12 weeks isn't that long, is it?

Ken and I have embarked on a 12-week fitness program. We both get bored going to the gym and doing the same things, and I work better when I have clear goals (well, when I’m being told what to do, which is why having a trainer is my best bet. But I can’t afford a trainer right now, and having a website tell me what to do on a particular day is a reasonable substitute for my brain.) We’re focusing on the workout/fitness portion, not so much on the food portion, because we already eat reasonably healthy (when we plan good meals ahead). I’m loosely tracking what I’m eating to get a sense of where I’ve slipped, but I’m not sure if I’ll do any calorie-counting. That tends to make my brain unhappy, too.

Today was our third day, and for me, at least, it’s going great. It definitely helps to have a plan, because I don’t want to skip a day and fall behind, or do less than what the day’s routine calls for. It helps, too, to plan with Ken when we’re going to the gym. My previous workout partner got too busy, and I couldn’t find anyone else in the area who was interested. (Once I’m at the gym, I’m usually in good spirits and enjoy cranking on those endorphins. It’s getting to the gym that’s my real bugaboo—and so far, this is definitely helping.)

After the 3 months, we might do the Couch-to-5K challenge, because he’s been considering running a marathon. I don’t know if my body can handle running again, but when I did run, I actually enjoyed it a lot. So we’ll see.

Challenge, Days 2 and 3

Well. Well.

Monday, I wrote another 1000 words on “Braceleted.” Every single one of those words was forcibly chiseled out of my brain by a one-armed dwarf wielding a broken pick-axe. They took me all damn day. You know you’re having a tough writing day when you keep picking up The War of Art and being entirely aware that you’re using it as Resistance.

So, yeah, it was pretty awful, and I let my brain (stupid brain) convince me that I was failing at the challenge because the damn story still wasn’t done. Before you say anything, let me add that I know how stupid that is. I wrote 1000 words, which was 1000 words more than I had the day before. And that is freakin’ awesome.

Of course, it took me all day yesterday—during which I wrote not a single word—to get to that point. Me having a meltdown and Ken giving me a wise pep talk was included in the program.

This morning I got an offer to…I don’t know how to describe it without saying too much. Someone is looking for a writer for something, and I was one of the people asked to apply for the job. So I dropped everything to put together a new writer’s résumé targeted for that job. From what little I know, it would be very groovy, so I’ve got my fingers crossed there.

Now I have to get back to “Braceleted,” and figure out how to resolve the conflict so I can finish the frakking story and get it in the mail and get on to the next story! I’m at CB&TL with Tanya now, totally hyped up on an Ultimate mocha (the kind w/the chocolate-covered espresso beans in it), and I’ve finished my résumé, but I’ve only got about half an hour left before I head home so Ken and I can go to the gym, which is the subject of another entry. Soon.

Challenge Update, Day 1

I got 3K done on the story, and it’s not anywhere close to being done. Um, oh. So much for that 6K low-end goal. I’ll finish it tomorrow; I’m quite pleased with my progress.

We also got some house stuff done, including laundry, prepping for tomorrow’s slow cooker jambalaya, discussing kitchen curtains (the ones I made are mediocre and annoying us both), and cleaning the kitchen. We took a walk, but the very selfsame good workout sneakers I wore only yesterday (when I walked to the library) decided to give me a bloody blister today. Grr, argh. I did get some good stretching done afterwards, though.

And we watched perhaps the stupidest episode of Sanctuary possible….

The Challenge (dun dun dun)

A friend in the Oregon Writers Network is taking the week of to do a novel-in-a-week challenge and pinged the list we have for such things to see if anyone else was interested in joining. I believe we have someone doing the second half of a novel, and someone working on an nonfiction book.

For me, I’m not in quite the right place to start a new novel (although I know which one I’d’ve chosen), and I’m not in quite the right place on any of the novels-in-progress. What I am in the right place for is to get ahead on all the upcoming anthologies I want to hit, so I decided to participate with a Story a Day for Seven Days.

First up: Finishing “Braceleted” for The Mammoth Book of Hot Romance. Goal is 6–10K erotic romance. I’m just shy of 2.5K right now. I’m also getting a late start today, because we slept in, then did some scrubbing in the kitchen and tidied the sewing room and started laundry and whatnot.

Other anthologies I’m looking to hit (in no particular order):

• Dollhouse essay contest. Maybe. I don’t have a brilliant idea, and it’s due tomorrow…
• Ghosts and the Uncanny.
• The Way of the Wizard. I’ve already had one story rejected here and I’m about to send another, but if the second gets dinged, I want a fresh story ready to go. And if the second gets accepted, then I have a brand-new story to start circulating!
• Baen’s near-future of manned space exploration contest. This’ll be a challenge, since I so rarely write SF.
• Music for Another World.
• Crimebake.
• Best Bondage Erotica 2011. I’ve got a partial story that I’ll finish up for this.
• Best Lesbian Romance 2011.
• The Christmas Spirit. This one’s 1.3K max, so I may shoehorn it in on another day.

That would clear out my schedule up to an end-of-May novella deadline, provided no new fun projects crop up in the meantime. Well, I know the overnight Denise Little Workshop story will hit me in a bit, but at least I know about when, and how much time I’ll have! :-)