Wow.. suddenly things feel like they are moving!

Wow... wait wait wait and then.... Boom! stuff happens. Gotta love it! So waiting patiently for the proofs of both interior and cover layout for Restart. I look at the date and realize that there is the very strong possibility that everything will be done well before Christmas!

I'd thought that I could try and work on the next book, but after the opening few bits, nothing. No idea's, no drive. I hate that! I really really do. Then again, it's actually been a far busier summer than I had anticipated, even into August.

Okay, so part of that is my own doing. After much debating and soul searching I've decided that I should go back to school. Yeah, at the tender age of.... well... old... I'm going after a Bachelor's Degree in Writing Studies. Makes sense right? I think so in any event. However, the process of that has taken up some time...and energy. Good energy, but still...

Anyway, so now I turn my energy toward attempting marketing and creating excitement about the book. Maybe after I get the cover proofs I can see about like posters or something.. and put them up around town? In book stores? Coffee shops? All of the above?

Yes.

And so it begins!

Well, editor has the manuscript for Restart! Now I wait for a couple weeks while they go through it.I think time would go faster if it wasn't summer, where I have all the time in the world to look at my email.

I'm facing the "Now what do I do" conundrum now. I can't edit yet, but I can't seem to work on anything else. I have a whole other book waiting to be written, yet I keep shying away from it, because This one isn't done. In fact, I can't seem to write anything even related to the book. Nothing regarding the characters, nothing regarding the area.. nothing. Even this blog is hard... because it's about the book and me and writing.

I've tried keeping busy around the house, but being just back from a vacation, I don't feel inclined. Heck, I haven't even full unpacked! Oh I've gotten little things done.. dishes, my car now fits in the garage.. but laundry or sweeping and mopping... nope. As warm as it's been, I'm barely cooking!

Well, I've kind of run out of words for this, so I guess I'll wander over to FlightRising and see if I can waste a day there..lol.

Goal Reached!

Wow... I would have never believed that this could actually happen. I actually raised the funds to pay for an editor! Why pay? Welll.... there wasn't exactly a lne of people beating down my door volunteering to edit soooo...

I'm not perfect. I can write (so I've been told) but even the best spell checker won't catch a wrong word spelled right... nor can it tell me if all the punctuation is right... or if my timeline is clear. Only another pair of eyes, that haven't written 70,000+ words, can do that. As I said... didn't have folks beating down my door to volunteer to do this. I knew of two people capable... one has way too much on his plate, and the other won't edit anything by family or friends. Huh... kinda leaves me screwed.

So, finished the manuscript, fixed the obvious mis-spells and was just going to self-publish as it was. However, my beautiful husband had gotten addicted to Kickstarter... which gave me an idea... Maybe I could use that to raise the money to get this thing edited... So, doubting it would come together, I launched a Kickstarter campaign.. which most of you have probably gotten sick of hearing about by now..lol.

In all honesty, I was pretty sure I wouldn't reach the goal...once again, didn't have a whole lot of folks beating down my door. It's funny... when you do something like this, you find out who really believes in you as a person and who is just giving lip service. Now I know...

It's okay though... cause with or without your help, this book will live and be by far the tightest thig I've written. Still don't think it'll be a best seller... huh, then again, didn't think it would get funded either.... Huh.

Moving right along...

So today I got to thinking about how I write, and that in turn drove me here.

I was sharing with a co-worker (yes, I'm doing this from work) about distractions. Like researching something while writing. I'll  come to a halt in the writing to go get more information, or better understanding, about what I'm writing about. In doing that I inevitable loose track of time...and lo and behold, I'll surface from the depths of curiosity to find that hours have passed.

By this point I'm usually hungry, so I stop and eat something. Of course then it's nap time. In short, the entire day will pass and I will have written maybe a dozen sentences.

I think that's why sometimes I wonder if I'm dedicated enough. However, before I get a bazillion comments, I remind myself the same thing I tell my kiddos... There is no right or wrong way to write, just write. It's not about speed, it's about getting the words on paper.  The only time "speed" really matters is if you are testing. Otherwise, write as you can.

So, I'm writing as I can, and slowly moving forward. Planning and starting the next book, because Restart begs for a sequel and I  have all these notes and ideas and stuff. The hard part is the working title.

Why worry about it? Because I have to save the file and it helps to have a name. Kind of like coming up with baby names before the baby arrives, regardless of whether or not you know the gender. You are carrying within you a living being, and you are forming a bond with them. Part of that is having a name to refer to them by as you talk to them.

Stories are the same, at least for me. I have no clue the true gender of what I'm creating, but to think of it impersonally takes something away from the creative process.