Can you judge a book from a blog?

Last week I wandered around Borders with a 30% off coupon burning my hands, but I couldn't find ANYTHING I wanted to buy. Of course, I had just purchased a pile of books at the Midwest Lit Fest (yes, as soon as I'm completely unpacked I will list them) so my 'to read' pile is towering. But still... 30%... what a wasted opportunity.

Today I received a 15% off coupon from B&N in my e-mail. Since my membership discount expires at the end of the month I decided to take the plunge and buy something with the two discounts. I went with books by two authors whose blogs I enjoy reading:
Diana Peterfreund, author of Secret Society Girl
Tess Gerritsen, author of The Mephisto Club and many other books including Vanish (the one I bought)

I hope I enjoy the books as much as or more than the blogs. Has anyone else bought books because you like a blog or are you all (all 3 of you) waiting for my book ? ;)

Make Sure it's Flawless

That is some of the advice on a Do's and Dont's tip sheet from the conference about sending your work to an agent. While I appreciate the advice, it's been paralyzing me, because while flawless is an admirable goal, it's also impossible.

I can' think of a single book I've ever read that was absolutely flawless, can you? Every author (and human) has strengths and weaknesses. If the strengths are used to great advantage and the weaknesses minimized, then the book works. I will minimize the flaws in my manuscript and then find someone who appreciates my strengths and can help accentuate them to get my book published.

Send Me a Few Chapters

That's exactly what you want to hear when you pitch your idea to an agent at a conference, and it's what I did hear. Yay me. Now I need to take the plunge, quit playing with it and send the first few chapters in. This is not a done deal, but a necessary step in the process. I hope at the very least I get some feedback.

I am revising revising REVISING. I didn't make any major changes - no characters or subplots eliminated, but I am tightening everything up.

The conference went well. I learned a few more interesting tidbits, but not as much as I did last year. Why not? Because I've already learned quite a bit about how this whole process works. I was relatively new when I went last year, and going again showed me just how far I've come. If you had told me last year that I'd be back in a year with a completed manuscript that I would successfully pitch to an agent I would have laughed, but here I am. Excellent. Where will I be next year?

Remind me to post the list of books I bought. I ended up spending more on books than on the conference itself... One of the new authors (Tasa Alexander) was compared to Elizabeth Peters, so I can't wait to try her book.

Read two books in two days!

I'm en route to the Midwest Lit Festival. I have a pile of TBR books with me, but I left my pile aside to stop and read two of Dorse's while I'm here: 12 Sharp - Janet Evanovich and Size 12 is Not Fat - Meg Cabot.

I enjoyed both! I enjoyed just sitting back and reading, but 12 Sharp was much better than the last 3 Plum stories in my opinion. I was ready to ditch the series, but Dorse got me to read it by telling me it was all about Ranger. I heart Ranger.

Size 12 is Not Fat was a fun, easy read. I can't say it's a must-read, but it worked. In my opinion, size 12 is sometimes not fat, but sometimes it is - depends how tall you are. On me it's a little bit too chubby. Maybe the book title guilted me into going running, or maybe the fact that I'm already signed up for a 10K race in early October did it, but I ran for 54 minutes today. No slow slog jog, either. Hard intervals. Freaking exhausting.

Recovery required a trip to the Clinique counter for two $13 eye pencils - I know, I know it's ridiculous, particularly when I have an alternate source of $2 pencils, but my source doesn't have taupe. AND I wanted the free gift. I know, I know, it's cheap marketing ploy, but every makeup bag I've ever owned has been part of a free gift with purchase. I'm a sucker for those things. Did I mention I also impulsively bought their eye makeup remover? The Clinique woman rubbed it on my hand to remove all the test taupe lines, and it felt so amazing I had to have it. My current EM remover burns like hellfire if I get it in my eyes, which I often do.

Wow - long ramble.

Speaking of rambling... what is November? To E. it's hunting season - yuk. He'll be off with 'the boys' for most of the month, which leaves me free to sew new tablcloths (HA) or... commit to NaNoWriMO - I think I'll do it. Last year I was already in the middle of my since-abandoned stalker books, but this year I think I'll be ready to start book #2, and what better way than NaNoWriMo? Who is with me?

BTW - please do not read into this that I would not be able to do NaNoWriMo If E were around. I could, but I would feel bad because I would be stumbling around in slacker pants dribbling coffee on myself mumbling about characters and plot, and he would be building a boat out of scrap metal, with no stimulants or pshychotic episodes.

Booked!

I booked myself for the next 2 weeks to focus on my book, including attending the Midwest Literary Festival. I JUST sent my last outstanding freelance assignemnt and can finally get my head back in my chick lit world :)

Interesting piece from CNN on the current state of romance and chick lit.
be sure to click on the video links - I thought those were the most interesting parts.

Does anyone out there read romance? I went through a Danielle Steele phase in the '80s but otherwise never really liked it. Has the genre changed? If I like chick lit, would I like modern romance? Any recommendations?

Back to the Grind

Ok, so my life isn't exactly a grind, and my summer was anything but lazy, but stilll - something about back-to-school time makes me feel like I better shine my shoes and get my A game in gear.

Speaking of shoes, I have a HUGE painful blister from wearing grown-up shoes to 'the office' yesterday. ow ow ow. I'm sooo much happier to be at my home office in bare feet, although I wish the maid would wash the floors.

As I said, yesterday I had to go to a 'real' office which meant driving in traffic and dressing for success. Today I am working from home. I have WAY more than 8 hours of work to do, but still I woke up feeling energized and ready to go. I definitely have some kind of mental block against working away from home. I do have a pretty cushy setup here - corner office with a view. : )

Book status: I've heard back from 2 of 5 readers. I gave one a little slack until next week (she's related to me and back to school time is crazy busy for her). Another received it late, but I'm hoping she finishes soon. The other.... I'd like to hear from.... it's ok if you have negative comments - I got several already and I plan to use them to improve the next draft so please don't be shy. If you haven't had time just let me know - I understand.


Better get cracking on paid work. My boss doesn't appreciate slackitude and she's got her eye on a new fall suit from Mexx.

My summer vacation

Four days and three nights of kayaking down the St. Maurice River.
No, there were no bear attacks and E did not have to tow me, and we did not stay alive by eating minnows and Pop-Tarts. See the whole story here.

Unplugged

Leaving tomorrow on vacation - yahooo! E and I are going kayaking down the St Maurice river. As in: loading sleeping bags, tents, deydrated food, two rolls of toilet paper, two water purification systems, and one chick lit book :) into the kayaks and paddling our selves down the river (with the current) we'll stop, put up the tent and camp along the way. No showers - camp suds in the water, no 'facilities' - there's a shovel for covering up 'business'. I'm looking forward to total relaxation. E says our schedule is for 5 hrs of paddling per day. If you figure 8 hours on the water, that leaves 3 hours for a long lunch break and lots of little photo ops and slowdowns.

Here's my reaction to the 'you're crazy!' reactions: I think it's crazy to pack everything from your living room into your car and trailer, go park it in some ramshackle campground full of people and then 'camp' next to your car-ful of crap. To me, camping is carrying the essentials (yes - a chick lit book is essential) somewhere remote (no people around). I DO enjoy a vacation of lesiure, but that would be an all-inclusive resort.

My reaction to the 'do you know how to kayak?' reaction: not really. I guess I'm about to learn the hard way. I've been out a few times for a few hours each time. Having the boats loaded down with stuff makes them more stable, and each time we go out it gets a little easier, so I'm hoping the trip goes well. Worst case, we have a tow-rope....

: )

Feedback

I asked my readers for feedback after Labor Day. My first one just called to tell me she finished over breakfast this morning. She said she read it every chance she got and it helped her relax in the bathroom. Not sure I'll put that on the cover blurbs.

I don't want to share her feedback because I don't want to influence other readers, but I will say she found some mistakes - wrong names used, etc. and had some specific "complaints" - too slow here, too much detail there, but overall she *liked it*.

The demons are telling me that she's only saying that because she knows me and doesn't want to hurt my feelings, but my inner Buffy is saying that she could have given me much more negative feedback in a *nice way* so the book just might not be half bad...

Anxiety

Just send my 2nd draft to a group of readers. My not-so-secret fear is that they will read it and think "Oh my God, this is awful. Poor her - she'll never publish anything."

Ok, so what if it's true? What if this book stinks. bad. real bad...
The next one will be better. right?

ugh.

lots o' freelance work. office a mess. not getting enough downtime. cannot keep up with E. 2nd night in a row I insisted on Karen time. I don't even want to know what he's doing because it will go something like this:
E: "So, how was your evening? Get a lot done?"
Me: "Yes - I read a chapter of Villette, polished my toenails and updated my blog. You?"
E: "I replaced the engine in my car, re-painted a wall in the living room, fixed the loose hinge on the dishwasher, took out the garbage and ran 15K."

Grrr. freakin' e. He doesn't lord it over me or anything, but there is just no keeping up with him. grrr. I'm going to start adding "and I thought over some tricky plot points" to all my time-accounting answers. He knows it's code for did nothing, but at least it sounds good.

Help pls!

I need another name like the 'Geek Squad' - you know those guys at Best Buy who will fix your computer even if it means plugging it in or hitting the Any key.

I want to use a Geek Squad in my book but I need my own name.

All I can come up with is 'Reboot Rangers' which sux.

Pls brainstrom anything - bad ideas pave the way to good ideas (at least I hope so or my book is doomed).

Thanks in advance

And yes, this means I am making progress....

The Karen character needs to change already

She still just sits at her computer writing a little, then not writing, then scribbling on post-its, coming up with complicated plot-fixing organizational systems that just mess up her office more. I'm getting really annoyed with her. She better just fix the freaking ending of her book already and get on with it.

Searching For a Safe Haven

Nothing, NOTHING is booked for this weekend. AAAhhhh I might actually get to read and relax. E is having a thermal pump installed. He claims that I'll be able to hide out in my office and ignore the process, but I'm concerned that I will feel guilty being surrounded by all the activity while I loll around reading OR, WORSE that I'll be sent to Rona for 3/8" hydrolining retrofitting compression connectors, and then come back with the coated ones instead of the uncoated ones. I want to help, but... maye I'll go see if the local library has comfortable chairs. Run away!!!! Bad Karen.

Manilow on My Mind

I woke up with the song "I Write the Songs" playing in my head and I can't get rid of it. Mental breakdown? Possibly...

Remember the Energizer bunny all happy with his sunglasses and drum, and how sad it is when he runs out of energy and falls over? That's E - he was face down, passed out completely asleep when I got home from the movies last night at 9:45 pm. I couldn't believe it - he's normally going and going and going - Ohmigod - he stopped!!!

I am feeling better and better each day - recovering from those two Navy Seal boot camp weekends. I also got another call from someone looking for some marketing freelance writing. I can't tell you how happy that makes me, particularly because it's for the kind of work I like doing : )

And although I haven't technically 'written' any bits of my book, I've been thinking through some rough spots. Soon it will spill onto paper.

Office cleanup status: messy. Papers from three jobs spread all over mixed with various bills, post-its and hot pink page flags. I bought more oganizers yesterday, but they don't seem to be magically doing the trick. I might have to break down and sort through this crap soon.

The Fog has Lifted

I'm back BACK the fog has lifted
The earth has shifted
and raised the gifted

name that tune...

I am an official PADI-Certified Open Water Scuba Diver. I spent last Saturday and Sunday refining my skills in the murky depths of some unknown lake by St Zotique Quebec. Apparently divers certifed here have it relatively easy everywhere else because the conditions around here are so bad. I believe it.

I am still having problems clearing my mask. I think I might need to drop some coin on a prescription mask. I can swim with my contacts and goggles, but underwater it takes longer to re-adjust your mask, and keeping my eyes squeezed shut while underwater is just a bit too much - it makes me a little too anxious and my beathing gets ragged. I think if I could keep my eyes open while clearing my mask it might go better. E and I are going to try a few adjustments in a friend's pool soon. I'm also a stinky snorkeler. We're going to work on that this weekend (weather permitting) at the cottage : )

I have a more manageable level of freelance work this week which might actually allow me to - - dare I suggest it? --- work on my book!!! I have an appointment to check in with L this Sunday, so progress must be made or else.

Easily Distracted

My peaceful, quiet home office that I have been SOOO looking forward to using this week has been completely disrupted by project new driveway across the street. The amount of trucks, crew, and construction equipment is almost equal to the water pipe project on the nearby road.

For whatever reason, I am completely fascinated by the process. I keep watching as each piece of equipment or truck does its part. E wants me to go over there with lemonade to try to get them to dump dirt in our driveway. I am too intimidated by the whole operation to even consider it.

Must try to focus... must finish work and send out some invoices... oh yeah, then there's that novel sitting in a binder gathering dust....

Coming up for air

I spent the weekend underwater - literally. I took the 'confined water' aka pool portion of a scuba certification class. The schedule was pretty intense: Friday 6:30 - 11:30 PM, Sat 7:45 AM - 12 noon, 7 PM - 11 PM, then Sunday 4 PM - 11:30 PM.
The time was aboout 1/2 classroom, 1/2 pool.

The first night the pool visibility was bad and I was bordering on panic most of the time even though we stayed in the shallow end on our knees for most of it, so you could see the surface right above you. The panic was completely unfounded - there was nothing wrong, it was just little voices saying 'go up, go up - you don't want to do this' HEY - I recognize those guys - slightly altered versions of the you can't write a book demons. I know better than to listen to them, but they show up at the WORST possible times...

Saturday went MUCH better even though by Saturday night I was coming unglued just from being so tired. I have always been good in a classroom situation and I am not incredibly patient with people who are slower so I was getting really antsy before we got in the pool. In the pool, the tables turned so to speak - I was one of the slowest ones to catch on. It almost always took me at leat two tries to be able to do the skills, and sometimes I needed serious additional explanation. This is normal for me with anything physical - it does not come naturally or easily. I always have to work harder than other people who might not be as book smart or even in as good condition physically. It's just the way it is - I don't like being at the back of the class, but my only other option is to not get to do any of these things.

Sunday I aced the final exam, but was still wrestling with my inability to clear my snorkel and mask. I made it through the pool part, but still need to work on some skills before I feel confident.

There was a 10-yr old kid in my class, and while he struggled a bit in the classroom, he was incredibly at ease in the water. It was impressive and humbling at the same time.

re: sharks. I was more afraid of them before I went to the class than after. Sharks are not aggressive. For the most part they are shy and will swim right by you, which is actually really cool if you think about it. They bite from below, so if you see one that seems interested in you, you can swim away along the bottom and be safe. Driving to the class on the highway under construction in the rain was much more dangerous than diving.

Next weekend we head out to the open water. It's supposed to be easier in many ways than being in the pool, except you need to deal with cold and current. I am looking forward to it because there should at least be something to see besides clumps of hair floating in the pool - yuk.

When E took scuba classes over 20 years ago, you had to take apart and dump your gear on the bottom of the pool, surface, take a breath, swim down and reconnect it all and put it back on underwater. We didn't have to do anything like that. Either the equipment is more reliable, or the odds of ever having to do that are so slim, it just doesn't make sense to freak people out by teaching it.

Today I am really sore and tired, but looking forward to next weekend : )

Overextended

As if doing truckloads of freelance work wasn't enough, I signed up for an intensive scuba certification course this weekend. All scuba, all weekend. AND I get to read the entire scuba book before I get there.

What makes you bouyant? Why does a wetsuit have to be so freaking tight? What's the most important thing to remember so your head doesn't explode? Breathe. Trying to just focus on that one for now.

stop. relax. breathe.

In other news, we had visitors last weekend - my aunts and uncle from Boston. I was of course a maniac. I put rhubarb bars in the oven then sat down on the porch with the door closed, chit-chatting and sipping Sangria until Sgt. Yahoo showed up and said "Hey, Karen - is there supposed to be smoke coming out of the oven?"
They didn't burn - they were ok, in fact pretty freaking tasty. Amazing what 1/2 lb of butter and a few cups of sugar can do to a fibrous weed growing in the yard.

Luckily E handled the rest of the cooking - delicious bbq. We also made it downtown for the last day of the jazzfest and went for a walk along the boardwalk in Ste-Anne. That's the good thing about having people visit - it forces you to re-appreciate your city. We would have completely missed the jazzfest otherwise.

The visit was quick but fun. Now I'm back to work, studying scuba and swimming twice per week.

How is the book going? Hello! Did you read the above? I've completely overscheduled myself and the book is once again on the back burner. I know, I'm an assclown.

I'm #1!

I actually finished 1st in the Women's Duathlon in the Great Race at St. Albans Bay VT last weekend. Not sure if that's a smile or a grimace in the photo. Jumping on your bike after running doesn't feel fantastic, so I'm leaning toward grimace.

See official results here.

If you search triathlon teams/men's kayak over 40 you'll find e. on team sparky - ranked 3rd.

I am the champion.... I am the champion....

Before we all get too excited, let's look at my actual times:
Run 5K 29:49.5
Bike 20K 51:36.0

That's ummmm... slow... but not as slow as sitting on the couch, so there you go.

My reward?


Delicious. And, yes.... I ate the WHOLE THING!

: )

Meeting my Financial Advisor

E: "Why do you look so cranky and worried?"
Me: "I have no idea what I'm doing with invoicing/taxes, etc. and it's freaking me out."
E: "I know a good financial planner you can talk to"
Me: "I don't have any money - he won't want to talk to me."
E:"Yes, he will - that's what he does"

I always thought financial planners were for people who had millions of dollars to put 'somewhere' but just weren't sure where. This guy was a strategist - tell him where you are, what you're doing, where you want to be and he'll help you come up with a plan to get there.

Me: "I'm broke and working all the time and not getting my book done. I'd like to be not broke, not working all the time, finished with my first book and working on the second."

I have 3 initial things to do:
a) schedule my time and stick to the schedule. no more agreeing to last-minute rush jobs that require me to write all day. ridiculous.
b) clean my office. It's causing me undue stress.
c) network.

Parts a and b yes, I probably could have figured out for myself. It was part c that I was thinking of in the wrong way. I still need to mull over this networking stuff, but it's starting to make more sense.

So here I am, cleaning my office. Or blogging...