As I write this, it's dark outside. Far, far too early in the evening (7pm? wtf?) for it to be dark outside. Fall is officially here. Which is all right with me, because I LOVE FALL. Halloween? Love it. Thanksgiving? Love it. My birthday? Love that too, or I did for the first 29 years.

I also love the crisp weather, the changing of the leaves, the fact that I get to wear long sleeves, and pumpkin pie.

(Also? We are about 3 months out from my book release! But who is counting, right?)

At any rate, I finished edits for Agent Holly the other day and decided that this weekend would be THE weekend that I would be a total writing badass. 10k? No sweat. I'd haul out a half-finished project, kick its ass all over town, and then dust off my hands, cheerful at a job well done.
Yeaaaaah. Not so much with that.

Instead, I spent about 6 hours on Saturday staring at the same few pages over and over again. Normally when I pick up a 'dropped' project (one that I've had to spend a few weeks away from), I can reacclimate myself by re-reading and editing the pages I have in order to make the story a little more cohesive. My first drafts are heinous, after all, so there's a lot to nudge into shape. Then, by the time I get to the part where I left off, it's easier to jump back in.

Couldn't do it. After six hours, I had 10 pages edited and was in a terrible mood. I grumped to my husband, who wanted to know why I was beating myself up over a story I don't even have a contract for. I had no answer for him.

So I took the day off. And I re-read Meljean Brook's DEMON BOUND (one of my favorite romances of this decade). Watched a movie. Re-read an old project that I loved (my 3rd novel ever) but is too derivative to salvage. And pulled out a different story.

This time, I like the edits. Go figure. Is it that I took a brain refresh? Or is it the project?

Who can say, right? Either way, I'm not going to peer at it too closely for fear that it will dry up once more.

Just sent off the latest round of edits to my agent. Poor thing has to read my manuscript AGAIN. Bless her heart for being so patient. Anyhoo - Fall is finally here in Texas, and I am loving the weather. What I am not loving is the fact that all my sweaters have shrank. No, not like that. I mean I ran them in the dryer too many times last year, and the hem goes from below the ass to somewhere around my midriff (but the sleeves remain crazily long). It's bizarre. And then my clothes look stupid.

Clearly this will involve shopping.

Speaking of shopping, guess what else came out yesterday? Michelle Rowen's first Young Adult novel:

Michelle is hilarious, and I expect the book to be as full-on funny as she is. It's the story of a teenager who learns that not only is her dad a demon, but he's also the demon king, and she's his heir. And of course there are hot guys in it. This pretty much hits my check-list of awesome. Paranormal? Check. Fish out of water? Check. Hot mysterious guys? Check. Little book, you are mine!

I've noticed I'm a great big failure when it comes to forming good habits lately.

I haven't balanced my checkbook in months.
I keep forgetting to blog.
I've been having upwards of 5 cups of coffee every day. (*twitch*)
I haven't been writing EVERY day.
Or editing all that stuff I said I would.
I've been re-reading books instead of reading all the new ones on my TBR pile.
I've bought a few books, then thought, "Jeez, I'm never going to read that one."
I had pizza for lunch.
My gym membership card has dust on it.
So do my gym shoes.
And my duster.
And my vacuum.
I've been leaving dishes in the sink.
I haven't been self-promoting very much -- I always see those self promo threads on message-boards or Amazon or whatever and think "Should I?" but then I walk away. There's a fine line between self promo and douchebaggery, and I tend to overshoot. Best to just avoid entirely unless you have the delicate skill of Self Promo, and I do not have it.
I've been watching TV shows ONLINE instead of when they come on, thus torpedo-ing the Nielsen rankings of my favorite shows.
I've been playing far, far too much Left4Dead (new patch tonight!).

So what about you? Someone else tell me their bad habits so I don't feel like the only doofus around.

Am editing UNNATURAL again. Well, except now it's called VANISHING ACT but my brain can't seem to wrap around that. So what is more glamorous than reading and editing a manuscript twelve times?

Why, thirteen times!

Luckily, my agent's notes were spot on, so this draft has been fairly painless thus far. Sure, I bitch, but if I didn't, what could I possibly talk about?

Other than that, no news on this end. Glad that Mercury is no longer in retrograde.

(It's not...is it? Eep.)