En route to DC

Signed up for the BIG conference, described as 'exciting, motivating, and overwhelming.'

I can't wait. I'll get to meet a lot of people I know from online groups, learn from the pros in workshops, schmooze with agents, editors, and authors, and get piles of free books.

I am trying to control myself and not go berserk touring the DC area, even though it's tempting. Must have down time.

Looks like some cousin visits and even a zoo trip are coming together - nice!

Karen = revolutionary? Viva la revolution!

I seem to have knack for doing this... I jump into a new industry just as a revolution is taking place.

I did it with desktop publishing - I was one of the writers for [company's] first digitally produced (not typeset)catalog

Again with online help and then creating 1st generation websites - managing content and helping clients envision what their website could be - no, NOO - not a dumping ground for all your brochure text...

Here I am again: e-publishing.

I jumped into novel writing thinking strictly in terms of traditional print, with the only question being hardcover or paperback. Once again a revolution has broken out. E-publishing is here and no one knows what form it will ultimately take.

Am I somehow attracted to rapid change, or am I Forrest Gump, stumbling along and coincidentally getting caught up in these events?

Either way, I am thrilled to be here. Even better, I will be in the thick of things next week.

Kat of Quartet Press has summed up exactly my feelings about next week's RWA Conference (there's a whole big thing going on about RWA not embracing e-pubs, but I won't get into that here..)

In Kat's words:

"Mostly though, I’m thinking about RWA. I have attended plenty of conferences in my lifetime: [...] But RWA – this is the first time a conference has me feeling like I’m headed to my first school dance.

I’m excited, and nervous, and worrying way too much about what to wear. [KS note: I spent my lunch hour yesterday selecting the right shade of nail polish!]

I am looking forward to meeting all the authors, and publishers, and agents, and I can’t wait to attend some of the sessions. But, what really brought it all home to me was today’s announcement of the Rogue Digital Conference/ session. Taking place on Thursday, July 16 at 8:30 am in “The Harding Room,” this event is co-sponsored by Quartet Press, Books on Board, Red Sage Publishing, Samhain Publishing, and Smart Bitches.

This is cool stuff. There are a lot of wonderful people in romance publishing. People who are doing some very groundbreaking, collaborative and forward thinking things, and I get to hang out with them in DC next week."

: )

Who knew I was such a rabble-rouser? "Rogue" conference? I'm there. Can't wait!!

Living in the Land of No Excuses

Last night I got grumbly. My computer stopped working last week after several power outages, and my tech support guy (aka E) advised me to take the opportunity to upgrade with a new system and dedicated UPS, so upgrade I did. However, setting up the new system is taking a little while, and in the mean time, I've had no access to my NovelWriter software or my printers. boo hoo.



Jane Austen managed to pen a few classics without Microsoft. Why can't I whip out my quill pen and get on with it? I've been identifying plot holes and tightening the Action/Reaction scene objectives in my Marshall Plan, but not having a computer was becoming a handy excuse to not get a whole lot done.

After I whined about not making good progress because of my lack of computer last night, E slyly reset the alarm, got up freakishly early this morning and set up a laptop in my office with access to everything I need.



I swear, if I lost a leg and said I couldn't run he'd go build one for me and tell me to lace up my Reeboks.

Unbelievable.

So I have a computer. Now it's up to me to meet my productivity objectives.

NO EXCUSES.

What are you grumbling about, and putting off doing for some lame reason that could be fixed with a little E-like ingenuity? Do it.

NO EXCUSES.

E's tech support charge for all of this? one fresh batch of Nanaimo bars. I'm even going to make them with dark chocolate.

Summer Reading

Several of the blogs I follow have been talking about their reading lists, so I'm jumping in. My taste varies - my shelves are filled with a wide range of books.

Lately I've been enjoying YA, reading everything from John Green (favorite= Looking for Alaska), Laurie Halse Anderson (favorite = Speak, but Twisted a close second), recently finished and loved Out of Reach by VM Jones (a New Zealand author).

On my TBR pile are Generation Kill (because I loved the HBO series so much), The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Time Traveler's Wife and Practical Demonkeeping.

Konrath's e-book predictions make a lot of sense

Read JA Konrath's blog Should e-books be cheap?

He makes some excellent comparisons to the music industry and in my opinion he 'gets' piracy and how to avoid it.

If only I had a damn e-reader already...

So far, so good!

Mon 6/8: +1035 xcellent
Tues 6/9: +1054
Wed 6/10 +996
Thurs 6/11 0 - in my defense, this was the day E got back from Ecuador
Fri 6/12 +2162
Sat 6/13 - spent day kayaking, then downtown for dinner. All work and no play...
Sun 6/14 +564
Mon 6/15 +2098 xcellent!
Tues 6/16 +1387

That jumping potato man is a bit much, so I'm using a plain meter:

10596 / 50000

Remember, this is misleading because I'm not starting from 0, and when I delete words in revision I then have to overcompensate to come out in the +, but still, it's an excellent way to track progress. So far, so good : )

Up for a Challenge

Just got back from breakfast with my local writing group where as usual I got inspired and motivated. The trick is making that 'I can do it' attitude last...

While checking my favorite sites like inky girl's willwriteforchocolate I found out that inkygirl is promoting a 1000 words a day challenge.

I'm in!



This will also mean I'm going to have to post more often to check in... so that works with TrackRick's PoMoOftMo

:)

Nice! Inkygirl provides a bunch of fun links to use for progress meters. I like this one from Writertopia:



For the record, I'm not really at 0, and my book is longer than 50,000, but for the purposes of this exercise, I'm tracking from 0 to 50,000.