Diagnosis: Writing Injury

You think I jest? I am TOTALLY SERIOUS. Swear to Digression, and you know how seriously I take THAT!



Any of you who read my weekend fitness blog know I was a little freaked last weekend... sore ribs, small lump... scared me (badly, truth be told). Yeah, though I am an optimist almost all the time, my mind can still dive into dark places, so there it went.



So Monday I went to the doctor, and I described what was up. She asked me a couple questions. And then she went and got me an anatomy book.

Okay, so here is the visual aid... see the purple... part of the rib cage is cartilage. Where the cartilage and the bone meet has a little more give than we normally count on, and you can actually dislodge the connection, causing irritation, pain, swelling... She said she sees it in mechanics quite a lot from leaning over the side of cars to get at the engine. Who knew?



In the list of questions, and my volunteering answers and information it was determined that the way I was leaning over the side of the bathtub in this editing process put the pressure on the ribs that caused this fiasco... You heard me... EDITING INJURY. Have I been TELLING YOU this editing business is evil? It has just been proven!

She prescribed one of those lovely bathtub table-bobs... Something I will GLADLY love and use, though the money situation is BAD, so I am probably going to put it on my Christmas list and improvise in the meantime. I certainly am not going to put pressure on my darned ribs while I do it.





Speaking of Editing



(Do we HAVE TO?) I know, I know... I'd prefer to let it go, too, but it has been consuming my life... Why do I always forget how long this process actually TAKES? And Why, when I have a deadline, do books I mean to read find their way to me, tempting me to read instead of write... Sitting on top of my writing pile is MOCKINGJAY... and waiting at the top of my library stack is The Secret Life of Bees (put on my list for a little southern atmospheric for this cozy thing)



But that aside... I am middlish with the read through (I've DONE the beat sheet: aka, a couple bullets per section so I have the whole book on 6 pages). I've discovered something... wait for it...



I AM INCAPABLE OF READING WITHOUT MARKING UP THE DAMN THING. (and I can edit while walking, though my writing is really atrocious)



*cough*



But I am making a fair few notes on BIG stuff to do, and THAT I have on a separate set of note cards. When I finish reading, I will read all of THOSE, prioritize (as they may not all work together) then mark the beat sheet as to when they go in, THEN will come the big edit...







And FINALLY! Links YOU NEED (because I'm groovy that way)





FRIDAY IS A FREAKING HOLIDAY!!! National Punctuation Day

(Thank you Jane Sutton of Jane's Ride for this tidbit)--Can you IMAGINE!? A day for geeks like us?!





Do you write Time Travel stuff? Sounds like either fantasy or Sci Fi is okay: an anthology for A Glitch in the Continuum is seeking short stories (5K – 9K) by October 15. You hear that? ANTHOLOGY. As in PUBLISHED. Thank you Mark at The Quiddity of Delusions for the link (though he shared it on Facebook *shifty*





Are you PUBLISHED? Karen Gowen at Coming Down the Mountain is searching for the first set of authors for a new multi-author site intent on promoting books.





And the last one is strictly to amuse you... Perhaps it's a good reminder for authors that where you are determines what you think, but it is illustrated in such a chuckle filled way: Mapping Stereotypes





And this just in.  Mari, at The Giraffability of Digressions is spreading the news about Peace One Day... erm... it was yesterday, but better to know late than not to know...