Okay... let's get serious

I have a few days off next week (Thanksgiving) and I plan to edit the crap out of KM3 (so I can send it to my beta reader). I feel like I should set a deadline for posting to Amazon and B&N, but that might backfire on me. Anyway... I'm about to get serious on this project, I promise!

I re-posted "My Darling Bunny." See above!

Yikes... now it's November!

So... not much is happening.

I missed daylight savings this morning, so instead of gaining an hour of sleep, I'm gaining an hour or two of work (I am editing!!!). I'm about seven pages from the halfway point of KM3. I guess that's a good sign? The last few weeks I've been working a lot of overtime at work, so that cuts into my editing time. I hope with the upcoming holidays I'll be able to plow through edits, but only time will tell.

In non-writerly things, I saw Wicked this weekend and a Dracula ballet. Both were excellent--I feel like I'm well rooted in culture for at least a little while. Probably until I watch Real Housewives of Atlanta :)

Back to writerly things... it's NaNoWriMo... I've been debating on whether or not I want to participate this year. I'm four days behind at this point. I think it could be really great in jump starting my writing (instead of editing), however I worry that I'm not going to complete it. I guess trying could be a good thing? Is anyone participating? Have you done it before? Gah... not sure what to do.

I cant believe it's October

This is me, lost and waiting for the muse to strike again.

So... this month isn't really any better than last month in terms of editing. I've been given more responsibilities at work, which asks for a little overtime. So, my editing time is cut... for now. I worry that I'm falling into a slump. A block. The last block kept me from really producing for several years. I don't really think I'm at that point yet, but I'm definitely cloudy right now. So, not a good progress report for those waiting for KM3. I'm still not even halfway through.

I think part of this slump is because I'm stressed out. They're giving me more responsibility at work, but at the same time I'm losing my job sometime in February (contract wasn't renewed). It's stressful having to look for a new job, and to not know where I want to live (ie, stay in Maryland, move to Boston?) I've never been good dealing with uncertainty.

You'd think I'd fall back into something comforting like writing, but that hasn't happened. I'm still thinking a lot about the trilogy that I started, THE SPIRIT KEEPER. It's strange, I almost want to write book III more than book II, but then I've never written out of order like that. I know that I should take a break and do something else, but I don't even want to write at the moment.

I need to get excited about my KM and writing and editing again. I need a spark of something... I'm not sure what.

This funk needs to pass.

Okay... Not Making Progress

September is not being good to me! Well, besides my birthday and a fun trip to NYC it's not being good to me.

I haven't edited in weeks. I'm almost to page 140 (still over 200 to go). Maybe I just need to take a break (for the rest of September) and refocus on everything starting October 1. I love editing so I don't want to think that I'm really burned out, but maybe I am. Maybe I should write something... *sigh*

Thanks to all who are reading KM1 and 2! Don't forget to leave reviews :)

Making Progress

So, I'm about 100 pages into my first edit of KM3. I spent several hours at Barnes and Noble yesterday. I take my laptop without the charger and work until the battery is almost dead. It's usually a good jump start to consistent editing. And since today is Labor Day and I don't have to go to work, I expect to pound through at least 20 more pages. After this edit it's on to a Nook edit, a beta reader edit, and hopefully publication! I'm not sure when this will happen, but the last one took me a couple months so I'm sure this will be the same (if not faster). The later books in the series have less overall work to do (I still want to go back to KM1... I didn't do a Nook edit with that one, hence the typos). With this book it seems to be more about fixing wordy/repetitive sentences. I do think that Estela was a bit of a cry baby in this book (if my memory serves). I've already stumbled across her crying a couple times, but I think they're legitimate reasons. Since she's supposed to be growing with each book, I'm going have to really look at all these sections. We'll see though. Sometimes it's hard to see your characters when you're so close to them.

Sales for KM2 are pretty much on target with the first book, I think. It's getting good traffic with Barnes and Noble's Pubit! platform. Smashwords... not so much. More people use Nook or Kindle, I suppose. I'm not saying that I'll stop using Smashwords all together, but it doesn't seem like a lot of people use it (unless books are free). I'll probably still post my books there (since it distributes to several other platforms)... I just wish there was a little more traffic.

I'm eagerly awaiting more feedback on KM2. My sister says it's better than KM1, which is good. They should all be a little bit better than the last. That's my goal.

B&N has Killing Monsters!!

KILLING MONSTERS is now available directly through Barnes and Noble. Unfortunately, I screwed up and uploaded the wrong cover. I've fixed this, but it may take a day or so to fix (hopefully not that long!). Oops.

KM2 Cover!

I'm so excited about my new book cover (thanks for your help Esther S!!!). I feel like it works well with KM1 and I'm excited and happy with it overall. Covers are tricky beasts. I thought about going a different way (compared to KM1), but in the end I felt that continuity was far more important. The covers will change if I ever decide to go paperback, which I might one day--depending on how well they do digitally. Maybe I'll be able to use the proceeds from the ebooks to fund a paperback venture. Maybe one day they'll be picked up by a traditional publisher (a la Amanda Hocking). No matter what, as ebooks (my first ebooks), I'm extremely happy.

KILLING MONSTERS will be available on Amazon in 6-12 hours. I'll be posting it to Smashwords as well (in a day or so). I'm also began my edit of KILLING MOMZILLAS, which is going much better than my initial edit of KM2. I'm not having to change the opening as much. My hope is that with book 3 and 4 it's smooth sailing, but I'm sure it'll be hard work. I'm just glad to be working again to be honest. I always have this uncomfortable "in between projects" time where I struggle so much it's like I've lost my purpose. It's strange. I don't like it. Happy to be working again. Happier still to be getting KM2 out for people to enjoy (fingers crossed).