SURVIVING THE BIG HOLIDAY PUSH –

Saturday, December 17

16 days until release of
BOUND AND DETERMINED






What's a holiday without a little family angst?
I wake up this morning in a panic. Yes, BOUND AND DETERMINED is due out in about two weeks and Christmas is only 8 days away. But that's not the issue. My folks are coming on Tuesday.

Bound to run myself ragged...
What's the best way to put this? Many of you have emailed and posted blog comments that indicate you think I'm some sort of superwoman and professional juggler and/or you want to know what I'm eating so you can eat same. (I recommend vitamins, by the way...) My mother makes me look like I'm standing still. My Dad and I tease her that we'll bury her with a can of Comet cleaner, a vacuum and her trusty Kenmore washer. Next to her, I'm the underachiever of the family. She's all relentless physical energy. I'm primarily relentless mental energy, hence the insomnia, but while she's here, I have to get into her mode or she'll flatten me like a steamroller.

But Determined...
...not to make my Mom take one look at my house and shake her head!
What does this mean for today? Tidy up every room of the house, closets included. Wash and put away all laundry. Find gifts for child's teachers. Wrap all the unwrapped gifts sitting in closets. Finish putting up interior Christmas decorations and addressing holiday cards. Go grocery shopping. Got to shave my legs somewhere in there--ugh! I'd do a white glove test on my furniture if I had the time. But I draw the line there to squeeze in few moments for writing before hooking up with some friends for Japanese food.

I love to write, I love to write, I love to write...
Chapter 11 is still dreck, damn it, because I'm tweaking the rest of the book. I can hear every Book in a Week and Fast Drafter shouting at me now to just keep moving forward. Yes, I know you all don't stop and revise in mid-book. It's bad form/luck/karma/whatever. Well, my poor little linear brain just doesn't work that way. Oh, I can skip over external things that are wrong. Planting the wrong clue in the wrong place is something I can work through. Characters who aren't behaving in a very hero (or in this case, heroine) sort of way get worked on. Now. Period. Damn this woman... But I manage to revise another two chapters and am feeling better.

In my next life, I want to come back as a cat!
And of course, there are always emails to send and respond to. And new people to think of telling about BOUND AND DETERMINED and its early release. I mutter out loud that I sure could use help in figuring all this out. My cat, Hermione, looks up from her nap in front of the space heater and sends me a very superior "meow," then promptly falls back asleep. So I guess that means I'm on my own...

You know that song you can't get out of your head?
After a yummy Japanese dinner, complete with pumpkin pie and hot chocolate, which are not good for my 4 months worth of dieting, we return home to watch Saturday Night Live. Jack Black sings this very funny song about the new King Kong movie. Already I know my hubby will be singing to me for the next week about going to his "sweet-ass trailer to take himself a tasty nap." Great. To make it even better, he got that on TiVO, so I could be hearing about Jack Black urinating in Peter Jackson's coffee pot for some time. Lucky me.

Well, to recap the day, I:

Moved forward on promotion plan for BOUND AND DETERMINED - COMPLETE (a teeny bit)

Gave it my all to make my house look like something out of a magazine spread - COMPLETE (and totally exhausting)

Work on existing manuscript - COMPLETE (still not finished though, drat!)

11:00 pm - I'm off to bed. A big day in front of the computer planned. Yes, I know I said that yesterday, but this time, I'm hoping to really mean it. Maybe. If the planets are in alignment or whatever has to happen. I must accomplish tons.

Shelley Bradley