1. Savor the free time and begin a new novel. Better yet, finish the one you began four years ago.
2. Dig out all the old love letters you saved forever from an old boyfriend, read them, and have a good laugh. (I'm fairly confident you will find them humorous. You might even discover a plot for a novel.)
3. Buy a Bazaar magazine, sit down with a pad and pen, and make a list of items you would like to buy. When you have your finished list, kiss it goodbye and chunk it in the garbage.
4. Call three girlfriends, have them meet you at Palmer's...or the favorite bar and restaurant in your town...have margaritas and snacks and gossip your little hearts out.
5. If #4 doesn't fit your lifestyle, call three girlfriends, have them meet you at IHOP, have all the pancakes you can eat with all that whipped cream and gooey stuff on top, and gossip your little hearts out.
6. After you've completed either #4 or #5, go home, regret you did either, and then sleep off the hangover. (Sugar does the same thing to your body as all that alcohol.)
7. Go to the Outlet Mall, visit Coach, Chico's, Brighton, Ann Taylor, DKNY, Gucci, Jones of NY, Prada, and Victoria's Secret. Try on anything you want, but reject everything--unless you have a nice credit card. Go home, kick back in your lounge chair, and read a good novel.
8. At last resort, clean out closets. Trust me...you will feel better.
9. Whatever you do, don't do laundry or clean house or cook.
10. Order pizza and watch the acceptance speech so you can see those 100,000 baloons.
Hi Celia:
ReplyDeleteWhat do you do if you are a political junkie who actually worked in the 1952 Eisenhower campaign when he was just 7 years old? What if you are a speech writer who has run political campaigns? And why aren’t there more romances where the hero is a politician? With all these military heroes coming back from the war and entering politics, surely there are some fit political heroes.
I might have to watch just a little of the conventions.
BTW: “The Honky Tonk Man” is just like being in a honky tonk. I hope all the books in the series can match the ‘look and feel’ and cowboy 'voice' of that frist book! Your post on Honky Tonk Hearts the other day was a public service! : )
Vince
Much as I love America, election year is one time when I'm glad I don't live there. I was in the States for three weeks in the summer of 2008 and could hardly believe all the electioneering, wrangling, backbiting, and general mud-slinging that dominated the TV! It made me quite glad that we only have 6 weeks of it in the run-up to our elections here in the UK and, apart from election day itself, it's much lower profile than on American television!
ReplyDeleteYour advice to 'do something else' sounds perfect to me!
Hi, Vince--now, what did you do age age 7 for the Eisenhower campaign? I cannot imagine.
ReplyDeleteI saw Eisenhower in Houston in a parade--about 1960, I think. My new husband and I had just moved there where he took a job. Across from the old Shamrock Hilton, we stood among a throng of people and watch some kind of a parade, and Eisenhower was riding on the back of a convertible. We both remember seeing him but cannot figure out why he was in a parade in Houston.
Kennedy won the election in 1960, and was sworn in in Jan. 1961.
Actually, I won't miss any of the Republican convention and falderal that goes with it. I, of course, just like to have a little fun with whatever topic I can.
In 1952, I was 12 years old and lived in Levelland, Texas on the South Plains west of Lubbock.
A political hero? Hmmm, interesting. Susan Elizabeth Philips writes Texas romances--contemporary, and they're funny and quirky. She has a long series and one book was about a woman who became President. But she hated the confinement, so ran away and hitched a ride with a stranger. That's the closest I've ever read anything remotely political.
But I may have to think about that.
I'm glad you like the Honky Tonk Story you read. I haven't read any of them. I did submit one to the editor but she rejected it for numerous reasons. She said I might completely rewrite it and try again. Hmmm, no, if she didn't like it the first time, I couldn't change it so she might.
It's titled Truck Stop Paradise. I'll get it published, though.
Another time I submitted Addie and the Gunslinger, and it got rejected by the same publisher. So, I gave it to Rebecca Vickery, and it became a Dime Novel. I have sold thousands and thousands of that story at 99cents--made a nice little pile of money for me.
And so it goes....
Thanks so much for your comments--I do look forward to them.
Paula--only six weeks? That sounds like bliss. Oh, no, we have to do everything to death--the gears of the political machines turn slowly...veeeerrrry slowly. Really, they wear everyone out.
ReplyDeleteI don't discuss politics on FB or anywhere public. I really try not to discuss it with any friend, because not everyone thinks alike and I've learned the fastest way to lose a friend is to say something negative about her beliefs.
My husband and I do discuss politics a lot--both sides, even though we are firmly planted on one side. We also discuss the politicians, themselves, which is really more interesting than the platforms. You know--characters to watch as they perform.
Thanks for explaining the difference, and I do not blame you one bit.
Celia dear, I would have loved to hit the bars and shopping, but today is s much the wrong time with Isaac hitting on us. Every body at home, DH, grandkids and yours truly, are all in a crappy mood, suffering from claustrophobia. I've played ping-pong with 7 and 6 yrs old, then backgammon, then chess, and told them stories. So TV is a blessing, but only kids shows are allowed until Sunday.
ReplyDeleteLOL I like the idea of not doing laundry or cooking--same goes for closets. Once you delve into the dark recesses of a closet, there's no telling what you'll find--and may not want to.
ReplyDeleteI would like to call 3 girlfriends and go consignment shop hunting.
I agree about the conventions--just show up for the acceptance speeches and balloons.
Your blog made me laugh. Thanks.
Mona--just think of the memories the grandchildren will have, and will tell and re-tell until it becomes more embellished with each telling. So, look at it that way--you're making memories for your little darlings. Haha.
ReplyDeleteI'm not laughing at you, really. I would really, really hate being in that situation. Knowing you, you'll make the most of it---how is the question. I used to entertain little guys for one day, but not for days at a time, trapped in a condo.
Take care, and we'll want to know the ending of this story.
Well, sure, Sarah--with three girlfriends,that makes a perfect quartet to do many things. Consignment shopping--I've never done that, but I can imagine what it entails. And anything with good girlfriends can be fun.
ReplyDeleteClosets--oh, yes, I've found some of those "things" in the dark recesses of closets. It does feel good to clean one out.
And I will enjoy the ending of the convention.
Hi Celia:
ReplyDeleteI was in New Jersey in 1952 and I went into a Republican campaign office, by myself, in Morristown, and they gave me about 20 Ike and Dick posters. I got on my bike, out in the country near where we lived, and nailed those signs up on the trees along side the country road. My parents had nothing to do with it. This was all my idea. It was with some reluctance that I was given that many posters. I came back and got more of them.
Can you tell me: Is “Addie and the Gunslinger” the same book as “Dime Novel”? I can find Addie but I can’t find “Dime Novel”. I want to read it.
I’m not sure anyone could publish the Honky Tonk Hearts without having read the first book. So much takes place in the Honky Tonk. The people are kind of wild and there is a lot of explict sex. It’s like being in a Honky Tonk with people who like to drink, party, and do others things. I would not want a steady diet of this but for what it is and for what it tries to be: it’s about as good as it can get. I already have the second book ready to read.
Vince
Vince--"Dime Novel" is like an Imprint of Western Trail Blazers, one of Rebecca J. Vickery's publishing companies.
ReplyDeleteI have four Dime Novels--here they in order that I wrote them. They are not related in any way except they are set in Texas in the nineteenth century, and the way I wrote the titles. Each is about 22,000 words or more.
Angel and the Cowboy
Addie and the Gunslinger
Charlotte and the Tenderfoot
Kat and the U.S. Marshal
I hope you enjoy them...if you read them.
For some reason, Addie and the Gunslinger sold and sold until it was on three Top 100 lists--Western Romance, Westerns, and Action and Adventure. Apparently, when a book gets on a Top 100, it practically sells itself.
The other three have sold very nicely, but not close to Addie.
Kat and the U.S. Marshal has not been out long--it wasn't out for the 2nd quarter royalties.
I can just see you as a little kid riding your bike around, hanging those posters.
Interesting ideas, Celia. For a moment, your photo at the top had me scared. I think I would win the title of watching less TV than anyone you know. At least, my dh gives me that title. Yeah, I know I miss some good stuff but I also miss all the mindless fluff.
ReplyDeleteLOL!! Celia, I think you summed it up perfectly. My personal favorite was drum up some girlfriends and go out for margeritas. hehe.
ReplyDeleteI'm so drained from this round of politcs, I don't even want to think about it. Hummm... perhaps I should work on that novel.
Thanks for the smiles
Celia.
I just keep the TV turned off. And you're right--sugar and alcohol have the same toxic effect on the body!
ReplyDeleteI never realised politics could be so much fun!
ReplyDeleteLinda--I like to watch tv if it's something I like, or I can keep on, half watch, and read at the same time. Most of my tv watching is spent holding and reading a book.
ReplyDeleteYes, most of it is mindless fluff. Sometimes...that's about all I can handle.
Steph--knowing how you live, if you have any free time, you should write!
ReplyDeleteLiana--I knew you would agree.
ReplyDeleteJenny--oh, yes, it a real party! When you have a good excuse to party or shop. Either one will do.
ReplyDelete