Remember Doobie?

According to my husband, Doobie has become the number one terror of the household. What was once a cute little puppy has turned into a cute little monster.

I think the poor guy is just lonely for female companionship. That being said, here are Doobie's likes and dislikes for all those potential puppy mates. ;-)




Likes:
- chasing pregnant cat and getting swatted in face by said cat
- growling at anyone within ten feet of dog food bowl
- jumping on any human being kind enough to let him in the house
- peeing and/or pooping (P&P) in any area of the house unsupervised by adults
- cuddling next to best friend, Tiny (the St. Bernard/husky mix)
- escaping and roaming neighborhood
-jumping and scratching on backdoor
- food
-more food

Dislikes:
- anyone coming near his food
- owner screaming at top of lungs after discovery of P&P incident
- being chased from house after said P&P incident
- cats coming too close to back fence
- rain or snow

The Best Night of the Week

I don't watch t.v.

With one exception...

Friday night. The best night of the week. Work is done, two blissful days of freedom loom ahead, and my BBC comedies are on PBS.

Judi Dench is my favorite actress, and she stars in As Times Goes By with Geoffrey Palmer. She was a nurse and he was a soldier during the Korean War. When he left for war, she stayed behind in England and they wrote letters to one another. But one of those letters went astray, and so did their relationship.

Thirty-eight years later, they meet again and their romance is rekindled!

I absolutely adore this show. It's brilliantly written, intelligent, and always makes me feel wonderful after I watch it. Precious few shows have been able to do this, and that's why I reserve Friday nights for this particular show.

But the other BritComs are hilarious, too. There's Keeping Up Appearances with Mrs. Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced "Bouquet") and her hen-picked husband, Richard. One Foot in the Grave features Victor Meldrew, a stubborn, grouchy old codger who never fails to make his wife furious with his antics. Then there's the classic Are You Being Served? that takes place in a department store with Captain Peacock, the floor manager, Mrs. Slocombe with her variously tinted hair-do's, and a whole host of eccentric employees.

I've also been sort of an Anglophile, but I started watching BritComs on my PBS station back in junior high. I love the simplicity of them, the brand of humor, and the acting.

So tonight, I'll indulge in a bit of chocolate, cuddle up on the couch with my daughter (who also loves BritComs, even though she's only five!) and enjoy my shows. Then starting tomorrow, it's back to writing!

Mission: Write

The cupboards are stocked with food. The house is relatively clean. The laundry is done (although not folded).

It's time to write.

It's amazing how I can be away from my novel for a few days and start to feel withdrawel symptoms. But yet, once I sit down at the keyboard, I fear that the old "brick wall syndrome" will emerge.

I'm determined to fight it tonight. In fact, I'm determined to just sit down and let the words flow.

One Page

That's how much I wrote last night. In my defense, it was single-spaced. ;-)

Thankfully, I took a shower before I finished the scene, otherwise I would have veered off into dangerous territory. Isn't it funny how thoughts hit you while you're doing mundane things? I've come up with some great ideas in the shower - I've heard of other writers doing the same. Last night I knew I had a problem with the scene I was working on. And just as I turned off the water, the solution hit me - maybe it was helped by the cold air - but I knew I couldn't travel down this particular road in my manuscript.

As I was madly typing away, hubby called. As I told him about the retribution I had planned for my villain, I heard a big sigh on the other end of the line.

"What?" I said, somewhat defensively.

"Well, that's so...typical."

"Typical?" I shouted. Ok, maybe not shouted, but my voice definitely raised an octave.

"Now don't get upset. You asked for my opinion."

"Yeah, I did," I grumbled. "Ok, tell me what your idea is."

"Well, it's gotta be full of action! Y'know, the hero confronts the villain, there's a big fight, and the villain doesn't just give up like a wuss. No...he has to keep fighting!"

"Um, do you want the villain to win?"

"Well, no."

"Then why can't I do it my way?"

Another long sigh. "Well, your way is...boring."

"BORING?" (Yes, I shouted this time.)

"Hey, it's your book!"

So now I've thought about how I've planned the villain's demise, and I wonder if it has enough action to entertain the hubby. Maybe I'll throw in a good fight scene just for him. ;-)

Waddya think?

It's a New Look!

I've been wanting a new blog template for awhile, but I'm really picky. I finally decided on this particular one and Rene kindly did the technical stuff for me. :-)

I would like to learn more about HTML and web design, but when I think about doing it, it just seems so overwhelming. Maybe if I could learn a bit at a time, it wouldn't be too bad.

This Month's RWR

If you are a member of RWA and received the Romance Writer's Report, check out the PROgress article by Barbara Samuels in the new issue. Even if you're NOT a PRO, you'll benefit from it! She talks about "serving the work." And I think I've found my new favorite quote: "Do it honestly. With your whole heart."

Why The Day Job Really Stinks Sometimes

Ever feel like the workday is never going to end? Ever want to up and walk out on the job because you're BORED and would rather go home and take a nap? That was me today. I had work to do, but I'd lost interest in it by 10 a.m. NOT a good thing. Then I thought about my novel and how badly I wanted to work on it, but it appears that large chunks of time do not a productive Melissa make. So I decided that I'm going to devote a good hour to my writing tonight - thus, my daughter will definitely be in bed early! And as long as the dog cooperates (i.e. doesn't beg me to take him outside or otherwise entertain him), I should be able to write a few pages, at least.

Thanks for the Comments!

Forgive me for not responding to each of you individually - some days are better than others in that regard. But please know that I appreciate each and every one of you who visits my blog and takes the time to comment. :-)

Writing = Pounding Head on Keyboard

Saturday afternoon, I had the place to myself. Just my dog and I. Hubby had my daughter over at his house and I had seven hours stretched out before me with uninterrupted bliss.

My plans included writing, writing, and writing...and taking a very long walk.

But when I sat down at the keyboard, it felt forced. Like trying to squeeze blood out of a turnip, as the old saying goes. And it was so frustrating for me. Here I was, with all this time on my hands, and I couldn't get the words to flow!

I decided to take a nap - just a short one, I promised myself - to maybe work through my plot problems. And I won't lie to you - that nap was heavenly. It was also FOUR HOURS LONG!

I wasn't happy when I woke up and saw the time. But instead of moping about, I put on my walking shoes and my dog and I went for a nice, long walk. When I came back home, I sat down at my computer and typed out the rest of my plot.

Yesterday I managed to write half a page and again, I felt like I was banging my head on the wall. Why, I thought, am I having trouble when I know what I need to write? That's how I like it, after all - I need to have the scene in my head before I sit down at the computer. But for some reason, I wasn't letting go of my inner editor - and writing the bare bones, like I blogged about a few days ago.

I hope tonight will be different, and I can encourage my inner editor to take a hike. :-)

It's the Little Things

I went for a week without a washer and a dryer when I first moved into my apartment. I hated it. I hated having to lug my laundry over to my mom's place and then lug it back. I wanted the convenience and the peace of mind of having my own washer and dryer.

I can't believe how relieved I felt when I finally did get that washer and dryer in my apartment. I loved the feeling of knowing that I could just throw a load of clothes in and not have to worry about it.

Unfortately, the washing machine died quietly last night. I had just put in a load of clothes, it had filled with water, and then...nothing. So as of this morning, those clothes are still in the washing machine full of water because if I take them out at this point, they might start to stink. ARGH. Thankfully, there is a 90-day warranty on my washer. I hope it can get fixed before the weekend hits.

I can't believe how upset I was over it. I need a washer and dryer. I can get by without a dishwasher - I did for years. I can get by without a microwave. Heck, I can even get by without a television. But my washer and dryer? No way!

Needless to say, I didn't get any writing done last night. It wasn't that great of a day anyway, and the washer breaking was the icing on the cake, so to speak.

But today is a new day, right? :-)

UPDATE!!!

The washing machine is FIXED! It was the motor - and thank the Lord that the mechanic was able to do it today. I didn't want to go through the whole weekend without it!

Writing the Bare Bones

I've come to the realization that I cannot write a perfect scene the first time around. Instead, I have to get my bare basics down on the page. As the great Nora said, "You can't fix nothing."

How true.

Last night I wrote a very pivotal scene in my story. I really struggled through it, trying to convey the characters' deep emotions. But the longer I struggled, the more I realized that I didn't need to make it perfect. By allowing myself the freedom to just get the words down on the page, I was able to finish the scene and tonight, I plan to go back and edit.

I find that this has normally been my reason for writer's block. I would much rather get it perfect the first time around so that I can keep writing and not have to go back and edit later. But that's not what writing is all about. There are several quotes floating around about how writing is 99% rewriting. And it really is. In fact, one of my favorite quotes (and forgive me - I'm not sure who said it) is, "The great thing about writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon."

I try to remember that. And really, it's a blessing to be able to go back and change, rewrite, fix the spelling, insert more character emotions, whatever, because that way we can make it exactly how we want it without the pressure to produce something perfect the first time. Of course, there also must come a time when we say "enough" with the revisions and move on. That is the tricky balance.

Digging Out

It took me a good fifteen minutes this morning to get all the snow off of my car. While there's still plenty of it on the roof of my car, I did manage to back out of the parking lot, take my daughter to daycare, and get to work. But I'm not alone - I think the whole state of Nebraska has been digging out all day yesterday and today.

It's a very wet snow and luckily, it didn't freeze last night. Otherwise, the roads would have been pure ice. We desperately need the moisture, however, so this snow is perfect for that. It will take a few days to melt and soak into the ground, but it will be worth it. The entire state got blasted with snow - my brother lives 450 miles away and he also got almost two feet of snow. The interstate was closed from one end of the state to the other - we had 14 inches here in town.

I did manage to get quite a bit done on the writing front yesterday and last night. I stayed up late to work on the novel since our office didn't open until 10 a.m. Nice to sleep in!

And It's Still Snowing

So I'm staying home. Not by choice. My daughter has a bad cold and is sleeping in my bed right now. She woke up just before I fell asleep last night, crying and scared. Not sure why, but she crawled into bed with me.

I woke up this morning to more of the white stuff. I had no desire to go outside, but the dog must do his duty, after all, so we trudged out there at 7 a.m. Brrrrrr!!!

I'm working at home today - thank goodness I have a job where I can do that. It is such a blessing.

I did accomplish quite a bit yesterday on the writing front. But I doubt I'll get to it today - we've been pretty busy at work.

Weekend was good. Hubby and I rented Walk the Line - I really enjoyed it. Last night I popped in the movie Chocolat and thus had to eat a bit of sugar-free chocolate wafers, but hey, it's still chocolate, right?

Hope you have a good Monday!

It's Snowing in March

But that's not all that unusual for Nebraska.

It's a beautiful snow - very wet with thick flakes. I'm looking out my window as I type this and the branches of the pine trees are loaded down with snow. We desperately need the moisture and we've barely had any snow this winter, so I don't really mind. Besides, I have no plans to leave the house today. :-)

We're forecasted to get blasted through tomorrow. Unfortunately, it's spring break for the schools around here, so a snow day isn't in the cards. Unless it's bad enough that the daycare closes - then I can stay home!

Worked on the novel yesterday and plan to do so again today - in fact, I've got my laptop set up right next to my desktop. Kind of a weird system, but hey, it works. :-)