I have been chastised for not posting more frequently than last Thursday by Katie. But it feels like hardly a day ago. When blogging falls to the wayside for me, it's usually a sign that I am huddled under a massive towering pile of deadlines and I fear that if I peek out even long enough to write something here, the pile will tumble, smother me and I will regret it.

I finished four articles in a two-week period and am once again up against a deadline for two more (let's not even talk about manuscripts I've been editing and thesis-writing or lecture-procrastinating). One of these articles I have been heavily procrastinating to the degree that I'm now down to the wire with not much work put into it. But as I think I've said before, I work well under pressure. Hahah. I hope.

Erik and I, after watching the movie Sideways, have suddenly gotten into wine. If you know me, you know that I don't drink in any serious way. And having grown up near the wine country, perhaps I avoided the whole world of wine because it is so ubiquitious and well...expensive. But something has happened, that movie being a kind of infomercial for wine, I guess, and now I'm into it. So much so that as I sit here at not quite four in the afternoon I'm thinking how nice a glass of wine would taste. Fortunately I don't believe in drinking alone, especially not mid-day, no matter how expensive the bottle chilling in my fridge.

So. You want news? You want updates? Everything hangs in a kind of balance at the moment. I just sent off my novel Self-Serve to an agent. It went priority mail so it will probably arrive in a couple of days, at which point I can start chewing nails again. I remember when I was agented the first time, how exciting it was. I even got a thrill out of the query process...and then of course I've gone through this lull where the idea of seeking another agent was horrifying because I'd already learned what a disappointment it could be. I've gained renewed optimism, though, and the agent I sent my ms. to is someone I would really love to be represented by. She went through the Iowa Writer's Workshop so, presumably, she is a writer herself, which means, I think, that she might get writers better than your average agent.

Other than that, until June, when my thesis/lecture are behind me, I don't know what kind of posting I can offer you. Nothing exciting has happened. Oh, except that our workshop is filling up! Oh my it's going to be great. It's not too late either for you to join us (see link to the right under classes and events). I like this mode of teaching, and I think Becca and I will probably continue to do this kind of workshop at least once a year. Maybe twice. Maybe we'll mix it up and go different places with it. All I know is that it's going to be fantastic and I can't wait.

My garden is producing strawberries! And little Asparaguys (Spelling on purpose). The tomatoes need a bit more sun, but the zucchini squash seem to be thriving. The melons and cantaloupes are a toss up.

More soon. I promise. I have to write about Katie. About how she says "I'm sorry" too much, how she bosses me around in the studio, and how she gets when she is drunk...tune in.

JPR