Just took a much-needed week off of work, partly for my birthday on the 28th, partly to take advantage of a freebie day off for the 4th of July. It was largely a lazy vacation, which I loved. I've been on vacations where every single moment was filled to the brim with things to do and places to go. That can be fun, especially when you're younger, but as I get older, I find that I prefer a nice, lazy vacation where I do exactly what I want when I want.Nevertheless, I did have a few things I needed to accomplish before I went back to work. (Lots of new pages on the book-in-progress come to mind). But I made sure to give myself plenty of down time, too.
So here's what I did on my vacation, in no particular order:
WRITING:
- Wrote 72 pages on book 2 of the current 3-book contract
- Rewrote synopsis for same book to take into consideration changes made in the actual manuscript.
- Made corrections to first three chapters based on critique partner's edits to get it ready to go to my editor by 7/15.
- Wrote two blog posts (including this one)
- Scheduled two future guest blog posts and a guest post for an online writer's conference.
- Edited and updated my website.
- Attended my local writing chapter's special program featuring Carina Press editor Angela James (and won a historical novel as a doorprize, which I quickly traded for a contemporary because I generally prefer them to historicals).
- Rewrote synopsis for book 1 of current 3-book contract to match actual events of the story, which diverged* significantly from original selling synopsis (I didn't include it with the manuscript I sent in on the due date).
- Wrote Cast of Characters and dedication for book 1 as well.
READING:
- Caught up on some of my favorite blogs.
- Read some articles in this month's Romance Writers Report.
- Read about half of Under Orders by Dick Francis (read it before, but it's as good the second time).
CATS
- Have become convinced that Mina, the half-Siamese kitten is actually a male. Renamed him Miko. Will ask the vet to be sure on the next visit. Cat may develop identity problem before it's all over.
- Much snuggling. Much, much snuggling.
- Did I mention the snuggling?
- Cleaned litter box several times. Cats grateful.
FAMILY/HOME LIFE
- Had barbecue take out for birthday. Yum.
- Watched multiple Psych and Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes on DVD with younger niece.
- Hung with Mom. Napped a lot. Both excellent occupations.
- Fielded two calls and a couple of emails from work. Not bad for such a long span of time away from the office.
- Watched School of Rock—subversive and hilarious movie.
- Watched lots of court shows with mom. Am horrified.
- Watched series finale ep of Angel on early morning TNT. Wept when Wesley died needlessly and cursed Joss Whedon and Tim Minear.
- Watched second episode of Memphis Beat on TNT. Not as poignant as first episode but funnier overall. But also missed Justified (as it aired in same time slot on FX during regular season).
- Watched season (mid-season?) finale of In Plain Sight. Hated the ending.
- Watched predictable Lifetime movie. Is the husband ever NOT the bad guy? Wished fervently that Harlequin and Lifetime would pair up to produce Intrigues as movies.
- Wore sloppy clothes all week. Loved it.
(*Thanks to the lovely Rebecca York for catching my mental lapse in using converged when I clearly meant diverged. Vacation brain!)
4 comments:
That was a great vacation. I actually liked the second episode of Memphis Beat better. Love your idea about HQ and Lifetime teaming up!
That was a *very* productive "staycation!" I'm impressed, truly. I had four days off over our own Canada Day holiday and did almost zilch. Except nap and read. Did I mention nap? Oh, and watch the World Cup matches, of course!
Belated happy birthday wishes, by the way!
Good luck getting back into the swing of things at work tomorrow.
Mary, I loved the second episode of Memphis Beat, too, but there was something so lovely and gracious about the story of the lady DJ in the first episode, and Dwight's concern for her and especially his respect for her place in history. It got to me, and made the first episode more serious and poignant than I had expected from a show with Lee as the star. ;)
Kea, my biggest regret is that I didn't read more during my vacation. I so rarely have time to read these days, I should have taken advantage of the time more. But with so many pages to write each day, I didn't want to muddy the flow by getting sucked too far into other books. The Dick Francis book was different enough in style and subject that it didn't seem to pose a big problem, and I only read a few pages at a time anyway.
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