Work in Progress: Song of The Week

I haven't done one of these in a while, but I'm totally obsessed with this song. It really reminds me of Darian. Enjoy!

Page Proofs of Doom

I've been working on page proofs for BLOOD BEFORE SUNRISE this week. This is the last time I'll get to make any corrections/changes to the book before it goes to print and I've been encouraged to keep my corrections to a minimum, meaning, spelling/grammar/punctuation only. This is not the time to make any big changes to the story/plot/etc.

I'm not going to lie. I get pretty neurotic during this phase of the process. It's sort of like going through the five stages of grief.

Denial:

I couldn't have possibly written this! What in the hell was I thinking?!? This is no good! How could this book suck so badly? Someone must have erased all of my words and replaced them with their own. That's it. I'm certain. These are not my words!!!!

Anger:

I used _______ word HOW many times in this scene?!?! How did I not catch this in copy edits?!?! I will ceremoniously burn these pages. Right after I smash my laptop to bits.

Bargaining:

Maybe if I ask really nice they'll let me re-write the entire book from scratch. I could offer to clean all of the Penguin offices for a year. I'll move to New York and live in the building! Brownies! I'll send pans and pans of brownies to the production staff. Once they've succumbed to the chocolate coma, they'll agree to let me start over. Bwahahaha!

Depression:

My life is over. My words are drivel. My life is over.

Acceptance:

I produced the best possible novel I could. I worked hard and there's nothing more I can do. Time to move on to the next story, the next manuscript. I am at peace. (That is, until reviews start to roll in. Hehe.)

March Madness

Elise Rome is hosting a March Madness event on her blog! An entire month of author interviews and giveaways. :) Stop by today for a chance to win a print copy of SHAEDES OF GRAY!

Unexpected Company and Time Management

In January I did a post on New Year's resolutions and my own goals to better manage my time. Well, I've accomplished a couple of things:

First of all, I've dedicated the hours between 8am and 5pm as "writing time" so as to better mesh with my family's schedule. I do take one hour out of my day to go work out (another thing on my resolutions list) and I usually quit working around 4:30 so that I can actually cook a dinner that doesn't suck. Well, doesn't suck too bad. I've also been tapering off on my on-line activity throughout the day. In the few months leading up to the release of Shaedes of Gray, I was on line A LOT. Like morning till night. My face was in front of the computer screen until I went to bed. Needless to say, this sort of agitated the hubs as he was beginning to feel like the "other man" in a torrid love triangle composed of me, him, and my laptop. And whereas my laptop is very sexy, I realized that I needed to step back and take a break. Self promotion is really important and I want to be visible and accessible. But I don't want my family to feel neglected, either. So, since January 1st I've been right on track: My writing has been WAY more productive, I get more done during the day, I'm cooking semi-edible meals, and I'm spending time with the fam in the evenings. 

So what could I have possibly not factored into my marvelous time-management schedule? Um... cleaning my house. I live in a small town and my house is sort of out in the middle of nowhere. I don't usually get surprise guests, but every once in a while, one of my friends will stop by. I think unexpected company is one of those things that sends a writer into a state of panic. As soon as you answer the door, you realize that you're wearing a t-shirt (which may or may not be clean), yoga pants (or the dreaded baggy sweats), your hair is a mess (and probably dirty), and your house (Holy shit! I forgot I even lived here!) looks like a pack of wild animals has been living there for the past few months. So, I mumble a few apologies for the mess, try to straighten up the 72 notebooks, paperbacks, day planner and 12-pack of Coke Zero that surrounds my laptop (which happens to live on my kitchen table), and then realize in a heart-stopping moment of panic that both of my bathrooms are completely disgusting. And after a well-masked panic attack and several mini strokes, the unexpected company leaves and I'm left realizing that there was an epic flaw in my time-management plan: Upkeep. 

So it's back to the drawing board. Mixed in with the writing, reading, social networking, cooking, and spending quality time with the fam, I need to add: cleaning house and self so that we are both April fresh in the event that unexpected company stops by to my list. I'm pretty sure I can block off an hour or so in my day for said upkeep. But I'm not making any promises. ;)

For the record, I Google searched "dirty house" for some funny image to plug in to this post, but the images the search gave me literally made my stomach turn. Plus, I didn't want you guys to think the pic was what my house actually looked like! ;)

Signing at Rediscovered Books

I plowed into a woman waiting in line at Starbucks Friday night. Luckily that was the worst thing to happen to me on Friday the 13th. I apologized to the poor lady, but I'm sure she thought I'd already had WAY too much caffeine and didn't need any help from the caramel macchiato I ordered. My fears for Friday's book signing included: farting, burping, puking in front of everyone, instantly losing the ability to read and comprehend the English language, inability to string words together to form coherent sentences, forgetting how to spell my name. Luckily, none of those things happened, but when it came time for me to read an excerpt from Shaedes of Gray, I did accidentally lose my place. I had this moment where all of the pages looked the same as I flipped frantically through them. And at one point I wondered, Is this even my book?!?! I don't recognize ANY of this! I eventually found my place, though, and the reading went smoothly. Thank. God.

You can't see it, but I'm panicking on the inside!

The event was wonderful, set up in a very relaxing, impromptu way. Laura, the owner of Rediscovered Books, "interviewed" me for the audience, eliminating the need for me to think up witty things to say. I simply answered her questions and it literally laid waste to my nerves. The format was great and I encourage my fellow writers to suggest this to bookstore owners for their own events. It was sort of like Inside the Actor's Studio, but for writers. :) So fun!

As you can see, I was too lazy to get rid of the "red-eyes" in this pic. Oh, and btw, I talk with my hands!

We had a great turn out, around thirty people, I think. I answered a lot of questions about the publishing business and a great reader question about whether or not Darian would ever have a girlfriend. "She needs a girlfriend." The reader said. "I think it would really help mellow her out." Every one sort of laughed and I mentioned the bad heroine girlfriend feature on Heroes and Heartbreakers. I assured the reader that Darian will have females in her life that she doesn't want to stab. She's going to loosen up considerably in books 2 and 3.  :)

After the Q&A, I signed books (we sold all but 2 copies!!) and visited with everyone who stopped by and took a few more pics. And thanks to the great response, Rediscovered has asked me back for the release of Blood Before Sunrise in July. Rediscovered is a great local indie bookstore, and they're really sci-fi/fantasy friendly. I can't wait to go back!

Don't you love these t-shirts?!?! I have a posse, yo! 

Cover Love - Blood Before Sunrise

It's been forever since I've posted here, and to those of you who occasionally tune in, I'm sorry. I've got a list of drafts for posts that I thought about writing and abandoned. Posts on Christmas, New Year's Resolutions, how grateful I am to the universe for all of my good fortune in 2011. In the end, I realized I just didn't have the words to convey just how I feel. All in all, I just feel blessed. And busy. Very busy.

I'll be posting more regularly, though still only once or so a week. And I hope to have more guest posts, contests, and fun stuff as well. 2012 is going to be another uber busy year on the writing front, and I couldn't be happier. Not only is WHEN SHADOWS CALL, a Shaede Assassin world novella going to be released in June, but BLOOD BEFORE SUNRISE, book 2 in the Shaede Assassin series will be released July 3rd. I really love book 2 and the way Darian's character has developed and grown. The art department at NAL has been hard at work too, bringing Darian to life. I think the cover is gorgeous, but I'm biased. ;) What do you think?