Am I A Scrooge?

So my book's been published; it's also available on Kindle. My new website has been designed and I'm waiting for the money to pay for my domain name. I thought it was included...NOPE! On top of the $30/month, we now have to pay an additional $15 a year for the domain name.

I got my camera for my birthday; my Colts won their football game; and Fabio won Survivor. Yesterday, we picked up the Angel Tree and Wish Tree gifts for our youngest and discovered someone had also included a $100 bill:) This will go toward my daughter's Confirmation outfit, which a kind soul had donated $75 toward, but the hubby deposited in the bank and used the funds for gas money. I wish he'd keep his damn hands off the donated money!

In good news, Congress signed the bill, reinstating his Unemployment benefits. So now I can hopefully pay my cable bill and keep my internet up and running! And the parts for the dryer should be arriving today. Mom and Dad sent that money on Friday. (Good Lord I feel like a freeloader!)

But here it is, four days before Christmas and I'm fed up with everything. The kids have inhaled the cookies I baked last week; we got socked with an ice storm last Thursday and schools were canceled both Thurs and Friday. I still haven't located anyone who wants my beautiful electric organ, and I DON'T want the simply throw it away!

I should get out today before going to work and pick up something for daughter and oldest son.

Sorry for the downer post; think I'll go whip up some chocolate chip muffins, which were SUPPOSED to be made on Sunday by my hubby!

Sigh....once again, if Mom doesn't do it, it won't get done....

Oh What A Relief...

The book is out; I survived NaNo; and managed not to throttle my editor, nor receive any reprimands from her! I did have one issue which gave me nightmares, and emailed my dilemma to not only my former editor, but a trusted author friend whose been doing this a lot longer than I have!

Author friend agreed with my version.

Former editor made the comment my new editor seemed to be working with a grade 2 editing text book (ouch!). I offered a compromise, and even offered to take the heat if anyone complained about it. She agreed, and the book went into the release queu.

So now it's been out for two weeks; I've ridden the congratulatory wave and been featured on four blogs. I've endured the 'hangover' of adrenaline let-down. I've posted excerpts everywhere, and even emailed my interview to a few people. And sent out my newsletter, and hoping it didn't end up in SPAM folders everywhere.

So now what?

It's one week until my birthday; my other blog has picked up 7 followers, but no one commented on Friday's post. Are people just out shopping and too busy to be online? The chat loops seem to be quiet whenever I pop in, although a few of my posts have generated comments.

Our weather has been frigid, so I've not wanted to leave the house except when I absolutely cannot avoid it. I soooooo want to hop a plane for 50 degree temps or above!

In good news, I only have two more chapters left to edit on Love on the Rocks. This week, I'm going to be busy with cookie baking and preparing for my oldest son's return for the holidays. And trying to figure out a way to keep my internet, phone, and cable on. It's not looking promising.

On A Roll...

Sunday, I cracked the 4K mark. I've been working diligently ever since, and hit 13K a few moments ago. There's no way I can make it to the 50K mark, but at this rate, I'll have the ms rewritten and ready for the final go-through:) And that was my plan all along.

I've made my Christmas list:
-keyboard (if no laptop)
-dryer
-camera
-printer
-laptop
-jeans
-tennis shoes
-long johns
-an income
-more sweaters
-black socks
-$$ for books, pictures printed out, and to go out to eat once a week.

Is that too much to ask?

Dilemma:
Saw someone making a bad decision on one of the loops today. Do I email them privately, or let them discover for themselves? I don't know the person, so I'm hesitant to open my mouth, er, fingers, and have my warning fall into the wrong hands. Going to play this one by ear, and pray for the person.

Unprofessionalism

Why is it I'm only having issues with a certain publishing company's authors not returning their interviews on time? I've been doing this now for nearly a year...and I've only had to beg/coax/badger three authors for their completed interviews.

Come on people; if you request an interview, take the time to fill it out and send it back??? YOU came to ME, remember?

I've only not filled out an interview ONCE. And there was no time limit on when I could return it. The only reason I didn't was it was more along the lines of 'show us your creativity and answer these five questions unrelated to your life as an author' type of thing. And the questions arrived at a time of upheaval in our lives until I just decided to delete the email (I think....it may still be around!)

So what I've done is post the author's cover and excerpt. I couldn't find a blurb or the author's website anywhere. It's only going to hurt them in the long run, but I can only do so much.

Update on Edits:
I've sent them off, along with the revised MS. Editor sent the first two chapters back; I've decided to make one more minor change, and I noticed my scene breaks were gone again. I emailed him, and after seeing his reply, I'm trusting his editorial expertise. I hope it's not misplaced. Book should be out either today or next Monday.

In other editing news, I made it all the way to chapter 2 on my other major revision project. Hopefully I'll get some more accomplished this week.

EMA Pt 2

So I sent off the first round of edits...and today Chs 3 and 4, thinking maybe, just maybe, my editor would appreciate my efforts?  Nooooooo....I get an email which states "Please just send the whole thing as one document and your recommended corrections for the whole MS should be placed on the attached Sheet."

Grrr.....Guess I'll continue to do them this way, and then copy/paste the thing into one 

document.  Will THAT make him happy????

Edited, My Ass!

Pardon me while I rant.

I received my 'edited' ms last week, and since it was Halloween, I opted to wait until Monday.

Imagine my surprise when I opened up the document, and there were no changes!  Yay...either my editor is lazy, or I've gotten better at self-edits???  I hope it's the latter.

Anyway, I settled down to make a few changes, when I hit the bottom of page 4.  There, where I had left it, was the note I'd written to my editor, wanting his input on a particular word choice.  Ummmmm...did he not see it?  Fortunately, my brain was unclogged by then, and the perfect phrase came to mind.  Problem solved.

Or was it?  One page later, I noticed a scene break was missing.  And on Page 14, chapter 2 began at the bottom of the page, NOT on page 15!  WTF?  Did he not even look at it?

And so I emailed him two days ago.  Have I heard anything?  No.  So I sent it to my cover artist, who DOES return my emails.  And to prove my point, I sent her both the original and the 'edited' one.

Stay tuned; I sent six pages of revisions over the first two chapters; I've already got three pages of revisions on Ch 3 alone.  Later tonight I'll see what changes Chapter 4 has in store.

New Idea:)

I've been having so many electronic failures, coupled with the fact I'm never sure when my boss will let me use her laptop.  I decided to create a blog where I could keep the rough draft of my wip in draft form, and work on them while at 'the office' (I work in a bookstore).  This way, I don't have to carry a flash drive; I don't have to worry about file damage; and all I have to do is remember to copy/paste and SAVE SAVE SAVE on my flash, my documents, and drop box:)

I'm currently on day #2 of revision hell.  I really wish I'd known about the new rules of writing...no head hopping; Show vs Tell; no dialogue tags; no 'ing' words (or as few as possible); no adverbs; and POV (which goes with the head-hopping).  Seriously; on page #3 already, my main character enters a room, and her roommates continue to talk for three lines!  If this is in her POV, how does she know what they are saying when she leaves?

Bring back Omniscient POV!!!

I mentioned this earlier, on my primary blog:  I was reading some old Danielle Steele books, and guess who I've patterned my writing style after?

Anyway, I'm headed to bed.  Hopefully I'll finish Ch 1 tomorrow.