Journal Entry - Partly Sunny With a Chance of Overload

Dear Diary,

I -- as always -- am trying to do too many things at once. The washer has stopped filling because I haven't put the laundry in yet because I figured I had a minute to check my email while my waffles are in the toaster and the electric tea kettle hasn't shut off yet.

Breathe.

I'm really wired today. I'm still translating my plotting grid from poster board to computer, which is going okay, except I just don't seem to have enough space. Grrr. I split the doc into two pages, legal sized so that I can still post it on the wall and write-in comments as brain storms occur. I think it will work and it's definitely now portable. But it's different and change takes a minute. (That's all the time I have, so that's all the time it gets.)

This is for the remainder of The Wicked and the Wonderful, which I recently sold to Dorchester. I'm at a point in the story where the main and subplot need to be carefully followed so I don't leave any loose ends. And the secondary characters with their unique story purpose and individual quirks could be so easily lost right now. Can't have that happen. Don't want any nasty reader letters.

But, it's Saturday, so the writing -- especially today since the sun made an unexpected appearance -- must take place episodically, between real life.

Really, I do love it though. My mind will race all day. I'll steal away here and there as I can to spew a few paragraphs onto a page and run off to the next to-do.

Right now, that's running to the corner drug store for a pack of AA batteries because my wireless mouse has died. Ugh. Then, put that load in the laundry, make a cup of tea (that will be sipped for hours), gulp down the waffles and write some more.

Stefanie
www.stefanieworth.com

I need a man

Well, I'm looking for a hero. And I'm going strictly on looks. He must be worthy of a push pin on my cork board: intoxicating enough to keep me spellbound until I've typed The End. He should not bore me. Every time I look at his face, I have to feel what Fallon (his wife) feels for him. Only I have to feel it more because I'm the one who has to bring him to life on all these pieces of paper that lie ahead of me.

I'm talking tall (let's go with six feet), muscular (not overdone, but purposefully sculpted), savvy, sensuous, sensitive. He ought to be willing and able to cook. And he's not big on housecleaning, but he'll spring for the maid (very personal preference entering the fictional realm there).

Oh, and can he sing. A Musiq, Maxwell, Robin Thicke kind of vibe. Plays the guitar but he's not a playa. I'm flexible on the hairstyle, but he's very well groomed. (In other words, there are two sinks and a huge mirror in the bathroom so Fallon doesn't have to fight him to get ready for work.)

Of course, he's a great lover -- knows when to be gentle and when to put on the power moves. But he's not too insecure to learn a thing or two from his woman.

This man has lived in my head since last year's novella Can You Believe (in The Holiday Inn anthology). I'd leave him there, but I have too many other folks clamoring for my mental mirror these days. I need to make him materialize and relegate him to a square across from my computer. Right now I've got Djimon hanging around as a placeholder, but I'm not trying to fight Kimora for him.

In summary, I need the m-m-good fineness of Terrence Howard, the casual charm of Dwayne Johnson (you know, The Rock), the versatility of Johnny Depp, the youthful vigor of Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and the intensity of Laurence Fishburne.

Got any suggestions?