Thank you for all your lovely comments this past month to help me celebrate Tecun’s release! I gathered all the comments from all the guest posts this past month, put them in a spreadsheet, and then used random.org to pick comment #136.
Betty Hamilton for her comment at Books N Kisses.
Betty, drop me a note at joelysueburkhart AT gmail DOT com and we’ll work out which eReader you’d like. If I don’t hear from you in 3 days, I’ll pick a new winner.
Silviya has done it again – she’s made an incredible cover. I just love it. Meet Yiorgos Michelopoulos, my zombie billionaire.
I’ve been interested in grinding my own whole wheat fresh (especially for bread) for months now. I wasn’t willing to invest in a NutriMill that *only* grinds wheat — because I just wasn’t sure how likely I’d actually stick with it. I mean, I adore adore adore homemade bread. Dangerously adore.
I could eat the whole loaf right out of the pan. No joke.
But after reading about all the nutrients in freshly ground wheat I was determined to try. That’s one of the reasons I settled on investing in a VitaMix. With the dry blade, I’m supposed to be able to grind any grain.
Yet after several disappointing attempts (tortillas that were more like frisbees, a brick loaf) I’d kind of given up. It didn’t taste all that great. I wasn’t able to get the flour fine enough. I was sick of wasting all those ingredients!
My SIL gave me a recipe months ago that she swore would make the best whole wheat bread. She’d taken a class through her church (which I plan to take too, next class!!) and learned all the tricks to getting whole wheat to rise.
Then of course I lost the recipe.
I finally found it last week and set out to try again. I dragged out the dry blade container and my wheat berries. This time, I refused to be afraid of burning the VitaMix up. I’ve watched youtube videos of people grinding for minutes on high without any issue. So I ground my wheat up really good, going longer than I ever had before. (Deep down, I think I was afraid of making flour paste or something.) One small batch was maybe a little too coarse but the rest was fine.
And the bread. *dies* It’s soooo good. Lots of honey make it sweet. The grains are incredible. I used coconut oil too, along with an egg to help make it smooth. It’s not only the best whole wheat bread I’ve ever made…it’s the best BREAD. Period. And so healthy! (Sorry, I don’t have permission to share the recipe online or I would!)
Of course I overate the first loaf (Middle loved it so much she also ate 3 pieces the first day), but I’ve still got half of the second loaf in the fridge.
With that victory, I ground more flour over the weekend and used up all the ripe bananas to make a batch of banana bread and 2 dozen banana chocolate chip muffins for the kids’ lunches. There’s only 2 left… so I think they went over okay.
Of course it’s a little tricky to count all these whole grains on WW. I can do the math, sure, but it’s crazy to see the number of points. Honey is more points than artificial sweetener. I didn’t want to cut the coconut oil out — but it is pointy. However I know it’s healthy all the way. Could I find “cheaper” (less points) diet bread at the store? Sure. But I’m not eating that crap with all the preservatives and fillers when I can have freshly ground wheat at my fingertips.
I just have to figure out how to only eat one small piece…
Do you have a favorite whole wheat recipe that I can add to my list?
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!
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.
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!
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!
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.)
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. 
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!
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!
