Okay, so I did say I didn’t have time to post much here, but the lovely Carolyn Jewel said she wished I would post more often, and I’ve got something really important on my mind: Namely, my shoes.

See, I bought these cute purple pumps from Aerosole, like the ones pictured here, only in a nice dark eggplant color. And they were on sale! And the first few times I wore them, they were really comfortable!

So today I put them on when my feet were still damp from the shower–I think that was the issue–and all of a sudden my shoes went nutty, and caused me extreme pain and gouging.

What the hell, shoes? Why you gotta be a bitch?

So tomorrow might be Birkenstock day. Just sayin’.

Oh, and some gratuity:

The first day back, filled with laundry and freelance. But meanwhile–here is a picture of me and my RWA roommate, Carolyn Jewel, at the RITA Awards (the Oscars of romance writing; Carolyn was nominated TWICE!):

“Logy” means “dull and listless,” and I gotta say, that’s me. Clive Owen could appear at my doorstep holding a big-ass bottle of Pinot Noir, a pair of silver hoop earrings and a not-yet-released Loretta Chase book, and I’d just hold the door open and stare at him.

No loge. None at all.

I am trying to work on a synopsis of something I’ve written a chapter and a synopsis for; obviously, the synopsis I wrote originally isn’t working, I know it’s weak. So I gotta write a better one. The chapter is all kinds of fun, I laugh aloud when I read it, but it needs to be doing somewhere. I took notes yesterday, Carolyn Jewel-style, but I haven’t nailed it. I hope to tonight, when perhaps I will have more lists (i.e. not be listless) and full of more vim, less loge.

Meanwhile, tell Clive to give me a few days. I’ll be perky again.

Yesterday was lovely. I got up, worked on freelance, then headed back upstairs to take a nap. WIN1

Then I worked on my own writing, and finished this short Regency-set story I’ve been doing. WIN2

Then, McVane came up with the perfect anagram for my name: Tramp, Fang On Me. WIN3

The Picky Vegetarian, who’s been working like a dog WITH dogs (and cats) called, which was nice, but cell reception stinks so all I could hear was “Happy Birthday.” But still, it was nice. WIN3.1

After, I read more of The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks, which the Faux Critique Partner recommended. WIN4

[Many, many happy birthday wishes from Twitter and Facebook, plus a special post from my P-I-C] WIN4.1

Then, STEAK! And family, and wine, and laughter. WIN5

A gift of tube mascara and Godiva chocolate. WIN6

After that? The Nocturnal Aunt and I watched North And South, and she adored it. WIN7

A really, really good day.

So this week has been–not so full of the busy. Which is weird, since I am normally super-stressed and worrying about what is next. No, I haven’t caught up no sleep (that ’sleep when you’re dead’ thing isn’t so funny when it’s real), but I haven’t been as anxious. Which leaves a big gap in my brain.

I am off to do some writing, MY writing, not freelance, so yay. And the Adores His Son Spouse took the day off to spend with the little guy, so I am not Mom for the day. Double yay (any mom who doesn’t feel relief when not on Mom duty is a far, far better person than I).

PS: The pic is for the Faux Critique Partner, who might be venturing out to the East Coast in late September. Can’t promise you this, precisely, but Scott says if you want a tall blonde to be mean to you, he might know someone.

So last week, Carolyn Jewel and I had a doughnut party in our room during RWA. We had several lovely guests join us, but prior to that, it was almost a Doughnut Debacle; see, we decided on that day we would have the party that night, which left us little time to secure the doughnuts. It was my mission to get them, and I went to the hotel concierge desk to ask where I could get them.

First off, Mr. Concierge Guy was so soft-spoken it was hard to hear his Doughnut Deliberations, but eventually I discovered that there was a Whole Foods three metro stops away, and a Krispy Kreme one stop away. Carolyn had a preference for not Krispy Kreme, so I went to the WF. It was the warmest day of RWA, but I dressed for the hotel’s air conditioning, so was wearing a light sweater. Duh on me. Plus Carolyn had shamed me by walking up all the stairs from the very deep below the surface metro, so I responded by doing same on my big day out. Yeah, good day to do that, huh, Megan?

Whole Foods, it turns out, had no doughnuts. None. Zip. And, to finish the trifect, nada.

Back on the metro. Determined to get the doughnuts; after all, it would not be a doughnut party if there were no doughnuts.

I went to Krispy Kreme, after calling Carolyn to find out the address. Luckily, KK was able to provide all our Doughnut Wants, and I got two dozen of the Double K’s finest.

And here they are:

They were delicious, and the Doughnut Party was a rousing, doughnut-filled success.

It’s weird; for some reason–and I’m not going to scrutinize it too much–I’ve been able to fit writing into my schedule. Even if I just manage 500 or so words, I’ve been doing it at least every other day.

Yay!

This Friday, I am going to Book Expo America, where I will hob and nob with authors, publishers and other pub-related folks.

And, currently winging its way to me, is the Faux Critique Partner’s book:

But I won’t be reading anything that I desperately want to until I reach 25,000 words on the current WIP. Gotta have goals, yo.

. . . Or Am I Just Incredibly Cheap?

J.R. Ward’s Lover Avenged comes out today, and natch, I pre-ordered it. But the Faux Critique Partner’s book comes out May 26, and I def. wanted to pre-order that, so I combined orders to get the free shipping.

The upshot of which is: I am waiting a whole month to read Ward’s latest cracktastic book because of pre-ordering Carolyn’s book. Which I’ve already read (see ‘critique partner’ reference, above).

Am I a loyal friend, or what?

Now go order Carolyn’s book. It is amazing.

So, yeah, yesterday kinda stunk. Like, not get everything done/have a huge fight with Spouse/eat too much/feel like you’re a bad parent/wife/person/whatever stunk. Although I did have an epiphany while revising the Sexy Novella, so that was okay.

But today I cleared off a whole buncha stuff off the to-do list, and I am feeling much chippier. Yay! I like feeling happy, and honestly, it doesn’t take much to make me so–recognition, a child’s retrieved coat, friends calling/IMing, a smidge of alcohol at the end of the day.

Tomorrow I get to hang with Jenna Petersen/Jess Michaels, so more yay!

It IS March, isn’t it? (Thanks to Carolyn Jewel for pointing that out. She’s smart.)

Hie on over to the Riskies today, where Faux Critique Partner Carolyn Jewel is answering questions about Scandal.