Monday, August 31, 2015

Distractions

I obviously disappeared for a while. My only excuse is the furry little critter in the picture above, not the dog, although he's plenty distracting too. About four weeks ago, my husband took our dog for a walk and came back with a mewling bundle. 

He'd found a tiny kitten abandoned in a puddle in the gutter near our road. Our neighborhood has a collection of wild cats that hide in the gutter tunnels, so we assumed she must have been washed out. She was cold, hungry and likely to be smashed by a car if my husband hadn't found her he did. He's not a cat person, so it surprised me when he walked into our room and held her out to me. 

I grabbed her, cleaned her up and tried to feed her. Long story short, we got what supplies we could from the vet and started nursing her back to health. The vet guessed she was about three weeks old. 

She's now a sassy 6-week-old and growing kitten, fittingly named Catniss, who has managed to survive against the odds. 

Needless to say, my free time got usurped and working on my stories instead of blogging became a priority in my limited time. 

I'm still not where I want to be with the revisions on my historical fiction MG novel, but I'm pleased that I've got a working draft under my belt. I haven't touched the YA novel I started last year, but it's waiting for me. I've also got a fantasy middle grade novel I've character sketched but haven't yet outlined, which I'm dying to do after taking James Patterson's Master Class and seeing how effective an outline can be.

I've also lost count at how many PB ideas I've collected, but I've drafted out about 28 of them. Two, almost three, I consider sub-ready and was able to work on those while tending the cat. I'm thinking, reluctantly, about moving a couple of my favorite PB rough drafts to chapter books since they appeal to a slightly older group and would be better told at a higher word count. 

All this to say, I've managed to get a lot done, except my blog, which I'm hoping to change to a personalized website soon. As soon as I figure Wordpress out...grrrrr. 

Here's hoping you're all doing well and plugging along with all your goals. Have a great week and enjoy some distracting video fun. Feel my pain: