Sunday, August 22, 2010

Sunday Report Card: Mission Accomplished...



Kind of... I thought this week would be a complete non-writing one. Being sick really puts the muse in a bad mood. Not to mention the writer. But evidently the meds kicked in better than I expected. I actually made it to work most of the week. My only day off was Thursday and it was planned. Plus I used it to meet Cynthia D'Alba and Brandi Evans to write!

I pretty much gave up on the Harlequin Medical Fast Track Submission because I wasn't happy with the synopsis and I only had 800 words on the chapter. And I was sick. *insert whine* Enter my friend, Elle James. She scolded me in the worst way about not stepping up to the challenge. So I shrugged off the sickness blues and left the pity party behind.

Thursday afternoon and evening I firmed up the synopsis. Friday, I managed a few hundred words on the chapter after work. Saturday was my DSRA meeting which ended up lasting all day. I got home around five. Took a nap, then wrote until midnight. Knocked out about 1600 words. Getting the rest done was looking good because today was a designated writing day.

Since I was out of coffee creamer and the nearest store with my favorite kind is in Little Rock, I scooted out of the house this morning and hit the coffee shop. Nearly 1700 words later, I was more or less finished with my one chapter proposal. Well, except for self-edits. I ran to the grocery store--still needed creamer--then headed to the house.

I spent the evening running through self-edits and comments from Elle's emergency read. Hey, she nagged me into getting it done, she can at least read it! *cackle*

At 7:55PM, we had lift off. Or send off. I hit send on the query, synopsis and chapter. And immediately felt the usual nausea. LOL Seems I'm not the only one who experiences the "OMG I just submitted something" trauma. A few people on Tweeter confirmed it as a common ailment among writers.

So for better or worse, the Medical Romance submission is gone. The fast track deadline is Tuesday so I'm in well under the wire.

My goals this week will be low. Things are changing at the evil day job. The most bestest boss in the world has found a betterer job and is leaving us. *sob* She's not only my boss, she's my friend and one of the biggest supporters of my writing career. I will miss her terribly. I don't know what will happen long term, but I may end up back to work full-time for at least a little while. That leaves me very little time in the evening and weekends to write.

Not that I'm complaining. Full-time at the day job will bring a welcome increase in my regular take-home pay. Royalties are too unpredictable for a writer to count on a set amount. It's always nice to know the bills will get paid on time.

My goals for this week:

1) Get back to work on my next TN cop story. Shooting for 2k
2) Try not to get an ulcer waiting to hear from Medical Romance. We're supposed to hear something by the end of August if we made the deadline of the 24th! Some people have had answers in as little as two days. I won't be that lucky! *cackle*

Have a fabulous week, folks!
Shayla

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats on meeting your deadline!

Good luck meeting your goals for the week. Since I'm a huge TN cop fan, I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you. Try not to worry too much about the medical romance. I'm sure they'll think it's fabulous. If they don't, then obviously there's something wrong with them. :)

Shayla Kersten said...

Thanks, Eyre! The fourth Tn Cop book is with my editor so I'm working on #5. I hope it won't take too long! Lined up in the to-do list are a Naughty Nooner epilogue for ICING ON THE CAKE, the third ANGEL MOON book and TN Cop #6! Plus an idea I had while listening to Dean Martin's Sway. My muse is itching to do them all but we must have some organization to the madness! LOL

Thanks for stopping by!

HUGS!
Shayla

Unknown said...

Hi Shayla,

Sometimes the days that you think you will accomplish the least amount of work turn out to be the best :) I am glad you did all this and that you are anticipating progress on the TN cop book; I cannot wait for the new installment.

As for me I had an inner ear problem that made me walk around like a drunk :) Also, I am the proud owner of hyper blood pressure so it’s been a great week overall. I did take yesterday off from work to see the doctor and rest and am happy to report that am standing straight again :) have a fab week!

Shayla Kersten said...

Hiya, Rasha! I hope your ear is better and your blood pressure. Not much done on the TN cop story but I wrote some on the free short story I'm writing. It's an added scene to Icing On The Cake.

Hope you have a great week!
Shayla