The Great Blog Experiment

So my brilliant friend, Diana Peterfreund, decided to put a myth to rest and has come up with a fun and interesting way to do so. The myth - that someone could "steal" your writing idea. She selected a group of writers (and I was one - YEA!) and gave us a single sentence for an idea - "A young woman confronts her parents after discovering she has inherited telekenetic powers."

That's it - the premise - the concept - the idea. And we were all instructed to write a scene using this idea. She began posting them on her blog today to prove to everyone just how different the scenes would be given the writers style and voice.

It should be very interesting and I hope you all decide to go over and check it out.

BTW - my story is today!

Getting rid of books

Okay, so anyone who's read this blog lately knows I've been moving. It's sort of the twelve-step program for movers, but it's getting there. So this week I'm technically on vacation - which means I'm doing sheetrock repair, painting, caulking and cleaning in the old house to prep it for sale. I've also spent some time unpacking and this is where my question for you comes in -

How do you know which books to keep and which ones to get rid of?

Now, understand that I estimate my "library" at around 2500 books. Most I have read, some I haven't gotten to, some were conference gifts, etc. But I knew I had to thin down. I didn't want the new place cluttered like the old place and does one person truly NEED 2500 books? Okay, so most of you are writers and you're going to say "of course," but where do you draw the line?

It was tough, but I figure I cleared out 600-700 or so. I kept the backlist of authors I currently buy. I kept the series books that I liked and might read again. I kept any single title I will read again. I kept books that I hadn't read (and most I have no idea where I got them) and would probably like to read.

Do any of you have the library build-up problem? If so, what did you do about it?

I Love my Cover (Part 2)

Okay, so just put me down for a bit of a prideful stance, but I LOVE my cover. So I took it to Staples (local office supply store) to have some glossy prints done on some thick paper so I could show people at local RWA chapter, etc. Weeeelllllllll, they just happened to have this 40% off special on posters. So now I have this incredibly wonderful 2x3 poster of Rumble, laminated and mounted on foam board. I think I'm going to put it over the fireplace. It's too hot in Texas to have a fire anyway, right?

So I pick it up and come out to the car grinning like an idiot. Show it to my husband who says - "that's fantastic. Why don't you get another one?" I'm like, what for? And he says - "you'll need one for book signings but you don't want it to get messed up so get another to keep for yourself." I'm like "I guess so." Then he says "How many first books are you planning on having?"

Okay, sold!

I am WELL aware of how lucky I am to have a husband who "gets it." He's my biggest support and is always pre-marketing Rumble to his clients. Plus, he's made it a point to understand, I mean REALLY understand, the difficulty of the business and the magnitude of getting published at all.

My mom and dad are also getting on the marketing band wagon - passing out business cards to anyone who will take them - friends, relatives, hairdressers, the girl at the drug store, etc.

I've been doing a lot of marketing planning and putting some things in writing and such, but I truly believe that the only way a typical beginning author (or midlist writer) finally makes that next step up is word of mouth. But how do you create word of mouth, you ask?

The real kicker - write a fantastic book that keeps the reader panting for more.

Which means finding a balance between my marketing efforts and my proposal for the next book. It's a hard thing to do, especially when you've got really cool covers to distract you, but it's the most important thing you can do for your career.

Sooooooo, looks like next week it's back to proposal city for me. I'm hoping to wow my agent with something this time!

THE COVER IS HERE!!!!!

Check out the cover for RUMBLE ON THE BAYOU. I couldn't be happier. It is so cute and fun and the colors are fabulous!

Diary of a Mid-Week Mover

Wednesday 10:00 - Close on house

Thursday 8:00 am - Movers arrive to pick up everything I managed to pack (about 80% of total amount of stuff). Spend remainder of day supervising walls and door frames and trying to decide where to put big furniture I don't want to move later. Spend evening moving upset cats who did their rendition of The Three Tenors for every single minute of the forty-five minute drive. Moved dogs that night - they could have cared less.

Friday 7:00 am - Back to work (ugh). It's month-end close and there's just no time for moving today. Start unpacking boxes that evening - beginning to wonder where clean underwear are. Satellite guy arrives at 8:00 pm and finished around midnight.

Saturday - Decide that we don't have the appropriate furniture for all rooms. Go on furniture shopping adventure and to buy more items for kitchen which is the only room semi-unpacked. Odd now that I think of it since no one in my house really cooks.......

Sunday - Go back to old house and try to pack more. Still on look out for underwear.

Monday - Had to take day off work. The internet guy was slated to arrive sometime between Genesis and Christ's Return. And even the clean underwear doesn't rank ahead of the internet. Spend entire day continuing to unpack boxes. FOUND THE UNDERWEAR! But only have three pairs of shoes and work tomorrow. Buy new outfit so I have something to wear for 9:00 am meeting.

Tuesday - Back to work for the rest of the week. Will finish the rest of it when time allows. Maybe I can have a housewarming party by fall.