Auto-Pilot

Where do I begin?

Well, let's start with the fact that I have completely tanked on NaNo this year. I have written a grand total of . . . (wait for it!) ZERO words in the last week! I am just under 30k and there is NO WAY I am getting any writing done this week. I'm taking vacation with the family next week and I have a mountain of crap to get done before I go.

My contractor did finally return but he's been moving slowly (waaaaayyyy too damn slow for my wife's taste, as she has pointed out to me 24/7 without pause for breathe over the last week!) I talked to him this morning and he's promised to have the bulk of everything done by this Friday. He can do that with little trouble if he actually sends full crews to do the work. He's been sending 2-3 guys a day to putter around with minor stuff and it's killing me. I need to have certain things done before we leave for vacation, otherwise my wife is going to kill the contractor -and me!- and bury both our bodies where we'll never be found. (One might ask -and I have!- how any of this is my fault, but obviously within the confines of female logic I am mysteriously responsible for the entire situation and subject to verbal abuse, cursing, finger pointing, and when all else fails: complete wifely silence for my role in this farce. See? I can even piss off the wife when I'm just standing there!) If ever again I mention hiring a contractor to work on my home, please feel free to kick me in my large, stupid, ass and remind me of this fun time in my life!

So, the boy brought home his report card for the semester and got hisself in a whole world a' trouble!! Honestly, the grades were not bad at all, most in the mid 80's with a 100 and a 90 mixed in for fun, but for him that's really low. Turns out (after some not so gentle parental nudging) his problems came from not doing homework and/or getting assignments turned in on time. His test scores were all flawless, but he's been blowing off the work with a: "I already understand it, why do I have to do homework?" attitude. OYY!! He has consequently lost all the fun stuff in his life and has to spend much time with yours truly going over his work on a daily basis. He has endured many loooooonnnnnggggg lectures on the importance of the work process and learning to schedule his time, work quickly, neatly, and efficiently, etc, etc. . . I think he's getting it at this point and I expect to see dramatic increases to the grades this semester. (Else I shall have to beat the poor child with a very large stick!) We spent most of the afternoon yesterday studying spanish and learning about outlines and scheduling his time. He was actually pretty pleased when we finished because he was comfortable with the spanish and could see how the other stuff was going to make his work move faster and easier. See, that's the big secret I've picked up after years of teaching folks in the workplace: show them that your methods will make their job EASIER and they'll jump all over it. Seems to work with kids too!

Other than that, the holiday was nice. Spent time with both the wife's and my family. The boy had a blast at my clan's, he's old enough now to sit with the adults and enjoy the talk and stories (we are big on the stories: the wilder, louder, and more ludicrous, the better!) He laughed is butt off and wants to know why we don't see them more often. Don't have an answer for that really - my family just gets together 1-2 times a year. We're all just busy folks I guess.

Writing . . . working through a big question right now. I'm wondering if I'm pushing in the wrong genre. I write mostly epic fantasy but it's always a struggle for me. I'm weak on world-building, backgrounds, etc. The only book I've written that I was able to coast through was a DF/Horror novel (kind of King-esque) and I find that I have three or four other books in that vein that are pressing at the inside of my tiny brain. Am I working in the wrong genre? Should I push through on "First" or should I hop over to one of the new concepts and see if it runs as easily as the other DF novel? I don't know. Right now I'm too confused and battered by life to make any rational decisions. I'm just running on auto-pilot for now. I'll let you know when I finally touch down on the runway.

Later!