As you may have noticed, I have been absent from the blogosphere for a while now. Like, over a month now. Life was a tad hectic—more so than usual—and the blog fell by the wayside. But I am back now, at least for a little while, which I'm sure thrills you more than can be expressed with mere words.
Here's what's been happening since my last post:
The Day Job Front—
Technically, my last day at The Store was over a month ago, but because I am an OCD-ridden control freak and we had a complete Management overhaul, I've stuck around a bit longer because of conversations like this:
New Manager: Who does the signs?
Sales Associate: Oh, M.J. does the signs.
New Manager: Well, who does them when M.J. isn't here?
Sales Associate: Uh...M.J.'s always here.
And then there was this soundbite from our delivery guy, as said to me after I told him I was on my way out:
Him: You're leaving? You're really leaving? I thought Brian was just joking about that to scare me! You can't leave. What are they going to do without you here? What am I going to do without you here? You can't leave!
But now that the holiday season is over, and the new managers are getting their footing, we shall likely find out what they'll do without me, for I shall likely be starting the possibly painful detox process. I'm slightly concerned over my ability to do this, and I'm not alone, either. Fortunately, I have plenty of things to help distract me from my newfound unemployed status.
The Home Front—
In a previous post, I talked about my upcoming move to the Sunshine State (hence the quitting of the day job. 2000 miles is a tad long for a commute, as I explained to my wailing boss the day I handed in my resignation letter.). We had a buyer for the house and expected to be moving...well, now, as a matter of fact. So I began to pack up my books. I have 40 boxes packed thus far, and still have more books to go. And you should have seen the vast number of books I gave away to the library. It was kind of embarrassing to drop them off because I had to make so many trips.
But then our buyer backed out, and we had to do the going on the market thing. I am not enjoying the going on the market thing, but because I am
Her: What's this all over your dining room walls?
Me: My storyboard. I write novels, and this helps me keep the plot and characters worked out and figured out.
Her: That is so cool! But yeah, you have to take it down, okay?
Me:
So, because the storyboard is too personal an item to have on display to potential buyers (Me: Can't you just assure people that the storyboard comes with me? Her: No.), it is, sadly, no more. (And I wasn't a bitch at all the day I took it down. Nope. No siree.)
I do, however, have a replacement storyboard now, which I'm planning to talk about in a future post (Probably Wednesday) because it's an idea that will work for people who want a storyboard but don't have the wall space to devote to it. It might be interesting. Or, it just might be me rambling on some more about whatever pops into my head. Because that never happens.
To wrap up the home front section, we've had lots of showings but no offers. I'm terrified that the house I'd like to acquire down south will sell before we can buy it, and I get super cranky (shock of the century, I know) every time the realtor says, "Well, we'll wait to see what happens."
The Writing Front—
I am working on Second Nature. It feels weird to have this as my main focus, as Effigy is actually freakin' published. It wasn't just a very vivid dream. It's actually out there in the world, and some people not related to me have read it, and some of them have even liked it. Which is amazing given how poor a job I've done marketing it. It's one of my resolutions this year to get better at that. First step is to go to a local indie book store and talk to someone (gulp!) about stocking my novel and maybe even scheduling a book signing event.
But I really want to get Second Nature finished. This draft has been dragging on, mostly because Every. Single. Plan. I have concocted thus far has been blown to smithereens by my characters. They just keep doing whatever they want to doDon't tell them, but I have a new plan now, and I'm wishin', prayin', and hopin' I can execute it successfully before they realize what's happened. The current word count is sitting just over 222,000, and I have approximately 10 scenes to finish...before I get to Part Three. This is a monster novel. I realize that.
And on that note, I'm heading back to work. On the WIP, not my day job. Well, unless they call me and beg me to come in. Then I'll probably end up doing that. Because I have a terrible sickness.
I need to move. Far, far away. 2000 miles may not be enough.
Take care, all. Thank you for stopping by.