29 February, 2012

Where I am, and what I'm doin'

I promised to post awhile back, and I haven't (bad tambo!) but I scrounged some free time tonight and thought I'd better grab the opportunity to post.

M has not yet sold, and it's been bouncing around New York for almost a whole year now (it'll be a year in mid March). While it's gathered a lot of positive comments, no one has yet wanted to take a chance on my quirky little thriller.  To be honest, I completely understand, to a point. I know that the publishing marketplace is changing rapidly, traditional publishers are skittish, and since I write genre-straddling books, they're a hard fit into the normal slots, let alone guessing how well they'll sell. I totally get it, I do, it's just disheartening at times because M really is a fun little book (I only say "little" because it's short, for me at least, at a hair over 90k words - Ghosts, the shortest of my published novels, was 143k, in comparison) and I personally think it's pretty awesome, but what do I know? I'm just the author. ;) Anyway, I'm confident that if I'd written it five years ago it would have been quickly snatched up and sent into production, but the market is what the market is.

I'm still hopeful that it'll find a decent home, but I'm less confident than I was.

Before I get buckets of emails and posts about self-publishing it as an ebook, I just want to say that, at this point at least, I'm simply not interested in that. I know a lot of writers are making great money that way, and that lots of stories are getting read that wouldn't have otherwise, but I'm still interested in traditional publishing for this particular project at least. When I finish and polish Stain of Corruption (the 4th Dubric novel) it will most likely be self-published, so it's not that I'm against self publishing, I just want M to be in bookstores and, frankly, in Target. That's the goal, to be on the shelf in Target, and I can't get it there by self publishing it.

My agent still believes in it, and it's still being shopped around, so I guess we'll see. If all traditional publishing options become exhausted, I'll reassess.

I spent most of January reading current fiction, a variety of books ranging from Girl with a Dragon Tattoo to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (two books that could not be more dissimilar, tbh), in an attempt to try to understand what's popular with today's readers. A friend told me that I'm trying to follow the bestsellers, follow the trends, and I don't think that's true. There were quite a lot of aspects of the books that I REALLY did not like as a reader or writer. At all. And, frankly, if those things are what it takes to sell in today's market, then I simply won't be able to sell. I'm not going to write a main character that I personally want to stuff into a trunk and leave there until they get some compassion sense. Or die. Either would work for me. I cannot and will not write main characters whose primary defining characteristics seem to be stupidity, sluttiness, or doing obviously wrong things because appearances must be kept up. I found many of the main characters (but not so many of the secondary characters) in the books to be off-putting if not outright loathsome. While I mostly hate Dubric because he can be a manipulative ass, he's not as bad as some of the shitty people I read about in January.

So. I read current popular fiction. A lot. And, tbh, the only book I actually liked was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I did not expect to like it at all, and the narrative structure being all letters and telegrams took a little getting used to, but at least it's a good book (go read it). The others in my stack, not so much. One, I outright hated.

But I'm a fickle reader, and likely a fickle writer because I've spent February poring over my notes from my January reads, trying, struggling to find common threads. What's making these books sell? Surely not skeevy/idiotic/asshat main characters and trite plots. There must be something in there. Something.

Actually, I found a few somethings. I did. Even in the book I despised. Once I wheedled out those few somethings, I've spent the last couple of weeks - since about the time I stopped posting the photo challenge, tbh - trying to come up with story concepts that meet the criteria I'd found.

I have to be honest and admit I'm not having a great deal of luck. Intentionally conceptualizing a novel does not come easy for me, my stuff tends to be an idea landing in my head with a WHAM!!! Omg, I have to write about THAT!! more than a series of structured planning sessions. It's one of the perils of being a rather organic writer, I guess. Too much planning locks me up and I find it miserable work.

I'm sure that worries about Bill's job aren't helping, or my mother breaking her shoulder, or my middle-aged hormones being out of whack, or every other thing happening in my perpetually wackydoodle life, but I have five ideas. I'm not thrilled about any of them, but at least the main characters aren't bed-hopping asshole idiots and - hopefully - the ups and downs of the plots aren't obvious by page three.

So that's where I am with the writing, at least the writing yet to come. I worked a little on Stain mid month (Kia is so screwed, yay!!) and I sewed at a quilt retreat last weekend (also, yay!!). Been trying (and mostly failing) to diet and exercise, and I have a cold.

But I'm here, I'm okay, and I should have some decent concepts to send to my agent next week.

16 February, 2012

Dropping the photo challenge for now

Hey, everyone.

I am having an incredibly difficult time with this challenge, not because I don't want to post anything, but because I'm pretty much stuck at home and am dealing with a whole new pile of life stresses and challenges that were totally unexpected. It's just too dang difficult for me to not only find time to take photographs (with the limiting factor that they pretty much have to be here at home) but I have to process, size, crop, save, upload (yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm whining, it's not like those things are difficult, right?) all while dealing with, well, freaking insanity around here.

The photos are just One. More. Thing. in an already overloaded schedule, so I'm stepping aside, for now at least. Maybe things here will settle down a little. Maybe.

I'm all right, really, all of us are, my stress plate is simply overflowing. I will make time this weekend (when Bill and Laura are home to take up some of the slack) to search for a word-based challenge meme, because those are a lot easier for me, and I can sneak out three-minute windows to work on those. Writing is easy. Composing photographs is a lot harder.

Thank you all for sticking with me. I'll post a longer post either today or tomorrow.

14 February, 2012

February Challenge - Day 14

I hope you're following along with Jean this month. My whole list of this month's topics is here.

Today it's all about the eyes.



Peanut's.

12 February, 2012

February Challenge - Day 12

I hope you're following along with Jean this month. My whole list of this month's topics is here.

I'm supposed to include a sunset picture today, but I have to admit that it's been really tough for me to remember to go out and shoot one when I'm busy cooking supper. Crazy, isn't it, not remembering to take a photo while in the midst of several simmering pots, something in the oven, getting dishes out, blah blah blah.

Anyway, my friend Jean was nice enough to allow me to borrow one of hers. And here it is, much prettier than I could have taken.

Picture borrowed from Jean Schara's FB page. Used by permission. :)

Thanks, Jean!

11 February, 2012

February Challenge - Day 11

I hope you're following along with Jean this month. My whole list of this month's topics is here.


Sorry I'm late. It's been a busy day. Had to go to Des Moines to talk with a writer friend, and drop Laura off at a party, and visit my mom (who'd recently broken her arm) and so forth and so on and, well, it's almost 9pm and I haven't written anything yet today, or posted on the blog. But here I am, with something blue!

In the C.E. Murphy collection, Ireland
All batik
I made this quilt several years ago (2006, maybe?) for my friend Catie Murphy. I think it's luscious.

10 February, 2012

February Challenge - Day 10

I hope you're following along with Jean this month (and maybe Monica - c'mon, Monica!!  ;) ), and my whole list of this month's topics is here.

This entry is about a childhood memory.

There were three of us kids in my family (and, yes, that's how we said it 'three of us kids') Oldest to youngest, it's me, my brother David, and our sister Kelly. We lived next door to our great grandmother and we were over there a LOT. Like almost constantly.

We also had three cousins (Joe,  Jack, and Jim), all brothers who were roughly the same ages as us three, and they, too, would often visit Grandma. Her yard was huge, about an acre, and she had lots of flower beds and fruit trees. We'd eat buckets of mulberries over the course of a summer and, many, many times, we'd have crab apple fights.

Photo from CabbageTreeFarm
Joe and Dave usually were on one team, Jack and me on the other, and the little kids (Kelly and Jimmy), if we let them get involved (or, more accurately, if Grandma didn't make them stay in the house and out of firing range), mostly had to run out into the battle zone and gather more apples to refil our firing buckets.

Hey, I never said we were nice. ;)

Anyway, there we'd be, ducked behind the banks of peony bushes, pelting the living shit out of each other with nearly-as-hard-as-rocks crab apples.

:) Painful, but really fun.

09 February, 2012

February Challenge - Day 9

I hope you're following along with Jean this month (and maybe Monica - c'mon, Monica!!  ;) ), and my whole list of this month's topics is here.


Today's assignment is someone to love.


I've already shown pics of Bill and Laura, so here's someone completely different, but in an amazing way.


My sister. Kelly




Kelly is seven years younger than me, but about 30 years wiser. She's funny and generous and a lot tougher than I've ever been. She's one of my most favorite people on the planet and I love her so, so much. She is the BEST!!  

08 February, 2012

February Challenge - Day 8

I hope you're following along with Jean this month (and maybe Monica - c'mon, Monica!!  ;) ), and my whole list of this month's topics is here.


Oh, bad habits. I have so many.


One, though, I can take a photograph of without getting in too much trouble, even though it's gross.
They're actually not too disgusting today.
I chew my fingernails.


Been doing it as long as I can remember, and my mother and grandmother tried everything to make me stop. Threats. Bribes. Humiliation. Fingernail polish (which I still will methodically peel off with my teeth within 24 hours of applying it, so I almost never wear any). Even nasty tasting concoctions that supposedly make kids quit. Yep, it tasted awful, but I chewed anyway.


I blame it on life-stress, especially as a kid (and, oh, those life-long habits are so woven in and hard to break), but one of the worst places for me to be alone with my fingertips is a movie theater. I cannot sit through a film without chewing at least one finger (usually more) totally raw. Have no idea why, but the lights go down, previews come up, and my fingers go in my mouth. Gnaw, gnaw, gnaw.


Sorry to be so disgusting. {{hugs}}

07 February, 2012

February Challenge - Day 7

I hope you're following along with Jean this month (and maybe Monica - c'mon, Monica!!  ;) ), and my whole list of this month's topics is here.Fruit, today.

Bananas are just about the only fruit that I actually like and I almost always have some on the back counter.

I like avocados too. Sometimes. And clementines.
Fruit, fruit, fruity fruit.
Notice there are no raspberries. I cannot STAND raspberries. Blurgh.
But mostly I like bananas. ;)

06 February, 2012

February Challenge - Day 6

I hope you're following along with Jean this month (and maybe Monica - c'mon, Monica!!  ;) ), and my whole list of this month's topics is here.


Today's assignment is a picture taken from a low angle.


I am making an assumption that it's supposed to be from below the subject and while I have a couple of cute ones of Peanut investigating why I'm holding the camera beneath her chair, I decided to go with Abbie instead, since she gets so little blog time.


Abbie at the front door
wondering what the heck I'm doing with the camera. 
Abbie is about thirteen/fourteen years old. She's definitely Bill's cat and is in amazing health and spunk for being an older lady.

05 February, 2012

February Challenge - Day 5

I hope you're following along with Jean this month (and maybe Monica), and my whole list of this month's topics is here.
Today's assignment is a picture taken from a high angle.
It's Cooper. Double boxed. 
Cooper. In a box, in a box. 
:) Our cats rock. :)

04 February, 2012

February Challenge - Day 4

I hope you're following along with Jean this month (and maybe Monica), and my whole list of this month's topics is here.


Today it's all about being green!


I have green things everywhere. I have a green mixing bowl. My coupon organizer is green. The rug under my desk is green. My swiffer mop. Abbie's eyes. Broccoli. (mmmm. Broccoli!!)


But, as I was cutting fabric today for my next big quilt, I thought, hmm... This is green!
Ain't it purty?
It's one fabric of the 152 - so far - that I've collected and cut to go into a bed sized quilt. I might add more, maybe. Not sure. I'll have to see how it looks first. If it needs more, I'll add more. But 152 fabrics sounds pretty good to me. Even if some are green. ;)

03 February, 2012

February Challenge - Day 3

I hope you're following along with Jean this month (and maybe Monica), and my whole list of this month's topics is here.


Clouds, clouds, everywhere are clouds.


The past couple of days have had crystal clear skies. Today (Thursday) there's a snowstorm moving in and we have nothing but clouds. Everywhere. But, this afternoon, I saw a line of clear sky between cloud banks, so I shot it.
View from my front porch, noonish February 2nd.
Neighbor's house cut  to protect the innocent, and everyone's privacy. ;)
Wish it was a more exciting picture, but we'll go with what we have.  :)

02 February, 2012

February Challenge - Day 2

I hope you're following along with Jean this month (and maybe Monica), and my whole list of this month's topics is here.


So, what did I wear today? Or, rather, what did I wear today that I was willing to photograph?


A matching (well, almost) scrunchie!


They're not *quite* the same red,
but it's as close to matching as I'm gonna get. ;)
Since I tend to wear my hair in a ponytail, I keep a little basket of scrunchies on my desk. There used to be lots and lots of colors since my mother would buy me a rainbow pack almost every Christmas. She has neglected to  fulfill her scrunchie duties for a couple of years and my stash has somehow whittled down to gray, green, red, and a weird purple. Plus I have a yellow one. Somewhere. Oh, yeah, it's in my purse! lol  Anyway, since I don't like gray or green, I rarely wear those unless I've left the red or purple one someplace else. Today, though, I wore a red shirt and, lo and behold, the red scrunchie was in the basket like it's supposed to be so I am mostly coordinated for a change!


Pretty exciting life I lead, I tell ya. ;)

01 February, 2012

February Challenge - Day 1

I hope you're following along with Jean this month (and maybe Monica), and my whole list of this month's topics is here.

February starts and stops with a self portrait.

I took this picture yesterday, at my desk. After deciding I didn't like my double chin in the first handful of pics I took, I leaned back in my chair and shot the photo downward. It's amazing how much younger I look - certainly not almost 48. ;)

Yep, my eyes really are that color.

Shit. I could pass for thirty. ;) And no one can tell I only managed about 5 hours of sleep each of the past three or four nights. lol