Posts filed under ‘chocolatier’
The timing of things
Last Friday I awoke with a fever, and then for four days thereafter I was really sick. I’m still worn through, (and a little sick) and i wonder if i will ever feel rested again. It’s good in some ways, rather than being able to concentrate too much on my book and how it’s doing, I’ve been sleeping.
Rule one: Never watch part of the Revenger’s Tragedy because you need something to watch while you’re eating. I put it on, watched it for awhile, then went to sleep, and in my fever ridden, could clouded mind Christopher Eccleston ran around spouting verse. Which, in itself, isn’t bad, but the dreams were odd and murky, like the movie itself, but then, any movie where you have Derek Jacoby with long white hair and purple lipstick (to match his fingernails, darling) is a leetle loopy.
Rule two: Do not force yourself to go grocery shopping on the Saturday when you are feeling ill. No amounts of guilt, self inflicted or not, are worth getting this sick for. Especially if you’re going to follow this trip by going to McDonald’s for fries, and you get stuck in line for ever and ever because someone rear ended someone else in the drive through.
The nice thing about being sick is that, like I said, I’ve not had time to worry about the book much. It’s doing alright, but is, by no means, guaranteed to make it through. I think it’s chance of making it through the first round is about 65%. If you haven’t voted, I beg you, pretty please, do.
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976920515
I think if I was healthy, I’d obsess over this to the point of madness. Now I just want my life to get back to normal. I want to track down my friends on MSN and start commenting on journals. Maybe next week, over spring break, I’ll get better at all this.
i have received some really amazing feedback over my story. The only real frustration I feel, the only real shame, is that because of the contest rules, each chapter has to be at least 2,000 words long, which meant that I had to skip some chapter breaks. It makes my story look smooshed together, which is really sad. if each letter was allowed to indicate the beginning of a new chapter, i think that it would read better.
Ah, well. There is still so much wonderful support…sometimes from unexpected places…that I feel really blessed. *hugs her flist* You guys are really amazing.
Forgive me for the spacey randomness of this. I wanted to write something a bit more grateful and a lot less whiny, but really, all i can think of is sleep! Pity there’s still an hour left of work…
Add comment March 8, 2007
Chocolatier’s Wife is up at First Chapters Contest, Gather.Com
It’s up!
Can you believe it? My story is up! And despite my swearing I would not look, I already have one very high vote + comment!
Please vote? Remember, every vote counts whether I win or lose, because I can use the number to prove to a possible publisher’s eyes that I can get readers.
First you will need to register. It asks for your first and last name, your location, a user name, an email and a password.
Once you are registered, please go to this link: http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976920515
Please vote by Monday, March 12th, because submissions only stay up 14 days.
Below the story, but above the orange framed word balloons (other people’s comments) there is a line of stars, for a rating of 1 through 10. Please click on as high as you feel comfortable voting for my story. 10 is the best.
The top 20 chapters will be announced on April 3rd, 2007. The winners will have their chapters posted the next day.
Add comment March 1, 2007
Now, where is she?
These past days I’ve been working passionately on The Chocolatier’s wife. In a few moments I will have by passed the 40,000 mark, which, considering that I started this during Christmas break (I can’t quite remember…perhaps the 26th of December, but maybe even the thirtieth…) that is really quite good.
And I hope to continue this progress, because I am planning on entering the First Chapters contest. Sort of like, to paraphrase the NYT Books editor, American Idol for books, from now until March 14th authors post the first chapter of a completed book up online. Then everyone who has an Internet connection can vote on it. Then there’s a second and third rounds where the people who get the most votes from each round go on to the next, post a new chapter, wait for votes, and the books that make the final round get read by a judging panel who then chooses the grand prize winner, who walks away with a nice cash prize and a book contract with Simon and Schuster. The rules say that the book may come out in hardcover, and that it will have to come out by February 2008! You know…the Chocolatier’s Wife would be lovely for Valentines Day, now that I think of it, even though it’s sort of set around their Holidays…
I am trying to think of the last time I wanted something so very badly, and keep failing to. I keep thinking of my book being in hardcover. In my day dreams I have colored endpapers and the cover is that silky smooth mat and rich golds and browns that all the really awesome books have.
And, since I am not published, I can take part. I may be under contract, but that does not equal publication according to the rules, so the first time, ever, I’m actually glad my Editor refuses to give me a hard and fast date for publication, no matter what I try and do.
And with Brittany (http://brittany.historygeeks.com/) volunteering to do my cover for Blue Moon (she has marvelous ideas, and her art work is awesome — thank you so much, dear…) this is shaping up to be the best year for me as a writer, ever. I owe her a huge debt of gratitude for wanting to do this, a good book cover is like a nice dress. You know the contents of your soul are worth, but you need something to give you confidence, because people always judge, even if it’s just a little, by how you look.
Even if I don’t win at least this will give me the energy to get a book finished. A goal point. And this book is really wonderful…and I think by now you know me enough to know that I don’t like to compliment myself. I feel uncomfortable, in fact, I just deleted a paragraph where I said i knew I wouldn’t win the contest. Of course, I may not…I am doing this for the fun/craziness of it, and if I make it through a round I can use it for marketing purposes, which will help Blue Moon and Chocolatier’s Wife. But I believe in this book. It is truly a fantastic book, and I think that it has a lot of happiness and pleasure to offer to people. I want people to read it, not for me, genuinely, but because I think they will enjoy it.
So. The book needs to be finished by the end of this month, then edited, second drafted, and edited one last time by March 1, which will give me two weeks leeway.
Wish me luck?
Add comment January 14, 2007
