Wednesday Weekly

The writing side:

I hit some serious roadblocks with SHARDS this week.  First, I didn't know what happened next. Then, I got over it, but even knowing what had to come next didn't make the writing any easier.  I know we're supposed to be all passionate about our writing, but there are just some weeks when eking out the words is as fun as dental surgery.

Nonetheless, I got the writing done.  I just also took some breaks from SHARDS -- I submitted a short story, THE PERFECT GIRL, to a magazine called Shock Totem, and I submitted another short story, BOOKWORM, to Hunger Mountain (both found on Duotrope, much thanks to those who pointed me in the direction of this useful resource for short story & poetry markets!).

SHARDS OF GLASS WIP: 73,905 words.  3,507 since last week. *Phew*  It's coming together. Slowly.

I do brood occasionally about how much writing time I have available to me (I made MJ watch New Moon with me in the theater, and now "brood" is the overused word in our house). But, I realized yesterday, I may not have as much as I want, but I have enough. Every weekday, 6:45-7:15 am, or every Saturday morning from 10-12, or whatever gets squeezed into the press of everday life? I might not be churning out a rough draft in a matter of months, but that's okay.

On the reading side:

This week I finished Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater, The Fiction Class by Susan Breen, and Impossible by Nancy Werlin (bringing me up to a grand total of 11 books read so far in January... I love this reading challenge, I think I'm reading so much more than I did last year!). I'm not managing to keep up with all the reviews I would like to do, although The Fiction Class is reviewed here and other book reviews are linked to from my challenge post. So, if there's a book on my list that you're particularly interested in having reviewed, let me know!

Now I'm working on The Dark Divine, Chasing Brooklyn and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet this week. I've always been the reader with three different books at one time (one for the gym, one for the coffee table and one for bed, doh!), and often the writer with multiple projects at once, too.

How about you? Are you a multitasking reader or writer?

On a completely different note, I am really excited for tomorrow's Thursday Round-up. I've been culling cool links all week when I've found them,  so I think this round-up is going to be the best so far.  I'm excited about blogging in general -- I didn't realize when I began just how much FUN the blogging community is!