Just because I'm sitting on a pendulum, swinging between "Oh my god, this is going to be so awesome!" and "Oh holy shit, this is going to suck so bad!" doesn't mean I'm neurotic.
Just because I want to tell the world about my book that's coming out, but I'm afraid no one will want to listen...
Just because I'm afraid to go to the local bookstore for the first time because I think THEY'LL think I'm only visiting there now because I have a book coming out soon...
Just because I wished a forgotten friend a happy birthday on FB after not really saying anything to her for god knows how long...
Just because I sat listening to my husband read Dying Embers (to himself, no less) for the first time, waiting for any slight sound that would tell me whether he still respected me after reading my words...
None of that makes me neurotic. Or maybe it does.
Or maybe it just makes me a writer getting ready to send the first self-published book into the world.
And hey, just because I'm suddenly afraid you're all sick of hearing about my first self-publishing adventures, doesn't make me neurotic. Much.
Edited to Add: Oh hey, I keep forgetting. I have a writer PAGE on Facebook now. Go like it and the first 50 likers will be entered into a contest for a $25 gift card. The final cover with the tagline is also up over there with the cover copy!
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Sunday Update - Week 5
February 1st... Where the hell did January go?? It's all a blur.
Anyway, last week. What did I do last week? No, seriously - like I said, it's all a blur.
Well, since I can't think of what I did at the moment, I'll talk about what Hubs did. He re-started the sanding project wherein he's removing the orange paint from our beautiful log siding. He did the front of the house mid-2014. This past week he started on the south side of the garage. He got one day in - partially - before he got frustrated with the sander disks flying off. Did a little research and discovered the hook and loop design on the sander pad breaks down over time. (The tiny hooks break off and don't hold the loops very well.) So, we ordered new sander pads and had them overnighted. He was back to work Wednesday morning.
By Friday it looked like this:
(That's him sanding the gray off the work he did early last year - to test out the sander. Now it's all uniform.)
He took yesterday off to recover and because the weather was predicted to be gross. Today is actually gross, so he'll take today off, too.
And while he was doing all of that, he took the time to read my book in hardcopy. He thoroughly enjoyed it - which is saying something because he reads very little these days. And he asked when my next book will be ready for him to read. I admit to shooting him a look which probably said something to the effect of "you have got to be kidding me, right?" because he changed his tactics and said something about he wouldn't be ready to read again for a couple months. (Give his eyes a break and he's got a lot of work to do, etc.)
For my part, last week was spent scouring Dying Embers for any typos or little niggles that would irritate me as a reader. You'd think with as many times as I and others have looked at this thing, it would be spotless. Nope. I found three pages worth. Ugh. And after I was done, Hubs found one thing even I had missed. I fixed those last night. I will read it one more time, and then I'm done. Any flaws left after that will have to remain in their hidey-holes until some reader finds them. All apologies to any reader who finds a mistake after this.
As to Hubs' question of when the next book will be ready, I'll tell you what I told him - I still have to decide which book I'm launching next. It's a toss up between a small-town mystery that's been compared to the old hard-boiled detective books, and a suspense centered around technology and government conspiracy. I'd really like to send Djinnocide out there, but I haven't heard back from Baen yet, and it would tickle me to have Baen publish that series.
Hey, quick question that might help me decide between the two books - what do you think of a story launched in the spring that's set in the winter? Do you care about what season a book is set in? It's not a Christmas story - just winter.
Now, your turn. What's doing in your lives lately?
Anyway, last week. What did I do last week? No, seriously - like I said, it's all a blur.
Well, since I can't think of what I did at the moment, I'll talk about what Hubs did. He re-started the sanding project wherein he's removing the orange paint from our beautiful log siding. He did the front of the house mid-2014. This past week he started on the south side of the garage. He got one day in - partially - before he got frustrated with the sander disks flying off. Did a little research and discovered the hook and loop design on the sander pad breaks down over time. (The tiny hooks break off and don't hold the loops very well.) So, we ordered new sander pads and had them overnighted. He was back to work Wednesday morning.
He took yesterday off to recover and because the weather was predicted to be gross. Today is actually gross, so he'll take today off, too.
And while he was doing all of that, he took the time to read my book in hardcopy. He thoroughly enjoyed it - which is saying something because he reads very little these days. And he asked when my next book will be ready for him to read. I admit to shooting him a look which probably said something to the effect of "you have got to be kidding me, right?" because he changed his tactics and said something about he wouldn't be ready to read again for a couple months. (Give his eyes a break and he's got a lot of work to do, etc.)
For my part, last week was spent scouring Dying Embers for any typos or little niggles that would irritate me as a reader. You'd think with as many times as I and others have looked at this thing, it would be spotless. Nope. I found three pages worth. Ugh. And after I was done, Hubs found one thing even I had missed. I fixed those last night. I will read it one more time, and then I'm done. Any flaws left after that will have to remain in their hidey-holes until some reader finds them. All apologies to any reader who finds a mistake after this.
As to Hubs' question of when the next book will be ready, I'll tell you what I told him - I still have to decide which book I'm launching next. It's a toss up between a small-town mystery that's been compared to the old hard-boiled detective books, and a suspense centered around technology and government conspiracy. I'd really like to send Djinnocide out there, but I haven't heard back from Baen yet, and it would tickle me to have Baen publish that series.
Hey, quick question that might help me decide between the two books - what do you think of a story launched in the spring that's set in the winter? Do you care about what season a book is set in? It's not a Christmas story - just winter.
Now, your turn. What's doing in your lives lately?
Saturday, January 31, 2015
My Current Anthem
Every time I hear this song, it strikes a chord in me. Sure, he's talking about writing songs, but in my head, it's all about this crazy business of writing and self-publishing. Some days I think I must be insane to keep at it, but I am not a lunatic. I can do this. Crazy would, indeed, be leaving it behind.
Lunatic
by Andy Grammer
I've got five bucks sitting at a coffee shop
I just wrote a lyric that made me stop
Think about the world and what I got
It's a beautiful, beautiful day
I've got dreams for food and hope for drink
A new chance coming every time I blink
Sunset dripping off the thoughts I think
It's a beautiful, beautiful day
And maybe I should care more about safety
But I can't ignore or betray these voices singing
[Chorus:]
You can do this, you can do this
You are not a lunatic
Crazy would be changing your mind
You can do this, you can do this
You are not a lunatic
Crazy would be leaving it behind
I've got five bucks waiting on a matinee
I love to see films in the middle of the day
Same movie seen a different way
I don't think that makes me crazy
And I start work on the opposite side, of the clock
Tic tock clubs open at nine
I like to rock till the early daylight
Write music till five, this is my life
Maybe I should care more about safety
But I can't ignore or betray these voices singing
[Chorus]
I will wiggle in a straight jacket forever
This is not some slight disease we can try and cure
This is one thing in my life that I know for sure
There is no turning back now
And maybe I should care more about safety
But I can't ignore or betray these voices singing
[Chorus]
Lunatic
by Andy Grammer
I've got five bucks sitting at a coffee shop
I just wrote a lyric that made me stop
Think about the world and what I got
It's a beautiful, beautiful day
I've got dreams for food and hope for drink
A new chance coming every time I blink
Sunset dripping off the thoughts I think
It's a beautiful, beautiful day
And maybe I should care more about safety
But I can't ignore or betray these voices singing
[Chorus:]
You can do this, you can do this
You are not a lunatic
Crazy would be changing your mind
You can do this, you can do this
You are not a lunatic
Crazy would be leaving it behind
I've got five bucks waiting on a matinee
I love to see films in the middle of the day
Same movie seen a different way
I don't think that makes me crazy
And I start work on the opposite side, of the clock
Tic tock clubs open at nine
I like to rock till the early daylight
Write music till five, this is my life
Maybe I should care more about safety
But I can't ignore or betray these voices singing
[Chorus]
I will wiggle in a straight jacket forever
This is not some slight disease we can try and cure
This is one thing in my life that I know for sure
There is no turning back now
And maybe I should care more about safety
But I can't ignore or betray these voices singing
[Chorus]
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Brainfart
Throughout many a day, I think to myself 'hey, I'll write about that on the blog', but when I sit down to write a post for Tuesday or Thursday, those ideas all scamper away like frightened bunnies. Sunday's easy - it's Update day. The other two days? Brainfart.
Speaking of bunnies, we finally saw bun-bun again. He was hopping through the back yard a couple days ago. I have no clue where he goes when he leaves. As far as I know, rabbits don't really have a huge territorial range. But I could be wrong.
Speaking of speaking of, Hubs does this thing where he'll say 'speaking of :insert whatever we were talking about:' and then he'll say something that is totally unrelated to anything we were talking about. Like "Speaking of yard work, I need more coffee." Cracks me up every time.
You might've seen on FB - you know, if you follow me on FB (and if you don't, go here and rectify that if you so choose) - I finished cutting my own hair yesterday. I say finished because I cut the bangs and the sides several days ago, but the back... Let's just say I was formulating a plan on how to cut the back of my hair without leaving me looking like 'hair by Cuisinart'. Well, I finally hit on an idea and tried it yesterday. It looks pretty darn good. It's finally the length I prefer. And I don't look like I stuck my head in a food processor. No pics, though.
I've discovered that I really don't like having my picture taken anymore. I know what I look like and if we aren't on vacay or someplace special, I don't need a pic to remember what I looked like on an average Thursday. :shrug:
Okay, back to my morning routine. And I'll leave you to go back to yours. Feel free to tell me about anything that pops into your head.
Speaking of bunnies, we finally saw bun-bun again. He was hopping through the back yard a couple days ago. I have no clue where he goes when he leaves. As far as I know, rabbits don't really have a huge territorial range. But I could be wrong.
Speaking of speaking of, Hubs does this thing where he'll say 'speaking of :insert whatever we were talking about:' and then he'll say something that is totally unrelated to anything we were talking about. Like "Speaking of yard work, I need more coffee." Cracks me up every time.
You might've seen on FB - you know, if you follow me on FB (and if you don't, go here and rectify that if you so choose) - I finished cutting my own hair yesterday. I say finished because I cut the bangs and the sides several days ago, but the back... Let's just say I was formulating a plan on how to cut the back of my hair without leaving me looking like 'hair by Cuisinart'. Well, I finally hit on an idea and tried it yesterday. It looks pretty darn good. It's finally the length I prefer. And I don't look like I stuck my head in a food processor. No pics, though.
I've discovered that I really don't like having my picture taken anymore. I know what I look like and if we aren't on vacay or someplace special, I don't need a pic to remember what I looked like on an average Thursday. :shrug:
Okay, back to my morning routine. And I'll leave you to go back to yours. Feel free to tell me about anything that pops into your head.
Sunday, January 25, 2015
Sunday Update - Week 4
It's bedtime on Saturday night - around 9:30pm, as a matter of fact - and I'm trying to get a jumpstart on the update for the week. Probably not the wisest of ideas, since I am totally brainfried, but tomorrow will probably be worse, so here goes...
I finished the proof-edit-thingies my readers sent me. So, my book is like 99% ready to be formatted. For the last 1%, I sent it to my Kindle and I printed off the first half for Hubs to read. (He'll get the other half when he gives me back the binder clips I used on that half.) I printed the half yesterday and handed it to him. And wouldn't you know, I already got ketchup on the title page. (I had hashbrowns for breakfast while I watched TV and I must've set the plate on the book at some point.) Looks like blood, though, so I'm not overly upset.
I haven't really done much else this week. Part of the reason was we got Hubs a boat this past week - because he's been such a good boy for the past ten years, he earned it - and I was wrapped up in that. While he was up looking at the boat, I did some major cleaning, so there's that, too. Other than that, though...
Well, I was playing around trying to format the manuscript myself. The test one I sent to my Kindle looks pretty snazzy and the test one I put together for the hardcopy looks good, too. Once the manuscript is as clean as I can make it, I'll format the real book and see how it goes.
My cover is also complete for the ebook. The cover artist added in my shiny, new tagline and it looks like a book you'd find on the shelves at a bookstore. I'm pretty pleased. The poor guy is now waiting for me to give him a final pagecount so he can make my print cover. And he's working on my marketing materials. I can't wait.
Once I get those, I'll be making a FB page and will adjust my Twitter background to fit. It'll be awesome.
What's going on in your world?
I finished the proof-edit-thingies my readers sent me. So, my book is like 99% ready to be formatted. For the last 1%, I sent it to my Kindle and I printed off the first half for Hubs to read. (He'll get the other half when he gives me back the binder clips I used on that half.) I printed the half yesterday and handed it to him. And wouldn't you know, I already got ketchup on the title page. (I had hashbrowns for breakfast while I watched TV and I must've set the plate on the book at some point.) Looks like blood, though, so I'm not overly upset.
I haven't really done much else this week. Part of the reason was we got Hubs a boat this past week - because he's been such a good boy for the past ten years, he earned it - and I was wrapped up in that. While he was up looking at the boat, I did some major cleaning, so there's that, too. Other than that, though...
Well, I was playing around trying to format the manuscript myself. The test one I sent to my Kindle looks pretty snazzy and the test one I put together for the hardcopy looks good, too. Once the manuscript is as clean as I can make it, I'll format the real book and see how it goes.
My cover is also complete for the ebook. The cover artist added in my shiny, new tagline and it looks like a book you'd find on the shelves at a bookstore. I'm pretty pleased. The poor guy is now waiting for me to give him a final pagecount so he can make my print cover. And he's working on my marketing materials. I can't wait.
Once I get those, I'll be making a FB page and will adjust my Twitter background to fit. It'll be awesome.
What's going on in your world?
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
Bored
This is what happens when I get up obscenely early. I go through my usual morning tasks - read blogs, read the FB newsfeed, check the actual news - before 6am and then I'm left with nothing to do. I'm far too under-caffeinated to work and too under-motivated for cleaning.
I did spend some time this morning reading Wikipedia pages devoted to old cartoon characters. They're pretty funny. (Or maybe that's just me. I get silly when I'm tired.)
Then I did FB quizzes. I found out this morning that in the category of 'What TV Mom Are You?" I'm Morticia Adams, in "What Muppet are You?" I'm Gonzo. I'm Monica on Friends, and Belle in Disney Heroines - according to them. I can see Belle, but I am so not Monica (at least not all the way).
And then the quizzes ran out.
I'm bored.
Oh, I have things to do. I just don't want to do any of them. Meh and Bleh.
I feel like Garfield hanging on the screen door. Boredboredbored.
This'll only last another hour or so. Then the sun will be up and so will Hubs. Then I can start working on my to-do list and later, I'll go to my doctor appt. (No biggie, just my quarterly shot.)
Maybe I'll spend some time shredding printed chapters. That's a boring task suited to my mood. Plus, it's quiet, so I won't wake Hubs. And it is something I need to do before the pile takes over.
Maybe I'll go watch YouTube videos of old cartoons.
What do you do when you're bored?
I did spend some time this morning reading Wikipedia pages devoted to old cartoon characters. They're pretty funny. (Or maybe that's just me. I get silly when I'm tired.)
Then I did FB quizzes. I found out this morning that in the category of 'What TV Mom Are You?" I'm Morticia Adams, in "What Muppet are You?" I'm Gonzo. I'm Monica on Friends, and Belle in Disney Heroines - according to them. I can see Belle, but I am so not Monica (at least not all the way).
And then the quizzes ran out.
I'm bored.
Oh, I have things to do. I just don't want to do any of them. Meh and Bleh.
I feel like Garfield hanging on the screen door. Boredboredbored.
This'll only last another hour or so. Then the sun will be up and so will Hubs. Then I can start working on my to-do list and later, I'll go to my doctor appt. (No biggie, just my quarterly shot.)
Maybe I'll spend some time shredding printed chapters. That's a boring task suited to my mood. Plus, it's quiet, so I won't wake Hubs. And it is something I need to do before the pile takes over.
Maybe I'll go watch YouTube videos of old cartoons.
What do you do when you're bored?
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Sunday Update - Week 3
I can't believe it's already January 18th. The days are all WHOOSH lately. Then again, I can't believe it's Sunday. (But we've already established I have trouble figuring out what day of the week it is.)
Anyway, here's the lowdown on last week:
I finished the second round of edits on Dying Embers and then sent that sucker off to a couple people for proofreading.
After some back and forth with the cover artist, we have the final decision.
Now he's waiting on me to come back with a tagline and a blurb. (I assume for the print version of the cover.) I told him I'd have those to him by Monday, so I have today to complete them. (I thrive under pressure.) In all reality, I should've already had these things done, but I brainfarted out, so now I'm scrambling to get those into tip-top shape. Lucky for me, I already had a rough blurb from all that querying I did. Unfortunately, I totally didn't use it for more than a jumping off point. I'll post more about taglines and blurbs over at B.E.'s Writerly Space, and maybe do something fun with it tomorrow.
Now I really have to get with a formatter because I am profoundly lazy and I hate writing HTML. I have a line on one that a BFF uses, so that shouldn't be too hard. I just have to hope they have time in their schedule for me.
Since I got the edits back and shot the book off for final proofing, and I hadn't gotten the cover back or been asked for a blurb, I spent the majority of mid-week slacking off from writing. I did some major discovery shit in the family tree (which you can read about here) and I read a bunch. One of the things I read was Cowgirls Don't Cry by my very good friend, Silver James. Actually, I inhaled it yesterday evening. It was awesome.
That's my week in a nutshell. What's it like in your nutshell?
Anyway, here's the lowdown on last week:
I finished the second round of edits on Dying Embers and then sent that sucker off to a couple people for proofreading.
After some back and forth with the cover artist, we have the final decision.
Now he's waiting on me to come back with a tagline and a blurb. (I assume for the print version of the cover.) I told him I'd have those to him by Monday, so I have today to complete them. (I thrive under pressure.) In all reality, I should've already had these things done, but I brainfarted out, so now I'm scrambling to get those into tip-top shape. Lucky for me, I already had a rough blurb from all that querying I did. Unfortunately, I totally didn't use it for more than a jumping off point. I'll post more about taglines and blurbs over at B.E.'s Writerly Space, and maybe do something fun with it tomorrow.
Now I really have to get with a formatter because I am profoundly lazy and I hate writing HTML. I have a line on one that a BFF uses, so that shouldn't be too hard. I just have to hope they have time in their schedule for me.
Since I got the edits back and shot the book off for final proofing, and I hadn't gotten the cover back or been asked for a blurb, I spent the majority of mid-week slacking off from writing. I did some major discovery shit in the family tree (which you can read about here) and I read a bunch. One of the things I read was Cowgirls Don't Cry by my very good friend, Silver James. Actually, I inhaled it yesterday evening. It was awesome.
That's my week in a nutshell. What's it like in your nutshell?
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