June 6, 2025
Doesn’t feel like Friday? Doesn’t feel like much of anything for the narrator of one of the two title stories of Broken but Undaunted.
Bet you didn’t know the title of Broken but Undaunted is made up of the titles of two different stories! Broken is a story I’d once sold for 99c. Undaunted — the story I’m referring to above — was included in the Running Wild Anthology of Stories Volume 2, which is the ONLY Running Wild anthology not listed on Bookshop.org. Like, what? It’s the best!
I spent the day catching up on things — and I’m not caught up yet! — so I didn’t start the second read-through of this project I’m working on. The client’s in no hurry; they have become a good friend over the years. But even though I have more to do to catch up today, I’ll be starting the second readthrough and the rest can wait a bit.
Another edit also arrived, so that’s next in the queue.
Reminder: If you need me, you CAN afford me; we’ll work it out.
After my first home-cooked dinner in over a week, I did some rearranging of the basement, getting ready for the influx of 95 copies of my books that I’ve ordered in preparation for the Westmoreland Arts and Heritage festival. (They have not updated the site for 2025 yet; it should be soon. We’ll be in the artist marketplace, not the individual author booths.)
And after that? The trip exhaustion hit me and I collapsed onto the couch with Netflix and that was my day. I’ll be catching up this weekend and we’ll see how much I can get done then, but today still doesn’t feel like Friday, so who knows when I’ll get caught up… to the day of the week, on sleep, on this draft of a novel.
Cage of Nightingales, by Elizabeth Hopkinson
(affiliate link)
And that’s it! Be sure to say thanks by buying my own books, hiring me for an edit, or just stuffing cash in my ko-fi. I’m doing it this way instead of a Patreon-like model because paywalls make me nuts. Why should I inflict the same on you?
Enjoy the day and the weekend, even if it doesn’t feel like Friday to you, either.
December 10, 2015
If someone can explain this phenomenon to me, I’m all ears. You take one day off, but need three to catch up.
Last week, I got hit by The Cold. It’s been making the rounds, and after years of not being sick enough to avoid work, it finally happened. I wound up taking two days off. (Discovered that the people at Rite Aid who didn’t want to take my money were actually doing me a favor, too, but that’s a story for my buddy the Green Grandma.)
Now, the good part of all this is that I haven’t been slammed with post-NaNo requests for edits. In years past, I’ve had authors lining up with their NaNo winners, eager and thinking they’re ready for my red ink to decorate their pages. “Have you revised until you’re as far as you can go?” I often ask. “Have you used beta readers?”
The answer is usually no. So I encourage them to go through that and come back.
It’s probably not coincidence that dates for January and beyond are starting to fill up, is it?
I think the timing’s pretty fortunate. I can only take one more project this year (wow), and having been sick for two whole days… wow. Two days. Sounds like nothing, doesn’t it? And even though I’m still fighting whatever I did to my neck while I was sick, I’m also still fighting my inbox and the other business-type things I need to do.
That means I’m oddly grateful for the quiet. It hopefully means I’ll catch up on all this stuff. And yes, I’m still writing. I wrote both days I was sick, although my word count wasn’t great. You’re going to like the new stuff, I promise, so get ready. Total switch in what I’ve written up to this point; you may not even recognize it as coming from the same author.
For you: Keep writing, too. I aim for 1100-1400 words on this manuscript; it seems to be what it demands from me. Find your own manuscript’s demands and meet them. Revise. Use your betas. And remember to get on my calendar before it fills and you have to wait longer than you’d like.
June 17, 2013
Well… I still don’t have a book to feature! How is it possible that no one out there has a new book they’d like to talk up?
It’s not that hard. I mean, hello? ONE question. That’s it. Just one.
Otherwise, it’s been quiet around here. Settling into the new schedule that includes having Teen Boy Reads and his sister underfoot. Editing like a fiend; I’m finally no longer behind.
And… it being June, I’m spending part of the week at my second favorite place on the planet: Boy Scout Camp. Rumor has it two other women are coming this year, so I’m eager to see how their presence will change the dynamic. After all, my attitude has always been that I’m on the men’s turf and they shouldn’t change because of me. Well, okay, they should put their tent flaps down before they change their clothes, but they should be doing that anyway ’cause there are young kids around.
Best news? I’ve been spending a nice chunk of time writing. Hope to have it for you next April, for my annual birthday release. Cross your fingers, keep the good stuff coming, and find me some books to feature here, will ya?
