Patricia Stoltey

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Saturday Silliness

May 26, 2012 By: Patricia

I have my nose buried in my manuscript, making one more proofreading pass. After a few hours of this, I get a little bit goofy. Here’s what happens.

1.  At page 165, my rear end starts to hurt. I realize I should stand up and stretch.

2.  My neck and shoulders hurt too. I consider taking a walk.

3.  My right hand, the one that’s tightly gripping my red pen, hurts. I decide to use that as my excuse for not fixing a meal tonight.

4.  Thinking about what restaurant to choose makes me hungry. I run through a list of possible snacks…

5.  Then notice it’s almost time to feed the cat. I decide to wait and do my stretching and walking after she’s fed.

6.  Or just take a long break.  Or a nap.

7.  Or water the garden. I noticed some of the seeds were sprouting when I took out the garbage this morning.

8.  Remembering the square where something is planted and starting to grow (but I can’t remember what it is), I stare down at the printed page before me and start through the list of vegetables I wanted, hoping to recall…

9.  Oh, nuts. I see a run together sentence. Wait. I’m on page 175?

I flip back through the last ten pages and don’t see even one editing mark. And that’s when I realize I’ve been “reading” unconsciously for ten pages. Back to page 165. Focus.

10.  Katie the Cat races down the hall and screeches to a stop by my chair. She gives me the death stare, which means I’d better feed her right now or else. And then I’ll stretch, take a walk, then a nap, water the garden, and return to page 165…again…later…or tomorrow.

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Comments

  1. Carolyn says

    June 5, 2012 at 8:59 pm

    I loved this, esp. the drifting over 10 pages!

  2. Stacy S. Jensen says

    May 27, 2012 at 10:40 pm

    Oh. I can relate to this.

  3. Donna Volkenannt says

    May 27, 2012 at 6:26 am

    Ah, the life of a writer.

  4. Kay Theodoratus says

    May 26, 2012 at 7:58 pm

    LOL … The hazards of being a writer.

  5. Patricia Stoltey says

    May 26, 2012 at 6:23 pm

    Jemi and Lynn…also playing a little Spider Solitaire. I sure hope I can focus better tomorrow. πŸ˜€

  6. Lynn Proctor says

    May 26, 2012 at 3:57 pm

    well it sounds like you were multitasking in your head!

  7. Jemi Fraser says

    May 26, 2012 at 3:29 pm

    I’ve found 3 online recipes I want to try – and I should have been editing too πŸ™‚

  8. Patricia Stoltey says

    May 26, 2012 at 11:58 am

    Alex — It’s a little weird sometimes to go away for a while and then not remember where you’ve been. πŸ˜€

    Hi Margot. Yes, playtime is very important around here. When I opted for a cat instead of a dog, I got a big surprise about that. I always thought cats went off and did their own thing all the time. Not Katie.

  9. Margot Kinberg says

    May 26, 2012 at 9:45 am

    Pat – I think you must have a secret camera in my home office area or something! I do precisely the same thing. The only difference for me is that instead of a cat, I have two canine alarm systems who never fail to let me know when a package arrives. Oh, they have no compunctions about insisting on playtime, either…

  10. Alex J. Cavanaugh says

    May 26, 2012 at 6:35 am

    Funny! I can focus, but after a while my mind wanders as well. Sometimes it doesn’t come back.

Meet Patricia

I read, I write, I blog, and sometimes I do the laundry and cook. My 2014 novel, Dead Wrong, was a finalist in the thriller category of the 2015 Colorado Book Awards. Wishing Caswell Dead (Five Star/Cengage, December 20, 2017) is a historical mystery set in 1830s Illinois in the fictitious Village of Sangamon. The novel was a finalist for the 2018 Colorado Book Awards for General Fiction. My most recent release, In Defense of Delia (Five Star/Cengage, November 2022), is available in hardcover and will soon be available in ebook and trade paperback. Read More…

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