Smarty Pants
I didn't sleep at a Holiday Inn Express, last night, but I sure do feel smart today. Or at least smarter about some things:
* I'm a half-way decent writer - As evidenced by 1)my agent was able to sell the first two books in my Del Rio Bay Clique series, and 2)both my husband and my mother read the ARC of DRAMA and said in the same hushed tone of shocked reverence, "Your writing is really good." I guess anything else I've written over the years they read with their eyes closed.
* Writers are mostly humble because: it's hard to be arrogant when a mss is returned to you with a 5-7 page letter of things to fix and corrections throughout; the same fear that accompanied sending out your first mss accompanies the second through one hundredth; we rarely get paid rock star money.
* Debating the merits of book promo is popular because there is no right or wrong answer. There are some things that will remain hot topics into infinity because there will never be a solid answer and statistics are hard to come by to refute or prove claims of success.
* I am in fact NOT Superwoman. My first editorial deadline coincided with cheerleading tryouts and wrapping up things at work so I could go on vacation. Those three days nearly killed me. Luckily I ended up with a bad cold, which quickly dried up when I stepped onto the cool sands of Myrtle Beach.
* The more you fight the tide the quicker it pulls you under. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow or risk being caught up in a nasty riptide. I nearly made a first-time parent mistake worrying about Princess Bea's attachment to her paci and the fact that she was resistant to the idea of sitting on the potty regularly. But when I let nature take its course...well, within four weeks she'd given up the paci and started using the potty like a big girl as if she'd only been waiting for the right day. Go figure.
* It ain't perfect but it's ours. I've had my issues with BET, over the years. The low-budget MTV-like programming (College Hill), it's schizophrenia...but now, for the first time I truly respect BET for the groundbreaking cable channel that it is. I grew up watching music videos on BET at a time when MTV didn't (wouldn't?)play videos of black artists. And now, I finally appreciate that the reason BET has to be all things relevant to black culture (from news to music videos) is because no one else ever will.
* Race...fuhgedahbowid. After all the hulabaloo about Survivor's racy-y tactic, I hope those who were up in arms have realized, Duh it's reality TV! But the unintended lesson (for any lesson learned from RTV is damn sure unintentional) was that even when divded by race, people group by needs and similiarities. In the contestants'case it was need to win the money. And ultimately there were two groups, not four - one who did the slacker thing and one who did the strategy thing. Also, hello can we finally admit it takes more than sharing a racial line to keep people harmonius? Every single "ethinic" tribe had someone who felt they did not "fit" with their race Nate (by his actions), Billy and Cao Boi (by their admissions). It may have been a silly low-brow marketing trick to get viewers, but Survivor still managed to prove that people are way more similiar than they are different.
* The Internet makes it easier for people to be a**holes. As an avid blog reader, forum addict and Yahoo Group fiend I'm used to people speaking passionately about their views. I enjoy healthy dialogue. However, I'm always somewhat shocked (and annoyed) by those who post Anon in order to spew ignorant drivel. It's okay if you're an a-hole. Embrace it. But at least use your regular tag, so the rest of us are aware.
* Even if we're not ready for '07 it's coming anyway.
Happy New Year, everyone!!
* I'm a half-way decent writer - As evidenced by 1)my agent was able to sell the first two books in my Del Rio Bay Clique series, and 2)both my husband and my mother read the ARC of DRAMA and said in the same hushed tone of shocked reverence, "Your writing is really good." I guess anything else I've written over the years they read with their eyes closed.
* Writers are mostly humble because: it's hard to be arrogant when a mss is returned to you with a 5-7 page letter of things to fix and corrections throughout; the same fear that accompanied sending out your first mss accompanies the second through one hundredth; we rarely get paid rock star money.
* Debating the merits of book promo is popular because there is no right or wrong answer. There are some things that will remain hot topics into infinity because there will never be a solid answer and statistics are hard to come by to refute or prove claims of success.
* I am in fact NOT Superwoman. My first editorial deadline coincided with cheerleading tryouts and wrapping up things at work so I could go on vacation. Those three days nearly killed me. Luckily I ended up with a bad cold, which quickly dried up when I stepped onto the cool sands of Myrtle Beach.
* The more you fight the tide the quicker it pulls you under. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow or risk being caught up in a nasty riptide. I nearly made a first-time parent mistake worrying about Princess Bea's attachment to her paci and the fact that she was resistant to the idea of sitting on the potty regularly. But when I let nature take its course...well, within four weeks she'd given up the paci and started using the potty like a big girl as if she'd only been waiting for the right day. Go figure.
* It ain't perfect but it's ours. I've had my issues with BET, over the years. The low-budget MTV-like programming (College Hill), it's schizophrenia...but now, for the first time I truly respect BET for the groundbreaking cable channel that it is. I grew up watching music videos on BET at a time when MTV didn't (wouldn't?)play videos of black artists. And now, I finally appreciate that the reason BET has to be all things relevant to black culture (from news to music videos) is because no one else ever will.
* Race...fuhgedahbowid. After all the hulabaloo about Survivor's racy-y tactic, I hope those who were up in arms have realized, Duh it's reality TV! But the unintended lesson (for any lesson learned from RTV is damn sure unintentional) was that even when divded by race, people group by needs and similiarities. In the contestants'case it was need to win the money. And ultimately there were two groups, not four - one who did the slacker thing and one who did the strategy thing. Also, hello can we finally admit it takes more than sharing a racial line to keep people harmonius? Every single "ethinic" tribe had someone who felt they did not "fit" with their race Nate (by his actions), Billy and Cao Boi (by their admissions). It may have been a silly low-brow marketing trick to get viewers, but Survivor still managed to prove that people are way more similiar than they are different.
* The Internet makes it easier for people to be a**holes. As an avid blog reader, forum addict and Yahoo Group fiend I'm used to people speaking passionately about their views. I enjoy healthy dialogue. However, I'm always somewhat shocked (and annoyed) by those who post Anon in order to spew ignorant drivel. It's okay if you're an a-hole. Embrace it. But at least use your regular tag, so the rest of us are aware.
* Even if we're not ready for '07 it's coming anyway.
Happy New Year, everyone!!
posted by Paula at 3:20 PM
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