A few months back, I blogged about us getting a new roof this year. In keeping with the 2006 theme of major home repairs, we’re also getting our siding redone. The people who owned our house before us seemed to alternate between fancying themselves home improvement experts (with less than stellar results, I might add) or just plain didn’t keep up with the upkeep. Our house has western red cedar siding, and the stain and sealant hasn’t been done in who knows when. So in order that it all doesn’t finally just give up and fall off the house this winter, leaving our house naked and shivering in the middle of January, we’re forking out some more dough to have it fixed. A couple of weeks ago, I had three different companies come and do estimates. I almost had a stroke when I looked at the first one, but I thought stroking out in front of the guy while standing on my front porch would be a little rude. Thank goodness the next two bids, while not cheap, came in at less than half what the first guy wanted. Either he was smoking crack or we were going to get a gold-plated house. The other two bids were about a $100 different, and we actually went with the higher of the two because I thought the guy spent more time checking out the house and presented us with a more thorough bid.

The work began today with the carpenter coming to replace some of the window frames. After he’s finished with those and replacing some of the deteriorated siding boards in a couple of days, the siding guys will pressure wash the house and garage. Then comes the caulking and finally the new stain and sealant. I can’t wait to see what it looks like when everything is finished. I’ll post before, during and after photos when the work is completed.
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Today is the first day since I began this new book on Oct. 21 that I didn’t write anything on it. Instead, I spent 2.5 hours working in the yard with hubby, finishing up some freelance writing work and sending it in, did the grocery shopping for next week so I don’t have to leave while the siding guys are here, and watched my latest Felicity disc that came from Netflix today. Now that all that is out of the way, I plan to have a very good writing day tomorrow. I hope I can hit Page 200 before the end of the day. I’m hoping the brain break today is good for productivity.

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Whedonverse Quote of the Day:

Cordelia: “So, are you still…(baring her teeth and making claws) ‘GRRR’?”
Angel: “Yeah, there’s not actually a cure for that.”

Angel

Wrote 12 pages on current book.

Wrote 10 very short articles for freelance client.

Weeded flowerbeds and trimmed shrubbery.

Watched Men in Trees — am really liking this cute little show.

Tired.

Going to bed to read.

Be back tomorrow.

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Whedonverse Quote of the Day:

Angel: “The Gateway for Lost Souls…is under the post office?”
Doyle: “Eh, it makes sense, if you think about it.”

Angel

The last week has been amazing writing-wise. I can’t remember ever having a production week like this. I believe it’s because I’m writing a story I really like and I want to know what happens next to these characters, so the pages keep coming. I began this new paranormal YA at 6 p.m. last Thursday. When I shut off my laptop today, after writing 28 pages, I’d written 159 pages in the past week. At this rate, I should be done with the first draft at this time next week. That’s blowing my mind. I think this is a testament to what I’ve heard other writers say — don’t force a story that you’re not enjoying. If you enjoy it, the writing will come easier and the readers will be able to tell in the form of a better-told story with three-dimensional characters they fall in love with. That’s my hope anyway.

And on a totally different topic, WOW, what a season opener of Supernatural tonight. Love this show! Jared Padalecki (on the left in the picture below), who plays younger Winchester brother Sam, is the model for the hero in the young adult book I’m writing right now. And Jensen Ackles (on the right), who plays older brother Dean, gets a star-struck mention by one of my secondary characters, the heroine’s best friend who I plan to give her own book.

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Whedonverse Quote of the Day:

“Wash, we’ve got some local color happening. Your grand entrance would not go amiss right now.” — Mal, Firefly

I’ve always loved superheroes. I can remember watching Superfriends on Saturday morning when I was a kid. And whenever there is a new Spiderman or X-Men movie, I fork over the dollars to see it at the theater instead of waiting for the DVD. So I immediately liked the concept for the new NBC show Heroes, which has a bit of an X-Men vibe to it only without the black leather suits and Professor X. The idea is that there are people out there whose genetic mutations give them “superpowers”. There’s the teenage girl whose body regenerates itself anytime she gets injured, the guy who can fly, the guy who paints pictures of horrible occurrences before they happen, the guy who can bend space and time to teleport himself to other locations and times. I missed the premiere because I thought it was on an hour later than it was, but NBC.com had the video up where I could watch it yesterday. Very handy. So it goes on my weekly viewing calendar, right after Prison Break on Monday nights. Check it out if you’re a superhero fan.

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“I’ve got to learn to just do the damage and leave town. It’s the stay’n'gloat that gets me every time.” — Ethan Rayne, Buffy

In the wake of the fabulous success of the Harry Potter novels, the young adult market has exploded. Many of those books have modern, high school settings and are targeted at girls. One that appeals to boys as well as girls and which has a fantasy setting is Eragon. Its author, Christopher Paolini, began work on the book when he was 15. Now, at the ripe old age of 23, he’s published the second on his Inheritance trilogy, Eldest, and Eragon will hit theaters this December. Check out the cool trailer and learn more about this inspiring young author.

Eragon and Eldest are going on my to-be-read list. Has anyone out there read them?

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“You’re a vampire. Oh, I’m sorry. Is that an offensive term? Should I say undead American?” — Buffy

So, for those of you who watch Prison Break and saw the previews at the end of tonight’s episode, which former Fox River inmate do you think is going to bite it next week? If it’s not Haywire, who is off by himself being nuts, my bet is on Ben, aka C-Note. Second guess — Sucre, though I’d hate to see that happen. I’m guessing they keep T-Bag around because he’s a delightfully bad character. He’s disgusting, but he has some funny lines, like the Rain Man line he had tonight. I have to believe they won’t kill off Michael or Lincoln, though they might surprise me and off Lincoln. Best guesses, everyone?

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“When I’m around you Buffy, I find myself needing to know the plural of apocalypse.” — Riley, Buffy

As a treat for myself for writing so much the past few days, I took myself to the movies today while hubby was watching football. I discovered that Sunday afternoons during football season are a great time to go to the theater. In the theater where I was sitting, it was just me, my nachos, my bucket of Coke and five other people.

I went to see The Covenant, a teen movie with a paranormal storyline since paranormal YA is what I’m writing right now. It’s not going to win any Oscars, but it was entertaining and added to the creative juices.

After I came home, the laptop and I took up our favorite spot on the front porch to enjoy the wonderful fall weather and knock out a few pages. It wasn’t another 22-page day, but 9 pages isn’t bad. I might have written more, but tonight was the two-hour season premiere of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, which I love. And what a wonderful premiere. They built a home for the best family, all the way up in North Pole, Alaska. Very heartwarming, as always.

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Whedonverse Quote of the Day:

Mal: “I would appreciate it if one person on this boat would not assume I’m an evil, lecherous hump.”
Zoe: “No one’s saying that, sir.”
Wash: “No, we’re pretty much just giving each other significant glances and laughing incessantly.”

Firefly

I started a new YA paranormal a couple of days ago, and it has been flowing so well I’m afraid to say that out loud for fear of jinxing myself. But it’s too exciting not to share. Maybe this is fate rewarding me for all the times I’ve had to drag the words out of my head onto the page, but so far this book is going great. I’ve written 34 pages since about 6 p.m. Thursday, 22 of those pages yesterday!

So, writers, have you ever had this happen, where the words just flowed and you looked down and couldn’t believe how many pages you’d written?

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Whedonverse Quote of the Day:

“I brought you some supper but if you’d prefer a lecture, I’ve a few catchy ones prepared…sin and hellfire…one has lepers.” — Book, Firefly

I heard from my agent this week that she’s submitted my newest completed young adult manuscript to six publishers — Farrar Straus, Random House, Simon & Schuster, Knopf, HarperCollins, NAL and Puffin. My newest women’s fiction manuscript has been sent to NAL, Dial and Center Street. Add those to the previous YA manuscript that’s still at St. Martin’s Press, and I’ve got several possibilities for a sale out there. So, if you have any vibes to spare, they’d be appreciated.

For the writers in the crowd, what do you have “out there”? We can exchange vibes.

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Whedonverse Quote of the Day:

“I fed on a girl your age. Beautiful. Dumb as a post.” — Angel, Buffy

I’ve been reading and watching a lot of paranormal material lately — Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, J. R. Ward’s Lover Awakened (which was awesome, btw) and the first season of Supernatural. Also through talking to other writers and some assorted teens, I’ve learned that paranormal and manga are the two hot areas with young adult readers right now. So, all these things were swirling in my head and eventually a story idea started to creep out of the mist — random images, slices of character, bits of a plot. Yesterday, I sat down at my laptop and started typing up all these ideas, and as I did more information crawled out of the recesses of my brain. I ended up with about four pages of notes before I got so tired last night I had to crawl off to bed. I’d been up late reading so much lately that I was a wee bit sleep-deprived. Today, after hubby (who took the day off from work) and I finish grilling out and enjoying our meal beneath our gigantic sycamore tree, I’m going to go back over the notes, see if I can add any more at this point, and begin writing the first chapter. I’m excited about the story, so I’m hoping the pages just fly.

For those of you who read paranormal, what is your favorite kind of paranormal story?

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Whedonverse Quote of the Day:

“Ten percent of nuthin is…let me do the math here…nuthing into nuthing…carry the nuthin.” — Jayne, Firefly