Tag Archives: the writing life
State of the Meerkat, Saturday Edition
The contract for Gin & Tonic #3-#4 arrived in my inbox, and has been gone over. I will say that reading the marked-up pdf on my iPad mini was more enjoyable than trying to wrangle the legal-size paper Simon & Schuster still uses. Anyway, it reminded me that #3 is due in SEPTEMBER, not October [...]
My Other Office(s)
Most days, I work out of my home office. It’s a nice space – lots of natural light, a comfy chair, easy access to good coffee, hot and cold sleeping kittens. And I don’t have to wear shoes. But when you work at home, alone, you can go a little batshit after a while, looking [...]
On “casting” while you write. Or not.
When I first started out in this biz, I heard a lot of writers talking about “casting” their books, and researching for visuals (typically actors, but not always) as part of their research prep. And this struck me as strange (then again, I don’t create playlists for projects, either. So I may be an outlier.) [...]
If you cut me, do I not bleed (red ink)?
And lo, the copyedit of SOUL OF FIRE is done, and all the flags have been deflagged, the queries answered, and the irritations bit down and buried – because the CE will not see your responses, so although snarking in return may feel good, it’s also pointless. Bite ‘em down and move on. Or, y’know, [...]
A Freelancer Looks At The Weekend….
Things I need to do between now and Monday…. 1. get bike tuned up and wheel repaired (yeah, I haven’t gotten that done yet) 2. start the copyedit for SOUL OF FIRE (due Wednesday) 3. polish up the next segment of an ongoing freelance project (due Tuesday) 4. edit two stories for Buzzy Magazine [...]
Don’t Know, Can’t Care
Yesterday, someone asked me what the on-spec manuscript I’ve been working on, was. My answer: a story. No, they said, what kind of story? With words, and characters, and Stuff Happening and their world changing, even if The World doesn’t change for them. But what genre? they insisted. Is it fantasy? SF? YA? Mainstream? Is [...]
There’s Got to Be A Morning After….
Yesterday, I put the final touches on the revisions for SOUL OF FIRE, and sent it off to madame editrix. The next time I see the book, we’ll be in copyedits, and then page proofs, and then a finished book. So it’s not dusted, but yeah… it’s done. And that means my ten year, twelve-book [...]
New Kid on the Block
So I have sent off my bio and photo, and will, I am assured, soon be up on the Client Board . Weirdly, even though we’ve signed a contract, and New Agent has already negotiated a new deal for me, that will be the moment I feel like I’m really Part of the Pack. Soon enough, [...]
Can we have two Tuesdays instead of a Monday? I think that would work much better….
Monday. Oh god, the Do-Board for today is more than slightly insane. But it’s (almost) all Good and Interesting, so yay? To Do: Deflag the copyedit for HEART OF BRIAR Look over the revisions letter for SOUL OF FIRE (yeah, mine editor was late with the revisions letter so I’m behind the schedule. Such as [...]
Occasionally, The Writer Writes
I’m still waiting on revision notes for SOUL OF FIRE, and I’m not scheduled to start on G&T #3 until 1 March, so I’ve been working on New Project #2, also known for now as The Left Hand. (or, “the book NOT called TDW”) So today I pulled up my Big Writer Pants and sent the first [...]
