Monday Madness

As a child born on Monday, I typically don't mind the day too much, but today's Monday has seemed harder than normal. I have around three hours of the work day left, and I feel like I've accomplished nothing I wanted to do. I'm tired, and my shoulder hurts from being sunburned on Saturday.

Yet, I will turn it around. My WIP novel Moonlight Murders manuscript is up. I want to read through chapters one and two one more time and work on editing/rewriting chapter three. I still hope to have chapter three finished by next Monday and begin work on chapter four. It seems like I'm going so slow with this novel, but I want to do it right the first time, so I will have less work once it is completed.

On Friday, I submitted a short story titled "Tradition" to LL-Publications for their Oil and Water...and Other Things That Don't Mix anthology. All the proceeds of this anthology will go to helping Gulf Coast residents affected by the oil spill. I must admit I was very nervous about submitting this story. For one, it's the first story I've submitted this month, so I think I was a little shy about sending something out. For two, I know the editor and have worked with her, so I always get more nervous then than with someone new. I should know after the deadline whether or not my story will be in the anthology. The deadline is July 31.

I did quite a bit of writing last week. The grand total of words was 4,239. So far in July, my word count is 9,654. There is no doubt in my mind that I'll reach the 10,000 word mark for this month.

Since I started my writing plan at the beginning of July, my word count has progressively gone up. I know I can't keep up these stats and that they'll plateau, but I'm happy with my progress.

Tomorrow, I hope to work on and possibly finished "They," and on Wednesday, I'll be writing more in Panther Moon. On Thursday, I'll have my flash fiction piece written, and we'll see what happens after that.

I also received an award over the weekend from Cher Green. It's the Versatile Blogger Award. I will be awarding this award tomorrow to some very lucky people.

And, I just wanted to mention something non-writer today. On Saturday, my family went to Douthat State Park. It's a beautiful park in Virginia, and we've been there a few times in my life. We went to celebrate my grandpa and dad's birthdays, and I like to think my parents' anniversary. My grandpa turned 81 years old on July 19. My dad's birthday and parents' anniversary was on July 23. My dad turned 56, and my parents have been married for 33 years.

The day was a hot one, above 90 degrees, but it didn't seem too bad. My sister, dad, cousins, my uncles, and I went swimming in the lake. I haven't gone swimming in a few years, although I'm a Pisces and to take to water quite well. I put on sunscreen, but you know how that goes. You're having fun, and the next thing you know it's three hours later, and you're burned. *laughs* I also wore my contacts to go swimming, so I could see and wore swim goggles. It was the coolest thing to see underwater and not have to worry about the water. The rays of sunlight were spectacular in the water-wonderland. Yet, I was so tired after all that time in the lake that I didn't even want to eat or do much else. The day flew by. We saw some wild life, including geese, salamanders, fish, and the cutest little froggy. I swear the frog couldn't have been more than an inch all around. Of course, we ended the day with a cookout. I had my veggie kabobs while everyone else had steaks, and we mustn't forget the smores!

Overall, it was a great yet tiring day, and I think the effects of that day are still with me for today.

So with less than three hours or work left, I bid you adieu and be certain to check back tomorrow to see if you won an award.