A Month Has Passed - WOW

I can't believe it's been a month since my last blog.

I got to see my oldest daughter for a few days which was awesome.

Christmas was great. I didn't get the recipe books (scrapbook style) all done, but I got close enough for the kids to see what they'll look like. It's been a really fun project with all the old photos and recipes. I hope to have them done in the next few weeks.

I got to take my oldest grandson to Texas to see my parents, and we had a great time. He likes to play board games, so we Sorry'd and Yahtzee'd until we were blue in the face. He and Dad got along great 'cause Dad does all the funny faces and silly stuff.

We didn't do much for New Year's - as I recall Lane and I went to bed around 9 on Dec 31. We're getting more boring by the minute, I think.

I got my 2008 goals done and made a spreadsheet graphing when I need to do what. So far it's working really well. I'm working on more edits for two manuscripts and hope to have them ready to submit by the end of March. After that, I'm going to start on the new paranormal historical I've been itching to write. Or I may work on edits for an existing historical and add a paranormal twist...

I'm program chair for my local writing chapter, and I'm doing earlybird programs each month. I'm really excited about those. I have some great workshop sessions from past conferences we'll listen to while we write and/or edit. I'll be putting those together with various writing exercises and Todd Stone's Novelist's Boot Camp (bless you, Todd!).

Made a flying trip back to Texas on Wednesday because my folks got sick, but all's fine now. I got back yesterday with some sort of cold myself. Throat is itchy and nose is running. Lungs are coughing - fun all around.

On the bright side, Medium has started its new season, and the first episode was fantastic. TV's looking pretty dicey in the next few months. I can't believe CBS is airing Dexter. They'll have to do some major cutting.

Then we also have this Carrie Edwards plagarism thing going on (for details see smartbitchestrashynovels.com) which is too bizarre for words. It also made CNN.com today. Who would have thought anyone would have caught her lifting descriptions from a non-fiction resource and a 1929 novel (even though it was a Pulitzer Prize winner)? And it happened in such a not-looking-for-it kind of way. Maybe I'm just not smart enough, but kudos to those who are. I would never have made that connection.

One thing about it, though. Even I'm smart enough to know you can't use another writer's words (including non-fiction) in your own work. Be creative. Come up with your own way of saying the same thing. Isn't that what creative writing is all about? Evidently, this gal's been doing this for years.

The dh and I are just about done with season 6 of 24, and it looks like we'll have to wait until the writers' strike is over to see the new season. *sigh*

So, what's been going on with the rest of you?

~pinkie