On Time

The trip to the grocery store always takes longer than planned, the writing of a book always requires days or weeks of meditation to get that next scene or plot twist just right, and getting a Kickstarter ready...let's just say, *sigh.*

I'm still working on the progress bar for my website. I've seen these things in a number of places. It shouldn't be so hard. But, for me, it is.

I'm still working on the video for the upcoming Kickstarter. I've dressed up three times, made three attempts, and after viewing each one I was finally happy with the last one. This was the one that was practically unscripted and my daughter and I bantered with one another while telling the story of how my writing career began. I think it's a good story, but maybe that's a subject for another day.

I'm waiting on a contract with my editor, Evan Braun, and my artist, Suzanne Helmigh, is waiting on the contract from me. I finished drawing it up, but wanted someone to review it. A friend said he would...and I'm still waiting.

I did all the bank forms required for the Kickstarter, but they have yet to tell me the bank account has been verified.

Thumbnail pictures should be finished today. Let's hope that comes in on time, but I wouldn't be surprised, or upset, if it takes another day.

See, that's just life. We can plan all we want, but there will be hitches. What matters is if we let them stop us from getting done what we need, or want, to get done. As long as we keep moving forward, we will eventually reach the end of the trail, the light at the end of the tunnel. I think we all have a time when we recognize that whatever we're waiting for will eventually arrive and then we'll be surprised that the moment has come, whether it be in anticipation or dread. In the case of bearing children, both.

I remember having that a-ha moment as a kid. I was jittery, excitedly awaiting the time for some performance or reward; I don't remember what it was, but I remember that bitter pang that I couldn't wait and it felt like the time would NEVER arrive. And then I remembered all the times I'd felt the same, but then the day had come and it really hadn't taken as long as I'd thought it would, and for all my anticipation, the moment was over too fast.  That was when I started learning a new word, pragmatism.  It does no good to worry and fret when that energy is much better used to plan and prepare. Time passes regardless of what we do with it. I'm still human, I still worry a fair amount, but I can usually put at least some of that worry aside and get the job done.

With that pragmatism in mind, I asked another friend to look at the artist contract. I emailed my wonderful editor about the contract we need to put together. I sent an inquiry to the Kickstarter people about the bank account verification, and I'm going to get back to work on the video.  Will the Kickstarter finish "on time" as I'd planned? Probably not. Instead of Oct. 1st, we're now looking at Oct. 4th. Doesn't matter. We will still move forward, we will still run the project for 28 days, and we will fund. Sometimes, "on time" is relative.

The Second Book

I think anyone who is following this blog, if anyone is at this point, knows I'm working on the release of Noble Ark sometime in early 2014. But don't you hate it when an author comes out with a debut book and then you have to wait 1,2,3 YEARS for the sequel. This post is to let everyone know, you won't have to wait that long. Not even close. Because...the second book is already finished. I'm getting it back from the last of my critique readers this week and will begin editing. Now, that's my editing, not final product editing. In order for a book to truly be polished, it has to go through a professional editor. Many self-publishing authors skip this step, which is one of the reasons many self-published novels don't read as well as those done by publishing companies.

And by the way, the reaction to Desolation has been even better than the positive reactions I received about Noble Ark. You're going to love it.

So, by the time Noble Ark releases to the public, after what I'm sure will be a fabulous Kickstarter campaign, Desolation will be ready to go to press. If I can manage the funds myself, I'll release it on the heels of Noble Ark, within 3 months. If I have to do another Kickstarter then it will be closer to six months. By then, the third book will be finished and going through editing (assuming we can get our house sold soon and get out of the moving process ;).

To keep everyone informed, I'm going to stop writing this post now, so I can spend some time trying to figure out how to put up a progress bar on my webpage. That way, you can always know where I am on each book, and what other books I've written that may be forthcoming.  I'm not the most tech savvy, so wish me luck!

On Rejection

After expectation often comes rejection. I have a daughter who said to me once, "I refuse to hope anymore. Nothing ever works out, so why bother?" Not entirely true, but where we dare to hope, occasionally our hopes will be dashed.

Yesterday, I received an email from a publisher stating that though she "likes my writing style," my novel, Noble Ark, didn't "fit with their current lineup." A rejection. I've had a fair amount of these. Anyone in the writing business has. I had a well-known agent that I was dying to work with request the full manuscript and then say that it needed more romance up-front and it's hard to sell science fiction in the YA market--rejection. Finally, a wonderful agent read it and picked me up, and then the sit-and-wait started. I got fed up with the whole publishing process and decided to self-publish, which is why this rejection hurt so much.

I wasn't excited at first about going with this publisher. I had just started the ball rolling to self-publish so why should I hand over a percentage of the profits? But they would take care of formatting, help with advertising, and handle much of the distribution. Okay, it might be worth it IF they could give me a good book cover. And then THEY rejected ME! Yeah, it hurt.

And then we move on.

I still have an incredible editor lined up, an amazing artist, and though I'd like to crack my skull against a wall, I'm figuring out how to do a Kickstarter project.  Many people have said they want to see Noble Ark published, to have a copy in their hands and know that the sequels will be coming. Kickstarter will be the test.  I hope it will succeed because hope is the one thing I can't give up. If those hopes are dashed, I'll pick up the pieces and continue to move forward. From this point on, fans and friends, we fail or succeed together.