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Friday, July 12, 2013

skunks, wips, and Skyrim

My skunk problem has lessened. I've only seen one once, and I found a couple spots that might be accessible and blocked them off. I won't say the smell is gone but at least my food doesn't taste like skunk anymore and the smell is no longer overwhelming. Hopefully they're getting the message and moving on.

I also finished my first round of edits, addressing all the points mentioned and slashing nearly 6,000words from the document! Some of it I wish I could keep, but I have to admit there was a lot that could go. Additionally I sent a few more queries off on my YA witchy Regency Romance, GRIMOIRE, and got two requests for fulls! I'd sure love to find it a home. Plus I have two manuscripts to revise, one in a big way (a whole new arc for one of the characters), and my NA scifi, NO REST, which needs world building and fleshing out before I send it off to readers. Oh, and I'm reading How to Write the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass, which I won just by commenting over at Adventures in YA Publishing.

What are you doing? Writing? Relaxing? Vacationing? Got any cool weekend plans? I'm hoping to go play Skyrim at my brother's house. I'm also still looking for the Guldar Amulet Quest which gets me an amulet that boosts my magic, health, AND stamina by 30 POINTS!

40 comments:

  1. Glad the skunk is moving on. I wonder if you could spray tomato juice under your house?
    Awesome on the two full requests!
    Seeing Pacific Rim today. Watched most of Sharknado last night. Oh yeah, it was bad. But the play-by-play next week will rock.

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    1. Hahah - I'll be looking forward to your play by play :)

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  2. Congratulations on getting requests for 2 fulls!!! And there's nothing worse than stinky skunk, glad they're gone.

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    1. thank you and you are right about the skunks. I never disliked them so much til now, lol.

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  3. Lots of great things going on with your writing career these days, huh? That's fabulous. Almost as fabulous as getting rid of that skunk. OY! Those things can make life miserable, can't they? How can something so cute smell so god-awful? Anyhow, I'm glad he's outta there, and you can get back to writing.

    Me? I'm working on some magazine articles, and doing research for my next book. A reporter from my old hometown in Maryland interviewed me for an article that's supposed to be in next Thursday's paper. About me and my book. (Pinch me!)

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    1. Ooh, you're going to be famous!!! You should post a link to the article if you can. I'd sure like to read it!

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  4. maybe you should borrow someone's dog for a few weeks so that the skunks won't come back :)

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    1. oh, I have a dog but he's already gotten sprayed twice and that is something neither of us want to experience again.

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  5. Hope that the last remnants of your skunky situation will soon be history.

    Congrats on finishing your first edits. I'm drafting - not even 1/4 of the way in yet, but it's taking shape.

    Happy Weekend!

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    1. Oh boy do I hope they move out of my neighborhood! For good!

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  6. Congrats on the 2 requests, that's awesome! And I'm glad the skunk has moved on.

    Happy weekend!

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    1. I think they're still around (I heard one yesterday but it was too close to dark to spot him) but not under my house anymore. I hope.

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  7. I'm so sorry to hear about the skunk problem. Yikes! We had a dog that got sprayed once, and even after 2 tomato juice baths, he still smelled bad. I hope you've seen the last of your skunk problems because you're right -- I certainly wouldn't trade my problems for yours.

    Yay for the requests and the progress on your editing! It's hard to cut your baby up, but the revised ms will be leaner, meaner, and ready to take on the world! :-)

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    1. There's a better formula for washing a skunky dog that involves liquid soap, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide (I used to work at a vet). But boy the smell of skunk sure does linger.

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  8. Fingers crossed the skunk has skipped town. And Writing the Breakout Novel is one of my favorites for writing motivation. I took a class with Maass once, and he's kind of a story-whisperer -- he and his wife, actually. I like what he has to say about a lot of stuff. :)

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    1. I've heard some great things about this book and him as a speaker. Maybe one of these days I'll get to go to a conference.

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  9. He's moved on after all the negative waves, gaming with my mates this Saturday.

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    1. Have fun gaming - I hope to do the same myself this weekend :)

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  10. Glad your skunk problem is taking care of itself.

    Great on the requests! That's awesome. At some point I need to get Skyrim. I love the older elder scrolls games.

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    1. I've played all the Elder Scrolls Games and finished the last two (Daggerfall and Oblivion). Skyrim is beyond awesome.

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  11. Our skunk has gone somewhere else too. This weekend we'll be visiting friends and maybe heading to the beach. Have a good weekend!

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    1. oh so sorry you had a skunk, too but glad he's gone! And have a wonderful time at the beach - it's my favorite place :)

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  12. Ripping apart the first few chapters of novel #3 and trying to immerse myself in the phrase "write in scene."
    Hope the skunks disappear for good!

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    1. Is it a complete novel you're revising or something newish? Either way, good luck!

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  13. Hope you are enjoying the book! And thanks for the shout out! :)

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    1. I am enjoying it very much - thank you!

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  14. I'm visiting from Carol's blog. Congrats on the award. I'm retired, living in a heatwave right now and sort of wish I was in Maine by the ocean. I love your header picture, so cool and refreshing.

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  15. That's a lot of words. Big congrats on chopping what needed chopped. And another BIG congrats on landing two requests for full manuscripts.

    Woohoo :-)

    No plans here. Gotta work all weekend, but hoping to make them early days. Fingers crossed.

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    1. let's hope one of those requests pans out :)

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  16. So glad your skunk problem is going away. Perhaps it'll make a good scene in a future story.

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    1. I don't know, it's pretty mundane, imo, annoying more than anything else.

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  17. Carol Kilgore sent me over. Wow! Do you ever sleep?
    Skyrim - I'm thinking that is the game I wanted so bad year before last and promised my kid I would wait for Christmas. *sigh* I still have not opened it.

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    1. trust me this IS the game you want above all others (except maybe Fallout3, which is equally fun in a post apocalyptic shoot 'm up kind of way) - imo :)

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  18. Hope your skunk found another home. I'm hoping to finish up the first, really rough, draft of my next romance novel but the end of the week. Then at least ten other things need my attention.

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    1. heheh, I also have some pretty rough first drafts - thank God for revisions, eh?

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  19. Wow, slashed 6K? Kudos to you, that's not easy to do.

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    1. It wasn't but...that's what was needed.

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  20. Full requests? Way to go! Hope you get a deal soon. I've been querying my YA western; 50 out so far with a few requests for partials, but no takers yet.

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