Friday Five

By: Meradeth Houston on 8:48 AM

Somehow or another I ended up with a couple of extra minutes before the talk I'm going to. How did that happen? Hmm, must be forgetting to do something, but whatever. Anyhow, here's my five for the day, because I'm being a bit of a lazy blogger :-)

1. The papers I'm grading have officially all blurred together into a massive lump. The bad news: I don't care. The good news: the cheaters are probably going to get away with it, because I can't tell if I've read something before or not. Hmm, maybe those should be reversed.
2. The modern part of LOST is beginning to look okay. Or, I think it is at least. The past part, well, that's on the docket for this weekend's writing time. Can't wait!
3. I really, really wish I were at BEA! Free books? Titles that I can hardly wait another few months for? Waaa! I keep reading all the tweets from there and wishing I was in NY.
4. My brother gets his time off from the Air Force Academy starting tomorrow. It's only a couple of weeks, but it's going to be great. I've missed the bugger!
5. We're moving in under a month. Yikes! I can hardly think about all the packing, but the more I think about it, the more excited I am about being closer to the lab and getting work done a little easier (and being able to go home for lunch and not have to stick it out in the lab all day when I have free time to be at home being productive on other things).

I think that's random enough for today! Off to listen to a talk about monkeys and really, really try not to fall asleep!

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Bad blogger!

By: Meradeth Houston on 8:51 AM

Somehow the month of May has whizzed passed and I'm honestly not quite sure where it went. My to-do list is still too long, and as the quarter draws to a close, I'm staring down my first real teaching gig with too little preparation. This must change! Granted, this quarter has been the pits. Early classes all week and that seems to put a real damper on getting any "real" work done, other than lab work. I've been humming on the lab hours lately. Revising my paper, and starting in on my lecture slides? Um, no. Mainly because those things get done at home and not on the mini computer, well, just because they don't. I've tried, but then I can't remember where things are and it turns into a mess. Bleh. Anyhow, Monday that'll all change.

Other than that, I've been doing some work on LOST. Finally, finally I feel like I'm making headway on my revisions. Somehow I've added in almost 10k words, and all sorts of goodies. I honestly think it's probably my best writing, so far, which is a really good feeling. Of course, I really hope other people think this, too (umm, like my agent, and an editor who wants to buy it...). Yeah, not going to think about that too much right now. I've got enough on my writing-plate attempting to make the 1/3 of the book set in the Civil War sound more "civil-war-y." Not so sure how I'm going to manage that. I think I need to go watch Gone with the Wind again :-). I found an awesome book with a whole bunch of wood-cut illustrations and pictures from the time-period in one of my fav bookshops in Berkley the other day, and I've been leafing through it, getting good ideas for clothes, and hair, and all the other little details. All I can say is that I am Never writing a full novel set in the past (unless it's some past period I know a lot about, like the height of Anasazi culture in Arizona or something). It's just WAY too much work, and I'm WAY too anal about details.

Also, dh and I are moving into Davis next month. I'm really, really sad to be leaving the ranch. I love it out there! I won't be missing the obnoxious peacocks anytime soon, but being out of the city is just where I belong. Too bad the lab doesn't seem to agree. I need to be closer and attempt to get some stuff done. That, for the time being, is the plan. That is, until dh and I go absolutely nuts with the crazy people who live in Davis.

I'll be back later with an attempt to write up something interesting about the books I've read lately!

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Davis SCBWI

By: Meradeth Houston on 3:39 PM

This past Saturday I headed over to the Davis SCBWI conference, looking forward to a day of writerly advice and inspiration, both of which are in short supply and otherwise depleted. The conference had been billed as a good one, and I was looking forward to it. Nathan Bransford was speaking, too, and who can resist that? His blog is sheer awesomeness. Sadly, by about halfway through the day, the beginnings of a migraine kicked in, and by the time the day was over, I really don't know how I made it home. (Yeah, I know, not smart, but oh well. It wasn't like I was thinking clearly, but thankfully it was a safe trip.)

So, the conference wasn't as good as I'd hoped, and this is probably due to me, mostly. That, and the endless submission tips for how to get an agent/editor no longer get my attention quite so easily. I do think some of the talks, namely those on electronic media and promotion, were helpful for those in the audience that don't really spend a lot of time on/around computers (which isn't exactly me, though I do wish I weren't so addicted to my email... :). I'm thinking I need to find a venue that deals more with writing as a craft, more than just writing in general. Maybe that'll get the juices flowing more easily. Of course, extending the day a few extra hours so that I can sleep and eek out ANY writing time right about now sounds great too!

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