"Ask a Busy Person"

[ellenkushner]

"Often the less you do, the less you can do. And the more you do, the more you can do.

"So lighten your load with care, or nothing will get done."

Words of wisdom from my good friend Isabel Swift.* Read the whole thing here.

*We met when we were both assistant editors at Pocket Books, in adjacent carrels.  We shared the pretty Georgette Heyer editions when they came in from the UK.  I quit to write - read her Swordspoint drafts while she ironed clothing for her rise in publishing to become chief at Harlequin.  She stepped down not long ago, and is still figuring out what to do with her time.  I was just there the other night, talking about which of the 2 new novels I've got started has the best chance of survival and endurance . . . . 

And, no, I don't know why it's giving me 2 spaces between paragraphs instead of 1. It's been wonky lately.

Comments

[hilleviw.livejournal.com]

Very true indeed. Last year when I had no work the only thing I could count on doing was feeding the dogs (they are unrelenting). This year with a 50% job and three active clients, the house is clean, I'm cooking from scratch daily, chairing two church committees, and I've even made progress with the weeds.

Once I am up and begun it is easy to do just one more thing. It's the "up and begun" which poses the greatest challenge.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

Indeed! See below.

Award

[deirdra eden coppel (from livejournal.com)]

You have a fabulous blog! I’m an author and illustrator and I made some awards to give to fellow bloggers whose sites I enjoy. It’s not a pass on award. This is just for you to keep. I want to award you with one of my homemade awards: Powerful Woman Writer Award for all the hard work you do!

Go to http://astorybookworld.blogspot.com/p/awards.html (http://astorybookworld.blogspot.com/p/awards.html) and pick up your award.
~Deirdra

[elrhiarhodan]

Very, very wise.

And to fix the double spaces in your entries, switch from Rich Text to HTML and click post. That will ensure the correct spacing.

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

By George, I think we've got it!

Thanks.

[elrhiarhodan]

You are so very welcome. Just be careful and don't switch back to the RTE. Everything will be completely borked up (all of your line breakes will go bye-bye).

[enegim.livejournal.com]

Good point, thanks.

Tangentially, because I think in tangents:

1) Did you realize that the third sentence in the starred paragraph is ambiguous? I read it, went, "huh...I thought you wrote Swordspoint?!" and had to read it again to say "oh, OK, 'her' is an indirect object rather than an adjectival pronoun." Maybe I just need more coffee.

2) I don't really know you in person, and hadn't previously been aware that you'd been an editor at Pocket. Now I'm wondering if that was during the years when my mother was one of their authors, and whether you knew her. OK to ask, next time I see you at a convention?

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

1) It's the "redd" /"reeeeed" confusion of the word "read." I can see plenty of room for confusion; but to be honest, if I took time to polish my posts the way I polish my ficiton, I would post even less frequently than I do. So thanks for putting up with me.

2) Might could be! Feel free to ask me *anything* at any con or other - I love to talk with folks.

Well, I am wise enough to treasure the friendship!

[isabelswift.livejournal.com]

with the 2 novels, "best chance of survival" is not the issue...

Hileviw, I remember there was a spate of "How To" books when I was working with Ellen @ Pocket, and I will always remember a New Yorker cartoon at the time of a man lying in bed reading a book. The title was "How To Get Up And Get Dressed" I wish I had a copy....

Re: Well, I am wise enough to treasure the friendship!

[ellen-kushner.livejournal.com]

(LAUGH!!!!!!!! SNORT! more laugh!)

Oh, yeah. Definitely.