Friday ‘Fess Up + Four = Friday Five #2

(What is this? A combination of two Friday memes: the literate kitten’s invitation to ‘fess up to our crimes and misdemeanors against our writing efforts and a “friday five,” in which we list five random things about our week…)

 

1. ‘Fessing up: I had an excellent writing day, and now I deserve to play in the long-awaited warmth and sunshine.

Yesterday I wrote six pages; today also. But yesterday was only a good writing day relative to today’s excellent writing day. What makes the difference? Flow. Just flow. Today the words fell out relatively easily (it’s only a little after noon!), whereas yesteday I spent a semi-tortured day at my desk. I didn’t complete my pages until 3:30 p.m. 

Today was fun for the writing because I have a character, Malcolm, who is such a wad. I love writing his scenes. I managed 21 new pages this week.

2. Follow-up on yesterday’s mood: An excellent writing day always helps, doesn’t it? Plus, getting out of the house with friends last night. Plus, the kind comments I received. Plus, a new day. I can still hear the low-grade muttering as I write this — no doubting that — but the sun is also shining.

Besides laying down sentences, I’m still wondering what else I can do to help myself, something concrete that will give me a sense that I’m moving forward…

3. About forgetfulness: This week I was in a pretty good fictional space, and as a result I kept forgetting to buy a new stick of deoderant. No, I’m not stinky; what I am, is a woman hand-rubbing deoderant crumbs against her skin. Never fails, I realize I’ve reached the end of my deoderant when the last bit falls out of the tube and breaks into pieces on the counter. Usually, I’m quicker to buy a new stick, however.

4. Something that maddened me: Overheard at a cafe, a women mourning the fact that her parents, who worked long and hard to retire early, were forced back to work (in their early 60s!) because they could no longer afford their health insurance premiums. ‘Nuff said.

5. Photo of the week: I suppose I am doing something concrete besides the writing itself. That’s my bulletin board and that’s my repository for all self-promotion, publicity, and marketing ideas I come across. Ready for when the time comes (there she is, my inner cheerleader)!

Speaking of self-promotion, DeAnna Cameron’s latest how-did-you-find-your-audience interview mentioned something especially interesting. Dora Levy Mossanen, the interviewee, started connecting with booksellers and freelance publicity folks before her first novel sold. My inquiring mind wants to know: How do you approach booksellers under those circumstances? I’m thinking she might have some natural networking skills…