My Little Rose

Silence And Sound

My darling daughter has just had her first poem published. She's ecstatic, and I am one proud mama. It was published in the school news paper, but still, she has the bragging rights! She got published before I did!

She was also quite indignant about the editorial liberties they took with her poem. I do have to admit, they changed it up for the worse. I'm not sure who made that decision, but it is what it is. I helped her get her original published on WattPad, so she's been passing around that link to her friends.

         But wait! There's more!

The Reason Why

We've finally got a lot of the kinks worked out on her other story. It's something she calls... Creepy Pasta. I had to wiki that to figure out what it is. Apparently it's the in thing for kids right now. For those that don't want to click the link, it's just short horror stories based on urban legends. I've actually listened to a few that are narrated on YouTube, and some aren't bad.

The story she wrote a few weeks back, this Creepy Pasta thing, is also posted on WattPad. Any review I give on this is completely biased  so I will abstain. I know this isn't the perfectly written story, but she's making the effort and learning in the process! I am so very proud of her.

So that has been an exciting couple of days for both of us. I am also pleased to announce that editing seems to be going so much more smoothly now. I don't know what happened. Either I've figured something out, or I'm looking at it through rose-colored glasses and you're going to get a steaming pile of poo! Ahh, let's all hope that's not the case.

Anyway, I'm finally prepared to lay out a VERY tentititive deadline as to when the polished copy of After - Part 1 will be up on Smashwords. My target right now is before June, so I'm just going to say June 1st, just to be on the safe side.

~deep breath~

Okay, I said it! I can do this, right? Oh boy...

Tales From The Mist

Here is the brief review, as promised.

Just a little note for your information. When I write reviews, I will do my best to avoid spoilers. I know spoilers are probably not too likely to happen with a book full of short stories, but there are a few other books that I'm planning on reviewing here in a few.

Tales From The Mist is definitely worth buying. I love just being able to get a quick story in every now and then, and most of the stories in the book delivered. Some are chilling, some are sad, and there's a few twists in there as well. I feel safe to say that there's a little bit of something in here for everyone.

Also, if you want to support the indie community, this is a great purchase. I generally buy a couple indie books a month, although I have to confess I haven't had a chance to read them all, but they are all on my list of things to do! I know the reviews are just as important as the purchases.

Yesterday, I only got a little bit of editing done, although I spent a lot of time on the book cover. I'm currently working on the Smashwords dimensions, and my aim is to make something that can convert to Amazon pretty fluidly. I wasn't aware that this was going to be so tedious! I'll probably get to spend a little more time with the cover today and will upload it as soon as it's done. It's very tedious work for someone who's a novice at graphic design.

I had originally planned on hiring someone to do it for me. Give some support to the indie cover artists (They need love too!) but I actually love doing this type of stuff. I wanted to try my hand at it and see how it turned out. Plus, it's relaxing in its own way. I nice break from the editing I'm struggling with.

Speaking of creating things, I bought a little do-it-yourself shelve/bench for my little boy. Now his toys have a REAL home! He was very curious, and sat close by me as I built it for him. He was also very excited when he figured out his toys can go in the little blue boxes, and he helped me transfer them all from his old bin. Here's the finished result.

Yay! I finished something!

Alright guys. That's all for today. Time to enjoy what's left of the weekend!

Good Day

First off, I'm testing this new email feature. I may have to go back and edit the formatting to clean it up some, but thought it might come in handy if I ever had a few spare moments to blog when I was at an internet accessible computer that for some reason has Blogger blocked. I couldn't think of where that place might be, though. ~innocent smile~

So, you may have noticed, these past few days, I've been making some adjustments to the interface here. I like the new logo at the top, but still not sure what else I want to do. I guess the old adage, keep it simple stupid, does just fine.

I am also really happy with the amount of editing I've been able to get done. I did get the first part of Chapter 1 rewritten, and blended in now. If I could edit like this every day, I'd be done in no time! Unfortunately  I don't see that happening, though. We will always have good days and bad days. Editing is no exception.

I really miss reading. I normally read quite a bit, and have actually read a few books over this past year, despite writing a whole novel. I have stayed away from picking up a new book though, because I know as soon as I do, I will get all obsessive compulsive with it and won't get anything else done until I finish the book.

But I really want to read something!! 

So, to compensate some, I bought a book full of short stories in the horror genre. It's called Tales From The Mist. I read the first story while waiting at my Dr's appointment yesterday. It was okay. I'll update my Shelfari with a full review once I'm done reading. It had some pretty decent reviews, so I'm hoping this will quench my thirst, so to speak.

I will update again soon!

A Game of Rewrites

Ugh.

That about sums up my feelings from the past few days. I've been working pretty diligently on editing, although I did take the day off on Sunday. That was my Dreamland day, anyway.

I feel pretty good about what I was able to accomplish yesterday, although in the big scope of things, I'm still not pleased with my pacing on the editing. It's a learning process, I know, I just wish I could go a bit faster. I will continue to work on it and improve the best I can.

Right now, I'd like to discuss one of my favorite authors. Mr. George R. R. Martin. I know the man is the IN thing right now because of the HBO show, Game of Thrones, and that thrills me to no end, but I was a fan of his writing before the show was even a thing. My husband and I have both read A Song of Ice and Fire and we are eagerly awaiting the Winds of Winter.

I think Mr. Martin is a genius. Beyond the fact that my husband and I were able to share the story with each other, the books have also inspired many conversations and lengthy discussions. A Storm of Swords is one of my all time favorite books, so you can imagine how excited I am for this season of A Game of Thrones.

The episode that aired last Sunday night featured a scene that I was eagerly awaiting from the very first announcement of the show, and it did not disappoint. It was wonderfully done, and not only am I happy about that, I am also very gratified.

I highly recommend both the books and the show.

Now, that being said, I'm off to rewrite Chapter 1.

In Rememberance

This is a terribly sad week for American History.

Due to the tragic events that have been happening in Boston, I'll make this brief.

18 years ago, at 9:01am, I was just driving into Oklahoma City when the fertilizer bomb went off.

"We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence.
May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity."

For Boston

I hate the tragedies and I hate the pain. I hate the fact that these bombs in Boston won't be the last senseless attack we'll see and be forced to experience.

How one person, or a small group of people, can have such a huge impact on so many people by committing such a terrible act leads us all down the path to wonder why?

The 'whys' might matter later, they might not. The fact remains that there are wounds here now that will never heal, and those that live through this have had their lives changed forever. Whether they crumple into maddening sorrow, or have the strength to carry on, their lives will never be the same.

To those out there that have been injured, lost loved ones, lost their own lives, you have my tears. I can think of no words that could come from a stranger that would bring you comfort, but every part of me wishes I could send you what strength I have as I sit here and stare at the news reports so far away. You have, in a word, my condolences. I know that's not enough.

And to those of you that rushed into the chaos, the ones that helped the injured, the ones offering rides, and even opening your homes to strangers. Even the ones helping coordinate things online to open another avenue to find help, or even locate loved ones.

Thank you.

You are truly heroes. Its this show of humanity from hundreds of people on this dark day that overshadows the act of one psychopath. This is how we know these assholes, try as they might, can't win. The humanity we share still manages to shine through.

Never lose site of that.

Today I Learned...

I guess it's been more over the past week that I figured this out, but editing is all kinds of boring. At least from my very short experience with it. Writing is much more fun! I have set aside a couple hours a day to edit and work on my rewrites. Even though I'm not bouncing off the walls while I'm doing it, I'm still keeping up a steady pace.

I am also quite pleased with what I've already got polished up as the 'final final' draft. THAT is something that is very exciting and terrifying at the same time. The more of these scenes and chapters I get behind me, the closer I am to releasing this to the public. That next step is looming on the horizon as a manifestation of all my fears and doubts, staring down at me with judgmental eyes and waiting for me to break.

But I can't break. I've put too much work into this to leave it unfinished now.

And there's just so much more rattling around in my head I need to get out.

The last thing I want to do is disappoint the few of you that have been following me. I just hope I can deliver a story that you can enjoy.

Once again, I wish I could give you a timeline for when I expect to be done on the editing, but I've found that my progression is varying from day to day. Some days I can run through a scene easily, then others I can get lost in rewrites and end up adding to the editing pile instead of taking away. So... sorry about that.

As far as my one day a week rule for Book 2, that's going awesome. I'm already halfway through chapter two.

So there's my almost weekly update. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

A New Journey

I feel very honored to be writing this little introduction, not to mention, extremely proud.

My daughter has finished a short story that will debut on WattPad by the end of this week. I am in full fledged editing mode, so I've moved her story to the top of the After pile. I apologize for the delay this will cause, but I can't say that I'm feeling that sorry!

See, I made this deal with her. Whatever she would write and finish, I would edit. Last night she sat down, and in an hour and 1/2, she wrote a short story from start to finish. It came in at just a little over 2200 words, and she typed every bit of it by hunt and peck. I was very impressed!

I hope she never loses that spark, and I will do what I can to fan those flames.

I am so very very proud of her.

Aside from that tangent, here's my thoughts on my editing of After thus far. I have to say that this is very easy and extremely hard, all at once! I'm taking my time, and my husband is proof-reading everything to catch the little things I STILL manage to miss. I will say I am happy with what I already have finished and in the ~DONE~ pile.

Part 1 will be getting a few scenes added in to flesh out the world a bit more, so I've decided to post that on Smashwords once I've finished the editing process. If you've been following along with me, I recommend a reread once it's up. There will be quite a few changes from the first draft that's available now!

To make sure I don't lose the connection I have with my characters, I have dedicated one night a week to working on book 2, Dreamland. I have come so far in my ideas from where I first started, it amazes me. I am looking forward to really digging in and writing about what life is like in this new post-apocalyptic world.

So that's my little weekly update. This editing thing just doesn't seem to have as many breakout WOW moments to post about... At least not yet. I'll keep my fingers crossed.