2.08.2011

Leftover Frosting (and a late addition to the It was a Dark and Stormy Blogfest)

(scroll way, way down for the
It was a Dark and Stormy Blogfest Entry. 
look for brenda drake's blogfest pic and link!!!)

Blogging Buddies!  I'm back!  It's me...christy!!!!!  I hid out all last week writing furiously.  (What a relief to use an adverb and  just leave it in the sentence where it wants to be!!!!!) 

I feel like I've been gone for a month.  (I'm sure erica does too since I left her to fend for herself.  But it looks like it was lots of fun here at erica and christy!  A BIG Super Bowl win for our Packers (I live 30 min south of GB so some schools had off today to welcome them back!  It's like our own private holiday!), wins galore!  mugs and books!  Recipes!  And a THANK YOU  to new and old followers alike.)

What have you all been up to???  I can't wait to visit you all to find out!  I feel so out of it.  I wish I had good news and could say I polished my manuscript to where it needed to be before ABNA locked my access to edit my entry, but, um...no, I don't. 

HOWEVER, had I not taken every spare moment I had to rewrite,revise and edit, I wouldn't have come as far as I have.  What's left?  I just need to rewrite the ending, rewrite three chapters in the middle that I skipped over, do another read-through and edit, send it to erica to read and edit, do a final edit and then, hey!  I'll be able to query agents!  There's a light at the end of my rewriting tunnel!  THEN, I can revisit Shelby, my mc in novel #2!  I miss her!

I'd like to take a moment to THANK ERICA for being so understanding while I ditched her, abandoning her to the point that she wondered if I'd ever return an email again.  My gift to her?  I'm blogging here the rest of the week.  So, yes. YOU'RE STUCK WITH ME.  Until Friday. Then she's posting a blogfest entry.  Have you signed up for this one, yet?  That's YAmore Blogfest.  Starts Friday.  Click to sign up!  And be sure to visit us on Friday for another excerpt from erica's manuscript!

Oh, and by now you've probably forgotten that I titled this post Leftover Frosting.  But don't you worry. I didn't!  My son turned FIVE today.  YES, FIVE!  I know.  I can't believe it either.  FIVE IS SOOOO OLD!  I even registered him for kindergarten next year.  ALL DAY KINDERGARTEN.  He's a big boy now.  (Excuse me, I need to grab a kleenex. *sobbing mom here*) 

Oh, the frosting.  We made cupcakes for his preschool class over the weekend.  There was half a canister of frosting left.  It's in the fridge.  Um,  I can't stop eating out of the dang thing like it's a bowl of ice cream.  DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW YUMMY FROSTING IS????  (And those six sentences gave this post its title.)

Since I've been away so long I'm sure you're just hanging on my every word to find out all the other unexciting things I've been up to.  One thing:  I've gotten back into my workout groove. YEAH!!!!!  And, I've gained three pounds.  NO, they're not from muscle.  GRRRR.  (Last May I ran my first full marathon.  I gained five pounds during my training time.  AGAIN, NOT from muscle.  I had the tummy fat to prove it.  When I run, I think I can eat anything and everything and as much of it all as I want.)

I've decided that (besides running) writing is a fattening activity.  Since I can't write while my kids are awake, I resorted to writing from 8-12 every night for the past couple of weeks.  In order to do that, I made half a pot of coffee and ate to stay alert and creative.  It didn't help the writing, and it only added to my flab. (Because it's not like I reached for the carrot sticks to much on. With coffee?  Blech.  No, no, no.  I ate Toast, Froot Loops, M and M cookies.  (Didn't have the frosting yet.  Thank goodness!)

Stay tuned tomorrow.  There's a chance I'll post about my biggest writing no-nos I discovered and battled while rewriting these past weeks.  After all, tomorrow is a Writing Wednesday here at erica and christy!  See you all then!!!!

ooh!  before you go!  here's my blogfest entry!
I LOVE SIMPLE BLOGFESTS.  POST THE FIRST LINE OF YOUR MANUSCRIPT.
GO TO BRENDA DRAKE'S BLOG TO SIGN UP.  POST YOUR FIRST LINE IN HER COMMENTS AND WIN BEYOND AMAZING PRIZES!


I clutched pressed the journal and pressed it to my chest, twisting it side to side as my feet pounded the frosty earth.

With the journal pressed to my chest, my feet pounded the frosty earth.

I pressed the journal to my chest as my feet pounded the frosty earth.

I pressed the journal to my chest and ran.

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP EVERYONE!  I'LL KEEP WORKING ON IT!!!





10 comments:

  1. I also gained non-muscle weight during marathon training. :( So, I take comfort in the fact that I'm not alone (feel free to do the same). I'm going to try to avoid making the same nutritional mistakes during triathlon training... but you know, I'm pretty dumb, so I'll probably do it again.

    CONGRATULATIONS on the light at the end of your revision tunnel. I think once it's done, you should allow yourself a day or two of laying on the couch sipping cocoa and reading whatever you like. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. WELCOME BACK...

    I missed you.

    You know I love you, Erica, but it's been weeks from Christy.

    I'm glad you stuck with it and entered ABNA.... Congrats.

    I LOVE you first line.... EXCELLENT.

    I changed mine, and someone pointed out another thing today, so I might change it again...

    I got into Miss Snark's yesterday, so I hope I get some good feedback.

    Try to hop over today, yesterday's post tributes woman like you.

    Michael

    ReplyDelete
  3. I get a strong visual from that first line, and it definitely makes me want to know what's in that journal and what she's doing stomping outside in the cold. If you want to shorten it a little, how about "I clutched the journal to my chest etc.?"

    ReplyDelete
  4. I did miss you! And this year I have one boy turning double digits and one going to kindergarten. Yikes, how did that happen???

    I didn't enter the blogfest, but here's my first line of AND: I slammed the car door and rushed past the men putting pieces of my life into a big white truck.

    Oh, btw - 3 pounds seems like a big deal to you tiny people, but us *cough* less petite girls can gain that just by LOOKING at frosting. grrrr
    erica

    ReplyDelete
  5. Now that is a nice first sentence!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Enjoyed the first line, but found it a bit awkward with the part 'twisting it side to side'. Could just be that I'm not taking the time to really understand it, but I'm not sure what that means. Going from hand to hand? Twisting it back and forth, like spinning it around? I know I may be the only one who thinks this, but other than that, I truly enjoyed it and the voice you created with the whole intrigue of the journal and running.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Welcome back and congrats on making so much progress! I love your entry by the way. The tension oozes off the page.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is a great first sentence, but the 'twisting side to side' made me pause. Is that something the narrator is doing consciously, or is it a side-effect of the running? Either way, I think you could clarify with a semi-colon and a little more explanation.

    And I really do want to know more about what's happening.

    ReplyDelete
  9. nice work. I like the concept very much and it is full of tension. I did, however, try to act out your sentence and it didn't really work. I'm an animator by trade so I tend to do this often with action oriented writing. Might be worth a shot.

    Great sentence and I'm hooked.
    best of luck :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Found your blog through the first line blogfest.

    Almost left immediately because I'm a Vikings fan.

    Stuck around because like me, you write late and eat frosting from the can :)

    I really like your blog!

    Christi Corbett

    ReplyDelete

Stay and chat with us! Share your thoughts.