after the deadline
In case you haven’t heard, I have finally turned in MUST LOVE VAMPIRES. Whoo-hoo!
Yes, it’s true. I proofed & polished that puppy within an inch of its life & turned it in last week. It’s such a nice feeling to have that book done & on my editor’s desk. :dancing
And as usual when I finish a book—which has taken me months upon months to write—I get to take a much-needed little breather & catch up on things I couldn’t do while I was neck-deep in Deadline Dementia.
Here’s the post-deadline To Do list this time around:
Shop for a new TV. Yes another one. Honestly, 2010 was apparently not my year where televisions were concerned. Three of them died on me. Granted, two were quite old—we’re talking 12-15 years, here—but one wasn’t. It was either a piece of crap or it got struck by lightning—or both. But the third one (the crap/lightning one) has been on the fritz for about two months now, leaving me to move the small one I usually have in my office to the living room & back. A complete pain, & something I’ll be happy not to have to do anymore now that I have the time to run out & shop for a new one for the living room.
Pick up cat food. I’ve mentioned how much trouble I’ve had lately ordering the frozen raw food my cats like most. I’ve got them on a back-up flavor they’re tolerating, but don’t love. However, the shortage has pressed me to search for alternate brands/flavors, & I’ve got a rather substantial order waiting for me at a local natural foods store. I need to pick that up & start testing it on the kiddos to see if we have any winners. Ding, ding, ding!
Order a new iPod. This isn’t a must just yet, but I fear it’s growing necessary. I adore my iPod, but the one I’ve got is really, really old, & let’s just say it’s becoming delicate. It does not always like to do what I ask it to, & some days it doesn’t work at all. :blinkie
Sleep. Oh, how I love to sleep. And at the tail end of a book, I don’t get a lot. I stay up late to write, then the kittehs—who do not understand the concept of sleeping in—have me up at the usual super-early hour, anyway. So by the time I finish the book, I am seriously lacking, & there’s nothing I enjoy more than getting to bed a bit early & even napping during the day. Ahhhhh.
Taxes. Ugh. Not looking forward to this one, but I’ve got a pressing deadline where they’re concerned this year, too, so over the next week or so, I’m going to have to dig out all my receipts & my calculator & get to work. At least I can be grateful that tax time is falling immediately after I’ve turned in the book. It’s particularly awful when I have to deal with them in the middle.
Plot my next Desire. Yay! Now this one, I am actually looking forward to. I’m already contracted for a particular storyline, with an already-completed synopsis. But since it’s been a while since I turned that in, & it’s another secret baby story, which I’ve now done two of in a row…& because I happen to have a rather awesome editor, who’s more than open to new ideas…we are brainstorming whether to stick with that project or do something else entirely.
So those are my plans for the rest of the month. :heehee How about you? Even if you aren’t just coming off a psychosis-inducing deadline, what exciting stuff do you have planned for the near future?
Comments
8 Comments • Comments Feed
Mary Kirkland says:
Sounds like you have been quite busy and are going to stay that way for a while. I need a nap just reading how busy you are..lol
Right now I am settling down after my brothers wedding. Am looking forward to my other brother moving closer to me and out mom. My mother in law is in the hospital again and hopefully she will be out soon.
I’m helping my daughter find a job, every time I hear of another job opening I email her and let her know, so she has been busy putting in applications.
I’ve written a few more articles and have the finishing touches to do on a couple more before I can send them in for review.
And….nope, that’s it..lol
On January 27, 2011 at 9:02 am
Heidi says:
LOL Okay, well now I’m just feeling odd because this is a list of the stuff I get to do in my down time. Technically a “rest period.” How pathetic is that? :blinkie
And it sounds like you’re going to be keeping quite busy, too, so that’s something! :winkwink
Congrats on grabbing the halo again today, btw! :angel
On January 27, 2011 at 1:49 pm
mary k says:
Thank you, I like that Halo…it hides the horns quite well don’t you think? lol
:angel
For the most part my days are pretty quiet until my computer decides to play tricks on me like it did this morning and somehow lose all my favorites, bookmarks, pictures, documents, ect…a few hours later, after tearing my hair out..I restarted the computer and all was where it was suppossed to be…How odd is that?
I’ve had all the fun I can stand for one month…LOL
On January 27, 2011 at 6:04 pm
Heidi says:
This happens to me all the time. Or some variation of it. At the moment, my ‘puter’s fave pastime is to crash. I’ll be working & w/o warning—boom—everything goes black & starts to reboot. Drives me nuts. :smash
I know I should take it in & have it looked at, but I just haven’t had time. Ooooh! Add that to the To Do list. Yay—something else to keep me away from that nap. :beerlaugh
On January 27, 2011 at 7:26 pm
mary k says:
I hate it when my computer crashes and you have to restart the whole thing, over and over again…We’re in computer hell…lol
On January 28, 2011 at 7:07 am
Leigh Duncan says:
Heidi, with all the things on your “to do” list, it doesn’t sound like you’ll get many naps, but I sure understand. I’m in that “between stage” right now, too. Turned in the last of the edits on a book that will come out in June, and waiting to hear back on two new proposals. In the meantime, I’m trying to accomplish the same kinds of things as on your list…well, except for the kitties–no little purring sweeties in my house, I’m afraid.
On January 27, 2011 at 9:58 am
Heidi says:
Waiting to hear back is hard…I do not like it. :devil
Aren’t “between times” peculiar. You’re relieved to have another book turned in, so you feel like you should be relaxing & breathing easy…but there’s this odd sense of anticipation. What will I work on next? Should I take a break or jump right in?
And of course, while I’m on deadline, I put just about everything else on the back burner, so the minute a book is turned in, I’ve gotta get cracking on all the stuff I’ve put off. People will literally get calls from me where I say, “Hey, I know we first discussed this 8mos ago, but I finally finished that book, so we should probably get it done now before I jump into the next.” LOL
On January 27, 2011 at 1:52 pm
Hollie says:
well lets see…..ummmm….in my down time there is always cleaning the house….and Ive got the whole knitting and crocheting thing….and I just started taking a Zumba exersize class…oh yeah…. Ive recently gotten hooked up with some cousins/relatives that I have not been hooked up with before. There was a rift in our family when I was a little kid…ya know…back in dinosaur days….and we didnt have anything to do with them….well now I have been “friended” on FB with some long lost cousins…kind of strange actually! But I’ve gotten some really great pictures of my Dad and Mom from back in their dating/early marriage days.
So….its fun and excitement here!! :winkwink
On January 27, 2011 at 2:59 pm