Comments on The Rejectionist: What We Did On Our Winter Vacation

please allow me to correct my gross misuse/spellin...

2010-01-06T23:05:19.832-05:00

please allow me to correct my gross misuse/spelling...GATED, not gaited. Yipes. Too much tussin. (sick w/ darn cold)
Note: Dont tussin and type.

Time to hit the 'Quil, stuffy head so i can sleep juice...
nighty night.

I drank copious amounts of Nuvo, FINALLY watched I...

2010-01-06T20:45:27.985-05:00

I drank copious amounts of Nuvo, FINALLY watched Inglorious Basterds (loved it...the only thing that would have made it better IMO?--if Johnny Depp had a role in it somewhere, natch.), allowed Santa to spoil me silly, partied with friends, sang carols (and Lady Gag songs) drunk through our (expensive gaited) neighborhood (that, my friends, is how you win friends and influence --scratch that-- annoy and alienate people. Good times.), and I stopped my WIP re-writes/revisions for the entire month of December.

Congrats to the girl who got engaged!

Happy 2010 to all,
Lola

Agree with the whole "why are the Scandinavia...

2010-01-05T17:32:40.837-05:00

Agree with the whole "why are the Scandinavian crime novels so good despite so little crime in Scandinavia?" paradox.

My mind boggled when I read The Draining Lake by Indridason, and there was an exchange that went something like this:

"We need to identify the body that was found; can you check missing-persons reports for a man who disappeared between 1940 and 1980?"

"Well, there were five of them, so that'll take a while."

And congrats to Brandi G.! For both the engagement...

2010-01-05T09:41:23.341-05:00

And congrats to Brandi G.! For both the engagement and the hard lemonade.

I used my vast moderatorial powers to delete spam....

2010-01-05T09:40:31.599-05:00

I used my vast moderatorial powers to delete spam. Surprisingly satisfying. I am like the General Kael of spam defense. Those pornographers didn't know what hit them.

When I wasn’t reading at a zombified 20 pages an h...

2010-01-05T05:31:42.510-05:00

When I wasn’t reading at a zombified 20 pages an hour, I managed to clear out two year’s worth of e-mails.

Not that I actually got caught up or anything, but everyone I have to reply to is now safely tucked away in the same folder, where they can talk amongst themselves.

Ready to face you people; who are in fine fettle, ...

2010-01-05T02:13:32.317-05:00

Ready to face you people; who are in fine fettle, ready to tear apart my inspired literary efforts with renewed vigor… as if it’s a war! Writing is one of the most delightful activities that make me involved… it’s not a hard work even if it awakens me in midnight. A passion doesn’t allow you to sleep. As a student writing is far more comfortable for me than mugging up senseless things from little books.

My wife danced ballet for 12 years. She has taken ...

2010-01-05T00:02:18.725-05:00

My wife danced ballet for 12 years. She has taken me to all the fundamental performances (Giselle, Nutcracker, Swan Lake), but it never clicks for me like it does for her. I appreciate the art and the effort, but it doesn't move me like the music does. Thankfully we both love the theatre so we can still get our culture on together.

I accomplished little, other than surviving a nast...

2010-01-04T21:05:58.104-05:00

I accomplished little, other than surviving a nasty bout with the H1N1. But, that's quite a success story, yes?

Okay - my ultra-fun-filled Christmas now seems a l...

2010-01-04T20:54:59.753-05:00

Okay - my ultra-fun-filled Christmas now seems a little duller in comparison...

But it's okay because I read a bunch of books - and spent time with my nutty family!!

Le R. We reads 100 p/h as well. Our husband thin...

2010-01-04T19:52:48.568-05:00

Le R.

We reads 100 p/h as well. Our husband thinks we are skimming. In the length of time it took husband to reread Dune Book 1, we read the following:
To The Nines by Janet Evanovich
The Elegance of the Hedgehog (DEVASTATING...husband stared at us as we sobbed convulsively why did Renee have to die!!!)
Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie

Yes, we reads a very strange variety when we have influenza in the Midwest :)

Haha. You have no idea how much I missed you. And...

2010-01-04T19:01:00.898-05:00

Haha. You have no idea how much I missed you.

And for the record, I'm totally jealous of your speed reading capabilities. Freakishly AWESOME.

Dear Lydia, we can read about 100 pages an hour. W...

2010-01-04T18:57:42.283-05:00

Dear Lydia, we can read about 100 pages an hour. We read those five books in three days, that's not counting the other books we read on our vacation. It's kind of fucked up, we know.

Do you like that we said fuck unnecessarily, just for you?

I spent the past week (or however long you left us...

2010-01-04T18:55:00.104-05:00

I spent the past week (or however long you left us for) dealing with unreasonably crabby people at work. I also wrote a little, finished reading ONE book (you did FIVE? how do you read so fast?), and may or may not have engaged in daily wrestling matches with the little guy. He apparently has no qualms about putting the ultimate smackdown on his dear defenseless mother. But despite the bruising, we had fun. :)

Dear Loretta, there are seriously not words for ho...

2010-01-04T18:45:40.773-05:00

Dear Loretta, there are seriously not words for how much we adore you.

Dear Dee, we should probably not admit this so as to preserve our Reputation, but we totally cried at the part with the snowflake ladies.

I did lots of holiday stuff, friends, family, Chri...

2010-01-04T17:41:44.829-05:00

I did lots of holiday stuff, friends, family, Christmas, junk food, parties, blah blah blah, and now I am ready to WRITE! :D

I joined two writers' groups to keep me on track in 2010 and started posting bits of my work on my blog, The Magic Nutshell.

I also built my list of kick ass writing and publishing blogs to follow, which may be helpful, if I don't spend all my time reading them and not writing!

I just saw the Nutcracker at Lincoln Center two ni...

2010-01-04T17:23:50.049-05:00

I just saw the Nutcracker at Lincoln Center two nights ago! I don't care that it was after Christmas... it was beautiful.

I was in Germany. I got noise-reducing Bose headph...

2010-01-04T17:20:26.349-05:00

I was in Germany. I got noise-reducing Bose headphones, and they are AMAZING. Unfortunately, we determined they cannot be adjusted to specifically tune out my boyfriend's father.

Yeah, I'm also working hard, hard, hard on those revisions in anticipation of the my latest efforts to end up in someone's slush pile.

Glad you're back. Your posts always make me laugh.

Geared up like the Michelin man, shoveled snow, wi...

2010-01-04T17:20:25.307-05:00

Geared up like the Michelin man, shoveled snow, wiped runny noses, marinated in glögg (Scandinavian for wintry booze), shoveled some more, and snogged…okay, shagged to my heart’s content.

May have written and read somewhere between all that shoveling and other wintry delights, must check WIP and gift books for stains of proof. Glögg stains, you pervs.

Larsson? Fossum? Mankell? Leave some room for Jens Lapidus, will ya?

My husband and I vegged in front of the TV and wat...

2010-01-04T16:32:25.023-05:00

My husband and I vegged in front of the TV and watched a whole season of Mad Men (we just discovered it--yes, we're a little behind the curve). I read a book every day and munched on homemade snow brownies. Funniest book I read was a novel called HOW I BECAME A FAMOUS NOVELIST. I also wrote every day...hmmm...I could get used to that life, but alas, back to work.

Welcome back, Le R! Finally finished my treat-lik...

2010-01-04T15:39:06.850-05:00

Welcome back, Le R!

Finally finished my treat-like item. Took me long enough, eh?

Over the holidays, I finished the first draft of the novella that's been taking me forever and a day to wrap up. Got halfway through reading another book. Did some cooking. Baked apples are quite tasty.

-J

Yay! The Rejectionist is back! *Doing the Snoopy...

2010-01-04T14:44:05.447-05:00

Yay! The Rejectionist is back! *Doing the Snoopy Dance!*

I took five days off at Christmas, but it turned into six when I put my car in the ditch trying to get to work last Wednesday. I spent the holiday at home alone, just me and the cats and a stash of junk food and chocolate pudding pie with Cool Whip in an Oreo crust. :D I read a ton of books, including the new Terry Pratchett and a couple of Al Franken's and a book on forensics in historical archaeology that has totally confused an issue I have to deal with in my second novel.

I also finally watched the new Star Trek and loved it (yes, I'm a geek) and all three of the extended editions of the LOTR movies. And every time Gollum and Smeagol chatted, dear Rejectionist, I thought of you. ;)

(Word ver: "WERES". How did they find out that werenovelists hang out here?)

Working working - oh wise ones. My kids gave me a...

2010-01-04T14:43:03.312-05:00

Working working - oh wise ones. My kids gave me a fab new pen and journal.

Santa gave me a wii fit. I'd like to put some coal in HIS stocking.

I read a few good books, some not so good ones and went with the theory that eating my kids Christmas candy does NOT add any pounds what so ever.

Right??

Reading, Twilight Zone marathon, sledding, enjoyin...

2010-01-04T14:39:05.641-05:00

Reading, Twilight Zone marathon, sledding, enjoying the company of family and good friends. On vacation, so it was just good to get away from the job. It's amazing how long a day is, when work isn't part of it.

Ooh, your vacation sounds lovely! We made hot but...

2010-01-04T14:35:40.262-05:00

Ooh, your vacation sounds lovely!

We made hot buttered rum at home, watched a lot of Dexter and Six Feet Under, popped Christmas crackers, wore paper hats from said crackers, and generally sat around in our PJs doing nothing.

It was wonderful :).