Very disappointing.

Okay, I got way too little sleep this night. Due to the fact that my Internet connection was completely on the fritz with the fierce windstorm raging down the mountain, it took me ages to get messages and chats out, until very late in the night. It drove me crazy that every time I wrote something down, the connection would be gone again and I’d have to go through the tedious procedure of restarting the program and linking online once more.

Because of that I was unable to get to bed until ‘round six in the morning, and when I did finally get into bed, I lay awake ‘till dawn, pretty much gnashing my teeth in annoyance. I just couldn’t find the right position, it seemed, and then I got itches in all sorts of places, which of course helped keeping me solidly awake well after the sun rose working very hard to keep my eyes open with light falling right in my face.

Added to this fact, I wake up four hours later, with not a single fiber in my body, willing to go back to sleep, and adrenaline pumping for some unfathomable reason that I just can’t figure out. So I get up, figuring that since I can’t sleep anyway, I might as well get out of bed and start on the day. Heck, I might actually get some work done.

First thing I do, upon arriving at the house, is put on the coffee. Today I’m definitely going to be fueled by caffeine, which makes me edgy as hell after I finish the usual morning chores and then set up the computer to do a quick scan of the messages.
Breakfast makes me nauseous, and this particular feeling stays with me throughout the day, the way it usually does when I get too little sleep.

However, I’ve got four volunteers for a read and review of the “W.I. Investigations” so I spend some time sending those out, before having some fun on the net while I wait for big brother to finish his own responsibilities (they last incredibly long today, for some reason) so we can get to the dreaded editing. It is always an exciting feeling to know that people are going to read my book, and that doesn’t change on a day such as this.

At long last we get to it…needing to pause half an hour into the chore when we help mom with her revalidation exercises…and then get hit by the frustrating news that the last vampire story we sent to the publisher was denied. NOT A GOOD DAY!
The first one we haven’t got a response to yet, but apparently the second one didn’t entirely fit the format they were looking for, or some such.
It was a nice enough letter, giving some feedback at least, so it doesn’t bother us too much, though it is disappointing, of course.

So, with the afternoon rapidly advancing, we try editing again, at which time the sibs arrive, sending the dogs into their usual flurry of motion and noise, completely preventing us from focusing on the task at hand. Aaargh!

We only manage a few pages during this time, finally deciding to quit for a few hours, to see to the dogs’ needs, feeding them and then starting on our own dinner.
I’m in the mood for something light and easy, so I settle on pasta with a fresh tomato sauce that is rapidly prepared and filling at the very least.

After dinner I take the time to do some quick cleaning in the kitchen, and then hang today’s batch of laundry after taking yesterday’s down for folding.
That done, this week’s episode of “House” and “The Mentalist” are on, and for the next couple of hours we enjoy the stories of these two very different characters.

By the time the two shows draw to an end, both big brother and I settle behind our computers again, resuming the editing, and managing a few more pages until it is time to retire for the evening. Where does a day go? I wonder sometimes. Time, as they, is certainly relative.

With big brother’s promise to sign me up for the Amazon competition I head for my cabin, the dogs in tow, and feed them when my house-phone shrills, just when I’m about to settle down with a book that I intend to read just for the fun of it.

As it turns out, I can’t enter the competition after all, since for some reason–I can’t imagine what–Spain residents are not allowed to compete.
WTF?
That certainly takes me aback for a minute, wondering why the heck not, when so many other countries are allowed to enter. What’s wrong with Spain? And what is wrong with this day?

It’s baffling, and though once again disappointing, I do finally resign in the matter. In the end it really doesn’t change all that much, except for the fact that we won’t be forced to work on a rather tight deadline before submission. It is a pity, however.

Well, tomorrow promises to be another busy day. Lots of editing (different book) to be done, school to go to, and probably a lot of other things that are bound to drive me bonkers.

I really aught to get some sleep fast.

That's life... or something resembling it.

It was a long day, one that followed a particularly short night of just five hours since I didn’t manage to hit the sack until after six AM and woke, without chance of falling back to sleep when it was still two hours before my usual waking time.
My dreams were troubled, remnant memories of events from past and present mixed up with enough realism to make me wonder if they were dreams at all, or actual occurrences, instead.

I was restless for some reason, edgy too, and rather than wallow in it, I decided to use the energy instead of doing nothing. Fifty minutes of intense exercise followed; involving jumping about, gyrating to music, lifting weights, punching the boxing bag full force and then continuing to kick it until every single muscle in my body ached and whined in protest. Wonderful, though admittedly I almost tore a muscle somewhere when Knight II, the Great Dane, decided to slip past my rising leg and proceeded to make me change course mid-movement, lest I hit him in the ribs, full force.

Drenching in sweat, and more than ready for a hot shower what with the chill cooling my skin until it feels frozen, I head towards the patio, where a choir of screaming dogs welcomes me on my way to the bathroom. I soak up the warm water for a good ten minutes, before returning to the living area and booting up my computer for the day’s first session.

Hot coffee does an excellent job of making me warm, inside and out as I go over the messages of the day. That done and with big brother’s arrival we start to work on the latest book project, concerning the preparation of the next manuscript submission of my “No Escape from Rising Sun” series.

A detailed synopsis is required for this particular publisher we’ve decided upon, so while he gives me the necessary stats of each chapter, I try to write down something legible and basic, without losing the magic that makes up the actual story.
I dislike writing these things; as a matter of fact I detest it. Writing synopses and blurbs are one of the few things I despise about being an author. Just the basics really don’t do any story justice, but it is what the TPs want so that’s what they’ll get.

Hemming and hawing about which little detail is more important to include, we’re working on the dratted synopsis for a good two hours before the time arrives for our studies, that are to prepare us for the evening’s agreed upon lesson in town. Time is passing way too fast, allowing for only forty-five of pounding information into our brains before it is time to get ready and depart.

We just barely make it out the door for said lessons around five in the afternoon. We are most relieved to find the class rooms practically empty and spent two hours behind the school’s computers to fill in test after test until my brain feels like mush from multiple choice questions. I hate those things, especially when it involves trick questions where all the answers are basically right, but only one is the answer that is required. In all honesty, my fingers itch for a rewrite of the lesson material every time I read them.
I sometimes wonder if these lessons are specifically designed to drive me crazy.
The sentencing, the prose… it makes me shiver just thinking about it. I’m not a spelling freak, but this really drives me bonkers.

But that’s okay, this lesson comes to an end the way it always does, allowing me to put it aside by the time we get home and eat a simple dinner prepared by little sister.

The rest of the night is spend fine-tuning the synopsis… or as I like to call it, “the fine-tuning madness”… leaving me feeling completely empty and barely able to form a single coherent sentence for today’s recount. So I’ll leave it at this for now and hope that tomorrow will bring some inspiration for a proper blog... I should be able to come up with something a little more original than just prattling on about "just another day".
Personal messages need to be answered and some basic fun is waiting before the night comes to an end… hopefully sooner than it has for the past week or so.