New Year's Eve Reading

Wow, it's been two weeks since I've visited my own blog. Eesh! I guess my first New Year's resolution is to blog more often. It's not like I've been that busy. Mostly reading and hanging out. Relaxing in general and enjoying family time over the holidays.

Tonight, for example, the only reason I'm awake as midnight approaches is because I've been reading "Catching Fire," the second book in Suzanne Collins' "Hunger Games" series. I finished it and now I'm dying to read the third and final book in the series, "Mockingjay."

I have four other books that I bought with gift certificates that I got for Christmas that are sitting on my nightstand waiting for me to start reading them. And, of course, I have my own book waiting for me to finish the last round of copyediting. Gotta get that thing finished so I can start looking for an agent.

I haven't cut much from it yet. I might just have to send out query letters and see what kind of response I get to my word count. Or go through and read it ONE MORE TIME after I finish this last round and cut some more. Isn't that what editors are for, though? Do they really expect you to have it in perfect condition before it's gone through a read by editors at a publishing house? Probably.

So, New Year's Resolution no. 2: Focus and finish reading my own book. It'll never get published if I never stop editing it!

It's Never a Good Sign When ...

... I get home late from work on a Friday night. My brain is mush from writing a breaking news story and rushing to finish another assignment. Of course, I didn't actually finish that second story, but at least I won't have much work to do when I go back to the office on Monday.

And here I am, after all that writing, updating my blog. And what do I plan to do when I'm done here? Work on my book.

I suppose I should have some stored up writing energy, because until today I had a relatively light work week. And after work most days this week, I read Sara Gruen's "Ape House" instead rather than edit my book. "Ape House" is due back at the library tomorrow, so I had a reading deadline to meet.

I'm on the hunt for something new to read -- the library had "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins and "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot (which I need to read for my book club) the other day -- but I need to focus for a while on my book. I'm never going to get it in the shape it needs to be in to send it to agents if I don't finish editing the darn thing.

This weekend, I vow to work on my book and not start reading a new book.* Maybe I'll send my husband to the library to return "Ape House" for me ...

* Disclaimer: I do have a book or two that I've started reading and haven't finished yet.

Good Book; More Stalling

I finished reading "Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs last night. It was a good, quick read and something relatively light, which I've been looking for to counterbalance the tough biotech material I've been reading for work. It's also been a good excuse (OK, I admit, a feeble excuse) to avoid reading and continuing to cut down my own book.

I've been ridiculously tired lately, so by the time I've got my son in bed and have an hour or so before I absolutely must get myself in bed, I find myself falling asleep at my desk. By then, I'm reading the same paragraph over and over, because I keep nodding off mid-sentence and losing my place.

So, now it's the weekend and it's 9 p.m. on Saturday and I'm just sitting down to read and edit. And, my son will be ready for me to read him to sleep in about five minutes. He took a late nap and it's not a school night, so he's going to bed later than usual.

The good news is that my book is less than 300 pages now. And I'm about to cut another 10 pages or so as soon as I get done reading to Jack. There's a whole trip to Chicago that I decided to edit from the book. I'll save it in a separate file, of course, but it's time to listen to my proofreader's advice and cut the dead weight.

So, good night, sweet dreams and wish me luck -- luck that will help me stay focused on my book before I pick up something else from the library that I just have to read before I continue editing my own novel.

That Time of Year Again

The thing I hate about this time of year is the way that time seems to disappear into a black hole.

I love the period between Thanksgiving and New Year's because I get some time off from work and I get to spend more time with my family. But it all whizzes by in a blur and before you know it it's Jan. 2, because I spend all that time between the time spent with my family shopping, cleaning, wrapping presents, and working hard so that I can enjoy my time off of work.

That means I don't have much time to write anything other than what's required for my job and even when I do have some time to myself I'm too tired to expend the brain cells writing something for me.

This is all a long way, of course, of saying that I haven't worked on my book much lately. On the upside, one-third of the way through my latest reading I've cut 20 pages. I'd like to cut about 100 more pages to make it palatable for agents and editors. *Sigh*

... Back to work ...