With the moving and unpacking mostly done, the home improvement projects dwindling, and a job switch in my nearer future, my free time is slowly returning to me. I've started doing thing thst I haven't done in a while--things like knitting, drawing, writing short stories, cooking dinner, and visiting with friends.
I put up a bird feeder in the backyard and watched the sparrows come and go for a bit today. I put away the holiday decorations, and cleaned up the storage room some (not a lot, but enough to make a difference). My large tom cat decided to pick fights all day with his undersized little sister, and they managed to topple my potted orange tree--even that was okay, because my huband helped to clean it up, and we had time. The cats got a time out, but seem to be doing better now.
We watched the movie Highlander, and it was okay--kind of cheesy, but hey, it was the '80s. Then we watched The Rescuers, and I had a total flashback to my youth. In the last two weeks we watched the entire first season of Once Upon a Time after a friend recommended it; I must say, I was impressed.
Even laundry is getting done again.
It's a good thing. I'm also hitting an upturn in the pace of my writing, which tends to happen sometimes (I'm never sure why), so hopefully more will be ready to publish soon. I added about twenty-five original pages to the start of Redemption, which I will probably send off to the editors some time this weekend. Sorry, editors--I know you want more than twenty-five pagses, and I know I swore I would stop writing and sending in a serialized fashion, but that's what's working for me right now. It worked for the Waldgrave series. ;)
And I just noticed it's after 11, and I have to be up early tomorrow.
Al
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Friday, December 21, 2012
Somewhere in a Winter Wonderland...
I still haven't found my camera battery charger since our move, so this picture is from last year. I'm not sure if there will be time for cookies this year for the same reason.
Mmmm....memories....
Hopefully I will find the charger today (pretty sure it's in one of two boxes), and then I'll post some pics of the snow in my new backyard, the Xmas tree devoted to science fiction television, and the brownies I'm hoping to bake this afternoon.
'Till then, Happy Holidays!
Al
Monday, December 10, 2012
Motherhood
Arrival of the Traveler is now back on Nook. I apologize to anyone who was looking for it while it was down during the KDP Select enrollment.
Two of my editors for the Redemption series are pregnant right now. The third is trying to get pregnant. One of them is in labor today. Me? I'm still merrily typing along, hoping that the madness ends.
And by that, I mean the multiple drafts I've worked myself into. Of course that's what I meant.
It's December, and it's cold out; walking through Denver and the auto-mosphere has my nose, throat, and lungs in knots, and I have a cold to boot. This has led to the prescribed consumption of cold medication, which has a tendency to bring out the hypergraphia and lower inhibitions.
Enjoy the posts this winter, readers.
I am currently restructuring Redemption to remove most flashbacks in favor of a linear timeline (two editors complained of this feature of the book, and it never sat right with me to begin with). Yes, this is making an already long book longer.
Arrival of the Traveler was right around 90,000 words. Redemption now sits at 137,000 words, and counting. Too long. Something is getting the ax, or I will have to cut it in to two books. Problematically, I had envisioned this book as one solid episode in the overarching Redemption plot line, so it will be difficult to split in half if need be.
I could just release it as is--one big chunk of story. But then, the rest of the novels are going to seem off balance being of normal length compared to this monster. But then, I don't know why I worry about this stuff, because it will all depend on how sick I am of working through the edits once they are done. When I have the green light from the editors, this baby will probably fly regardless of length.
Which brings me back to my editor in labor. Kudos, sister. You have made an actual human being in less time than it has taken me to edit this novel. Kudos, good luck, and may motherhood bring you all the happiness you have dreamed.
Al
Two of my editors for the Redemption series are pregnant right now. The third is trying to get pregnant. One of them is in labor today. Me? I'm still merrily typing along, hoping that the madness ends.
And by that, I mean the multiple drafts I've worked myself into. Of course that's what I meant.
It's December, and it's cold out; walking through Denver and the auto-mosphere has my nose, throat, and lungs in knots, and I have a cold to boot. This has led to the prescribed consumption of cold medication, which has a tendency to bring out the hypergraphia and lower inhibitions.
Enjoy the posts this winter, readers.
I am currently restructuring Redemption to remove most flashbacks in favor of a linear timeline (two editors complained of this feature of the book, and it never sat right with me to begin with). Yes, this is making an already long book longer.
Arrival of the Traveler was right around 90,000 words. Redemption now sits at 137,000 words, and counting. Too long. Something is getting the ax, or I will have to cut it in to two books. Problematically, I had envisioned this book as one solid episode in the overarching Redemption plot line, so it will be difficult to split in half if need be.
I could just release it as is--one big chunk of story. But then, the rest of the novels are going to seem off balance being of normal length compared to this monster. But then, I don't know why I worry about this stuff, because it will all depend on how sick I am of working through the edits once they are done. When I have the green light from the editors, this baby will probably fly regardless of length.
Which brings me back to my editor in labor. Kudos, sister. You have made an actual human being in less time than it has taken me to edit this novel. Kudos, good luck, and may motherhood bring you all the happiness you have dreamed.
Al
Friday, December 7, 2012
Kindle Giveaway Follow-Up
Over the last 3 months, I've had Arrival of the Traveler in the KDP Select program. For those who are curious (I know I was before doing this), here is what's happened so far.
I gave away a goodly number of books--enough to raise Arrival to #40 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Fantasy > Contemporary. The KDP contract asks that authors not reveal specific sales figures, so that will have to do.
Since the end of the promotion, as other authors have reported, I have seen an uptick in the sales of the following two books in the series. For me, this has been the most exciting part; people out there have actually read the first book, and enjoyed it enough to come back for the second book. They enjoyed that one enough that they came back for the third book.
Having now completed it's KDP Select tour, Arrival will be returning to Nook tomorrow, so watch for it. :)
People who are reading my books, thank you! You are awesome!
Al
I gave away a goodly number of books--enough to raise Arrival to #40 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Fiction > Fantasy > Contemporary. The KDP contract asks that authors not reveal specific sales figures, so that will have to do.
Since the end of the promotion, as other authors have reported, I have seen an uptick in the sales of the following two books in the series. For me, this has been the most exciting part; people out there have actually read the first book, and enjoyed it enough to come back for the second book. They enjoyed that one enough that they came back for the third book.
Having now completed it's KDP Select tour, Arrival will be returning to Nook tomorrow, so watch for it. :)
People who are reading my books, thank you! You are awesome!
Al
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Almost back to normal
Well, we have completed the move. All of our stuff is out of the old house and into the new. Now we need to clean the condo before we can rent it; that is this weekend's project.
Tonight, I had a minor celebration when my husband was finally able to load the backup of my laptop back on to my (now formatted and fixed) laptop. I have been without my regular files for a few (several) weeks now while we were busy packing, loading, moving, unloading, and unpacking boxes. And putting boxes together and taking boxes apart, and emptying and refilling fish and turtle tanks, and trying to keep up with normal people functions like doing laundry and wearing clean clothes in the mean time. Yech.
We still aren't unpacked, but I'm aiming to do 3-5 boxes a night. The den is mostly done, as is the master bedroom and guest room. Library, kitchen, and upstairs bedrooms remain disasters in motion.
Thanks again to everyone who stopped by to pick up a free copy of Arrival during the 5 promo days I got for having it in the KDP Select program. The giveaway was a great success, and Arrival will be back on Nook and Smashwords December 8th!
Good night, world!
Al
Tonight, I had a minor celebration when my husband was finally able to load the backup of my laptop back on to my (now formatted and fixed) laptop. I have been without my regular files for a few (several) weeks now while we were busy packing, loading, moving, unloading, and unpacking boxes. And putting boxes together and taking boxes apart, and emptying and refilling fish and turtle tanks, and trying to keep up with normal people functions like doing laundry and wearing clean clothes in the mean time. Yech.
We still aren't unpacked, but I'm aiming to do 3-5 boxes a night. The den is mostly done, as is the master bedroom and guest room. Library, kitchen, and upstairs bedrooms remain disasters in motion.
Thanks again to everyone who stopped by to pick up a free copy of Arrival during the 5 promo days I got for having it in the KDP Select program. The giveaway was a great success, and Arrival will be back on Nook and Smashwords December 8th!
Good night, world!
Al
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Free is good
I have spoken many times before of my love for reviewers, and especially for those who have taken on my books for review. With much thanks, I will now say that I am so happy I decided to participate in a LibraryThing member giveaway for reviews last month. I know that at least a handful of the 25 copies of Arrival I put up have made their way into the hands of people who were excited to read the book, and I have already received some fantastic feedback. Thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway--I had more than 90 people throw in for a chance to get a free copy, so I will definitely be putting up more review copies in the future.
With Arrival now enrolled in KDP Select, I have 5 days to promote the book for free coming up, and I am planning to use those to list the book for free on Amazon from November 21st through the 25th (Black Friday, woot!). Pass it on, because I would love to see hundreds of free copies go out later this month!
Last night I told my two main editors that I'm in NaNoWriMo this year, with the intention of creating a story that I will publish shortly thereafter. I'm considering it a breather break from editing the first book in the Redemption series, which has turned in to a larger production than intended (currently sitting at more than 130,000 words, it's a monster...I'm also tossing around title ideas, which has been it's own battle). One editor in particular wasn't happy with this development, because she's been after me to finish what I started with Redemption, but all in good time. It will happen, sooner than later.
My NaNoWriMo story is about a trust fund recipient; that's all for now. :)
Al
With Arrival now enrolled in KDP Select, I have 5 days to promote the book for free coming up, and I am planning to use those to list the book for free on Amazon from November 21st through the 25th (Black Friday, woot!). Pass it on, because I would love to see hundreds of free copies go out later this month!
Last night I told my two main editors that I'm in NaNoWriMo this year, with the intention of creating a story that I will publish shortly thereafter. I'm considering it a breather break from editing the first book in the Redemption series, which has turned in to a larger production than intended (currently sitting at more than 130,000 words, it's a monster...I'm also tossing around title ideas, which has been it's own battle). One editor in particular wasn't happy with this development, because she's been after me to finish what I started with Redemption, but all in good time. It will happen, sooner than later.
My NaNoWriMo story is about a trust fund recipient; that's all for now. :)
Al
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Making Apple Crisp
Pictures of what I've been doing with all of the apples from my backyard trees.
The recipe I used can be found here: http://www.food.com/recipe/1-2-3-apple-crisp-100864
Also, Arrival of the Traveler is now temporarily off of Barnes & Noble and Smashwords because I have enrolled it in KDP Select. I have heard some good things about the program, so I figured I would give it a shot--Arrival will tentatively return to all venues in December.
Al
I only picked one tree, and got about 40-50 apples. I don't have any canning supplies, so instead I am making mad apple crisp.
The delicious topping. YUM!
Pre-bake.
Post-bake.
Also, Arrival of the Traveler is now temporarily off of Barnes & Noble and Smashwords because I have enrolled it in KDP Select. I have heard some good things about the program, so I figured I would give it a shot--Arrival will tentatively return to all venues in December.
Al
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)