Yes, I'm back ... and moved in....

I could spend my entire post saying that I was in the process of moving and working with contractors for the last three months and everything -- and I do mean everything -- kind of fell by the wayside. I'd like to think that I'm much more organized than that, but let's face it, one big wrench gets thrown in to the works and everything can fall apart.

Does that mean I've been writing? Not much. I did have one piece published in the New York Times in late November and I've been working on my thesis for the last month. I'm finally up to 45 pages! Real pages with quality work. I'll be up to 80 by May.

A sample:

Perhaps it was Lupe’s unavailability that made her more attractive, because Fernando couldn’t seem to release his memory of the shop girl enough to concentrate on his orders or supplies. Instead, he became a frequent visitor to her neighborhood, finding her porcelain face and her speaking dark eyes more hypnotic with each passing day – maybe more so because she had to tilt her head up to look at him. But when she ran off with Fernando Garcia, a revolutionary or bandit -- depending on who described him -- her fate was sealed. Now she was a cualquiera, a camp follower, puta.

Her family never knew that Lupe wasn’t taken at night and tied to the back of horse like so many other girls, their desperate screams echoing throughout the canyons, forced to be handmaids and chattel to lazy, hungry men. Forced to march with armies, carry supplies, fetch water and wash clothes. Forced to call some stranger “husband,” and forced to bear children who would call him “father.”

In other news, I'm applying for composition instructor jobs at local colleges. So far, it's interesting, but I have an extreme lack of confidence. So, hopefully, I get another class or two. Fingers crossed, I think.

Now, an interview on being paid by Harlan Ellison:

OK, out of the doldrums...

Man, I read that last post...what a whiner! Sheesh. Sorry, kids.

Been busy and trying to pitch a "Choice Tables" article for the New York Times travel section, but trying to come up with an awesome pitch. I know what I want to do, so I've done a bit of research online and narrowed down a few restaurants, now I just need that delicious tidbit that will push the editor into saying, "Yes!"

We love that, don't we? Oh, yes, we do. What is that delicious tidbit? Some kind of hook or something that makes it relevant or unique. I'm pretty sure the location is unique enough, but ... just that little something.

If it isn't accepted, I've found that my local newspaper is willing to spend $250 for a travel feature, so at least I have that! That's not bad, is it? Nope...that will give me at least a couple tanks of gas!

I have an excuse. It's hot.

It's hella hot. Hella! This is why I left the desert for the Great White North. Anyway, after sweating through watching "The Office" I retreated to the one room with a teeny airconditioner -- which means about 30 minutes of sweating before it cools down enough to sleep.

I'm working on a list of ideas for the next few months, pitching to the New York Times, Washington Post and others. I hope it works out for me. Fingers crossed! I'm traveling to Europe in August and baby needs a new pair of shoes. ... And how many stories can I get out of this trip anyway? *ponder*

There's the obvious travel story, then something about restaurants, maybe something about nightlife -- then maybe something about local drinks or food? Wow, there's a lot to think on. I will keep you posted.

OK, back from class....

Man, it's late and I had a sugar feast in class today. Chocolate chip cookie, an orange and homemade chocolate toffee. Who makes homemade chocolate toffee, I ask you? Who does?!? Apparently people from Maine do. Thanks, Terri Ann Bourke! I am now prediabetic.

I got my check from the NY Times! Another $1,000 goes to buying a house. Yes, all my freelance goes into my "Buying a House Fund." I won't say how much I have, but it's a tidy down payment in any place *but* the Bay Area.

How does one pitch you ask? If you're luck and have an editor who takes a shine to you, it can work. The shine part, that's the hard part. Will fill you in later.

New Story Coming

Yes, finally my New York Times article is coming out -- April 4, I'm told. I'm happy it's running, period! You will get to read all about my trip to the Central Coast!

My teeth are killing me from various dental procedures and I'm popping Advil like candy (yes, probably not a good idea -- goodbye, kidneys! I'll miss you!) and I'm just not writing like I used to. I feel horribly burnt-out.

The thing of it is, is that I'm not doing much writing. I'm just tired of writing and want to stop for a while. And since that's my job, that's not a good thing. I hope it passes and I can get moving onto something that will spark me creatively. If not, I have to use artificial means.

My Psychiatrist is Mad At Me

Yes, she is. I changed my appointment last minute and she was not happy about it. Why? you ask. Because it feels weird at work and I don't want to miss much work especially when they're deciding who to lay off. I don't think it's me, but hey, corporations are corporations, and media corporations lay off.

I'm on antidepressants right now, sertraline, and I'm not sure they work, but I use them anyway. So far I haven't lost any weight, but not everyone gets the good side effects. (Damn!)

Still trying to figure out my novel but did finally turn in my story to the New York Times. So I should hear from them in.....a month.

I penned an angry tirade that I sent to my workshop class. Not finished, not finessed, but hope it's OK. It's probably the least revised thing I've turned in. A sample:

"Anger isn't becoming in a girl, my mother says, the Thrifty cashier says, society says. Fuck them. Because for a few hours, days or even weeks I am a ball of angry venom ..."

Also working on a food/travel piece for Spring Break. Hope it works.

Sleepy Little Weekend in Frostville

Hey, despite my summer and golden/peachy Web site it is starting to turn cold in the Bay Area and we have our first frost advisory of the season! I broke out my space heater (and I don't mean the multi-colored, four-legged and furry ones that eat and poop constantly) and one of the eating, pooping machines wedged his entire body up against it, thus singeing his fur and making sure no one else might feel warmer than an icicle.

Other than that, I wrote a personal memoir for class:

"She wondered if it was the scent of desperation. Even in L.A. she had done better than this. She missed its dive bars, transvestite hookers and skanky alley clubs. She missed her friends.

She saw him winding up cable so that the veins in his wiry arms and hands began to swell under the taut skin. She always had a thing for thick, manly wrists and hands. They always made her feel small and feminine."

and had something published in the NYTimes! I have received almost all my checks. I am very, very excited.

I will post more writer-related stuff tomorrow. Thanks for reading!