Stress Barometer about to BUST!

I might die of stress in November, just to warn you all. If I don't blog for seven straight days, call the blog authorities and have them check my apartment. No, don't do that. I'm sure my husband will notice if I die and he can take care of it. Just have the facebook people memorialize my blog. The epithet should read:

Here lies Katrina Lantz.

She overdid it during Nanowrimo.

You think I'm being dramatic, but I just got the hiccups.

THE HICCUPS!

This is serious, people. I think I need a stress reliever. 

I'm going to make a list of things that might relieve this barometric pressure:

1. Write from prompts to warm up for Nanowrimo.

2. Do the dishes/laundry/toy-cleanup so my space will be zen.

3. Go to the park with the kids and get some fresh air.

4. Close down the computer and read one of my awesome sidebar books.

5. Yoga, yoga, yoga, yoga, yoga.

6. Dress the kids up in their Halloween costumes and take pictures 

(they'll be Diego and Boots)

Now that I have a list of nice things to do, I feel better already. 

Just to prove I'm going to do it, I'll start right here where you can see. Here's my writing from a prompt:

The Brazilian jungle heat soaked me in sweat, a billboard broadcasting my humanity.

My jaw trembled. “How many of you are there?”

The motherless little girl with dark but icy skin and rust colored eyes circled me. A playful grin made her look almost harmless, but the precise and agile way she moved past fallen logs and grass-thick ferns told another story.

I’d read the legends of her kind, half human and half monster—legends that brought me to her territory in a pre-college voyage of self-discovery. I wanted adventure, so why couldn’t I stop shaking?

“Don’t worry,” she giggled. “My bites aren’t venomous. Can’t vouch for that Jararaca, though.”

Following her tiny, perfect finger to the branch behind me, I barely registered the brown triangle pattern and yellow slit eyes before the snake charged.

In a flash so fast I thought I’d died, rust colored circles replaced the black slits. A deep breath promised I was still alive. There crouched my little girl guide, draining the snake’s cold blood dry.

No book prepared me for the wrenching pain in my stomach at the sight of her feasting. I keeled over, wretching into the bright green leaves of a Yellow Jaboticaba.

Ah. I really do feel SO MUCH BETTER! Hiccups? Gone. I'm not lying.

You can play the Twilight fan fic contest, too. The prizes are gorgeous.

Also, a few quick links: 

Elana's Query Ninja Chat transcripts are available. Awesome advice!

Janice Hardy, author of THE SHIFTER, talks about Fantasy

Two days left to vote to name Operation Awesome's orange owl! (in the sidebar)