Eventful Two Weeks...

I know, I need to keep up with this blog once a week, but the last two weeks have been very eventful.

First of all, the reunion was much better than I envisioned. I saw some old friends that I really didn't expect to see there, some of which live several states away. Everyone was friendly, even the people I didn't really hang out with in high school, and the food, drinks, and reception were very nice. About sixty people came, and when you're from a very small private school, that's actually a pretty good turn out. It did make me slightly nostalgic for "the old days" but like I said before, I'm happy with how things are turning out now. I wouldn't really want to go back to high school, but it did make me wish I had been just a little more outgoing during my time there so that I could have gotten to know everyone a little better. I'm not sure what I was expecting from the ten year reunion, but I didn't expect to have a great time. So, long story short, I was pleasantly surprised when I had so much fun that I stayed up until nearly one or two in the morning, talking, drinking, and reminiscing about old times with old friends. It actually makes me look forward to the next one, but no telling what will have happened by then. I'm hoping at least to have my first novel published, but we'll see. Still, I guessing after another ten years, I'll also have a child so many things will have changed.

Shortly after the reunion, I went on a beach trip to celebrate my five year anniversary with my husband. That is one of the best vacations I've had in a long time. We spent the first night celebrating alone, going to Carrabba's, watching a squishy romantic comedy, etc. The next day, one of our best friends came to visit and we spent the rest of the vacation together. The water was too cold for swimming, so we only visited the beach itself once or twice, walking on it at night mostly. We went shopping at Barefoot Landing and Broadway at the Beach, went to see, "How to Train Your Dragon" (I might write a review about that later), and went to Alligator Adventure. Still, of all things, some of the most fun we had was hanging around the house. We stayed up until about four in the morning playing Heroes V and drinking a little bit. During breaks in the game we watched at movies or read the books we brought with us. (I managed to nearly get to page five hundred in "The Stand" so I think I will be able to finish it before I start the Dresden Files. At least one of my friends promised to lend them to me now next time we see each other.)

The beach trip was so much fun that we might start planning more trips with friends for weekends. Just day trips or weekend trips that would be fun but wouldn't be too expensive. We were throwing around the idea of trying to get a group together to go ghost hunting in Charleston, something I've wanted to do for over a year. I'm hoping we'll be able to pull it off.

Speaking of other trips, I'm still hoping to go to Disney World and Universal in October. The problem is, we want to try to pay off as much debt as possible first. Still, we're on our way. We refinanced the mortgage so that we have a much lower payment each month and with the money we saved we'll be paying off credit cards. I wish there was something I could do to help, but I don't have the graphic design skills anymore to allow me to get another graphic design job, and jobs in general are very hard to find right now. Plus, me getting a job means we definitely won't be going on the trip and I think Joel wants to go as well. (I'd do something like waitressing, but I think given how clumsy I am and how bad my memory is, that would be a bad idea. I've looked for secretarial work but most of that is taken and temp agencies can't even find me a job, even though they said I was more qualified than most people they worked with...)

Still no word from T-shirt Hell, but I'm guessing they didn't like the ideas. I guess I'll keep submitting other ideas and working on my novels. One day I'll be able to make a career out of this. Even though I doubt it'll be a very lucrative career, just making a little money by doing something I love would be nice. It would make me feel like a professional to finally get paid with a professional rate. Who knows, maybe one day I'll even be able to join the Writer's Association.
I haven't written many short stories lately. I'm trying to finish working on "Everburn." I'm so close to the end I can taste it. (I didn't do much writing at the beach, but I did write a chapter or two.) I'm thinking three more weeks of writing at the maximum and I'll be finished. I'm excited about this one because I know it's better than my first trilogy. The character development is much better and the plot, to me, was more fun. Of course, I have been slightly obsessive over steampunk lately. When I finish this one, if I decide to "take a break" from steampunk fantasy, I might just pick up the regular steampunk story that I used as a writing sample here and expand it into a novella. That was, after all, my original plan before I picked up "Everburn" again.

Anyway, I guess that's about it. I'll keep you posted when I finish "Everburn" and I should be writing a review of "How to Train Your Dragon" soon, and eventually "The Stand" (if I ever finish reading it). Thanks for reading.

Posts of the Future...

Well, here's a preview of posts to come.

For one thing, my high school ten year reunion is tomorrow. I have to admit, that ten years went by very quickly. I had hoped that my first novel would be published by now, but considering what a late start I got on my writing, I still think I'm doing pretty well. Still, it isn't sounding like there are going to be very many people at the reunion which is pretty disappointing. I'm really not sure what to expect, but I'm hoping there's at least one person there to talk to.

I'm still reading "The Stand." (This is the uncut version, so even though I'm on page three hundred and fifty, I'm not even close to the middle.) I like it so far, but I don't typically dig post apocalyptic settings. So, considering I like it enough to still be reading it, it's pretty good. I'll write a review on that when I finish. Some of my new friends promised to lend me a copy of "The Dresden Files" so I'll probably have to take a break from "The Stand" to read that if they get it to me before I finish. Wish me luck on finishing "The Stand" before that happens. (I hate putting down one book to read another, but from what I understand this book series is awesome.)

I've become addicted to the show "Supernatural." My friends were right, it really is right up my ally. It's good inspiration for the type of books and short stories I like to write. It's nice to know that writing for television shows is finally getting good again. (I know, Supernatural has been out for a while, but we're just now getting to watch it.)

Other than that, I'm on fifty thousand words in "Everburn" and soon I'll be ready to look for another agent. I'm very grateful to my friend Josh for all of his help in giving me ideas for publishing companies to submit the story to. I'm enjoying steampunk immensely so I might write another steampunk story when I'm done with this one. (Either way, "Everburn" is the first novel of a series, but I think I'd also try to write one regular steampunk story without the addition of fantasy as well.)

Random Acts of Nancy

Sorry this blog post is so random and that I didn't blog last week, but I've been working very hard on my newest book and have been very busy. I'm glad to say that for once I don't have writer's block, in fact, quite the opposite. Everyday I've felt the need to write and have written consistently almost ten words a day. I'm now nearly 50,000 words into "Everburn" at 150 pages. I think I'm a little over halfway done with the plot as well, so thankfully I'm on schedule. I think when I'm done with this book I'm going to call on the few contacts that I have in this business to ask some advice on what agency to send it to. Since it's a steampunk fantasy novel, I have no clue.

Other than the novel, I've been trying to think of a way to make money. (As everyone knows, you don't get into the writing industry to make money, and so my funds are running low.) I've sent a few ideas to T-shirt hell in the hopes that they'll like one of them. They are, "Please don't trouble me with your intellectual masturbation," "Flaccid Wit," and "I have anti-social (or antisocial) skills." I coined these phrases on various occasions, and I thought they were funny. Hopefully those working at tshirthell.com will think the same. In the meantime, I might be getting a real job in a few months as well. Still, I won't stop writing even if I have to do it at night or on the weekends--I still need to feed the addiction.

Also, I've come up with what I think is a clever idea for a new Disney theme park, and now that John Lasseter of Pixar is in charge of theme parks at Disney World, it might be about time for me to pitch it. I've had this idea for years, and I've come up with some interesting concepts for rides, restaurants, shows, etc. So, now I'm working on concept art and writing up all of my ideas to see if Disney would be interested in buying said ideas, or even better, hiring me to work on this concept. Wish me lots of luck, because I'll need lots of luck to pull it off. I think the ideas are good and speak for themselves, the key being if someone will listen, and if they'll treat me fairly. If anyone in the industry would, Lasseter seems to be the type. A person can dream, and I'm going to work hard to make my dreams come true. It was always my dream to work for Disney, and I'd like to pull it off any way that I can. I was inspired with this idea, and I think that inspiration shows through. I think Walt Disney would've loved it.

I'm looking very forward to a vacation coming up in a few weeks, as well as my five year wedding anniversary. Soon, I'll be going out of town for a long weekend at Garden City Beach. Even though I'm enjoying writing, I've been feeling very cooped up and need to get out of the house. Maybe I'll take my work with me, but I'm thinking there won't be much working going on. I'll be lying on the beach, doing a little swimming, shopping, and drinking fruity adult beverages with little umbrellas in them...sweet. Sometimes life is awesome. I'm glad to say that things finally seem to be looking up.

Well, I'm off to work on my character for the game, "Vampire, the Requiem." I'm going to do a little gaming tonight, which is very nice for a change of pace. I haven't been in a game for a long time, and I'm really looking forward to it. (Not because I haven't had the time so much as no one has been running.) Anyway, it should be a blast.

Well, off I go. Keep reading and writing!