It’s nearing midnight on October 31. I suppose you think that means we’re getting close to the witching hour. But no! At 12:01am on November 1, that yearly trial begins… it’s NaNoWriMo!
I’m probably not going to start word one until I get up tomorrow morning (something about starting off fresh) but I’m getting a little tingle watching the clock, all the same.
I just heard about my MFA application – and I got in! I’m so excited. And so soon… the deadline was like a week and a half ago; I didn’t expect to hear the results so quickly! Anyway, there’s still stuff to figure out – the financial aid and getting registered and all of that. But the hardest part is done. I’m in!
I just saw a fascinating talk on BookTV on CSPAN given by Thom Hartmann, author of the book Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class — And What We Can Do About It
I don’t think I’ve talked much about my application to Seton Hill. I discovered the Seton Hill Writing Popular Fiction program a few months ago and spent several months trying to decide if I wanted to do it or not and finally decided yes! It’ll be difficult, but I’m willing to do it because I believe it will help me tremendously with my writing.
My darling cat is at the vet for the next week. He’s been there since Wednesday, and I miss him! He was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, and we tried giving him the pills, but he was allergic, so that pretty much left radio-iodine therapy as the only viable option. It’s pretty much painless and works really well, the only problem with it is that my cat has to stay at the vet for 10 days. Aaahhhh! It can’t end soon enough. I want my cat back now!!
I’ve been so busy lately. My parents came to visit for a week, and my cat is sick. He’s going in for a procedure next week, and hopefully it will clear up a lot of his problems. The siding is finally finished, but… there’s a bit more that needs to be done. I need to find the money for it. I haven’t been writing much; instead, I’ve been spending a lot of time on the business and trying to make a little money. I’m running out. 
Oh, and I was in a wedding. And I applied for the MFA program at Seton Hill.
Check this out: California Takes on Global Warming. Yay!
And, I’m starting to feel better. Even though I was sick, I still attempted the Labor of Love and Word Count Marathon challenges last week, but didn’t manage to finish either one. Still, I got a little over 5000 words written, and that’s progress. 
I haven’t posted in a while – first, I was in wedding last weekend and things were just really busy, and then right in the middle of the weekend (and the wedding), I got sick. Really sick. So I’ve been sick almost a week now, and I’m really tired of it. I hate being sick. I especially hate being sick for a long time like this.
Found this interesting article about a joint effort in California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their state. Both Schwarzeneggar and the Democrat-led California legislature are working together on this effort. Yay! Let’s hope they can work out a deal that will be fair and beneficial to both the environment and the business sector.
Many thanks to Edward Bulwer-Lytton for the inspiration for my new tagline.
Bythepen has long been my handle online; it’s only fitting it be applied to my blog as well.
Popularity: 10% [?]
Welcome to my new home. Not too far from the old, just down the block and all that. (For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, today I moved from my test blog to this nice new permanent blog, and brought along most of the posts from the old one.)
They’re replacing the siding on my house. I’m really glad to finally get this done, but while they’re doing it – what a pain. I can’t wait until it’s over. I took everything off my walls (inside) last night so nothing would fall and break while they’re pounding – so now my house is a total mess. And I’ve been preparing myself for days for being wakened rudely at 7am by loud construction noises outside my window.
I’m watching a documentary on PBS called “Fire and Ice” about the “Winter War”, a war between the USSR and Finland in 1940. Wow. I never learned anything about this in school. Or if I did, it was a paragraph so short I don’t remember a thing about it.
Laurell K. Hamilton
Every so often, I just break down and have to read one.
Signed up for a bunch of writing dares today – Unfinished Business at the end of the month, this weekend’s marathon. And of course I’m in the middle of the July/August Dare. I’m also planning on the outline marathon in the middle of this month, then the one in October prepping for nano, and of course Nanowrimo itself. I also set up the neat countdown up above (at least, it’ll be there until Nano, then I’ll take it down and maybe put something else up there.
Tangled Threads
by Jennifer Estep
Catching Fire
by Suzanne Collins
