Sometimes you need to take a break...

And just spend time with your family.

Because I was feeling moderately better this evening, Daniel, Brie, and I went out so Brie could get some pumpkins.

She was VERY excited.

She was a pumpkin-picking maniac. Daniel and I had to keep a really close eye on her because she wanted to snatch up every single one she saw. And obviously, there were quite a lot.

Some were MUCH too big for her to pick up by herself. That, however, did not stop my determined daughter from trying.

She insisted on pulling the red wagon around by herself.

We all posed for pictures. (I won't put the one of all of us together, because Daniel doesn't like the face he's making...)

I'm home now, tired, and needing to get back to work. But I'm SO glad we went. As you can tell from the last picture, Brie was too...

Happy beginning of the weekend to you all!

It's almost Halloween time!!!

Everyone already knows how much I love Fall. I noticed while looking out the window today that, because of the wind, there were leaves swirling everywhere. Beautiful yellow, red, orange leaves.

It was so lovely.

But it's also almost time for Halloween.

I enjoy Halloween because I adore dressing up my da

ughter and then stealing her candy ;o)

What is Brie going to be this year?

Why, her FAVORITE character of course. (And no, it's not a character from one of my books. Although, my little three year old in a Regency dress would be ADORABLE!)

Quote for the day

Umm, I'm a technological idiot

My sister just called to ask me why she couldn't leave a comment on my blog.

I explained in great detail how to click on the "comment" link, type in the little box, and press "submit." (All of this was said without even the barest hint of snarkiness. Because I love my sister and would never act superior ;o)

So apparently, I never enabled comments for this blog.

I didn't even realize that was something I had to take the effort to actually do. I thought Blogger was supposed to handle stuff like that! (Now I'm trying to blame someone else for my stupidity).

Which I guess explains why there was almost so much silence...deafening, deafening silence. I can now console myself by believing that I would have had THOUSANDS of comments telling me how wonderful I am were it not for the technological glitch.

Yeah.

The problem has been resolved. Sorry for the hassle. But anyone looking to leave a comment probably can repeat the above steps and be successful now.

No promises though. Because apparently this kind of thing is tricky.

(For those who might have needed to comment on the giveaway because they had problems or questions, feel free to link up your comments or email me: mandykgoff@gmail.com)

When you need a different perspective

I'm a very visual person. In order to really get a feel for where a story is going, I have to do the whole bubble graphs, story arcs, all that jazz. I have legal pads upon legal pads around the house where I've scribbled down notes, timelines, anything that will help me better understand where I want the novel to go.

Things have been CRAZY around here. While I don't wait to exclusively blog about my various and sundry complaints (and I apologize! I'll try to make all my posts from here on out sunshine and rainbows), I have to admit I've had a time of it. Had to push back a very important deadline. Have made four trips to the doctor in the last two and a half weeks for a sickness that won't go away. Have had to miss almost two full weeks of work now because of the crud. And perhaps worst of all, I've felt like I was banging my head against the wall every time I tried to work. Nothing was coming together. Nothing. I couldn't even put together a sentence that made sense. Suddenly my trump card (my delightful sense of humor) failed me. I couldn't write even a snicker-inducing scene, much less one that would actually make the reader laugh out loud. So today, I decided to do something different. Perhaps it was a burst of feverish delirium, or maybe, just maybe it was a little blessing from God, but I had a stroke of inspiration. A new perspective. A new, BIG perspective. Behold: (I'm really hoping this picture doesn't open up HUGE if it links up. I don't want everyone to witness my half-insensible scribblings ;o) Yes, that is the side of my refrigerator. Yes, that is also a sheet of butcher paper. And yes, I am incapable of cutting a straight line. For some reason, being able to plot on a large canvas has really helped me visualize better what I'm doing. And I actually think, despite everything seeming to work against me, that I might be able to get something done when it's time to get back to work. For now. Rest. Lots of fluids, cough drops, and rest. Hope everyone is doing well. Got any ideas on how to step back and take a different perspective on something? I'm always looking for new ideas.

Disappointment

Forgive any errors in this post. I'm typing it from my Blackberry because I'm too lazy to open up my laptop and go through all the trouble of signing on to the internet. Yep, I am just that lazy.

Tomorrow's my big deadline. BIG deadline (notice the artful way I illustrate the point by capitalizing the adjective. That kind of mastercraft will be what ultimately catapults me to the top...I'm sure of it.)

And...well...I'm not going to make it. Were I to stay up all night and write through until Fedex has their last drop off, I wouldn't make it. If God gave me a 72 hour day tomorrow, I still wouldn't get it done.

And obviously blogging is not helping my cause.

So what do you do when a big deadline blows up in your face? First, you write an overly melodramatic post about it. Then, you might weep a little. Afterwards (or even at the same time if you're really good at multitasking), you get to work.

Fortunately, this was more a self-imposed deadline. And legitimate things have happened to push me off schedule. So rather than bemoan the fact that I'm still working, I must still continue to work. I make adjustments and stop beating myself up for things out of my control and things I can't change now anyway.

Ah yes, the stress, losing hair, tension headaches, etc. This is indeed the glamorous (is it sad I sang the Fergie song in my head to spell that?) life I imagined I would lead as a writer.

But you know what?

I'm actually content and blessed--even with all of the above.

(Cue inspirational music).

I promise something more interesting later. Although, I'm obviously SUPER good with the follow-through.

I'm still alive

I think.

In the interest of being truthful, I have to admit things have been crazy, insanely hectic. Deadlines are fast approaching and instead of moving forward and getting closer to meeting those all-important dates, I feel like I'm slipping more and more behind.

Ugh.

So, I've had to cut myself off from everything. (Although we notice I snuck on here to update. That's my dedication...touching isn't it?)

Well, my biggest deadline is this Friday, so hopefully I'll be back on here after that.

And thanks to all who have entered the giveaway. Keep the entries coming!