Word count: 28946 | Since last entry: 283

Last month was a wretched month for writing, apart from the Rainforest Writers Village. 3 rejections, no sales, and I only wrote on 12 days in the whole month. I went into last weekend with a firm commitment to get back to the writing… and managed to blow it off, starting off April with a big fat zero. No foolin’.

I did a bunch of chores over the weekend, things that needed to be done like dishes and laundry and backing up the PC, and resubmitted a couple of rejected stories. And I opened up the chapter I’d finished at Rainforest Writers and stared at it a while with intent to edit, but all I managed to do was convince myself that the two expository lumps I’d thought I could excise were really there for a reason. Total word count change: 1.

Tonight, I came home from work all tired and down. Apropos of a recent discussion about combobulation, decombobulation, and recombobulation, I described myself as non-combobulate (which is, at least, a step better than non-combobulant). But I didn’t let it stop me from pitching in and co-nurturing a nice vegetarian dinner of African stew with greens, peanut butter, and pineapple. (No really, canned crushed pineapple. The recipe came in the basket from the organic farm and it’s delish.) And after that was eaten and the leftovers put away, I made myself sit down and start a new chapter. Less than 300 words, but it’s a start. With luck I’ll be able to finish this chapter on the plane to/from Minicon (see my Minicon programming schedule to see why I don’t expect to get any writing done during the convention itself).

Good news on the travel front, though. In the last couple of days plans have come together for two trips I hadn’t expected to be able to make: a square dance event in Palm Springs and the Nebula Awards weekend in New York. (New York City! Editors! Publishers! Agents!) Thanks to the magic of the Internet, I went from nothing to plane, hotel, and registrations in hand for both events in about an hour each. My credit card’s smokin’.

We’ll be in New York May 10-13 and hope to catch a show on Thursday night. We’re considering Curtains. Any other recommendations?