Nowadays he only reads to me. I like reading aloud, and he tells me I'm good at it (I always do the character's voices and stuff) but he can't sit still and just listen, and he also can't do two things at once. So he reads and I fold the nappies, feed the baby, catch up on my sewing...Well we just finished "the blinding knife" by Brent Weeks. This man is a fucking genius. Yet another man who's writing skill I will never be able to match. (But that's ok, Stephanie Myer got published, so I know I can too) I'm probably going to have to name my son Dazen, you know, if that gypsy in a caravan was right about me having a son at all. So read this man's books. Anyway, so we finished the book and went to his website to look up when the next one would be released (which was yesterday, in fact,)and on there is a whole slew of tips for writers. Because once you make it, little noobcakes like me want to know how it's done. The business side of writing is scary.
Anyway, there was some gold in there. And it wasn't written to bore the shit out of people, which seriously helps. One question he asks which I will share with you, because I know there is are a lot of writers here is "What is the one thing your main character would never do?" You have to really think about it, right? I'm not even sure I can answer it. But when you know... "What would happen if s/he did that thing?"
My answer, and his evidently, was "My book would become a whole lot more awesome."
So there, food for thought.
His big advice that I took on-board though was "Attend writer's conferences". I didn't even know these things existed, but if I did think of it on my own at some point I'd have dismissed it as boring and expensive. Well, the later is still true.
So I went ahead and got my google on, and of course I've missed Australia's big conference for the year. It was a mere week or so ago. Typical. And so I'm googling and looking for others, but our little conventions get swallowed up in the massive lists of shit that goes down in the states. I'm like "I wonder how many LFAD people would let me crash on their lounges?" I think there was one near Nicole. 
Then it occurs to me that hey, I'm going to Canada this year. So I looked at Canadian conferences. There's one in Whistler, a little more than a week before I'll be going to Whistler 
(We're booked in to see Obi's grandparents that weekend) and there's one in Surrey the weekend after. An international one. With agents that you can make your pitches to. Fuck me. That's fate right? Well it would be if I believed in that kind of tripe. So, I'm going. Just like that. Financially the most sensible option also turned out to be the most expensive option, a little over $600, but for some reason neither of us struggled to see past that. Because we both want my career to get off the ground. But because of the massive price tag I have to go alone. And I'm not letting my anxiety disorder hold me back from this. I have to do whatever it takes. I can learn to be charming, right? If I practice enough before I go. If I make sure I'm healthy and well-rested. I make sure I have all my meditation and calming techniques sharp and in my pocket... I can do this. I have to do this.
I just have to keep reminding myself that 90% of the people who will be there are going to be introverts at least. They will understand. They are just as afraid of me as I am of them. Like dogs. Haha. But no, it's going to be amazing. I'm googling the shit out of tips for getting the most out of conferences and such and all I can say is God bless the internet!!
Of course, in the highly unlikely event that I impress an agent enough to take me on (which apparently is most likely to happen during the late night parties
) I need to make sure this novel is polished and ready to go. I need to have my log line (or hook. I think log line must be some American term) and one paragraph synopsis memorized and ready to go. Practice practice practice. Because you know what? When people ask me about my book I'm hard pressed to answer them. It just comes out a garbled mess. I know most new writers have this problem too. So, I've been working extra hard to make novel one the best it can be, even though I swore I was done with this and I never wanted to see it again! My pilot writers all came back with the same two complaints, so I was working on those... And thank the Goddess I did re-open this thing and go back because I don't know how the fuck I ever thought I could sell this shit. I don't know why my pilots liked it. Or how they missed things like in the start of one chapter I say that the magic-guy does this spell. Then in the middle of the exact same chapter I describe how he can't do it yet and he learns how. Oops. Then another character who is wounded on deaths door early in the chapter (the same chapter as the last contradiction no less) is hired for a physically demanding job at the end of the chapter, and can suddenly speak a new language fluently. Like what the hell?
Like, I don't even know.It's taking me a bit to clean it up. And then I know I'm going to have to sit and read it, end to end. Again. Ugh. Well, it's work for a reason right? And I do love it. I can't NOT write.
Obi's been super about it too. As you might imagine I don't have a lot of time to write, (I have time to blog but not write now because Selene's struggling to stay asleep and I didn't want to be entrenched in writing and get pissed off at her stopping me
) but he's really stepped it up in the evenings to give me as much of a chance as possible.The baby is going to be a challenge for this convention too. I will still be breastfeeding, but I can't have her with me and I can't drive. So several times a day someone is going to have to bring her to me for feeds, in addition to picking me up and dropping me off.
Oh, but I'm so excited. There's a costume party one night and a formal banquet the next. I get to dress up! It's going to be mad. I also might be able to get a second ticket for Obi to join me for dinner one night, if he wants to.
Now the bummer of all this is it's the weekend directly before our friends get married, so other friends from out of town, Obi's childhood mates, will be traveling to BC for that weekend only and I will hardly get to see them. The conference ends around lunch on the Sunday, but then Dad is having a family reunion at his place that night. I'm thinking I can get him to let all the mates join in on that, seeming he knows and loves all the kids Obi grew up with anyway. We'll see.
But yes! Stoked! Can hardly think of anything else. Also, I apologize for the swearing, I just proof-read this a little and my sister's influence has rubbed off hard today (Isis's gymbaroo was this morning) but I can't be asked to edit this when I have real editing to be doing
Hope all of you are well!
Ahava, reading in the bath is the best! I use my kindle though, so as long as I don't actually drop it (I'm always terrified of that) nothing gets mangled.
Schalfie, Thanks!
Lyons, it's not really about her, it's about me. I can't go all day without feeding her. She takes formula, she doesn't care, it's for me. See, breastfeeding is painful. Not just the actual nipple-to-mouth part (that's really pretty good this time) but the let-down (where your boobs suddenly fill up like flushing toilet) can hurt, and walking around with full breasts is very uncomfortable... and if you get let down and you're already full... it's like being stabbed with a hot poker. (I do know what that's like, we had an open fireplace when we were kids lol) If you're really unlucky, you build up enough pressure your boobs start leaking, leaving wet patches on your shirt and making you smell like off milk.
There's also the issue of supply. Your boobs always try and make exactly what you will use, no more, no less. So if I feed only a couple of times a day for three days, by the end of that I'll make significantly less milk. To build the milk back up you need to feed and pump a lot more, but trying to get a baby to stay latched when she's hungry and nothing is coming out is a screaming nightmare.
I could take my pump with me and do it in the bathroom or request a place to pump, except I have very little luck with the pump (and what would I do with the milk? How would I clean the pump before having to go again?). I can get less than half the milk out and it's super painful. Imagine letting someone bite your nipple every two seconds for twenty minutes. I do what I can to never have to pump. If I want milk for a baby sitter, for example, I hand express. But that's messy, I need to remove my shirt entirely to do that. I couldn't do it in a public place. Even if I decided to suck it up and pump anyway, I'd still have a drastic reduction in supply because empty breasts have far better production.
And no worries, I'm always happy to help people understand breastfeeding better. It might save some other mum being harassed in public sometime or something.
Its really great to hear you sound so excited