"Whiny PAGE alert, whiny PAGE alert!"

PAGE, as long-time readers will know, stands for Panther Author Goddess of (depending on my mood) Everything or Evil. Panther is my Animagus form, while the other three terms need no explanation. It is my official title, and I do my best to live up to it.

Unfortunately, on Saturday, I was more living down to it than living up. I was having a bad day, but that's no reason for me to take it out on all of you. I do apologize for the most unpleasant blog post, and thank all of you who responded to it so very kindly.

Since not much is going on around here, besides a very good day for my choir on Sunday, I think I will instead tell you a funny story about one of my experiences with my former job. Then I will go and finish Chapter 9 of "He Nearly Killed the Cat," and then I will post it.

I've mentioned the setup of the department I worked in before, but for a brief refresher, we had one big boss, five little bosses, and fifty-odd people working under them. One day, the big boss asked me as a favor if I would go to the convention center, a few blocks away, and pick something up for her.

I need to emphasize several things about this. First, it was asked, not commanded or required. Second, I had nothing else currently in need of my attention, and it was, at the moment, a nice day out. Finally, I like taking walks. So, I agreed.

I should have known better.

The moment I left the convention center on my way back, it started to rain. I continued walking, but the rain got harder. When it reached pouring stage, I ducked under an overhang at a piano store. Surely, I thought, this heavy rain can't last long.

Once again, I should have known better.

I stood under that overhang for half an hour. The rain continued, getting only harder as time went on. The street, one of downtown Pittsburgh's main avenues of traffic, was very nearly flooding. And still, the rain continued.

Finally, I saw my chance. A bus was coming which would take me to within a two-block dash of my office building. I darted out and flagged it down, crossing the street in the process, which thoroughly soaked my shoes. The rain I caught in the interim got the rest of me pretty wet as well.

Fortunately, it was well into the summer, so I was wearing mostly lightweight fabrics. I also have a sense of humor, and the look of horror on the big boss's face when I walked, dripping, into her office and politely deposited the items she'd requested on her desk made up for everything.

The gift card to Moe's Southwest Grill she got me as an apology didn't hurt either. But I did leave a rain poncho on her desk the next morning. Just because I could. She has a sense of humor too.

I hope that you have enjoyed this small excerpt from my (someday) upcoming office musical, "Bankers' Hours." Now back to our regularly scheduled programming, which in my case means it's time to write. Enjoy the rest of your Monday, and watch your in boxes for that update notice!

"I'm not good for anything, am I?"

It's been that kind of a day. I slept late, too late judging by how tired I was when I got up, and then spent the rest of the day playing games and eating a lot. I did no writing, very few chores, and never ventured outside the door of the apartment.

It doesn't help that the allergies I'm now fairly sure I have are playing up. I take pills with a four-hour cycle to them, and usually I only need to take one per day, but today I've been able to set the clock by my sniffles returning.

I've been in this mood before. I know it doesn't last. That doesn't stop it from being unpleasant while it's here.

Sorry if this post brings people down. I didn't want to let the day go by without posting something, and this is all that came to mind. Not that anyone reads this blog anyway, so I suppose it doesn't matter.

I'm going to try to write. I don't know how well it will come out, but at least then the day won't feel like a complete waste of time. It may still be one… no, not going there. That never ends well.

"Am I evil, blah, or both?"

It's a fair question, especially on a day like today. The sky is blue with only a few clouds, the temperature hovers comfortably between warm and cool, and I am sitting indoors, thinking up new ways to torture characters and cats.

Part of the problem is that "He Nearly Killed the Cat" is in one of its transition phases. We've finished the first portion of the story, where the world gets established, a few characters get introduced, and the conflicts are set up for the next part. Now for that next part…

Unfortunately, it's not as easy as that. I have to figure out both what order would be the most convenient to have the conflicts resolved in from a writing standpoint, and what order will keep the tension and interest going from a reading standpoint.

Also, I have to decide which conflicts affect one another. Though this story, by its nature, has an episodic feel, the various things the characters do on their individual adventures are not isolated. They will have far-reaching effects. I just need to figure out what.

And finally, I have to get up the gumption to keep writing on this story and to work on other stories, fan fiction and original. I know me. If I let myself off writing every time I feel blah, I'll feel blah all the time.

(very little voice) Some nice reviews would help…

But seriously, what I need most right now is food, more tea, and then just to sit down and doggone well do it. No excuses, just work. It's the only way I'll ever get anything done.

So, with that in mind, to the kitchen! (And really, those reviews would help. I know I have to wean myself off reader appreciation eventually, but does it have to be right now?)

"Screaming surge protectors, Batman!"

Last night, our power went out. This morning, my nine-year-old power supply/surge protector finally gave up the ghost. When I pushed the on button, it emitted a high-pitched beeping scream that sounded like I'd taken it into the electronics torture chamber.

I'm currently dictating this to a computer plugged into the power strip which used to power the TV and its accessories. The TV and accessories are now plugged into the power strip which used to power the electric kettle and Krystal's laptop. And the electric kettle and Krystal's laptop…

Well, you get the idea. I was playing musical power strips for about fifteen minutes this morning. What with that and a late morning request by my mother that I get my brother a particular size of sketchpad he can't find in the college bookstore, no writing has occurred today.

I would, however, like to point out that the day is far from over. Especially if you're me. Expect the usual update tomorrow. Now for America's Got Talent and shepherd's pie.

"And now for something completely different…"

Sesame is sitting on my lap!

No, that's not what's different. In fact, that's pretty much the same as every other day since we got the cats. Especially days that I sit in my desk chair. I swear there's a cat magnet in this thing.

No, what's different is my writing project for today. Those of you keeping up with "He Nearly Killed the Cat" may have noticed that our new characters, Lin and Nima, have friends who haven't appeared yet, named Jason and Reyna. I'm about to write the true story of how they met.

Anyone who's been reading my work for more than two years may recall that Jason and Reyna first appeared in 2009's Christmas story, "A Strange Way to Save the World." However, they have recently informed me that this is not really their story, just a silly thing they were doing together for fun.

Thus, it falls to me to correct my mistake and give the world the true history of Jason, Reyna, and the new strange way they saved the world. Not our world, but Jason's native one, and one Reyna stumbled into due to… well, you'll have to read the story and see!

Assuming it passes muster, "Mommy Magic" (a working title, but one I'm fond of, so I think it's probably going to stay) will be published in Horror, Humor, and Heroes Volume 3: New Faces of Science Fiction, available soon on a website near you. Watch this space for details!

"What a difference five weeks makes…"

Today I heard from Mary Beth, my colleague at my former job. She had a question, which I was able to help her out with some, but the phone call made me think. It's been exactly five weeks today since my last day of paid employment.

So what do I have to show for those five weeks? Well, I'm much better rested, happier, and better able to focus on my writing for long periods of time. I've established a routine for the tasks of my life, and I now have one fifth of a novel-length work completed!

Granted, that novel-length work is fan fiction, but it is set in an original universe and using original characters along with the fan fiction characters of the Dangerverse. I consider it a stepping stone into full originality, and hope the readers who are following it with every sign of interest will do the same.

Mary Beth is a good bit older than I am, and had mentioned once or twice in my last couple of weeks that she'd once had big dreams like mine, but had chosen a steady paycheck instead. Today she reiterated how much she admires my courage in going after what I want.

Although it's nice to be seen as courageous by people I respect and admire, like Mary Beth, my own parents, and you, my loving readers, the truth is far more prosaic. I am simply not persistent enough to sit in a cubicle for the next thirty or forty years. Five years was quite long enough, thank you very much.

Besides, don't we always hear the same things from older people, people who've had cancer or other life-threatening diseases, even people having a midlife crisis? "Follow your dreams. Give it a try. You regret what you didn't do more than what you did."

So, in that vein, I will forge ahead with my writing of "He Nearly Killed the Cat." After I nearly kill my cats by scaring them half to death with the floor-cleaning devices, that is. Can anyone explain to me why they're just as scared of the squeaky mechanical carpet sweeper as they are of the roaring vacuum?

"Let me explain…"

I seem to have inadvertently misled people with my comment about starting writing "as a job." Let me see if I can clear that up.

By "as a job," I meant that I would be spending job-like hours on writing from now on, instead of relaxing most of the time as I did in August. Not that August wasn't great (I highly recommend a month of vacation to anyone who can swing it) but it's time to move on.

So, from now on, I will be spending five to eight hours a day, five days a week, focused on writing. My daily word count goal is 5000 words, which I've seen a professional writer say was his daily output. It's a lot, but even typing, as long as I know what I'm saying, I can do a thousand words an hour.

Of course, the kicker is "as long as I know what I'm saying." If I'm trying to work out plot problems, solve character difficulties, or wrestle with quirks in settings, I may not make word count for the day. Or worse, I may make word count, then realize later that it's no good and I have to discard it.

One of the ways I will be solving this problem is by having more than one story going at the same time. If I get blocked on one, I can just switch to another. If one catches fire, I can let the others go for a little while and focus in on that one.

I've had people ask me if I don't get characters from different stories confused, but honestly, even when I was writing two or three HP fan fictions at the same time, I never did. Each world… well, there really isn't a word for the sensation, but "feels" or "tastes" come closest.

Each world, then, feels or tastes different to me. The characters, even though they come from the same sources, have their own unique personalities and abilities, and I would no more get them mixed up than a mother would mix up her children!

On the other hand… my mom did have the bad habit of calling every name in the house, including the dog, before she found mine, and sometimes would even resort to "Hey you, the big one, c'mere…"

Well, let's just say that I haven't had a problem in the past mixing up my characters. I don't know if I will start once I have original settings to think about, but somehow I doubt it. Still, the proof is in the pudding, so why don't I stop blogging about writing and get to actual writing?

(Also, allow me to take one moment to be very, very glad that my mother does not read this blog…)