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I can’t believe I’m doing this. I don’t think I’ve ever done it on purpose before. I’m actually going to not finish this book.

It’s not that it’s not well written. Really, it is. Clearly the author is either very gifted, or took the time to truly hone her gift. Or both.

But I just can’t read it. Seriously. There are some subjects that just make me uncomfortable, and without any humor to balance it out, I just can’t read it. It’s not really depressing, just one of those subjects that tends to send me into a spiraling depression or causes me to lash out in anger depending on how it’s presented and how my mood is at the time.

This is not a good book for me.

I hate to do it, really. It’s just not in me to stop reading a book on purpose. When they’re badly written, I push on in the hope that it’ll get better. When they’re well written and I hate reading it? I mean, really? I’d actually prefer reading my shampoo bottles (Hey- they’re the ultimate in fiction and pep talks!). And yes, I actually have three shampoos, plus whatever my husband uses and the samples from hotels.

What it came down to is this. I was trying to rush through the book, so so that I could finish it and move on to the next. Not only am I not enjoying my reading time, but it’s spoiling the time that I spend not reading as well. Do I really have 3 more days to waste feeling miserable? Just because it feels so unholy to not finish reading it?

I only learned to stop reading short stories two or three years ago. In general, I hate short stories. There have been a few that I’ve enjoyed, but they tend to be generally depressing. The ones that I actually did enjoy peeved me off because I’d rather them be full novels. Eventually I learned that I don’t have to read it just because it’s there. It’s hard, but I can just walk away from short stories now.

Novels, it looks like I’m just learning. So, does this mean that I’m maturing as a reader and writer (realizing that my limited time can be spent on more productive or enjoyable things)? Or have I just given in to the dark side?

Anyone else ever put down a book just because you didn’t enjoy it? I’m not counting based on bad writing here. I’m talking story/mood/whatever.

(And no- the book is not The Shadow Of The Lion. That’s what I’m starting instead of Book I Hate.)

Tuesday’s post talked about the 6 reviews that I wrote and sent in to AC. Now, my food product reviews never get high offers (generally around $3 each), and the cafe review was non-exclusive so I expected about the same from that. However, my food product reviews tend to garner the most hits outside of a few guides I wrote for Walt Disney World, and a How To on making tarot cards. Therefore, they totally count for me.

So, I wrote those 6 reviews and knew that I’d get offers on them, no matter how low. And I did (For a grand total of $19 for 6 reviews. Anyone surprised? Not me.). The thing is, when I work up Sunday morning, I had an offer in my email for $5 for a little link on my chatting blog. That post is archived so far back that it will only ever be discovered by search engine, and for that I don’t care. Easy money? Totally.

I also have a load of Squidoo lenses. Way more than I need, though I plan to build a few more. The thing is, there were quite a few that I just didn’t want to mess with any more. So I built another lens to sell the lenses that I know longer want. None of them made me any money other than their share of the revenue share. So I listed two of them at $5, one at $10, and three as free to good homes. Seriously, I just wanted them out of my listing so that I could concentrate on the others.

Tuesday I got an email from someone interested in purchasing one of the lenses. Sweet. I sent him the details, then gave him the link to the sale page in case he was interested in the others. He was. I sold the two at $5 each, and he wanted the free ones as well (Seriously, they were free!). The only lens he didn’t take was the $10 lens, and I had actually said on the page that I didn’t really want to sell it. So maybe he was just being polite?

Either way, that $15 was almost like out of no where. Yes, I did a lot of work. But it was all long in the past and without the intention of making money (post link) or selling (lenses). Once I decided to sell, it wasn’t with the intention of making a lot of money. Just of getting something out of it.

On top of this, my BANS sites have started pulling in a bit of cash. Nothing to write home about, but every day I seem to be getting closer to my goal of paying off the laptop with my writing/site building. Once that’s managed, I’ll be working towards making a viable income from it.

Saturday I ran a few errands with my husband, and then let him go off to his parents’ for dinner (I know they’re disappointed when I don’t come along, but I live with and work with the man. I need some alone time!) while I hauled myself off to The Coffee Co. for some quality time with my WIP. Again, that’s a subject for another post all its own, and it will come eventually.

Of course, by the time I got there, I was hungry as well, and it was around dinner time anyway. Whenever I send hubby out on his own, I order out, or buy something special as a treat (such as a quality frozen pizza, or a favorite pricey frozen dinner). So I ordered a sandwich and cup of soup to go with my latte and got to work.

No sooner did my soup arrive when I was struck by the idea of writing up the meal as something of a review and sending it in to AC. After all, I was going to write a review of the place itself and the latte for My Town Monday, why not expand it, make a few bucks, and get to write it off on taxes?

And that’s how my My Town Monday grew to be over 1300 words, and edited down to just over 900 (personal references removed, a few word changes) for AC.

After that, I was feeling pretty good. So I tackled the next stack that I’d had planned. I’ve been keeping the boxes of all my frozen pizzas and frozen dinners so that I could write product reviews for AC (again, couple bucks, tax write off, and something to put up on my weight loss blog as they’re all low calorie, healthy things).

So Saturday I wrote a huge review on The Coffee Co., the Kashi frozen pizzas, and an Amy’s frozen dinner (black bean enchilada- yummy!).

By the time I finished, it was nearly time for bed and hubby was home. Now, if he thinks there’s even the tiniest chance of me making money- even as little as AC pays, he leaves me alone. But I figured it was only fair to give him attention, and so I packed it up for the night.

First thing today though, I finished what I’d started. I wrote a review of Kashi’s frozen dinners, a Smart Ones, and the Tandoori Chef meals that I’d tried. Towards the end I started rushing a bit, so I’m probably not even going to link to those once they’re published.

But here’s the thing. I’ve had these boxes stacked in my living room (full of information) for over a month. They weren’t obtrusive, but still- it’s a pile of trash! Having all this stuff just sit there weighs on my brain in two ways. One, being an unfinished project. I always feel like I can’t start the next project until I finish the one I’m on, even if I’m avoiding working on the one I’m on. So I lose productivity both ways. The second is that there is a pile of trash in my living room! Hello? Who wants to clean anything else when you have a pile of trash that part of your brain will not allow you to remove? And most people will tell you that clutter around you will clutter your mind, and vice versa.

So, lovely day, I knocked out those product reviews, and knocked out the pile of trash. I felt so good that I then turned to a book review that was only half written, finished it up, and sent it in to my editors. And then immediately wrote another review (different book) start to finish with barely a moment’s hesitation throughout.

I’m still feeling in the groove, and don’t have any current assignments, so I typed up this post, and I’m about to go update one or two Squidoo lenses. And maybe my weight loss blog.

Unfortunately, it’s late and I may not have enough time for all of this before bed.

(This was written Sunday)