Baseball season is almost here. For those of you who don't know my DH personally, he's a big baseball nut. Lives for it. Loves it. Loves to play it and watch it and coach it. He coached HS ball for years, and since our kids are now playing, has switched to coaching them.

Our oldest is a girl. And little league in our town is a big deal. There's a whole "political" side to the league - who knows who, who's friends with who, who's parents are related to so-and-so. We tend to stay out of the politics and focus on the sport. DH has been coaching our daughter from the time she started out in T-ball. However, because it's so "serious" here, they separate girls from boys right off the bat. Even in T-ball, there are no co-ed teams.

I've left the baseball decisions up to DH because he's the expert. When the daughter was little, he decided to put her on a boys team. First of all, the ball was smaller, and her hands were tiny. And second of all, our daughter is a tomboy. All of her friends - then and now - are boys, and she wanted to play with her friends. When she started out, there were several girls playing in the boys' league at her level. This year, she's the only one.

We have always left the choice up to her. Play baseball or play softball. We don't care. She's chosen baseball year after year. Why? I'm not sure, but I suspect it's because that's where her friends are. Of the few girls she hangs out with at school, NONE play softball. Ability-wise she's playing at the same level as the boys. She's as tall, as strong and plays just as well. If we thought she could get hurt playing with the boys, we wouldn't let her play.

Why do I bring all this up? Simple. Over and over from parents this year I'm hearing, "Why isn't she playing softball? What do you have against softball? She should be playing softball instead of baseball." So much so that I'm really getting tired of hearing it. People assume that because my DH has always been so involved in baseball that we're forcing her to play baseball instead of softball, which totally isn't the case. But what surprises me most is these comments are coming from women. Women, who are basically implying that my daughter can't play on a boys' team and shouldn't be playing with the boys. That it's wrong. I can't begin to tell you how much that upsets me. I have always told my daughter she can do and be whatever she wants. And the choice is always hers. When my mother was young and going to college, she said there were basically three choices for women back then - be a teacher, a nurse or a secretary. She chose to be a teacher, and still is. Today, that's not the case, and as we've watched women break the glass-ceiling, it still amazes me that in this day and age, there are people - including women - that are stereotyping us because of our gender.

I write strong, independent, tough heroines. The kind of women I admire and aspire to be myself. The kind of women I want my daughter to be. What am I telling her if that's the kind of woman I am, the kind I write, yet I force her to play a sport she doesn't want to play simply because she's a girl? At some point, I'm sure she will play softball, and if and when she makes that choice, I will be there on the bench, watching every game and rooting for her the same as I have on every other team she's been a part of. I just hate the fact that at the age of 8, she's already having to deal with prejudice simply because she's a girl.

My plans to crank out pages just isn't working. Yesterday, DH had a minor outpatient procedure on his back. I had to take him and hang out in the waiting room all afternoon. I took my laptop and my ipod and planned to really get some writing done. Ten minutes into my book, my computer froze and then wouldn't restart. Needless to say, I had a minor panic attack. First of all - wasted afternoon writing-wise. Second of all, I haven't backed up anything in eons. And my biggest fear was I'd just lost everything I've written in the last six months.

Luckily, when we got home, my laptop booted up okay. Because we had company, I didn't get a chance to back up yet, but I will. Today. Catastrophe #1 - Averted.

I then hoped I could get some work done this weekend. Great plan, bad environment. We ended up having my nephew here this weekend. He's 15 months. Need I say more? Gosh, even though Gremlin #3 just turned two a few weeks ago, I'd completely forgotten what it was like to have a one-year-old in the house. This boy is the silent tornado. He gets into EVERYTHING. By 8AM he'd already dumped the dog's water bowl on himself, unraveled every toilet paper roll in our house, opened his cup and spilled milk all over the carpet, picked up Gremlin #2's UNO game and tossed the cards all over the living room, emptied the Tupperware cupboard and set my two-year-old off on a temper tantrum. I've spent all morning chasing him, yelling, "No! Get out of there! No! Don't touch that!" I'm sure he's going to grow up with disjointed memories of his psycho aunt who used to follow him all over the house.

So...(big sigh)...the boys are finally napping. Both of them. I made sure they went down at the same time. Gremlin #1 is at a bday party. Gremlin #2 is playing Playstation games. DH is working and the house is quiet. I have a million things I should do while the silent tornado is asleep, but I'm sitting here trying to unwind. I have a feeling I won't get much writing done this weekend.

Catastrophe #2 - Averted for The Time Being.

So what do you have going this weekend?

***

Minor addendum...forgot to add. My agent's blogging over at Magical Musings today. Great post about taking risks. Don't miss it.

I am the queen of procrastination. I was thinking about this tonight as I was helping my daughter with her homework. Homework packets are due on Fridays. Generally, I'm good about making her get her spelling words and sentences written Monday night so we have all week to study them, but everything else - the math and writing and worksheets - I let slide until Thursday night.

(But you're saying, Elisabeth, tonight is Wednesday. You're ahead of the curve. Ah, silly grasshopper. Yes, tonight is Wednesday. But Monday, remember, was a holiday, hence I didn't make the wee one crack her homework folder. So we're scrambling. Spelling tonight...all the other crap tomorrow.)

Yeah. I know. I'm a bad parent. I'm teaching her bad habits. If you give me seven days to do something, I'll wait until the sixth to hunker down and get it done. Why? I'm not sure. I think I have trouble producing until I'm on a time crunch. I know I can do it. I also know I can do it as well, if not better, when I'm solely focused and working down to the wire. Luckily for me, that means when I sell and am on deadline, I'll be doing good. Stressed, but good. Unluckily for my daughter, it means she'll either fail or end up just like me, unless her mother gets her act together and teaches her good homework habits (and we won't even go into the fact I was a teacher for nine years).

Are you a procrastinator or do you get projects done right away?

Okay, Elisa tagged me and Joan goaded me into doing this, so here goes...

10 Weird Things About Me

1. I twirl my hair when I'm stressed. Not the end of my hair, but a big chunk out of the top of my head. In my HS psych class, we watched a movie about schizophrenia...the patients all twirled their hair just like me.

2. I love sugar-free mochas. With whipped cream. Kinda defeats the purpose, but I still love them.

3. I can't start a book and not finish it. Bugs me to no end. Even if the book is horrid, I'll still waste my time and finish reading it.

4. I had lasik surgery about six years ago. BEST thing I've ever done. Went to Vancouver BC to have it done. What a beautiful city, esp. when it's the first thing you see CLEARLY in years. I want to go back (minus the eye surgery, of course).

5. I'm obsessive-compulsive. When I start a project (like a book), I focus solely on that project until it's done.

6. I want to get a tattoo. So far haven't had the courage to do it yet.

7. I got my navel pierced when I turned 30.

8. I always win at Scrabble (according to Joan).

9. I'm highly competitive. In everything. All the time. It's a curse.

10. I could spend hours in the bubble bath - with the door locked. I get my best plotting ideas in the bath tub.

Okay, that's ten. So I'm now tagging Lisa, Piper, Bethany and Paty.

(Better late than never)Thirteen Books I Would Read Again:1. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell2. Perfect - Judith McNaught3. Pearl Cove - Elizabeth Lowell4. Lover Awakened - JR Ward5. To The Brink - Cindy Gerard6. Writing The Breakout Novel - Donald Maass7. Three Fates - Nora Roberts8. Lover Eternal - JR Ward9. Love & War - John Jakes10. The Hero's Journey - Chris Vogler11. To The Limit - Cindy Gerard12. The Chesapeake Bay Series - Nora Roberts (not technically one book, but they're connected.)13. Divine Evil - Nora Roberts Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. Joan Swan 2. Elisa Adams

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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DH and I watched The Punisher last night - a movie from 2004 starring Thomas Jane and John Travolta based on the comic book series. I'd never seen it before, didn't have a clue what it was about. Anyway, we sat down, the movie starts...for those of you who haven't seen it, the hero is an undercover FBI agent and in the opening scene an arms-smuggling bust goes down and he's shot and presumably killed. Turns out, he wasn't, his death was faked, and he's retiring from undercover work and moving his family to London where he's planning to take a safe desk job and finally be a family man. Hooked me right away. I thought, cool opening. John Travolta is the twisted father of one of the men killed in that bust, and he's out for revenge, tracks down Jane and vows to avenge his son's death.

So the movie starts, the hero goes home, is all lovey-dovey with his wife and son and tells them this time, their life will be different. DH and I are watching, and I say to him, "Oh, you just know the wife and kid are going to get whacked. The title The Punisher tells you all you need to know. He's got to be out for revenge." And DH (who also knew nothing about this movie) says, "No, Travolta's out for revenge. They wouldn't kill the wife and kid like that." Guess who was right? Me! (Of course).

I find this happens more and more as I write suspense. Movie twists are ruined for me because as I'm watching, I'm looking for the twists you wouldn't expect or that one element that haunts a character and gives them the motivation they need. In a movie - like this one - they generally show that defining moment, and it usually happens at the beginning of the film. But in books, that tortured backstory is woven through the story and revealed piece by piece, adding, in my opinion, more suspense and drama.

The Punisher went downhill from there. Lots of fighting and gruesome details, but then that's what the comic book was all about. I still think the opening was great though...the story could have gone in any direction from that point.

Do you find yourself looking for twists in movies? Or are you able to watch them without anticipating what will happen next?

Thirteen Things I Love About My Local RWA Chapter 1. Chocolate at every meeting (thanks to Lori!).2. Dinner with the girls ahead of time.3. Sharing good news.4. Supporting each other.5. Laughter - all the time.6. Talking about books.7. Learning about the industry.8. Guest speakers - a wealth of knowledge.9. Beach retreats.10. OUR BLOG11. Some of the best friends I've ever known.12. Having people around who push me to do my best.13. Being with people who "get" me and what I do. Links to other Thursday Thirteens!1. Elisa Adams 2. Jaci Burton3. Joan Swan

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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Making A Fool Of Yourself

Over at Magical Musings today, guest blogger, agent Ginger Clark with Curtis Brown is talking about writer do's and don'ts at conferences. If you are unagented (or uneditored...ROFL, don't think that's a word), and hope to make an impression at an upcoming conference, you should go read the post.

I was going to reply there, but then decided not to embarrass myself and instead am doing it here (aren't you thrilled?!).

Have you ever made a total fool of yourself at a conference? I have. In more ways than one. The one I pulled in front of an agent though went like this:

Last summer in Atlanta, my roommate and I went down to check out the Moonlight Madness Bazaar. The room was fairly empty as we were there late. We walked through the space and checked out the goods, and at one table I spotted an agent whom I'd recently sent a partial, sitting at a table full of handmade jewelry. Now, I'm sure you know who this agent is, but I'm not going to say her name. She didn't offer representation, but the rejection letter she sent me was the nicest one I'd ever received. It stuck with me for a long time. While my story didn't fit with what she was looking for, she had extremely nice things to say about my writing and premise and story telling abilities, and in the letter she predicted I would land an agent very soon. As of conference time, I still hadn't landed an agent, and while I know no means no and had no intention of trying to worm my way into this woman's agency, I decided to go up and introduce myself and tell her how much her letter meant to me. Because it really did. Changed my outlook on my writing in a very positive way.

So, I approached said agent, introduced myself and went off on a tangent about how much I appreciated her rejection letter.

She looked at me like I had a third eye smack in the middle of my forehead. And as I was rambling I had the odd sense that all she heard was, "I'm Elisabeth Naughton and you REJECTED ME."

Of course, my faux pas was that I approached her while she was doing something non-agent - like working a booth at the bazaar. But since I wasn't trying to pitch anything to her, I didn't think that was a bad thing. After I went through my unrehearsed babbling, she looked at me with a very wary expression and said, "Okay, um, thanks." and then promptly turned away. I can only imagine she was thinking: STALKER. GET ME OUT OF HERE! Another person who wants to argue over a rejection I sent!

I went and found my roommate and told her I thought I might have made a complete fool of myself, which I probably did, but to this day I'm still glad I went up to her. Whether she thought I was a stalker or not, her words in that letter were true and encouraging, and to someone who had been struggling to find someone who loved their work, it meant a lot. And she was right. A month after conference, I found my agent.

So share your embarrassing conference stories here. I'd love to know I'm not alone. :)