Monday Miscellany: Things I've Done Instead of Editing

Wow. I am just having a hell of a time editing. In fact, it's so bad that I've avoided looking at the story altogether for the last two days. Instead, I've been watching New Girl to get all caught up (I love Zooey Deschanel and am glad she's finally got a starring role, but I wasn't sure about the show... I was wrong, it's hilarious) and reading. I'm still working on Candlelight Sinner but I've finished Mockingjay (not as satisfying as I thought it would be, which I guess is kind of the point of the whole revolution) and The Haunted Vagina (gross and weird and I've totally found a new genre to explore).

Today, we took the kiddo to the Frankfurt Zoo. That place is so nice. It wasn't busy, so she could run around without me worrying. She loves monkeys. And birds. The thing that surprised me most was the number of baboons the zoo has. I counted 22 in one pen alone. They were all eating, which was just so fascinating to watch. This is the husband's last week of vacation (though we're looking at taking the kid to Disneyland Paris next month) so we're trying to do some fun things. Saarbrucken won't happen, but swimming and shopping probably will.

I have also purchased Tim Timebomb's new album and the first episode of Rock'N'Roll Theater. I'm waiting for my PayPal transaction to go through (I am so tired of using them) but as soon as it does, I will be in heaven. I love Tim Armstrong.

Monday Miscellany: Writing, Reading, Weather

I've finally figured out how to fix the last 3,500 words of One Good Cowboy, so editing is going much smoother now. Blah blah blah. You'll believe it when you see it, won't you? I don't blame you.

Dear readers, I have caved. Let me say first that I have nothing personally against books on the important bestseller lists, it's just that in my experience, they're not my kind of books. Except I've heard rumblings about The Hunger Games since it first came out and it has always sounded like my kind of thing. Then it got wildly popular and I shied away. The last two wildly popular books I tried to read made my brain hurt. Over the last few weeks, I've revisited the Wiki page and the reviews and I took the plunge. Whoo, boy, am I glad I did. I'm about a quarter of the way through it and I am engrossed. So if you're wary, don't be. It's a really good read.

You know what else is a good read in a totally different way? Candlelight Sinner. Yep, I'm still reading it. Tom and Celia are such normal characters. I mean this in the nicest way possible. It's vaguely voyeuristic, like watching your neighbor across the hall and her new boyfriend settle into their new, happy life. I'll have more thoughts in the proper review, I just wanted to plug it again.

The weather is so, so nice right now. The kiddo and I are getting out of the house for a couple of hours in the middle of the day just to enjoy the sunshine and fresh air and to touch trees. She's a little hippie, I don't know what else to tell you.

I am determined to get some blog posts up this week. I have a couple of pages of titles and subjects scribbled into a notebook and if I don't write them, I'm going to get way, way behind. Wish me luck? Please?

SitRep Saturday: Is It Really Saturday Already?

This morning, when my husband didn't go to work, I realized that it was Saturday. And so I also realized that the week had completely gotten away from me. Wow.

It wasn't an unproductive week. I'm within days of finishing One Good Cowboy, I did some preliminary research for a dystopian (zombie) story (I haven't decided if it's a novel or just a series of short stories or what), and I read a lot (still on Candlelight Sinner). But to be honest? I spent the majority of the week focusing on my house and my kiddo. The weather was kind of disgustingly beautiful so we spent a lot of time outside. This part of Germany is one of the most gorgeous places I've ever lived.

Monday Miscellany: Paragraphs, a Toddler, a Website, and Books

Paragraph by paragraph, I am editing One Good Cowboy. I still feel really good about it. I managed to do about 25% of it yesterday, but today has been something else entirely. Toddlers are moody little creatures. One day they want nothing to do with you and the next they're all up in your business insisting that you hold them while they sit on the couch and watch "Tangled" eleventy billion times. (I actually like the movie. It's really cute.) If it's not a movie, it's listening to Queen. (I was prepared to listen to, say, the Gummibear for six, seven hours at a time--I was not prepared to listen to "We Will Rock You" for six hours straight.) I can't and won't complain too much, though. She has the same cold I do. This thing sucks.

Recently, I discovered the tumblog UnFuck Your Habitat. It has been hugely helpful to me. The best thing about it is the way it's helping me change my mindset when it comes to housework, to be glad when I make any progress at all not only when I've finished a chore. Twenty minutes spent cleaning the kitchen (which I hate to do, seriously, I'd rather clean a toilet bare-handed) is still twenty minutes spent cleaning the kitchen, even if the kitchen doesn't sparkle like a Febreeze commercial.

As I mentioned, I managed to finish No Wings Attached, so look for a review of that, Supertech, and Morgan's Choice in the near future. I also have started Candlelight Sinner, so maybe I'll be done with that this week? We'll see. I should be back on the blogging bandwagon this week. Fingers crossed!

SitRep Saturday: Progress and Life

It was another crazy week. I got sick again (seriously, twice in one year--what the hell) and we had a ton of stuff to do for my husband's work (he reenlisted, he had a formal evening function to attend) and he was off for more than half the week, which means more family time. It was like the universe was conspiring against me. Or, you know, it was just one of those weeks where I had to play wife-and-mom instead of writer-and-blogger. These weeks happen.

As far as One Good Cowboy goes, I'm still struggling. I actually ended up converting the whole thing to html and spacing it out for web reading, doing a find-and-replace for words I knew I had overused, cutting the last 40% with the intention of re-working, and going through it paragraph by paragraph, ten minutes at a time. So far, the first 30% is much, much better and I'm feeling good about the rest of it.

I am going to finish this story. And it will be good.

Probably the best thing about the downtime this week was the fact that I got a lot of reading done. I finished No Wings Attached and started Candlelight Sinner and I read a Supernatural tie-in novel called Coyote's Kiss. I also read a short book on household tips, but I only mention that here because I want to offer this advice: if you're going to write a book of tips for hacking your home, please try to come up with new tips and don't rely on free Internet tidbits or things you read about on the back of the baking soda box.

I should also mention that I have about five blog posts in various stages of drafting. I kept meaning to get them finished and up last week, but you know how it goes. I have some email to check, too. I've been a terrible professional this week.

Monday Miscellany: What I'm Reading, the New Kindle, One Good Cowboy

I am currently working my way through Greta van der Rol's Morgan's Choice whenever I get a few free minutes to read. I already read Supertech (more on that in a minute) and I just have to say: Ms. van der Rol, where have you been all my life?! I read some great books last year and discovered some pretty great independent authors, but--and no offense to the others, this is purely a matter of personal taste--she's my favorite. I loved the Iron Admiral books. I'm loving the Morgan Selwood books. (OMG, Morgan! I love how feisty and smart she is!) If I finish this one before Starheart comes out, and I might, I'm so going to read To Die a Dry Death. I would read that book even if history wasn't one of my Things. Seriously, she's really stinking good. If you like science fiction at all (she's in the same vein as Star Wars and Star Trek and I enjoy her work just as much as I enjoy Elizabeth Moon's and slightly more than I enjoy David Weber's) her books should be in your to-be-read pile. Especially if you're the sort of person who likes attractive men.

Supertech is the first book I read on my new Kindle. Yes, my new one. My old one--the one that kickstarted my self-publishing career move--died on me. I was pretty upset. Okay, I was beyond upset; no one should be that attached to an electronic device. I ignored that it wasn't working for several days and then I called Amazon customer support. We ran through all of the troubleshooting attempts I had already tried and then, because it was out of warranty, they offered me the option of a $65 replacement. I declined because, well, what was the point? So I went to order a new one (the introductory model) only to discover that Amazon doesn't ship that one to APO addresses. That's okay. The post exchange sells the one I wanted, anyway. So now I have a new Kindle and I have to say that even though I was wary of it (I may or may not have thrown a First World Problems fit over not wanting a new Kindle; I'm not proud of myself) I'm very, very happy with it. It's lighter, it's faster, and even with no keyboard, no speakers, and special offers, I still love it.

I read Supertech, as I mentioned. I bought Supertech and Morgan's Choice for myself for my birthday back at the beginning of December and then life happened and I didn't get a chance to read them. I also re-downloaded Stella Deleuze's Candlelight Sinner, which is next on my to-read list. Maybe. I could have sworn that I already bought No Wings Attached but I couldn't find it in my archived items at all, so I may have to get that one first and just read them back-to-back. And once I'm done with those, I think, I'm going to see about the new Dexter book. I know it's not indie, but... Dexter. Jeff Lindsay is so deliciously, deviously talented.

On Saturday, I mentioned that One Good Cowboy has been drafted. I've jumped straight into editing with my new perspective on writing and I have to say that things are going so much better now than they were before. I'm still shooting to be done by the end of the week, but we'll see how that goes. I have a lot of faith in myself--it's the housework I don't have faith in.

I'm trying not to think too much of the project to come after that. What I can tell you is what I'm hoping to complete for this week's blog schedule. I've been kicking around two blog post ideas: one on treating our audience as customers and one on the things I've learned from my muse.

Next week, in honor of Valentine's Day, I think I'm going to do an all about romance week. We'll see if I can get my act together in order to do it!

Author Interview: Stella Deleuze

That lovely woman you see to the right is author Stella Deleuze. Today, we're celebrating the release of her newest book, Candlelight Sinner! She was good enough to answer questions I threw at her and now we all get a sneak peek inside her mind. Are you excited? I'm excited!

First of all, thank you so much for agreeing to this interview!

No, thank you. I love your blog. Even though I haven't had time to visit often recently, I know I'll always find something interesting to read. Short, sharp and spot on. :-)

As a sequel to No Wings Attached, was it easier or more difficult to write Candlelight Sinner? Why?

More difficult. It's my first series and I didn't know how difficult it is to write one until I was actually confronted with writing it. The fine line between info-dumping and giving short references to the first book, as well as having to introduce the characters to the new readers without boring the old ones was a challenge. It picks up on the first book's story, yet works as a stand alone novel. I also had quite a gap between the books, which made it a little hard in the beginning to get back into the characters' heads. I always planned to have two, but after I spent so much time editing and polishing No Wings Attached, I just needed a break. When the characters called and my readers asked for the sequel, I began writing it. Despite the small difficulties, I loved the process as it's taking the characters on another level and the paranormal story forward.

Both novels have such great titles. How did you decide on Candlelight Sinner? Were there other titles you considered?

Thank you. Gosh. That's a rather sensitive topic. I love strong titles. No Wings Attached (No Strings Attached), as well as Candlelight Sinner (Candlelight Dinner) took me a while. The actual title of No Wings Attached came to me just before I went to bed; struck me like lightning. So for the sequel I wanted to have a funny word-play again, but it was a painful journey to find it. I went through all sorts of titles, as I want it to reflect on the story, rather than just being pretty on the outside. To find something you could adapt isn't quite as easy as it seems. I'm perfectly happy with the result, though.

"Wish consultant" sounds like a modern language job title for a genie. I love it. Where did the idea for that description come from?

To be honest I didn't think of it until I decided to self-publish. I first had angel of wishes, but it was regularly misunderstood as 'angel' or the book being religious, which it's not. At all. And agents, I suppose, refused it immediately just reading 'angel' as it's overdone. So I had to come up with a solution for that dilemma. Never really thought about the genie-reference if I'm honest, but I quite like that.

What was your favorite part of writing Candlelight Sinner?

Without a doubt the fight-scenes and the witty banter between Celia and Tom and her and her friends. She's like me: a bit on the cheeky side, never really short of a come back. The fights were interesting, because with the exception of a few small episodes in the first book, I never really wrote supernatural/paranormal scenes. I loved it. 

Who is your favorite character from the book? Why?

Sam. Hands down. He's what lets a girl's heart beat faster: he's got the raw sex-appeal, the charisma, the aura of danger around him. He's damn fit and my Beta readers confirmed he's their favourite man, too. Though Tom's rather gorgeous, as well. Both men combined would be the perfect mix.

Are you normally a fan of romantic comedies with a paranormal twist? What inspired No Wings Attached and Candlelight Sinner?

As far as I know there are no real paranormal romantic comedies out there. Most are romantic comedies, which I adore. Yes, I admit being a fan. I used to watch Charmed when I was younger and loved it. I loved Angel, Buffy and anything the like. But that's often referred to as paranormal or fantasy. It's probably what inspired the books. Although more by accident. The original theme is: angel of wishes falls in love (forbidden) with his client and then things get worse... The sequel has developed from the paranormal theme, though it's still not overpowering the romantic comedy/chick lit theme.

How did you find a cover artist? What direction, if any, did you give when it came to cover design?

Oh, one of my pet hates: cover art. I'm very very lucky to have a very very patient friend who created a few covers for No Wings Attached. It went through so many I was almost ready to have a white cover with a black font and nothing else. This book gave me grief. I had an exact idea, but as I don't know anything about cover art, it didn't work out. Candlelight Sinner, on the other hand, was super easy. I simply adore that cover. It's warm, it's strong and it's just amazing. Sessha Batto is amazingly talented and I owe her a lot.

When readers get hooked on your work, what else can we look forward to from Stella Deleuze?

My aim is to write two books this year; one horror thriller and one I'm calling a sob story. Both powerful books that will be completely different to what I've written so far, but certainly stick with a reader for a while. I'm also working on a themed cook book and I'm editing my literary fiction novel, which I will probably release at some point if I can't find a suitable home (agent/publisher) for it. For those who love my writing: fear not, I've plenty of ideas. But be prepared: I love to surprise.

See? She's awesome!

Stella blogs over at Words by Stella Deleuze.

No Wings Attached is available at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Candlelight Sinner is available at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Monday Miscellany: Blog Posts, To-Do Lists, New Computers

It's Monday! You know what that means? You should go buy Stella Deleuze's Candlelight Sinner.

It also means that I have a random-ish post for you. And on the day of, too! How exciting for us all.

Tomorrow, I will be posting an author interview with Stella Deleuze. Be warned: she is adorable, intelligent, and funny. If you haven't noticed already, this blog is a fangirl-friendly zone, so feel free to squee over her as you see fit.

I finally buckled down this weekend and started breaking my to-do list into smaller, more manageable chunks based entirely on answering the question, "What do I have to accomplish to make me happy today?" Being "happy" for me is pretty much entirely reliant on being "productive" so that's a valid question. I managed to accomplish all of my to-do list yesterday and I'm on top of today's list, too.

One thing on today's to-do list that I'm not really looking forward to is calling Amazon. My Kindle has stopped working and I am kind of beside myself over it. I don't want to buy a new one. I like the one I have. If we can't get it fixed, though, I will end up buying a new one. It's silly that I've become so reliant on such a meaningless piece of technology, but I really, really love my Kindle. It makes reading so much easier. It gives me portable access to books like Candlelight Sinner and Morgan's Choice and it makes it easy for me to carry around The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Gone with the Wind.

I have mostly gotten my new computer set up the way I want it. I have all the programs I think I need and I've even started working on it (this post and the last one were written from it, I've written over 2,000 words of One Good Cowboy on it). It's strange adjusting to a full-size keyboard and to a screen on which I can actually see my entire blog and website, but it's working out well so far.

Do you want to see my new desktop image? Of course you do! It's Tim Armstrong. (At least until I commission the painting of Wes Janson and Hobbie Klivian from Kelsey McCarthy.) This photo is, apparently, from the 2007 KROQ Weenie Roast.

That sound you heard was me sighing happily.