Strange Week

I haven't gotten much editing done this week for a couple reasons (1) personal things going on, and (2) bitstrips.com (a facebook app where you can make cartoon avatars of yourself):

This is my avatar! I look cute as a cartoon :) I do love pancakes.
 
My sister made one too so I've been making comic strips for the last two days. The only good news is that it's the weekend and I usually get a lot of editing done on the weekends. I'm about 82 pages away from the end of my first edit of KM4. My nook edit is usually much faster and my beta reader is pretty quick too. I was making steady progress, but now I need to get refocused.

I've also posted a few things on my other blog. It's been a strange week. I hope next week is better.

Editing, editing, editing!

I have about 160 pages left to edit for KM4. It's been going smoothly (when I sit down and do it that is). I suppose that's because each book was easier for me to write, so the later ones have a little less work. It still takes me a good chunk of time though. This is the first real edit that KM4, and the others, have had. When I was posting chapters to FictionPress, I simply read them over quickly and posted--typos be damned! It's kinda nice to revisit these stories 5+ years after writing them. It's my hope that I am improving them somewhat....

Anyway, I hope to carve out sixty pages this weekend, but we'll see. I'm starting to wonder if I'll be done with the edit this month or if it'll be April. I'm not going to rush it. Rushing leads to typos and little errors that I don't like reading about when people leave reviews. So, I'm going to try my best with this one. After KM4 is done, I might take a little break and work on something else. I've been doing a little hand editing of A SPIRIT KEEPER, the first book in my planned trilogy. Reading the characters makes me a little excited about starting to work on those books again. I still feel like it's too long, but I might continue to push forward with it. I mean, if an agent doesn't want it, I'll put it online. At least that way it'll be read and won't just sit on my computer.

However, even thought I feel like working on something new, I still need to go back to KM1 and do one more extensive edit. I totally rushed that book and it deserves a little more attention. It was the first novel I ever completed... I wrote the first half without a plan and then planned the second half (so I would finish it). While I think I smoothed out the plot, I know there's more work to be done. I might actually print that one out and work on it that way. Sometimes you miss a lot of stuff when you work on a screen.

Which brings me to something else: Curbing my need to change things based off feedback (often negative) that I receive. I think studying fiction and being in a workshop like setting helped me learn to sit on things for a few days to ponder (or fester) before taking action. If I didn't, I'd change everything just so that people would like my work. I can't please everyone. I know this as a writer, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to. In general, I love all forms of feedback (as long as they're constructive). I feel like I learn a lot from readers and other writers. I guess that's the important thing.

Oh, remember my writing goal? It's been two months... *sigh*

Valentine's Day

Normally... Valentine's Day is just a regular day for me. This year did not stray from the norm, and for some reason I'm feeling "blah" about that. I feel like I wanted something special to happen. Every few years this day sucks... I should have bought myself something (besides pancake mix--I'm making breakfast for dinner). My weekend just opened up a little, so I think I'm going to focus on more editing of KM4. I managed over fifty pages of KM4 last week. I think I can do that, or more if I can find a good groove. Unfortunately, I'm nearing a somewhat depressing section of the book so I might not work on that tonight based off my present mood.

I can't wait for pancakes.

Here's hoping that you had a nice Valentine's Day!

Hello February!

So... I haven't done much editing. Probably not the news that people who want to read KM4 are wanting to hear. The good news is that it's the weekend and there's potential for editing... maybe even during the Superbowl! :) I finished "Falling Kingdoms," which I posted about last time. I really enjoyed the book and I'm excited to read the next one in the series when it comes out. I'm now reading "City of Dark Magic" by a writing duo who go by the name Magnus Flyte. Ehh... whatever. The authors make it seem like this person mysteriously dropped off his manuscript and they're his representatives. Maybe it goes well with the novel... I'm only like 50 pages in so far. It feels a little gimmicky, but we'll see.

Me: as a small blond, white boy.

So, funny story... or perhaps pathetic... overly optimistic? Creepy? Anyway... as I was reading "Falling Kingdoms" my brain wandered out of the story and I found myself kinda stroking the pages in a strange, awed daze. I went from happily reading, completely absorbed in magic and princesses and princes and scandalous feelings and waring kingdoms, to practically drooling over the soft pages and delicious smell of new print. It was a very strange moment. I don't often go gaga over books like that (unless you count my habit of buying books when I have over a 100 on my shelves that I need to read). So, after the "moment" passed and I realized that I looked like a crazy person (thankfully I was alone in my bedroom), I put the book down for a little while. I felt a mixture of "wow, you're a crazy lady" to "well, now I"m depressed." You see, my ultimate dream as a writer/author is to be published in the "traditional" way. I want to receive the "Tanya, I want to publish your book" call. I want to find an agent (I've been unsuccessful of late). I want the headache of dealing with publishers (as I assume it likely will be, unless I'm super lucky). I've wanted this since I was very little, nine-ish, maybe. Instead of an adorable white boy in the picture above, imagine a little biracial girl with her thick, unruly curls pulled back into three tight braids with bobbles at the end.

I want to be published. And although I am a published indie author--I'm doing it on my own and it's really hard. I know that each KM book needs more editing. I know the covers need a little more refining. I know I need to market more. It's hard to market myself. What do I do... go up to someone who might look like the like romantic comedies and tell them I have a self-published book with lingering typos that they might be interested in? That's awkward. I have a lot to learn about indie publishing and I'm feeling a little lazy at the moment, hoping that my name will get out there by word of mouth. That one day I'm just magically selling a 100 books a day. :) Pipe dreams!!! Well, no, not really... I know that I will be traditionally published one day soon. It'll happen. Did you hear that Universe?!?!?!?!?!

I thought of all this again today while browsing books at Target and saw that "50 Shades of Gray" is now in hardcover format.......................

I mean, can I catch that kind of break? First you have a e-book, then a paperback, and then a hardcover! The reverse process intrigues me. And it also makes me scratch my head in confusion. I mean, really? Was it that good? How big was this hardcover print run? Do they expect those books to fly off the shelves too? I kinda skimmed the cover looking for a "newly edited" stamp. If I did the reverse publishing thing I would be editing at every step. Of course, at that point I probably would've relinquished all control. Perhaps that's what happened here.  Maybe it's all about the money for this particular title. I'm still processing what I really think about this.

And, all that being said--I didn't write all week. Dang... what am I doing with my life besides watching murder shows on Investigation Discovery. I just can't seem to stop watching TV. :c/

Update

Well, I'm successful in that I've written several times in the last few weeks, but I haven't done much editing on KM4. I think I'll try to work on it this weekend for a few hours. I really don't have any excuse for not editing, I suppose that's just the way things are working out.

I've been reading a lot lately too (another good thing, except that it takes away from my editing). I read the first book in the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child (Tom Cruise played the lead in the new movie). It was good. I'm now reading "Falling Kingdoms" by Morgan Rhodes. It's a high-fantasy YA... not something that I normally read, but very entertaining so far.

So, I'm disappointed in myself to learn that there are some errors in KM3. My sister's currently reading it, but when she'd done, I may fix things and re-upload. :( I feel bad about them though. Maybe I rushed KM3 a little. Oh well, I'll make it right.

Now Available: KM3

So, KILLING MOMZILLAS is now available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords! It feels good to release it. I've started editing KILLING MODELS... I'm only 6 pages in to the edit (out of 418 pages), but I hope that it goes smoothly. I think I said that about KM2 and it took me five months to release it. I suppose that isn't too much time in between books, considering a lot of authors spend years before releasing things. So, I think I'm on track, even if KM3 took a while. I want to be sure I'm doing things right.

I'll be releasing my novels in the following order:

KILLING MODELS
HOSTILE KISSES
A STARTER BOYFRIEND
CHEMICAL GAMES (maybe)

I'm pretty sure that I'll be increasing my current prices soon. I've been thinking about it for a while now. I feel like it's asking a lot for an e-book to be over $5. Although, I did just buy one from one of my favorite authors for $7.99. I have to love the author to buy something for more than $5. I think it's outrageous to ask people to spend $10 bucks on an ebook when the paperback is the same price. I mean, I do get it... publishers want to make the same amount of money on a tangible product as they would on a small electronic file. They're making crazy money off e-books, I'm sure. I'd rather have a paperback in my hand for that much money. However, if I want to make any extra off my work, I'm going to have to increase my prices to at least $2.99. I'm going to keep on thinking about this. I'll let people know when prices are going up.

With the New Year, I've decided to write for 1 hour a day. I feel like I've spent the last year editing and I haven't written anything new. My goal is to continue to create new stuff, which is the only way we can grow as writers. So, I hope I can keep up with this resolution (one of many). Right now I'm working on ARABELLE WILD, which is a Regency England piece (same time period as MY DARLING BUNNY). It does feel good to write again! Hopefully I'll be able to start on book 2 of THE SPIRIT KEEPER trilogy as well. I have a lot to do! Things with work have calmed down a little, so I feel like I have the time to write on the weekends. Unless I decide to take a second job, which I don't want to do. In my heart, writing/editing are my second job. I feel like I might go a little crazy if I didn't have time to edit and write.

Now... if I could only find the extra hours to read. I don't read enough books. It's sad.

Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys KM3. Please leave reviews wherever you bought them!

Killing Momzillas Cover!

Okay, here is the cover!! Thanks again to my friend Esther for helping me out. :)