Can’t seem to make up my mind as to what activity I want to do before work this morning… I mean, I’ve been kicking ass on the embroidery project I’m currently working on, but I also have hit a mild brick wall in the writing of Book 2, and that really needs to be addressed. Then there’s the Viking hood I promised my husband I’d make for him (shouldn’t take too long, but I have less than an hour before I have to get ready for work right now) as well as Arts & Sciences stuff to work on. Oh, and there’s the tiny little detail of my first A&S project disappearing sometime in the last couple of weeks.
Yeah, I hid it in a “safe place” for the SCA party so it wouldn’t get stolen or messed up.
A very safe place.
So safe I can’t for the life of me find the fucking thing.
It’s not like I can’t redo it, or even that I can’t redo it in the time I have left before A&S. I can, if I push myself, but do I really want to have to do that? No. I also don’t want to have to tear apart the craft room (the last place I have to search) to find it. Decisions, decisions.
I suppose I should just work on writing. It keeps my eyes focused on the computer screen, so I can see the time and theoretically not lose track of how much time is left before I have to get ready.
In Boot News, I am free of the boot on my left foot, provided it doesn’t start hurting too much again. I guess I sprained a ligament in the middle toe, but at my two-weeks-and-one-day follow up (I went back in earlier than three weeks because of how my work schedule is) the doc said I was doing better at 2+ weeks than most people do at 3 weeks. So I did something right, at least.
Well, off I go to, y’know, do things and stuff.
Category: Novel
Mind Meld
As I work to salvage some of what’s left Book 2’s first draft, I find myself coming to a sort of “meeting of the minds.” My minds, that is.
Bits and pieces of the original Book 2 draft are, in fact, salvageable. What’s interesting is that some of the new bits and pieces fit right in with the old bits and pieces–with a little strategic revision, of course.
^^ Ah, so that’s where I fell asleep ^^
Continuing where I dozed off, I’ll have to add a considerable amount of work to make this a full book. Because of my fondness for chapters with different POVs (hey, it worked in Whispers of Death! Lol), half of what I wrote for the first draft is not usable in this draft. Oh, I can use the info, sure, provided I can weave it in right, but I can’t actually use what I’ve previously written. No chapters from Eli or Harper’s POV if I can avoid it.
That makes the upcoming part tricky. Things have happened and will happen that will cut my MC, Clare, off from pretty much everyone. How do I show what Eli and Harper are doing without the POV chapters?
I’ll figure it out. I had to do it for Abnormal, when I put in a bunch of extraneous chapters that turned out to be unnecessary, and like now I worried about my ability to convey the information without those secondary POV chapters. So I should stop worrying and get to writing.
Rained out
Well that was a wash…
… I learned this weekend that outdoors + stupid boot on my foot + rain + arthritis does not in any way equal fun. I was cold, damp, and miserable. Every time I tried to roll over or shift on my cot during the night I cried out in pain a little bit.
The event got cancelled, but not before we abandoned most of our stuff on the mountain. We’ll go back for it tomorrow, but it was just too hard to try breaking down camp in the rain at the time.
I have to admit, I wasn’t looking forward to a cooking event. I don’t cook. Like, unless it comes out of a box or bag, forget it. But I told my husband I’d go, so despite dreading the event I went. A bit of precognition, perhaps? Probably not, but regardless it was a hot mess.
We ended up going to our friends’ house, where we’ll stay the night before reclaiming our belongings. There are a bunch of people over as we ended up having an impromptu party. So not a total bust, but I kinda wish I’d brought my laptop. Clare and her story are calling out to me.
After obsessing over the changes I had to make to accommodate the new ending to Abnormal, I’ve finally figured out how to work it in. I just need my computer. And time. I need time.
Book 2’s first draft reboot will be done, hopefully by the end of the year, but I’ve got to buckle down and focus.
Incoming
Well, it’s official–
I’m going to exhibit at Tucson Comic Con!!!! Finally managed to pay the table fee this afternoon. I am going to be a sci-fi author with a table at a comic convention.
It doesn’t even feel real yet. I think I’m partly spamming my social media sites with this photo because I’m trying to convince myself that it’s real.
It’s. Effing. Real.
I think I’m going to go fangirl over myself for a bit. Lol
Salvage
Victory! I’ve nearly doubled my word count in just a couple of hours, and it’s all thanks to having enough of a salvageable first draft to cut and paste into the rewrite.
Granted, I still have a long way to go to tell the story I need to tell. I used multiple POVs in both books, and I had to cut the secondary POVs from the first book. Though I think it still works for Book 2, I know my publishers won’t want to put out a sequel that differs that far in format from the first book. It’s going to be tricky telling the story I need to tell through only one character’s eyes, but hey, that’s what telepathy’s for right? 😉
I’m feeling more confident that I’ll have a workable draft in the next couple of months, despite having a lot of other work to do. I’ve got work-work, SCA-work, and some personal projects like gifts and such as well. Still, my mornings are my own for a while, so I have time. I don’t have a specific deadline for the Book 2 draft yet, but I should still keep pushing myself so I have something for betas to read soonish. Not necessarily by the fall, but by the end of the year for sure. And I think that’s a reasonable self-deadline.
I’m stoked for Tucson Comic Con, but I have work to do to prep for that as well. I’ll have to purchase books to sell at con, and I’ll have to get promotional materials printed and ready (once the publisher has sent the files to me). Still, I’ve been making little graphics of quotes from ABNORMAL and posting them on Instagram about once a week or so. I’m trying not to do too many, because I don’t want to give away too much, but a few here and there to get attention and garner interest.
I found an app that lets me do cool stuff like that. It’s called CTDesigns, and though it has annoying ads immediately following any saving of an image, it’s pretty cool. I can use my own photos, too, which turned out pretty cool in this one:
Not bad for a cell phone image of a full moon, huh? I need to take more pics that I can use, because then the images are my own. I’ve got more, but I want to release them on Instagram/Twitter first. If I don’t, I won’t be able to keep track of what I’ve posted and what I haven’t. Lol
Things are all moving along. I just need to keep on trucking.
A second time around for the second time
In the midst of house party prep, work, sleep, crafting, and never-ending laundry, I somehow managed to get a start on the rewrites for Book 2. I haven’t counted how many new words I’ve written, but between cutting and pasting the usable stuff from the first draft, rejiggering it to fit with the new ending of Abnormal, and fresh writing, I’ve gotten about 2.5k words in about three or four hours of work.
It’s not much, but it’s the start I’ve been trying to achieve. Well, the restart.
The bad guy’s even more of an asshole than he originally was, but I know something he doesn’t know. 😉 The little surprise from a minor character I mentioned when I first wrote the draft is still good to be left in, and they may even have more up their sleeve than even I knew.
It’s not going to be easy, but now that I’ve got a start I feel much less anxious about the work I have ahead of me.
Tomorrow marks the first official housewarming party, though, and it’s the SCAdian one at that. I should be focused on not losing my shit with so many people there. Lol It’s not exactly a small get-together, and my social anxiety wears me out at times. I can’t escape from this party. I have to suck it up and pretend to be sociable no matter how freaked out I am inside.
This brainstorming episode has been interrupted by…reality
I have it all planned out. In the mornings, I will write. Or embroider. Or remake my Dark Phoenix corset for Tucson Comic Con so it fits. Or do some such creative endeavor. I mean, I’m up early enough usually, and my husband is either sleeping or working. Lots of “free” time to create.
Except…We have that huge SCAdian housewarming party this weekend. And my husband’s Peer is staying in the craft room. And the craft room looks like a crafting tornado hit it. FML.
I hate cleaning before I have to work, though. I have limited time in the mornings because I have to pay attention to what time it is so I can get my shower in and get dressed and whatnot. When I’m hip-deep in fabric, it’s harder to keep track. I either waste time constantly watching the clock, or I set an alarm which goes off mid-project. I have the afternoon off today, so theoretically I can get work done then, but then the problem of needing to get other projects done comes in. I have things like blood work to get. And a podiatrist appointment. And SCA scribal stuff to do.
There are shelves to store the fabric in so I have easier access and can see at more or less a glance what I have–but I have to sort and fold all the fabric and put said fabric on the shelves. There are two 6’x3′ tables that are CHOCK FULL of supplies and sewing machines and what have you on top of them that I need to clear off for potluck foodstuffs that will be brought by our guests.
*Sigh* I suppose Book 2 and the embroidery projects I have will have to hold off for a bit. At least a couple of days, until I can get the craft room presentable. Then it’ll have to wait for me to set everything up in its proper place. Then…I write? I hope.
Making a list and checking it eleventy times
Well, I did it–I applied for a table at Tucson Comic Con…and I was approved!
I talked it out with my husband, and since the con is three days while Coronation is only one, he’s going to drop me off at TCC the day of Coronation, drive up to see his friend step down and get his Duchy, then drive back to Tucson to sit with me at my table. I’ve already annoyed all my local friends to try to get them to at least stop by the table (if not purchase a book or two while they’re there 😉 ), but my mind is racing with stuff I have to get done beforehand.
- I’ve gotta get a tablecloth. That will make it look nicer. The TCC website said there would be a table provided, but no mention of tablecloth was made.
- Square reader. Need one. Easy enough to obtain, but I don’t want to forget to obtain it.
- Cash box/pouch? Hmm….
- Better start plans to stock up on books to sell/sign at the con.
- I need to finish fixing my Dark Phoenix steampunk corset. I made it too large when I initially sewed it, and even though I’ve regained some weight I’ll still need to take it back in.
- Devise and sew a sci-fi-ish cosplay to wear one day? Hmm…. I do have a pattern for a body suit…I’d have to get my serger up and running again and remember how to use it though…And make a corset to go over said bodysuit because omg fatness lol
- If I do do a new cosplay, a fun new wig to go with it 😉
- Once I find out what promo materials I’ll have from the publisher, I need to make another list of display items to get, like some kind of stands to prop up books, signage, etc.
- Tubs to carry stuff to and from the table in each day.
I’m sure there’s more I haven’t thought of, but that’s enough for now. I am beyond excited to have this opportunity. It’s fun to think that I’m getting back into cons and stuff, but it’s also going to be work. I won’t be able to leave the table much because I’ll have to be there so people can actually meet the author and get autographs if they want. So it’s not all fun and games. I’ll have moments of severe social anxiety that I’ll have to suck up and swallow down, because I can’t go freaking out over all the people when I paid money to be up in the thick of it (or back in a corner somewhere, which is more likely where I’ll be put. Lol)
There’s also a little thing called a housewarming party that I need to finish straightening the craft room for…I have to clear off both tables so we’ll have a place for people to sit and eat, and I have to get some semblance of organization done so my husband’s Peer has a place to crash for the night.
Oh, and I have to go see the podiatrist yet again because my left foot is either broken or has a neuroma or some crazy shit like that. There’s that, too.
Pros and cons of cons
So I have a decision to make…and it’s kind of a tough one.
There’s this convention, see. Tucson Comic Con. I wrote a sci-fi novel. Sci-fi and comic cons go together like peas and carrots. Or something. Point is, it would be a great opportunity to promote myself as an Arizona author with a new publication. The fee for a table isn’t unreasonable, and I’d have time to buy up a small stockpile of books to sign/sell at the con.
Buuuuuuuut…..The same weekend is also Coronation for the next King and Queen of our SCA Kingdom-slash-stepping down of my husband’s friend from current King to Duke.
Fuck. My. Life.
I want to be there to support my husband’s friend and my chosen family, but I also want to be able to be visibly there to promote my book at a medium-sized convention.
What do I do?
My husband was initially on-board with the con thing, but when he found out it was the same weekend as Coronation it was all nope, can’t do it. But I want to. I need to talk to him, I guess. I just feel like a jerk for wanting to.
We don’t have to do everything together. We can split the weekend–but it would be kind of a bummer not to have him there.
I’ll think it over. Who knows? I might not even get a booth. It might end up being a moot point.
But it would be freakin’ awesome to be able to do the con…..
*Sigh*
I’ll talk with my husband. See what his thoughts are. I know he won’t be happy, but maybe we can compromise.
Square one–er, two?
After waffling for a few months on whether to revise Book 2 to fit the new end of Abnormal or just rewrite the whole thing, I finally came to the conclusion that I should kind of do both. I’ll keep the sections that still fit with Abnormal’s ending–what few there are–but I’ll also start over. So it’ll be something old and something new. I guess.
I’m kinda bummed that I have to go back to the beginning for this sequel. Granted, the first draft was, as most first drafts are, not the greatest. I was still green when I wrote it, with the gerunds and head-hopping and all the things that probably drove my publisher bonkers with Abnormal. Lol But I guess it’s a good thing? I mean, I can wipe the slate clean and start over better. Stronger. More powerful than the average bear.
That’s for tomorrow, though. It’s getting late. (For me, anyway. That’s the glamorous life of an author with a full-time job at a clinic. Surgery days start early.)