That Darn Writing Life

I'm working really hard on NaNoWriMo but so far have only written 22,000 out of the required 50,000. The book is going well, though, and I love the story. It's a historical mystery entitled Deadliest Rose, although I might rename it to, A Deadly Rose. I just hope to work in a few more twists and turns. The evil doer is probably pretty obvious, much to my chagrin, but it's really more of a suspense than a mystery so maybe that is okay. And you definitely don't want to receive a rose if you're a character in this story. J

Good News (If Any)

More like, all the bad news you can handle.

We've got a bad leak in one of the bathrooms and didn't realize it, so we're going to have to rip up all the flooring and replace it as it rotted out the wood. Heavy sigh. Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, my washing machine and refrigerator both died and I had to replace those.

Then the power supply in my computer died and I had to replace that. Since one of the CD/DVD drives is also bad, I bit the bullet and ordered a new computer. I just hope my existing computer survives long enough for me to transfer my settings. I did back everything up, though—but it's a lot easier when I rebuild if I can just transfer the entire profile from the old computer to the new one.

Then…if I can sort of refurbish the old one, I may try to turn it into a primitive TiVo/DVR thing. That way, when it really does die, I won't care…too much. We've survived this long without a DVR. Anyway, it may be a way of using my investment in that computer—which was outrageously expensive and turned out to be a right lemon. (First the power button broke and I re-engineered a new one, I had to take the bezel off the front because the CD/DVD drives kept getting hung up on it, then the power supply went on the fritz, and then the 2^nd CD/DVD writer went bad…I mean, this computer was badly designed/engineered to begin with, anyway.)

What I'm Reading Now

I'm reading "Red Hot Lies" when I get a few seconds. So far, so good.

What I'm Writing Now

Working furiously on Deadliest Rose. Also just got the second rounds of edits for The Bricklayer's Helper and I expect to get the second round of edits for Vampire Protector shortly. Not to mention that my editor at Highland Press also told me to expect the first round of edits for The Necklace ever so shortly.

I'm also trying to continue submitting my contemporary mystery, Whacked! about the things folks do for love.

So…busy, busy, busy.

What—If Any—Thoughts I have

The writer community is all worked up about Harlequin's new venture, Harlequin Horizons, a subsidy/vanity press. That's where you pay them to produce your book, instead of vice versa. Sort of like your next door neighbor coming over to your house with a hacksaw and asking you, "If I give you $1,000, can I perform brain surgery on you so that I can call myself a brain surgeon?" You have to admire the guy's gumption and efforts, but…buyer beware.

I, personally, don't have a dog in that fight. I'm working to be a professional writer where I get paid for my work, so I'm not going to pay someone to produce my books. That's just crazy talk.

But I am curious about Harlequin's other publishing venture, Carina, which will be their e-publishing arm. They won't be putting out both an e-book and a paperback the way my current publishers do (The Wild Rose Press, Cerridwen, and Highland Press) but they will be a legitimate e-publisher. By legit, I mean the money goes from the publisher to the author. Not the other way around. And published works will be edited.

We'll see how that all works out. I have to confess, as much as I've embraced the who e-publishing thing, I still like seeing that paperback in my hands. J

Writing Extravaganza

I am so totally jazzed--I just got the cover for my latest historical romantic mystery: The Bricklayer's Helper. It is absolutely gorgeous. There is nothing like seeing that cover to really believe you have a book coming out.

That and the edits. Just finished the first round of edits and as usual, I'm torn between thinking it will never be good enough and marveling at the fact that I actually managed to write a coherant story. More or less.

And I just love The Bricklayer's Helper. The heroine, Sarah Sanderson, drives my poor hero, William Trencharc absolutely crazy. She is completely irrepressible. As a child, Sarah lost her family in a terrible tragedy and has been masquerading as a man working as a bricklayer's helper. But the murderer responsible for the death of her family has discovered her identity and it's up to William to keep her alive, solve the mystery, and keep his sanity.

And as fate would have it, I also just got the first edits for Vampire Protector, my first paranormal. And I've got a second paranormal I'm desperately trying to get into shape to submit to my editor.


Then, like an idiot, I signed up to do National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. Insane, I know. But I'll be trying to write 50,000 words during November on my latest novel: Deadliest Rose. It's intended to be a historical suspense, assuming I ever get the darn thing written. A murderer taunts an inquiry agent, Charles Vance, by sending him a rose. If the Vance can identify the rose, he'll have enough information to save the next victim. Unfortunately, this task is harder than it seems and grows even more complex and dangerous when he seeks the assistance of noted rosarian, Ariadne Wellfleet.

I'm really excited about the story as it forms another link in a chain of stories revolving around Second Sons, a London-based inquiry agency. I've written several mysteries featuring its agents, including The Bricklayer's Helper, and I hope to expand it.

Anyway, that's about it for now. I've got to get back to work. My mind is running about a million miles a minute with all the tasks ahead of me, not to mention my real job in the computer industry. Oh, yeah. I do need to get back to that as I have the slightly overwhelming task of upgrading 580 domain controllers from Windows 2003 R2 to Windows 2008 R2, Server Core. And another 'Oh, yeah,' there is no upgrade path. It's a bare metal install. Like...can I make this any more difficult?

So hope you are all enjoying the cooler fall weather, gorgeous autumn leaves, and looking forward to the holidays!
Amy