Chuck-a-rama Post

My dad has a condo in a nice city a few hours from here. We try to get there every year or so for a little family vacation. One of the things my kids love the most about going to grandpa's condo is the expected trip to Chuckarama, an all-you-can-eat buffet.



Many people affectionately (or not so affectionately) call it Up-Chuck-a-rama. But especially a few years ago, it was a perfect fit for my family with children on the extreme end of the picky scale. My husband and I could have real food, and my daughter could load up on bacon bits, croutons, and jello. My boys could have their suicide mix of every non-coffeinated beverage offered and all three children could have an ice cream sundae towering with gummy bears, cookie crumbs, and chocolate syrup that they could stir to oblivion into a shake that they wouldn't eat. The perfect dinner.

This amusing anecdote is a not-exactly smooth transition into today's post, which is going to be just like Chuck-a-rama. I hope you find your bacon bits, jello cubes, or french fries to amuse, entertain, or just pass 2 minutes until the weekend when you get to do really fun stuff.

• Quote #1 (slightly altered to keep this blog perfectly PG): “[Butt] in the chair! Vomit out the first draft!”--Nora Roberts
  

• Quote #2: "And as those of you who are insanely busy know, there's always time to write. You might just need to force yourself to write during the times when every atom in your body would rather be doing something else." --Nathan Bransford (agent who also just sold his first Middle Grade book via another agent)
  

• With these two quotes and some introspection, I've decided to cut back a little on the blogging so that I can vomit out the rest of my first draft as close to my original deadline of the last week of September as possible, which also happens to be close to my birthday and that's what I want to give myself as a b-day present. So, Bookmom Musings will now be offering insight, humor, and tales of woe and sleep deprivation about running only 3 times a week.
  

• Storyfix began a Series on the Art and Craft of Characterization. Since I love Larry Brooks's Story Architecture, I'm waiting for this whole series with bated breath. Especially considering the character woes I've been dealing with.

• I really love 80% of music by the group Linkin Park. They seriously rock.

• Bookends Blog has a good post on Choosing A Title - something which I really, really stink at. My Middle Grade novel had the title "My Otherworld Book" until it was almost complete, even though I changed the name of my world from Otherworld to Edgeworld, like, a year before.

• A good post from agent Rachelle Gardner about Tightening Up Your Manuscript. Brandon Sanderson once shared that his final revision of any manuscript is eliminating 10% of it.

• Although it's been hard, I've taken 2 weeks off from running to try and clear up a nagging case of Runner's Knee. That 2 weeks is up tomorrow! I am so hitting the road! And yes, I am so addicted.

Have a great weekend!