Some nights/mornings, I wake up to use the bathroom or for some other reason, and just cannot get back to sleep. Then, of course, one ends up in the unenviable position of trying to figure out what to do (quietly) at five o'clock in the morning. JOY!

Anyway, I figured I'd update the old blog for starters....

Yesterday afternoon, we went to see Anger Management with our friend Mike, followed by a fabulous dinner at good old Em-on's Thai Cafe'. The movie was actually quite funny and somewhat clever, and the food was awesome as usual. We also hadn't seen Mike for a couple of months, and it was nice to catch up.

Earlier yesterday, we did the obligatory yard work (well, some of it, at least). This time of year, we have to mow once a week or more to keep our yard from going completely apeshit wild. This is just part of the bargain when you live in a tropical climate. We got rained out about 1/4 the way through, but it was the most important fourth, and I got the weed-whacking done, too. We also had a nice swim in between yard work and going out. It's really nice to have a pool this time of year. :)

This past week was very productive, work-wise with Envision. Rebekah and I are working quite well together so far. We were really cookin' Thursday and Friday, and got some great stuff done for our client.

We've also been planning our upcoming roadtrip. It looks like we might skip the Grand Canyon/Carlsbad Caverns, because it will add so significantly to our driving time. We might do the Dakotas instead (since we'll be in Minnesota and they're a whole lot closer than AZ/NM). Anyway, nothing is definite on that part of the trip yet, but either way we'll be seeing a part of America we haven't been to before.

The first week-plus of the trip will be spent in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. We'll be picking up Bri and doing a whirlwind tour visiting family and the like.

Switching gears, I have not been working on the novel lately, but I have been thinking about it. I've also been thinking about Interface, and I really am going to submit it again soon. I think I was just so emotionally jazzed to have finished it, but then the letdown of having to try to get it published and the subsequent initial rejection really sent me spinning. I guess I'm more fragile when it comes to sharing my work than I realized before it actually happened. It's one thing to share with friends and family -- they have a vested interest in being patient and understanding -- but when a literary professional turns a cool eye on your work and finds it not to their liking, it stings a bit.

It also leaves me feeling somewhat uncertain. I mean, does it need a rewrite? Is this the kind of response I can expect from all of the publishers? If so, where does that leave the book ... rotting on a shelf somewhere? What the hell was the point, then, if it never goes anywhere?

I guess this is where the rubber meets the road. If I really want to make this thing work, I have to keep pushing. I have to improve my craft, thicken my skin, start doing more (not less), and quit whining about it, already! Or, I have to realize that this maybe isn't for me and hang it up. I guess this is the thing that's been holding me up ... the decision. It's funny, in a way -- I thought the hardest part would be writing the damn book. It turns out that the aftermath is the hardest thing to deal with (at least so far). It's a lot tougher than building software products, at least for me.

Anyway, I guess that's enough venting/babbling for now. I think I'll head over to the HollyLisle site and get caught-up on what's been happening with the writers over there. I can at least live the writer's life vicariously through their weblogs and forum postings, even if I can't bring myself to live it for myself at the moment.

One week later ...

We had some interesting things happen last week:

- We did quite a lot of Envision work, and I've started a major new project that I need to finish up before our trip.
- Speaking of our trip, we've been doing some planning for it. It looks like a whole lotta driving in our very near future. As it stands now, we'll be gone from June 17th until July 8th (three weeks).
- During a thunderstorm, a large pine tree fell on our house. We had to have some guys come out and cut it up and repair the roof.
- We went to see Matrix Reloaded. It was pretty sweet.
- My mom was in the hospital for a day or two. She's okay now.

I think those are the highlights. I'll strudel more later.

Rebekah and I mostly just bummed around Saturday and Sunday morning. Then, yesterday afternoon, we started working together on the latest task list for Envision. I've been working on a stupid, thorny problem that required me to repeatedly bang my head against the monitor, but I think I finally hacked through it today. I'm anxious to get started on my next action item, but I'm waiting to get some data and direction from our partners first. Rebekah has a short list of stuff to do on our primary client application, and she's getting back into the swing of things whole-heartedly. I expect she'll have an update package ready to go out by Wednesday or so.

In other news, I'm starving! So, we'll probably be heading out to dinner here within the hour (at least I hope so). Not much else to report right now, so I won't bore you with more babbling.

We went up to Tampa for a couple of days (Monday afternoon through Wednesday afternoon.) We did the Busch Gardens thing and stopped off at the Myakka River state park on the way back home. They have a very cool canopy observation tower and some nice nature trails there. All in all, I had a very nice time with Rebekah and Elizabeth.

Yesterday, Elizabeth and I went to the eye doctor and got some new contacts. I was amazed and pleased to find that my prescription has not changed in the last several years. We also saw the new X-Men movie yesterday. I felt a little let down by it, but it was still pretty cool. There was a totally unnecessary plot twist with Jean Grey at the end that could have easily been avoided ... oh, well.

In other news, I did some Envision work yesterday and today, and spent an hour or more chatting with my favorite client today about upcoming work. There is a great deal to do in the very near future. Good thing Rebekah is going to start working for the company full-time next week!

Tonight is Elizabeth's last night in town, and the three of us are going out to our favorite restaurant (Em-on's Thai Cafe) for a fat-fest with Steve, Mike & Lanora. We want to say "thanks" to them for watching our cats while we were gone earlier this week.

On the writing front, I'm still exploring possibilities with Prodigy, the new WIP. I'm trying to get a good feel for the MC, but it hasn't completely gelled yet. I think I'll do a character study next week to try and firm up the details. I still have lots of brainstorming to do on plot stuff, as well. I worked a bit on the synopsis for Interface, but I think I'm just going to do a scene outline and e-mail it off to Baen (rather than doing the full-blown synopsis right now). After I get around to the query letter and more developed synopsis, I have several other publishers and agents to send it to.

Well, the family arrived Thursday and Friday. I couldn't sleep Friday morning, so I worked in the yard for about 5 hours. Saturday (graduation day) went off without any major hitches. Yesterday, the clan went to the beach while I bummed around the house. This morning, Rebekah is taking her brothers to the airport so they can fly back to their respective locales. Her sister Elizabeth is staying the week, and we're tentatively planning on taking a small roadtrip later today.

Rebekah is really happy to be done with school (at least for now). I'm looking foward to having her help me with Envision stuff, and we should be able to accomplish a lot once she becomes part of the mix. Not only is she a workaholic, but she keeps me focused and motivated, so my output should increase as well.

I have not done anything physical lately on the writing front, but I've been thinking about story directions and mind-playing scenes with some regularity.