(Hmmm. The "publish" feature in blogger was down, so this is coming up late. More blogginess to come this weekend...). Not a banner writing day, though in my defense, I really didn't expect it to be. When you're living in the land of synopses, pretty much everything looks better than writing. (Bamboo shoots under my fingernails? Yes, please ...)

OK, it's not *that* bad, but the truth (or at least my truth) is that synopsizing requires sitting and thinking and writing and walking and thinking and walking and thinking and on and on and on. For a former lawyer trained to bill hours and write something more specific than "thought a lot" on the daily time sheets, this part of the writing process has always driven me nuts. ("thought a lot" actually is a fair thing even for lawyers. I mean, trust me. You want your lawyer thinking. It just looks so yuck on a bill ...)

And yet it's a real process and it works. After the requisite amount of walking and thinking and doodling and other things that look remarkably like goofing off, you sit back down in front of the computer and ... wow. What do you know?! A story comes out. And the character's voice is fresh. And how the heck did that happen anyway????

Bottom line today:

Two phone calls with agent (both excellent news! For fear of jinxing, no specifics here yet, though).

Read synopsis of one of the bridesmaid's books for the NAL series (GREAT fun!)

Worked on Bride synopsis. (Loving her voice! The character's name is Julia. Must confess that I'm finding that just a *teeny* bit strange. Maybe I should write her as Drusilla and then search and replace ...) Bought a ton of wedding magazines from Barnes & Noble for research. Was congratulated on impending nuptuals by clerk; decided not to correct her (did a stealth signing of Aph. Flame while there.... also did the happy dance b/c I'd signed all the stock not even one week ago, and they had six unsigned copies. You know what that means??? REORDERS! Gotta love those reorders ...)

Talked with Brenda Chin, my fab HQ editor, about the upcoming Blaze book. She's on board, so started that synop, too. So far, I have written "Story Synopsis and Proposal Chapter." I've dropped down five lines and set my computer for italics. (I start all my synopses w/ a TV Guide type blurb. It's just my thing). That's it. Yeah. Got a ways to go on that synop, huh??

Talked with Kathleen O'Reilly on the phone several times. All work related. Really. Not even a minute wasted with trivial things. REALLY.

Trip to Sam's.
Trip to Walmart (can you *believe* Sam's doesn't carry overnight pullups????)
Trip to dance studio to sign C up for classes.
Attend to tantrum induced by the fact that C thought classes started today and didn't want to leave without dancing.
Wrote beginning of new Coffee Klatch and sent to Kathleen.
Wrote this blog entry. (Clearly avoiding writing on those synopses. But, hey, it's okay because my subconscious is working hard. right?)
Planned a bit for Fredericksburg trip tomorrow. (Research, shopping AND wine. I love my job.)
Hung around house while dishwasher repair guy did his thing.
Bank: deposited check for Hope Chest novella (whee!)
Made dinner (well, heated leftovers if you must know).
Stared at the mess that is my office, wondering why the elves have not finished unpacking and filing. Stupid elves....

OK. I'm off to do synopsis type things. Really. No, REALLY.