Yup, it’s true. The entire thing needed corrections/edits, and I only had two weeks to send it back in, so this has been two very stressful weeks.
Since I’m not only going to be talking about the edits in this post, though, I thought I’d split it in sections, so you can skip parts.
More on edits:
The edits were on three levels. First, there were things the editor suggested I omit, and those were mostly speech-tags. I knew publishers dislike tags other than “X said” and “Y asked”, but I didn’t realize they didn’t hold those in the highest esteem either. Now I know…
Secondly, it appears I have a certain crutch in my writing. I hadn’t noticed how often I use the construct, “[Doing something], X said, …” My editor noticed, and I had to rewrite most sentences in which it appeared, so I could get rid of it. It was not a fun thing to do.
Finally, I had to rewrite the sex scenes and fight scenes to include more on Cherry’s POV.
The whole thing was exhausting and I will probably be biting my nails until I hear back from the editor, but if I managed to do her suggestions justice, this might just be a kick-ass book. Keep fingers crossed, please!
Pregnancy stuff:
We’re done with many-many prenatal tests, and so far everything is normal. We have no clue if it’s a boy or a girl yet, but we know it’s stubborn, ’cause it remained cross-legged throughout the last ultrasound, despite the technician’s efforts to make it move so we could see the sex.
The maternal instinct still hasn’t kicked in, which worries me. I forget to protect my belly while playing with the dogs, for example. Hopefully, that’ll change once I feel it kick. Otherwise, I’m thinking of spray painting “Mind the Baby” on the dogs backs.
I’m trying hard not to gain more weight than absolutely necessary, but it’s hard, because in the mornings I have a black hole in my belly that needs to get filled ASAP (and doesn’t get filled easily). Also, remember the nausea? Yeah, that only lasted five days, and was due to a flu, not the pregnancy. I have no vomiting, only thing that upsets my stomach is tomato sauce with onions, and I can eat crazy amounts of bacon and mayo sandwiches with fries. As a matter of fact, I think that might be the one thing I could survive on during the pregnancy, if I had to.
Also, I loved a friend’s suggestion to “Get yourself one of those “Future MILF” maternity shirts, put on some eyeliner, and rock this pregnancy” so much, that I bought fabric markers and am decorating my black T-shirts with brightly colored “MILF to be” signs.
Oh! And apparently I’m the only fat pregnant woman in Greece. Went to two maternity stores, neither had anything bigger than size 14 (UK size–I’m 16 in pants, 18 in tops). I may have gotten a bit bitchy with the sales assistants, but there’s no footage to prove that. I think.
For the first time in my life I think I was a victim of some sort of misogyny last night. To be clear, Greece is generally phallocratic. I’ve been lucky to never have been discriminated against because of my sex, but I’ve seen it happen. Last night, however, I almost killed one of my best friends because of it. We were disagreeing about a couple of our friends. I was giving him specific examples about why I believed the guy in that relationship was jealous, and my friend kept saying, “Yeah, right.” I got upset, and raised my voice, saying “yeah, right,” is not an argument and I don’t like debating with people who just discount my opinion.
His reply was, “I’m not talking about it any more because you’re letting your hormones take over.”
Because I’m nothing but hormones. I have no logic, not brain, no substance except for the pregnancy hormones. Right.
My sister told him he was being a sarcastic ass with his “yeah, right”s, my husband told him he was insulting my intelligence, I told him he was using the wrong words for what he was trying to say. And he said, “Yeah, I don’t wanna be the one upsetting the pregnant chick,” AND LEFT! I wanted to hose him down before he got to his car, but was too slow to reach the balcony on time.
NaNoWriMo:
I signed up. Don’t know what I was thinking. I’m only 435 words in because of the edits on Cherry Stem, but that’s not my greatest problem. My problem is that I was planning on writing a YA story, with the following synopsis:
Melissa is a normal sixteen-year-old with a normal sixteen-year-old’s problems. Well, those and the fact that she knows when the world will
end but not how to keep that from happening — and things only get worse when she dies.
But the only thing I can think of is Cherry‘s sequel. And I feel guilty for not having written more on The Tenant. Gah! I’m thinking of going rebel and writing bits and pieces of everything, so I can make some progress in all of them. We’ll see.
And more:
I wanna start knitting. How funny is that? I’ve barely got any free time, I’m watching about 873,456,289,345.6 shows, and I’m behind on my writing, but I decided that since I’m broke, scarves and hats are what friends and family are getting this year.
Doggies:
Still growing, still adorably silly.
Family:
Getting on my nerves, telling me what I should and shouldn’t do, OVER AND OVER AGAIN. At least I can still yell louder than any of them. HA!
Bones (SPOILERS):
I know, random, and will seem even more so for the next couple of paragraphs.
Thing is, I’m a little more sensitive these days toward the whole “traditionally female” role. I never thought of getting married and having a family before I met Andrei. Not even as a little kid. I always played the princess who stole the knight’s armor and saved her kingdom herself. I don’t judge women who wanted a family; I’m just talking about myself.
When I met My Love and fell head over heels, I had to negotiate long and hard with myself before agreeing to a future with him. I had to figure out whether I could be in a marriage without losing myself. I think I’ve done well enough, but I’m reaffirming my boundaries on a daily basis, and he’s okay with it. Even this baby was negotiated on. I don’t see me as a mom, but I see him as a dad and decided I’d deal.
Which is why it pisses me off immensely when people attack women for not having tried for a baby after X years of marriage, and when I say that’s the couple’s business I’m told, “Yeah, right. Act all liberal. You got the package deal though.” I resent the implication that I did what was expected of me, my duty, instead of my heart said I should.
And I’m finally getting to Bones. Yes, Temperance has expressed the wish for a baby in the past, but she’s also expressed her reluctance on entering a relationship with Booth. Do the writers show us how she handles it? Why, sure! In about half an hour, she’s convinced to move in with him because the baby needs both parents and to get a new place, which will not be what she wants, because he can’t afford to pay his share and doesn’t want to put in less than she does.
So, one of the most independent and strong-willed women on TV accepts everything her man wants, not because she has the time to consider it, but because her friend says that’s what she should do, and she doesn’t want Booth to be upset with her. What. The. Fuck?
And don’t get me started on the cop out that’s skipping the first few months of the pregnancy and relationship. That show has been getting worse for a while, but I think I’m finally giving up on it.
/rant
I can’t think of anything else to bore you with, so I’ll leave you for now. I’d love to hear from you though. How is everyone?
OH! AND DOES ANYONE HAVE A RECIPE FOR SOFT, DOUGHY CHOC-CHIP COOKIES? I tried one I found online, but they were more chewy and less doughy. 🙁
That’s all for now,
xxx
Me
