DC Area Storytellers

Panic has now subsided (somewhat). I’m feeling relatively confident that I’m going to get this book done on time. I won’t say before the deadline, but that’s what I’m shooting for. I’m at 145 and counting downward. I tend to leave the s*x scenes for last, and since I’m at one right now, and I expect another a little way down the story, that leaves me with 125 or so pages of character development and action to write, WHICH as I sit her and think about it, might not be enough pages for everything I’ve got going on. Who knows maybe it’ll be just right. We’ll see.

A New Part of the Journey

Here’s the usual DISCLAIMER. This is my experience, and I’m only a beginning professional, so don’t try this at home.

Foreign rights. We just got our first offer of foreign rights for Kismet with inquires as to Assassin’s Honor too. It’s interesting how foreign rights operate differently than from US publishers. The advance is significantly lower with the royalty rate just a smidge lower. Interestingly enough, they give you print run numbers up front, whereas apparently it’s a big secret here in the US. *shrug* Anyway, it’ll be KEWL to see my book in a foreign language with a new cover. I’ll hold off saying what country, just in case the deal falls through. One never knows what can happen.

Not Writer's Life

For those blog readers who prefer not to read about me whining or talking about the journey, here’s something just for you. Well, maybe not, because I apply it in my writing. *grin* It’s called Google. I know I’ve been living in a hole of late, I mean writing (oops) has me by the shorthairs (since I’m a girl, is that an appropriately applied statement? *shrug*), but WOW! have I come into the mother lode this past week.

I discovered Google. NO, not as in Christopher Columbus type of discovery, but in as WHAT Google can do for me. O-M-G. I feel like I have walked into room and found the true motherlode of all Internet. I have NO idea where I’ve been, but Google has things I never knew about. I’ve slowly been discovering this gem and that. But here’s how it started.

The other day, I was playing with the blog design here and managed to get my Facebook account listed. See it there on the side? Don’t? Keep scrolling it’s next to my book cover. Anyway, Natalie said she couldn’t get hers to be limited info like mine, so I went looking for how to do it for her. I’m the biggest geek in the bunch here on the blog. So in the process of trying to sign into Facebook, back into blogger, into blogger again, I got REALLY frustrated because Google has pretty much taken over Blogger, log in wise.

So I started futzing with my Google account, of which I discovered, I had THREE! Who the hell needs three Google accounts? So I started trying to figure out how to consolidate everything. It took me almost four hours to squelch everything into one account. So there I am, looking at a pretty Google account scene, when I realize…HEY, I can see my Google maps I’ve created from this screen. Then I realized that my YouTube account could be managed from this screen, THEN OMG, I can use something called Reader to pull in all my blogs for a consolidated view of them. No more clicking on each link to this blog or that. They’re all fed through into my Reader service. Now to escape prying eyes, I only have to hit Alt-Tab to dart away from a blog site. *evil grin*

MotherLode!

I continued to explore, and then I saw it. The one thing that can make life so incredible! Google Docs. This has to be one of the most amazing features. It’s like using Word for the most part. But you can load up documents you’re working on and pull them down off the net onto your computer no matter where you are (although you do have to have an internet connection. *grin*). I’ve now got another backup resource for my work. HOW awesome is that.

I next found iGoogle! It’s even better than one of those customize your pages at other search engines. Things add, move and drop in like a breeze. And I LOVE that I can create a wonderful backdrop at the top that’s pleasing to the eye. There are a lot more things going on here as well. I’ve got my Twitter feeding into FaceBook, which feeds into iGoogle and LORD knows where else. I am in AWE of this incredible resource. Not to mention that one account gives me access to Blogger (all my blogs), FaceBook, Google, Google Maps, Google This, Google That, Google Everything.

I’m so deeply in love that Google might just come close to replacing the DH…ummm, no, probably not. On a cold night, snuggling up to Google won’t warm my feet. But if you’re still a newbie with Google, check them out. I promise you, you will NOT be disappointed at the customization or the variety of apps you can add. Just be sure not to spend too much time away from your writer’s life.

The Journey and Discovery