Thursday, April 03, 2008

What I've been doin'

      Sorry I haven't been posting. I've been writing a lot on Murder by the Acre and just don't have the desire to sit at my computer for longer than I have to. At the present rate of word input, the "final" polish rewrite for MBTA should be finished by mid-May, then to the proofreaders, then another "final" edit and polish, then to Lulu to be published, then a proof copy from Lulu, then another "final" edit if any errors are found (God forbid), then back to Lulu, then another proof, then if that proof is okay, back to Lulu for publication of both the softcover and the hardcover, then two weeks later, it will go on sale on Lulu.com. Two or three months after that, it will go on sale on the online retailers. And of course, in that time frame, I will be promoting MBTA mercilessly with giveaways, book signings, and so on.Whew. Makes me both tired and excited. I think that's how I live my life.
      Last night, TL, Melissa, Kyra, Eric, and I went to Applebees to eat. I'd like to say that I was a good diabetic when I was there, but I wasn't. I was a bad boy. A sated, happy boy, but bad nonetheless. I had a nine ounce steak topped with mushrooms, a baked potato with butter, a garden salad with ranch dressing, a cherry limeade, a chocolate dessert shooter, fried shrimp (from the lovely Melissa's plate) ... Should I go on? Let's not. I feel ashamed. But full. Sated even. But so ashamed. And happy. Content, even. But ashamed, I tell you, ashamed. Somewhat.
      Anyway, it was sort of a dinner celebrating that I had passed the 60% mark on MBTA. I say sort of because my dinner companions seemed less thrilled about it than I had hoped. Oh, they congratulated me and I appreciate their support immensely, but I suspect only another writer knows how hard it is to sit down and write where there are so many other things in the world that you might pursue. But that's life, you know. We have everything but enough time.
      Tonight I went to a local Mexican restaurant with Eric and his son Todd. I tried to be good and avoid the cheese and sour cream and succeeded in that, but did have beef fajitas instead of chicken. Oh, well, one step at a time.
      The weather here stayed cloudy, chilly, and foggy most of the day. We got some rain a few minutes ago, but no severe weather this time. We've had enough high winds and hail, thank you very much. Tomorrow is supposed to be dry, but windy and still chilly. Keep coming, Mr. Summer. You'll get here eventually.
      I've also been doing a bit of research for MBTA. I've had to learn about Catholic funerals and library circulation computer programs. Both turned out to be different that I had imagined/wrote. So I corrected the mistakes -- I hope -- and MBTA gained from it. I appreciate Kyra, Nancy, and Roxanne for helping with the Catholic knowledge and Charlotte for her help with library programs.
      It's time for bed. I didn't get the words I wanted this evening, but I'm off work tomorrow afternoon so I should have a chance to get caught up and even get ahead of schedule. I'd like to get ahead so that I have a word cushion should something unexpected happen. Anyway, I'm going to call it a night. Take care and have a great weekend.
      Night!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yay! A new post and I'm the first commenter for a change! It's going to be a good day.

Hope you have a productive afternoon off. It's gray and windy here, but it's not supposed to rain. Of course, that means it will probably hail and take the power out this afternoon..but it's still going to be a great day, because I was the first to comment! :)

Crystal

SBB said...

Yes, you are the first! In fact, as the winner of the Measurements of Murder Murder By the Acre First Commentor Game, you are will receive in your email this afternoon ... not just one chapter ... not just two chapters ... but THREE chapters of Murder by the Acre!* WOW!!!!

*Please proof and return as soon as possible. Thank you for playing The Measurements of Murder First Commentor Game.

Anonymous said...

There was a contest? Where are the rules? It's odd how Crystal won without any of the rest of us having a chance to see the rules! UNFAIR!!! UNFAIR!!! CRYSTAL CHEATED!!!

:)

Kirsten said...

I can read over the library bits if you want, Tech, to be sure they make sense.

And congrats on getting all that writing done!

Anonymous said...

Gloria, in my defense, I didn't know there was a contest either! But I'm still not giving back the prize. :)

Crystal

Anonymous said...

Oh, and another thing...I still haven't received my prize, either! :(

Crystal

SBB said...

The prize has been delivered to Crystal! She rejoiced and danced until the delivery man had to give her oxygen. Or at least that's what she told the neighbors he was doing ... Hmm.

Erudite Redneck said...

Readin' this made me hungry, and I have been eatin' high up on the hog all week! :-)

AK Huckeby said...

Hey, I can help with editing the Catholic content if you need it (they're the ones that ride around on go-carts and wear the funny hats, right?).

AK Huckeby said...

I actually meant to leave a more helpful comment within that last one. I found this cool service the other day when I was researching a direct mail project I'm working on. Thinking for your promo of MBTA - it's a one stop shop...upload your artwork/files/mailing list, pay a fee, and they do the rest...check it out: http://www.usps.com/createmail/click2mail.htm