Charlene Mattson's Blog
April 17, 2014
It's so Strange....
I've been doing book signings over the last couple of days. Just a few mind you-mostly for Patrick's work buddies who bought the book and then wanted author signage (goodness knows why!) It's such a strange feeling to hold my first book as is and then it's compounded by signing the silly thing. I'm thinking that I should have a book signing event for Glass Slipper Conspiracy; at least then I can serve cookies or something, lol.
I'm also wondering if it's time for a Facebook page for William Tenys (the books, not HIM), just dedicated to how the books are going, promotions, newsy bits (er...), teasers, etc. Would that kind of thing 'fly' or would it have all of five followers who do nothing? I have no idea; I don't really *do* social media. At least then my writing chaos would be separate from the rest of my FB so I can stop clogging peoples' news feeds at NaNoWriMo, lol. I guess I just feel like I should be doing more since another book is wrapping up and people are getting me to sign their copies of CC and so on.
Hmmm....
***
I'm also back to teaching this summer-likely all summer. This means my freelancing capabilities will be greatly reduced, (but NOT my fiction work! If Blood Moon Rising is written between 1am and 2am every day, so be it!) I guess they either like me there or they're desperate for instructors-six of one, half a dozen of the other ;) In all seriousness, I try to do good work there and when I run into old students, they always seem happy to see me so I couldn't have scared them too badly.
Off to visit my parents next week. Then moving. Then teaching. Then Vancouver. Then teaching some more and more and more... free time? what's this 'free time' you speak of? lol
Yeah, I might be doing a lot of that for a while, ha ha. Sheer exhaustion I claim!
I'm also wondering if it's time for a Facebook page for William Tenys (the books, not HIM), just dedicated to how the books are going, promotions, newsy bits (er...), teasers, etc. Would that kind of thing 'fly' or would it have all of five followers who do nothing? I have no idea; I don't really *do* social media. At least then my writing chaos would be separate from the rest of my FB so I can stop clogging peoples' news feeds at NaNoWriMo, lol. I guess I just feel like I should be doing more since another book is wrapping up and people are getting me to sign their copies of CC and so on.
Hmmm....
***
I'm also back to teaching this summer-likely all summer. This means my freelancing capabilities will be greatly reduced, (but NOT my fiction work! If Blood Moon Rising is written between 1am and 2am every day, so be it!) I guess they either like me there or they're desperate for instructors-six of one, half a dozen of the other ;) In all seriousness, I try to do good work there and when I run into old students, they always seem happy to see me so I couldn't have scared them too badly.
Off to visit my parents next week. Then moving. Then teaching. Then Vancouver. Then teaching some more and more and more... free time? what's this 'free time' you speak of? lol
Yeah, I might be doing a lot of that for a while, ha ha. Sheer exhaustion I claim!
April 10, 2014
The REAL Reason People Avoid Bookworms
In comedies and in stereotypes and in my high school, book worms are treated with some mixture of disdain and admiration. Admiration because anyone who can sit down for hours and stare at a book is some odd marvel of the universe and disdain for... much the same reason.
But as I set to packing my rather modest (by comparison) bookshelf, I realized something:
All that disdain and 'don't date the book geek' is actually an ancient survival mechanism and here's my proof:
"Imma gonna screw up the back of anyone who tries to lift me sooooo badly"
"Guess what? Most of us together, probably weight less than that one box."
Yeah.
The top box is my book box full of hardcovers. Most of the ones I own in fact. It's so heavy that I could barely shove it across the floor, let alone lift it. Pity the fool who tries. I'll likely have to split it all up to make it easier on some poor soul.
But anyway, that's why people think they should deride the bookworm. For many people, it's not that they actually think we're awful, boring or not worth the time. It's actually an ancient survival strategy meant to keep them from having to ever lift that one three ton box full of hardcover books. So don't feel angry or ashamed of yourself! Just... maybe split the books up in many, smaller boxes instead of one, overwhelmingly heavy one.
And I'm a modest bookworm! Imagine having to pack up and lift something like this:
Yeah, I'd love that library, but that's when I'm never moving again, EVER!
Moving, ugh!
But as I set to packing my rather modest (by comparison) bookshelf, I realized something:
All that disdain and 'don't date the book geek' is actually an ancient survival mechanism and here's my proof:
"Imma gonna screw up the back of anyone who tries to lift me sooooo badly"
"Guess what? Most of us together, probably weight less than that one box."
Yeah.
The top box is my book box full of hardcovers. Most of the ones I own in fact. It's so heavy that I could barely shove it across the floor, let alone lift it. Pity the fool who tries. I'll likely have to split it all up to make it easier on some poor soul.
But anyway, that's why people think they should deride the bookworm. For many people, it's not that they actually think we're awful, boring or not worth the time. It's actually an ancient survival strategy meant to keep them from having to ever lift that one three ton box full of hardcover books. So don't feel angry or ashamed of yourself! Just... maybe split the books up in many, smaller boxes instead of one, overwhelmingly heavy one.
And I'm a modest bookworm! Imagine having to pack up and lift something like this:
Yeah, I'd love that library, but that's when I'm never moving again, EVER!
Moving, ugh!
April 7, 2014
Hooray! We're not Homeless
What, it was a little touch and go there!
Yes, we found a place. A fairly decent place: four bedroom, finished basement, two bathrooms, larger living room, larger kitchen, larger back yard. My mom is excited for the larger bathroom as she was sick of using our cell bathroom when she visited, lol.
Of course, now I"ll be spending April packing, so I definitely won't be doing a lot of writing. I guess that's what July camp NaNoWriMo is for.
Time to start packing and getting ready to leave our little house behind. Farewell little house; you were amazing.
Yes, we found a place. A fairly decent place: four bedroom, finished basement, two bathrooms, larger living room, larger kitchen, larger back yard. My mom is excited for the larger bathroom as she was sick of using our cell bathroom when she visited, lol.
Of course, now I"ll be spending April packing, so I definitely won't be doing a lot of writing. I guess that's what July camp NaNoWriMo is for.
Time to start packing and getting ready to leave our little house behind. Farewell little house; you were amazing.
April 4, 2014
Straitjacket? I meant a padded room....
I'm hopelessly behind on everything. I'm not even sure why I'm writing a blog considering how behind I am!
***
This has been a disastrous week. The major problem (as many of my fans are already aware) is that we are being evicted from our house. There's really no other way of putting it and our landlord can be apologetic as he likes, but there it is: by June 1 (or thereabouts), we have to be out of our little house and into a new one. This has been incredibly stressful on us as this spring we were supposed to be travelling, writing and then I go back to teaching this summer. However, this demand that we move has thrown a complete wrench into all of those plans. As a result, I am constantly distracted, we are all tired and stressed out and we've been scrambling to find a house to fit our rather specialized needs: room for five, three pets and as close to William's school as possible.
If nothing else, this has completely thrown my long term budget plans merrily out the window as no matter what, our monthly rent is about to spike and we'll have to pay utilities. The upswing of all this is that no matter what, we'll have more space. Our current house is fairly small and oddly laid out, but damn it all, we got used to it over the years!
So that's the major distraction and it's been a huge one. I'm now pretty far behind on Camp NaNoWriMo (haven't even cleared 1000 words yet) and I"m not sure if I'm even going to bother or if I"ll postpone to July. Best case scenario, one of the three houses we'll be viewing in the next few days works great and we spend a chunk of April packing. Worst case, none of them work out and we spend the next seven weeks in a panic trying to find a house and move.
At least it IS moving season and that means it should, in theory, be easy-ish to find a place. We have three possibilities to look at already; the main sticking point will be the dog. She may be the laziest, quietest, sweetest animal alive, but people see labX, they think destruction, :p. Hopefully the fact that she's eight years old (or older; we're not sure) will help convince people that she's harmless.
(course our dog is black, but hopefully she can strike a deal!)
If this does work out (er, when; something HAS to work out or we're living under the bridge which would be awfully strange considering the fact that we're not precisely broke), we will get a house with a lot more space (win!), a nicer and larger kitchen (win!) and probably a bigger yard (win!) So in the end, despite higher costs, this will likely work out in our favor.
Still, I would prefer to move under our own terms, not being evicted for doing nothing wrong at all, but rather because the landlord wants his house back!
***
What's on the shelf: Summer Knight by Jim Butcher.
Writing: HA!
At least I have a new commission or two coming.
***
This has been a disastrous week. The major problem (as many of my fans are already aware) is that we are being evicted from our house. There's really no other way of putting it and our landlord can be apologetic as he likes, but there it is: by June 1 (or thereabouts), we have to be out of our little house and into a new one. This has been incredibly stressful on us as this spring we were supposed to be travelling, writing and then I go back to teaching this summer. However, this demand that we move has thrown a complete wrench into all of those plans. As a result, I am constantly distracted, we are all tired and stressed out and we've been scrambling to find a house to fit our rather specialized needs: room for five, three pets and as close to William's school as possible.
If nothing else, this has completely thrown my long term budget plans merrily out the window as no matter what, our monthly rent is about to spike and we'll have to pay utilities. The upswing of all this is that no matter what, we'll have more space. Our current house is fairly small and oddly laid out, but damn it all, we got used to it over the years!
So that's the major distraction and it's been a huge one. I'm now pretty far behind on Camp NaNoWriMo (haven't even cleared 1000 words yet) and I"m not sure if I'm even going to bother or if I"ll postpone to July. Best case scenario, one of the three houses we'll be viewing in the next few days works great and we spend a chunk of April packing. Worst case, none of them work out and we spend the next seven weeks in a panic trying to find a house and move.
At least it IS moving season and that means it should, in theory, be easy-ish to find a place. We have three possibilities to look at already; the main sticking point will be the dog. She may be the laziest, quietest, sweetest animal alive, but people see labX, they think destruction, :p. Hopefully the fact that she's eight years old (or older; we're not sure) will help convince people that she's harmless.
(course our dog is black, but hopefully she can strike a deal!)
If this does work out (er, when; something HAS to work out or we're living under the bridge which would be awfully strange considering the fact that we're not precisely broke), we will get a house with a lot more space (win!), a nicer and larger kitchen (win!) and probably a bigger yard (win!) So in the end, despite higher costs, this will likely work out in our favor.
Still, I would prefer to move under our own terms, not being evicted for doing nothing wrong at all, but rather because the landlord wants his house back!
***
What's on the shelf: Summer Knight by Jim Butcher.
Writing: HA!
At least I have a new commission or two coming.
March 31, 2014
Measure Me for a Straitjacket...
Yup, I'm doing Camp NaNoWriMo.
I was going to do the July edition, but William started banging around in my head. (It's like life hasn't thrown him enough lemons!) and so the writing of Draft 1 of Book 3 got bumped to April. Because I'm not insane enough with finishing Book 2, work, William's appointments, travel plans (visiting the parental units for Dad's 50th birthday at the end of the month) and what passes vaguely for a social life. Ah well.
And of course, two hours before I traditionally begin any NaNo project (midnight!) I realized that I had to stitch a final plot hole in Glass Slipper. It wasn't a SERIOUS one, but it was an inconsistency that stuck out like a sore thumb and would have made me look like an idiot.
So I have to fix that which means actually adding two or three (or more) pages of all new writing to Draft 3-the final draft before my beta reader gets his (or possibly her) hands on it. Sheesh! That should be sewn up tonight, but it does mean I'm going to spend about four solid hours writing tonight between work, GSC draft and then starting Blood Moon Rising.
Hello Straitjacket...
If you'd like to join me in the madness, you wanna go roight here:
www.campnanowrimo.org to sign up.
If you just want to follow me and yell at me for not making my daily word count, you can go here:
http://campnanowrimo.org/campers/tana... (you'll also get the synopsis for Book 3 and an excerpt, oooooohhhh! I absolutely do not guarantee that the final product will look much like the bits you'll see here though. In fact, I'd point out that it probably won't bear much similarity, ha ha.)
Or you can keep following my blog here.
So how's things going on Book 2?
Almooooossstt dooooonnnneeeee! Then it goes to my readers (assuming he can do it, otherwise, my sister is getting drafted for the role of plot hole, character inconsistency, problem finder). Then it goes to my dad the grammar/spelling/missing word finder king and THEN it goes to the publisher and my cover artist (he better do Book 2!) hopefully this summer to be released by Christmas. Yay!
***
What's on the shelf:
Grave Peril by Jim Butcher.
I'm having a HELL of a time getting into 2312. Maybe I'm just not in a hard Sci-fi mood, but I think it'll be going back to the library again. sigh.
To all Camp NaNoWriMo folks: see you at the finish line!
To my readers: see you soon! I'll likely be giggling softly and rocking gently in a corner by April 30, ha ha!
I was going to do the July edition, but William started banging around in my head. (It's like life hasn't thrown him enough lemons!) and so the writing of Draft 1 of Book 3 got bumped to April. Because I'm not insane enough with finishing Book 2, work, William's appointments, travel plans (visiting the parental units for Dad's 50th birthday at the end of the month) and what passes vaguely for a social life. Ah well.
And of course, two hours before I traditionally begin any NaNo project (midnight!) I realized that I had to stitch a final plot hole in Glass Slipper. It wasn't a SERIOUS one, but it was an inconsistency that stuck out like a sore thumb and would have made me look like an idiot.
So I have to fix that which means actually adding two or three (or more) pages of all new writing to Draft 3-the final draft before my beta reader gets his (or possibly her) hands on it. Sheesh! That should be sewn up tonight, but it does mean I'm going to spend about four solid hours writing tonight between work, GSC draft and then starting Blood Moon Rising.
Hello Straitjacket...
If you'd like to join me in the madness, you wanna go roight here:
www.campnanowrimo.org to sign up.
If you just want to follow me and yell at me for not making my daily word count, you can go here:
http://campnanowrimo.org/campers/tana... (you'll also get the synopsis for Book 3 and an excerpt, oooooohhhh! I absolutely do not guarantee that the final product will look much like the bits you'll see here though. In fact, I'd point out that it probably won't bear much similarity, ha ha.)
Or you can keep following my blog here.
So how's things going on Book 2?
Almooooossstt dooooonnnneeeee! Then it goes to my readers (assuming he can do it, otherwise, my sister is getting drafted for the role of plot hole, character inconsistency, problem finder). Then it goes to my dad the grammar/spelling/missing word finder king and THEN it goes to the publisher and my cover artist (he better do Book 2!) hopefully this summer to be released by Christmas. Yay!
***
What's on the shelf:
Grave Peril by Jim Butcher.
I'm having a HELL of a time getting into 2312. Maybe I'm just not in a hard Sci-fi mood, but I think it'll be going back to the library again. sigh.
To all Camp NaNoWriMo folks: see you at the finish line!
To my readers: see you soon! I'll likely be giggling softly and rocking gently in a corner by April 30, ha ha!
March 23, 2014
I Dreamed Up More to do With a Novel...
And only just now remembered that I dreamed at all. Unfortunately, I have no recollection of the character I dreamed up besides the fact that he was male :/. *grumble* I don't even remember WHICH book he was belonged to: Blood Moon Rising, Happily Ever After and Other Nonsense I was Taught or something else altogether! I hate it when that happens.
The Glass Slipper Conspiracy is well on its way now; I'm into the second to final home stretch. I'll try to send some time today on it, assuming the sunshine and parental guilt doesn't haul me outside all afternoon (now that it's almost spring, it's hard to justify letting William do WHATEVER he wants, read: video games and playing with his plushies when he should be outside).
Camp NaNoWriMo begins in April, but I think I'll do the July edition. I'm going to be gone for part of April after all. My only concern there is that I'll likely be teaching for a chunk of July and that just chews up my energy and time. But I'll adjust and something (two somethings!) will be done this year, lol!
I don't really have any news or anything to really talk about. Just grumbling about the character who has clearly vanished back into my subconscious somewhere. Hopefully he comes back soon; I have the feeling he was an interesting guy.
***
Editing: On Chapter 9 or 10 of Glass Slipper Conspiracy and the first half went to my beta reader/editor for a look through, assuming he has time.
Books on the Shelf:
Triggers by Robert J. Sawyer
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (now that I'm done work for a week or two, I should be able to finish it!)
The Glass Slipper Conspiracy is well on its way now; I'm into the second to final home stretch. I'll try to send some time today on it, assuming the sunshine and parental guilt doesn't haul me outside all afternoon (now that it's almost spring, it's hard to justify letting William do WHATEVER he wants, read: video games and playing with his plushies when he should be outside).
Camp NaNoWriMo begins in April, but I think I'll do the July edition. I'm going to be gone for part of April after all. My only concern there is that I'll likely be teaching for a chunk of July and that just chews up my energy and time. But I'll adjust and something (two somethings!) will be done this year, lol!
I don't really have any news or anything to really talk about. Just grumbling about the character who has clearly vanished back into my subconscious somewhere. Hopefully he comes back soon; I have the feeling he was an interesting guy.
***
Editing: On Chapter 9 or 10 of Glass Slipper Conspiracy and the first half went to my beta reader/editor for a look through, assuming he has time.
Books on the Shelf:
Triggers by Robert J. Sawyer
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson (now that I'm done work for a week or two, I should be able to finish it!)
March 12, 2014
So... Apparently William Tenys has Competition
I was reading over some reviews of The Magicians. I read it last January and I really did not like it. It was blah.
But the reviews got me thinking...
I understand at least to some extent what the author (and ones like him) were hawking: magic doesn't make life wonderful, getting what you want isn't always going to work out, etc. But his execution was blah.
So I'm re-executing it. Sort of. And now, William may have competition this year. Good thing I'm doing Camp NaNoWriMo and regular NaNoWriMo! Now to figure out which order to do them in...
Wanna read the 'back cover'? Here ya go!
***
“Magic was supposed to solve all my problems, but instead, it just seemed to cause all new problems…”
There are three things which all of the people of Leelat Kingdom know:
1. Only a very chosen few are capable of learning and wielding magic
2. The chosen few vanish for years and when they return, they are powerful
3. Magic can solve any problem and lead to happily ever afters
And Ariana wants to be one of those chosen few. Unfortunately, the ages where arcane traditionally manifest: 7, 13, 16 and 18 have already passed with no glitters and 21 is fast approaching. She’s just about given up on ever becoming one of those powerful beings who can wield the power of the cosmos and has started to resign herself to simply getting married and having a family.
Then the letter comes on the eve of her 21st birthday and Ariana learns that not only is she one of the chosen few, she may be The Chosen One.
Unfortunately, no one has thought to warn her that being Chosen usually means being Targeted and that magic rarely fixes anything when it can make a situation worse…
'Happily Ever After and Other Nonsense I Was Taught'
***
Rather than depressing and bleak though, I think I'll go for the more humorous, characters change, wisdom is occasionally dropped and oh yeah: something really bad happens. Because hey, Chosen One = Big bulls-eye target, lol.
What do my readers think? Which one should I do first: Magic, schools and The Chosen One getting into horrible trouble or werewolves at war with each other, murders and reverse lycanthropy?
Oh well, when you put it that way....
***
What's on the Shelf:
The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt
The Naming of the Beasts by Mike Carey
Editing: Up to Chapter 8! Things are moving along more smoothly now. Course I get a little stymied when characters and plots randomly wander into my mind...
But the reviews got me thinking...
I understand at least to some extent what the author (and ones like him) were hawking: magic doesn't make life wonderful, getting what you want isn't always going to work out, etc. But his execution was blah.
So I'm re-executing it. Sort of. And now, William may have competition this year. Good thing I'm doing Camp NaNoWriMo and regular NaNoWriMo! Now to figure out which order to do them in...
Wanna read the 'back cover'? Here ya go!
***
“Magic was supposed to solve all my problems, but instead, it just seemed to cause all new problems…”
There are three things which all of the people of Leelat Kingdom know:
1. Only a very chosen few are capable of learning and wielding magic
2. The chosen few vanish for years and when they return, they are powerful
3. Magic can solve any problem and lead to happily ever afters
And Ariana wants to be one of those chosen few. Unfortunately, the ages where arcane traditionally manifest: 7, 13, 16 and 18 have already passed with no glitters and 21 is fast approaching. She’s just about given up on ever becoming one of those powerful beings who can wield the power of the cosmos and has started to resign herself to simply getting married and having a family.
Then the letter comes on the eve of her 21st birthday and Ariana learns that not only is she one of the chosen few, she may be The Chosen One.
Unfortunately, no one has thought to warn her that being Chosen usually means being Targeted and that magic rarely fixes anything when it can make a situation worse…
'Happily Ever After and Other Nonsense I Was Taught'
***
Rather than depressing and bleak though, I think I'll go for the more humorous, characters change, wisdom is occasionally dropped and oh yeah: something really bad happens. Because hey, Chosen One = Big bulls-eye target, lol.
What do my readers think? Which one should I do first: Magic, schools and The Chosen One getting into horrible trouble or werewolves at war with each other, murders and reverse lycanthropy?
Oh well, when you put it that way....
***
What's on the Shelf:
The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt
The Naming of the Beasts by Mike Carey
Editing: Up to Chapter 8! Things are moving along more smoothly now. Course I get a little stymied when characters and plots randomly wander into my mind...
March 8, 2014
Writing this while playing with Mario Plushies one-handed
I'm done the string of teaching jobs (at least for the moment, though I might be working two days next week), much to my son's glee. He's been bouncing off the walls all day today, getting into everything and clinging desperately to me. Which would be fine, but it does lead to some awkwardness when I trip over him or when I'm wiped out and he just wants to keep playing :D
I guess it's a nice ego boost to have someone miss me, but I'm tired out!
***
It will feel awfully strange to go back to the writing/William's activities cycle. The three weeks I spent 'at work' was tiring to be sure and could be frustrating at times, but at the same time, it was very liberating. For several hours a day for five days a week, I didn't have to worry about William or even really think of him (Besides wondering how he was doing every so often). I was way too busy keeping ahead of my students and dealing with them! It was rather nice to be 'me' and not 'me+kid'; I can see why so many moms go back to work after a while.
Certainly I'm glad to be back and there are some things which *need* to be done and only I can really do them when it comes to getting William ready for the fall, but still. I dunno; it'll feel strange for a bit. I'll get used to it just in time to go back to teaching XD.
I am glad to be back to writing fiction and reading and freelance writing may be less frustrating now that I've had some time away. Hopefully things can move along for a while and we'll have another book out this year :)
***
What's on the shelf:
Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer
The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt
Steadfast by Mercedes Lackey
Book progress: Glacial. Kinda piecing together bits of book four though, god help me, lol.
I guess it's a nice ego boost to have someone miss me, but I'm tired out!
***
It will feel awfully strange to go back to the writing/William's activities cycle. The three weeks I spent 'at work' was tiring to be sure and could be frustrating at times, but at the same time, it was very liberating. For several hours a day for five days a week, I didn't have to worry about William or even really think of him (Besides wondering how he was doing every so often). I was way too busy keeping ahead of my students and dealing with them! It was rather nice to be 'me' and not 'me+kid'; I can see why so many moms go back to work after a while.
Certainly I'm glad to be back and there are some things which *need* to be done and only I can really do them when it comes to getting William ready for the fall, but still. I dunno; it'll feel strange for a bit. I'll get used to it just in time to go back to teaching XD.
I am glad to be back to writing fiction and reading and freelance writing may be less frustrating now that I've had some time away. Hopefully things can move along for a while and we'll have another book out this year :)
***
What's on the shelf:
Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer
The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt
Steadfast by Mercedes Lackey
Book progress: Glacial. Kinda piecing together bits of book four though, god help me, lol.
March 3, 2014
My Dad Read My Book
For many writers, having the parental units read their work is a good ego-boost. After all, most parents are going to be 'nice' about what their offspring have written. They'll be complimentary, go easy on the criticism and generally be nice. It's a (near) guaranteed ego boost.
When The Curious Case came out, I almost didn't want to tell my folks. And I would have been quite happy if my dad never read it.
'Writer be like: Don't touch my book!' lol
Don't get me wrong at ALL! My dad is AMAZING. He's a brilliant story teller, a fantastic writer and he's been reading fantasy and sci-fi all his life. He KNOWS a good book and he's not afraid to say when he's read a good one and when he's read a poor one (and why). Ditto for movies. Many a happy memory is of my father torpedoing a movie-not just criticizing it, but detailing how and why the writers went wrong.
But you can see why I was intimidated. My father is amazing and my writer's ego is not what it could be. So when my book came out, I obviously had to tell my parents and they just as obviously wanted to read it. I was less happy at the prospect. My mom is less... vocal... about critique, but arguably more picky when it comes to what she likes, so I had my worries!
My mom read it the day it came out (download baby!) and she really liked it. She had some questions, but they were great questions and helped me fill out more stuff for later books. She even came up with another story idea! I got a real kick out of someone coming up with fanfiction as soon as the book came out, ha ha.
My dad just finished reading the hard copy today. I'm glad no one told me he was reading it or I wouldn't have been able to focus on teaching! But he called tonight to say that the hard copies arrived (they ordered a pile for family) and he read it.
And he liked it. A lot. Phew! So now he's jumping on board with subsequent books to help myself and my editor weed out the typos (after spending months on filling plot holes and fixing inconsistencies, I miss things like missed words and misspellings, lol).
Now, where am I going with this? Well, at first, I'm twitchy about my folks reading my stuff. After all, they know what they like-and what they don't like-and they're quite vocal in their critiques. They are always thoughtful critiques and very helpful ones, but by this point, it's a wee bit too late for it! On the other hand, the fact that my dad had nothing bad to say and no problems means I did a good job of at least making sure the story had no plot holes, no strange characters issues and no stand-out problems (other than typos, le sigh). so there's that which arguably makes my mom and dad more useful as thoughtful readers than if they simply said they liked it because it was written by their daughter.
So I shouldn't be nervous about them reading it. But I'll probably continue to be, lol.
(as a side-note, both mom and dad are laughing at me for my nerves and dad was even a little bit laughingly offended that I was all worried, ha ha. I just love my folks so much, even when they do intimidate me with their vastly superior abilities!)
***
Editing: Five chapters down, formatted and cleaned. About 9 more to go, phew!
On the shelf:
Dead Man's Boots by Mike Carey
When The Curious Case came out, I almost didn't want to tell my folks. And I would have been quite happy if my dad never read it.
'Writer be like: Don't touch my book!' lol
Don't get me wrong at ALL! My dad is AMAZING. He's a brilliant story teller, a fantastic writer and he's been reading fantasy and sci-fi all his life. He KNOWS a good book and he's not afraid to say when he's read a good one and when he's read a poor one (and why). Ditto for movies. Many a happy memory is of my father torpedoing a movie-not just criticizing it, but detailing how and why the writers went wrong.
But you can see why I was intimidated. My father is amazing and my writer's ego is not what it could be. So when my book came out, I obviously had to tell my parents and they just as obviously wanted to read it. I was less happy at the prospect. My mom is less... vocal... about critique, but arguably more picky when it comes to what she likes, so I had my worries!
My mom read it the day it came out (download baby!) and she really liked it. She had some questions, but they were great questions and helped me fill out more stuff for later books. She even came up with another story idea! I got a real kick out of someone coming up with fanfiction as soon as the book came out, ha ha.
My dad just finished reading the hard copy today. I'm glad no one told me he was reading it or I wouldn't have been able to focus on teaching! But he called tonight to say that the hard copies arrived (they ordered a pile for family) and he read it.
And he liked it. A lot. Phew! So now he's jumping on board with subsequent books to help myself and my editor weed out the typos (after spending months on filling plot holes and fixing inconsistencies, I miss things like missed words and misspellings, lol).
Now, where am I going with this? Well, at first, I'm twitchy about my folks reading my stuff. After all, they know what they like-and what they don't like-and they're quite vocal in their critiques. They are always thoughtful critiques and very helpful ones, but by this point, it's a wee bit too late for it! On the other hand, the fact that my dad had nothing bad to say and no problems means I did a good job of at least making sure the story had no plot holes, no strange characters issues and no stand-out problems (other than typos, le sigh). so there's that which arguably makes my mom and dad more useful as thoughtful readers than if they simply said they liked it because it was written by their daughter.
So I shouldn't be nervous about them reading it. But I'll probably continue to be, lol.
(as a side-note, both mom and dad are laughing at me for my nerves and dad was even a little bit laughingly offended that I was all worried, ha ha. I just love my folks so much, even when they do intimidate me with their vastly superior abilities!)
***
Editing: Five chapters down, formatted and cleaned. About 9 more to go, phew!
On the shelf:
Dead Man's Boots by Mike Carey
February 28, 2014
The Odd Time Dilation Feeling
Time is relative.
Everyone knows that. It's not that it's literally moving slower or faster, but it certainly seems that way at the time. It really likes to 'telescope' on me so that a day can feel as though it's been zipped in my brain by the end of the day. (Yes, zipped, like a computer file, lol!)
The last two weeks have been like this with work days seemingly 'zipped' by the end of the day so that it feels like time went by quickly and I'm exhausted, but I still feel like I didn't *do* tons of stuff. I know I did, but since it was all going along at a regular pace and nothing odd happened or stuck out, it all feels like it got compressed and shuttered so that time went quickly.
I had a great two weeks teaching and knowing that I only have one more week (for the foreseeable future anyway) feels distinctly odd-though my son is happy. After that, its back to Strong Start, therapy and sorting out William's prep for Kindergarten. Don't get me wrong, I'll be glad to do that with him again (though taking him to a child psychologist for an exam for the school will be stressful-apparently our only psychologist in this stupid city is fond of medical jargon and likes to sound intimidating. Must put stomping boots on!), but I will miss teaching and working. The money is certainly nice too!
Of course, being too exhausted to play video games or keep up with my fiction is problematic, so I guess in that sense, it's a good thing I have some time off coming, lol.
***
Editing is kicked back up again: The Glass Slipper Conspiracy got some more work done on it and I'm working on the outline for Book 3 because I'm just that obsessive, lol.
Books on the shelf:
Vicious Circle by Mike Carey for work. Nothing for home yet-library trip tomorrow.
Everyone knows that. It's not that it's literally moving slower or faster, but it certainly seems that way at the time. It really likes to 'telescope' on me so that a day can feel as though it's been zipped in my brain by the end of the day. (Yes, zipped, like a computer file, lol!)
The last two weeks have been like this with work days seemingly 'zipped' by the end of the day so that it feels like time went by quickly and I'm exhausted, but I still feel like I didn't *do* tons of stuff. I know I did, but since it was all going along at a regular pace and nothing odd happened or stuck out, it all feels like it got compressed and shuttered so that time went quickly.
I had a great two weeks teaching and knowing that I only have one more week (for the foreseeable future anyway) feels distinctly odd-though my son is happy. After that, its back to Strong Start, therapy and sorting out William's prep for Kindergarten. Don't get me wrong, I'll be glad to do that with him again (though taking him to a child psychologist for an exam for the school will be stressful-apparently our only psychologist in this stupid city is fond of medical jargon and likes to sound intimidating. Must put stomping boots on!), but I will miss teaching and working. The money is certainly nice too!
Of course, being too exhausted to play video games or keep up with my fiction is problematic, so I guess in that sense, it's a good thing I have some time off coming, lol.
***
Editing is kicked back up again: The Glass Slipper Conspiracy got some more work done on it and I'm working on the outline for Book 3 because I'm just that obsessive, lol.
Books on the shelf:
Vicious Circle by Mike Carey for work. Nothing for home yet-library trip tomorrow.
