Since the title is things I like, I'm not going to put people on the list. My family and friends know they're number one. So in no particular order, here we go:
- Baseball. In my perfect world, there would be baseball year-round. It would also be on whenever I was home to turn the TV on and watch. If that's 10am on a Saturday, so be it. That's one really nice thing about the Cubs having some 3pm starts on weekdays. Perfect.
- Being barefoot. I love running around without shoes and socks in the house. My mood deflates the instant it gets cold enough that I have to wear socks with my shoes.
- Computers, electronic gadgets, and knowing how to troubleshoot them. There is no gadget that I don't covet. Usually, I rein myself in since I can't afford all the cool stuff. I also like being computer/tech savvy enough to fix my own problems (most of the time). It has it's drawbacks, too, of course. Like the fact that I know how to format my own ebooks means I want to do it myself even if I don't have time. I'm a perfectionist and I know I'll take the time to do it right.
- Coffee. Anyone who follows me on Twitter knew that was coming. I talk about it far too often and make vows to myself not to tweet about it again. Sometimes I sit and just crave coffee. What an awesome way to get caffeine.
- Flowers. If you've followed by blog for a while, you know I had a backyard full of flowers. Flowers that were kept in protective custody because of marauding deer, but still, lots and lots of flowers. It's not that I like gardening--I don't--but I love the bright, beautiful colors of flowers and how happy just looking at them can make me.
- Losing myself in a story. I mean other people's stories here. Movies or books or any other medium, I love to fall into a world and have real life disappear for a while. This has been hard to come by for a while because I'm always analyzing whether I want to or not, so it really has to be awesome to shut down the critiquer in my head. I'm told by authors who've been writing longer than me that the pickiness will pass, that everyone goes through this stage. I'm eager for that day.
- Sleeping. Do I ever love sleeping. I especially love sleeping in, getting up when I feel like it, and having a leisurely cup of coffee.
- Daydreaming. I play through a lot of my stories in daydreams, seeing scenes, learning about characters. I've become too intent on remembering words to do this with any project I'm actually writing, but I have what I call "bedtime stories." I'll never write them for one reason or another, but they're a nice way to entertain myself when I'm bored or to fall asleep running one of them.
- Talking about my characters. Beware if you ever meet me and ask about my stories. I love to talk about my characters and I'll do it until you run away, begging for mercy. My coworkers when I was up in Minneapolis learned to never ask because they heard way more than they ever wanted to know.
- Telling my characters' stories. In other words, I love having written, past tense. I love when I'm finishing up a book and things that I thought were throwaway lines earlier in the story end up tying in at the end. The serendipity is just so cool. I love the writer's high I get as I zoom in on the end, my fingers unable to move fast enough to keep up with my brain. I love sending that baby off and knowing I won't have to deal with my hero or heroine until revisions come. :-) They torture me endlessly, which is why I return the favor. And I love being able to move on to the next set of characters who will torment me and make my life miserable.
