Okay– Princess got a nap today, and she blew off her workout to do it. She also read some more of Shadow Unit, a collaborative effort between all sorts of rock-the-fuck-awesome authors, that features some wonderful characters and is, in effect, like a cross between Criminal Minds, The X-Files, and CSI. I understand that the original creator of the series– Emma Bull– intended this to happen, and she and her cohorts did it so well that I can’t believe this isn’t fan fiction from a real television series, just like she wanted it to be.
In a word? Brilliant. And there are some LGBTQ characters too, and, once again, I can’t believe HBO did not snap this shit up and make it so. That’s okay– The books are written so well, the only thing television would add is the ability to knit faster while I’m watching them unspool in real time.
Considering how high strung I was getting, this time–and this fun, violent, creepy, amusing, set of stories (I’m on the #2) was like… like a godsend, and I don’t know if I’d be able to function this weekend without it.
This weekend we’ve got soccer on both sides of the time spectrum, a barbecue with my parents, a birthday party for one of Squish’s teammates (which Mate will be taking her to) and my chat to promote Triane’s Son Rising at Harmony Ink‘s FB page. (Which happens from 1-3 p.m., EST, coincidentally, the exact time of the birthday party. Hence, Mate taking parent duty.)
So it was like I napped in self-defense.
Seriously– complete self-preservation. I was having the horrible death-spiral of introversion that sometimes happens when I’m too busy with stuff that’s all in my own head. It’s sort of self-obsessed (because it’s all about what I’m writing, and that all happens in my own head) and sort of panicky (because it’s about whether or not people will like what I’ve written, and I have no control over that) and about 100% self-destructive. And, like I said, it usually happens when I go too long without sleep, while I’m trying very very hard to get some work done. Honestly, I think this is why some writers drink, and some of them quit, and some of them go a little bit bugshit. Usually, I can keep my introverted death-spiral under control (I’m sorta busy with a life that won’t let me) but I just finished four back-to-back edits, with very little space between to actually write, and three of those edits (with one still pending!) were on the Bitter Moon books, which I wrote a very long time ago. Not to go into too much detail, but the excess of looking back over my own faults left me with a terrible, wailing refrain of MY WRITING SUCKS completely balanced with NOBODY UNDERSTANDS ME, which probably has nothing to do with the work itself and everything to do with how twisted around you can get with only your own words and criticism for company.
So a nap and some time spent reading someone else’s work?
Dudes. It was like a Bali vacation!
(And, judging by the picture, not all of us had the strength to wake up from the nap and take a shower. I’m not pointing any fingers but, you know, someone didn’t want to get up.)
So after that, I woke up and made some snarky observations, mostly via Twitter, but some of them were just in my own head while I jockeyed for position in the line to get my kids and at the McDonald’s Drive-Thru. So, hereyago. Snarky things I had the freedom to think after I got some sleep.
* Hey, lady, in the new and very clean Mercedes–the next time you cut off a battered white-trash-mobile in the Drive-Thru, remember, you have more to lose than she does. Seriously–I could give a shit if I get another dent, but sitting in the sun one more minute without air conditioning? Let me the fuck in.
* I need to know– is dropping acid a REQUIREMENT of watching Uncle Grandpa? Cause the strongest thing I’ve got for my kids is caffeine.
* Wow– it’s like you take a nap, and the world turns into bunnies and rainbows and unicorns and shit! Bring on the sleep– when I wake up again, maybe it’ll be chocolate!
* You know, sometimes the villains really did have it right!
* What should Harmony Ink’s next anthology be? Well, how about Waiting in the Wings–stories about the best friend waiting after the crush has faded.
Either that or zombies.
Go zombies– they can eat the heartless crush.
* If the writing business doesn’t pan out, I can always sign on as a personal assistant and a buyer for someone else’s swag. I mean, I already buy my own, that shit’s gotta be a skill, right?
* Sure, Big T, you go ahead and go to D&D. I’ll still save the dishes for you– I’m not doing ’em!
* I’m one good TV show away from finishing a throw for Rhys Ford. Which rerun of Supernatural or Teen Wolf should I watch?
And, my final one, and really the most important one:
* How long ’til my next nap!
Peace out! I’ll talk to you all on Sunday, I hope!
Oh god, Supernatural!
Naps are The Christmas bonus of life. Naps and snow days. But, living in Sacramento, you don't get a lot of snow days, do you?
You are making a living on your writing. What's this shit about, "What if nobody likes it?" People like your writing well enough to pay MONEY for it. No sleep does tend to put the head up the ass, though, and that's bound to give you a shitty outlook. Sleep more.
Dogs don't take showers.