Note to Self: I Am Not a Slacker!

It can't possibly be mid-July. Wasn't it just yesterday I wondered, will summer ever get here? Now it's here and half over. Various writing obligations are mounting. Deadlines are approaching. Instead of only worrying about what's yet to be done, I'm trying to recognize and celebrate things accomplished.

In the first couple of weeks alone, my latest western, THE FALL OF ROME, came out and the reviews--thank goodness--have been awesome. I sold two more books to HQN (Harlequin)! Yay! I lost more weight. Woo-hoo! I increased my 30-minute daily power walk to 40. Ouch! I completed a two-part interview that will be featured at Jennifer's Random Musings and wrote two blog posts for Babes in Bookland. I completed 3/4 of a research intensive synopsis. I updated my website, created a presence at Facebook, and posted semi-regularly here, and at my blogs on MySpace and eHarlequin. Lastly, I created a really cool book widget through Adaptive Blue in hopes of advancing Internet sales. (I'll write more about that later as it's a really cool company and a nifty sales tool!)

And I accomplished the majority of those things after working the 9-5 day job. Not bad. Okay. Clearly, I am not a slacker, so why do I feel like I'm not working hard enough? Probably because although I accomplished a lot in the last two weeks, not once in all that time did I get to work on my WIP. Yeah. That's it. Although I've been writing, I haven't been writing. The synopsis doesn't count in my mind because it's working a whole different set of muscles. As is writing a blog post or article or answering interview questions.

I have to finsish this synopsis. Then I have to critique a proposal. Then I am absolutely diving back into my WIP.

Unless the revision letter for EVIE EVER AFTER comes first. Gak!

Okay. This is where I remind myself of what my friend Mary always tells me. "You do your best work in chaos."

Right.

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WRITING: Completed a two-part interview.
RECREATION: Zip
EXERCISE: Forty minute power walk. It was so dang hot, even the back of my head sweat. Eew.
DIET: Weighed in this morning. I lost one pound! That makes a total of eleven pound lost thus far! Adjusted goal: Just to lose four more.
MOOD: Anxious
QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I am definitely going to take a course on time management... just as soon as I can work it into my schedule. " --Louis E. Boone

www.bethciotta.com
"...enchanting, madcap romance..." Publisher Weekly
"...wry humor; sexy, multifaceted characters..." Booklist