Oh Happy Days

Well, I wrote out a very long post earlier today and promptly lost it when some blogger snafu ganked it. GRRR. I can't remember what I was talking about at the time, but I'm sure it was of the utmost importance. (g) Oh wait, now I remember!

Well, the original title was "Emerging from the Abyss" -- which pretty much describes my slow descent into the world of Bloodties and subsequently, my clawing my way back out of it. LOL. I was in a "horror" kind of mood on Sunday. I decided to pull the first Tanya Huff Blood Book off my shelf -- it's about a female investigator who joins up with a vampire to investigate a bunch of paranormal cases. I've gotten a ways in -- it's not the most well-written book in the world, but it's entertaining. I basically have to keep from grinding my teeth every time she headhops.... but I'm managing. I figure if I can get past my past tense snobbery, I can manage one book written in such ad hoc fashion.

Then I remembered it was a TV series! Hmmm, wonder if I can find them on the net somewhere... After many failed attempts, my friend discovers all the eps are available on the station's website. Hello. We should've looked there first... anyway, if you're interested, it aired on lifetime -- so go to their website, and you can find the entire first season.

Anywho, thus began my marathon of Bloodties eps. There are only 12, thank God...so I didn't lose all sense of reality -- no matter how close I came. (g) LOL.

The end result? I got nada accomplished on my books. *sigh* Oh well, with this extra week, I gained a little wiggle room to take a break. I was averaging a bedtime hovering right around 6 every night, and I was seriously hurting. Not that it's really getting any better -- I just spent my time watching the show. LOL.

But the important thing -- it's over! I've finished them all and it's time to get back to work.

My aunt and uncle returned from CO today -- with the pups. I was super excited to see them -- even more so because they practically mauled me in their happiness to see ME. Hey, I worried -- three weeks is a long separation. LOL. I had some back up bones handy JUST in case the outside was more interesting to them... I ended up giving them anyway -- when they wouldn't leave me alone. (g)

Other news... Oh! When I was vacuuming tonight, I had an epiphany about FI. I have one plot point that's never made me very happy -- then I remembered the old conflict maker again (a la Donald Maass): What one thing can't your character survive without? Take it away... or something to that effect. Then it occurred to me that this certain plot point could be fixed by taking a certain something away from my character... it also allows me to utilize a periphery character who is seen only once in this book, and then disappears (he returns in book 2, so I left him...). But NOW I can use him, and oh man, he's a goodie and will drive Madison NUTS. NOT in a good way. PLUS, it strengthens another bit of the story... PLUS, it takes care of some of the concerns DA had about my outline... oh man, I'm stoked about this change. (g) And thankfully, it's an easy one to make because the front end of the book won't be affected in the slightest. So -- YAY!! I love it when a plan comes together. Okay, so I didn't plan it, but even so. (g)

I'll be honest -- this is the first time in a while I've been _really_ excited to work on FI. Revisions are so tedious and honestly, not all that enjoyable for me. Granted, once I start writing the new stuff, I'm sure I'll like them a lot more. New words _always_ get me excited. (g) So, I'm thinking I begin work on it again tomorrow... I made a goal of completing another hundred pages by the end of the month. HEH. We'll see. Of course, that means another shift away from BTPM. *cries* DO NOT get yourself in this situation, people. LOL. But yanno, I wouldn't trade it for the world -- the only thing better would be working on their sequels at the same time. (g)