The Really Important Thing

Glaring headline on Yahoo! right now:

Lance Bass says he's gay

Tiny, insignificant news items lost beneath it:

Israel endures worst losses of campaign
U.S. could face showdown with al-Sadr in Iraq
U.S. gas prices seen at $3 through summer

Maybe I won't move the blog. I don't know. Maybe I'll just blog in both locations. Wow, wouldn't that be interesting? A dual dose of my thinly-veiled complaints about the genre that barfed me up and left me for dead, even more moaning about my complete psychological meltdown as a writer and double the tales of my apartment horrors. Speaking of which, it's pretty fucking awful that I now consider roaches to be a normal occurrence, or at least the lesser of two evils...now that I have spiders, that is. Seriously. My apartment may look, on the inside, like a civilized residence...but soon there'll be mosquito netting over my bed and a machete hanging on the wall by my bedside.

Now, if you're as depressed as I that the date of August 1 is looming and there won't be a new release by Amanda Hill available at your local book retailer as was the original plan, at least you may be able to comfort yourself by reading some of my dad's journalistic genius (and that of the many talented writers he works with) over at the Washington Post Writer's Group Blog. Just don't comment back to me, "Gee, why didn't you go into journalism?" because that's one of those questions I fear I'll still be asking myself years and years from now, when I've spent 340 nights of yet another year writing yet another novel that may or may not become published.

But hey, the good news is that if Only the Lucky were coming out next week, I'd probably be pretty embarrassed about it because it is actually set in Las Vegas and I've come to realize that prior to living in Las Vegas, I didn't really know crap about what it's actually like to live here. So I guess there's a positive slant to everything--even having your confidence as a writer crushed beneath the cruel heel of today's publishing market--such as now, I am at least able to go back and rewrite the story from the perspective of a native. Oh, and native I am...because just don't be forgetting about the mosquito netting and the machete.

Happy weekend!

It is officially too fucking hot to do anything.

Relocating

My blog will soon be moving to another location. Why, maybe because I'm retarded when it comes to these things and this could easily be fixed if I wasn't retarded about these things...but the simple fact is, I can no longer stomach that sickening, vomitous pink background that coincidentally goes so well with the sickening, vomitous pink that drenches the cover of Love Like That. Speaking of which, has anyone but me lately noticed that all RDI releases are now boasting adorable, illustrated covers of adorable, illustrated girls looking, well...adorable? It's probably yet another reason I didn't fit in with that crowd--when asked what kind of image I wanted on the cover of LLT, this is what I gave them:

Oh, and this:


So anyway, yeah, the blog will be moving to this address: barelypublished.blogspot.com, and when it does and I actually start writing some interesting posts there, I'll be sure and let all of you "regulars" know.

Gross

Protect Yourself from Germs That Lurk in an Unexpected Spot

The Fox 5 News station in Atlanta, Georgia, recently ran a Health Report on a study they performed on women's purses. Their health team went to a local mall and took samples from the bottoms of 50 women's purses. The purses were swabbed with cotton swabs along the entire bottom of the purses and the swabs were placed into special containers for processing at a local laboratory.The Health Report also showed where women place their purses: public restrooms (on the floor beside the toilet), kitchen counters and kitchen tables, on tables and chairs in restaurants, etc.The outcome of the laboratory tests contained the following most serious result: 1 out of 4 purses harbored E. Coli, which causes painful abdominal cramping and severe diarrhea.Other extremely serious bacteria and viruses also were listed, including Hepatitis.They recommended that women should DAILY wipe their purses (particularly the bottom) with a disinfectant wipe and to be extremely careful where you place your purse. Most importantly, do NOT place your purse on a table (anywhere) where you will eat or an a kitchen counter and do not put it anywhere close to a toilet.Remember, when you flush a toilet, the spray goes a distance that is unrecognizable by the human eye.WASH YOUR HANDS as often as you can! Keep an antibacterial hand sanitizer cleaner (no water needed) in your purse and use it often! And as soon as you get home from shopping (or wherever you have been and usedyour purse), immediately wipe it all over with a disinfectant wipe.

I freely admit to being a horrible blogger. I'm only writing this now because I'm taking a break from cleaning my hideously dirty apartment so my married friends who are coming into town this weekend don't shriek in horror when they see how the other half--the only half--lives. It's bad enough that I recently just noticed I don't have spare bedding and have had to tell them to bring some sleeping bags. Oh--and only just realized the contents of my refrigerator consist entirely of Michelob Ultra, Brita-filtered water, salad dressing and cheese.

I am living right. Or at least, like a struggling writer.

Today, I went to work. I ate a veggie works burrito from Del Taco. And it rained.

Must return to scrubbing my shower, now.