irrelevant (and sometimes questionable) ramblings

Party Starter is finished, gang! I emailed it off to a very nice editor who had expressed interest in looking at it, and she emailed me back to say that she hoped to give me a verdict sometime in June!

So please, everyone cross your fingers, huh? It would be really great to have a new sale.

In the meantime, it’s time to buckle down on the short story for the anthology I’ve committed to, and maybe even start something else new. I’ll keep you posted on all that transpires.

That’s all I’ve got for now, chat with you soon!

(Of course, writing that just stuck The Doors song in my head… This is the end/beautiful friend, the end.. *sigh* Damn earworms.)

Anyhoozle. I am pleased to report that initial work on Party Starter is complete. The book is essentially done, and all I need to do now is read it through, tweaking as I go, and then send it off for a second pair of eyes to take a look at it. I may expand the final scene. We’ll see what my beta reader says.

After that it gets forwarded on to the lovely folks at Ellora’s Cave where it’ll receive a Yea or Nay, and then we move on in whatever appropriate ways from that point.

But this is good news in the land of book writing. I am back in the saddle, no matter how slowly the damned horse is moving.

I’ve got a short-short idea, plus a group anthology project, not to mention a pseudo-sequel for Lovely on the back burners.

So as the Muppets say, “Movin’ right along!” (Geez, it’s earworm song night at Chez Starr, apparently… )

Greetings, Gentle Readers.

You regulars here at the blog know that yours truly generally refrains from discussions of a potentially controversial nature.

Today, that changes.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately I’m certain you’ve heard stories in the media of gay and lesbian teens who have been driven to suicide by bullies in their lives. The most recent one that I’ve heard about is the story of Iowa teen Kenneth Weishuhn. I’ve experienced a growing horror after each new story, but Kenneth’s is the one that was the final straw. Want to know why? Because I saw a link to Kenneth’s Pinterest board (I don’t know how long this link will remain active) — a board where he was planning his future wedding. And the thought that this poor young man wasn’t going to get his special day with the one he loved…well, I lost it.

So. That brings us to today. I’ve decided that the only real way I can help (other than by teaching tolerance and respect to my girls!) is via my wallet. Readers will know that one of my books, Higher Learning, contains a bullying plot element that affects the heroine’s life. From this day forward, I will be donating 10% of my royalties (divided in half) from sales of this book to two different charities.

The first charity is one that noted sex columnist Dan Savage promotes — The Trevor Project — which (per the website) is:

[…] is the leading national
organization providing crisis intervention and
suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth.

And because I am a Canuck, I would like to also support a Canadian organization, so I’ve chosen Youthline, an Ontario peer-based, toll-free phone line also for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, 2-spirited, queer and questioning youth.

So here’s my plea, gang: talk about this with your friends and family. Buy my book. Or if you already have the book, please consider making a donation to either charity. Let’s end intolerance. I don’t want to read any more stories about teens who felt they no longer had a choice. No one should feel that way. Ever.

Thanks for reading this today.

Well, maybe we should be.

Germs seem to be relentlessly plaguing the Starr household this winter. Upon further thought, someone in this house (and at times, more than one person) has been ill with some sort of cold/cough/fever/whathaveyou since early February.

FEBRUARY, people. It is now April. This is INSANE.

I don’t know what we’re doing wrong, or why the universe feels required to punish us so, but it really must stop. I encourage handwashing frequently, the whole cough-into-your-elbow thing, vitamin C… So what is it?!? We have never had this rough of a winter before. So what the HELL?? Maybe I have to start wiping everything down with bleach, or something. I don’t know.

Hey — I was thinking the other evening about how women in the ’50s used to wear those thin cotton gloves when they went out anywhere (the Mater had a couple of pairs from her teenage years and I used to play with them when I was little). Maybe that trend needs to come back into style — keep one’s hands clean by literally not touching anything. I dunno. Think it would catch on? No idea. But something needs to change, that’s for sure.

Hope *you’re* healthy, wherever you are.

I know I’m late jumping on the bandwagon, but I just finished the Hunger Games trilogy. If you don’t know what that is, you’ve probably been living under a rock. (Easy to find out; just check any social media outlet or entertainment website.)

All I can say is: damn. I don’t usually get sucked into a series of books like that (Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files series is the last one that did it for me), but this one certainly did it to me. Sharp, tight writing, lightning-fast pace, and characters that with whom, while I may not have agreed with all of their choices or actions, I certainly empathized.

Buddy Rella and I saw the movie over its opening weekend, and it was excellent, too. There were many small things that had been changed along with some surprises (Woody Harrelson? Really??), but for the most part it stayed true to the book. I read yesterday that all three books are going to be made into films, with the last book split into two movies (a la Harry Potter and Twilight). It’ll be interesting to see how the entire story translates to the big screen. I can only hope the remaining films are as good.

Of course, this entire thing leaves me with a roiling case of writer envy (alternating between “I want to write like that!” and “Why couldn’t I think of an idea like that??”). There aren’t many authors out there who do that to me, but when it happens it strikes deep. *sigh* Ah, well. Practice makes perfect, isn’t that what they say?

You know those days when you just want to stay in bed under the covers and spend an indefinable amount of time sobbing?

Yeah, that.

I don’t really understand it, either, other than to say my stress levels feel like they’re through the roof and I feel a little bit like I’m banging my head against a brick wall with a number of things. And I’m not even PMS-y. It’s one of those times when you feel like being a grown-up is the hardest thing in the world, and you’d like to just pass on the responsibility to someone else for a while.

I’d like to go lie down and vanish into a book for the afternoon, but that won’t get the dishes washed, the laundry done, and this manuscript written.

Hope your day is better than mine.

On adrenaline, perhaps.

Life’s nutso right now, peeps. I’m working on finishing my WiP, I’m crafting like mad for a baby shower this coming weekend, Real-Life Me has not one, but TWO new work projects, and on top of that, I’ve started training to run a 5K in May.

Is it just me, or does that SOUND tiring?

There are also plague remnants floating around the house — B.E. and the Offspring are both hacking and coughing — and tonight Ms. Junior Peanut felt feverish. I’m knocking very hard on wood right now that I stay healthy — at least for the time being. No sickies allowed here!

So how are you doin’, gang? Running as crazily as yours truly? What’s up in your world?

…but not necessarily a traveler.

You have no idea, guys, but I am so tired of winter. I need it to be over soon — and that “soon” is coming, according to the long-range forecast — but the “soon” isn’t coming soon enough for my tastes.

The rugrats have been trapped indoors and are starting to go stir-crazy. (And by extension, making ME crazy.)

I have no energy, no motivation, no enthusiasm. It probably sounds like I need a vacation, but I don’t really want to go anywhere. I just want some peace and quiet. (I hear you saying, “Yeah, but you’ve got two young kids; you don’t get peace and quiet for about another seventeen years, or so.” I know, you’re right. Doesn’t stop me from wanting, though. And at that point I’ll still worry about my girls out there in the big, bad world. But that’s a different kind of stress.)

I could whine and complain some more, but I’m certain you don’t want to hear it. I have to go anyway. I have kidlets to feed, and then we have to brace ourselves to go out in the blustery weather to pick up B.E.

I think I’m going to solve one problem and order pizza for dinner. At least it’ll be one less thing to worry about.

Ciao for now; I’ll be back eventually.

The state of my hands. My poor hands are so raw and chapped that my knuckles are bleeding. They sting whenever I wash them, and they look absolutely horrible.

Spring can’t get here soon enough.

Craptastic. I can’t believe so much time has gone by since my last missive.

I feel like a shmoe. Sorry about that, guys. However, in my defense, the Great Plague of Northern Canuckland struck the Starr household with a mighty blow and knocked first the Starr kidlets and then yours truly on our backs for several days. It was pretty rough, lemme tell you. Not only did I also fall off the fitness wagon, the current WiP stopped dead.

*sigh*

What’s that old John Lennon line — life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans? Something like that, anyway.

So. We all seem to be on the mend now, with the exception of Boy Einstein, who made it through the first round unscathed only to come home from work today coughing. Yeah. Let’s hope it doesn’t turn into a game of Pass the Germs because I don’t want to play that one.
Anyway. I have major cleaning and disinfecting to do still, but on Monday I’ll be climbing right back up on that horse. Er…those horses? Whatevs. You get my meaning.

(And March first? That means…dare I say?…Spring is almost here? YEE-HAW!)