Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Writers, Artists, & Doctors

Well I missed Monday and I'm sorry. Life is just too insane right now. Between revisions, the teen, the house, the revisions, the craft, the .... the .... well, that's just how it is this week. I have to make my writing and my family life a priority, but I don't want to miss out on my cyber world either.

So hi!!

On Saturday I went to a wonderful all day workshop hosted by the Heart of Dixie at the Huntsville Library. I learned how to dress, how to behave, how to market, how to write a review and how to be excited about this industry from two fabulous editors from Romantic Times Magazine. This is an industry magazine that spotlights published authors and gives awesome book reviews in all sub-genres of the romance writing world.

Many thanks to Morgan Doremus and Stephanie Klose for taking the time to teach us this Saturday. I hope to see them again at an RT Convention when I am a published author. Additional thanks to Morgan for taking so many headshots of all the published and unpublished authors after the workshop. She was so kind and very enthusiastic. I felt like a published Mills & Boon author when she showed me the digital shot she thought was the best.

On Sunday I went to see the wonderful Cirque du Soleil show Dralion with my darling teen. Wow!!! Amazing show. We had seats center stage, but super high. We had a great view of the entire ground stage and the aerial stage. These performers are all artists with amazing strength, grace, humor, and agility. I highly recommend this show!! When it was over, we turned to each other and said, "What? It's over?" We were mesmerized by the constant feats of agility and theatrics. Truly, the eyes were never bored.

Monday arrived and with it the revisions. Sigh. This book is causing me all kinds of problems. But they are the good kind. I've just passed the "I'm a hack" stage and into the "if I work at it I might get a decent bit of prose written." Meanwhile, I've entered 4 manuscripts in the Linda Howard Award of Excellence contest and I'm prepping a chapter for the Mills & Boon New Voices contest. I love to add tension to my writing life, really. I do.

Today I'm off to the allergy doctor to get all kinds of testing done. I'm a little nervous, but also very excited to find out what else is causing me issues. I suffer from shellfish and insect allergies. I hate the food allergy worse than the bug allergy. I have found it difficult to eat outside of the home and there is a stigma attached to food allergies. I don't think people take food allergies seriously. And I've had to endure many unappetizing meals in restaurants I didn't want to eat in because they didn't properly separate shellfish from the other foods just so my companions could eat what THEY wanted to eat. My nervousness comes from the fear of the itchiness. I instantly go into high alert whenever I suspect an insect bite or reaction to food. My adrenaline pumps like mad, my fight and flight system kicks into high gear, and I panic. I have to talk myself out of reacting, calm myself down with deep breaths, and tell myself I'll be okay. Yes, I have an epi pen and Benadryl. So I know I can save myself if necessary.

But I am still very afraid.

After the allergy tests, I am heading home to tackle the dreaded revisions again. They take top priority after the kid and the king of the house. So I'll be backing off the blogging a bit. Popping in once a week to say hi and to share my life with you. Maybe more than once if I get some spare time.

How was your weekend? What do you do in your spare time? And do you have allergies, too? Share with me and let's chat.

8 comments:

Katherine Bone said...

Wishing you lots of luck with the revisions and the contest entries, Christine!

You've got a lot on your plate and it's extremely tough to meet all those deadlines when family takes precedence. I'm with you there and understand your priorities.

Enjoy time with your daughter and husband. Enjoy time with writing. And don't forget to take deep breaths and focus on being thankful for all the things you have going on in your life. You are a very blessed woman. ;)

Gwen Hernandez said...

I can't wait to see the new head shot! It sounds like you had a great time with the workshop and with DD. I've never been to a Cirque du Soleil show, but I think it would be fun sometime.

You're kicking butt on the writing this year. Good luck with the entries and with getting allergies sorted out. I'm sure it's nerve wracking always having to be on guard with your food.

Christine said...

Thanks Kathy. I try to breathe every day. So far it's working. I'm alive LOL.

I'm excited about the contests.

:-)

Christine said...

Hi Gwen: Food allergies baffle allergists as well. Some people test positive and have no problem. Others test negative but react. I'm a false negative and the only way to confirm the various foods is with a food challenge. I already know I will go into anaphylactic shock if I eat a bite of shellfish so that's good enough for me.

I'm excited about the contests and the writing. It's hard work, but worth the effort. The only thing I'm not excited about is writing the synopsis for 3 manuscripts and the waiting waiting waiting.

I think you're cooking with your writing as well. Lots of projects going on. Love this writing gig. Keeps my brain busy :-)

Katherine Bone said...

I'm jealous about the head shots though. Darn surgery! Though I really needed it, it has kept me from doing some fun stuff. ;)

Christine said...

Kathy: we really missed you at the meeting. There will be a photographer at the M&M. He has a very good package and a makeup artist. I'm going to get a pretty dress for that and organize a professional photo shoot. I might need those pictures!

Tami Brothers said...

Hey Christine! Man I wish I had known about that workshop. You probably sent us a notice but I have been overwhelmed with other stuff that I'm over 150 e-mails that need to be read and those are just the ones that didn't require immediate replies.

The Kid had to go get blood work done for allergy testing last Friday. Oh man was that aweful. They stuck him 3 times and fished around for a vein before hubby said no more. We took him in on Monday and they did it 2 more times before we said no more. Finally, they had us come in after hours to see a woman who worked only part time but was a genious with blood draw. She checked every vein before poking him and immediately hit gold.

Hubby took him back to the doctor on Thursday for a middle ear infection and doc wanted to draw blood for a Vitamin D test. The Kid said no way. So, he's taking Vitamin D just in case.

I hope all went well. I'm a little late reading this so I'm sure you already have the results by now (kidding - I know it is taking forever for ours so I'm sure yours will be the same).

Hope all goes well and can't wait to see those pictures.

Tami

Christine said...

Hi Tami! Man, do I feel sorry for your Kid. Yuck!! I know what it's like to get tracks of bruises for blood draws. Small and rolling veins in my body. Hope the Kid feels better soon!!

The workshop is good. I think I posted it over at the PFHT blog. There's another one in November that you might like -- it's the antithesis to NaNoWriMo. Stay tuned!!

Happy Writing!

:-)