I’ve Lost My Colors

My mother and I were talking on the phone last night. Apparently my father is so enamored with Let’s Dish that he’s taking it everywhere with him and telling everyone his daughter wrote it. Really sweet, huh? Just wait until he gets to that scene, and he’ll burn it in public. (If you’ve read it, you know what scene I mean. And it ain’t the one with the ice and squid.) Ahh well – he’s proud of me for a moment before I embarrass him into his grave.

Unfortunately, Another Time Around won’t be much better for his psyche. But Mom was surprised to hear that it was already out in e-book, and would be out this summer in trade paper (plug plug plug). So she asked me the inevitable question: How’s the new book coming?

Uh…it’s not. The “new book” she’s referring to is Happy Medium. I had the idea for HM two years ago, and had it all in my head. It was rife with tension, conflict, and I even had a resolution. The characters were dancing around in my head and telling me their stories. I had started putting it down and all was going swimmingly. Then I sold Let’s Dish and had to put it aside. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. Just saying that HM had to go on the back burner.

I tried to go back to it after about a year, and had some trouble getting back into the heads of my characters. But I was starting to move again when disaster struck: my husband was diagnosed with leukemia. Obviously that took my head out of every story except my own. But as the dust settled, I tried again, intending to finish it during NaNo 2009.  But this time, I couldn’t get back into the story. I wrote a good bit, but it was reaching and my characters were so offended that I dropped them twice, they weren’t talking to me.

I explained this to my mother, telling her I was afraid it was time to leave HM for awhile and try something new. “It’s like when I have to leave one of my pictures,” she told me. You see, my mom does needlework, and she’s amazing at it. I’m looking at several of her counted cross stitch pictures as I sit in my living room writing this, and they are far an above anything I could do with a needle and thread. But sometimes Mom gets too busy to finish a picture and has to walk away for awhile.

“When I come back, I can’t remember what I was going to do with the colors. I forget what goes where and the life just goes out of it for me until I can get my colors figured out again.”

That struck me as true for me, too. I’ve lost my colors. Oh, I know who Alex is and I know who I was using as a place holder for Jeff (Jeff Goldblum, by the way), but they have no life right now. Their color is totally gone. Unfortunately, I don’t have a color chart to refer to to get me back on track. My notes from two years ago are sketchy, because once I have a story in my head, I tend to pound on it until it’s written. That didn’t happen this time, and Alex, Jeff and her crazy grandmothers may have permanently suffered.

So I need to find some new colors. Something that jumps out at me and is so brilliant I have to write it down.

Yeah – I got nothing.

Come Over to the Dork Side

Have I ever told you all about Son #2? He’s a bright kid – or so they tell me. Actually, to be fair, he’s extremely bright about a lot of things. He just doesn’t have an ounce of common sense. This is the kid from whom the following gems have been uttered:

“This ice cube is cold.”

“It’s dark at night because the sun’s not out.”

And my favorite…

“You don’t move much when you’re dead.”

A few years ago for his birthday, we bought him a tee-shirt that said, “Captain Obvious Strikes Again.” He loves it.

But whether he’s stating the obvious or researching how to build a fusion generator (not kidding), he cracks me up. The other day, he was talking about how other kids want to be in his group because they know they’ll get an A on their project. (Okay, so he does have a clue about some stuff.) He wasn’t complaining, just stating. And then he said, “I guess there are advantages to being a geek. Soon they’re all going to want to come over to the Dork Side.”

You can imagine the peals of laughter from us all. Of course it didn’t end there. We started in with, “Luke, join the chess club!” and “Use the slide rule, Luke.” My stomach hurt the next day I laughed so hard.

I got to thinking that same day that I should start writing this stuff down. If I’m ever in need of a cheap joke, I’ll have one handy. ‘Cause face it, there’s nothing funnier than a kid. Even when he’s stating the obvious.

There’s Good News and There’s Bad News

Well, I stopped blogging, stopped writing, stopped doing promo, etc. for several weeks now in order to get my life in order at home. I don’t think that will ever happen, but there has been some progress on the personal life front.

The bad news was that the husband had a blood clot in his leg over Christmas. This was brought on by a perfect storm of medication side effects, low blood pressure, dehydration, and lethargy. The good news is it was taken care of and he feels a bazillion times better. So happy husband means less stress on Catie.

The bad news is I really haven’t written a thing in weeks, which, of course, includes the blog. The good news is I miss it. I want to start writing again, but am forcing myself to take off until February to make sure my batteries really are recharged. Which leads me to…

…the bad news that I have no idea what I want to work on next. Happy Medium started out with so much promise! I loved the idea behind that book. But I sold (yay!) Let’s Dish right after I started working on it, and it sat stagnant for way too long. Now I think I need to move on for awhile, though I hate giving up on it. I still love HM, but apparently now is not the time. The good news is I still have Guys and Dogs to edit and get ready to go out, so at least I have something to stall me from having to actually think for awhile.

And while I was out, there is even more good news. Let’s Dish is now out in print, and is available all over the place. Don’t have it at your local bookstore? Ask for it, or go to Amazon, B&N, Borders, etc. Bookplates will be available soon, just as soon as I figure out how to fix the PO Box issues I got myself in trying to rent it online under my pen name. Stooopid Catie.

Bad Career Move

No doubt by now many have noticed how dusty the blog has become. Part of it was the holiday, part of it was the day job, but most of it is simply exhaustion from keeping up with that damned bastard cancer.

While the husband is doing fairly well, we’re still experiencing complications thanks to the litany of drugs he’s on and the joys that come along with leukemia. When he was diagnosed with a blood clot two days before Christmas, I knew something had to go if I was going to maintain my sanity. The thing that’s going to be swept off the books? Writing. And me with a print release a week away.

Now this is a temporary condition, but one that could have better timing. I have two books out, so I should get another out, right? Right. But life got in the way, and this time it’s enough to make me stop for awhile. I’ll still be over at the Raven and will post here on occasion, but I’m backing off for a bit until I can get the husband up and going.

So check back in from time to time. I might be here. But right now, my priority has to be my family. So see you all on the flip side.

Truth Really Is Stranger Than Fiction

Yesterday, I went to the post office and the lady at the window told me to look out for eight buffalo. So I did the most logical thing in the world. I looked up.

Don’t ask me why I looked up for buffalo. I thought she was teasing. Like they had Santa’s sleigh with buffalo instead of reindeer or something. This is, after all, South Dakota. We have bison. But it wasn’t Santa’s sleigh she was referring to, but actual, honest-to-God buffalo.

A bunch had gotten out of a pen at the sale barn south of town, and wandered into a park and near a school. A school my children happen to attend. They were recommending that children not be allowed to walk to school in case they ran into bison on the street, but no one knew about it. My friend says she feels like mother of the year since she let her son walk to school yesterday. Apparently we’re supposed to be psychic to be good moms.

I know a lot of people consider where I live a one-horse town, but we’re generally a no-bison town. Well, except the heard north of here a ways. But basically, we’re all citified and would have no idea what to do if a buffalo was staring us down in the parking lot at work. Yep – one was close to us, too.

But a few buffalo are nothing compared to the deer who got trapped in the courtyard at the courthouse. Yep, I’m serious. I guess that was quite the deal, too. Our local paper declared the town “Wild Kingdom” after yesterday’s menagerie went through. Now that all’s said and done (with no humans harmed, though two deceased buffalo), we can sit back and laugh at the absurdity of it all.

To quote Soap Dish, why can’t I write shit like this?

So the next time you’re reading a book and think, “That’s too far fetched. That would never happen!”  Just remember eight not-so-tiny buffalo (and one deer) wandering through a small South Dakota town.  Truth really can be stranger than fiction.

Holy Cow, It’s the Holidays!

Yes, my blog has been neglected.  And so have you, dear readers. All five of you who continue to check in. Thanks for hanging with me!

I’ve been making candy all weekend, and will share a recipe or two this week. (I still have reader recipes, too, so stay tuned for some great eats.) We’re bribing people at the office who do favors for us, so I spent the weekend making the cnady while my cohort in crime (our school psychologist) does the baking. Tomorrow we come together to make tempting trays. Or eat too mcuh sugar. Whatever you want to call it.

But coming up after the first of the year there is much excitement here at Chez Catie, with my first print release! That’s right, Let’s Dish comes out January 5th! So be looking for a chance to win your copy! Also coming to the website will be details on how to get your signed bookplate.  I’ll also be doing some signings after the first of the year, but only as time (and stem cell transplants) allow.

So stay tuned. I’ll be back, I swear!

Over at the Raven

Is it a world full of mosters? Come find out what I think over on the Raven.

True Stories from Jury Duty

I was listening to NPR this afternoon, and Peter Mehlman was on there discussing an article he wrote about getting out of jury duty. A couple years ago, I managed to find myself on jury duty as well. I sat on two juries – one trial we had to find him guilty (video evidence) and the second, we all knew the guy was guilty but had no solid evidence to convict. So I was running about 50/50 when the third trial came up.

I was not looking forward to this one.  It was a case where the father was accused of abusing an infant. There’s not much I can’t stomach less than child abuse. The questioning was going along as the attorneys selected potential jurors, and I just knew I was going to get picked. A mother, a former teacher, an opinionated bitch.

Never mind that last one.

As the questioning progressed, however, so did time. I’m used to sitting in an office all day, and my body is used to certain things happening at certain times. For example, I always take a restroom break at about 10 AM. Well, by 11 I was crossing my legs, and as noon came and went with no sign of a break in sight, I politely raised my hand to ask if we could have a restroom break. Talk about embarrasing! But as we entered the bathroom en masse, I was thanked by many of my co-would-be-jurors.

But as we came back into the courtroom, we knew something was up. The lawyers and the judge were twittering away, clearly agitated. When we sat back down, we found out what the scoop was.

They’d declared a mistrial. And it was all my fault.

You see, to get to the restrooms at our local courthouse, you go through a small lobby area. Apparently the mother was sitting in this lobby with her child, who wore a bib saying “I Love My Daddy.” None of us had seen it, but they couldn’t take the chance. The whole jury pool had been prejudiced, they claimed, and a new pool would have to be drawn.

So, if you ever want to get out of jury duty, try using the bathroom. It worked for me! And they haven’t called me since.

Cate’s Cranberry Sauce

Just in time for Thanksgiving here in the States, I thought I’d share my easy but oh-so-delicious cranberry sauce recipe.  It’s totally stolen off the package, with a few little additions that make it a little more fun. First, the basic recipe:

1 cup Orange Juice
1 cup sugar
1 bag cranberries

Heat the juice and sugar until sugar is melted. Add cranberries and bring to a boil. let boil 5-10 minutes, depending on how “chunky” you like your sauce (more time means more berries pop and it becomes a smoother jelly).

Optional add ins:

Orange slices
Apple chunks
1 tspn. Cloves or Cinnamon

Happy Turkey Day, everyone!

 

At Last! A Winner!

It’s been an interesting week, and I almost forgot I was running a contest. However, I now have a winner! In fact, I have two!!

Since no one sent in any ghost stories, I pulled two recipe entrants out of the hat. So come on down:

Kelli Cheshire and and Kimmy Lane!

Email me at cate@catherinewade.com with what Samhain ebook you’d like, and I’ll get it to you ASAP! Well, faster than I wrapped up this contest, anyway.