Time Management and the Olympics

On Monday, I start an online class on Going the Distance: Goal Setting and Time Management for the Writer with Kitty Bucholtz. I'm hoping the class will give me some strategies to get myself organized and on some kind of schedule. Time management is something I've struggled with for years, and the situation isn't getting any better. In our electronic world, it's harder and harder to stay on task. Television and the Internet provide us with so many bright shiny things to watch and click on and investigate, from Facebook and YouTube to the high drama of reality TV. 

The next six weeks will be esp challenging for me because I'm a big figure skating fan, and the Winter Olympics start in February. There is rarely enough skating on TV for my taste, except in an Olympic year. My husband has already been warned that I will be glued to the TV throughout much of February.

The US National Championships are being held now and will be televised by NBC over the weekend. I'm so jazzed to see that the Ladies Event will be shown on Saturday night and there will be three hours of Pairs Skating and Ice Dancing on Saturday afternoon. (The Mens competition will be aired on Sunday.)

 

Pairs and Dance get short shrift when television time is scarce in favor of the higher profile Mens and Ladies events. I know some people think it cool to laugh at Ice Dancing, but it's one of my favorite events. Because jumps and lifts are limited, the ice dancers have to find other ways to be creative and put more emphasis on the artistry. The video above is Meryl Davis and Charley White performing their Indian-themed Original Dance from the 2010 Olympic season. I defy anyone to watch that and not be entertained. It's so much fun and so cleverly done. And skated to perfection.

Meryl and Charley are Team USA's best chance of winning a gold medal in figure skating. They won silver in Vancouver after Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada who took the gold.

So, why do I love figure skating? Well, there's the beauty of watching an athlete in a colorful costume whirl and jump to music. It appeals to the artist inside me at the same time I marvel at how someone can jump in the air and twirl around 3-4 times before landing on one foot on a narrow blade. I'm still amazed that anyone can do that at all, much less make it look so incredibly easy. I only tried ice skating once, and it was more than my uncoordinated body could handle. As Gracie Gold puts it in the commercial, "You're on ice alone with knives strapped to tennis shoes."

A lot of the winter sports leave me in awe. Luge, ski jumping, snowboarding. Don't you have to be just a little bit crazy to do that? Well, not if you're athletic, but it boggles my mind. What's your favorite Olympic Sport, the one that keeps you glued to the TV set when you know you should be doing something else.
Like writing.

Wish me luck with the class. Maybe I can learn to be more organized and self-disciplined, like the amazing Olympic athletes.

Linda

Guest Blogger @KittyBucholtz

Please join me in giving a warm welcome to the charming Kitty Bucholtz as she talks about her new release, Unexpected Superhero. I had the pleasure of working with Kitty on the Orange County romance anthology, Romancing The Pages. Kitty's story, Hero in Disguise, is a prequel to Unexpected Superhero and shows how Tori and Joe met on Halloween. Her writing is as delightful as she is.

Now I'll turn things over to Kitty.

Dreaming About Superheroes

Yesterday I woke up about dawn from the coolest dream. I don’t remember it all now, but one thing was really clear - my friend Kathleen knew everything there was to know about Marvel comics! In the dream, she was telling me about who wrote Spider-Man, and who did the artwork for Iron Man, and how the Incredible Hulk movies differed from each other and from the comics.

I was so interested in what she had to say, I tried to stay asleep and listen to her. But soon her voice was drowned out by a crow. That’s when I fully realized I was dreaming. That darned crow seems to love the tree outside our bedroom window.

And yet it still took me another minute to remember something - I don’t think Kathleen knows much at all about Marvel comics! Or any others!

Since I started writing my new novel, Unexpected Superhero, I’ve had superheroes on the brain. And it’s been even worse since the book came out as a Kindle exclusive ebook on June 1. My husband John is a computer animator and recovering comic book collector, so we see all the comic book movies, visit comic book stores with some regularity, and even watch cartoons on Netflix. Our inner ten-year-olds are alive and well!

But I wanted to write about superheroes from the girl’s perspective. What do you wear when you find out you’re a superhero? How do you stay warm in your super suit when it’s snowing? And the question on everyone’s mind - is sex with a superhero better?

My inner ten-year-old wants to know the answer to the first two questions - and my adult self is pretty curious about the last one! So I started the Adventures of Lewis and Clarke series about a pair of newlyweds with a lot of secrets. Here’s a little peek...

Tori Lewis was out of M&Ms. None in her purse, none in the glove box. Even the emergency packet in her briefcase had been consumed during her pre-wedding jitters. After the job interview she’d just endured for Half TV, a local cable TV station, she needed a chocolate fix. Now.

“I know I’m supposed to go to you for comfort,” she muttered to God as she pulled into a parking spot, “but if you wouldn’t mind, a package of M&Ms would jumpstart the process.”

The bell tinkled over her head as the door of Ed & Eddie’s Corner Market closed behind her. Tori stamped the snow off her boots as her eyes adjusted from the deepening twilight outside to the bright fluorescent lights of the store. It took her a moment to notice everyone in the store staring at her. Including the guy with the gun.

Tori froze. She always assumed her love of the colorful chocolate candy might one day destroy her figure, but she never expected her addiction to end in gunfire.

The gunman swung toward her. His bulky open coat couldn’t hide the fact that the skinny boy was no man. A Detroit Tigers baseball cap covered most of his brown hair, but not his panicky eyes. “What do you want?” His voice came out higher at the end and he cleared his throat. “Well?” he asked, forcing the word out at a lower pitch.

“Uhh… M&Ms,” Tori said. It sounded like a question. Her brain was having a hard time getting up to speed in this unexpected situation. God, help me.

Her eyes darted around the small store. An older woman cried and held a nearly hysterical younger woman, shushing her to no avail. One of the men held a baby ensconced in a little pink snowsuit. Another nodded quietly at her as if to convey caution.

Situation confirmed. She was hip-deep in doo-doo. Where was her big, strong new husband when she needed him?

The armed boy-man cocked his head toward the candy aisle. Tori didn’t know if he meant for her to move out of the way or if he was just being unusually helpful by pointing her in the right direction. Erring on the side of caution, she forced a fleeting smile and mumbled “thanks” as she walked past him and down the middle aisle to stand in front of the M&Ms. Now what?

The gunman turned back to Eddie, the cashier and half-owner of Ed & Eddie’s. “Hurry up before someone else comes in!”

“Easy, dude, easy,” Eddie said, moving his hands slowly toward the cash register. Eddie wasn’t very old either, early 20s or so, but he was sadly experienced in the holdup category. Tori couldn’t remember the details, but she’d heard bits and pieces of stories. Come to think of it, why did she shop at a store with a record anyway? She remembered Eddie had played sports in high school. Something like baseball or wrestling or karate could come in handy right now. Hopefully his sport hadn’t been cross-country running.

Tori glanced at the M&Ms next to her. More than ever she needed to stress eat. Could she open a package now and pay Eddie later? Maybe two packages. Her hands started to shake. She shoved them in her pockets.

Today was only day ten of her new and fabulous married life. She hadn’t wanted to go out today anyway and now this. Only two days ago she and Joe had checked out of their Disney World hotel, blue skies and temperatures in the 70s, nothing on their minds but a long and blissful life together. Tori prayed now that she’d make it to day eleven of that life. They hadn’t been married long enough to do anything except have sex – which was awesome – but she’d hoped for more. After all, they figured they’d have the rest of their lives together. Neither of them thought the “death” part of “till death do us part” would happen until there was a lot more gray hair involved.

The sound of a crying baby registered. Tori glanced over at the well-dressed man in the expensive trench coat. He kept his back between the gunman and his child. A gesture Tori would normally find heartwarming. But today it was the action of a man who wasn’t going to get involved. Great. He wouldn’t be of any use. So this is where equal opportunity gets us. Tori considered offering to hold the baby so he could help the other men save the day. Her self-esteem would be fine with that. Maybe if she were comforting someone, she wouldn’t feel like crying herself.

Enough! Tori wiped at her eyes. She was not letting some stupid, scared boy dictate her life and death. She’d spent too much energy changing her life into just what she wanted to lose it now. She chewed on her lip. What could she do?

A movement from the corner of her eye. She saw one of the men – the one who’d nodded calmly at her – edging closer to the gunman. Yikes. Should she duck or help?

“Unexpected Superhero brims with fun, adventure, and romance in the pursuit of justice! Don’t miss this riveting start to an exciting new series in the urban fantasy genre!” – Jennifer Lyon, Blood Magic

Kitty Bucholtz  is the author of the romantic comedy Little MissLovesick and the light urban fantasy Unexpected Superhero. Though she grew up in Northern Michigan, the setting for many of her stories, she followed her husband to Australia twice. While he made a penguin named Mumble dance, she earned her MA in Creative Writing in Sydney. When she's not unpacking or repacking, she's working on her next book or chatting with readers on Facebook. 

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What do you think? Should Tori  duck or help? Come on, she's a Superhero, isn't she? Guess we'll have to read the book to find out. 

Thanks for visiting. Leave a comment below for Kitty and tell us what you think Tori should do. Other than eat the M&Ms, of course!

Linda