A LadyLee Weekend.

I had a very busy weekend. That's nothing new, because all of my weekends are very busy. I must say that I have had only one weekend this year where I was able to sit back and truly relax and do... nothing.

I had a book club meeting this weekend, but I ditched it (much to the dismay of my book club president - hey, at least I let you know, gal!). Plus I had a heck of a time finding the book club selection of the month, and didn't get a chance to read.

Oh well.

I attended the Atla.nta Wri.ter's club meeting instead. The meeting was waaaay up in North Atlanta, in Dunwoody. I've been wanting to check it out. Now, I came across this club a couple of months ago, but ditched going because I was thinking that there would be NO black folks there, and I didn't want any problems (whatever that means.) But I met a black author at the Mar.garet Mitch.ell house when I attended Tayari Jones' talk, and she said she was a member and she loved it. She found it really helpful, and thought that I should at least check it out.

Well, that was good enough for me. On Saturday, I decided to make a trek up there and check it out. If I didn't like it, oh well. I could at least say that I checked it out and I could just keep it moving.

The meeting was good. There was an open mic session, where people read their works, and there were 2- 1hour sessions of speakers. I must've taken a good 3 pages of notes. And I mean, GOOD useful notes. There was an editor of a literary journal there and an author. They talked about what they did, and answered questions. Heck, the author taught his session as a workshop session basically. Very good concepts, very good set-up. I really enjoyed myself, and even met a few interesting folks. I want to join, but it conflicts with my book club meetings.

Oh well... I'll just have to figure something out. That meeting was much too useful to pass up.

Now, after the ATL writer's club meeting, I headed down to the "Sip and Sign" book signing of Electa Rome Parks, a local author. I'd picked up her book as the book club selection for another book club meeting I am attending next Sunday (yes, I have way too much going on.) My book club sister, who is a member of 2 book clubs invited me, plus the author, Ms. Parks, was going to be there.

And ya'll know how I like to run up on authors. I always got a question or two, you know.

Well, Ms. Parks had an event in Midtown Atlanta, sponsored by my book club president. Now, I didn't get a chance to go to my own book club meeting so, I thought it would be a good idea to drop by since it was on the way home.

Back to this book... The book was titled Ladies Night Out. Just looking at that book cover, I was thinking...

Hmm... this looks a bit racy.

Yeah. It was STRONG on the erotica. And I can't stand erotica. But I decided to read it anyway. I wanted to attend my book club sister's meeting, and I wanted to meet this author. So hey, read it and bear it.

It was a good book. The erotica was just that: erotica. Very eclectic, and creative, but you know... I just don't like erotica. But I must say, I was pleasantly suprised that I picked up on the theme of the book, which seems to be the theme that I am toying with these days. And the story was very well written.

But um, the book made me think... Who wrote this book and did she run around doing research?

Well she walked into the room, and sat near me. I peered at her curiously. And her husband was with her. I'm sitting there thinking, "Damn, they look normal. They don't look off the chain."

Don't think that I didn't ask her about it, LOL. I wanted to know if she researched out all that erotica, because it was um... let's just say, very vivid and very well written. She thought that was funny.

But I got a chance to spend a couple of minutes talking with her. I rarely write in my books, but I even circled some things in her book. Really nice author, answered all of my questions... just a great all around person. She was the first author that I actually sat down with and talked with about some things in her book that I liked and/or didn't understand.

Good book... if you like erotica, then it's for you. She has an erotica story in an upcoming anthology.

She laughed hard. "Guess you won't be reading it."
"Uh, no I won't," I responded.

Nope. But she has three previous books, that are not strong on the erotica. I will most definitely read those!!

Finally... my manuscript edit came back. All I gotta say is... Wow.

It sent my head spinning. She did a thorough job, and I must have spent a couple of hours looking at what she had to say already. She seems to have liked the story, but I just have a lot of rewriting to do... I got a lot of weak points that I have to work on, like redundancy and crutch word isshas, contradiction problems, just all kinds of stuff. I really want to work on these things because I don't want them to turn into bad habits!

But I still say... WOW. My head is spinning. Kind of like when I got the corrections of the first draft of my dissertation back from my advisor so long ago... It was marked up like crazy, but man oh man... those corrections made a WORLD of a difference. They really did.

And that's how I am looking at it. Apprehensive, but pleasantly pleased. I think the good thing is that a lot of the comments that were made are already deep down somewhere else deep in the manuscript. (She only read the first 450 pages. The manuscript is 1000 pages long.) I have to figure out how to bring a lot of stuff that is revealed later in the manuscript up into the earlier parts of the manuscript. I don't know if I am experienced enough to figure all of that out, but at least all the material I need is already written out. I'm reading a very good book on editing right now, and it is REALLY providing reinforcement and helping me understand some of the points that she made.

Let's just say that I am just thankful that I won that edit. It was a VERY GOOD thing. I know already that it is going to help me A LOT.

But I have set a goal to have SOMETHING figured out by the end of the year. I will have a plan of action by the end of the month, so I think I am moving in the right direction. I have decided to do some writing workshops this year, the first of which is a fiction workshop which starts this Thursday. It is only 2 hours a week, for 6 weeks, one day a week. I wanted to start with something small this year, so I can know what the hell I am doing and what is expected of me. I am a bit nervous, but it is that excited type of nervousness (you know what I mean). I hope to learn a few things that will help me with my manuscript, and my writing in general.

Much much more happened this weekend, like hanging out at the 'Shed with my book club sisters for SupaStar's birthday. (DANG, we dropped some serious bread up in that place. And we didn't get thrown out, either.) I didn't go to church, but I had a VERY GOOD "Women of Character" meeting with some of my book club sistas, where we are taking some pretty intense looks at the character of women throughout the bible and how it applies to our daily life. (Man, I LOVE that type of stuff!). So heck, that might as well have been church. Felt like it.

I went to the doctor yesterday, after being sickly for two weeks. I almost bust out crying after telling my doctor how I was feeling all during that time, even though I fell dandy now. She explained to me what was going on, and we talked about a few things.

The convo was funny.

"You want me to prescribe you something for that, just in case you feel like that again?"
"Yes!"
"There are two types of medication. One will make you groggy, one won't. Which do you want?"
"Yes!" I yelled.
"So I take it that you want both?"
"Yes Lawd!"

Man, I was like, whatever. Just give me something that I can throw in a drawer and take when I am feeling bad. Goodness. Next time, I think I will just take a couple of days off from work or something... Geez.

But I am better now... Ready and willing and able...

To do the darn thing.

Check it out. I have a Short story coming up sometime tomorrow, entitled "Buttermilk Biscuit Blues". We've been having a little fun with it, and I think I will post it. It is a side story involving someone from my manuscript. Be sure to come back and take a look at it, because I'd really like to know what you think:)

The Great Wrap-Up...

I thought I would use my Fridays to do either a "Friday Funnies" or a wrap up of what has been on my mind during the week, what has been going on with me, etc... Just an amalgamtion of stuff.

So this week, I will do a wrap-up... Beware... I am a bit long-winded today!

Serenity23. I FINALLY got a chance to meet The Fabulous and Infamous Super Shoe Queen Blogger Serenity23. I had breakfast with her and another blogger, Heartdrops.

Serenity was passing through town, on her way to Charlotte, NC. She was moving there from Baton Rouge. I have NO idea what brought this on, but I am sure we will talk about this someday.

Serenity is an "Oldgirl-in-training", a "Baby Oldgirl", and has been a bit "disturbed" by it. (Yes... that's a serene way of putting it. She has been snapping HARD on me about it all.) She has been sitting on the curb, clutching her "oldgirl-in-training" secured credit card with the $10 dollar limit and the 50% interest rate, frowning hard, to say the least.

She's been wailing about receiving her Original Oldgirl Platinum Plus card.. I knew she was serious about getting her Original Oldgirl Platinum Plus card when I read this on her blog...

"I strongly believe that if something is in God's will for me, then it won't be almost impossible to obtain. Meaning, I won't have to do everything under the sun to get myself to Charlotte. I'm not saying things will be easy as pie, but I'm saying things will be plain for me and I will have his favor in getting where I need to be and getting what I need to get there."

I got HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY when I saw that. I knew that it was about to go down. She later went on to say:

"When I decided to stop worrying about moving and the new job and turned it over to God, it was only a day or so before my hopes had come to fruition. I also spoke about not living in my apt one day past the month of March. Well, I'm moving out on March 1st."

Girl, you jacked my faith up a notch with those statements!! Now THAT'S what I call getting results and answered prayer.Really though.

Now, I am of the firm belief, and many have agreed with me in various discussions that one does not know what the heck is going on until one is 30 years old or close to turning 30. It's like, at that age, a light bulb goes off above one's head, as if one knows that one has to FINALLY get serious and handle one's business. One begins assessing oneself and one's life, and the path towards one's goals become a bit clearer.

(Yeah, that sounds like some Kung-Fu, grasshopper, teacher craziness... but you get my point.)

I think you are figuring that out, Serenity... You're even inspiring me to step out and make some life-changing decisions of my own...

Additionally, something happened which I consider to be the most FASCINATING conincidences in the world. I have a character in my manuscript that has the EXACT same temperment and circumstances as Serenity23, all the way down to having the very same job (paralegal) and having a son about the same age as the character's son. I think I met Serenity23 about 6 months after writing that character, and I nervously asked her to read some parts that involve that particular character (Um... girl, can you take a look at my Nicole character?). Serenity schooled me on the paralegal profession and how she likes to straight up snap on anyone who annoys her (LOL! I still don't think my character is as BRUTAL as she is... one time she said "I'm MUCH meaner than that, Lee", which absolutely HORRIFIED me.). Her thoughts and advice REALLY helped me to shape up that character a bit... much more than she would ever know.

Thanks, girl!!

You're on the fast track to earning your platinum plus card, gal!

Writing Progress. The first draft of Sweet Heat has been completed for over a month, now. I haven't really looked at it again, as I needed a little mental distance from it. I printed out the first 450 pages (the point at which there seems to be a natural break in the storyline) of it and sent it to Niche.lle Tra.mble, who offered up a manuscript critique that I won last year on ebay. She sent 2 pages of intense notes and thoughts, and it was chocked full of stuff that just had me thinking about how to redo many sections. It's funny how someone can make one or two suggestions, and it opens up a whole box of ideas...

I can't wait for my marked up redline manuscript to come back some time next week... I plan to spend the remainder of the year on my rewrites (Yes, I'm just that slow.)

I will leave you with a small excerpt... My female protagonist Vaughn in bed with my male protagonist Samuel.

I’m a hard ass sleeper. I can sleep with the lights on, the radio blasting, or in the midst of a rowdy crowd if need be. My Mother always said “A freight train could plow full speed right through this house, girl, and you would sleep right through it.”

Nothing interrupted me once I’d been sleep for a couple of hours. Nothing at all.

Yet his warm breath wisping lightly past my ear woke me immediately...

Whoa!! LOL!!!

That was from the only sex scene in the manuscript. I've gone through that before, being bone tired, sleeping hard, and my man breathing on my neck, and waking up to realize that, um...

It's about to be ON!

It's about to go DOWN!

And it was something that my readers were waiting on. I can't stand sex scenes, especially if it borders on erotica. I look at anyone who can write that type of stuff on a whim a bit strangely. But I was told that I handled it tastefully. Nevertheless, I was deeply disturbed. Took me a month to figure it all out... Not sure if I want to do that again.

I ran all around at work, though, poking my head into office doors and labs, and yelling that first line...

"I'm a hard ass sleeper! I'm a hard ass sleeper!"

Yeah... but not THAT hard of a sleeper.

LOL!!

Of Lamps and the Locals. (An example of what I go through at home a few times a week.) So I went to Kroger on Thursday evening to get a prescription filled. I also went by the 'Shed, since I was down that way, and picked up something for dinner. Well, I am driving up my street, on my way home, and I see Tiny. I roll down my window to speak.

"Where you been, Lee?"
"To the store and to get something to eat."
He has a pleading look in his eye. "Are you about to cook?"
"NO!" I yelled. I was NOT sharing any of my food. It was too doggone expensive!
He still has that pleading HUNGRY look in his eye. I didn't care. The only thing I'd eaten all day was a piece of cheese toast at six that morning on the way to work.
He sighed hard. "I'm going to get something to eat, then."
"Alright, see ya later," I yelled. I let up my window, and I drove on up the street to my house.

So, later, I'm in the house, watching TV, yacking hard on the phone with LadyTee, and eating dinner... and I hear the doorbell ring. I answer it, because I know who it is. It is Tiny.

"Lee, did you take the lamp from the garage?"
"Yeah, man, I did. That's my living room lamp!"
"Oh, okay, can I have it back? "
"NO!" I yelled. He'd borrowed the lamp last week due to needing more light in the garage, and never returned it. I got sick of walking around my living room without a lamp. (I have top lights, but I like very low lighting.) I retrieved it from the garage last night.
LadyTee chimes in. "Who in the world are you fussing at, Lee?"
"That fool Tiny. That negro always want something."
Stan, my next door neighbor, saunters out of the house.
Tiny yells to Stan. "Stan, I need a lamp!"
"Don't do it, Stan! You better charge him, Stan!" I yell. "He will keep your lamp, Stan!"

I slam the door and go back in the house. I hear them talking outside. Stan says he has a lamp, but he is going to the gym. I feel bad about yelling at Tiny (is the Oldgirl gaining some compassion? Heck no! THE HORROR!), and I grab a bedroom lamp and go to the back door leading down into the garage. I open the back door and I see this:





Scared the heck out of me. I thought Tiny had ran over someone in my driveway. I imagined having to help Tiny dump a body over my fence. I quickly realized that it was Mr. Thomas, one of the "locals" in my hood. He is mostly known for yard work, and he stained my porch last year.
So Tiny yells, "No Lee, that's alright."

Good, because I need my lamp.

"Tiny, what is he doing?"
"Oh, he's tightening up my oil pan."
"Oh," I said.

I give Tiny a look that says, "You are crazy as hell."

"Oh, and Lee... you have some oil leaks. Go get an oil pan so Mr. Thomas can put it on and tighten it up."

*silence*



Tiny and I have had this convo before. Mr. Thomas is cool and all, but AIN'T NO WAY a crackhead is touching anything on my Zoom-zoom (Mazda). Man, I can just see myself rolling down I-85 and my whole engine and transmission just falls out of my car.

"Uh, no, Tiny. That's alright. I will go to the shop and have them fool around with it."

Like I said... Ain't no way a crackhead is fooling with my car. I've got nothing for love for Mr. Thomas, but...

And speaking of Mr. Thomas... He rang my doorbell at 8:00 p.m. and asked if he could edge up my yard... for $15.00.

Uh, I don't think so. I gave him 5 dollars. He better be glad I'm not Hen-Dog... who will only pay $2.00. The last time I paid Mr. Thomas $15.00, he didn't do a good job. He took off running, and I didn't see him for a couple of weeks...

I learned my lesson.

So that's my week's wrap up. Yeah, I should've made this three different posts... but I didn't.

One long post! You know how I do! LOL!

Have a great weekend!!