A Romance Hero in the Unlikeliest Place

This is not a political blog at all. I have opinions but I'll keep them to myself.

To me, what has totally been underplayed in all the hoopla over Sarah Palin is her dashing romance hero, the "first dude," Todd Palin. Just from the few tidbits weve learned about his past, I'm already getting the rough sketches for a fantasy romance hero: hunter, oil worker, commercial fisherman, snowmobile racer who marries a beauty queen. This is something straight out of a Diana Palmer novel, reset in Alaska. He's been called a "true Alaskan," part Yupik Eskimo.

He must be that rarest mix of alpha male (all frontiersman, survivalist, manliness) and sensitive male. After all, I've read that he helps take care of their children and cooks!

Yes, there are the ups and downs on the way to love and I'd like to airbrush a few details about these two people but I like the outline so far.

I know one thing, they've got my vote for sexiest backstory of the campaign. We'll see about the rest.

How Can I Thank You?

Putting together a well-written thank you note is a tall order to fill. I mean, those two little words already accomplish so much: thank you.

What remains is the blank inside of a 5x7 note card, or rather, a whole lot of space for me to ramble and go off message. I'm one of those foolish sorts who likes to say only what is necessary and only what I really feel. So, I agonize over every little word.

Here's the scenario: I have to write five personalized thank you notes as a follow up to a marathon two and half hour interview I had yesterday. I've written three and I'm exhausted. I don't want to say the same thing over and over. What if they compare what I've written? I don't want to write something generic. These peeps are really picky and it's for a writing position so I feel like I've got to put forth the effort to win the job. It's a great job, btw. Well, I mean, as far as day jobs go.

I'm wiped. This may be all the writing I get to do today. Yikes!

First Dinner, Then Dessert

I was never any good at abiding by this rule set by most parents. In fact, as soon as I became an adult (which is still debatable), I broke this one all the time. Unfortunately, there is a reason that dinner comes before dessert or that work comes before play... to instill discipline, establish routine. I'm so bad at that still. I want to web surf before writing. I want to eat, check what's on TV. I even go so far as saying that I need to have all the dishes clean before I can get started!

I'm not a neat freak by any stretch.

I'm a born procrastinator and it's become so obvious now that I have long periods of uninterrupted time. I have to fight myself to get things done, to get motivated.

Today's big distractions (in no particular order, of course) have been: returning phone/email for my job search, blog reading/writing, dog walking/vet/dog park, daydreaming up new stories I'd like to write, laundry, eating/thinking about eating.

So ~ I have decided to keep to a more rigorous schedule over the next few days to see if that helps. I am going to try to set time allowances for each of my activities so I can still do everything... just within limits.

I have a big chunk of edits done but I just keep fiddling with it. I'm driving myself slightly insane with this project. I need to read some of the wonderful author blogs on how to edit efficiently... but I have to fit that into my new schedule!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Well, I'm back from our road trip vacay. We follow the Cubs to different ballparks on the east coast. This time, we went back to see our Cubbies play the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was a great trip mostly because we swept the series. But we really enjoy visiting PNC Park for the friendliness of the of the Pittsburgh fans and the great food at the ballpark!

We both ordered sandwiches overstuffed with french fries and cabbage and split a big dill pickle and a cold mountain dew. It was gastronomical heaven... until we got back to the hotel room.

I did a little writing, very little but I thought myself out of a writing corner I got myself tucked into. I think I'll be able to complete the scene I was working on with the notes that I jotted down while I awaited my Sig Other's return from the lobby where he was hanging out talking to the players.

Well, vacay is over and we're back home to watch the rest of our games on TV, unless the Cubs make it to the World Series and then 'll be back on the road again!

On Vacay

Be back soon...

Odds and Ends and Thoughts

I cracked open my wallet and bought a new book instead of sticking to my TBR pile. Well, I bought the book a couple of months ago before I was really committed to tearing through my TBR. I bought the book because it was a new novel by one of my favorite romance authors.

I discovered this authors books when I was about 13 years old in a box of books my mother's best friend gave to her. The cover was purple and embossed and shiny with a dashing rogue and a striking heroine on the cover. The title was in gold, scipty, serify font ~ like ice cream for a teenage mind. I'll never forget this book. I've since replaced that copy with a newer version so I could have it for posterity.

Well... so I'm reading the book... and I'm not loving it. Truth be told, this is the second time that I feel like I've been left at the altar by this author's most recent work. I'm so sad. Maybe I've grown up and yesterday's flavor of romance no longer appeals or maybe something has changed. I don't know. I was just really sad. The hero isn't as dark and dangerous and I don't feel connected to the internal struggles of the heroine.

I am not going to give the author's name because I will always love her for her early work but I'm crying on the inside. I know that author's can't/don't want to write the same thing over and over. I totally get that. Actually, I want to get to that point where I'm screwing with reader expectations. I really want to love the work every time though.

In other news, I went for a job interview today. Keep your fingers crossed. I think I could be really happy with the position in terms of the work that I would get to do, the level of responsibility and... I would get to spend a lot of time writing. That's always a plus. I guess it's a double-edged sword because writing insurance or healthcare or mortgage copy can really drain your soul. But, I would be writing for a living.

Be careful what you wish for!

When it All Clicks

I'm going to have to tear up a bunch of what I wrote but I now know what needs to happen. I know what was missing from my draft. I'm so happy. I thought I would fear having to discard so many painstakingly written words. But, maybe that was the problem. They were each torn from me. The words didn't flow and now I see the way...