Insecure: VACATION STYLE

I'm taking a little bit of a writing vacation. I haven't taken an official one in a long time, but I've carved out some time from my writing schedule (i.e. I will not be hitting the self imposed writing deadlines I set for myself that were, quite frankly, impossible anyways). With luck, I'll be ready to come back to writing for July. I still have ambitious plans for the rest of the year, so it's time to rest up, find some good compression gloves and refocus!

Happy Insecure Writer's Group Day for everyone!

Ah, California, how you know me

Topic A: California is awesome

Topic B: Allergic reactions are just like the flu only worse

My daughter is allergic to penicillin derivatives, and since she’s had a bilateral ear infection she was on Amoxicillin. It was her first time. It didn’t quite do in the infection, so she got another round.

That’s when she swelled up at all her joints and developed a rash from head to toe… the day before we were supposed to fly to California. The doctor wasn’t that concerned, but warned us that we would need to take it easy.

I didn’t realize that by take it easy she meant the kid wouldn’t be able to walk. So we got to pack the daughter around but only to places with stroller access or that we were dying to see (and by dying I mean lug a 35 pound kid to).

But California provided the perfect reason to stay indoors: it rained.

Now, I know that most people think rain isn’t a great thing when on vacation, but I beg to differ. The ocean is a fickle beast, and a storm blue sea is a treat to someone from the desert. We had a great—if somewhat less than normal mountain climbing—vacation.

I hope everyone else had a great Spring Break if you get one, or just enjoyed the beginnings of spring (where are my daffodils, I put in my order last November when I planted a ton…).

"Now the nightmare's real"

Okay, so Dr. Horrible isn’t here yet, but soon, my pretties, soon. 

Right, so I’m hunched over and cackling like Frankenstein because I’ve started my costumes. Seems early for Halloween, but no, no, I’m on my way to a Fan Convention. I have three costumes planned so far, but there could be more. Right now, I’m doing a day as a Brown Coat (there are five people in the group I’m going with, so we’re basically going as a mob), one day for Dr. Horrible (because he has a Ph.D. in Horribleness), and one day as the Faerie godmother from Shrek. 

The Dr. Horrible costume is much harder than it appears, and I have to say, in general, follow the pattern. I’m making one up as I go along, and I’m not very good at it. I’ll probably relate this to writing at some point… maybe not. Like I said, pictures soonish (mostly because they’ll be funny if nothing else).

And speaking of pictures, here are two from my trip to California. 

This is what Hopland looks like. It’s a very small town, and I have plans for using it for a novel I’ve got planned out (or at least a concept). 

And this is a typical picture of the Mendocino Headlands, 

so, yeah, picturesque, lovely, and all around relaxing.

Aack! the vacation ate my motivation

I’m back, and for the record, traveling through airports with a two year old as a travelling companion is no slice of cake. That being said, I had a great time. California is, as always, California. The hills were golden blond, dotted with green oaks. The forests were in full bloom.

I got to pick blackberries (just coming ripe), wade in the ocean, make wreaths of lavender for my daughter’s hair, stroll through acres and acres of vineyards, and generally enjoy all the things I can’t do in Albuquerque. Pictures forthcoming.

But now I’m back, and the vacation is definitely over. I’m so far behind on all my work, and my play, I hardly know where to start. So, I’ll go in order. That means I’ve got four critiques that’ll be going out sometime soon.

I’ll be caught up soon, so we’ll just see where things are by the end of the week, but expect my normal posting schedule of Monday, Wednesday, Friday.