So I’m working on a paragraph in my current WIP. The scene is set on the Carnegie Mellon U campus (I’m an alum). I get the following text.

Carol, What are we grateful for? You! Thank you for being part of the CMU alumni community. Click to view a special Thanksgiving message from CMU Advancement:

I’m not making this up. I must remember not to set scenes in a cemetery or a prison.

Not much. The agent’s query form asked if I had a blog and my first though was, OMG I haven’t posted anything in like, forever. So here’s a nice picture of a cat, because who doesn’t like cats?

Raise your hand if you do too.

“Anybody? Anybody?”

Search ArriveCan. No, seriously do. I mean really seriously. Don’t wait until you’re 30 minutes from the bridge and then freak out and have to get off the highway so you can freak out some more while you download the app and then fill it out and freak out some more. But it all worked out and the Canadian woman who admitted us into Ontario said she was proud of us for doing it right.*

*Apparently, lots of people don’t know about it and they yell at the poor woman, who didn’t do anything, and hates it as much as they do.

When you fill out the “Do you have a blog?” box on an agent’s submission form and realize your last post was slightly before the War of the Roses.

Thanks to @ghweldon for the kind words and shoutout about @UmActuallyShow on @pchh! https://t.co/xObzW3SWOy pic.twitter.com/GWFV1xuOBh

— Dropout (@dropout) March 25, 2022

Revising a novel I put away for a few years, I realized that some scenes/subplots have to change. Does anyone under 50 ever have an actual phone conversation anymore or do they just text?

But there are much more serious issues. The metoo movement has brought into sharp focus a lot of formerly acceptable/ignored behavior. A gesture that once passed for charming or romantic comes off as creepy or hostile.

I’ve sent a few of my favorite characters for a bit of sensitivity training so they can be genuinely charming and romantic. So far, so good.

I’ve finished revising my WIP!!! Hurrah!!! HOW GREAT IS THAT? OMG, now I have to query the damn thing.

Mine began with my computer refusing to locate yesterday’s extremely excellent revision of my WIP. And it also pretended it had never heard of THE CLOUD. Fortunately, my phone had and emailed me a copy of my revision. And all was well until…

American Airlines emailed me that there had been some changes to my upcoming trip. By “Some” they meant “All,” my favorite being the 1:30 pm flight that had been switched to 7 am. This would mean leaving our house at 4 am and would have given us 38 minutes to change planes. I will not bore you with the efforts I had to make to fix that. Let’s just say, the matter wasn’t settled for 6 hours.

And then, my internet (and when I say “my” I mean possibly everyone in a ten-mile radius) went out and the ever helpful Verizon phone bot suggested I go to the website for more info. Right.

I’m not even going to mention the fact that in rare moment of courage I got a haircut, only the third since 2019 for obvious reasons. Of course it poured. But that’s normal.

Thus endeth the complaint.

Please tell me you noticed I was gone or pretend you did, also that your life will be richer now that I’m back.

I’ve been writing and querying and reading. Mostly reading. I’ve devoured quite a few books and stopped reading almost as many by the end of the first chapter. My TBR list is too long and life is too short…also I have the patience of a four-year-old. However, I’m supporting my local Indie bookstore (Amazon doesn’t need my money) whether I finish them or not, so it’s cool.

As to the writing—* I’m in the process of querying a couple of works and trying to make my very first novel less awful. Some of the scenes now approach mediocrity, which is a big improvement.

*I love em dashes…also ellipses, (and parentheses). Get over it.