LOST: One Writer's Notebook

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My plans for this last blog entry before I leave for Chicago was to write a funny yet touching summary/run-down of where I stand in physical and mental preparation for the race. Instead, I'm having heart palpitations for entirely different reasons. I have misplaced and or LOST my writer's notebook. That would be the notebook in which I've outlined every aspect of my YA novel - character descriptions, plot lines, motivations, partially written scenes... I can barely write about the possibility of having lost those pages without wanting to throw up.

Here's the deal:  I had a critique group meeting today and instead of carrying in my laptop bag, I pulled out the orange folder and spiral bound notebook containing my work and carried only those in. I thought I remembered carrying them back out to my car, but I hope I'm making that up. The reason being, if I took them out to my car, chances are strong I left them on top of my car as I drove away. Which means they're scattered to the winds and God knows where. 

What I'm praying happened instead is that I left the notebooks inside our meeting room. I stopped to admire a friend's new I-Phone on the way out, and I set the folders down on a coffee table. I've spent the last hour making "I'll never curse again and dedicate my life to helping the poor" deals with God if they'll still be there. 

I have a friend going back to the meeting room tonight and he's going to call and let me know at 6 if they're there or not. 

Enough time for me to toss a few more "Hail-Mary" passes God's way.

Why It's Important To Hang Out With Writers

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I miss my writing friends. These are the people who, like me, find it fun to sit around a table at a coffee shop for hours on end discussing plot, dialogue, and the newest crap out on the market and various theories on how this junk came to be published when no one will look at our obviously superior novels? (We writers are an egotistical bunch.)

But I've discovered that more than missing them, I need my writer friends.

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An Update On Those Self-Improvement Programs

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A confession: I have stopped and started so many self-improvement programs in the past 6 months even I've lost track of what I'm supposed to be doing... not be doing... etc. Am I a better person than I was six months ago? Marginally. (Maybe.) But I've had some fun in my attempts to improve myself and drag others with me along the way. So here now, a quick review of what's been stopped, started, put on hold or embraced. Based on a 5-star rating scale.

The 100 Push-Up Challenge: We're all familiar with this one. About 10 of us jumped on the "You bet!" bandwagon and developed an intimate knowledge of our floors. I was gung-ho on this program, especially when I tested right into week 3 of the 6 week program. Halfway there! How hard could it be?

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Have My Blog Posts E-mailed To You

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Staying up nights tossing and turning, worried you may forget to check in here one day and read new and hilarious posts about malicious cats, vegan diets, and why Blair deserves some sort of award for putting up with me? Ta Da! We're here for you! 

You may now have new posts delivered directly to your e-mail so there's no more guessing on just when I've gotten around to writing something. Just enter your email address in the box on the right of this blog, which will take you to a page for confirmation. After you confirm that you did indeed intend to subscribe to my blog, you will receive an e-mail message from Feedburner asking if you're sure you REALLY want to do this. (Maybe they've read my posts about cats.) You MUST click on the link provided within. After you do so, you will receive a notice that you are, in fact, going to receive notices every time I publish a new blog entry.

That's all! The posts will arrive on the days I blog sometime between 7 and 9am, EST. If I include an excerpt, never fear: just click on the title of the blog post and you'll be directed to the full piece. And if I get industrious and post two things to my blog in a single day (it could happen, though don't hold your breath,) you'll only receive a single notice. 

That's all. Go subscribe. Pretty please.

Of course if you prefer feed readers and have already subscribed to my blog's RSS feed, maybe you won't want to do this. That might be a little TOO much Dena.

As if...  ;)