I feel weird

My body feels like a foreign territory. Enemy territory at that. It must be the drugs -- everytime I take the vicodin before bed, I start itching. Not a simple little give-it-a-scratch-and-it-will-go-away type of itch...no, the type that spreads across the entire surface of your body and doesn't stop no matter how much you scratch. And I didn't know it was possible to have both dry mouth and an over-abundance of saliva at the same time.

I'll be very glad when my back is back to normal and I can get off this stuff. It's mind-numbing and body-busting. Even my stomach is rebeling a bit tonight. I think I had too much to eat at dinner.

I sent out my "Bad Girls Rule" query today to Teen People. I did get some really good feedback from Melanie, the other local writer I met online via MediaBistro. I took just about all of it, though I'm sure I've still got errors in there. I don't feel like I can quite get the hang of this querying thing. It was w-a-y easier when assignments just fell in my lap like manna from heaven.

I'd gotten back a "no" from Night Publications on the Bonaire Italian restaurant article I wrote up with a "that editor is no longer with us" note and a "we don't publish this type of thing" comment. Funny, it's exactly the type of thing you ask for in Writer's Market...at any rate, I was trying to be proactive, so I wrote back a "thank you for your prompt response" and "are there any particular articles you're looking for right now" note. I got back a very snippy "read the guidelines" response. Well, I had read the guidelines. All they contained were grammar rules, none of which I had broken. There was nothing in them at all about what type of articles they wanted and the piece I had sent them matched the type of stuff I'd read in the mag when we were on the island. Oh well. I'll look for another home for that piece, though I've got no idea where at the moment. I need to re-send out the wine shop article too, but also no real idea where to send that. I'm definitely going to stick to the query first ideal whenever possible from here on out.

I got Brent Hartinger's permission (excited, at that) to pitch a profile of him. I'm thinking maybe Out magazine, but I want to research a few places first. He's a cool guy and his books are good.

I made a trip to Borders (I know, I know, I need to find a locally owned place to shop, but I haven't yet) to buy teen mags and I, for some reason, couldn't quite bring myself to buy Out at the same time. It was bad enough buying the teen mags and I couldn't imagine the combination of teen fashion rags + a gay magazine. That's horrible of me. Not sure why I couldn't do it. Shoot, I love gay people. I was so excited when we figured out that Louisville is full of 'em. They are great for cities, generally very interesting, and usually into the arts. But that's probably stereotypical generalizations I'm engaging in. Oh well. I probably shouldn't get up and write stuff when I'm half knocked out on medication and it's after midnight. Way past my bedtime.