3/22/11

Spring's Sprung. Sort of.

Spring. Spring. Spring. News of the spring. I've found my lawn. It's a mess. There's quite a lot of dog poop to clean up. When the heck did the pooch do all that? I suppose it slunk down through the snow as it melted. (Yes, she's a mountain pug that prefers to climb the snow banks and do her business atop mount stinkmore.)

In other bummer-ific news, I didn't reach the quarterfinals of ABNA. The feedback consisted of one exceedingly positive review, which I'm guessing would have been a vote to stay on the island, as well as one middling review, which was likely a vote that cast me off the island. At least I know my pitch was solid enough to get to the second round. Moving on.

Querying wasn't a focus for me recently. I dabbled in the odd contest over the past year, queried a couple of times and then jumped into ABNA. Most of the time was spent researching agents and writing Ghost Fishing. Now I'll jump in, head first. The thing about "head first", is if you're not careful where you jump, you wind up with a headache or worse.

In any event, it's spring, right? I think I might have mentioned that. I took my kids and my daughter's three best friends to Rita's for ices on the very first day of spring. The four girls sat at the picnic table and slurped up their various flavors, two of which left them crimson mouthed. My mint oreo cream ice, which looked not entirely unlike cold split pea soup, tasted precisely like icy mint oreo ice cream. Yum.

Did I mention we're getting somewhere between three and seven inches of snow tomorrow? Although I'm beyond tired of winter weather, given a choice between more snow and an earthquake/tsunami combo, I'll take the former.

10 comments:

M.A. Leslie said...

If it means anything to you, I still can't wait to read your book. I hope all goes well and the snow is just a myth from one of your stories. Have a great one, M.
P.S. We recently released our MG story on Amazon. Tristen and the Magic Shop. Take a look if your interested. It was more for fun then anything, but it turned out nice.

Donna K. Weaver said...

Bummer about the snow. Spring can be such a tease!

Lola Sharp said...

You must be in the northeast too. (I'm in NJ) (and, I'm new to your blog. *waves*) We didn't even attempt Rita's because the lines were around the building and down the street.

Yeah, I saw a snowflake today. *pouts* While I'm way over winter, it's far better than an earthquake or other disasters.

Also, our back lawn is also dog-poo littered, now that the snow has melted. Husband's chore for next weekend. ;)

Good luck and best wishes on your query journey!
~Lola

Unknown said...

Ugh. No more snow! I want my warm weather back! (I'm in NJ too) You're not alone with the lawn - I don't have a dog, but the grass is littered with sticks and branches from the storms we've been having.

Jay said...

All these Jerseyans, many of which with lawn hideousness! I also seem to have lost a tree in the front yard. The snow was too heavy I guess and split it down the middle.

M.A. - I will definitely take a look.

Lola - it was pretty busy at Rita's, but it was worth the wait. And thanks!

Melissa & Donna - spring will be back. And before you know it. SUMMER!

Annie McMahon said...

My daffodils were covered with snow this morning. Is it spring, or is it not??

Louisa said...

What's with this weather hey? Here in the southern hemisphere, our summer was more like autumn: rainy, cold and cloudy. Scratches heads.

Jump Jay, jump! One of my motivational songs atm is 'jump' by Madonna. I think you could do with a theme song/motivational song for the querying road ahead. Can we have a competition for suggestions?

Jay said...

Annie - I don't know about Daffodils, but I had a perfectly good tree that had sprouted buds, and is now laying split in half on my front lawn!

Louisa - I have no motivational song right now. Thank you for the suggestion!

Tania Walsh said...

Hi Jay, I was in the recent earthquake, and I'd take snow any day:-) But I sympathise with you over too much snow... and oh your tree has split. Oh no, that means moving it...

Jay said...

Tania, I know!!! And I'm so glad you and your family are safe, and that you got home safe and sound.