DAMN, you all had the best suggestions for what to say when I'm asked what I write (so that I don't have to defend myself from the Dread Eye Roll of Doom). Seriously, there were too many good ones. Using a mish-mash of all of them, I'm going to say, "I write romance, mainstream literary fiction, and memoir." Which, I find with delight, is all true. And I'm proud of every bit so any eye-roller can just bite me in the tuckus.
We do have a winner, though! For all the people I meet at parties whom I know I don't care about, the people I chat with in line at the post office, etc., I'm going with Erika's GENEEYUS solution:
No need to enter me into the drawing, since romance isn't really my thing. But I had to say, I get that same reaction from people when I follow up "I write for a living" with "online content" or "professional blogger" or any other dumb thing that has come out of my mouth. I'm pretty sure that people deflate no matter what you say. Unless you are literally JK Rowling, it's not "real" writing to a lot of people. (And I bet even JK Rowling still gets that deflated "Oh, you write CHILDREN'S books" reaction from time to time.) All of which is leading up to what I personally tell people, when I know the conversation is meaningless. If it's just a barista I'll never see again, or someone in line at the grocery store, or whatever, I tell them "I'm a project manager." It shuts them down immediately. I have never once been asked a follow-up question. It's become my standard go-to answer. I try not to laugh as I watch them scramble to change the subject, because no one ever wants to talk about project management. (And it's not untrue… I do manage a lot of projects. It's just that they are all MY projects. But the motions are the same.)
Isn't that brilliant? I love it.
But since she's not in the drawing, I'm going to randomly draw three winners for a book each: Laurie M., Tara, and Mary B. (who always had a lot of votes for her answer: "You know how some books are all about violence and death? Mine are all about romance and sex. I like sex a lot better. Don't you?")
Winners have been emailed, and THANK YOU all who played.
New Dresses!
I made some! I'm still perfecting that smock-like pattern of mine that I drafted, and I'm getting closer each time.
In honor of NaNoWriMo!
I love this one. It's light-weight enough for summer and flip-flops, but looks good with dark tights and boots for winter. I've kind of decided these dresses are going to be my uniform. I do love me a uniform, having worn one at the day job for so long. No thought! No decisions! Just make sure it's clean!
And now I'm off to eat some more turkey. Fourth day in a row. I am now officially Over Turkey. (This is why we only eat it once a year, by the way. Because we gorge ourselves once and get sick of it, only remembering it again the next year. Turkey breeders should only breed tiny little turkeys, one per house, and then we'd eat it all year. Thus speaketh me.)
Wish it were that easy to raise the perfect size turkey. Mine this year were 1 1/2 months younger than last year’s, but heavier. Littlest one was over 17 pounds, and the toms were 33 and 41 pounds. But the best, juiciest, most tender turkey in the world!
Cute dresses, btw. My uniform is jeans and a shirt. Usually clean, unless I’m just in from the barn.
I interviewed a YA author once who said that she tells people she’s a dental hygienist when she doesn’t want to deal with talking about her books. I told her I’d have a lot of questions for a dental hygienist (specifically, what is the grossest thing you’ve ever seen?, etc.), but she said no one had ever asked a followup. The dresses look great!
Just as a little FYI, I am loving the gray streaks in your hair right now. What a perfect way to incorporate the natural color without aging yourself or committing to it entirely!
I love the dress. I love the fabric on the gray one. It has such pretty, drape is it called? How it hangs all drapey like?
(Ya. Umm, I don’t sew garments. Did you pick up on that?)
Anyway, I like the dress.
Friday I got the smallest Turkey that Farmer Joe’s had, 10 lbs! It’s just a big, delicious chicken. Enough for soup and sandwiches and easy left over meals but not so much that I will hate turkey.
Hee hee! Glad you liked my suggestion!
People seem to forget that they can make it so they don’t over do it on the turkey. Freeze the meat and pull it out in a few weeks and make something out of it in place of chicken – turkey enchiladas for example.
You’d also have to have a pressure cooker, but really they’re probably on sale now and they are fantastic to have, go get one! Put the turkey carcass into a pot and get the broth for future cooking. You can use it like chicken broth in recipes. You’ll need the pressure cooker to can it if you get a lot. You can also make a lot of soup out of it and can it up for the next cold you have.
If you’re really resistant to the canning, get some large plastic containers to store the broth/soup in and pop it in the freezer. Won’t last as long and may take up more space unless you have a full size freezer.
Cute dresses! Reminds me that I need to get in and finish the bodice of a kirtle or I won’t have a new dress for next Saturday.
Typewriter pockets?! Perfect! You just keep getting cuter 😉
The second dress, in the neutral color, would look really smart with either a shrug or cardigan or wrap. Perfect for accessorizing!
I would love to have a uniform for work! I am NOT a morning person, yet almost all the jobs I’ve had required me to be in the office at 8a. It would be nice to throw on something crisp and smart without having to think too much when I wake up.
What is the pattern to this dress – it’s precious! We have very similar body types and I want to look smoking hot like you. The typewriter pockets are perfect… I think I’m going to fly all the way over there just to raid your closet!!
Ohhhh, those typewriter pockets are fan-friggin’-tastic. You look great in those dresses! Congrats!
Oh, my. My harddrive crashed and I am sloooowly finding my blog list and addding back in again. I just caught up on what you have been up to; quite a saga! The dresses are cute; but I love your “prom” dress; color, red shoes and all. Waiting for a new book….how is that coming along?
Just wanted to say that – well, I sew. and I know what it can be like to want to finish a project but not know where to go to get it done, especially if it’s your own pattern. And I crochet, but I don’t knit. I went through the “crochet ALL the things” phase and now don’t want to have anything to do with my hooks or yarn, but the thought of it all still hangs there… all the possibilities.
I tell people that I am a writer. About a serial killer. It’s not true, this year, but has been true in the past and may be true in the future. You never know when a good serial killer can pop up in your book, unless it’s an autobiography (in which case you should *know*, but it can still be handy).