Avery Olive

All the Christmas hoopla is over... which really just means that the fun and exciting part of Christmas is now part of the past, and as per usual the daunting task of cleaning, organizing, purging and the like is among us.
So, I figure it is the perfect time to take a bit of a blog break, replacing typed words with de-tinseling my tree, storing ornaments, and as I mentioned above, cleaning and organizing.

At the first of the month, it had looked like Christmas had come and threw up all over my house, leaving behind, not chunks of nasty food, but lights, cards, tinsel, tree needles, gift papers and lame nick-nacks that I am ashamed to admit I own, and happily set out during Christmas. But now... well, it looks like someone just plain threw up. I have boxes, and tiny bags, left over wrapping squished into every nook and cranny, tape and bows stuck to the walls, holiday cards on every surface and a fridge full of leftovers that has probably started to turn and grow fuzz.

So, sadly, I think all the above needs to be taken care of in a timely matter which will probably leave little time for extra-curricular activities.

But, before I dash away I'd like to leave you with a few things...

First and foremost, though I'm a little behind, one should head on over to Read 2 Review, the wonderful gals and guys are having a very fun and festive contest with tons of great books up for grabs! They are celebrating (and true to form) their own 12 Days of Christmas Giveaways! It's the Fourth Day.

Secondly, I'm in preparation for laying out my 2012 goals, assuming of course, the world does not end. It's customary I'm sure, among all of us, to lay out those resolutions that we in full force strive to accomplish. I'm not planning to add weight loss, or perhaps to quit smoking (I know, that's terrible, and really, really bad, but shh don't tell) or perhaps to be better at managing my money, or organzing my time. No, these goals are all of the strictly literary nature that I will be sure to share with you come the New Year.

Thirdly, in conjuction with the above I am planning out my TBR in 2012 list. That's right, I like to think about all the wonderful books out there that I want to immerse myself in, write them down and see, more seriously, how many I fail to cross off the list lol

Fourthly, and to be honest this should be number one... but, I'm not going to lie, procrastination might just be my middle name, I really do need to clean, organize, and purge!

So, I know it's upsetting but for the next 4 Days at the very least, I shall be indesposed. I wouldn't expect much from me in the way of blog post writing, but that doesn't mean I'll forget all you readers while I'm gone! Because I won't. Assuming of course, there really are readers... Someone is reading this, right? I mean, I hope so, or else this might be a waste of time. It's not though... I do have followers, which means that people must read!

Now, I am also cooking up some awesome things for 2012! So stay tuned.

*Poof*

Posted in I'm Quirky, Laziness, Random Blog Posts

Hello Everyone!

You’ll be happy to know that I did, sort of, clean out my office this weekend. Below you will see the before and after—sorry for the glare in the after picture. It’s not perfect, this is what we liked to call organize chaos. But I can see my floor, make it from the door to my desk without playing a dangerous game of should I step on something, how bad will it hurt? Also, I can actually use my desk. In fact, I’m using it this moment. It’s cleared off, organized and available. So, huge pat on the back for me, and warm fuzzies.

This weekend was also, for us Canadians, Thanksgiving. So I was busy indulging in turkey, pumpkin pie and reminiscing about what I’m thankful for—which is about a million things.

With that said, I’d like to point out that I am in full on editing mode for Stiff Kiss. I’ve got lots to get done in a relatively short amount of time. I’m going to do my best to stay focused, stay positive and make it through in one piece—and the manuscript a million times better and more polished.

So, I’m not going to lie, blog post will be at a minimum. I’m going to post as often as I can, but I promise, November is going to be full of awesome-sauce, so hang in there and don’t go disappearing on me.

Posted in Laziness, Self Pity

So I’m a huge, super fan of Absolute Write. If you are not familiar, please check it out, it is a great tool for new and old writers. It has helped me so much over the last few years with things like writing, how to draft a query, what agents are good, what agents are bad, and it has also helped me to realize something else. I’m lazy. I don’t like to clean, and I should hire a maid, like yesterday.

This is where I do my work. I sit in my Mr. Olive’s lazy boy chair, in my living room, in front of the TV. Needless to say, I don’t always get work done when I should because something amazing is on the television.
But, don’t feel sorry for me. Don’t feel bad because I don’t have a space to call my own and I am forced to sit in my living room working on my magnum opus.

Because this is my office. It’s a little cluttered, a little messy and I can’t actually walk from the door to my desk. This is my office, the one that I forced Mr. Olive to give me, the one that I made him help me clean out (once already) paint the walls, give me a desk and find the perfect chair. This is the room that I have now let become the bane of my existence. I’ve spent all of about 4 hours in it since last year, when Mr. Olive thought it time to give me my own space. But this is the perfect spot to hide crap. Store junk. And when my son gets in trouble and I take away all his toys, is the place to store them.


So, you ask, what does this have to do with Absolute Write? Well, someone on the forums started a thread “Show Me Your Office” in turn making me realize that I need to learn how to clean, muster up the strength to wade through that hideous room full of crap and throw things away, or just hire a maid. I have this feeling though Mr. Olive won’t let me hire a maid. So, this weekend, I am going to make a serious effort on cleaning my office and organizing it. And I sincerely hope that come next week I can post a picture of my office where you can actually see more of the floor, can walk to the desk, use it and not be scared that the clutter is going to come to life and swallow me whole!

Posted in Laziness

Posted in Laziness