On Expectations

As I watched my daughter fret about whether or not she made the volleyball team, looking at her emails every hour or less to see if the coach had contacted her, it got me thinking about expectations. The coach had said she'd send the email over the weekend, and my daughter felt sure it would come by Saturday night. I've had some expectations lately, too. Our house is for sale, we lowered the price, and I expected some interest. None came. I have my novel with a publisher who was very quick to ask for the full manuscript, so I expected a follow-up response this week. But our expectations don't always come to fruition. In fact, I'd venture to say, they rarely do. Life is very good at curve balls. The coach emailed Sunday night, and she did make the team. 

In thinking about this, it reminded me of a lesson I've been trying to teach myself my entire life: don't worry about the things you can't change, be active about the things you can. My daughter couldn't make that email come any sooner and she caused undue stress by worrying about it. But she did have her paperwork ready to fill out, her doctor's physical form in a place she could find it, and she had plans for whether she made it or not. I can't make anyone want my house, but I can continue to make it look better and analyze the pricing with my husband and with the realtor. I can't make that publisher respond within my expected time frame, but I can decide what I consider reasonable, when the time comes I can let her know that I need to move with it, and I can have preparations in place to self-publish it if that's what I decide. 

My critique readers and many interested in my career have asked me when they would be able to purchase a physical copy of Noble Ark. I promise, somehow, some way, it will happen in 2014. Wheels are in motion, one way or the other, and I will not let you down. As for the other series I've started, I'm taking them down a different path, so you might have to wait a bit longer. But little by little, it's all coming together, and it will be fabulous!

Black Space

I struggled with what to name this blog, but everything felt wrong until I used my pseudonym as part of the blog name. I debated between Black Hole and Black Space, but I can be kind of spacey, so I went with the Black Space concept. Although, if I get on a rant, which I sometimes do, some of you might want me to shut up, in which case, telling me to shut my Black Hole might be appropriate. 

So, why the pseudonym? I wanted to keep my personal life and my writing life somewhat separate. It's impossible to keep it entirely separate, but having a pseudonym gives me a semblance of anonymity, and I like that. Then came the moment of choosing one, and as many authors do, I looked to my maiden name, Black. Initially, I thought to call myself Colette Noir--the French equivalent of Black. Everyone said it sounded too romance-author, not that romance is bad, and almost all my stories have an element of romance, but I primarily write sci-fi, fantasy, horror. Everyone liked Black, it fits with my writing style, and it moves me back near the top of the alphabet. I love my married name, but whenever anything is in alphabetical order, my mind starts to wander. By the time they call me, they have to say my name two or three times before I wake up and respond. Very embarrassing. 

So, my name is Colette Black. If you want to get to know me better, welcome to the Black Space between my ears. Good luck not getting lost.