Proposal Pros and Cons and the Amazing Time Suck that is Glee

So...I have been a TERRIBLE little blogger the last few weeks. My personal blog is a ghost town, and I missed my post on this blog last week.

The reason: I've been working on several proposals to send off to my publisher and with my kids at home for the summer (and my newfound and totally sidetracking obsession with Glee) work on the proposals is sometimes slow going.

Now there are many good and bad things about being able to sub on proposal.

Pro: I can sell a book based on a few chapters and the synopsis

Con: Those chapters need to rock. And I have to know how things are going to play out so I can do the synopsis. This is not easy for me.

Pro: Only needing to do a few chapters up front means I can focus my time on projects that have found a home, rather than on projects I just hope will find a home.

Con: Getting distracted is actually easier, I think, because in my head I'm thinking "Oh, I don't have that much work to do. I can afford to blow an entire day on a Glee marathon." And this just isn't true. Work needs to come first. But it feels true. And I want it to be true so bad. (Curse you Glee!!)

Pro: I can play around with all these awesome ideas I have, writing the first few chapters and spending some time outlining as I develop the story for the synopsis. I LOVE to brainstorm.

Con: SO MANY SHINY IDEAS!!! I still need to focus. Focusing is hard.

For the most part, I'm having a blast. I love swimming around in my idea file and pulling out a few that I think will make great stories. I love spending a little time with each one and I love that I have an amazing editor to share them with.

I just. Need. To. FOCUS.

And things like kids who are bored because it's too hot to play outside, cute new kitties running through the house, fun friends to talk to, awesome pages from awesome writer peeps to read, a never-ending TBR pile, and finding shows on Netflix that have three seasons of twenty-something hour-long episodes a piece that I must watch immediately *coughcurseyougleecough* sometimes make focusing on work a little difficult. Even when deadlines are looming :)

How is your summer going?

Pros and Cons of Having a Writer for a Mom

I asked my kids what some of the good and bad things were about having a writer for a mom...and I filled some in from my own observations :D

Con - When she's working on a picture book, you get scolded in rhyme..."Please flush the toilet before you leave, wash your hands and turn off the light!Get those dang toys off my living room floor and don't make me break up that fight!"

• Pro - You get the best bedtime stories EVER

• Con - You spend your days with the tv and mealtimes with a box of cereal

• Pro - You spend your days with the tv and mealtimes with a box of cereal

• Con - Mom tends to forget mundane things like doing the laundry and grocery shopping

• Pro - You get to wear your Halloween costume to school for three days in row and live off of PopTarts and Goldfish crackers (*ahem* I'll admit to the junk food but my kids have never worn their costumes to school...they do occasionally have to wear their bathing suits to bed instead of underwear but they always have a full set of clothing by the time they wake up :D )

• Con - The house is a mess

• Pro - Mom doesn't notice your room is also a mess and therefore doesn't make you clean it

• Con - When Mom says "Just a second, I just need to finish this scene real quick" this really means you'll see her in about a week

• Pro - You can get away with a lot more than usual because she's usually too distracted to notice what you are doing

• Pro - It's kinda cool to have your mom come to your school and read one of her books to your class

• Con - Mom can be kind of a dork so it's not always so cool to have your mom come to your school to read a book to your class

• Pro - you get a bunch of books dedicated to you and you can tell all your friends you helped your mom write her latest book

• Pro - As soon as Mom's project is done you get extra special attention to make up for all the hours she spent glued to the computer

• Pro - It's kind of fun to have a mom with an imagination as big as your own
  
  What would your kids say are the pros and cons of having a writer for a mom or dad?