Those who know me well know I've been a stress case lately because of writing stuff. Sometimes it seems there's so much negative in this business to focus on, it can be all-consuming. I know I've had it on my mind a lot lately, letting it overshadow some of the good in my life. This morning I have a different perspective.

Those of you not living in the Pacific Northwest missed the mother of all wind-storms last night. Hurricane force winds in certain places. We have a large stand of old Douglas fir in the park behind our house. I admit to being a little scared they would fall - that's how strong the wind was - but our house is far enough away that if one had, we would have been okay (barely). That didn't comfort my kids much though. We lost power around 4pm yesterday and just got it back a few minutes ago. My house was on the edge of the outage, so our street was out, but the school behind us and the houses across the park at the back of our property never lost power. It was a long night for us last night - windy, howling, rain falling sideways in sheets, a bit eerie with the storm and candles burning everywhere. Not to mention the "no power" thing wigged my Gremlins out more than I can say. Anyway, this morning when the storm was over, I went to the club to work out (yeah, just down the road they had power) and drove home a different route. And only about three blocks from me a tall Douglas Fir in another nearby park did fall, right in the middle of a house. Cut the two-story home in two.

So this morning, the stress and anxiety over the writing stuff seems fairly minor in comparison to what others are going through today. I haven't heard yet if there were people in the house when this happened, but I hope not. Count your blessing that your family is safe today. I know I will.

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm a sucker for a good underdog story. Rudy, The Natural, The Rookie, Old School, Eight Below - all are underdog stories of one kind or another. This weekend we saw Stranger Than Fiction, which, if you haven't seen it, I'm telling you to go watch. Writers will get a lot out of it most people won't, and there were some hilarious situations only a writer could appreciate. But at the heart of this movie, it's an underdog story - about one man who normally wouldn't have any reason to do something extraordinary in his life. You root for him, even though most days you probably wouldn't even notice him if he walked by you in a crowd.

I love underdog stories because they're inspiring. That's what most of my books are about - everyday people who are put in unique situations and find a part of themselves they didn't know existed. And watching underdog movies is always inspiring to me - the writer. Because it reminds me that persistence pays off, that dreams are important, that you can do whatever you want in this life if you work hard enough for it.

While at the theatre I saw the trailer for the new Will Smith movie - The Pursuit of Happyness - another underdog story. I'm looking forward to that one as well.

What are your favorite underdog stories - books or movies?

Holiday Buzzzzzzzz

I'm feeling rather anxious today and I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe it's because today is December 1st and I haven't done a lick of Christmas shopping yet. Maybe it's because tonight I have to go to a Christmas party with the DH and I know absolutely no one who will be there. Maybe it's because said Christmas party is out of town, hence I have to pack up overnight crap for three gremlins and get them situated with their cousin - who's going to babysit - before we go. Maybe it's because I had some sugar this week after having been sugar-free for over two months and the poison has gone straight to my brain. Maybe it's because the WIP is still kicking my butt - I thought I'd made a break-through, was super excited with the new direction, and now am worried it might be too similar to the other proposal I recently finished (at least initially). Maybe it's because last night I spent some time online reading author blogs and ingested all the stress and worry over deadlines and proposals and fear of success (Yeah, Lisa told me not to do that again). And maybe my anxiety is just related to the fact publishing has to be the slowest industry in the world. Simply put - waiting sucks.

So instead of elaborating on this wonderful (anxious!) mood I'm in, I'm going to direct you to some rather enlightening links. Tess Gerritsen blogged about desperation last Saturday. If you're an unpub waiting to hit the big time, you should definitely read this one. Allison Brennan blogged about the Nine Marks of a Bestselling Author at Murder She Writes yesterday. Also a good one to read. And finally, in case you missed it, Jenny Crusie has a hilarious blog entry about the ever-anonymous Miss Snark and recent comments the woman(?) made that you just shouldn't miss.

So happy reading to all. I'm off to get coffee. Hey...maybe caffeine withdrawl is the root of my anxiety!