Random Updates

A few updates on recently discussed issues ...

I mentioned the photo thing to my agent, who then talked to my editor. It turns out there is supposed to be an author photo on the "about the author" page and it was left out due to a "production oversight," so it was good that I asked about it. There will be a photo in this next book, and my agent thought my paranoia about asking about it was funny.

In the comments with yesterday's post, there was quite a bit of discussion about the movie Office Space, and it turns out that the special edition DVD (with Flair!) of that movie was released yesterday (ooh, cosmic!). I already have the movie on VHS. If someone has bought the special edition (with Flair!), you'll have to let us know if the new extras and bonus stuff are worth getting the DVD. Plus, Ron Livingston from that movie was the guest star on House last night (I wonder if that was planned in conjunction with the DVD release).

And after I discussed yesterday how watching The Office reminds me of my days with an office job, there were a few things in last night's episode that really gave me flashbacks. The main thing was the person waiting for the last second to do something that had to go out in the overnight shipment. Been there, done that, shredded the t-shirt, too many times. The former boss who was part of the inspiration for Mimi was notorious for that kind of thing, except she didn't procrastinate to avoid work. I think she enjoyed the last-minute rush of everyone having to pitch in and get things together as we raced the clock. First, we'd be aiming for the FedEx pickup at our building, and then when that didn't happen, we'd have to shoot for the last FedEx pickup in our area. Things got really bad when she realized I lived by the airport, so the FedEx depot at the airport where you could drop things off just before they loaded the last plane for the night was on my way home. Those kinds of marathons always seemed to happen on Fridays, to make matters worse, and the absolute last moment for getting something to the airport was something like nine or ten. And she acted like this was all so much fun. Grrr.

Then there's the way Michael, the boss on the show, is always talking about the employees as friends and family. That's something he has in common with the former boss who was a lot like him. That boss was bad about trying to be "pals" with us, even while reminding us of how much power he had over us, and worse, he expected all of us to be buddies with each other. There was much enforced socializing. If someone left the company, it was like we were an Amish family and they'd married outside the community. We weren't even to speak their name. There were staff meetings at which we were reminded that we were family, and if someone chose to leave the family, then it was their choice, but they weren't part of the family anymore. He also once said something very similar about how you feel when your best friend sneaks in late or goes to dentist appointments that aren't really appointments, though he didn't talk about them knowing he could beat them up (he did, however, occasionally issue competitive gym challenges, I think).

I also think the actress who plays Pam would make a good Katie, with slightly different hair and makeup. She manages to be the downtrodden office worker while still showing a lot of spark and spunk, and she has that look and coloring that can blend into the crowd or be really cute.

I've spent the last couple of days re-reading Enchanted, Inc. Some of that was difficult because I couldn't turn off the editing part of my brain and I kept seeing little word choices I wanted to change, which is kind of impossible, considering I was reading the final printed form. But eventually I did get into it enough to almost forget I'd written it, and I ended up staying up very late at night finishing it (hmm, maybe there's some truth to those rumors about the book itself being enchanted to make people read it until late into the night). Now I'm about to start proofing the galleys of Once Upon Stilettos. This time, I can change little word choices.