Hi, it’s
Christina –
I took two days off from the blog because I had
so much to do, and now I have so much to tell you.
Monday, the Kindle edition of Corporate Blues
went live, and like I said, I had some marketing / maintenance stuff to attend
to with the release. The Amazon page was updated, a KPD select promo was set
up. Corporate Blues will be free for 48 hours – March 31st (my
anniversary), and April 1st (my birthday). After that, I think I
will only do free offers very sparingly, but try and hold sales once a quarter.
On Tuesday I got the email saying the print copy
of Corporate Blues was available for final review, and a sample copy was on its
way, so I can give it its final blessing. I’m hoping it will be here by the
weekend, so I can place my order for fifty books. I find this one of the most
exciting things about writing – when the package comes in the mail, and you get
to hold your newest “baby”, in your hands, for the first time. (If you read
Corporate Blues, please don’t roll your eyes when Dawn says pretty much the
exact same thing.)
Also on Tuesday, I returned to my writing group
for the first time in many, many weeks. Now that Mother Nature isn’t being a
royal pain in the butt, and it’s not pitch black out at five in the evening, I
can make the trek to Princeton without any issues… I’m not counting the one
detour and one emergency road closure I had to navigate around last night to
get there. This Tuesday happened to be a Critique Group week, so I needed to
bring something with me to have critiqued, and I chose the Prologue for Faerie
Tale Queen. I figured since this was the next story I was finishing, I’d gage
how the “gang” liked my straying from my normal writing. They’ve only
experienced my historical romance writing – they’ve been reviewing Simply by
Chance chapter by chapter.
Faerie Tale Queen opens with a whole lot of
Gaelic words, so I was in a bit of a panic because I wasn’t 100% sure I would
be able to pronounce them correctly. So, after I couldn’t find one of those
talking translator programs that worked properly, I posted a plea on Facebook
for assistance. Not five minutes after I posted, my phone rang. My friend
JoAnne’s boyfriend spoke Gaelic, at least one of its several dialects, and he
was able to help me. Other than Comhcheol, I’m happy to
say, I was pronouncing the words correctly. Not that I had the chance to read,
because we had so many show up for critique group that night. It’s okay though,
I really don’t mind. I don’t have to share every time. The best part was seeing
my friends again. I only met these folks less than a year ago, and already, I
really miss them when I haven’t seen them in a while. So, even though I didn’t
get to read, I still had a great night.
One thing I’ve learned is
it’s amazing how difficult Gaelic actually is to learn. You would think,
because they have fewer letters, it wouldn’t be so hard; but trying to remember
all the rules is a bit daunting. Vowels sound different depending on which consonants
follow them, and if you pronounce the “ai” as an “aye” sound instead of an “uh”
sound, you’ve got a completely different word. I guess that’s true with any
language, and probably because the chances of me actually using Gaelic on a
daily basis are slim, I’m having so much difficulty.
You’ll find, in almost all
of my books, I use some foreign language. Luckily, because I have wonderful friends
all around the world, who are more than happy to help me, I do not need to be
fluent in all the languages. So far my novels have contained French, German,
Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Gaelic. Part of Simply by Chance takes place in
Turkey, and I’m sure I will toss in some native words and phrases from that
part of the world as well (as soon as I find someone who speaks Turkish,
Kurdish or Zaza).
In other news, on my
birthday, I will be starting a part time “job”. A friend of mine from church
had a stroke a few years back. She’s doing really well. So much so, she doesn’t
need a home health aide any more, but she still can’t drive; so a few days a
week, I’ll be bringing her to therapy, the grocery store or wherever else she
needs to go. It’s only a few hours a week, I’ll be helping a friend, and it
made no sense to keep on an expensive aide when she really doesn’t need one any
more. This will be good for me too, a chance to get out from behind my keyboard
and out in public for a few hours a week.
Yes the start date and
NaNoWriMo coincide, and it will be a challenge. But when is it not? To
de-stress myself, I’m making sure I clear my plate before April 1st,
so all I’ll need to concentrate on is Faerie Tale Queen. I have three remaining
editing project, which have been opened for a while, that need to be completed
and emailed back to the authors, and one request for a review. I will complete
the edits in the order they came in, and then I can start my new project with a
clear conscience. I always have three or four editing projects open at the same
time because it helps me when I can break away from a project for a little
while, but still keep working.
However, now that I have a
job again, I think I will have to back away from editing. I will continue to
help my friends with their work, but I don’t think I will be able to pick an
Indie author at random and edit their book for free any more. It would take far
too long for me to complete the work, and I don’t think that’s fair to the
author. The last author I offered this to has been waiting weeks – I have been
sending him stuff all along, but I still feel bad. Between traveling, being
sick, and some craziness in my life, this edit has taken longer than I had
hoped. (Then again, the book is about 200 pages longer than most I’ve edited,
but that’s not an excuse.) So, Linda, Joe, Julien & Jan – in that order –
if you’re reading this, I hope to have your stuff back to you by the end of the
month.
See, I said I had a lot to
tell you. Now, if I ever plan on actually accomplishing my goal, I best get a
move on. I
hope y’all have a wonderful day, and happy writing!
Your Last Challenge was:
“Oh
my God! Steve, Steve, please stop.”
With
a shake of his head and a resigned sigh and chuckle, Steve pull the car over so
Lindsey could get out and have a look. Their entire honeymoon had been spent
doing much of the same. Lindsey was a like dog with a squirrel. Every morning,
over breakfast, they would plot their course for the day, highlighting the
places they wished to see. Then while driving to said destination, infallibly,
Lindsey would spot something along the road, a garden, a ruin, a cemetery, a
man herding sheep, and their original plans were dust in the wind; but Steve
didn’t mind. Lindsey’s childlike sense of wonder was one of the things he loved
most about her.
“Isn’t
it magnificent? Do you think we go down there?”
Steve
pulled her close and kissed her temple, “It looks like the house over there is
on the same property. Why don’t we stop there and inquire about the ruins.”
Lindsey
squealed, threw her arms around her husband’s neck, and planted a loud smack on
his lips. “You’re the best. You know that?”
“Yup,
I know, but it’s nice to hear.” Steve teased. “Come on, let’s go have a look.”
Your Next Challenge is:
Cloud watching…
You have 10 minutes (be
honest). There is no right or wrong, just write. Spelling and punctuation don’t
count and NO ONE is allowed to criticize what someone else has written. Go.
When
I was ten years old, I was lying on the grass trying to teach my four year old
cousin the art of cloud watching, when a giant shark cloud ate a ship cloud. The coolest part was my cousin saw it happen as well. Then, when I was fifteen or
sixteen, one mild fall evening, some friends of mine and I were lying on a hill
looking up at the moon and chatting. Slowly the clouds started rolling in, and
one of those moisture rings began to form a glowing circle around the moon.
Within minutes the clouds started to form shapes. It still makes me shiver
remembering the moon completely encircled with skulls.
