State of me and how that impacts my work
It's a mixed bag today.
Two recent deaths in my circle were wake-up calls to spending time with those you love. A friend whose mind is declining in stages took another stumble down that one-way staircase. The world is still on fire politically, and certain areas are worsening, and that carries its own exhaustion. I've had two nights of less than stellar sleep, and am amidst a gut flare, which is either triggered by stress or diet or is stress-worsened, and am as usual deeply annoyed by it.
So, not a lot of patience today.
And yet, and yet, I'm basically on an even keel, my health is otherwise great for my age, and I've been exercising regularly this past month, which has already started to show benefits. Worldwide there is some slow positive motion among the folk that call themselves decent (as people get too fed up to not be fired up, finally) and also some rapid and tremendous work by people who've been fired up for awhile.
Which is to say that perspective remains, and a bit of resilience, and that helps a lot.
It also helps that July was an incredibly productive month; I made a huge number of decisions (in part because there was no more time to avoid them, but that's another topic). The first book and a smattering of marketing materials are all with various printers; a batch of galley/advance reader copies should arrive this week. Worldcon hurtles towards us but I think I am mostly ready, and I'm looking forward to it. May my gut settle down by then.
What I've learned/practiced over the past month
Learning mindset has been incredibly helpful this past month as well. Also, a tremendous number of gratitudes and some self-trust (I wrote a new short scene and inserted it, without anyone else seeing it, into the concluding "catchup with everyone" snippets at the end of the book. We'll see if that's a good idea in the long run. Right now I'm trusting myself that it adds value and needed to be there).
Also, I've spent a LOT of time with Vellum...
Three things I don't want to forget I learned.
1. You can insert your interior advance reader copy page as a "personalization page" AS YOU ORDER YOUR COPIES so you don't have to upload a new file later.
2. Typeset quotes search and replace was a MASSIVE PAIN IN THE ASS. Use typeset quotes in Word once you switch from Pages.
3. I had a freakout early on because the number of pages from one import to the next changed radically and I'm still not certain what happened; and I imported over the top of the first import so I couldn't go back. Create a new file but IMMEDIATELY dump the old file into a folder so you don't get confused about which is which. At some point you'll have to start making changes in the vellum file because it's too much trouble to re-import for a few word changes; once you send the final pages to the printer, export the word file back out of vellum so you have a searchable final text copy, and save it someplace safe, clearly named.
... and even more time with commas.
Why are commas.
I just... I thought I understood commas. I thought we were friends.
We are not friends. We may be learning to be friends again but... it's going to take some time.
I thought I understood semicolons, too, but apparently somewhere along the way I flipped the rules on both. So I'm going back to the basics with the second manuscript. Hopefully I'll have re-learned the rules the right way by the time I finish.
But you can pry my sentence fragments from my cold, dead fingers.
ahem.
I also learned something about myself—my brain wanted the book DONE before I worked on any of the marketing materials. The second I sent the files to the printer, I was able to make forward progress on swag. Just... instantly. So that's something to build into my planning process.
Practice:
I wish I could say I've been writing, but mostly I've been doing the harder-for-me marketing tasks like seeking review readers who'll take paperback copies (I don't want to send out electronic files) and doing a little bit of transition work. Like, book one is done, so all the things I've been subconsciously putting off—a bit of office decluttering, some non-writing projects, certain appointments—are suddenly clamoring for attention.
Bookwise:
I'm in... book breather space. Three books are written. The second needs a revised opening and a close comma pass before I send it to the proofreader in a few months; the third is with the editor.
It's a weird place to be in. I'm starting to think about short story ideas; spin-offs to fill in the holes where the book makes time jumps, for example, or characters we're not following. And I'm starting to get ideas I'm resisting for a fourth book that would sit between two and three, time-wise.
I need to plan out the rest of the series, and get writing, but this feels like a liminal space and also an opening, like the sky is higher today and there's more room for me to look around and SEE. Not unrelatedly, more housework is/will be getting done. Ten years in this house, and I finally bought a pole that will let me reach the cobwebs on the staircase ceiling. *embarrassed sideways glance*
What I want to practice next week/month
Skill-building on description, tone and intention. Been following the Making Excuses podcast and I want to try some of their exercises, and do some of Nina Kiriki Hoffman's rollups as well.
Also want to maintain that learning mindset walking into Worldcon. I made myself a Bingo Card in the hopes of staying sane and not overextending myself.
Also need to think about what I want to accomplish with the series and probably finish that draft of The Last Book, which is in Zero Draft form.
What I've been reading and what I've appreciated/learned from it
Read Magica Riot for book club, and I appreciated (and was in equal parts annoyed by) the aggressively upbeat tone. The cozy aspect of the book was wonderful, the sense that everything was going to work out for the characters in all the ways that mattered let me focus on the story and not worry about their survival, and that was, by the end of the book, okay. It bothered me at the beginning because I thought it was making light of something that can be Very Very emotionally hard in real life, but it never mocked that, just ... treated it as normal. So I had reservations but decided that the author just chose to focus on the magic, not the mundane. I did skim the last half because it's not a book I would have picked up to read on my own—it's totally girl demon hunters manga inspired (there's a TV show I've not seen that's really popular right now), and I'm more Lilith St. Crow's monster hunter in my reading habits (which is, if you're not familiar, extremely gritty and realistic, often with a very high body count).
Still trying to slowly plod through Careless People. It just makes me madder every chapter.
Projects status update
A DUBIOUS HOPE: Release date Nov. 14, 2025. Advance Reader Copies out shortly.
I'll need to update the files with Ingram Spark because the file they currently have has a "uncorrected version" page. Also I should set a bookstore discount rate with them, and do marketing planning and events.
THWARTED:
Need to make a pass for continuity given changes to ADH, and apply my comma learnings to the manuscript.
A DEEP BUT MODEST APIQUAI:
Need to re-read, but it's with the editor, so I'm waiting until I get it back from her.
Short Stories:
Set a submission goal of 20 short stories this year. Plan is to send at least one this week.
Submissions and rejections so far this year: seven and six.
Marketing:
Ordered stickers and bookmarks, and some badge ribbons for Worldcon. Drew up a draft marketing plan.
Next steps:
Need to look at other marketing actions I can take Sept-November and balance them against my personality, skills and energy levels. I'm launching during the holiday buying season, so only one physical event might be realistic).
S&W work:
Have done a lot of reading to doublecheck myself on things like metadata and the like. Have been horrified at how often I just *happen* to see an article that would make a huge difference, like the recent "set your IS bookstore discount at 55 percent because IS takes a portion of that and bookstores won't order from them otherwise because they don't get the full discount."
Other:
Got a lot of Real Life happening, so... trying to balance that and writing.
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