State of the Texty: By-the-Numbers Edition
In a bit of a holding pattern right now, as I wait for various things to happen...
17 days until my surgery
Feeling slightly weird about that, since it's a definitely-never-getting-preggers thing. Also feels weird for other reasons. M and I now have to think about contraception again (even after the surgery, since Bad Things would happen if we did fertilize an egg.) We've never used condoms (with each other) before, and it's sort of creepy to do so now. Thinking about maybe getting him snipped instead, but it does feel a bit strange to cut us both off from any future breeding. If we did do that, we'd probably wait until we'd passed the first round of the adoption process, to be sure we wouldn't be going the surrogate route instead.
---
29 days until we leave for the UK invasion tour
Doing the final prep for it: buying new luggage, clothes and other sorts of supplies, and making sure we have maps and lists of stuff we wanna do. Downright giddy for it, though also nervous about various logistics issues (TSA, customs, schlepping luggage, driving, etc.) No word yet on whether any of my peeps are going to be at the con we're going to, but they haven't released guest lists at all, yet, so there's that. Also pinged one of the folks in question about it today. Not that he'll likely answer, the silly flake.
---
40 days until I turn 40
Debating whether to throw some sort of bon voyage/damn I'm getting old/hooray for surgery party before we leave.
---
5 months until M gets a big ol' raise.
The Company announced today that they're restructuring pay for most product-group folks, which includes the Mster. This is, of course, good news--never going to turn down additional money, especially with impending sprog expenses. But it's also kind of frustrating for me, because the amount of increase he's likely to get (raise + bonus) will probably be in the same vicinity as the amount I make each year (what with working 6-9 months/year.) Basically, his raise is going to make my working redundant. Yeah, I'll probably still work (after taking some time off for the new sprog) but it's still depressing to know that my 40-hour weeks are worth less than a quarter of M's. I work just as hard as he does and have far more education, but because my skillset isn't as rare as his, he gets the big bucks and I don't. Meh. Maybe someday I'll have a Real Career of some sort instead of just this boring button monkey shit. Disproportionate pay wouldn't matter so much if I was really doing something I love.
---
21 days since I sent a query to an agent
The agent in question is pretty much the best person to pitch my novel to (in the kinds of stuff she's looking for), so I'm crossing my fingers. She supposedly responds to every query, so no news is probably somewhat good news in that she either a) hasn't gotten to it yet or b) hasn't rejected it out of hand. Not entirely sure what to do next if she does reject it, but no sense in dwelling on that now.
Looking forward to getting some feedback from my beta readers on it, too (and if you're not one and would like to be one, holla.)
---
16 days since I posted any new fic (and more than a month since the one before that.)
After finishing the novel, my creative-writing jones has basically gone on holiday. I'm doodling a bit here and there--making tweaks to the novel as I think of them, and spitting out a few paragraphs on various fics--but otherwise, nada. The non-fiction muse seems to be in good order, as I finished off two big projects for work, and have written nine lengthy posts on the new semi-pro blog, but the completely-making-stuff up muse is AWOL. Hmph.
Part of this, I spose, is the post-partum novel thing. I'm holding my breath waiting to see what the world thinks of my new baby before I go breeding more. Also, the TMI stuff is making me somewhat disinclined to write naughty things, so there's that. I imagine I'll get back to it eventually--maybe when there's new series 5 stuff to perk me up again.
--
5 hours since I last ate anything
Which prolly means I should go do something about that. Ciao for now.
17 days until my surgery
Feeling slightly weird about that, since it's a definitely-never-getting-preggers thing. Also feels weird for other reasons. M and I now have to think about contraception again (even after the surgery, since Bad Things would happen if we did fertilize an egg.) We've never used condoms (with each other) before, and it's sort of creepy to do so now. Thinking about maybe getting him snipped instead, but it does feel a bit strange to cut us both off from any future breeding. If we did do that, we'd probably wait until we'd passed the first round of the adoption process, to be sure we wouldn't be going the surrogate route instead.
---
29 days until we leave for the UK invasion tour
Doing the final prep for it: buying new luggage, clothes and other sorts of supplies, and making sure we have maps and lists of stuff we wanna do. Downright giddy for it, though also nervous about various logistics issues (TSA, customs, schlepping luggage, driving, etc.) No word yet on whether any of my peeps are going to be at the con we're going to, but they haven't released guest lists at all, yet, so there's that. Also pinged one of the folks in question about it today. Not that he'll likely answer, the silly flake.
---
40 days until I turn 40
Debating whether to throw some sort of bon voyage/damn I'm getting old/hooray for surgery party before we leave.
---
5 months until M gets a big ol' raise.
The Company announced today that they're restructuring pay for most product-group folks, which includes the Mster. This is, of course, good news--never going to turn down additional money, especially with impending sprog expenses. But it's also kind of frustrating for me, because the amount of increase he's likely to get (raise + bonus) will probably be in the same vicinity as the amount I make each year (what with working 6-9 months/year.) Basically, his raise is going to make my working redundant. Yeah, I'll probably still work (after taking some time off for the new sprog) but it's still depressing to know that my 40-hour weeks are worth less than a quarter of M's. I work just as hard as he does and have far more education, but because my skillset isn't as rare as his, he gets the big bucks and I don't. Meh. Maybe someday I'll have a Real Career of some sort instead of just this boring button monkey shit. Disproportionate pay wouldn't matter so much if I was really doing something I love.
---
21 days since I sent a query to an agent
The agent in question is pretty much the best person to pitch my novel to (in the kinds of stuff she's looking for), so I'm crossing my fingers. She supposedly responds to every query, so no news is probably somewhat good news in that she either a) hasn't gotten to it yet or b) hasn't rejected it out of hand. Not entirely sure what to do next if she does reject it, but no sense in dwelling on that now.
Looking forward to getting some feedback from my beta readers on it, too (and if you're not one and would like to be one, holla.)
---
16 days since I posted any new fic (and more than a month since the one before that.)
After finishing the novel, my creative-writing jones has basically gone on holiday. I'm doodling a bit here and there--making tweaks to the novel as I think of them, and spitting out a few paragraphs on various fics--but otherwise, nada. The non-fiction muse seems to be in good order, as I finished off two big projects for work, and have written nine lengthy posts on the new semi-pro blog, but the completely-making-stuff up muse is AWOL. Hmph.
Part of this, I spose, is the post-partum novel thing. I'm holding my breath waiting to see what the world thinks of my new baby before I go breeding more. Also, the TMI stuff is making me somewhat disinclined to write naughty things, so there's that. I imagine I'll get back to it eventually--maybe when there's new series 5 stuff to perk me up again.
--
5 hours since I last ate anything
Which prolly means I should go do something about that. Ciao for now.