Hey! Look! I'm writing something!

What's that you say? Diane is writing? What the fuck?

Yes, my friends, it's true. I'm actually blogging.

In all honesty, I haven't had a lot to write about lately, but I had an epiphany today. A lot of things hit me at the same time, and every one of them stung in one way or another. Weird stuff from friends, loved ones, and even a couple of people who don't know me. In my haze of menopause, I came to the decision to remove a bunch of my writing from places where it was posted on the internet. Why? Because it's just sitting there. Quietly. Doing nothing. I think people are reading. I even see the numbers as they rise on my hit counter, but nobody ever says anything. So I said to myself, "Listen, Bozo, it's time. Just take 'em down." And then I wrote the emails to start the ball rolling.

I know it seems like a small thing, but it wasn't. It was cathartic and I really think that I feel better. Add to that the fact that I should have a decision on the book within the next week, and I feel pretty good at the moment. Actually better than I did an hour ago.

Yay for me!

Not doing a darn thing.

Yes, that's right.

This is a blog about writing and publishing. The problem with that is that I'm not writing at the moment and I'm still waiting for an answer about the publishing. So, with that in mind, here's something totally random that I wanted to share.

Matthew (aka Dudie) has mad ninja skills and I can record videos on my phone. Sounds like fun to me.

The Deed is Done

Yes, my friends, the deed is done. "Files," with it's new working title "Leap of Faith" (no pun intended), is now uploaded and in the hot little hands of the lovely people at Bold Strokes Books.

Chris and I spent the weekend tweaking and reading. Actually, Chris tweaked and read while I fretted and bit my nails. It's like that frequently around here. We wrote the cover letter, my author bio, and the synopsis as outlined in the submission guidelines. And then, at 12:24am on April 7, 2008, I sent my baby out into the world. It was a strange sensation, kind of like panic mixed with joy, and once the send button was clicked, I felt a weight lift from my shoulders.

Ahhhh....

Anyway, it's out there now. I should receive a submission receipt within 48 hours, and I should have either a yay or nay within 12 weeks. Cross your fingers for me... I'm going back to biting my nails now.

Totally Random

Tales for a Rainy Day

Hey!

I spent most of yesterday, up until midnight last night, tweaking the story to send it away. Both of the original scenes have been written, pov issues repaired, all of the oks changed to okay, lots of other small points. Here's the worst part. I draft in block format, no first line paragraph indent and double spaces between the paragraphs. But the publisher doesn't want it that way; they want it exactly the opposite, so I had to reformat the damn thing paragraph by paragraph because either MS Word won't do that or I'm a complete moron. Either is possible, believe me.

So, after running an errand with a friend, I'm back at it again, tweaking and obsessing. It's just what I do. Chris will be giving me the final run-through tonight and then I write my cover letter and kiss the whole thing good bye. Hopefully, within twelve weeks, I can declare myself published and ready to party. Granted, it will be close to a year before there's actually a book in my hand, but I can wait for that.

Still scared, nervous, excited, and still a little under the weather, but it's all good.

Taking the Big Step

Well, I made the decision a while ago that I wanted to publish a novel. So, I started working on that this week. My first book-length story, The Rosenberg Files, needs some tweaking, so that's the plan for this week. I do have some new stuff to write to make it complete, but for the most part, it's just correcting a couple of shifts in point of view and some awkward places. Of course, I had to change the names of the main characters, but that was a simple find and replace command to MS Word.

The basic work will remain exactly the same. We (Chris and I) came to the decision that I should leave it intact, including the sweaty, naked stuff, but if the publisher wants it removed, I'll do that too. I think it will be fine.

Anyway, I'm doing the revisions and trying to ignore the fact that I'm scared to death of the whole process, but I have to do it to prove something to myself. If I'm going to call myself a writer, I have to do this, despite my fears. The worst thing that can happen is that I get rejected, and I'm about as prepared as I can be for that. No one wants to hear that something that they did isn't good enough, but I have to swallow that fear and throw the work out the front door.

Wish me luck!

Slacking Off

Wow, I guess I haven't been here for a while. That's not good.

Everyone in my house has been sick, so I've been into caregiver mode, which usually means I don't get much writing done. I was finally able to rectify that in the past two days, and now I'm getting work done, actually finished chapter 5 of my collaboration and wrote 1300 words for chapter 6. I'm hoping for some similar success for today, but I got the buckets for my spring gardening project, and it's really nice today...sunny and warm, so I just might need to take this outside today.

I love the idea of having a day loaded with possibilities. Makes me happy.