Ups and downs

Wow, what a couple of weeks!

First off, my computer died. Not so much my entire laptop, but my hard drive decided it’s time had come. Luckily, Ross predicted this, so he had a new one waiting. It is now replaced, and life can finally go on.

I could access the internet briefly with the kindness of strangers, but I couldn’t write except for longhand, and that gives me horrible cramps. It was madness, I tell you, madness. Several people told me to think of it as a vacation. Strangely, forced vacation = not fun. I’ve written two short stories since I got my dear laptop back, just because I missed writing that much.

More post-hard drive good news, I got to write the acknowledgments and dedication for The Pyramid Waltz. That was a lot of fun and a lot of trying to remember everyone to thank! I felt like those people at awards shows who just start shouting names and then have to end with, “If I forgot you, I’m sorry.” Luckily, no one was playing me off the stage.

Today I’m going to look at a book launch venue. Soooo exciting. I’ll give you a full report once I’ve finally FINALLY nailed down my location.

Is anyone else doing Nano summer camp this year? I’m gonna try to do it this June, though I have a lot of non-writing tasks to complete. Who’s with me?

Did you have any tragedies these past weeks? Any near misses?

If you’re looking for IWW, it’s below this one

You know you are. ^_^ I’m very happy that everyone’s liking them.

Guess who's engaged to whom

I’m going full steam on edits right now as well as freaking out that I’ll have to do author appearances and beg people to review my book before the year is out. You may think I’m funny, but I’m really a hollow shell of a person held together with caffeine and candy.

What have you dreaded lately? I’d love to hear a few stories of when you were sure you would fail but instead came through with flying colors. Go ahead, after-school-special me.

The trollest of them all

You guys, what bliss!

I almost had NOTHING to blog about today. My next IWW post won’t be ready until next week, but I felt the need to say something, as I do every Wednesday. I’m hip deep in edits and thought I would have to redirect you to more interesting things when lo, I get an email from Letty herself!

Quoth the Letty:

“You are the reason I joined another group…I doubt you REALLY HAVE A BOOK COMING OUT UNLESS IT IS SELF PUBLISHED.
You need to get an honest opinion of your writing. You already have mine.”

Oh, you darling flirt. What acts of charitable kindness did I do to deserve you? I despaired, oh Letty, and down you dropped like a troll-scented angel from Topic Heaven. (Which was next door to Hot Topic in the mall.)

Look how kind you are, trying to assuage my guilt for helping you get tossed from your group by hinting that you left of your own accord. And that you joined a group because of me!!! Did they remind you of me somehow, and you couldn’t stay away?

You’re still a teensy bit confused about the book, though. It’s coming September 18th from Bold Strokes Books. (I never just want to throw the link up, but since you asked so nicely…) And thank you for your honest opinion about my writing. I clearly remember you saying how much you loved it. You’re such a dear.

Ah, now I feel better. A topic and a lovely conversation with my dear Letty. Anyone else have a wonderful yet unexpected email today?

IWW: The Love Triangle

Action movies take three to tango, a wild dance of hero/villain/captive culminating in some serious high-wire fighting over pits of rabid crocodiles.

Am I right?

The villain has more style, loves a shiny, jagged knife (because she wants that shit up close and personal), and has a pet that’s cooler than yours. Not a dog or a cat, something more…MORE. Like a baby panda.

Also, she builds her lair beneath an active volcano

Nailed it.

The hero’s in black ops, which I assumed meant she wore lots of black. She’s ex-CIA, ex-military, ex-coast guard, and an ex-librarian because I like to read. She uses a gun because killing from a distance is somehow humane.

Doesn't need to see the light die in your eyes

But because we’re hard fucking core, we can’t use weapons to hurt each other. That shit’s for babies who don’t KUNG FU.

Ditch gun!

Lose knife!

Battle royale under an exploding volcano…full of crocodiles (not pictured, but trust me, they’re down there)!

Body slam with pithy comment!

Mind if I drop in?

Flying kick with lamer comment! (The villain is always cleverer than the hero. See: Schwarzenegger, Arnold.)

Sorry, I've got to take out the trash!

After several death defying jumps over lava crocs, the hero wins, saves the captive and either kills the villain or leads her away in cuffs.

Let's get this panda back where he belongs!

Scene.

But…I’m disturbed. My three-way tango? Not so much. You see this?

Sigh

That’s not a tango-er, that’s a helpless muppet. It’s more like a love…line, than a triangle. All the conflict, all the passion is between the hero and the villain. This thing hanging behind them could be a giant plastic pear for all the ways it drives the plot.

The villain may have tried to seduce him. The hero may have realized that she wanted to live/retire/random epiphany because of him, but in the end, he’s a tool, in more ways than one. He’s a plot device, not a character, as replaceable as they come.

Let's get this panda untaped from this pear

And in the movies, that was always a woman.

What the shit? I didn’t want to be hanging in the villain’s lair under the volcano. I wanted to be swinging by my whip and cutting fools with my light saber. I wanted to kick ass on my own time, my own way. I’d already started on the path to writing strong female leads, and Barbie was going to help.

Did you ever put yourself in movies or television? Which role did you covet? (It’s all right if you wanted to be rescued. ^_^)

We have liftoff!

Well, we have a date for liftoff. My novel, The Pyramid Waltz is being published on:

September 18, 2012!

Woooooooo hooooooo! It might seem a long way off, but it’s really just around the corner. I’ve got so much to do, most of it mental preparation. I’ve got to get ready to talk to scads of people I don’t know. On the internet, it’s easy. In person, it can be a lot harder. I can be pretty funny, but I usually make jokes around what other people are saying, making them laugh. If people won’t talk to me, well, there’s not much I can do. I think I must be meeting lots of introverts lately. When no one can think of anything to say, damn it’s awkward.

Does anyone have any tips about getting people to come out of their shells? I’ve got a lot of talking to do. ^_^

Right now, let’s celebrate. I don’t drink champagne, so this will have to do:
(Find this recipe here.)

What are you up to this week, friends? Got any big deadlines looming on the horizon?

Yeah, yeah, rejection, blah blah

Favorite quote of the day:

“Rejection always stings. It stings me, you, everybody. Nobody likes to be rejected. A writer who likes being rejected is a writer who is secretly a robot and must be smelted down into slag before he tries to kill us all because he hates our meat. Pain is instructive. And it’s not permanent. Not if you don’t let it be. Some writers savor misery like a hard candy endlessly sucked in the pocket of one’s cheek, but fuck that.”

Taken blithely from Chuck Wendig’s blog.

I read that earlier today and it brought up so many memories. I’m not currently submitting anything, but I distinctly recall most of the rejections I’ve gotten. Many have been the puzzling form rejections. Some of have been handwritten little gems. Only one suggested I try something different with the work. The rest were veiled ways of saying, “I don’t think I can sell this.”

My favorite rejection was from an assistant who said she tried really hard to convince her boss to take me on. It was handwritten on the first page of my manuscript, wrapped around the form rejection as if she couldn’t leave a paper trail. Utterly heartwarming. I hope she some day gets her own agency. ^_^

I think I’m going to have a thoughtful day. How about you?

It’s dolphins all the way down

I learned a few things this week. Posts about writing will get comments, but posts about dogs with socks will bring visitors by the droves. ^_^

I also learned there are some cool views in my neighborhood. I went for a walk yesterday (in the finally cool weather) and it ended up lasting two hours. Here’s one of the reasons why:

It’s kind of hard to see from my phone pic, but that’s a hill. I’ve never really lived anywhere with significant hills before. (Yes, I know, o people of the mountains, that you have seen bigger and better hills. ^_^) Of course, the walking down was easier than the walking up, and the hill continued after that corner, all the way down to the depressed area in the distance. (I didn’t go THAT far.)

Along the way I saw an awesome tree:

If you look closely, you can see the moon showing itself during the day.

And I spotted a neat little function house:

Not quite sure what it’s for yet. Maybe parties or weddings. This is a huge neighborhood, what they’re tying to push as a planned community, and it has lots of parks and pools and function rooms. There’s even an elementary school INSIDE the ‘hood. What I like about it is the miles of sidewalks. Without any hiking trails close, sidewalks are the only place I can walk without the risk of getting run over or wandering onto someone’s property.

And the last thing I learned this week is….

I HAVE A BOOK COVER! >_< SQQQUUUEEEE! So excited. I don't think I can show you, yet, but I will as soon as possible. To keep you until then, here's a photo of the congratulatory balloons my husband bought me:

Nothing says congrats like a mylar dolphin. Remember that. ^______^

What fabulous or not-so-fabulous things have you learned in the week since I’ve seen you?

The online writing community

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google + (Sometimes Myspace). And those are just the tip of the social media iceberg. More and more, it seems writers are hearing about these must-haves for getting their names out there before publishing, hell, before they even start writing. Build a friend-base, that which goes before fan-base. Then you’ll have more people to guilt into buying your book when it eventually comes out. ^_^

Add to that one’s own blog and then the myriad of groups there are to join, online writing groups and hashtag groups and nano groups. Huge writing communities where you meet a few people you get close to and a ton more that are just casual acquaintances. I wonder what the actually sales numbers linked to this sort of thing are? Sales of those with a large media circle compared to those with a small one?

Of course, I’m not doing it for sales. (Surely everyone says this? ^_^) I love the writers I’ve found, the groups I’ve joined, the friends I’ve made.

Broaduniverse and The Outer Alliance have pointed me toward Crossed Genres, where I made my first sale.

Critters gave me friends I’ll keep for a lifetime (Hello, Pattie and Daniel!).

And as for the blogs I follow, well, I’ve gotten valuable support and advice (and some awesome good reads, Maria and Kaz!) not to mention invited to another blog and a given a really cute coin purse (looking at you, Marilou). As for the rest of you, (Faith, the Carols, Cat, Jackie B. Victoria, not to mention the Backspace folks and my writing group) and all the rest who’ve stopped by to comment, I love you, too, even if you never buy a book.

How did you jump on the social media train? Were you encouraged as a writer, or did you just want to meet other people like yourself? What’s your media outlet of choice? (If you’re on twitter, find me at @zendragandt and I’ll follow you back. ^_^)

Guess who’s gonna be published…

…me! I’ve wanted to tell you so bad, internets, but was encouraged to wait until the press release. Behold:

August 24, 2011 Press Release: New Title from Barbara Ann Wright

Bold Strokes Books is pleased to announce the acquisition of Barbara Ann Wright’s new romantic fantasy, The Pyramid Waltz, scheduled for release in 2012.

The Pyramid Waltz – Coming in 2012

To most, Princess Katya Nar Umbriel is a rogue and a layabout; she parties, she hunts and she breaks women’s hearts. But when the festival lights go down and the palace slumbers, Katya chases traitors to the crown and protects the kingdom’s greatest secret: the royal Umbriels are part Fiend. When Katya thwarts an attempt to expose the king’s monstrous side, she uncovers a plot to let the Fiends out to play.

Starbride has no interest in being a courtier. Ignoring her mother’s order to snare an influential spouse, she comes to court only to study law. But a flirtatious rake of a princess proves hard to resist, and Starbride is pulled into a world of secrets that leaves little room for honesty or love, a world neither woman may survive.

About the Author

Barbara Ann Wright writes fantasy and science fiction novels and short stories when not adding to her enormous book collection or ranting on her blog. Her short fiction has appeared twice in Crossed Genres Magazine and once made Tangent Online’s recommended reading list. She is a member of Broad Universe and the Outer Alliance and helped create Writer’s Ink in Houston.

She is married, has an army of pets, and lives in Texas. Her writing career can be boiled down to two points: when her mother bought her a typewriter in the sixth grade and when she took second place in the Isaac Asimov Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing in 2004. One gave her the means to write and the other gave her the confidence to keep going. Believing in oneself, in her opinion, is the most important thing a person can do.

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
*deep breath*
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG. I’m so excited, y’all. If I could do a cartwheel without guarantee of permanent injury, I would do one. And yeah, with my natural gracefulness, permanent injury IS guaranteed.

If you wanna see my bio with a full color, cleavage shot, go to my Bold Strokes bio page.

Must…hold…in…squee……

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

Deep breath, deep breath. Maintain composure. Quick! Look over there! A sequined purse!

Ah, there. Calm returning. I can breathe again. Come on up here on this cloud with me, friends, and lets go get something tasty. I’m lovin’ life.

^_^

 

More like a big sinkhole

So, the conference didn’t go quite the way I hoped. However, I did make a lot of new friends, and I got one of the things I came for: feedback.

Now, back to the drawing board. ^_^

New York, the city, was as cool as I remembered. Saw some old favs like the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. Also was able to take a walk through Central Park, something I’ve wanted to do but never got around to. And man was it hot, hotter than I expected. Luckily, I ate some very good food that wasn’t good for me at all. I had no choice, really. My ego demanded I eat to help it heal, really. That’s totally what happened.

I’m running ragged right now trying to finish my current round of edits but also preparing for the fact that I’m moving to Austin soon, with the only question being exactly when. I will try try try to get some pics up later this week, not only of the city but also of the swag I picked up here and there, including a very sparkly scarf and a purse that my friend haggled for. (I’m not a natural haggler, me.)

*Sigh* How has your week been? Did I miss anything?