Monday, September 29, 2008

Relationships are a mystery to me, too

So I went to the mall last weekend to get the latest Cindy Gerard [got it, read it, loved it]. As I am wont to do I looked to see if the store carried my book. They didn’t. In fact, this is a conversation I had with one of the clerks:

Me: I couldn’t help noticing that you don’t have a Gay/Lesbian Fiction section, do you?

Clerk: No. But those kinds of books are in with Relationships.

Me: Really? Even the mysteries?

Clerk: [blank look]

She was so completely baffled that I didn’t press the issue. Poor woman. I think I might have done something irreversible to her view of the literary world. Gay and lesbian mysteries? Who would have thought?

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Ready, set, go

I’m back at work on THE STALKER.

I started last night by reading over the few chapters and scenes I have already. I like what I have—it’s a first draft, of course, so it’s not perfect, but I’m just so very glad that this story is finally coming together for me. I’ve been working on it forever. I worked on it long before I started writing on it. And I gave up writing it twice. Some of you know, because you’ve read both those drafts … :-)

Good things come in threes, right?

Make sure to drop me an e-mail/comment if you’d like to be in my group of beta readers. I love beta readers. I like comments and feedback during that first round of writing. Sometimes I’m not sure of something and readers just love it and sometimes I’m pretty sure I did something well and readers hate it. I’d much rather rewrite and rethink in the beginning stages, trust me.

I’m not just back at work on THE STALKER, I’m also back at work in real life. I started working a regular, full-time job in education last month. This does two things to/for my writing: 1) severely limits my writing time and 2) focuses my efforts to get the most out of that limited time.

These are the same conditions I wrote THE PROTECTOR under, so I’m not worried. It seems I actually get more done having less time on my hands.

There’s plenty to do:

  • Write at least one chapter of THE STALKER a week
  • Overhaul my website or find someone to do it for me (I’m having issues with my site provider and the technical aspect of the website, ugh)
  • Feed family, cats, fish, and lizard regularly
  • Watch at least some of the new shows on TV
  • Read each of the new Cindy Gerard books coming before Christmas
  • Keep up with web groups and return e-mails in a timely fashion