The Mid-Month Roundup

It's the same old thing around theses parts--having a lot of stuff on the to-do list, and feeling like a snail trying to check it all off. And to have to do it all in unseasonably chilly weather? Please. I've had enough of you, May. You can go home now.

My plan for May was to finish the first revision of In Another Life and finally finish up that novella I put off from last fall. I still have a good chunk of the month to see these things through, but I'm no superwoman (too bad... I'd love to wear a cape like it was no big deal). There are also poetry revisions that I would like to get to, another first draft I would like to finish writing, and of course there's always submissions--I need to set aside more time for that, or I'll end up like Dickinson with ninety-nine percent of my work undiscovered until my ultimate demise.

So that's all I've been vacillating between and not getting completed. What have I actually done? Well, I've developed a huge book crush on Real Artists Have Day Jobs (And Other Awesome Things They Don't Teach You in School) by Sara Benincasa. It's filled with lots of good advice for the artists, writers, comedians and non-9-to-5-ers of my generation. But it's also funny and honest (oh, and here I go again... you can read my review to continue this love fest).

I've also been inundated with free stuff (not a bad gig, if you can get it) and I've been starting to catch up on reviews of all the neat things like mud masks, snacks, lotions and the occasional sleep aid. I've just reviewed the latest Pinch Me box I received and my Influenster Bloom Vox Box review should be up by the end of the week.

And to fill up what little time I had left, I started writing an essay on birthdays. After I start typing away, I realized I had much more material than a single essay could hold. It's turning into a series of essays. Eventually.