It's Sunday Morning, and I'm feeling just fine despite the lack of sleep. Finally a quasi-cold front blew through, which makes it a hell of a lot more pleasant outside. It's a sleepy day here in the Cathey household. The freshly-shorn Simon (our dog), is laying beside my pregnant wife on the couch as she watches a random reality TV show and works on a Sudoku puzzle. I'm situated at the kitchen table with the remains of monthly bill statements and a bottle of 'Smart Water'.
We have our second appointment at the baby doctor this week. Amanda's tummy is getting pretty large. The fact that I'm going to be a father hasn't quite set-in. We do, however, have names for both sexes picked-out. There's nothing like the feeling of hearing the heartbeat of your baby. It's one of the few moments that I've ever really felt alive.
Last week was a good if not typical week aside for a small vehicular hiccup. I was really productive last week in regards to writing. Every night I worked for hours, and I'm two-thirds through with the second re-write of my novel. My wife is working through my final version of 'The Plunge,' basically to make sure there's nothing written that she doesn't know about. After all, it's a 313 page bashing of weddings, women and everything concerning tying the knot. She's really nauseated, so it's difficult for her to focus for two long on reading (oddly enough, Sudoku isn't an issue). Therefore, her progress has been delayed. She is through 50 pages, however, so I can take what she's gone through and re-write it for the final time. I've researched what agents are looking for, and unfortunately not many are looking for first-time fiction. Now, young adult literature is en vogue, which is good. But my plan has always been to get 'The Plunge' published and then use that as a segway to move into my novels. Humorous non-fiction is in high demand at the moment, so the sooner I can 'The Plunge' out the door, the better.
I'm ready for the rejection that comes with looking for an agent. I believe in my abilities and talents as a writer, but like anyone I have my doubts. Randomly I'll pick up one of my manuscripts and open it to just begin reading. More than often than not I like what I'm reading, but there are times when I'll get to something that just doesn't sound right. That's when I get depressed or upset. That's when I have to reassure myself and not get down on my writing, because I've read other people's stuff. Mine isn't that far off.
Aside from writing, Amanda and me have been knee-deep in football this year. Yesterday while I was out, she watched 10 hours of pre-season football and kept tabs on fantasy football possibilities. In a few short weeks we'll continue our annual tradition (it's only a year old, but we aren't stopping) of watching 12 hours of Sunday football and pigging out on fast food of our choice. It's our favorite time of year, especially when it gets cold out. This coming Saturday kicks off the college football season! We're heading to Tyler to see my parents for the weekend, and I'm looking forward to getting away. There are days when I absolutely hate Houston and it's commuter lifestyle. Getting some fresh air will do me good.
I suppose that's all. I'm more determined than ever to get these books out the door and start on my next project(s).
And where in the hell is our hurricane, El Nino?
Until next time...
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Do you have time?
It's 11 p.m. on a Thursday night. My wife is in bed, and I am awake, sitting and the computer and wondering what to do. It was one of those days at work again; the days the just keep going with incessant interruption and general ignorance. Surely my time is better than that. Then again, maybe it's not.
My quandary arises from the never ending and nagging feeling that I should always be writing. I mean, should I be writing? Everyone always asks me, "Wow, how is that easy for you?" I don't really know. I started writing creative short stories (for fun, mind you) when I was in second grade. I think the first one I ever wrote was about a softball game played between a team led by Santa (from the claymation series of 'cartoons', no less) and a team led by the Grinch (yeah, the one that stole Christmas). Yes, that story is lame. But it illuminates the intrinsic desire to want to create.
For years I suppressed that desire beneath a shroud of alcohol and videogames before it made an unexpected appearance again in 2007. Now it almost consumes me. So should I write? Yes, yes I should. Should I re-write? Ughhh....that's not a process that's high on my wishlist right now. Re-writing is laborious, tedious and yet necessary all at the same time. On a night like this one, wehre I'm sitting at the computer at 11 p.m., and I'm debating on where a word goes within a line of dialogue, it's tedium. That's where I am right now. If you were to give me a pen and some paper, I could sit down and give you a story that's well-written and aesthetically appealing. You give me a manuscript, that I wrote, and ask me to pick it apart for continuity and grammar? You might as well jam a pencil through my temple.
So that's where I'll leave it. No, I won't be writing tonight. Instead I'll kill my mind with useless drivel.
Until next time....
My quandary arises from the never ending and nagging feeling that I should always be writing. I mean, should I be writing? Everyone always asks me, "Wow, how is that easy for you?" I don't really know. I started writing creative short stories (for fun, mind you) when I was in second grade. I think the first one I ever wrote was about a softball game played between a team led by Santa (from the claymation series of 'cartoons', no less) and a team led by the Grinch (yeah, the one that stole Christmas). Yes, that story is lame. But it illuminates the intrinsic desire to want to create.
For years I suppressed that desire beneath a shroud of alcohol and videogames before it made an unexpected appearance again in 2007. Now it almost consumes me. So should I write? Yes, yes I should. Should I re-write? Ughhh....that's not a process that's high on my wishlist right now. Re-writing is laborious, tedious and yet necessary all at the same time. On a night like this one, wehre I'm sitting at the computer at 11 p.m., and I'm debating on where a word goes within a line of dialogue, it's tedium. That's where I am right now. If you were to give me a pen and some paper, I could sit down and give you a story that's well-written and aesthetically appealing. You give me a manuscript, that I wrote, and ask me to pick it apart for continuity and grammar? You might as well jam a pencil through my temple.
So that's where I'll leave it. No, I won't be writing tonight. Instead I'll kill my mind with useless drivel.
Until next time....
Sunday, August 16, 2009
My Wife=Pregnant
Yes, yes it's true. Actually, now that every one of you that reads this blog already knows that Amanda's pregnant it's not a surprise. It is, however, tremendously exciting. No, we weren't trying, but we weren't preventing, either. Amanda is nine weeks in and starting to develop a little bit of a baby bump. Cravings have started (DONUTS at 6 a.m. this morning), but we've yet to have our first irrational outbreak of emotional hogwash. Our due date is March 24th, and we'll go back it September to have another ultrasound done. The first week in August we heard the Baby's heartbeat. It was quite emotional. So it's actually happening; I'm going to be a father. Any guesses as to the baby's name? We're selling the rights, matter of fact.
It's 7:30 p.m. and my mind is already starting to think about work. It's like when I was in school and at the same time before the week of classes started I'd switch to school mode. Except this sucks even more. As we speak I'm suppressing the urge to continue thinking about work. Oh, a freecreditreport.com commercial.....okay I'm back. Work is out of the equation for a minute.
Yesterday was my fantasy football draft. I think I did well, and if things break right I have a chance to win it for the second time. yesterday also provided an opportunity for me to catch-up with my high school friends. We're all pretty much the same, except fatter and balder. It was a lot of fun.
Now that the fantasy football draft is gone and Madden 10 is out (which I've played for all of an hour), I'm eyeing the next piece of excitement on the horizon. This week it's a Saturday Night Boxing event on HBO. I know, not much, right?
The books are, well, they're coming along. My wife has yet to begin reading through my final rewrite of the 'The Plunge.' If she doesn't watch it, I'm going to submit it without her editorial eye. I'm ready to put that thing in the ground. I've been working on it for nearly two years, and every time I see it I want to throw up. It's gone through six rewrites, and I'm going to rewrite it again before I submit it to agents. (Mind you, I'm re-reading and re-writing 324 double-spaced, 12 font pages) Then when (if) it gets picked up by a publisher, I'll have to rewrite it six more times. So, my thoughts on 'The Plunge' for this week are that it's love/hate. There are parts of it that still make me laugh. Then there are others that are just plain tedious. Problem is that I don't know how to fix it. In the hands of a professional I'm hoping to find what I'm missing. There's a lot to work with there, though. The feedback from those who've read parts has been overwhelmingly positive, so the support is pushing me on.
And as stated in the last post, my novel is undergoing its third rewrite. I'd put it down for four months, and now that I've jumped back into it, I'm liking it more and more. I'm through about this go, and part of me is afraid that the writing is too simplistic. And by simplistic I mean not overly descriptive to the point of nausea. My wife, who began editing it, hated the writing because it was 'too wordy.' My friend, Dan, who began an edit really like the writing. So who to write to? Well, always write to your audience. My audience is the teenage bracket. That's simplistic. So, I've removed some of the description and made it a little easier on the eyes. I don't want to expose too much of the plot, but just remember that it's about zombies...and it's an awesome story arc!
By the way, we could get our tropical storm next week!
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at2+shtml/204112.shtml?5-daynl?large#contents
Also, on the media horizon for me:
http://www.batmanarkhamasylum.com/start
Until next time...
It's 7:30 p.m. and my mind is already starting to think about work. It's like when I was in school and at the same time before the week of classes started I'd switch to school mode. Except this sucks even more. As we speak I'm suppressing the urge to continue thinking about work. Oh, a freecreditreport.com commercial.....okay I'm back. Work is out of the equation for a minute.
Yesterday was my fantasy football draft. I think I did well, and if things break right I have a chance to win it for the second time. yesterday also provided an opportunity for me to catch-up with my high school friends. We're all pretty much the same, except fatter and balder. It was a lot of fun.
Now that the fantasy football draft is gone and Madden 10 is out (which I've played for all of an hour), I'm eyeing the next piece of excitement on the horizon. This week it's a Saturday Night Boxing event on HBO. I know, not much, right?
The books are, well, they're coming along. My wife has yet to begin reading through my final rewrite of the 'The Plunge.' If she doesn't watch it, I'm going to submit it without her editorial eye. I'm ready to put that thing in the ground. I've been working on it for nearly two years, and every time I see it I want to throw up. It's gone through six rewrites, and I'm going to rewrite it again before I submit it to agents. (Mind you, I'm re-reading and re-writing 324 double-spaced, 12 font pages) Then when (if) it gets picked up by a publisher, I'll have to rewrite it six more times. So, my thoughts on 'The Plunge' for this week are that it's love/hate. There are parts of it that still make me laugh. Then there are others that are just plain tedious. Problem is that I don't know how to fix it. In the hands of a professional I'm hoping to find what I'm missing. There's a lot to work with there, though. The feedback from those who've read parts has been overwhelmingly positive, so the support is pushing me on.
And as stated in the last post, my novel is undergoing its third rewrite. I'd put it down for four months, and now that I've jumped back into it, I'm liking it more and more. I'm through about this go, and part of me is afraid that the writing is too simplistic. And by simplistic I mean not overly descriptive to the point of nausea. My wife, who began editing it, hated the writing because it was 'too wordy.' My friend, Dan, who began an edit really like the writing. So who to write to? Well, always write to your audience. My audience is the teenage bracket. That's simplistic. So, I've removed some of the description and made it a little easier on the eyes. I don't want to expose too much of the plot, but just remember that it's about zombies...and it's an awesome story arc!
By the way, we could get our tropical storm next week!
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at2+shtml/204112.shtml?5-daynl?large#contents
Also, on the media horizon for me:
http://www.batmanarkhamasylum.com/start
Until next time...
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Can You Feel This?
It only comes once per year, and no, I'm not talking about Christmas. I'm talking about the annual release of Madden NFL Football on your favorite videogame system. It's not the greatest football videogame franchise of all-time (reserved for 2K Sports' efforts), but it's all we get. As I sit here now, I'm watching the 4th quarter of a preseason NFL game. Yeah, that's right, the preseason. Who cares about preseason? I guess I do. So, Madden is releasing this coming Friday, and this years NCL fantasy football draft with my friends is this coming Saturday. So it's a pretty good weak, yet again. Two in a row!
Last night was Green Day. My goodness did they rock! They're such a phenomenal band, and the front man, Billie Joe Armstrong, kept the crowd engaged for the two-hour set. It'd been five years since I'd last seen them, and they might be even better than I remember. The stage and set was amazing, as was the music. So, next on the concert agenda will be Blink 182, Fallout Boy and the All-American Rejects in September.
I stopped by the book section this morning just to see what's selling. And do you know what's selling? Yep, you guessed it: Freaking Vampires! I might work a vampire into 'The Plunge' as an additional angle. I'm not saying that I need it, just saying that it might help.
So, I'm done with my most recent rewrite of 'The Plunge.' This week I'll be getting the newest version of the manuscript bound for my wife's perusal, and after she finishes I'll run through it one more time. This past weekend I identified five agents that would be ideal to represent 'The Plunge.' As I finish-up, I'll begin to write query letters and hopefully something will stick. The other day I was telling someone that they were just like messages in bottles. Maybe someone will ready them, maybe they won't. Nevertheless, I'll be trying.
My next writing project will be the rewrite of the novel I wrote over the holidays, 'Waterglade.' Anyone remember, 'Waterglade'? It's a neat little story that's got some legs and room for plenty of sequels. More details on 'Waterglade' as I'm working through it.
Until next time...
Last night was Green Day. My goodness did they rock! They're such a phenomenal band, and the front man, Billie Joe Armstrong, kept the crowd engaged for the two-hour set. It'd been five years since I'd last seen them, and they might be even better than I remember. The stage and set was amazing, as was the music. So, next on the concert agenda will be Blink 182, Fallout Boy and the All-American Rejects in September.
I stopped by the book section this morning just to see what's selling. And do you know what's selling? Yep, you guessed it: Freaking Vampires! I might work a vampire into 'The Plunge' as an additional angle. I'm not saying that I need it, just saying that it might help.
So, I'm done with my most recent rewrite of 'The Plunge.' This week I'll be getting the newest version of the manuscript bound for my wife's perusal, and after she finishes I'll run through it one more time. This past weekend I identified five agents that would be ideal to represent 'The Plunge.' As I finish-up, I'll begin to write query letters and hopefully something will stick. The other day I was telling someone that they were just like messages in bottles. Maybe someone will ready them, maybe they won't. Nevertheless, I'll be trying.
My next writing project will be the rewrite of the novel I wrote over the holidays, 'Waterglade.' Anyone remember, 'Waterglade'? It's a neat little story that's got some legs and room for plenty of sequels. More details on 'Waterglade' as I'm working through it.
Until next time...
Sunday, August 2, 2009
A Totally Sweet Week!
I'm sure you all have noticed the new layout, which isn't anything special, but at least it's change. In case it wasn't obvious, this week is the Green Day concert at the Toyota Center on August 8th! It'll be the first concert I've attended in quite awhile, and I'll be going with my friends Martin and Bobby (and our ladies, of course). I've seen Green Day once before, and I remember them putting on one hell of a show. It should be a blast.
Not only is Green Day this Saturday, but Sunday (right now as a matter of fact) through Saturday is Shark Week on Discovery. I've been watching Shark Week since I was a kid, and I still can't get enough of it. Programming tonight has been pretty good. I can't wait to see what's in store for the rest of the week.
Great progress has been made on my rewrite of 'The Plunge'. I'm likely only 50 or so pages away from being done. My goal is to have it finished by weekend, which would allow me to have it printed and bound for my wife to read through. Then it's back to me and off to publishers. By the end of the month I'll start sending letters out to prospective agents. We're getting pretty close now, and it's exciting. to get started on all of the possibility.
Look for a pretty big announcement soon on the Tom Cathey 2 blog. I'll likely be back with a mid-week update. I apologize for the short entry, but it's back to Shark Week!
Until next time...
Not only is Green Day this Saturday, but Sunday (right now as a matter of fact) through Saturday is Shark Week on Discovery. I've been watching Shark Week since I was a kid, and I still can't get enough of it. Programming tonight has been pretty good. I can't wait to see what's in store for the rest of the week.
Great progress has been made on my rewrite of 'The Plunge'. I'm likely only 50 or so pages away from being done. My goal is to have it finished by weekend, which would allow me to have it printed and bound for my wife to read through. Then it's back to me and off to publishers. By the end of the month I'll start sending letters out to prospective agents. We're getting pretty close now, and it's exciting. to get started on all of the possibility.
Look for a pretty big announcement soon on the Tom Cathey 2 blog. I'll likely be back with a mid-week update. I apologize for the short entry, but it's back to Shark Week!
Until next time...
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