Hard Jobs Done Well

This winter has been so rough up here in the Northeast. Even simple things have become more difficult to do because of the cold or ice or snow. Every so often I notice someone doing a job -- a hard and at times undesirable job even under perfect weather conditions -- and I wonder if anyone has stopped to say thank you to these workers or if the workers are ever told they are doing a good job?

I have seen so many of these instances that I decided to take a moment to point them out on the blog. If I don't have the chance to say thanks in person, at least I can commend their work in another way.

For today's Hard Job Done Well, I want to commend the man who has to round up the carriages in the grocery store parking lot and drive them back into the store. Last night we had a wind chill that brought the temps below zero. It was cut-to-the-bone cold and this man was out there rousting those carriages. Have you ever tried to drive a carriage train? It looks near impossible. Yet he did it, all bundled up, and with no complaint.

The next time you're at the store, maybe you could consider returning your shopping cart to one of the return stations in the parking lot? It would be great if you would bring it back to the store itself, but I think the carved out stations in the parking lot is an acceptable compromise. It helps everyone in the process, and it is the considerate thing to do.

Think about it! And thank you to all the carriage return workers - you have a hard job but you do it so well!

xoxo,

bex

What I'm Reading

A few friends have been saying how much they love Robyn Carr's books so for my next reading adventure I decided to try one of the books in her Virgin River series. I have never read her stuff and it's been a while since I've read a straight up romance so I am excited to get back to my roots and to the kinds of books that made me want to start writing in the first place.

I am currently reading Second Chance Pass. Have you read Robyn Carr's books? Do you have a favorite? Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo,

bex

Revision Challenges

On my Friday check-ins I have mentioned that I am trying to work my way through a revision of my current manuscript. I have such difficulty with revisions because I don't really know how to do it. When I mention this to a number of my writer friends, they laugh at me. I suppose I should have a better grasp on the exercise, but I don't so I am always looking for help and advice in how one actually goes about fixing a draft when you can't necessarily see what needs fixing.

So I turned to Google to see if I could find some helpful guidance and I stumbled across an article written by Holly Lisle. She offers some great insight on how she tackles revisions and some helpful advice to just dive in and get started. I am still not sure I know what I'm doing, but at least now I have some guiding principles to give me a starting point.

As I find more resources that have been useful to me, I will share them in case they might help you, too. In the meantime, if you have any helpful hints please pass them along. Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo,
bex

What I'm Reading

I have chosen another YA book for my next reading treat, and treat it is! Dash and Lily's Book of Dares is a fun treasure hunt set up between two sixteen-year-old strangers as they get to know each other through exchanges written in a notebook with clues that take them all over New York City.

Here is a much better summary from Booklist:

In their third collaboration, Rachel Cohn and David Levithan present another clever New York romance. Levithan writes the chapters narrated by Dash, a “bookish” 16-year-old spending Christmas break alone. He finds a red moleskin notebook amid the shelves of the Strand bookstore. “Are you going to be playing for the pure thrill of unreluctant desire?” asks Cohn’s Lily in the first coded message of the notebook, with an invitation to respond. Lily is aglow with the yuletide and devastated that her parents are spending the holidays in Fiji. Armed with anonymity, Dash and Lily exchange the notebook in various locations around the Big Apple, filling it with their greatest hopes and deepest fears, and ultimately find themselves falling in love. Not surprisingly, the young pair’s perceptions of each other don’t entirely reflect reality; Dash’s ex asks if he is in love with the girl writing in the book or the girl he is picturing in his head. The spirit of the season amplifies Dash and Lily’s loneliness and heightens the connection between them, in another surefire hit from the creators of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist (2006).

My only complaint is that I am flying through it -- I wish I could make it last longer! It is a great read and so much fun to see where Dash and Lily's clues take them next.

Books like this make for a bittersweet reading experience -- they are so good, they're over before you know it. How do you feel about books that suck you in and make you want to gallop to the finish? Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo,
bex

Friday Check-In

As 2010 started winding down, I made a promise to myself that when my town sent out its next Parks and Rec calendar, I would sign up for zumba class. I am not a huge fan of exercise but I like the ever-expanding aspects of my body even less, so since I enjoy dancing I figured this would be an excellent way to get some cardio exercise. I have been taking the class for about a month now and it's been fantastic.

The winter weather in the Northeast has wreaked a little bit of havoc on our exercise schedule though. It seems like half of our classes have been cancelled because of snow and ice storms so we are juggling some class times around to see if we can find makeup days.

I mention this because I have struggled with how to manage this new activity with the busy schedule I already have. During the evenings this week I either had zumba or doctor's appointments or have had to shovel snow. I haven't yet figured out how to work the writing into this new busy schedule or how to work this schedule around the writing.

All this leads up to the fact that I have not made much progress on my revisions. Saturday has been my best bet so far when it comes to being able to make time for my writing, so tomorrow I plan to get out the chisel and hammer and start whacking away at the next segment of my book.

Next week already promises to be a busy one as far as evenings go, which is when I used to get most of my writing done. I am not a morning person, but I can see where I need to make some changes to my sleep schedule -- and my body's natural rhythms -- so I can try to work more writing time in. I am not yet ready to confront this option, so I will see what I can carve out during the nights next week.

Until then, keep reading and keep writing!

xoxo,

bex

What I'm Reading

She's Gone Country! I got this book as a Christmas gift and I am so excited to get to reading it. Not only has Jane Porter emerged as one of my favorite authors, but she is also one of the nicest, most giving people on the planet. Jane is so open and honest and is the kind of person you want to see succeed. She is also one of my favorite ladies and I love rooting for her.

If you haven't already checked out Jane's books, I can't recommend enough that you do so!

Happy reading!

xoxo,

bex

So Long, January

I won't truly begin to shake the winter blues until April, but there is a certain amount of relief this year in finally getting through the month of January. We have gotten more snow in New England than most of us can physically, emotionally, and mentally handle, so to know we now have that month of record-breaking snowfall behind us feels somewhat liberating.

I know we are not out of the snowy woods yet -- February can also dump loads on us, too -- but for now I am just so happy to see a new month pop up on the calendar. January was a challenge!

So, a hearty welcome to February! Please be gentle.

(**UPDATE** February is predicted to start with a 3 to 6 inch snowfall followed up by an ice storm. Lovely. **shakes fists at sky**) At least it's a short month.

xoxo,
bex