This is Me

I've probably said this before, so forgive me if you find me repetitive.

Sometimes live is a bowl of cherries. Sometimes life is just the pits.

Usually, it's a mixture of both.

Today's been kind of a pit day so far, so of course I find myself on my blog writing about well, writing.

I gotta be me. Sometimes I find myself trying to stuff a square peg in a round hole and then I step back and realize that I have to do things my way in order to be the best me I can be.

Let's get a bit less cryptic.

Take publishing my books. While I won't rule out traditional publishing in my future, I have found I really, really like self publishing. I'm not great at marketing, true, and lately it's been bugging me that my books don't get as much attention as I'd like. The real issue is--at least I think it is--that my target audience has no idea these books are out there. There are tons of great books to read and they just haven't found mine yet.

And, of course, the last thing I published was last year so I'm not on anyone's radar.

But that needs to be okay. Right now, it is what it is.

I'm working currently working on three major projects. One is the final book in my YA fantasy series. Two is a contemporary, serious novel. Three is a dystopian fantasy. There are more, but I'm focusing on these three right now. The thing is, life just threw my family a major curve ball and I think I took it right in the gut.

I'm going to take the walk. The ump said so.

So, writing my books. I still have to be me. I have to write them and publish them on my terms, in my way. It may not be the best way, but I guess I'm just one of those people who have to carve out their own niche. I'm not the fastest, even though I want to be. But setting up a bunch of expectations just leaves me disappointed and empty.

I'm still going to try to get The Lost Princess done and in print by Nov 30th. I can do that. I still have time, and I'm more than halfway done. But at the moment there's a ton of things going on in my life and most of the big ones aren't good. In fact, right now I need my writing more than I have in the recent past because it will help get me through this mess, help me focus and pour out my feelings and leave me better for it on the other side.

I did that before, back in 2002 when I miscarried Lily. Writing kept me sane then. I'm relying on it now. I did that when I finished The Tyrant King. I did it in high school when I first wrote The Peasant Queen (and other things I will never subject you to--you're welcome).

Because writing is my lifeline as well as my business, I'm focusing on the lifeline aspect of it. In a month or so I will probably be more ready to take on the business part. But not now.

Thanks for listening.

A Bit of Humble Pie

Today was supposed to be the day I announced the PUBLICATION of my next novel (and sequel to The Peasant Queen)--The Tyrant King. I was going to share with you the purchase links, and show off a picture or two of the kids holding actual, physical copies.

It was going to be great. And it still will be great (say in July, or maybe August).

Alas, (did I just say, alas? oh, man...) it is not YET to be. As a writer, I overestimated the perfection of my manuscript and it has required more work with the editor than I'd thought.

But--that isn't all bad news.

Here's the silver lining--The book, when you end up purchasing it, will be BETTER than anything I've written before. It will be well worth the wait.

To prove that to you, I want you all to look up at the tabs on the top of this page. See the new one? The one that says SNEAK PEEK? Are you excited yet.

Where'd you go? Oh, to read the first chapter of The Tyrant King. It's all good. I'll wait.

I'm also cooking up an awesome blog tour for TTK with my sis in law for September. I will definitely keep you posted about that.

So, bad news--no book yet. Good news--it's still coming. And you get the first chapter to tide you over. Silver linings all around!

May Day

Actually, that was 2 days ago. And I'm really not in any kind of panic. Mostly. :)

It's May now, and we're winding down the school year and my writing time. I don't get any writing done in the summer when the kids are home, so I'm really not planning to do any from May 26th through August 20th (or whenever school starts again). This is a self-preservation technique to save me the stress and aggravation of trying to write and not succeeding.

But my plans have been a little redesigned.

Last week, I posted about my writing doubts while I waited for the publisher to get back to me for The Tyrant King. They did, with a list of suggested changes and a request to resubmit when I make the changes. At first, I was sad. I mean, I didn't WANT to have to do any more work on it, but that night as I was driving (another epic story for another day) to an author event one of the more inspirational songs I use spontaneously played on the radio. For me. I know it was just for me. :) And I'm honest enough to admit my writing isn't perfect, and the story DOES have issues, so I'd much rather fix them now rather than have it published full of plot holes. (slight exaggeration) So while I wait to hear back from my beta readers for my e-book, The Wild Queen, I'm going to work on fixing The Tyrant King--with the hope of resubmitting it by the end of this month.

What has changed? My 3rd planned e-book, The Price of Love, has been put off indefinitely. And I'm not going to start The Lost Princess, my (hopefully) 3rd print book, until I've resubmitted The Tyrant King to the publisher. I'm still hoping to get it all done this month, but I'm also cutting myself a little slack.

I may also be writing a little into June. Hopefully the kids will forgive me. :)

This would be a Down

I feel a little sorry for myself tonight, sitting her under the influence of prescription painkillers and muscle relaxants. After over two weeks of being sick and trying desperately to get over it (2 rounds of antibiotics), I took my brilliant son--who read 10,000 minutes last school year--to Lagoon and rode all the spine rattling rides he could find. For the record, while I enjoy the thrill of the rides I actually dread them the whole time I'm in line.

The next morning I woke up with a horrible pain in my neck and shoulders, like I had slept wrong. Except it never went away. Yesterday, 6 days later, I finally stopped torturing myself and went to the doctor. I don't know why I waited so long to seek relief. I can't drive because I can barely turn my head to look around and I can't even stand to be hugged by my kids because of the pain. Sleeping has been next to impossible.

But I signed on to participate in a charity author workshop (not as a presenter) in Ogden at the Treehouse Museum, which sounds like a fascinating place. Actual authors will be there like Brandon Mull and Shannon Hale, and I really wanted to be able to go. Except now that's become impossible. I can't drive safely without my meds to alleviate my pain and I can't drive safely with my meds because they're so powerful.

I'm especially disappointed because I wanted to get another signed copy of Shannon Hale's newest book for my cousin Becca who lives in Indiana because she's such a fan. A copy of Brandon Mull's Pingo for her daughters wouldn't be amiss, either.

Oddly enough, either because the meds have alleviated my pain so I can concentrate on other things or they've made me loopy, I'm feeling really creative. Maybe I can get some actual writing done this weekend, since I'm not leaving the house for the next few days.