Blog Entry: Bullet Points Galore
I've been saving up points for a blog entry for SO long now, I think bullet points are the only way to handle it! Otherwise I might just explode trying to link them all neatly together. ;)
- This morning several wonderful people emailed me different articles about the most positive and important medical discovery about CFS/ME that's ever been made, to my knowledge. The physical virus that causes the syndrome may have been isolated; if this theory turns out to be correct, even though the syndrome will still be lifelong and incurable, there will actually be *possible treatments* - something that's been completely impossible until now. This is so incredible, it's...well, there really aren't words for how wonderful it would be. But as I read the end of this article, I found myself chanting under my breath, "Oh, please, please, please..."...and really, that sums it all up. Here's the NY Times article about it.
- My awesome friend Jenn Reese (the one who came up with Kat's series title!) has truly awesome news: she's now agented by Joe Monti at the Barry Goldblatt Literary Agency! I am enormously happy to be agency-mates with Jenn, and I can't WAIT for her to sell her wonderful trilogy of girl-powered science fiction adventures! You can congratulate her here.
- I was lucky enough to win a copy of Megan Crewe's YA novel Give Up the Ghost last week. I was expecting it to be fast-paced and fun, but to be honest, based purely on the description, I also expected it not to necessarily have much depth. I was right on 2 out of 3 points. It was fast-paced and fun...but what made it honestly wonderful was the raw emotionalism of the novel. I cared passionately about the heroine, and that was what made the story matter so much, way beyond the snappy pacing and banter.
- We're in the process of getting quotes from moving companies, sorting through masses of old clothes and books, and generally being overwhelmed by moving madness...but all the same, in the best news for a long time (on a completely subjective personal level, that is), I'm actually powering with some speed through Kat3! The big motivator for me (apart from JoNoWriMo, which definitely helped to kick-start me after far too much time off) was my realization last week that it had been a whole year since MrD's birth...and yet, I still wasn't back in a regular writing habit. Ouch. So I made a vow that from now on I absolutely have to average at least 500 words/day until the novel is done - and if I manage to stick with it, I should actually have a draft done by the middle of January at the very latest. WHEW. Just to keep myself honest & accountable, I'd really like to set up a wordmeter at the bottom of my posts from now on, but the old one I used to use at zokotou.co.uk doesn't seem to work any more. Does anyone have any wordmeter recommendations?
- And in not-very-surprising related news, I'm having SO MUCH fun with Kat3 now that I'm actually playing in that world every single day instead of only popping in and out at long intervals (and thinking, What? Who? Was I planning something here...?). Now that I'm absorbed in it all again, it's just a totally different experience. I was actually giggling out loud yesterday with pleasure as I wrote one scene, and one of the moments I wrote today...well, all in all, I just feel really, really lucky to be getting to do something I love so much. Getting paid to write this trilogy, in particular, is just one of the best things that's ever happened to me in my life. And I'm so glad to be finally giving Book 3 the energy and focus it deserves again.
That's it for me! What about you guys? What are your highlights from this week? And can any of you link me to a good wordmeter?