Back in school.

So, it's been a while since I've updated. Here's what's new.

Even though Voc Rehab said I wouldn't have to pay anything out of pocket, I DID because I'm going to a South Carolina school. Had I gone here in GA, they'd have covered it. Oh well.

Classes for the summer semester started Monday. I'm taking Developmental Math and English 101 on that day and Wednesday, and then College Skills and Psychology Tuesday and Thursday. Math and College Skills are probably going to be easy (for the most part), but English and Psychology will be challenging. I'm looking forward to getting assignments and what-not.

Not much else is new. Haven't been writing, though I want to enter some contests. In order to make contest entry fees, I'm selling books on eBay. Wooha. That's about it. More later. TTFN

Writing name.

I think I'm going to change my writing name. Nobody online uses their real name. Nothing major, though. Maybe Hamilton R. Hudson. Or Milton R. Hudson. Or R. Hamilton Hudson. Something along those lines. Wait... what about Roy Budd? That's both my informal names (only with an extra D). I like the sound of that. My name on Blogger and several other sites is BudRoy, so Roy Budd is not a stretch. Billy Budd was a Herman Melville novel... just throwing that out there. hehehe

Good news!

I met with my Voc Rehab counselor yesterday. The evaluation I took in December proved that I'm capable of reaching my goal. They're going to back me in going to school! YEEE! I'm really excited. I hope I don't wuss out, especially now that I've got government backing. That's all for now.

Whew...

The hearing problem wore off. Words cannot describe how relieved I am.

Dammit.

I may have suffered permanent hearing damage because I fell under the spell of a beautiful doctor. She said to put FIVE ear drops into each ear FIVE times a day. She even held up her hand to show me. I was paying attention. I always pay attention to beautiful women. Anyway, I went to the drug store and got the ear drops, and did EXACTLY what she told me... I didn't READ the label for the written dosage, because I can count the number of fingers on a woman's hand. Today, I used the drops after a shower, and at first, I thought THAT was why it feels like I've got water trapped in my ear. But I cleaned it out, used the drops, and everything... and it's still fuzzy. I can barely hear out of that ear. I talked to my friend Jen about swimmer's ear earlier, and she said you have to use drops to clear it up. So I decided to read the instructions to THESE drops to see what it says about using them when you've got water IN your ears. Nope, nothing like that... but it DOES say "For adults: 4 drops in each ear 3 to 4 times a day. Discontinue if sensitization or irritation occurs. MAY CAUSE PERMANENT HEARING DAMAGE under the following conditions..." Now, when I saw that, my initial thought was "Oh shit." So, I picked up the box it came in from the pharmacy and according to that, Dr. McFineass ordered "FIVE drops in each ear THREE to FOUR times a day, up to SEVEN days." She TOLD me five times a day, dammit. Now, true, I didn't use them five times a day Thursday, and I probably didn't yesterday either. But Friday I'm pretty sure I did. And today, I can't hear out of my left ear.

I PRIDED myself on my exceptional hearing. I'm the only person in this household who COULD hear. And now... fuck. I sure hope this is temporary. I'm calling first thing tomorrow morning if this "swimmer's ear" doesn't wear off. I've never had it to last more than a day, even though it stuck with Jen for over a week. I'm super fucking pissed about this. I know, what she prescribed was only ONE drop difference, but when you read the ingredients and the HAZARDS of this stuff, you think, "She told me to use one more drop than their suggested dosage... and they flat-out TELL you that it can cause permanent hearing damage." She didn't say anything of the sort to me.

Now, I know, it's partly my fault for not reading the instructions BEFORE I used them. But it's also partly HER fault for writing the prescription for FIVE drops when the instructions say four. If she doesn't have a solution to this problem, I could call my lawyer and see if I have a case for malpractice. And I'm not the type of guy who thinks legal action is the answer... USUALLY. But this is my fucking hearing. It means a LOT to me. I'm genetically predisposed to losing it ANYWAY, but not all at once, and certainly not at the age of 28. GRRRRR

More writing stuff.

So, we didn't go to the writers' meeting Monday. I wanted to, but we spent too much time at the Alltel store. I got a cool new phone. =) We can do the writers' meeting next month, I guess.

In other news, I wrote a new short story of 450-or-so words for the Writers Digest "Your Story" competition. The prompt was "A character walks into a kitchen at the end of the day and finds something on the table that isn't supposed to be there." I could have gone with a severed head, but I decided to do something poignant about mental illness... a subject I know a little something about. I might blog it later... but then again, if it wins, WD is supposed to get exclusive first rights so they can put it on THEIR website. So... I'll wait until next month to see if I place in the top 5. hehehe

Speaking of WD contests, the deadline for the big one is coming up in May. I'll enter it kind of early this year. I'm not sure what to enter, though. Last year I submitted my BEST short story and didn't even place in the top 100... and I've only written like, one short since then. It's been a dry year, you know? That story I typed out last night was the first complete story I'd written in a long time. Since like, last August. Yeah.... long time. But I think I'm going to look online for a how-to-format page for writing play scripts. I already wrote a musical, but it's not in the right format. Or, I might use my zombedy screenplay. That would be something fresh. I hadn't finished it yet last year when I entered the contest. It could work.

That's all for now. More later. TTFN

Query and stuff.

So, Saturday I finished editing My Best Novel. I took out the four page smutfest and finished numbering the chapters. I also decided that "Thieves of the Odic Force" sounds too... George Lucas. So I renamed it The Odic Touch. Then, that night, I wrote a quick query, which I edited and finally emailed to a literary agency last night. This particular agency doesn't ask for excerpts until AFTER they read the query. I sure hope I made it sound interesting enough. Here's what I said:

"The Odic Touch, a dark thriller with a New Age twist, is approximately 158,000 words and features the concept of psychic vampires in the society of the Southern American states circa the year 2000. Our protagonist in the novel is a man whom, after losing his wife, discovers a gift he possesses which he thinks of as vampirism; or, as one man with the gift called it, the Odic touch. Soon after, a series of related murders occur, leaving our protagonist as the lead suspect. He must then go to great lengths to prove his innocence; if, in fact, he is innocent."

I probably should have gone into greater detail about the story and the characters... but I wanted to get them interested, and for that, I didn't want to say too much. Sometimes less is more. I'm going to look at the other agencies in my Favorite Places to see if any of them accept simultaneous submissions. I must check the one I submitted to already first. I don't want to screw up.

My sister will be home soon, and then I will know whether or not we're going to the writers' meeting. I really want to. I can take the first chapter of my novel and see if they think it's print-worthy...

That's all I've got for now. More later.