Glub glub glub

*Breaks the surface of the water and flips up her snorkeling mask* 

Now that the floodwaters are finally receding, I can — yay, finally! – come up for air. I doubt I’ll be able to go back and read all the LJ entries I’ve missed, so I hope you’ll help me catch up with all the news that’s happened in your corner of the world.


Dark cloud: It appears likely that my flooded kitchen’s going to be quasi-inoperable for at least 10-12 weeks. 
Silver lining: ‘Tis the season for outdoor barbecues and paper-plate picnics, right?
Rain on my parade: Because so much is happening on Noah’s Ark the home front, it’s doubtful I’ll be going to SCBWI-LA.

Rainbow on the horizon: In a few months’ time, I’ll have a beautiful new kitchen, and I’ll be much further along in my manuscript.

 

This morning, I went looking for inspirational articles about the publishing industry…y’know, to help me anchor myself in the writing world again. I stumbled on an indigestion-inducing provocative blog entry by UK publisher Andrew Franklin. Here’s a brief excerpt of The Real Reason Why Publishers Miss Good Books. 

“The real reason that publishers miss good books is no secret, and it is nothing to do with literary judgment, knowledge of first lines or acquaintance with the classics. It is the same reason that film companies miss great scripts and record labels fail to sign up the most interesting bands. It is the numbers game — the sheer volumes of paper (and now, worse still, the email attachments), that cross our desk every day. Every year 200,000 books are published. This is far too many, and really the first duty of every publisher should be to publish fewer, rather than more, new titles.”

La la la, I’m not listening! I’m wearing earplugs to help block out the demolition noises downstairs; I’m also creating a mental barrier against doubt-inducing articles like this. 

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37 Comments

    • I was hoping to meet Wonderful You, too! Boo — but let’s plan for next year. Meantime, I hope you’ll share what you learn, and I hope you have tons of fun!

  2. Yikes – I’ve been out of touch too and it sounds like you’ve had a rough go of it. Glad to hear things are picking up for you and yeah yeah on the new kitchen. I would soooo love to dump the pink countertop in ours.

  4. Your new kitchen will be SO beautiful! I can’t wait to see pics which I’m sure you will share, right? But the mess and mayhem in the meantime – start making a list of all the restaurants you’ve always wanted to visit but just never got around to it. 🙂

    • Thank you, Carrie. I was really looking forward to meeting you there. Next year, right?!?

      I am so inspired by the energy you put into educating us about human rights on your blog. Thanks so much!

  6. Hang in there, Melodye!!
    *lets loose dove with olive branch from window, fans it toward the west*

    Why do they have to wait so long? Too wet still?

    • PERFECT icon — thank you!!

      Thanks also for the symbolic release of the olive-branch-carrying dove. What a wonderful metaphor.

      It takes about 6 weeks for cabinet construction — and that’s after they’ve confirmed our kitchen measurements and written up a contract. There’s 8 weeks, right there. And after the cabinets are installed, we can call in the floor tile and granite installers, and arrange for appliance deliveries. Voila, add another month for that. I’m trying to set ambitious writing goals to help distract me from thinking about being that long without a kitchen.

      • Ugh. ugh. ugh.

        Hope you get a lot of writing done!
        And it will be *such* a huge pleasure when everything is finally in place and bright and new, in any case.
        Hope you enjoy some quality restaurant time in the meanwhile!

    • Yes, I’m feeling much better, now that I’ve planted both feet on dry land. And it’s actually kind of fun to plan the remodel, even if I’m having to make decisions at warp speed.

      Thanks for the empathy. 😉

  8. Food tastes so good when it’s cooked and/or eaten outside.
    Sending you soft purple earplugs, pink and blue water wings, and good-writing insprirational thoughts.

    I even shower with my pen, in case any ideas drip out of the waterhead. ~Graycie Harmon

  9. I’m not listening either!

    La de da de de da da . . .

    And I’m sorry about your watery troubles. Ugga bugga. But I bet your new, sparkling kitchen will be wonderful! 🙂

    • Ugga bugga’s right.

      I’m smiling at the thought of a remodeled kitchen. I’ll post pictures when it’s finished. Meantime, thanks so much for making me smile.

      • Just finished it last night. I’m in awe. A ginormous Bravo! to Ms. Rowling. Fantastic! #7 is the best writing of the series, the most literary, the most beautiful, the most transcendent. I enjoyed every page.

        Are you reading the series?

        • True confession time: I haven’t read any of her books. I’m not patient enough to delve into alternative worlds like Harry Potter’s, even if the writing’s superb. There, I said it. Ridicule me, if you must. 🙂

          Sorry I missed PFL on Thursday. I got overwhelmed by a series of events over the past several days. Next week, I’ll be there for sure. Did you run the meeting?

  11. Yikes, please don’t encourage those publishers to get any more selective! It’s weird when you think of all the great books that won’t get published just because of numbers. Makes me feel like How in the world did I ever get chosen?

  12. HI Melodye-

    I just saw your posts about your kitchen! OMG! How awful. I’m glad you’ll have a pretty new kitchen when it’s all over with. You deserve it. Poor you, though. Having been through it, I know it’s tough.

    I have to put off our lunch again due to some emergecy dental work. I have an old root canal that must be re-done (among other things)requiring many days of leaving work early. I’d feel bad asking for another one. Let’s set this summer as our goal. I know I can finally meet with you before Labor day!

    Hugs,
    Kim

    • Hi Kim! I’m glad about the new kitchen, too — that part’s a lot of fun. You’ve been through this type of thing before, too? Ugga bugga, I’m so sorry! I hope you’ll share any insights you learned along the way.

      So sorry to hear you have to have dental work done. That’s even worse than a wrecked kitchen, as far as I’m concerned. So yeah, no problem waiting on our lunch; let’s do it when we can both relax. I’m looking forward to it.

  13. I’m sorry to hear about how long your kitchen is going to be out of commission… but it’ll be bright, shiny and new for you! Just hang in there!!! And yeah, this is most definitely BBQ season!!!!

    That excerpt isn’t very encouraging, is it? lol…

    Good luck on your manuscript!!!

      • Thanks, Miss Melodye!!! I’m really hoping the change of scenery will bring some much needed peace of mind and spirit. It’s lookin’ good so far!!! 😉

        So how are things going at your casa? As bad of a situation as it is, are you at least somewhat excited about having a brand, spankin’ new kitchen to cook in? How much input do you have into the design process?

  14. I hope you’ll pull the plugs (from your ears, not the life-sustaining sort) to hear me whisper these words to you as I type in the darkened Catskill Mountains hotel room I am sharing with my mom. I’ve been on vacation Up Here with my mom while my dad is home taking care of business in NYC. It’s Girls’ Week and Mom and I have had a blast. Not a kitchen blast. An easy-on-the-brain-usage blast. P.S. If she could only hear my thoughts right now but alas, even her grunts and snores are not waking her up. She’s exhausted. It’s tiring doing… nothing. {} (And holy smokes did I need to do a lot of nothing. Yup. How Princessy do I sound?) {{{}}}

    SO.. what I want to whisper is how sorry I am to have totally abandoned you in your wettest time of need, my Melodye. Your flood letters unleashed last week when I had Camp Visiting weekend. Husband and I shot over to Philadelphia after the camp visit for a very mini-tourist-vacation. Last week was shot after the Husband became quite ill with pains shooting from both sides of his trunk and stomach and all those other body parts we ignore… He’s not ill often (poo poo poo thank you g-d) but when he Does Ache it’s a WOOZY. He began to feel better over the weekend. I felt safe to leave him for a few days and come up to the Catskills to spend time with my mom who was alone during the week while my dad is back in the city. Let’ just say I amm the youngest person in the hotel. My mother may be the second youngest. We have laughed and sunned and read trash magazines and slurped down lots of ice cream. I know. Feel sorry for me. {}

    I had NO idea the laptop could connect to the internet from her hotel room. I knew there was a wireless connection down in the lobby but I have had zero desire to sit in a deserted lobby Getting Online while my mother sat by herself doing Whatever. She’s in bed now (3:17 AM here), I opened the laptop to play a CD before I opened my book to read in bed when VOILA, I saw the litte computer icon on the bottom of the screen indicating I was ONLINE. I was in shock. And I raced to LJ to read what I could. And now.. I am here. And I’ve read backwards, filling myself in on the awful details of your Kitchen Catastrophe. I am so sorry you have to do a shotgun remodeling session. What a mess. How did you discover something was wrong?

    I suppose summer time is the optimum Leaky Kitchen Disaster time but still, no one wants to be forced to pull rooms apart and start all over unless there is a plan in motion. You know, like invading a country without first establishing an exit strategy…. :{

    I LOVE YOUR ARK ANGEL anecdote. Hello, woman’s magazine First Person story calling…

    Please know I will catch up with you as soon as I get home, Melodye. It’s been upsetting me to know I seem to have left you…er… high and…er… dry. {}

    But I didn’t. Really. I had a rough pre-camp visiting week due to Two Children suffering from Extreme Homesick Blues. They were ready to pack up and go home when we went to visit on the 13th. I made them stick it out and now they are thrilled they listened to their ol’ Mama. Do I love it when they tell me: “You were right, Mom. As always.” SCORE ONE FOR THE PIPPA. {}

    I would love to have a state-of-the-art kitchen headed my way. I know this is not the way you would choose to have begun the project but consider yourself lucky that this is a very solveable problem in the long run. I am surrounded by elderly people who have little to talk about except their pains and their dead spouses and the children that fail to call or visit. The band played the song “Another Saturday Night and I aint Got Nobody” to this geriatric crowd the other night and I thought the song choice was awkward, out of place and emotionally bruising to this rather lonely-hearts-club crowd. {}

    I miss you, Melodye. Stay cool. I love paper plates. {}

    -Pamela
    (hugs to you and E.)

    • “…no one wants to be forced to pull rooms apart and start all over unless there is a plan in motion. You know, like invading a country without first establishing an exit strategy.”

      Ha ha ha! You get ME and *IT* exactly!

      Thanks for your wonderful note, Pamela. You transported me to your world and, while it’s also whirlwindish, it took me away from my watery reality and made me laugh. I’m really looking forward to reconnecting with you when you get home. xoxo

  16. Sorry to hear of your recent travails — and sorry you won’t be at the SCBWI conference, but it’s totally understandable. And yes — banish doubt. I’m sticking with the saying from a Weight Watchers meeting from years ago: “When you focus on what you want, it will come into your life.”

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