Leaves aren't the only things falling in the Autumn

This time of year, when the fall allergies are just kicking off, my energy levels drop significantly. Oh, and there's this whole brain thing going on, too. I always knew the allergies were affecting my ability to think, but I didn't realize how much until I took one of those online IQ tests for fun on a good day, and then repeated it a few days later, under the influence of an allergy attack. There was a twelve-point drop. You'd think having taken the test only a few days before, there wouldn't be that much difference, but the brain-cloud from the allergies affected me that much.

It wouldn't be such a bad thing, except thinking is involved in...oh...pretty much every part of daily life. My vocabulary diminishes. Plus, my common sense seems to go on vacation. I'm more prone to saying things without giving careful thought to the words I choose, which means I mean one thing when I speak, but it comes out in a way that people think I mean something else. There are reasons I try to keep my mouth shut this time of year. I'm never certain what new ways I'm going to find of unintentionally offending everyone around me.

My current WIP is a Patty short story. It seems to be about my speed right now. More on that later, though.

I found this on one of the sites I frequent--a list of Dan Brown's 20 worst sentences. To be honest, I've never read any of Dan Brown's work, other than what's in this article, so I'm not saying anything about his abilities as a storyteller, but this article does give those of us trying to get a share of the readers' attention some pause for thought.

Recently there was an article posted by a well-known script writer, in which he explained with expletive-laced clarity why he doesn't read unsolicited material from unpublished authors. Not long after that, John Scalzi posted a similar article on his own site, minus the expletives. The thoughts included are enlightening. If you're thinking about tracking down a well-known author and asking for him/her to read your work, read this first.

The Muse Online Writers Conference is coming up in about two weeks--immediately before, during, and after, I will probably not be doing much updating of the blog, so be warned that there may not be anything new to read for a bit.

Current read: Malpractice in Maggody, by Joan Hess. This is the first of the Arly Hanks mysteries I've read. I've read all the Claire Malloy ones thus far.

~~Until later...