“BUT” is Such a Scary Word!

I had another one of my dreams.  Even though it was a simple and short scene, it was interesting — interesting enough to set to paper.

Once on paper, it turned out to be a very intriguing scene, with the potential to turn into something I imagined could be used in workshops and meetings — to elicit discussion and group interactions…

With that in mind, that one scene lead to another… and another.

I shared the written scenes with Katherine, and wondered if she and her friends would like to act out the scenes — to generate discussions for their meetings.  Her groups were always looking for topics to discuss…

Katherine agreed that her groups were always looking for topics to discuss, and she knew of several people who would jump at the chance to act out the scenes with her, but…

[BUT… is such a scary word — especially coming from Katherine.]

But... Katherine liked the scenes soooo much that she didn’t want to stop at a couple — just to be used to generate discussion in social gatherings.

 

She wants us to develop a whole play and progress the story.  Once the play is complete, she has acquaintances who have the resources to produce and perform the play.  We could perform it live, video tape it, and/or produce an audio version of it.

She understands all this would require more time, effort, and work on my part — more than I originally intended and, possibly, wanted to put into it — but…

[BUT… is such a scary word — especially coming from Katherine.]

But what I’ve written so far is too good just to be treated as a simple discussion aid, in her opinion.

O…..K….

So, I write — what I thought — is a nice little play, but Katherine wants more.

So, I keep adding scene after scene, and Katherine keeps telling me we need another and another…

I see the same thing that has happened to our book is happening to the play.

We can never finish a project, because Katherine keeps wanting more… and more… and more…

Yes… her suggestions always make the projects better, BUT if we never finish a project… well, we’ll never finish…

Hopefully, during my lifetime, one of these projects will see the light of day, BUT…

In the meantime, I’m on a new writing adventure… adding aspiring playwright to aspiring author…

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But Where’s My Piece of Cake?!

Yes, I enjoyed the women’s retreat.  I really did, but do you remember that little carrot — no, that piece of chocolate cake — that Katherine dangled in front of me to get me there?

We were supposed to have time together to work on our book.  We were supposed to finish the new section that Katherine wanted added.  This weekend was supposed to move us leaps and bounds ahead on this project.

Well, as you may have guessed, that didn’t quite happen. 

So, everything is postponed for a bit longer…

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I’m Ready to Get Back to Writing Again

I’m ready to leave all this administrative stuff behind me again. 

I’m ready to leave the correspondence with publishers to someone else.

I’m ready to jump back into my creative world and leave the rest of the world to fend for itself.

In corresponding with several publishers, it’s become quite clear that they base their decisions on a quick scan of bits and pieces of materials—just enough to see if the book fits their specific need for the moment.

That UK publisher — who saw everything in a negative light and who needed a relationship book — emailed back.  She felt our relationship book wasn’t a relationship book… because it included friendship as an important relationship.  They’ve been working long and hard on another friendship book and didn’t want to stop work on that one to start all over with ours.

I totally understand where the UK publisher is coming from. I didn’t want to start over and rework a bunch of new book proposal packages… for goodness sakes!

What I find… disheartening… is that she couldn’t see how our book was about relationships.  Yes, it included friendship in its relationship spectrum, but why should that prevent the book from being about relationships?

As we explain in our book:

Everyone knows that strong relationships are essential for a healthy and happy life.  From the moment we’re born, we begin to learn about ourselves through interactions with those around us.  Our very self-worth is tied to what others think, see, and share. 


For the majority of us, our first experience with relationships is through family interactions.  It is through the family’s bond that we, as children, take our first steps toward physical security and emotional connections.  Although these are our first close connections, these relationships are —for the most part — chosen for us.  We don’t have an active role in selecting our family. 


As we mature, we venture out from the comfort of our family circle.  It is during this exploration that we learn more about ourselves and how we affect others. 

The first relationship we actually choose for ourselves is a friendship.  We actively seek out and develop a close connection with persons outside of our family unit.  In friendships, we’re able to explore and cultivate our skills in relating, communicating, trusting, respecting, and sustaining quality relationships.  A close friendship is our introduction to developing and sustaining an intimate and lasting relationship. 


Sadly, some have mistaken friendships as something to be discarded — like training wheels after learning to ride a bike.  Although always beneficial, many treat friendships as something less than a “real” relationship — only to be seen as training wheels to a “real relationship.” 


Many don’t even realize how powerful, empowering, and intimate a close friendship can be.  They don’t realize how a friendship can infuse a person’s life with the energy, encouragement, support, and love needed to light their way through their darkest hours.


Yes.  A close friendship is a relationship that contains the power to do this. 

All this makes me stop and think:  Maybe this “negative” UK publisher is searching for something more than just a relationship book to fill their publishing needs…

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This Waiting is Driving Everyone Crazy!

Yeah.  Patience is not one of my virtues.  I need to be constantly moving forward on things.  Standing still and waiting for something to happen is not in my nature.

And this shortcoming of mine is driving everyone else around me crazy. 

Why?  Because I keep emailing, contacting, talking, searching, writing, and researching.  I keep jumping from one project to another, like a juggler.  I’m constantly doing something to keep this project moving and that project progressing and this other project going…

In my efforts to keep everything moving, I’ve expanded my circle of influence to include a number of other people, who find themselves in desperate need of a reprieve from my persistence.

Not to totally alienate myself from these new contacts, I’m trying to be patient.

I am managing to refrain myself from actually emailing anyone today, even though I’m continually checking my email account every hour for news from the publisher who is showing some interest in our Friendship book, for news from the therapists who have agreed to give us feedback on our teen book, or for news from parents who have offered to have their kids read and give us feedback on our children’s book.

It seems harder, today, to be content with sitting and waiting, because last week was so full of activity.  

I couldn't believe it!  Suddenly, everything started moving in different directions... as if each project had a life of its own.  This is great news and exactly what we are hoping for; but when it happens all at once... well, it makes it more difficult to juggle everything.

 What happened last week?

• The publisher, who asked for sample chapters, has written back and asked for the rest of the Friendship book.
• The therapist who was impressed with an audio clip — enough to say she’ll buy several copies of the book if it was anything like the clip — emailed back, wanting to meet with us once she reads the book.  She’s also asking questions about how we’re promoting ourselves and the book, and is indicating her desire to keep in contact with us through this process. 
• Friends of friends who are teachers and have published their own children’s books have come forward with suggestions and ideas as to how to get our children’s book viewed by educational publishers, which would open the doors to schools and homeschoolers.   This has prompted me to create a discussion aid for teachers and parents.  This will help with the interactive discussion that the book thrives on.
• The audio clip, “Self Defense Against Fear” is getting regular hits on the YouTube site. 
• People keep returning to this blog to follow our progress —and thank you very much, for doing that! 

Toward the end of last week, I was feeling somewhat overwhelmed by all the attention.  So, I had to take a step back, to try to get my thoughts organized and my hands around the separate projects that were going in various directions…

I’m a visual person, so I had to set everything down in front of me, so I could see the whole picture.  To do that, I got a huge piece of paper (around 16” x 21”) and created three columns (i.e., one for each project).   In the separate columns, I wrote where we were on each project, as well as my concerns and pending issues. 

With this new person, possibly, coming into the mix — the excited therapist — I also wanted to protect my self-interest in all of this.  To do that, I needed to be able to actually identify, clarify, and communicate what my goals are. 

Why am I doing all of this?  I’m sure more things will come to me, but this is a start:

• To have the freedom to stretch my creativity and have the ability to write on subjects that most interest me
• To be able to get our messages out in a positive and supportive manner that can help others
• To make a difference — to be an intricate and important part of this “movement” and enjoy this journey that we’re on
• Not to be harmed (financially, emotionally, physically, reputation-wise, etc.) by this endeavor
• To be able to make enough money from this to support me during my retirement years… until death does me in

Now… all that’s left to do is wait… and wait… and wait…

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Sign of the Times?

I was reading a post from one of the various writers’ groups I’ve joined.

One fellow aspiring author tells us he has a literary agent.  This literary agent has written her first book and has decided to self-publish it.  Our fellow aspiring author adds no more details, other than his bewilderment.  This is understandable, since he has pinned all his hopes on this literary agent getting him signed with an established publisher.   

I find his news both ironic and telling…

Telling us what?  I’m not sure… 

I don't know if it's telling us how tough the publishing market is… or telling us how difficult it is for new authors to be picked up by publishers… or telling us how beneficial [or NOT] a literary agent is for first-time authors… 

Whichever it is, it's pretty depressing to think that your literary agent — who you’ve pinned your hopes on — can't get her own book picked up by an established publisher... using her contacts, influence, and skills.

Yes, of course there can be a number of reasons for the agent to choose to self-publish instead of marketing her book to a publishing firm. 

She may rather publish her book herself instead of giving 90 percent of the proceeds away to a publisher.  She may feel that she can do a better job and have more control over her book if she did it herself.  She may have the desire and the cash flow to start her own independent publishing firm.  What better way to test the waters than with her own book, before drawing on her established client base of unpublished authors?  Then again, she may have written a book that is not in the genre her publisher friends are interested in…

Logically, there are a host of reasons the literary agent has decided to go the self-publishing route herself, while promising her clients that she has the influence, connection, and skill to get publishers interested in their manuscripts—for a piece of their profits.

After all of that reasoning, it’s still funny to me that a literary agent has opted to self-publish her own book…

And I can also understand how our fellow aspiring author finds it more disturbing… than funny.


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Keep Chasing That Dream...

As you can guess…

One of the toughest things to do is picking the right publishers to pitch your FABULOUS manuscript…

There are some publishers who want the luxury of three-to-six months to make their decision, without you asking any other publishers to look at your work.  These publishers want exclusive rights to say yes or no… without any pressure from other proposals.

Thinking that we would have publishers fighting over our materials, we made the conscious decision to put these “exclusive” publisher requests at the end of our lists.

Well, we’re at the end of our list for Silhouette of a Friendship…From the Inside Out.  It’s time to contact the “exclusive” publishers… one by one… with 3-6 months breaks between them…

BUT!!!!

My favorite publisher — the one I REALLY want to take us on!!... the one that would be PERFECT for us!!! — is on this exclusive list. 

We tried earlier… asking, begging, pleading… if they would bend the “exclusive submission” rule, but… well, you can guess their response… or rather… their non-response.

Anyway… that was then, and now is now. 

I feel that we’ve waited an appropriate time of mourning for the other publishers and are ready to pursue this new suitor!

I’m heading off to the post office now.  Wish us luck!



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Sunday Morning Thoughts...

I’m having a great weekend!  Friday night I went out with some friends and made a fool of myself on the dance floor — line dancing for the first time.  Then Saturday morning I went to water aerobics, just to get to go to lunch with the water aerobics gang. Then, I came home to find a voice message waiting for me.  My teacher friend was in town for the weekend and wanted to get together for the rest of the day. 

I just got up today and who knows what this sunny Sunday will bring…

So, yeah!  I’m having a great weekend, thus far—which got me thinking of a conversation Katherine and I had just the other day.

She brought up the Myers Briggs Type Indicator—which is a series of multiple choice questions that are designed to measure psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions.

The questions are very basic and unobtrusive.  If you want to read more about Myers Briggs, simply google “Myers Briggs personality tests” or something close to that.  If you want a quick overview of the 16 basic personality types, you can check out this link: http://www.personalitypage.com/html/high-level.html

Anyway, since then, Katherine has been looking for the 16 basic personality traits in people she meets.  She’s a very social and outgoing person, so she meets a lot of people, and this helps her identify with each person quickly.

So, she had me take the test and it wasn’t a surprise that one of my traits is that I am an introvert.

I think most writers fall into that category — where our thoughts are focused internally.

What’s interesting is that most people think introverts are antisocial… anti-social… against society.  I don’t agree with that belief — not at all.

I think there is a difference between the two.  Just because my inner world takes on a more dominate role in my behavior (e.g., I think first before acting; I need some private time for myself; and I prefer one-to-one communication and relationships), doesn’t mean that I shun social interaction.

Antisocial is defined as shunning the society of others; not sociable; hostile to the established social order; engaged in behavior that violates accepted mores…

So…yeah… there’s a difference between a person whose thoughts are directed inward and a person who is against society.

Oops… look at the time… This introvert has to get ready for another “social” day on her calendar… 




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Publish America

I ran into a Christian publisher on the Internet and thought it wouldn’t hurt to pitch our material to them.

As I was doing so, I had this really creepy, uneasy feeling running through me… but I didn’t listen to it.

The website for Publish America looked official with lots of happy testimonials from their authors… and they made it super easy to submit your pitch.  They stated that they “adhere to the traditional publishing concept”. 

The website said that they would get back to you in 24 hours; and for an impatient person like me, 24 hours sounded like a reasonable time to wait for an answer.

But, as I was doing all of this, I had this really creepy, uneasy feeling running through me… but I didn’t listen to it.

I prepared the submission and hit the submit button.

It wasn’t until the next morning that I started listening to the really creepy, uneasy feeling running through me.

So, I googled Publish America and the word SCAM came up in the headline search.

Oops!

In reading the material on the Internet, I can’t say that Publish America is scamming their authors, but neither are they helping their authors.  The term scam deals with deceit, fraud, swindling, trickery, etc.

I can’t say this publisher is scamming their authors… although they are not providing the services that are expected from a truly “traditional” publisher — which is what is causing the complaints.

They seem to be a hybrid mix between self-publishing and traditional publishing.  The authors don’t have to pay to get their books published, but nor does the publisher help promote, distribute, or market the books either.  Past clients have complained that this publisher jacks up the cover price past a reasonable selling point and doesn’t pay royalties as promised.  The publisher will accept any manuscript submitted, will do minimum editing, if any, and will push out a product that some bookstores refuse to place on their shelves.

As I’m reading all of this — instead of hitting myself on the head for not listening to the really creepy, uneasy feeling running through me — I tell myself that when they come back and say they’d love to publish our book, I’ll end it there.

To be fair, this publisher has a right to make a profit and be in business.  They may be a good fit for some authors, but I’d rather pass at this time.

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Time To Change My Password

You know my propensity for picking passwords to positively propel our publishing pursuits…

Well, for the last couple of months, I had the name of the most promising publisher as my password — the publisher who actually read the sample chapters, asked for the rest of the book, and then asked us to complete a new author media questionnaire…

With fingers crossed, eyes closed, and hopes uplifted, I’ve been holding my breath for their decision.

It came yesterday.  The UK publisher had another friendship book coming out later this year, and didn’t want to have our book compete with their current client who was already signed with them. 

Even though I was hoping… really hoping… but … it’s OK…. 

If I was the publisher and had a friendship book already in the mix… in the UK…. why would I go out on a limb for two new/unknown authors from the US?  They made the easier decision.  It may not have been the best one for them or us, but it was the easier of the two… and I understand it…

In the back of my mind, I really think that the children’s book is what’s going to get us “discovered” – and once we are, then these other books will be in more demand….

So, it’s time to change the password again… to something more general…something that I’m really wishing for… something desperate… maybe pleading…maybe determined… or demanding…

Something that portrays my true desire… something like… MAKE IT HAPPEN, NOW!


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Cloud Nine!

Remember Mom bribing — I mean, commissioning — her friend’s 10-year-old daughter to read our children’s book (blog entry: Encouraging News)?

Well, our little tester finished the book; and, the other night, I had a little telephone interview with her.

She’s a very articulate and bright little girl and was very eager to tell me what she thought about the book.   

She won me over in her first sentence… when she said that she thought the book must have been written by some famous author; it was THAT good!

She mentioned how her mother always has to nag her to read 40 minutes each night for school; but when she started this book, she became inspired to read.  She didn’t need her mother to remind her, and she read longer than she had to read.   The reading level was just perfect for her.

She thought Billy was a normal kid — which translated, to me, that she easily related with the protagonist and identified with him, his feelings, and what he was going through. 

She really liked the way the adults talked to Billy and liked the various lessons throughout the story.  She liked all the characters, except for creepy Mr. T — the bad guy — but she recognized that she wasn’t supposed to like him. 

She did give me some advice for my next book.  She said that I must always have a bad guy in the story.  The bad guy keeps the story interesting and moving along.  [Got it!]

I asked if there was a section she would change, if she could.  She mentioned an intense scene that — although she was fine with it — she thought younger kids would become upset with it.  I told her that we were aiming for the age group of 9 to 12 and asked if she thought that was a good age range for the book.  She totally agreed and thought that would be perfect.  [Got it!]

My little tester did a fabulous job for me.  Her comments about the intense scene were very telling.  Although this first book is fine, I’ll have to revamp the second book in this series, because that book is even more intense than this one.  It’s good to know how far I can go with this age group.

I can’t get over what great feedback my little tester gave me!  Most kids — and adults, for that matter — would just say they liked the book and that would be the end it.  Feedback like that is really nice for the ego, but it doesn’t really help the person asking for the feedback. 

Most people are afraid to give their honest opinion about things when asked, because they are afraid of hurting the other person’s feelings.  

I don’t want my feelings hurt either, but there is a way of sharing our opinions and feelings without hurting someone else’s feelings in the process.   We just have to put ourselves in the other person’s shoes and phrase the comments in a way that wouldn’t hurt our feelings if we were on the other end of the criticism.

Anyway… I can go on and on about giving and receiving criticism, but I’ll stop here…

I just can’t get over how this little girl, who hates to read, kept thanking me for letting her read my book…

I’m on Cloud Nine!!!

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HARO

Have you heard of Help a Reporter Out (HARO) [http://www.helpareporter.com/]?  

I haven’t tried it yet.  In fact, I haven’t talked to Katherine about this, yet—so I can’t really give you a report on it, but the concept sounds neat, and it is free. 

The theory behind HARO is that everyone is an expert at something and this website matches everyday experts with reporters who need your particular expertise to complete their article, feature, or story. 

Once you sign up as a resource, the website will send you a daily email, listing the media queries.  All you have to do is keep an eye out for those specific media queries you’re qualified to comment on and act as a source.

If one of the queries matches your expertise, then simply respond to the reporter; and you and the reporter can help each other out.  You can help the reporter with the article, and the reporter can help promote you to a larger and established audience.

If you happen to be a reporter, you'll be able to tap into over 80,000 sources who will respond to you directly.


Like I said, it is a neat concept.



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The Business of Promoting

I’m really not into this promoting stuff!  That’s Katherine’s area.

But people keep telling me that I should do more in promoting this blog… to increase its followers, subscribers, readers… blah, blah, blah…

So… I’ve added the blog to a number of free blogging lists to see if that would increase our reach and make us more visible. 

So far, it’s made us more visible to those who want something from us — other than that…

But to be fair, I should give it some time — at least more time than the 72 hours I’ve given it thus far…

Yeah.  Patience is not one of my strengths.




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A Writer's Dilemma

Remember, back in December, I mentioned Kelly Valen and her book “The Twisted Sisterhood: Unraveling The Dark Legacy of Female Friendships”.  Her book caused me to visit her website (http://www.kellyvalen.com/); and it was her genuineness that encouraged me to reach out to her for her guidance.

She suggested that we look into getting an essay or excerpt published somewhere — whether it is in a magazine, newspaper, or wherever.  Something like that may just kick-start things for us, as it did for her.

She mentioned that some of her friends were picked up by Modern Love, which is a segment/column of the New York Times.

So, I thought that it’s worth a try.  What do I have to lose?

Well, I found out, very quickly, what I could lose.

In reading the submission guidelines, I came across the statement:  “Essays must be previously unpublished. Work that has appeared online, on blogs, etc., is considered to be previously published.”

In the same area, they state:  “A book of collected columns, titled "Modern Love: 50 True and Extraordinary Tales of Desire, Deceit and Devotion," is also available at bookstores.”

Those two statements got me to thinking… at the end of all of this, do I retain rights to my own work or am I forfeiting it away to Modern Love?

Well, the only way to find out is to ask them, so I did.  They told me that “We do not acquire rights to submitted material, but we do buy all rights if we offer to publish it.”

OK.  Exactly what does that mean?  That means that whenever someone says that they buy all rights to your work… well, it means just that.  You license away all rights to your work; you forfeit the right to ever use it again.

There are other types of rights as well.  First serial rights means that the writer offers a newspaper or magazine the right to publish the article, story, or poem for the first time in any periodical. All other rights to the material remain with the writer.  One-time rights or simultaneous rights allows a publisher to buy the nonexclusive right to publish the work once.  Second serial or reprint rights gives a newspaper or magazine the opportunity to print an article, poem, or story after it has already appeared in another newspaper or magazine.  There are also electronic rights, subsidiary rights, and dramatic, television and motion picture rights, etc.  The point is to check out all your rights before signing them away…

With the fact that the New York Times buys all rights to my work, I knew I couldn’t send something that I plan to use in one of our books or seminars.  For example, I couldn’t send an excerpt from one of our books, because if they published it, it becomes their property… and we’d have to beg for/pay for permission to use my own creation…

If I wanted to try to get something published by the New York Times, I needed to write something new that was good enough to submit, but something that we wouldn’t want to keep for ourselves.  Yeah… right!

Add to that, I had to come up with something that Modern Love would want to buy from me.

Ummm… I’m afraid what they want to buy isn’t what I’m selling.  I know the simplest answer is to write something that they would want to buy, but that’s just not my style.  I’m working to change reality, not conform to it

And, honestly, until I try, how would I know they wouldn’t want what I’m offering?

So, I’m trying.  I sent it off yesterday.  If I don’t hear from them in four weeks, then I’ll try another publication… maybe Psychology Today.  At first, I thought of some women’s magazine, like Woman’s Day and such, but Woman’s Day works exclusively with experienced writers who have clips from major national magazines (bummer!) and won’t accept anything from anyone else.   The other women’s magazines that I’ve “googled” don’t offer ways to contact them online nor offer their mailing addresses — so…

But, that’s another bridge to cross at a later time.  Right now, all I can do is wait the four weeks, and then see if Psychology Today would be interested.

By then, a book publisher would have come through for us, and Ellen DeGeneres would have called…

No worries….

It’s In Someone Else’s Hands

I woke up with the weirdest feeling this morning. 

I felt at peace and calm.  I had no excessive energy; no desire to work and any of our writing projects; no feeling that I must check this or that; no need to keep pushing this or pulling that…

I haven’t felt this relaxed feeling for a long time. 

It’s pretty nice.  I highly recommend it to everyone!

What brought on this feeling?  Well, it could be that I started back at the gym last night, and I’m exhausted this morning.

It could be that a publisher asked us to send more of the Silhouette… manuscript.  She said she enjoyed what we sent her and wanted to read more.  Her U.S. editor is on vacation, so she can’t talk to him about it, but she’ll look through the material, in the meantime…

That’s encouraging, to say the least.  At least we have someone in the publishing business actually reading our book and liking what she reads.

We still have the hurdle of whether the editors feel it will be a moneymaker for their company or not... and yes, that’s a HUGE hurdle to get over…but…

I’ve done all I can do, up to this point.  There’s nothing more I can do but wait…

Maybe that’s where the inner peace is coming from — just knowing that I’ve done all I can do; and there’s nothing more I can do… but wait.

It’s in someone else’s hands.



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Self-Doubt

Well, I finished working on Ready or Not—Life’s Coming at Ya…at least for the time being.

This is my third revision of the book, and I’m still not comfortable with it.

I need some outside input on this one.  I need some encouragement from someone.  I need reassurance from someone.

I feel like I’m just talking to a wall… writing with invisible ink… pouring my thoughts into a black hole of nothingness.

There’s no one to listen… to hear what I have to say… to read what I’ve written.

No.  I’m not comfortable with this book, yet.

I’m as unsure and insecure as the character in it.

I don’t know if the book is good enough… if I’m good enough.
 
No.  I’m full of self-doubt with this book.

I need someone to read it for me... to reassure me that I’m on the right track… that it means something to someone.

I’d like to ask my niece and nephew to read the book for me — to get their feedback — but I’m afraid they will only laugh at the thought… and laugh at me.
 
I would like to tell them that the book was written with them in mind — that I wrote it for them.  If I told them that, they would be insulted.  They don’t need any advice from anyone — especially from their old-maid aunt.   Besides, they think they know exactly what they’re doing.

My niece and nephew are in their early twenties; and I would say that they are a fair representation of their generation.  They would be the target audience for the book.

If they have no interest in reading it, what other twenty-something person would?  What teenager would?

Yeah.  I’m full of self-doubt with this book.  I’m uncomfortable, unsure, insecure… I need reassurance.

So, who do I turn to for what I need?  I turn to my adult friends and ask them to read the book.


Is this my target audience?  No

Whether they like it or not, would it make a difference to my target audience?  No

So, why am I bothering them?  For no other reason except that I need some type of reassurance.

Even if it turns out to be a false sense of security, it’s better than the nothingness I’ve been experiencing thus far.  Something’s better than nothing.

I just need something to keep me going… or something to tell me to stop.

No.  I’m not comfortable with this book, yet.  I’m as unsure and insecure as the character in it.  I don’t know if the book is good enough… if I’m good enough.

I need someone to tell me…



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Getting Ready

Well, with that optimistic email from across the ocean, regarding some possible interest in Silhouette of a Friendship… From the Inside Out, I thought I’d better get back to Ready or Not—Life’s Coming at Ya… in case they ask if we have any other books we’d like to share with them.

Yeah, yeah… I know I’m a dreamer… but … what do I have to lose?!


There was one section that I needed to fill in — regarding the physical, social, emotional, and mental changes teens experience as they transition from adolescence to adulthood.

My thinking is:  If teens knew what was going on within them at that time, they’d feel better equipped to handle it and help those around them as well.

I don’t know if it will help, but I wish some adult had told me what was going on…



If someone had, I wouldn’t have felt so lost, unaware, and unprepared.

Anyway, that’s what I’m working on tonight.

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Time Travel

Gosh!  If all goes well, you’ll know about this long before you read it here.  If this is the first you’ve heard of it, then something has gone terribly wrong!


Travel back in time, about two months ago… to a chilly Sunday night in December — December 12, 2010… to be exact.

That’s when I’m actually writing this entry.  This won’t be scheduled to post until sometime in February, 2011. 

That’s how far ahead of schedule I am with blogging… or said differently… this is how obsessed and compulsive I am about keeping this project moving forward into the future…

Anyway… writing ahead of schedule is working fine for me.  It allows me to write as often as I want; and it adds some buffer for me for the weeks I don’t feel like writing as often.  There’s no pressure in following a three-times-a-week schedule…

Although it’s a bit like living in two time-zones — months apart — it has been working really well for me, until tonight…

Tonight, my two worlds are colliding.

I want to tell you that Katherine opened a YouTube channel for us.  You can find us on the YouTube website.  Just type in… 2AspiringAuthors (using no spaces)… in YouTube's search engine, and our videos should come up for you.

On the other hand, I’m hoping that you came across the 2AspiringAuthors channel, back in December, when we first posted to it.  I’m hoping that, in December, we announced it on our Facebook accounts…and our friends shared it with their friends and their friends passed it on and on and on…

So, I’m hoping that this isn’t really news to you…

Anyway, I can’t see into the future, so I just have to ask you to travel back in time with me…

This all started back a couple of months ago.  Katherine thought that if we could make some audio clips from our books, then we could share them with others through this blog… and maybe… just maybe… that would generate some interest and support in getting us published… or at least someone might tell someone who might tell someone… who might know someone who had connections with a publisher…

Also, creating audio clips and figuring out how to convert them to video and posting them to YouTube… all that would give me something new and creative to keep me entertained… for a little while, at least.

So, that’s what we’re doing.  Katherine’s the orator, so she’s planning to tape the pieces, and probably replace my audio clips with hers… but in the meantime, I’m fooling around with it… seeing if I can do it and seeing how it all works.    

I really like the creativeness of adding pictures to the readings.  It adds so much to the text… giving the book even more emotion and life.  I’m really excited about it.

So, yeah… even if it doesn’t go anywhere, I’m learning a lot and having fun with it…

Check them out when you have a couple of minutes.  They're pretty short.  Here's one of my favorites.  It asks the age-old question:  How does one regain trust, once it is lost?

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Not All Fun Stuff

It’s the weekend, and that’s the most time I have to work on the book and writing projects, but I’m really bummed that I’ve run out of the creative and fun stuff to do.  That’s what weekends are suppose to be made of, right?  Fun stuff?

But I’m left with the stuff I hate, Hate, HATE doing. 

I have to go back to our first book, Silhouette of a Friendship… and deal with the list of publishers again…Yuck!

I’ve tried to get out of it, but there’s nothing I can think of that I can do instead…



I’ve already promised myself that I wasn’t going to work on the second children’s book anymore, until Katherine finishes reading it — and besides, three possible versions of it are quite enough.  I can’t move on with the first children’s book until we get some feedback from our readers.   I can’t go any further on the third children’s book until we work out the problems with the second one.  I’ve gone as far as I can with the teen book.  Katherine has some additions that she wants to include in that one.

So, if I want to feel productive this weekend and work on this project, I’m left with the list of publishers for Silhouette… 

There are a couple of publishers that I can send off emails with query letters and samples, but most of them need mailers and hardcopy versions of the manuscript.  I just don’t have the patience and resources to deal with mailers today. 

There’s one publisher that has irritated me above all others.  This publisher has authors fill out an online form for submitting their ideas.  That would be fine, if we weren’t restricted to only 200 characters — 200 characters — not 200 words, but 200 characters… counting each letter and space.  That’s basically two sentences.  How can I adequately describe our concept in only 2 sentences?!  GGRRRR!!!

Yeah…just another example of why I hate this side of things, but it has to be done…







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Pickle of a Mess

I think I’ve written myself into a pickle of a mess. 

I’ve gone too far. 

It’s back to the drawing board.

Katherine and I met for one of our writing project meetings.  It’s become the habit to have her read out loud, so we can hear the flow of things.  In this last meeting, she’s reading the second children’s book.

We got through about half of the book before she had to head home.  So far, she really likes the story… but she sees a potential problem.

The tone of the book matches a 9 year old’s level, but Katherine’s afraid that the concepts in the book are more appropriate for 12 and up.   She’s telling me this BEFORE she’s even read the last part of the book, which (in my opinion) may be more of a problem than the part she’s read.

Yeah… I’ve written myself into a pickle of a mess…

Again, she likes the story, but she’s not 9 years old, nor is she 12 years old.  She’s thinking that the second book is going to be difficult to market… Do we market it to 9 year olds and dilute the story?  Do I bring up the tone’s level and market it to 12 year olds?

The second book starts right where the first book leaves off, so bringing the second book to a 12 year old’s level will create problems with the transition from the first book to the second book…

Yeah… I’ve written myself into a pickle of a mess…

Again, all this is guess work at this point.  We don’t really know how much a 9 year old can comprehend compared to a 12 year old.  And every child is different.  Some 9 year olds may get it, while some 12 year olds may not.  Even some adults may not get it.  It’s just all guess work at this point. 

This is where the testing and feedback from the young readers are invaluable.  That will tell me if I’ve gone too far… and if my writing hand’s stuck in the pickle jar or not.  

Granted, we haven’t gotten feedback from the first book yet, but once Katherine’s son finishes the first one, we can ask him if he’s willing to help us with the second one… 

As you know, patience isn’t a virtue I possess.  If you introduce a problem to me, I want to fix it… and fix it now.

I have to keep reminding myself that we’re not even sure there IS a problem or anything to fix… not just yet.

You should know me by now.  The fact that a problem doesn’t exist yet doesn’t stop me from trying to solve it. 

So, I’ve come up with three versions of the same book…

• The first version is the original… in all its twists and conflicts.  I, personally, like this version best… but I’m neither 9 nor 12.
• The second version changes the last section of the book.  The first half remains the same and has enough conflict and lessons to carry the book.  I’m hoping that rewriting the last part will keep the book alive.
• The third version takes out most of the conflicts that lives within the pages of the second book.  Once I take the conflicts out, I take out the lessons that went along with the conflicts.  By doing that, the book becomes void of purpose, void of emotion, and void of life.  I do not like this third version… and I don’t care if I’m not 9 or 12.  I do not like it!  I do not like it!  I do not like it!

So, if we can’t use either the first or second version, I will go back to the drawing board and rework the book to bring it back to life. 

But I can’t administer this form of CPR until I know the patient really needs it.

So, all I can do is wait… and continue to take its pulse…

I need to let Katherine actually finish reading the book and get her opinion.  I need to let our 9 year old readers review the book and get their diagnosis…

I can’t do anything but wait.

Yeah… patience isn’t one of my virtues…

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The Magic of Dreaming

 
Well, the first draft of the second children’s book is done.  The next time Katherine comes by, I’ll ask her to read it out loud for me and see how she likes the story.  From there, I’ll make changes.  I hope there are not too many changes to do.

Her son hasn’t gotten around to reading the first story, and I haven’t heard from my teacher-friend — well, I haven’t heard about how the kids like (or don't like) the story.


I have heard about the rough time the school’s administration is giving their teachers, regarding test scores and their A+ accreditation.  Even though they are the top school in the district, each year they have to increase their stats by some static percentage.  The problem is, once you’ve reached the top, how can you keep increasing by a static standard? 

So, the school is adding more and more administration and school study aids for the teachers and the students to keep up with — which takes away from teaching time with the students — which is supposed to work on raising a score that can’t really get any higher. 

It’s like adding more and more water to a healthy plant.  Like plants, imposing more
attention(?) ... to something that doesn't need any more... attention... will drown a productive and healthy system, and cause that healthy system to wilt and die.  As with anything, more is not always better.

Anyway, that’s what my teacher-friend is dealing with right now, so she may not have the freedom or time to share our story with her class… at least, not yet.

Since the bulk of the work for the second book is done, I’m antsy to get things moving again…in some direction… for one of our other projects or books in our unpublished inventory — whether it’s searching for publishers (YUCK!), working on presentations and promotional stuff (Katherine’s expertise), playing with audio recordings, or coming up with another concept for another book…

OH! This is funny.  I haven’t slept much while writing the second book — between work and the holidays and the story just flowing through me.  So, when the train of thoughts for this second story finally came to an end and I could put the book to bed, I thought I could do the same for myself.  I thought I could take a well-deserved and long nap.

Darn it if I didn’t wake up from a dream that outlined a subplot for another book!  I jotted the notes down, but told myself to let that plot just sit there for a while.  It’s only half baked and needs more time in the oven… and I needed more time to dream…




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