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Conquering Scrivener

One of the contributing factors to my lack of progress with Lord Regret *might* be Scrivener.  I’ve yet to finish a project that I started there.

I love many aspects of it but I still get overwhelmed, or perhaps distracted is a better word.  There are so many cool things that may or may not help me plot and organize.  Instead of working, I end up exploring or fiddling or researching.

However, I really do believe that eventually it’ll be a lifesaver.  I love the corkboard and I think it will be huge in helping me plot future books.  I’ve just got to get over the initial shock-and-awe phase so I can actually, you know, WRITE.

To that end, I bought Scrivener for Dummies and I’ve been working through it this week.  Gwen Hernandez’s classes were recommended to me on Twitter, and so far, the book has been extremely helpful.  My only frustration is the difference between Mac and Windows commands.  I often find myself hunting through various menus to find what I need because the Windows alternative isn’t always included.  A few things are still missing from the Windows version, too, which makes me wonder if I’m wasting my time looking for something that’s not even there.

There’s a ton of functionality I don’t think I’ll ever use, even if it’s cool.  But it’s nice to know it’s there and have the book to fall back on if I decide I do need to learn more about it someday.

The biggest takeaway so far has been custom labels so I can keep track of POV.  I really love that feature.  Color coding for the win!

As August winds down, I’ll be learning everything I can and making sure my projects for Lord Regret’s Price are ready.  Yes I have two.  Sigh.  One is a plotting template I made that has just a few notes in it.  The other is more general with research and notes.  NEITHER has much in the Manuscript folder.  But it will, one way or the other, very soon!

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Checking The List

I’ve been using a new project management tool (introduced at the Evil Day Job) called AgileZen that has really helped me keep track of what’s in my queue, what my dates are, and the associated tasks for each book.  You can set up a free account with up to one board (that’s what I’m doing so far).

I have projects color-coded by publisher (including a color for my self-pub works), so at a glance I can see what needs to be done first and what % completed each book is.

In the past two weeks, I’ve crossed off Her Grace’s Stable (submitted) and several of The Zombie Billionaire’s Virgin Witch tasks leading up to cover and formatting.  I love crossing things off my monstrous to-do list!

Now the only thing I have to work on until October are:  Lord Regret’s (obstinate butthead) Price and Coyote Con!

No mercy, no surrender, Sig.  I’m going to tie you to a chair and have my wicked way with you until this draft is done.

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The Brighter Side of Rejection

Okay, I’m not going to try and fool you or myself.  Rejection sucks.  It’ll always suck.  Sometimes it really feels like a kick to the gut.  You work really hard to have a good work ethic.  You make extensive revisions per your editor’s requests without whining or complaining.  You try and learn from previous edits so you’re not making the same mistakes.  You’d kill yourself trying to make whatever changes necessary in order to get the work accepted if given half a chance.

So it can be hard not to take a rejection personally.

But sometimes, a work just isn’t right for wherever you sent it.  It’s depressing.  It can take the wind out of your sails… if you let it.

Here’s the thing:  rejection is part of the game.  If you’re a working writer and continue submitting stories for consideration, you’re going to get rejected, even after you’ve been accepted.  It might even be an editor that loved your other work before.  It happens.  So you’ve got to come up with a battle plan that works for you when rejection kicks you in the head.

There’s a bright side, though.  Sometimes a rejection gives you a chance to take a second look at a project.  It can give you a chance to dig deeper, change up key ideas, or just get creative in a new way.

The thing about very specific submission calls (for me) is that the idea germinates from those initial requirements.  Depending on the publisher/editor, you might enforce various boundaries to try and meet the needs for that particular project.  Maybe you cut certain elements that you prefer or suppress plot points because you know (or think you know) that editor’s tastes.  Worse, you might even crimp your brand a little to try and “slide” beneath or into the requirements.

*raises hand*  Guilty as charged.

Honestly, this is exactly why I try NOT to write to a specific submission call any longer.  I try so hard to write what I think the editor wants, that I sometimes end up holding the story magic back from what I’d naturally or normally do.  I’ve never had a work accepted from a specific submission call (like an anthology), probably for this very reason.  I just can’t figure out how to mold a “Joely” idea into a specific anthology call and make it work.

So yeah, I have a project that was rejected.  It bummed me out pretty bad.  It sat on my harddrive for a couple of months while I worked on other stuff.  I kicked Lady Blackmyre out for consideration this weekend, so I decided to take a quick look at that other project and see what I wanted to do with it.  Did I still love the idea?  If I read it, would I get any sparks for revision ideas?  Did I want to submit it somewhere else?

The good news is I still love the project.  Really really love it.

The better news is that I quickly realized where I muzzled myself.  Where I stupidly “toned down” my own brand.  I’ve already started revising that scene (it’s only one — the rest is happily very solid) and should have a much better and more truthful scene in place within a few days.

And then I’m going to self publish this work.  I’ll also be donating at least some of the profits to Joplin Recovery, where the book is set.  It’ll be all my own idea.  My own “brand.”  My own crazy spin.

Watch for The Zombie Billionaire’s Virgin Witch in October.  The perfect month for a zombie mash up!

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Save An Ent Artwork

I loaded the artwork to the original giveaway post, but I don’t know if people are going back to look.  Don’t forget, too, that I’m adding ongoing blog posts to that entry.  I’ll accumulate all comments from all guest blogs listed in that entry if you want more chances to win.

Reviews or ratings anywhere online can get you another entry – just post the link in comments so I can find it.

Aren’t these cute?  My thanks to S. J. Collins for creating such fun Ents!

 

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Back to School Tradition

This is one tradition I can definitely do without.

Every single year, there’s ONE item that is a pain in the backside to procure.  I end up hitting several different stores to find this item.  It’s different every year, so I can’t “prepare” by stocking up on the missing item months in advance.  Did that the year I couldn’t find Expo markers and there were buckets of them everywhere the following year.  Naturally.

What peeves me off is that the school supply list is never a huge shock.  I mean, every year, I have to buy generally the same basic things, plus one or two extras (like this year, Princess needed a flash drive).  So why is it always a very basic thing that’s impossible to find?  Why do I have to roam the entire store looking for the items on the list?  I mean, would it be so difficult to have everything I need in one or two aisles?

Seems to make sense to me.  But whatever.

This year, it was paper folders with brads.  Yep, you know, those 20 cent folders in rainbow colors.  How hard is that?

They had plastic ones (no brads).  Paper ones (no brads).  Decorated ones with holes (no brads).

I went to Wal-Mart.  Target.  Struck out.  Luckily my GROCERY STORE had them.  Yes, my grocery store.  How sad is that?

Don’t even get me started on how much it cost to send three girls back to school.

($118, not including any shoes, clothes, or even backpacks.  This was ONLY supplies.)

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My MN Week

I can’t believe my week is almost over already.  I’ve been in the home office this past week, training for two days and then visiting all my coworkers, going to meetings (instead of just the voice on the phone), and generally having a blast.

Tuesday night, I got to meet my friend’s son for the first time and see her little girl I hadn’t seen since she was a baby.  Last night my area had a happy hour after work.  The book that shall not be named (50S) was a hot topic, and all the guys had to quiz me about it after the ladies were gone.  Then I hooked up with Barbara Longley for some incredible Thai food and great biz talk.

But tonight…  Ah.  The BEST time.  I meet up with my dear friend Wanda (you’ve seen me dedicate several books to her!) for a long, leisurely dinner.  I ate a delicious, healthy salad with wild rice, cranberries, almonds, and chicken.  A weird (to my MO sensibilities) mix, but it was so yummy.  Then we decided to take a walk.

We walked.  And walked.  And talked books.  And walked.  She thinks we probably walked a good three miles!

A year ago, I wouldn’t have been able to make it that far.

There are some people that it doesn’t matter how long it’s been since you’ve seen them, you can talk and laugh just like you saw them yesterday.  That’s how it is with Wanda.  I’m so blessed to have you as my friend!  Plus I got some great activity points for my team’s challenge.  :mrgreen:

Now I’m back at the hotel packing up and nearly in tears because I’ll miss everyone so much.

The funniest comment this week when a friend/coworker saw me for the first time:  “DUDE, you’ve lost half yourself!”  Ha, not quite, but I nearly will by the time I hit goal!

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Happy Birthday, Tecun

Today, THE BLOODGATE WARRIOR releases from Carina Press!  I’m in St. Paul, MN for a business trip this week, so I won’t be checking to approve comments, RT reviews, etc. until lunch or after work hours.  The link at Carina isn’t live yet, so I’ll come back tonight and update with that link.  (Here it is)

You know my love for mythology and legend.  While The Bloodgate Guardian was loosely based on the Twin mythlogy of Popol Vuh, Tecun came to me from Guatemalan history.  He faced Pedro de Alvarado–and impossible odds.  He stood, even though he knew he would fall, as so many other people had fallen to the Spanish conquistadors.

That’s why he’s the Guatemalan national hero.

Who better to stand against evil once more when the Bloodgate opens?

I’ll come back later with the official buy link at Carina, but here’s Amazon and B&N.  Like my fan page for another excerpt from Chapter Two.

Thank you to everyone who reads, tweets, or spreads the news for me about Tecun’s release today!

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Save An Ent – Read An Ebook Giveaway

Since Tecun arrives 8/6, I’m going to celebrate ebooks the entire month!  I’ll be doing several guest posts again throughout the blogosphere, so this entry will be updated as those links become available.

What’s up for grabs:  WINNER’S CHOICE EREADER up to $200 (USD) value.

 

 

  • Love the one-click buy at Amazon and want to upgrade to a new Kindle Fire?
  • Have you been lusting after the Nook GlowLight?
  • Or maybe the Kobo Vox is more your style.

The winner picks whichever eReader you want.  I will ship internationally, but please make sure the device you select will work in your country and that I’m allowed to ship it there without violating any customs regulations.  I do not retain names or email addresses after the giveaway closes.

How to enter:

  • Comment as many times as you want on this post through Aug 31st, midnight CST.
  • Comment as many times as you want on any of the guest posts I’m doing the month of August (I’ll add the links to this post).
  • Rate or Review The Bloodgate Warrior on any online book site and post a comment here with the link.
  • Post about this giveaway on your own blog or website and make a comment on this post with the link.  (A cool giveaway icon is coming soon!)

I’ll accumulate a spreadsheet of everyone who comments throughout the month on the above posts and use Random.org to select the winner on Sept 1st.  The winner will have 3 days to respond.  If I’m unable to reach the winner, I’ll pick a new name until I have a contact.

To get the comments started:  are you an ebook lover, a possible convert to electronic reading, or a take-my-paperback-from-my-cold-dead-hands reader?

Comment at these guest posts for an extra entry:


Artwork courtesy of S.J. Collins

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WW Update: NSV

NSV = Non Scale Victories.

Let’s face it – we can do everything right all week.  Track our food.  Stay in our points.  Exercise.  And the scale doesn’t cooperate.  It’s especially important to have other victories to celebrate that have absolutely nothing to do with the scale.

I admit the NSVs have been pretty few and far between lately.  I’m not losing quickly enough to jet down into a new clothes size.  I’ve been hard at Power 90 for a good 30 days now, but I haven’t seen any huge changes in measurements.  (In the last round, I saw the most changes in the 60-90 day range.)

I’ve been playing the up and down game since RT in April, with very little consistently downward trends.  Today, I’m up a total of 3 pounds.  I’m not sure why.  It could be because I missed a few days of exercise last week.  I hurt my foot a little, so I was scared to work out too hard for fear plantar fasciitis would come back.  (It didn’t.)  We had lots of errands this weekend preparing for school to start, so we ate out more than usual.  Plus I was under the gun at the Evil Day Job on a late project, while I’ve got a business trip next week AND a release.

When I’m stressed out, I don’t typically see good numbers on the scale, even if I’m within my points.

Plus I’m having a problem sticking to my new daily points.  I typically eat 4-6 points over each day.  I have weeklies and activity points to use, so I’m still technically “within my points”, but I don’t always lose well when I eat over, especially when I’m missing a few days of exercise.

But in the end, the whys don’t really matter.  It is what it is.  I’m in this for the long haul, and I can’t lose every week.  I can’t concentrate on the number.  It’s just a number, after all.

Instead, I’m going to celebrate a victory that I’m still pretty pumped up about.  Many years ago when I was on Atkins for the first time (about 8 years ago I’m guessing), I was working out fairly regularly (for me) at a local fitness place.  I got tired of the treadmill, so I tried an elliptical machine.  Imagine my shame when I could only make it 5 minutes.

Yep.  5 minutes.  I thought, wow, how sad that I’m THAT out of shape!

Because it was so physically hard, I only rarely did it.  Much better to plod on that hateful treadmill than face my inability daily.  Then of course I quit going all together.

A few weeks ago, That Man started a workout routine at our local community center.  The kids swim, while he works out.  Now usually I’d leap at the chance to stay home and get some writing done, but I need to keep working out and I was curious.  I wanted to see if my fitness level was any better now that I’ve been doing Power 90, not to mention that I’m down 80+ pounds.

The ellipticals were all taken, so I tried a cross trainer machine that was more like a stair climber.  I was shocked at how hard it was.  My legs were burning in 5 minutes.  The intensity was much harder than I anticipated, and I was like, uh oh.  No good.  I haven’t improved at all.  Sigh.  Pretty bummed, it took me a few more days to decide to go back.

This time, an elliptical was free.  Filled with trepidation, I hopped on.  I took it easy the first 5 minutes, afraid the intensity would get too much too quickly, but hey, I made it.  Then I made it 10.  15.  I was sweating and definitely feeling the workout, but it wasn’t the same killer thigh intensity that the other machine had been.  That first time, I made it 25 minutes.  I was pretty proud of that!

Yesterday, we went again and I jumped on that elliptical.  I’m getting the hang of it, trusting my body and the rhythm.  I pushed a little harder this time.  And I realized I LOVED IT.

It feels like I’m running like I always wished I could, but couldn’t.  I’ve never been a runner, even in high school at much lower weights.  I tried.  But the pounding was too hard on my knees even then.  I hated that sick feeling I’d get from pushing too hard.  (I once threatened to throw up on the coach’s shoes.)

The elliptical gives me that flying freedom of a fast run that my body can’t really physically pull off.  It cushions my knees wonderfully.  My calves and achilles do begin to tighten up, but even after two times, the tightness is much better/bearable (plus I concentrated on arching my foot more, stretching that area out when it starts to ache).

Last night, I made it 40 minutes.  AFTER I’d already done Power 90 strength over my lunch.  I was dripping sweat but the closest to “pumped up” I’ve ever been from exercising.  Now THAT is a NSV!  Me, Queen Couch Potato, pumped up from exercise!

Starting next month, I’m participating in an exercise competition at the Evil Day Job, where my team gets points for exercising.  I figured I’d need the help to stay on track with the business trip next week.  Now I have no excuse whatsoever not to take my Power 90 cd.  I just hope the hotel also has an elliptical!

Who knows.  I might even look at buying one for the house.  I liked it that much.