Lazy, Lounging, Sleeping Till Ten (or eleven) Chowing Down and Basically Goofing Off

Yeah, that pretty much sums up what I've been doing over the holidays. I finally finished my three month long revision on The Less-Dead (yes, I'm aware some people write complete books in three months), sent the manuscript to my lovely editor, and now I'm crossing my fingers, hoping she'll call and say, "It's perfect, April. I'm sending it to copy editing." Ha.

Besides all the lounging around, my daughter Liz and I made a lofty goal to see all the 2008 Oscar contenders. So far we've seen Milk, Doubt, Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight (ugh) and Slumdog Millionaire. (So far, Slumdog is my fav.) Next two on our list are Synechdote New York and Revolutionary Road.

Our family did something completely different this year. We decided to skip the tree, the gifts, the decorations, the lights, the shopping, the stress, and just hang out together. We had a really nice time! We took walks, cooked, talked, laughed (we were all pretty silly), and generally had fun without really doing much of anything. Oh, and Jonny and his band had a gig at the Thirsty Nickel on 6th Street the day after Christmas. They were awesome.

Pretty soon it's back to work which means facing the blank page. It's scary in a way, but exhilarating too. There are so many possibilities. I've been reading some post-apocalyptic/dystopia novels, and I'm thinking about giving that genre a try. I seem to skip around a lot. So far I have a character and scene involving a poisonous mushroom. I know that sounds weird, but I can't seem to get it out of my head. But ... for now, a glass of wine and a Belgium chocolate are calling to me. Must go.