I really am a workaholic. I’ve come to accept and sometimes embrace this. Last week really felt like some good evidence of this. Last week, I had worked eight days in a row, and those eight days were probably some of my most productive days in recent memory. Still not as productive as I would have liked, but considering how exhausted I figured I’d be, that’s pretty good. And then as soon as the two days off I had following it hit, boom, back to lazy. I thrive best when I’ve got too much stuff on my plate; I think I just end up valuing the time more, like, I know I’m not going to have a lot of time to do this, so I have to do it now or it won’t get done. When I’m not working as much or I have the day off, I tend to procrastinate, oh, I’ll just do this later, there’s plenty of time!, and then I get lazy and it doesn’t get done. Hormones and stress might be a factor, too, but I’m on 30 hours weeks for the next few weeks, and already, the laziness has started to creep in. Even if I don’t get this promotion (apparently, a lot of other people are interested, so I’ve got more competition than I was expecting; everyone’s telling me it’s still pretty much in the bag for me, but I don’t like taking things like that for granted), I really hope they’ll consider moving me to full time, words I never thought I’d be saying. But I just do so much better with myself when I’m forced to make the hours I have count.
Last week is honestly a bit of a blur, as a lot of my weeks seem to have been lately, so that’s why I’m glad to sit down and force myself to look back on what I did. Maybe it just felt like I got a lot done because I was so busy. Who know? Let’s see.
Reading: No books finished this week, though I made some good headway on some of them. I should really focus on finishing up The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and The Pointe Book this week. I’ve finally added The Ruins by Scott Smith to the pile. I’ve been eyeing it for a while, and I guess this morning was finally the day I cracked it open. I’m a little bummed out because Monstrous Regiment fell in the toilet (don’t ask), and i was getting pretty close on that one! But the book was ruined, so I have to find time to swing by Half-Priced Books to see if they’ve got a used one I can pick up on the cheap.
There’s a new story for you all to read on the website, though! August’s featured story from World Unknown Review is up, so if you haven’t had a chance to read Nick Manzolillo‘s charming “A Good One,” I suggest you go do so now. It’s short, but really neat, and sure to strike a familiar chord with fellow writers.
Writing: Due to a broken flash drive, I lost a lot of my transcribing progress on “A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Misplace,” which was frustrating, but I’m going to strive to catch up to where I was and finish typing it this week. And then there’s the matter of finding a home for it. Only one rejection this last week, putting my current total to 78, no new acceptances, but Two Eyes Open, with my short story “Ursula,” did release recently.
Last week, I started a potential story for Fantasia Divinity‘s Autumn Harvest anthology, decided through the week of working on it that I kind of hated it, so this morning I’m putting it aside and trying a different one for the same anthology. I doubt I’ll finish it in the eleven days before the deadline, but it’s always worth a try. I’ve surprised myself with deadlines before, so I’ll always make the effort. Lately, my inspiration for new stories has been a little abysmal, I have to admit. I think it’s a side effect to having so many stories out in the ether right now, so many tales that I really love that I’m just not hearing back on, and it’s mildly driving me nuts. So many good stories out there, their potentially (currently) untapped…
‘Rithmatic: Not much else going on in other fields of my life. I keep wanting to pick up drawing again, but have just been too lazy. I worked for eight days straight and then went on an Age of Empires binge that I…slightly regret. I did a lot of housekeeping stuff, though, so it’s okay. I also finally decided to dig into Twin Peaks last night. Got in the first episode and, shit, man, it is so good. I knew I’d like it from everything I know about it, but it still managed to exceed my expectations. I’m in for a really wild ride coming up, aren’t I?
And that’s about it. I’m a little behind on my stuff today, but I have tomorrow off and will hopefully manage to not just squander it off as I have the last few days (under the feeling that I deserve it…eight days in a row, man. Gross). I think I’m just really tired this morning, which is coloring my day in a tired way. Maybe I just need more coffee. That definitely always helps. Or, hey, maybe an acceptance rolling my way. That certainly helps!
L.S. Engler 