Too Many Books

Update : Hubs obviously does not know about my blog. Or, if he does, he doesn't stalk it. Therefore, hubs did not get any rewards last night. Writerleigh: ( What? Amber Leigh Tidd Murphy still writes? Since when? And she's blogging about writing? Wait, hold the phone!) (Hey, enough sarcasm from you, dear followers. That'll do.) So, I've decided that one of my hugest fundamental flaws is a LACK of writing in scenes . Here's the thing: I don't know why the hell I have this problem. Maybe it's because I'm writing over large portions of time. (Chapter One currently spans a few years time, and details my MC's experiences when she is 5-8 years old.) I've decided to try to break down chapter one into scene sections. Also, I've decided that I might not make it backstory. Why can't it be present action? (I was inspired by Curtis Sittenfeld's THE MAN OF MY DREAMS. Her MC, Hannah Gavener, is fourteen years old in the first chapter, w...

If i do consent to "trying harder" in the baby-making department, is it wrong to hope the kidlet arrives in the middle of March so I can take maternity leave during the basketball tournament next year? Is it weird that I haven't gotten my hair cut since last October, and am sort of procrasinating solely because I am obsessed with finding and splitting my split ends? Should I remember the last time I ate a god-honest vegetable? Is it bad that I used the phrase "flicking the bean" at work today? Should I be worried that I haven't changed my oil since I purchased my car in August? Is it wrong that as I type this, I keep shooting the husband mean faces every time he opens his mouth to say anything at all? (I'm busy, dude. Shutitspice.) Is it wrong that I didn't shave my legs on purpose today, because hubs called in sick to work and therefore is not entitled to sex tonight? (You remember, right. When you were a child and stayed home from school b...

Yesterday evening when I got off work the snow was coming down pretty hard and the wind was whipping it around -- biting cold, such a nasty, slushy day. I got gas (which was non-negotiable) and then pointed the car toward home, feeling crampy and exhausted and frozen-toed. I called the hubs as I always do after work. "Are you stopping for dinner?" he wanted to know. "No, I really just want to get home. The roads are not great." Etc. He was pissy all night because I wouldn't stop for fast food. (When I'm the one with the valid excuse to behave that way, what with the PMS and all.) When I turned onto our street I called again. He was parked curbside, and I wondered if I should do the same. He assured me that I should park at the top of the driveway. Let me give you a visual: our driveway is sort-of-hilly, like two flights of stairs with a landing between them. It slopes, then flattens, then slopes again. So, the point of the story is that he commande...

Yesterday, I made a promise. I promised my husband that I would do the dishes tonight. This is not awesome. The sink is full to overflowing and I have a sneaking suspicion that the majority of the dishes and utensils may be best described as crusty. The predicament is that I have not done dishes in um, over a week. Granted, that's only 4 or so actual meals in the Murphy household. Typically, we eat at least one frozen pizza per week, which requires minimal cleanup. We never cook breakfast (unless it's at dinner time!) and when I do come home for lunch, I heat up something lean-cuisine-ish and dirty only a fork. Then there are the nights -- like tonight -- when I bring home Qboda and chew away stress. (Chicken nachos > antidepressants.) I'm procrastinating... there are several items that are daunting me more than a little: there's a casserole dish from shepherd's pie which is soaking at the bottom of the sink like long-buried treasure, certain to be alg...

Sleepyspice. That's the story of my life, I guess. I stayed up too late last night watching the Grammys. (There were some super weird performances and some moving ones. Enough said.) Can you believe February is here? I'm proud to say that I am well on my way in the 100 book reading challenge for 2010. I just started my ninth book of the year -- Cormac McCarthy's THE ROAD. I'm 70 pages in, and it is so devistatingly good. Here's what I've read so far this year: THE LITTLE FRIEND by Donna Tartt EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE by Jonathan S. Foer NO WAY TO TREAT A FIRST LADY by Christopher Buckley THE MIDDLE PLACE by Kelly Corrigan MIDDLESEX by Jeffrey Eugenides LOST IN THE FOREST by Sue Miller THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING by Milan Kundera HOW TO BE GOOD by Nick Hornby (I'm pretty sure I blogged all these titles after I purchased them all at 1/2 Price Books, but you certainly needed a refresher, right?) I signed up for Goodreads ...