Saturday, November 7, 2015

Busy, Busy...In A Different Way.......


After being up so late to update Cee's GPS, I had no problem going to sleep.  I woke up shortly after 8am feeling strangely awake.  So I dressed, got some coffee and then gathered up what I needed to bring to her house and left around 10am.  It was a nasty morning.  It was overcast, drizzling quite heavy and just not the least bit cheerful.  I had to stop to put gas into my Yaris and I really felt like an idiot.  I haven't had to put gas into my car for a couple years since the Beast took over doing that for both cars.  So, when I stopped, I had forgotten just where the release was for the gas tank.  

I kid you not.  And, wouldn't you know it, it wasn't marked anywhere and no booklet in the car either.  So I am pulling, pushing and finally noticed this area on the left side of the dashboard, near the door, that had the look of a section that might just be able to be pulled outward.  Sure enough, when I did that, I heard that *thunk* that meant the panel had opened.  I looked out my door and it was open.  Breathing a sigh of relief because I REALLY needed the gas after that trip out to the Princess' house (it is truly out in the boondocks).  I hope she tells her guests that are from out of the area that they will need a GPS to find it.  LOL!

So, I had called Cee to make sure she would be home when I got there (she was) and was able to bring her back her top that I borrowed on Monday, her GPS and my movie (Jurassic World) that I told her she could borrow.  We visited for a bit but I had things to do and she was going to get dressed and do some grocery shopping even if the day was icky.

Me?  I needed to come home and get into putting a book I started writing several years back onto Word Perfect so that I could put it on a CD when I get an agent.  Years ago, when I didn't know any better, I submitted my book (a Science Fiction one based on..don't laugh...a dream I had that I woke up and remembered.  It was so interesting to me...and so different...that I just HAD to write it down.  I really thought it might make an interesting submission as a short story to one of the scifi magazines.  I had no idea it would end up as a book.  It's not finished but, when I pulled out my folder, I realized that I had done more than I thought.  Not just as far as the story goes but also a complete outline of the book, the story synopsis and I listed all the animals, characters, names of places, etc. so that I would be able to keep the story accurate.  

I had submitted the synopsis and about five chapters of the book (in paper form) to several publishing houses.  Doubleday is the only one that actually wrote back to me and informed me of the proper way to try to have my book published.  They gave me the online link for agents, as well as sending me the latest (at that time) publication that listed various agents country-wide and their area of expertise in genre.  They also informed me that I needed to put my book onto a CD after I had put it on Word Perfect since that was the accepted format.  The agent would be able to pitch my book to a publisher IF they thought it was of interest.  I thought it very kind of them to give me that information.  I truly was clueless at the time.

I had started to do that but with an old computer that ended up with a crashed hard drive.  I was only able to write the book because I was, at the time, recuperating with a broken foot that I had to stay off or endure a risky surgery.  I opted to stay off the foot for the six weeks it required before I could return to work.  Thankfully, we owned our own business at the time and I was able to do some of the work at home that our secretary was overloaded with.  But, my daytime was totally devoted to my writing.  I would get so engrossed that I wouldn't even eat.  The time just whizzed by, that's how engrossed I was.  If it hadn't been for Cee at that time, I probably would have starved.  She came over every day and fed me and even did my wash and other things that needed to be done to the house.  I had three of my four kids still at home then.

It was my son, Mark, that I finally let read most of what I had written to see what HE thought of it.  He was totally engrossed with it when he read it and said he wanted me to hurry up and finish because he wanted to know what happened next.  I was very happy since he had been the child that was most difficult to get interested in reading and I had to use several *tricks* to get him interested in these certain Fantasy books that I had found (and read) but, once he started, he started reading lots and lots of books.  He still does to this day and the genre he reads is much more diverse.  He even taught himself a lot of Japanese just from his reading.  So I felt very happy that he thought my book was interesting enough that he wanted to read more.

So, for a while, I will have busy days, transferring it from these printed pages onto my computer on Word Perfect.  I will also be doing some research on agents in my area or at least in states closest to me.  I am sure the list I have is out-of-date and there are new agents and some old ones have retired or died.  My girlfriend, Lynn's, ex-husband (an attorney) was one of the agents listed and even in my genre.  I was reluctant to think about using him, however, as I had my doubts about how a tax attorney would be able to pitch a scifi novel....LOL!  Plus, I thought him a bit of a jerk for what he did to my girlfriend.  At least she went on with her life and made a great one for herself and now lives just outside Las Vegas.   I'm so proud of her.

Now you know what I am going to be busy with when I am not making dinner around here (the Beast and I take turns doing that) or folding clothes or some of the many household things that need to be done.  At least with just the two of us, those tasks are not onerous nor are they time-consuming.  It's one benefit of living in a small house.  

Love you all.  I hope you don't get unexpected (or unwanted) snow show up that interferes with your daily lives.  Dress appropriately and stay happy.  Say a little prayer for me that I get this done.  It would be nice if it led somewhere.  Oh, and I even have different things inserted that would be possible for sequels.  LOL!  I was really *into* this when I started it.  I just hope I don't destroy the original plot line with *improvements*.  ***Hugs***

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