Thursday Thoughts

Wow. March 1st is finally here. The manuscript for Wildcat is due today, but since I sent it off a couple of weeks ago, the only significance is the new month and the flowers in bloom.

Spring has definitely been in the air for the past couple of days, and I am so ready for it. We recently got to meet the new baby in the family, my great-nephew, Paul, who was born in December.

















Peaches and Bugsy are enjoying the mild weather.

Kes stands watch while Jadzia takes a nap (she's that dark shape on the right).

















And if you look closely, you can find tiny blooms all over the yard.

Three months ago, I made the decision to cut back on my hours at the hospital, and though my shrunken paycheck is a little scary, nothing else has changed very much. I'm simply writing more and nursing less. I thought I would've had a completed manuscript to show for my extra time, and it's getting there, but converting a first person manuscript into third person is a very slow process--something I learned during the rewrite of Purple Bikini. Some existing scenes are now told from a different point of view, and new scenes and characters have been added. I probably should've started from scratch, but reading through the lengthy passages of my earlier style gives me proof that the time I've spent learning more about my craft has not been wasted.

I'm still anxious to hear what my editor thinks of Wildcat and I have this nagging fear that she'll tell me she hates it and doesn't want to publish it or anything else I've ever written. Scary thoughts to be having with book 9 of a series. I still don't have a cover for it or the new story for Siren (Small, Medium, & Large) but I hope to have them soon. Maybe then I'll believe it's really going to happen. A lot of people don't think covers are important anymore, particularly for ebooks, but for the author, they are proof that someone is at least planning to publish your work.

Today also marks the end of the promotional month for Stud's release. I have absolutely no idea how well it's been selling. Even on Amazon, the sales rankings don't mean much because the ranking is split between paperback and ebook sales. I suspect that ebook sales are doing the best, but I won't know very much until I get my royalty statement the first of May, and I probably won't be able to tell much from it even then. However, anytime any day I can tell you how many copies of Purple Bikini have sold and how much I've earned. That's one of the biggest advantages of self-publishing. You have control and you know what's happening.

In other news, Warrior is now officially out of print. It's still available in ebook format, but if you want an unused paperback copy, they're selling for anywhere from $15.50 to $127.30 on Amazon. I have several new copies myself. I'm thinking I should put them up for sale at an outrageous price and see what happens. Might be the best way to make money in this crazy business.

And before I forget, here's a little something for those of you who need a hunk to help you make it through the day!

Enjoy your Thursday!

Whopping Weasel Wednesday!

I'm in the process of giving Wildcat another read-through before I send the revised version back to my agent. It's a very slow, nerve-racking process. You revise and revise and create discrepancies, find them, correct them. Write new scenes that mess up scenes that happen later on. Find those and fix them. Read though the new parts a million times. Then you start at the beginning and read through it thinking "THIS IS TOTAL CRAP!" and wondering at what point readers are going to throw the book against the wall.

But then I read it again in a totally different frame of mind and I realize it's not crap. I laugh and cry in all the right places, and when my Zetithian boys bring on the heat, I can almost feel it. The sense of relief is astonishing.

Then I send it to my editor and have to do it all over again once I get her request for revisions. By the time a book hits the shelves, I've probably read it at least 50 times.

*sigh* Is it any wonder I need Wednesday's weasels to get me over the hump?
Enjoy your Wednesday!

Friday Fun!

I only wish I was having fun! Got Wildcat back from my agent yesterday with several suggestions for revisions, so I'll be working on that for a while, plus, I still have guest blogs to write for Stud's release. How did I ever do this while working full time???

Maybe I need to take more Vitamin C to keep me going.

Just look at what it did for this guy!

This one, on the other hand, seems to have had his fair share of orange juice this morning!

Thursday Thoughts

Ever notice how you never want to take your Christmas decorations down, but are always happy once you do it? It must be one of those getting back to normal things. Either that, or it's a milestone of sorts. The whole "New Year" thing--a fresh start and all that. The house seems cleaner somehow, less cluttered.

I took my tree down Tuesday night, and on Wednesday afternoon, Sam took the lights off the deck. I try to leave them up for a while every year, but he always insists on putting them away, even if he has to do it himself. Personally, I like the lights and wouldn't mind leaving them up year round. They shine through the bathroom window and help me find my way down the hall at 4AM and are a bright, cheery sight out the kitchen window when I'm at the sink cleaning up after dinner. Maybe if I put plain white lights up, he'd let me keep them. Or maybe it's an autism thing. Who knows?

I sent Wildcat to my agent and told her I was rewriting three manuscripts, converting them to third person and linking them together in a series. She asked to see the first one when I finish the revisions. Whether she'll shop it around or advise me to self-pub it remains to be seen. She's also going to read Wildcat for me and give me some editorial suggestions before I send it off to my Sourcebooks editor in March. I'm hoping she won't find too much that needs fixing, but you never know. I send chapters to my critique partner thinking they're in good shape, and they come back to me with all sorts of corrections.

It's hard to believe that the release of Stud is only five weeks away. Guess I'd better get started on those darn guest blogs. Fortunately, there are only eight of them. Still seems like a lot, though. I'll be in Gatlinburg when some of them post. I hope the internet there doesn't fail me!

My brain seems to be jumping around an awful lot this evening. Guess I'd better add the hunk and call it a night.


Cute, isn't he?

Wildcats and Monday Moons!

I finished writing Wildcat on  Christmas Eve at about 3PM. Sure, it's just another book in what is hopefully a long line, but if it is indeed the last of the Cat Star Chronicles, this is a very bittersweet time for me. Those cats have been a big part of my life since 2006--almost six years now. They'll continue to play a role for at least another year, because Wildcat won't be released until February of 2013. There will be edits and rewrites, but probably not another book. Still, nine books is a big accomplishment, and though they've enabled me to establish friendships with many wonderful people, my characters are friends, too, and saying goodbye to friends is never easy.

Thankfully, I have some old friends to revisit. I'll be working on the rewrites of existing manuscripts, but probably won't write anything entirely new for a while--unless inspiration suddenly strikes, which it has a habit of doing. It helps to be open to those bolts from the blue when they come, and to recognize them for what they are. Hopefully, I'll come up with another idea that's as good or better than the cats. I'm a better writer than I was when I was first published, and I can be more objective now. Still, Cat and Jack will always remain as dear to me as any friends I've ever had. There's a part of me in them, and they taught me a few things, too.   

I gathered as many of the heroes and heroines together from my previous books as possible for a few scenes in Wildcat. Getting all of them in was impossible, and would have been very confusing for new readers, but those of you who have been with me throughout this journey will have no difficulty remembering any of them. I'm sorry I won't be answering all the questions about the future of everyone in the series, but I think you'll get the idea. It's been a fun time, and I truly do hate to see it end.

Speaking of ends...
Here's one I think you'll enjoy!

Cyber Monday Moons!

Dunno about you, but I did my Cyber Shopping yesterday. Perfect day for it--rainy, chilly, and not at all the sort of day you'd want to venture out to the mall. Got free shipping on a few things and a decent discount at Kohl's, too. There must also be a few ebook buyers out there. I've sold 5 copies of Purple Bikini over the weekend! Whoo hoo! I wonder if any of them were purchased as gifts. Did you know you could do that? On Amazon, you click the "Give as a gift" button and put in the email address of the person you want to send it to, or you can put in your own email and forward it. Pretty cool, huh? I hope I sell lots of copies for Christmas because my work schedule cuts back to one day a week on December 5th.

It's a very strange feeling. I went to part-time after Mike was born, and then didn't work at all for ten months after Sam was born, but since then, I have always worked full-time. Early on, I earned more money than my DH did, (he currently makes more than I do) but I've always had a pretty good take-home salary. Dunno what my paycheck will look like now. It's kinda scary knowing that I need to sell a lot more books to even come close to what I earned as a nurse and it makes me feel like I shouldn't buy stuff for myself anymore. Everyone tells me that's crap, but having always been an equal contributor to the family finances, I feel like my share is dropping to the point that spending money on things like writer's conferences isn't justified. I may still attend a few, but I expect I'll feel a bit guilty about it. Fortunately, they are tax-deductible.

While Mikey was home from Purdue, we looked at vacation options and decided against an Alaskan cruise in favor of a trip to Ireland, instead of our yearly visit to Myrtle Beach. There's enough money in savings to pay for it now, but it seems crazy to spend so much more on a vacation since I'm not going to be working as much. Still, this may be the last big vacation we take as a family since Mikey should be graduating (and hopefully getting a job) next winter. If he gets a job in California, we may be taking trips to visit him from now on.

Anyway, with that in mind, I'm working on three projects at once--finishing Wildcat, rewriting one of my earlier manuscripts to self-publish, and working on a new Sextet story with a Legends theme--a menage with Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot. Had to make this one MFM. Can't quite see Arthur and Lancelot going at it, can you?

However, I can see someone aiming a paintball gun at these cyber moons!

Ready,

Aim,

Fire!

Thursday Thoughts

OMG! The shower finally has a door!!!! 

 

I took these pics after Sam used it for the first time. Those little reflections are the lights over the sinks. No leaks to speak of even though there's nothing to catch the drips at the bottom and channel the water back in except the slant on the tile. There's another piece he could put in there, but I'm not sure we need it. Plus, I like the smooth tile step better. I think he should be finished with trim and painting on Friday, which will officially put it at seventeen days--much longer than the original estimate! Hopefully, this shower will last at least as long as I do. After that, it's someone else's problem.

 Now all it needs is a wet hunk! 

BTW, I heard from my editor yesterday. It's official. Cat Star #9 will be called Wildcat. Can't wait to see the cover!