Words Written: ALNM, more edits and more edits
Writing Stats: Sale (see below)! Alas, also a rejection from
Realms of Fantasy for “Berengere.” Shawna included a nice handwritten note, though.
Exercise: walking around the Home Tour, stretching
Sale! “Just Be” has sold to
Iridescence: Lovely Shades of Lesbian Erotica.
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Where has the week gone? Oh, yes, swallowed up by a mountain of stress. I’m not sure I’d entirely recovered from the last Portland trip by the time I jetted off to Virginia, so I’ve been feeling even farther behind. Add to that some extra work from the editing job (which is especially stressful for reasons I shan’t mention here so I don’t offend the author), and I haven’t had much chance to come up for air. Oh, I’ve been laying about and watching TV, but that’s only after my brain has turned to mush and my hip’s hurting something fierce (I’ve pulled out the sofa so I can lie down). I’ve also started icing my right forearm, as the copy editing has triggered my tendonitis.
The good news is that Sarah and I have gotten through all of the edits on
ALNM! I have one scene to tweak (probably amounting to writing all of two sentences), and then I have to put the chapters into one file, run a spellcheck with UK spelling, and change all the double quotes to single quotes. Then it’s off to the charming Adam, a month and a half early! Just in time to get some anthology stories written before I run off to the Oregon Coast for a week’s intense work on
DFL.
And more good news: Ken’s on his way home as I type this. He could arrive any time after 4 a.m., although it would make sense (to me, anyway) that he stop somewhere and sleep. Then again, he really wants to be home… Tomorrow’s his birthday, and we’ll be having dinner with friends at
The Greek (Fantastic Greek food! Hot dancing girls! Yay!).
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So in Virginia I had my first-ever book signing. I’ve signed stock locally as well as in Portland, Seattle, and other stores in the Norfolk, VA, area, but this was wildly beyond all that.
We didn’t get a huge crowd, but I didn’t expect one; I’m an unknown author, not even local. Scott, Sarah’s husband, manages the store and arranged the deal, and he’d told his customers about me, though. Sarah was my first-ever buyer (Scott wouldn’t let her borrow or buy the book until then!), and her mom and dad, and their friends visiting from England, also bought books. My friends Kathy and Bob (whom I met in Hawaii 9 years ago) also dropped by; I’d already signed Kathy’s book when we’d had lunch earlier in the week, but they bought the two anthologies Scott had on hand at my table (
Sex on the Move and
Sex in the Kitchen). A guy and his daughter (I think) chatted with me about the business of publishing (she wrote historical fiction). And I absolutely have to give a huge shout-out to Tory from the games store in the mall, though. I was sitting there, flipping through a magazine, when this enthusiastic person bounded through the door exclaiming how thrilled she was that I was still there, and she’d shake my hand except she had a cold, and… I told her I had a cold, too, and firmly shook her hand. She was just the sweetest thing. I felt like I had
a fan. She was just utterly thrilled to have me sign the book for her. Tory, hope you enjoy the book. You
rock.
Scott said I outsold the last person they had in, who was a nationally known author. But most importantly, I had a blast.
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The Home Tour was a success. I didn’t get to tour all the homes because Morgana and Brian and Tomi and I went out for brunch first, and in the afternoon I was a docent at Morgana and Brian’s house. My back and hip were killing me by the end of that, so I went home and vegged. Although I had fun, in hindsight I shouldn’t schedule something like that right on the heels of a trip. And I’m still bummed that I didn’t get to see a couple of the houses or go on the downtown tour. Next year!
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Currently Reading: Fool Moon (Book Two of the Dresden Files), Jim Butcher
Lately Listened To: Celtic Twilight, Vol. 1, various
Recently Watched: CSI;
Without a Trace;
Eureka(Photo by Barry Rodker. Thanks!)
