Sweet, sweet procrastination.
18 Sep
So yesterday I finished up a very, very painful, yet very, very fun edit of the first novel I ever finished. This will be draft nine. I’ve been working on this [expletive deleted] for about eight years. (No, that is not normal for me. But you always know sweet FA on the first one.) This time, after advice from a really, really nice agent who had the partial, liked my writing very much, but wasn’t into my pacing, I slashed it harder than ever. I slashed an entire novella worth of words out of it.
I’m happy as hell, but let me tell you, my brain is pretty much fried right now; I’m lucky I remember my own name. So when Cate and Natalie gave me tags again today, this time for a great excuse to procrastinate, I got excited.
I’m supposed to tag other people, so if I gave you the blog love award, consider yourself tagged. Er, except the two who tagged me. So I guess I tag… Jen and Reenie! Yeah! You two!
So here we go, more personal information than you probably wanted. Right on.
1. What are your nicknames?
My husband’s family are the only people who call me by my full name, Kathryn, because apparently “Katey” sounds a lot like the word for a thief in Tamil. Everyone else just gives me Kate or Katey. (I dunno why it’s spelled like that, my mom is a little strange. I think that’s part of the whole Mom Thing though.)
2. What game show and/or reality show would you like to be on?
The only one I ever watch is Jeopardy!, and my husband tells me every day I should go on it since all that’s in my head is useless trivia. I think it’d be less fun to play than to watch, though.
Does Ghost Hunters count? I’d totally ghost hunt with them, Jay and Grant are awesome.
3. What was the first movie you bought in VHS or DVD?
The first VHS I remember buying with my own money is The Crow. I must’ve been 14 or so, and I was visiting my cousins in Richmond and got it used at Blockbuster or something. When I got a DVD player after college, I immediately bought This Is Spinal Tap.
4. What is your favorite scent?
Sandalwood.
5. If you had a million dollars that you could only spend on yourself, what would you do with it?
Travel. I’m supposed to go to Brussels and possibly even Amsterdam next year, and it’ll be the first time I’ve been to Europe, so I have a lot of work to do over there. Never been to Africa either. Asia I have pretty well covered, but I’ve only ever been in the Osaka airport in Japan, so I need to hit that bit too.
6. What one place have you visited that you can’t forget and want to go back to?
I’ll always love Kathmandu, but today I ate South Indian food for the first time since our last trip to the husband’s Old Country (two years ago). I’m a little desperate for my mother-in-law’s sambar right now, so I have to go with Madras.
I’m going there and to Delhi in January though, so yay!
7. Do you trust easily?
No. But I’m often loyal to the point of stupidity once I do.
8. Do you generally think before you act, or act before you think?
I overcompensate for my ridiculous temper by thinking these days. Nothing is funnier than a 5’2″ bundle of rage. (Or, according to some, scarier.)
9. Is there anything that has made you unhappy lately?
Two words: sleep paralysis. But it’s fleeting and rare, so surely I won’t be blessed with another bout in the next year or so! I’m a pretty happy person, nothing sticks to me for long. (It’s a fine line between happy and stupid, isn’t it?)
10. Do you have a good body image?
I don’t think about it that much, I’m always thinking about things I deem more interesting. I work out a few times a week and stop eating when I’m not hungry anymore, if that counts.
11. What is your favorite fruit?
Man this is hard. My favorite fruit flavor is probably pomegranate, but eating them is a pain in the ass.
I really like limes. Limes are good for the old G&T. Let’s go with limes.
12. What websites do you visit daily?
Graveside Tales forums, InsaneJournal (personal/project journal and awesome writer’s group are there), Last.fm, epic fantasy type RP run by my friend John, Washington Post.
13. What have you been seriously addicted to lately?
I can’t stop listening to the last Kooks album, Konk! The first album was okay, but I really like this one. (Crap lyrics and loud music? Yes please!) Plus I saw them at V Fest and they were really good live, that always brings the love.
Also, Dexter.
14. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
Both of them are freakishly talented. Cate is genuine and clever, a neverending stream of Good Ideas. Natalie is funny and weird in the best possible way.
15. What’s the last song that got stuck in your head?
I woke up singing Fluorescent Adolescent by the Arctic Monkeys, which is a serious ear worm (because Alex Turner is an evil boy genius).
you used to get it in your fishnets
now you only get it in your night dress
discarded all the naughty nights for niceness
landed in a very common crisis
I’ve been listening to them all day since.
16. What’s your favorite item of clothing?
Jackets or sweatshirts. I’m wearing the one from V Fest today.
17. Do you think Rice Krispies are yummy?
I like Cocoa Krispies. Milk is gross, but at least it tastes like chocolate after that.
18. What would you do if you saw $100 lying on the ground?
Probably try to find who lost it, if possible. If not, I suppose I’d consider it lucky and buy something random for someone I knew was having a crap day. And… I don’t know. A bottle of some decent Supertuscan.
19. What items could you not go without during the day?
There should always be a notebook and pen somewhere nearby, if the computer isn’t. Or my phone, so I can email myself ideas. That’d be okay too.
Also, toothpaste. And those little moist towelette things. My purse is stuffed full of them, like I’m already someone’s grandma, I swear.
20. What should you be doing right now?
Figuring out what to do for this second draft of another project (It’s from the Audio File, which I really want to have sorted out by the end of the holidays so I can start queries). I need to write a new scene, and I know what I want out of it– I just don’t know what kind of action would be best to get it. I managed to put it off to edit vampires, but now that excuse is gone and my uselessness exposed.
And that’s me!
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Now playing: Arctic Monkeys – What If You Were Right The First Time?
posted with FoxyTunes
Good grief, you’ve been everywhere! Other than Italy, I haven’t even been out of the country : P
I consider myself tagged, and will probably post later on my LJ, although I doubt I’ll be as entertaining as you.
But you’re a victim of sleep paralysis too, eh? Horrible, isn’t it. I haven’t had it for about six months now, and touch wood it won’t return any day soon.
Dude, you’re going to be in Dehli in January? I was planning on being there from the 4th to the 10th. If you have time, I’d love to meet up with you and the husband.
My first book took years to write and it still stinks.
Pomegranates are fab but they take years to eat and I love The Crow.
Natalie: Dammit, everyone’s been to Italy but me! My kid brother was there last summer (he even sang at mass at St. Peter’s. Yeah I’m the only non-musician in the family… also the only heathen!) He brought me wine though, so I forgave him.
But that’s why I studied art history. Pretty things and an excuse to travel. It’s the only reason I’ve been anywhere!
Mike: Woo, tags abound this week! But yeah– I don’t get it very often either (anymore), only every other year or so, but it’s one of the freakiest things. I guess it runs in my mom’s family, my aunt and uncle both get it too. :/ I feel you, man.
S: Man, I think we’re gonna miss you by a week or so– we’re not going until the end of the month. (What are the odds of our visits being even that close together? Still, it’s a good time to go!) Bala has a bunch of classes that week, pretty much all day and night, so my brother and sister-in-law are coming do touristy things with me.
Cate: Yeah, this one isn’t THERE either. But I won’t rest until it is, dammit!
Actually, no, I will. But I’ll keep going back to it. It’s like my favorite child, even though you’re not supposed to have favorites…
Nothing is funnier than a 5′2″ bundle of rage. (Or, according to some, scarier.)
“And though she be but little, she is fierce.” – Midsummer Night’s Dream, III, ii, 325
(At 5′ 1/8″ I’m right there with you. I tell people I’m not short – I’m concentrated.)