need (fill in the blank with whatever comes to mind).

Can't sleep. She kicks so much I finally put her on the floor beside me. She's fine until the light goes off. then she wants in the bed. But then Papa's snoring scares her and she wants back on the floor. But now her pallet is a shambles and she needs me to fix it. Then she needs a drink of water. Then the cup spilled on her jammies and she needs dry ones. Then the light goes out and she wants back in my bed. It's endless, but I worry about our steep stairs too much to put her upstairs.

But this morning told me I was losing it. She wanted scrambled eggs, which was fine. I got out the skillet and began heating it. Then I put the eggs in a bowl and whisked them. Then I poured the eggs into the skillet and washed out the bowl. Then salted and peppered the eggs. Then went to get a spatula from the drawer, and when I came back over to the counter, I couldn't find the eggs! Thought I must have dumped them down the drain when I rinsed the bowl. But no, they were in the skillet after all.

I've either lost it, or my age is finally catching up with me.
 

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Oh, sissy, that sounds like something I would do. I've been so scatterbrained for months now. I don't know how much is premenopause hormones and how much is just me, but I do something like that almost daily. In fact, "I've lost the eggs again" may just become my new catch phrase.

I am making progress on making room in my life for the revisions when agent's notes arrive. Taxes are filed--which included breaking the news to my ex that he's no longer claiming either son, since they live with me 90% of the time now and I'm doing all the insurance/financial aid stuff. And my son's financial aid stuff is done, which involved catching up on six months of filing, and also led to the discovery that for the past two years my district has NOT been deducting money for my retirement account like I told them to.

Apparently the state changed its approved vendor list, and my company no longer qualified, so they just stopped putting money in the account without telling me. Nor did my broker notice... so time to find a new investment company and a new broker. This will make the fourth retirement account I have started. Basically at this point the only way I can afford to retire is if my book sells well. Otherwise I'll be teaching til I die.

Now all that's left to settle is my job for next year. Every day my principal does another stupid thing that makes me say, Yeah, I'm outta here. But for the job I really want, I need 3 letters of recommendation. So I've asked 6 people... and so far only one has actually given me the damn thing. Everyone else says, Oh, yeah, sorry, I meant to do that last weekend, sure, I'll get right on it... and another 2 weeks go by.

*growl*

If that job doesn't come through, I'll put in for a transfer, I guess. But that's a bit more awkward, and not as much of a new adventure. Much harder to know ahead of time if it will be something new and exciting or just same sh**, different faces. And in the meantime, I haven't told the principal I'm leaving yet, so I have to keep biting my tongue and pretending to care about what happens at this school in the future.

All this waiting for things--job developments, agent's notes--is rough on me. I am a terribly impatient person!!!
 

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Oh gosh, Judy, all that hassle, and all that waiting. It would drive me nuts!

Smish, thanks for the hug.

I did get a lot of the computer stuff sorted out, and can now get email. But I know my email bounced some stuff over the last few weeks. Very frustrating.

But, the good news is that this afternoon I got a fab idea for the end of my current picture book. This new ending is so darn cute I want to hug it. If you know what I mean. :)

It's been a good day. The day was originally earmarked for writing, but that went assunder when we ended up at a cat adoption fair to 'look' and came home with the sweetest little kitty. Amazingly, when we got home, I suddenly got some inspiration for the picture book, and the ideas just flew. I love those moments!

So today's score: New Kitty + New End for Picture Book.

Pretty good day. :)
 

Smish

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A new kitty and a new book idea? Okay, that sounds like an AMAZING day.

I finished season 3 of Downton Abbey today. Anyone else watch it?

And when I moved last month, I gave my couch (which was a hand-me-down mammoth, with recliners on either end. It was comfy, but so not my style) to Goodwill. I figured that now that I'm in my 30s, I should stop using hand-me-downs and purchase some living room furniture that I actually like. Well, today, an aunt offered me a barely used dark brown leather sofa. Still not my syle. But it's comfy, practically new, and far nicer than anything I could afford. If I put a bunch of lovely throw pillows on it and buy some pretty side chairs (and maybe a floor rug), I can make it more feminine, right?
 

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.

I finished season 3 of Downton Abbey today. Anyone else watch it?

And when I moved last month, I gave my couch (which was a hand-me-down mammoth, with recliners on either end. It was comfy, but so not my style) to Goodwill. I figured that now that I'm in my 30s, I should stop using hand-me-downs and purchase some living room furniture that I actually like. Well, today, an aunt offered me a barely used dark brown leather sofa. Still not my syle. But it's comfy, practically new, and far nicer than anything I could afford. If I put a bunch of lovely throw pillows on it and buy some pretty side chairs (and maybe a floor rug), I can make it more feminine, right?

Totally in love with Downton Abbey, not just because it's so fabulous, but also because it reminds me of home. I get a homesick twinge every time I watch it.

Yes, you can totally dress up the couch to make it look fabulous. There's nothing like a good quality piece of furniture to work with. I always buy used furniture, so that money is spent on quality, not sticker price. :)
 

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sissybaby - Oh, I've been there. Lack of sleep is brutal. Everything goes to pot for me. I hope the little one settles down at night for you soon.

I hope everyone's doing well. Nicole, I'm glad the computer thing got fixed, and that the ideas are flowing. There's a reason I never step foot in an animal shelter - I know I'll come home with something!

Judy, I hope everything gets sorted into its rightful place soon and you can attack those revisions with gusto.

Smish - I loved the first season of DA. Season two a little less so. Season three has been a total downer until last Sunday. How are you done with Season 3? But, yes, it's fantastically beautiful and soap opera-ish, which totally hooks me. Dark brown leather? I guess the main question is - is it comfy? Then, yes, a few throws, and presto! Feminine couch.

I went for a little hike with my boys today. It was clear but cold, and they were just so nice to be around. The little one would take off running, and the bigger one would count to ten and then chase him down, and the middle one just walked with me. It was nice. That was the highlight of my day.
 

Smish

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The DVD set of DA season 3 has already been released. Season 3 is definitely more depressing than past seasons. Still, I'm hooked for season 4.
 

DavidBrett

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Sissy, I feel your pain - Davey is sick. But I have no one to blame but myself; I've been keeping myself awake, forcing myself to write this new final draft, and stressing myself out in the process that no matter what I do - edits, additions, dialogue tweaks, casefiles, etc - it'll NEVER BE GOOD ENOUGH AGAIN :( :( :(

I dunno if it's just because I'm definitely sending this to an agent soon after, or if the fact that it's a rewrite that's gotten me so bad.

I know now for sure that I don't feel that sending it straight to the agent is a good idea, so I've emailed the majority of my betas, asking the HUGE favour of a re-read. I can only hope the lure of 'additional content' will be enough to bag a few of them.

Wish me luck... And good health :p

Dave

ETA - They've all gotten back to me already, saying they'd be happy to! YOU GUYS ARE THE GREATEST!!
 
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MJWare

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Wow, there's something therapeutic about coming here and seeing how everyone's problems are so much like my own! I often wonder how much more we could write if we didn't have to put up with "real life."

I was more into Upstairs, Downstairs (which I think got the ax), but I've been watching DA. Mostly, just something to watch with the wife. I figure if she'll watch Dr. Who with me, DA seems like a fair trade.