I'm slightly ahead of schedule on my writing, and so I took this weekend off a little. Only 932 words so far. We'll see if I get possessed to do a marathon session tonight.
I just finished reading Sophie Kinsella's Minishopaholic. The chance to laugh out loud to a novel was a nice respite from fretting over my own. I read some of the reviews the book has received and goodness! To see some of the backlash against the main character's parenting skills threw me for a loop. Who reads a fiction piece for parenting advice? Or maybe they just have never gone, or can't remember, shopping with a 2-year-old. I can. I do it weekly. My little girl hasn't mastered "Mine" yet, but she's figured out that everything in the cart gets bought and brought home. She throws things into our cart, and any unsuspecting person next to us, making me apologize profusely and remove the items. She is fascinated by my credit card. She likes to hand it to the cashier, and she has to "sign" the credit card slip, too. Does this make me a bad mom? NO. And Becky Bloomwood, the Shopaholic we all love, isn't a bad mommy, either. Or mum. :)
The last 24 hours have been a little hard on my psyche. After the run in with the readers on a romance novel forum, I am more than a little flustered. I read a review of a book that has a very similar plot to my own, well the author made it her twist, but it was handled very poorly and the author took the other path for resolution of the situation that I am not taking. On one hand, I should be glad my thoughts are in line with the rabid readers, that most modern women would not accept continuing a relationship with a man who had an infant on the way with another woman. I agree, I had a hard enough time wrapping my mind around being a stepmother to a 3-year-old when I was 21. I think anything younger than 2 is just too close to the old relationship for another woman to come into the picture without questions about her priorities, intentions, or adultery.
But, I did have my first feelings of never publishing this novel. I don't know why...I didn't think I would get this attached to it. But as the weeks go by, and my word count increases, my bond to it is increasing. I'm hoping the month I plan to take off from writing in June will help me get over it. I really need to put a stop to the feelings that this book somehow validates me as a writer. That's such nonsense! I'm many things before I was a writer, and despite one reader accusing me of not having a real job (HA! I'd LOVE to just have a 40-hour work week and a job that came with VACATION TIME). This is the same person who threatened to never read my book. When I'm finished, I'm going to send them a free copy, on principle alone.
Well, all this talking has inspired me and I think I will get to work on my novel again. I'm still stuck on Chapter 7 and this scene of Johnathan and Kellie in a deli to talk about the pregnancy. I think it's the setting. I think they need to go walking outside somewhere....Johnathan sitting there spinning his silverware isn't cutting it. I think a new location would make adding the awkwardness much easier.....
"Imperfect Timing" arriving Fall 2011. Johnathan Michaels, a robotics engineer, jeopardizes his engagement with his business partner when a previous one-night stand surfaces, carrying his child.
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