I just cannot come up with a decent title for tihs book despite HOURS spent brainstorming.  It's driving me crazy.  I have 'til Monday to come up with a list to give my agent.  (Last time I did this she didn't like anything I came up with.  I guess maybe she and I aren't on the same page when it comes to titles).

Since we're out of food, we went to Norma's for dinner.  They now offer a turkey burger, and I have to say it's pretty darn good.  Norma's is not big on healthy food.  Even their veggies are swimming in butter or batter-fried.  So this is a step in the right direction.  (Of course, I ate mine with a side of homemade potato chips!)

Not much else to report.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Kara

The good news is, my agent likes the revised manuscript, so it's a go!

The bad news is she doesn't like my title, TAKING DOWN THE DEVIL.  So I have to come up with a new one.  Ugh.  I have my work cut out for me because I've already brainstormed this title several times and haven't come up with anything good.  My agent wants creepy and suspenseful.

I went to wishcraft meeting and lunch with the girls today at Le Peep (where I always get their skillet dish that is way too fattening but so yummy).  Then I ran errands.  Got a small bit of writing done.

Tour was a big spring finish today.  Tomorrow will likely be the same.  Those stages are often a bit boring until the last few minutes, but I still get up and watch the whole thing.

Have a great weekend,

Kara

Cadel Evans is now wearing yellow.  He is Rob's pick from the beginning to win the whole thing!  My pick, Valverde, cracked today on the last mountain, then had a flat tire and his team car couldn't get up to him.  Very bad luck.  I'm afraid he's out of it.

I'm afraid I didn't do much else today except run to the store and the post office and go out to dinner.  (Date Night!)  We went to Applebee's.  I know, it's just a boring chain, but we were both tired and didn't feel like dressing up, and sometimes going to an uncomplicated chain restaurant where you can get something safe and reasonably priced is just what you need.  (I got pasta again--I've been on a real pasta kick lately.)

Tomorrow is an off day for the Tour--I don't know what I'll do with myself, LOL.  I'll probably wake up at six.  Maybe ... just maybe ... I can get some writing done.  I've been a real slacker lately.  One thing I really need to do is call my agent and find out whether she received my manuscript.  I sent it off some time ago and haven't heard a peep. 

Hope you're staying cool (or warm, if you live in the Southern Hemisphere) and that you're having a lovely week!

Kara

The race is getting more interesting.  Lots of unexpected stuff happening.  I can hardly wait for tomorrow's stage--gonna be brutal!  I'll be up at 6:30 to watch.  I pity you poor people on the west coast.

We ate a late breakfast at Norma's and my gosh I thought I would die from hunger before they delivered our food.  It took forever.

Not much else going on today.  I fiddled around with some jewelry and watched a lot of stupid TV.  We'd thought about going to a movie (weird for us) but then we discovered our closest movie theater has shut down.  We are so bummed.  We have to drive and drive to get to a theater now.  Used to be a pretty easy train ride.  So we gave up.

I cooked some rice and lentils for dinner--yum yum.  I added spices and a little cheese and just a pinch of sea salt so it wouldn't be too bland.  I think I will make more and freeze it in individual serving bags.  It was easy with my microwave pressure cooker.

Have a great week,

Kara

So, I took my husband out to dinner for his birthday tonight.  (His birthday was Tuesday but for various reasons, including my bad memory, we didn't do anything to celebrate.)  Guess where we went?  Sonic!  Is he a cheap date or what?

Rob doesn't care about nice restaurants.  In fact, he does not see the point of paying a lot of money at a restaurant for food when fast-food hamburgers taste just as good to him.  He hates dressing up, hates all the pretension, and absolutely doesn't appreciate decor or artsy food.  The only places he ever WANTS to go eat are fast-food places.

At least at Sonic we could put the top down on his car and have a little picnic, sort of.

I also haven't bought him a present, because he doesn't want anything.  He has absolutely every material thing he needs.  ::sigh::

I actually did forget his birthday.  I've been a tad under the weather this week.  He reminded me pretty early in the morning, so I like to think that I would have remembered before the day was over.  I hadn't looked at my calendar yet.  But I might not have.  I am a rotten wife!

I didn't get much writing done today.  Watched the Tour, then things just kept coming up and I had to get ready for the workshop I'm giving at the Yellow Rose chapter of RWA tomorrow.

Have a great weekend,

Kara

Between the heat and the Tour de France, I'm not getting much done!  But I did make some progress today in recovering some brainstorming files for my sniper book that were ... lost, erased, whatever.  I wrote probably forty or fifty pages--character stuff, back story etc. and I can't find it.  It got lost somewhere between Port Aransas, December 2007, and the hear and now.

But I remember most of it.  I started working on my synopsis, which always helps me to brainstorm.

The Tour is going to be interesting tomorrow.  Sadly I'll miss the end tomorrow, as I'll be at critique group.  I'll have to watch the re-broadcast.

I got some foreign copies of my Elliott book in the mail today.  Norway, Sweden and Finland.  It's always so fun to  figure out the language.

Have a great Thursday,
Kara

I had planned to really buckle down after the Tour today, but stuff just got in the way--laundry, lunch, e-mail, then had to make a few quick video clips for my cousin's documentary, then I actually could not find some crucial files I need to work on the SNIPER book (new project).  I did days and days of pre-writing for this book and I've misplaced the files.

Oy-vay.

On a positive note, we had Date Night tonight and went to Grill 400.  I was craving alfredo, so I ordered pasta primavera but with alfredo sauce (instead of the much healthier olive oil it came with).  But, oh, it was so good.  At least I brought about half of it home.

I've been on Facebook tonight signing up as a "fan" for various of my artist friend's pages.  I have a page for Memo-Pause that currently has only four fans.  So if you're on Facebook, I'd appreciate you "fanning" me.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Memo-Pause-NotebookNecklace/10133718275

I will "fan" and/or "friend" you in return, if I haven't already done so.  I haven't done much with my Facebook or MySpace memberships.  Not sure what to do.

Thanks for reading,

Kara

Sometimes after I finish a book, I have to drop off the face of the earth for a few days.  Then I had the added factor of my family coming over for a Fourth of July cook-out, which turned into a marathon movie-watching session, and then a mystery-writers critiquing session and OMG THE TOUR DE FRANCE is on!

I haven't even had time to get excited about the tour, and suddenly here it is. 

Today was the second stage.  Before the race even started, I picked Valverde to win, and he's currently wearing the Yellow Jersey!

Not much else shaking!  I'm planning to chill over the next three weeks, watch the Tour every morning it's on and write in the afternoon.  I'm returning to my Sniper book tomorrow and I'm excited about that.

Thanks for reading, and I'll try to get back on schedule!

Kara

Not only is my book finished, I sent it off today to my agent.  God, I hope she likes it.  I've been working on it so long that I've lost all objectivity.  I do know that's the last revision I'm going to do until it sells.  I've usually made it a policy not to revise for agents.  At a certain level of writing, I think it becomes subjective.  One editor loves a book, another hates it, so how do I know the agent is making the right call?

In this case, however, I believe my agent's suggestions were on the money.  They rang true for me.  So though the revisions were vast, I did them and I think the manuscript is stronger.  I think.  Guess we'll see what happens.

I'm done, stick a fork in me!

Kara

I'm on the home stretch with the final, final, final polish of TAKING DOWN THE DEVIL, the serial killer book.  I should finish tomorrow, God willin' and the creek don't rise.  Then I will send it off to my agent and I will finally be able to return to my sniper book and write fresh pages.  I won't know how to act!

I did some artwork today.  This is an original drawing that I did on the computer.  I've also printed out some black-and-white ones that I'm coloring by hand.  I'm going to make them both into ACEOs (trading-card-sized works of art) and Memo-Pause covers.  Here is one of them:

  The hand-tinted ones are prettier, I think.

Have a great Wednesday,

Kara