Two things

First, I've realized that I don't like Green & Black's chocolate. It's expensive. It's dry, and the flavor is flat. and I now have most of a bar of it sitting in my desk drawer because I'm not really interested in it, after having a nibble. Sigh.
Second, sometimes it doesn't pay to be nice to your doorman. There's a very nice gentleman who is the doorman in the building I work in. I say good morning every day, because that's the polite thing to do. I thank him when he holds an elevator for me, etc. Well, this afternoon he called me and said "There's a gentleman here who wants to talk to somebody and I don't know who he should talk to. Will you talk to him?" I, confused, said sure. And was then regaled with this random man's sob story about how he's crippled and ill and it was so difficult for him to get here and he knows that we don't take unsolicited manuscripts but he self-published a book and it got very good reviews and couldn't I find someone to take a look at it? UGH. I repeatedly told this man that I wouldn't know who to give it to, that we don't accepted unsolicited manuscripts, that there's nothing I can do for him. His response? "Well, I could've just mailed it if I'd known I couldn't get in. Couldn't you just get me in to talk to an editor for five minutes?" NO I CAN'T. That is NOT the way the publishing industry works. And him making me feel bad about saying no after he traveled three and a half hours does not make me want to help him! If he knows we don't accept unsolicited manuscripts, why was he trying to get me to take it?
Sorry for the rant. People like that really make me angry. He does NOT get special treatment for showing up on our doorstep. He does NOT get special treatment just because his self-pubbed book got good reviews. He has to go through the process, just like everybody else. And while I was perfectly polite to this man, I really wanted to tell him to piss off and then hang up. And then I wanted to call back and tell the doorman to never, EVER do that to me again! (I'm sure he was badgered into calling someone, anyone, by this pesky guy with the book to pitch, but still.)
And now that I've gotten that off my chest, I'll get back to work. Hopefully I'll manage a more upbeat post over the weekend!

Sometimes

Sometimes it's hard to find the time to blog consistently. Sad but true. Work is a constant state of busyness for me, so personal computer things rarely happen. And when I get home I don't often want to spend time staring at a computer screen when I've just spent all day doing that! So, here I am, struggling blogger that I am. Oh well.
I've decided to take some time off from freelancing. I was pretty burned out before that last project, and it was really, really hard to make myself sit down and work on that one. I persevered, it's done, and a big paycheck is on its way, but I should not have taken that project. So, time off. I'll be broke, but I'll save my sanity. Besides which, I want to be spending a lot of time on my book right now, not other people's!
And speaking of, the editing is going a little more slowly that I would like. But it's going. And I feel pretty good about the work I've done. I'm adding some big new scenes, and sort of resculpting the rest to make it even cleaner and tighter than it was before. I've gotten some interesting feedback from several people now, which is great. Good feedback always makes me look at things from a new perspective, even if I don't actually use the feedback. I love that other people can opens my eyes to things in my own story!
Only one book that I've read recently to discuss. But that book is The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon. This was a reread for me, and I found it to be every bit as wonderful as the first time around. The language? Beautiful. The descriptions of the comic books? Brilliant. And the story itself is so touching; even those of us too young to remember the horror of WWII can empathize with Joe and Sam and Rosa through their personal trials and tribulations. The decisions that they make are so understandable, even when not entirely logical, that you can't help but agree with them. I love this book. If I ever made a top ten book list, this one would probably be on it. (Hmm, that would make an interesting blog sometime, wouldn't it?)
Anyway. There's a cup of coffee and an episode of LOST waiting for me. After that is a run, some clarinet and some bass, and then editing my book. I think it'll be a good afternoon.