Who, Me?

When I was little and the house would get quiet, my mom would yell, “What are you up to?”  I’d invariably reply, “Who, me?” even though I was the only one in the house and knew full well whom she was addressing.  My kids do the same thing:  ”Who, me?”

Sometimes this response is to stall in order to cover up whatever malfeasance has occurred.  Sometimes it buys time to figure out an appropriate response.  Usually, “Who, me?” is a mindless response because the answer isn’t within reach or is possibly silly or embarrassing. In all three scenarios, the next utterance after “Who, me?” is usually, “Nothing.”

Well, I’ve had lots of folk ask me “What are you doing?” recently and I’ve found myself slipping into the pattern above.  Some of my friends do a Work In Progress Wednesday post on their blogs.  I should probably do that, but I’d rather be working on the work in progress than write about working on it.  

I have been busy, so the answer, “nothing,” isn’t going to fly anymore.

 

So, here’s the update:

Family stuff:

* School is out and the acting classes I teach are over for the summer.  Free time with my 3 kids, which brings me joy. 

*  I’m teaching a musical theatre acting camp for two weeks, which is an all-day gig.  My kids are involved, so I’m with them, which is fantastic.  My oldest daughter is directing the show.  

Writing news:

*  As you probably know, I have a new agent who is fabulous.  My YA paranormal, SOUL PURPOSE is in submission with publishers, but since it is summer, I expect it to take a loooooong time for the editors to respond.  The subs were sent out last week.  

*  I’m half-way through a children’s non-fiction on Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches.

*  I have begun two books in a paranormal romance series (adult), DEATH ANGEL and MUSIC OF THE HEART.  I love writing in this genre.  So fun. Using a pen name, of course.

*  Polishing two children’s picture books–not thrilled with them.  I’m so clueless about this genre.  Guess I’ll get a professional children’s editorial opinion before I burden my agent with them.  

*  Working on solidifying two YA concepts.  One deals with DNA experimentation begun during the cold war resulting in the creation of a super species (an unwilling one, of course,  that has now reached the teen age). The other is a modernization of the original Grimms Fairy Tale of Hansel and Gretel.  It sounds stupid, I know, but the original story is dark and creepy.  And I’m not going to use little kids lost in the woods finding a candy house.  I’m focusing on the abandonment and the lure of safety that is only an illusion.  

So, that’s what I’ve been up to.  

If I’m lucky, I’ll come out of the summer with 1) a completed NF 2) a completed paranormal romance 3) The outline for a new YA project 4) a book deal for SOUL PURPOSE and maybe its sequel, SOUL POSSESSION.  

What are you working on?  (And you can’t answer, “who, me?”) Are you bouncing around in different genres like me?  Are you writing while your kids are at home, and if so, how’s that going?

Have a killer weekend!

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Tags: Motivation, Writing

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