I'm still struggling with my new-new near future story. I got about three pages written today, on top of the one I wrote yesterday. I really thought I was on track but I seem to find distractions to keep me from getting any writing done. So, I signed up for NaNoWriMo. That stands for National Novel Writing Month. The idea is, you write a novel in November. Last year I wrote THE BILLIONAIRE'S PURCHASED PRINCESS which went on to win the Golden Acorn award and is in the finals for the Texas Gold award (results are coming tomorrow, I think. Go princess). The year before, I wrote NanoCorporate which is the book the NNNF is a prequel to, sort of. I think I spent six months rewriting NanoCorporate after I'd finished NaNo, but at least I got a draft out. That's what I need to do for NNNF. I think. Of course, signing up for something doesn't mean it happens. Don't get me started on my last health club signup.

On Fridays, we have bridge at the senior center. My partner, Francis, is always happy to bid, but her bids don't always have the meaning I anticipate they will (after an auction of 1S-2C-2H-4S, she bid 4N. Most people would play that as ace-asking (Blackwood or RKC). Francis meant she didn't really like spades that much after all and was suggesting NT as an alternative. Naturally, I told her about my aces and we went down. She played it well, though...I have to give her that. At any rate, we came in third out of five pairs. That's our best showing to date (and my excuse for not getting more writing done today).

After bridge, Maria, our real estate agent, picked us up and took us to a couple of places. One is a multi-unit. We're not sure we really want to be landlords, but could use some extran income. The other is small and needs work, but is more in our budget. Both are possibilities.

I'm behind on submissions and spent some time working on catching up (another great excuse not to get more writing done).

I'm going to make REVERSE ANGLE by Cathy Richard Dodson the www.BooksForABuck.com book of the day. A frustrated writer sees one last chance for Hollywood glory. She'll film a documentary of their cross-country drive...with mom's coffin in the back. As she goes, she works through a set of issues that go far beyond career frustration. Darkly funny and moving, only $3.99. Learn more, read the excerpt or buy the book here: http://www.booksforabuck.com/rompages/rom_2006/reverse_angle.html. (Available in HTML, Adobe PDF, eReader, Mobipocket and Microsoft Reader formats (ask if you need ePub or Sony). Here's the cover (cover design by Jim Dodson):

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