6.20.2012

Just Do It Already!

I, erica, have been the laziest of all lazy people lately. This is the time of year I should be getting stuff done, not laying around, but here I lay. I should be taking notes and plotting and writing and meeting goals, but here I lay. I should be losing that 8 pounds I want to lose, but here I lay.

Okay, I should probably mention that I do laundry and sweep the floor and make meals. Also, drive children around. Sometimes I even brush my hair before I do these things.

my apologies to the pastor's wife, who may have seen me with hair like this yesterday.
only longer. and less adorable.

I also read 2 books over the weekend. One was awful. Oh, so very awful. I got the premise of it (a YA paranormal romance), but certain facts you were asked to believe were so very unbelievable, all I could do was shake my head and thing "wth?" and hope it would get better. Then the misspellings started. Oh, so very many misspellings - she created an entire species of creatures and then 3/4 of the book in, changed the spelling. Two characters also received new spellings. And the sheer number of homonyms was staggering. Spell check is not an editor, lady and it wasn't self-published, yikes, writer beware of tiny publishers!! But yes, I finished it. The other book I read was really good - I've been thinking abour writing my MG boy book in 3rd person, so this book was a bit of research. The ending got a little, well, implausible, but I enjoyed it enough to finish it in one day. Here's that one:

Dust

I think it's the school year sticking with me. I took on more responsibilities this year by teaching both Head Start and Early Childhood Special Ed - with brand-new assistants (God love them, but I would've given anything for a good, veteran TA last year). One of my families involved the district (and me) in a legal issue that meant hours and hours and hours of meetings and documentation and more meetings. One of my students has multiple diagnoses and she's about to turn 5 and hasn't said her first word yet and it breaks my heart each and every day that I haven't been able to achieve that one goal for her (she also has a physical disability that limits her ability to use sign language, although she has used a few).

I have both of those students again next year. Possibly with new TAs and did I mention I'm also taking student teachers again? And that a neighboring school district only has one HS/ECSE student in their entire district, so they contracted with my director to purchase my services for 4 hours a week (plus an hour of travel)?  Essentially, in the past 2 years I've managed to become 3 different teachers. Another WTH moment. I know I can do it, I just have to be really careful with my time.

Or maybe it's just that I turn 37 next week. That's kind-of a bummer, too. I like to pretend I'm 25 and it keeps getting harder and harder. ;)

Hence, I lay here. Thinking about what I've done. What I will do. And, hopefully soon, what my characters will do next. I owe that to them. (and christy. I sort-of stalled on our co-write, but I'll do it soon, I swear!) Tomorrow well, today I'm shipping both my kids out for a couple of hours. Now if I can just find something to keep my husband busy. And motivation. Must. Find. Motivation.

Any tips?

5 comments:

  1. You have to be careful with small presses. The editors aren't necessarily qualified. Some are started by writers who were frustrated that their books weren't being published. This is especially true with epublishers. It doesn't take much to create one. That's why I'm cautious who the publisher is when I check out a book. I avoid buying from tiny presses. They have to prove themselves first before they get my money.

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  2. Sounds like you haven't been lazy at all! At least you're accomplishing more reading than me. I keep getting "your hold is available" notices from the library, and the stack next to my bed just keeps growing and growing...

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  3. Tips for motivation- watch something motivational- read something that inspires you.

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  4. I can't believe a book got published with misspellings and misused words. Yeesh. People have to be careful with their writing!

    And don't forget, if anyone asks, you were born in 1987.

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  5. Your job sounds so similiar to my sister's. She teaches special ed, too, and I am shocked by the stories she shares. I would cry every day at work. Kudos to you! You deserve some reading time!

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