I need a word, guys.  You know that feeling of "of course-ness" you have sometimes?  Like, "I'm running fifteen minutes late, and of course the sweater I want to wear is in the laundry, and of course my car is almost out of gas, and of course I hit every red light on the way in" etc.  Not anger or ruefulness or chagrin, just kind of an ironic, "Well, it figures."

There's a word for that, right?  What is it?

Edited to Add:

Here's the sentence I'm using it in:

Despite the rigor of the preceding days, there was no shortage of volunteers to man the exploratory boat, and when [the character] approached him, Captain Morningway felt [word] but no surprise.

Maybe that word doesn't exist?  Maybe I just think it should?  Argh!

I have a question for all you writerly-types out there, especially those of you who are making careers out of it (you lucky dogs, you!).  (Actually I've decided to go ahead and ask this because of cosmonautnicki's good news today!)

My husband has written a horror novel, and now he wants to get it published.  I've said I'd help with the cover letter and querying thing so that he can find an agent.  (His style ... not so suited to selling.)  So, any advice on how to get that done?  We've got a Writer's Guide and an Agent's Guide, but, of course, simply having the names of agents is not enough.  Any tips at all would be really helpful!

(P.S. And, yes, I'll probably be applying those tips to my own publication quest for The Voyage to Ruin and other projects ... right now, though, the Commodore's book is the priority, I think.)

So cesario came up with the idea of a Young Adult Vampire Novel Contest (YAVNC!) this past week, and although I wanted to write a story of my very own, I just plain didn't have the time.  But then she added the idea of matching willing artists with writers, to come up with cool cover art for the various stories.  I got matched up with mattador, and here is the cover I came up with for his story:


I dunno if you can call it "cool" or not, but it's done before the deadline, at least!

So I am working on the latest story and realized, "Why, I have no idea what one does when one is marooned on a desert island!  I shall have to do research!"

I am sure there are books out there like "Twenty-Five Foolproof Tips for Surviving on a Desert Island" or "Marooning and You: What You Need To Know", but I'm not so much interested in the best way to weave a lean-to out of palm fronds as what other writers have done with the same sort of situation.  So I've compiled a little reading list:

002: Love


I did this drawing yesterday, as a warm-up before getting into a tough character design problem I've been butting my head against all week.  I'll have #003 later!

I'm a little hesitant to talk about my Big New Exciting Project here, a.) because it's so very satisfying to present people with a fait accompli, b.) because the relationship between talking and doing is an inverse proportion, and c.) because, in the past, when I have made excited announcements to my friends about This Cool New Project That Will Take a Lot of Effort But Will be Totally Worth It Because of Its Awesomeness that I'm about undertake, it usually goes a lot like this:

 ME: Guys!  Let me tell you all about This Cool New Project That Will Take a Lot of Effort But Will be Totally Worth It Because of Its Awesomeness that I'm about to undertake!
MY FRIENDS: Wow!  Sounds pretty cool.  But isn't that an awful lot of effort?
ME: Psshhh!  It'll be fine!  See ya!

 (time passes)

 MY FRIENDS: So, uh ... how's That Cool New Project going?
ME: Uh, yeah ... y'know ... hey, is that the kettle?  *runs off to make tea and browse deviantArt*

 That is to say, the act of telling people too much (i.e., anything) about what I'm doing makes me less included to actually do it.  After all, telling people wins you their admiration and esteem!  But doing it--that's a lot of work!

 But!  Behold my cunning plan!  It is tripartite in nature!

 Part I: By telling people about the Telling People About My Projects = Never Finishing the Projects curse, I am circumventing it!  Because now that I've told you (in effect) that my plans will never come to fulfillment, the curse will make certain that they do!  See how clever I'm being?  I'm like the narrator in an Edgar Allan Poe story!

 Part II: The project is already begun!  It is in production even now!  The curse only seems to apply to projects that are not yet begun.

 Part III: Uh... there is no Part III.  I just really wanted to say "tripartite" earlier.

 The curse having therefore been circumvented, I feel safe in talking