I just returned from my RWA chapter’s annual member retreat held at an area state park. Being the outdoorsy type, I loved the wooded setting on a lake, and it was so quiet and peaceful. And after a long, dark winter, it was a lot of fun to hang out with my fellow writers and friends. One of the presenters was my agent, so it was also a great opportunity to get to talk to her about what I’m working on, future project ideas and our submission strategy. So, I’m pumped to start out a new week tomorrow with all these ideas bubbling in my head. Tonight, my to-do list has unpacking, catching up on e-mail, judging a couple of writing contest entries, making my writing goal list for the week and watching the Oscars.

I’ve just been out of town for a week visiting family in the land of the world’s slowest Internet connection. Despite being busy with family stuff last week, I did manage to bang out 33 new pages on my women’s fiction book. That was more than I thought I’d done. When I’m on the road, I write on my Alphasmart Dana, a very light and portable word processor. I can see how many words I’ve written, but until I transfer that material into Word on my computer, I don’t know how many pages. It’s always a nice surprise. I should reach the halfway point of the book sometime this week, hopefully before I trek off to my RWA chapter’s member retreat this weekend. I’m looking forward to it because my agent is coming to town to attend as is a good friend I only get to see about once a year. Plus it’s just fun to get away for a weekend and talk writing with other writers.

My first eBay auction was a success. Hopefully I’ll be able to get rid of some more stuff we don’t need and bring in a little dough in the process. Must now go and read through the material I wrote last week.

Well, the library thing is really working out for me. After finishing up going through the final material I’d written on this women’s fiction book on Tuesday, I got to start writing new stuff yesterday. I spent three hours at the library with my Dana word processor and wrote 14 pages! Since it’s just too darned cold to venture out today, I decided to stay home and write. I’ve been at the computer since slightly after 7:30 this morning, and so far I’ve written about 7 pages. I’m about to give my brain a break and exercise my body on the treadmill. Have to walk off all these Thin Mints I bought from the Girl Scouts and that have been fueling my writing.

And now for something totally off topic — Does anyone reading this blog watch Lost? (Is anyone reading this blog? ). I love this show. It always keeps you guessing, which I admire as a writer. They answer some questions in each episode, but they manage to leave you with new ones at the end. And it’s amazing that a show based on survivors of a plane crash can so capture my attention since I’m so insanely frightened of getting on an airplane.

After finishing up the revisions to the partial of my Bombshell manuscript and sending them off to my agent, I got to work on another project yesterday. I loaded up my notes and a fresh copy of what I’d written on a women’s fiction novel and headed for my neighborhood library. There, I claimed a big table in the back corner next to the floor-to-ceiling windows for plenty of light and so I could look outside from time to time. Plus, it was out of the way of foot traffic. I’ve completed four chapters of the book, and yesterday I was able to get through revisions/edits to the first two chapters in my three hours at the library. I would have stayed longer, but it was already 1:30 in the afternoon and I was hungry. Today, I’m planning to get through the other two chapters so that I can start writing new material tomorrow. I feel like I’ve been the Queen of Revisions for the past year, so it’ll be nice to write new chapters. It’s nice working at the library because there are no distractions like e-mail or all those house chores I know are waiting. It’s good to have several hours of uninterrupted, productive work.

Well, the library opens in about 10 minutes, so I’m off.

It’s been a particularly dark and rainy winter this year, so it’s been great seeing the sun this weekend. Combined with near 60-degree temps yesterday, it was my idea of what February should be like. I was able to get out in the yard and do some work in preparation for spring. My daffodils have already popped out of the ground, though they’ve not bloomed. To soak up even more sunshine, I sat on the front porch and read chapters for my critique group meeting on Tuesday. I also started doing some spring cleaning even though we’re still more than a month away from spring.

I also learned how to sell stuff on eBay yesterday and put up our first auction. This serves the dual purpose of making a little money and getting “stuff” out of our house. It’s funny how much “stuff” you accumulate when you buy a house. It’s like your brain says, “We must fill up all available space.”

It’s another beautiful day, so I think I’ll trim some of the bushes in the yard, do some more cleaning, finish up the reading for critique group and then get started working on my women’s fiction book again. I hope to be halfway through the first draft by the end of the month.

Around midnight last night, I finally finished up my revisions to my Bombshell and e-mailed them off to my agent. Now I can work on something else (reading some chapters for my critique partners and reading back through the pages of my women’s fiction book I’ve started) while I await comments from my agent.

It’s supposed to be sunny and warmer today, so methinks I’ll have to get outside and soak up some happy sun rays. I’m so cold-natured that it’s rare I can go enjoy the outdoors during the winter.

I remembered to watch Battlestar Galactica on the Sci-Fi Channel last night. I kept forgetting it was on Friday nights. I saw the pilot of the new series a few weeks ago after watching the mini-series last year. Then I’ve missed three episodes. But lucky me, I found out they’re reshowing the first five episodes Tuesday night. Will have to get my work done in time to watch the three I’ve missed. And yay, there’s finally a new episode of Lost this upcoming Wednesday. I love that show.

Okay, off to be productive.

As I sat in the theater today with my friend Annie Solomon (be sure to get her book out from Warner Books this month; Blind Curve is a great romantic suspense!), I felt a little like I was playing hooky. Or at least how I imagine playing hooky to feel since I never did in school (okay, collective groan for the goody-two-shoes) or at work. See, that’s the thing, since this is my first week as a stay-at-home writer, I can go to the matinee in the middle of the week when the place isn’t crowded and still have lots of hours to get my work done. But it still felt kinda weird. Anyway, finally got to see The Phantom of the Opera. I’ve seen the stage production and been watching the trailer online for weeks, but this was my first opportunity to go see it. And having worked on my revisions this morning, it was a nice treat. The music was great, the actors entertaining (Minnie Driver is a hoot as Carlotta), and the production beautiful. I’m also a fan of the trailers they run before the movie, and one that caught my eye was The New World due out later this year. It’s the familiar story about Captain John Smith and Pocahontas when the English settled Jamestown, Virginia. I LOVE American historical movies, even the ones that take a lot of artistic license. I’ve always loved history, and historical movies from Colonial to Western always seem to transport me. That’s why my favorite movie is Last of the Mohicans.

Well, it’s time to get back to work. Must go try to weave in some new plot threads.

Well, it’s Day 1 of life as a full-time writer (aka unemployment ). So, if you’d like to send good vibes to those editors out there who have my books, please feel free!

I’ve spent the morning working on revisions to my Bombshell-targeted manuscript and decided to update the ol’ blog while eating my lunch. I haven’t posted in a few days because of all the end-of-the-day-job stuff going on. But over the weekend, we watched a funny DVD — The Blue Collar Comedy Tour. We’d seen a good bit of this on TV, but it’s still really funny and with the DVD you get some extra stuff. Like all comedy, this isn’t for everyone. But if you grew up in the South, it’s darned funny stuff because you’ve known someone like the people described in Jeff Foxworthy’s “You might be a redneck” sayings or Bill Engvall’s “Here’s your sign” jokes. And I about pass out from laughing every time Ron White tells the “Tater Salad” story.

A friend got the good news last week that she has sold her first two books. Check out the story of her “call” and the info about her upcoming releases at www.kelleystjohn.com.

Okay, lunchtime is over. Gotta get back to work!