Your Book. Your Busines. Your Editor.

Hello!

 

I took a bit of time off as I caught up from my identity theft loss of time, but it’s time to put blogging back on the menu. Lol

 

We’ve been doing Your Book. Your Business. and it’s time to continue with that. It is your book. But, whether self published or with a publisher, you hopefully have an editor. Now, an editor is a sort of magical being in that they see things that we’re invisible to us no matter how many times we’ve been through it! However, Here are some quick things about editors at small publishing houses:

They usually do not have last say except in terms of house rules and grammar.

There are many types of editors. Content editors are there to strengthen the pacing, the words, and point out any obvious oops, like having your Italian friend all of sudden be from France sort of thing. Line editors are there to find the grammar and punctuation and help make your MS clean. Even though many content editors have a strong grasp of grammar and punctuation, you still want this line edit to happen. Copy editors are more in formatting and accuracy of text, not necessarily fact checking for fiction books, but in newspapers, they can and do. They are sort of a line editor of sorts.

They can help brainstorm, give you ideas, etc.

They can be your best friends.

They can help you keep your confidence.

They are not squeamish about marking up your manuscript—even if it’s worrisome to them how the author will take it.

They want you to succeed.

They make suggestions.

They’re usually quirky and believe absolutely in work they acquire in houses that allow them to acquire.

 

What they are not:

 

Your personal punching bags.

Your personal library.

Your research assistant.

Your mom.

Your babysitter.

Your janitor.

Your boss.

Perfect.

The last word on your manuscript. You are. Though in some big houses the editor may have more editorial control, in most small houses, they suggest.

Even if you personally pay for your editor, you do not want to treat them bad. You don’t want to burn that bridge or bad mouth them. Trust me, they’ll hear about it. Also, any editor who hears you totally bad mouthing another editor, will be leery of taking you on if they have any sense at all. Unless that editor took your money and never edited, I’d suggest discretion is valor.

If you aren’t meshing with your editor, hey, no shame on both parts. As head editor, I try to match up personalities as well as books, but you can’t always do that. It’s best to leave it at personalities don’t mesh, or that your weaknesses weren’t her strengths, etc. rather than bad mouthing.

Word gets around, and then you don’t have access to as many editors. The quality available to you will go down.

If your editor says, “Hey, look up the rules for this.” for whatever reason, don’t ignore, don’t half ass it. You may think your editor is overreacting, but I can tell you from personal experience, that though there are sometimes they just don’t know, most of the time, they are right. Or at least, they are right to have you double checking your facts. If they say, the reader needs more/less of something, look into WHY the editor thinks this. As an author, there’s a knee jerk reaction to say, “Not my baby!” and be mutinously stubborn in changes. Let that feeling pass and move on.

If you don’t, you will have readers who say you’re full of it, that you don’t know squat. Like having ice caves in the wrong city/town/state, or not having the BIA in charge of serious things on the reservation instead of state police, or having a native tribe of Arizona be from Washington. Seriously, if your editor says, research this, double check that fact, do it. Period. Even if you’re right, and say you prove yourself right, what did it really hurt? In fact, it could inspire a blog post.

I’m an editor and an author. I’ve had it happen to me both ways…having an editor mark something I didn’t know how to change so didn’t, and having an editor mark something wrong that I knew was right as it pertained to the reservation and the laws involved that the editor had no clue about. Trust me, do your due diligence. Make sure of your facts before bucking your editor. It’s just safer that way.

The thing is, though it is your book, the editor is a reader too. If they’re confused/hung up on something, there’s a good chance your readers will be too. If they’re saying feels a bit slow, then pick up the pace.

Whatever you do, do NOT be a jerk, publically or in emails, to your editor. Do not call them names, rant about what they’re doing, etc. Seriously, you can dislike an edit, and even disagree with things, but do not become unprofessional.

Which brings up, you don’t have to agree with your editor. You can disagree. Just explain why. Don’t ignore them, try to hide their changes, reject without reason. Explain. That will give the editor a chance to explain as well. Dialogue is so important in this stage. You have to trust your editor, but your editor has to trust you. If she can’t trust you to follow directions and communicate, you will get the minimal edits, at least, more likely, but you may not get an acceptance for the next book. The feeling being, why edit what will be ignored? Why deal with someone who bad mouths? Who won’t work with me? Why waste my time?

Editing and publishing is a very subjective business. Especially if your editor is the acquiring editor, don’t make them your enemy. Don’t make them not want to work with you.

If you do have issues, say, it’s been six months in line editing, be professional and respectful in your inquiries. They may be in the wrong, but perhaps it’s a human failing, or perhaps, it was a change. Either way, being respectful will keep you from being blackballed or other bad things happening.

Editors are there to help you shine. Listen to them, communicate with them, work with them, and you’ll have the best story possible.

 

After all, it’s Your Book. Your business. Don’t mess it up.

And then there was...surgery?

Hi all!

Yeah, two in a week. It must be serious :D It's been a busy week. My head editor duties have come to the forefront at Three Worlds Press. One of those duties has been to hire new editors! Three new ones, and one I'll train up a bit more, but she's on the list now. However, she also writes, and I'd much rather she writes. lol I had to do a happy dance. There are instincts in editing that are hard to teach. Grammar is easier, and that's what I have Line editors for (need another one of those as well lol). But to recognize a good story, to be willing to mold it into something for readers that is good quality, that's something some people are just better at than others. I'm so excited!

As a writer, I'm hoping to get some things done tonight so it can head it's way to lines. The Midwife's Moon is nearly there. I've added about 1k+ words and it's been through a few rounds of edits already. I've also added a glossary of terms and people of the War of the Weres world. It's exciting! A short to start off the War of the Weres Chronicles will be out soon after. Three Worlds Press is also trying to get our print lines set up. That's right, our longer novels will be going to print! This will include The Midwife's Moon and The Ulfric's Mate.... :D

I'm also gearing up for the workshop I'd planned for this weekend. It's an editing basics class for editors and writers. It's $35US. I'm covering the basics of pacing, setting, character arcs, etc. I have a guest speaker for putting scents in your writing. She has written a lovely book, Scent of Freedom, as well as others in the world not published yet (but I get to read them cuz I am her critique partner! :D) wherein she uses scents in a unique way that I think we can all learn from. Our olfactory sense is one that seems to have the best memory triggers, and I believe we should be incorporating them into our writing more often. My paypal is Leona.bushman@gmail.com. Pay your entry fee and email me at the same address or message me via FB or twitter (@L_bushman) and let me know you've signed up. Class is online on FB, and there will be handouts, other authors I've edited with, on top of the guest speaker. Live time with me is 10a-12p Friday and 4-6p Friday, and same times on Saturday. The group will be open for discussion with each other, guest speaker, me, and other authors even if I'm not there. The guest speaker is speaking on Saturday morning. All times are PST. This group will remain open to all who've paid for the class as reference, as will the files. I had planned on putting finishing touches on tomorrow, but instead....

I'm also trying to get all of the work I'd planned on doing on Thursday done today. Yesterday, a specialist decided that Nate needs surgery. Tomorrow. His hand was caught in a machine last week and the damage is healing nicely, except for the damage to the tendon, apparently. He will be in a cast for four weeks, and then a splint... I will be doing my best at writing, editing, painting, etc during this time. It will be necessary so I don't go stir crazy LOL I foresee a few growly bits from my husband over the course of the next few weeks. I will endeavour to keep my cool. Wish me luck!

Have a great day!

I'm an Editor, did you know?

Hi :)

On the road to being published, I fell very ill. During that illness, I found a new job that turned into something I love: editing.

I thought I wasn't going to like it much, and boy was I wrong. I loved it! Loved watching the books change and morph, loved the relationships built with the authors, love learning with them, teaching them, reading all the varied stories, learning the authors' idiosyncrasies, etc.

Any who've read my blog long will know, I don't worry so much on social media what I do correctly/incorrectly. I do it to have fun. As soon as I worry about blog hits/being perfect, I quit doing it as I feel intimidated, and it loses its fun aspect. I'm not a good marketer, so that is a big hit to lose the ability to do something that was an outlet and warm-up for my writing, as well as keeping me up on google searches.

So this love of putting things right for authors and spending long hours for virtually nothing (the pay sucked, and once I was let go, there is apparently a clause you don't get paid for your work if you're not a currently active, so I get NOTHING for the last six months as the books haven't been released or just released, and they paid a low percentage up to 50/150/250 depending on length for minimum of over 10 hours of work on shortest stories with the paperwork. I made like MAYBE 500 dollars (I actually believe it was less as I got paid author royalties in same checks) over the course of seventeen months.) came as a bit of a surprise to me.

I've relocated as a line editor with a small press (no can't be paid anymore of what you're owed if you quit/can't work clause there!, and am Editor in Chief with the publisher Three Worlds Productions (no stupid clause here either) whom have decided to take its company and open it to all authors of all genres, including non fiction and coffee table books :D Lots of good happening on the writing front as well, but I'll leave that for another blog post.

I also freelance edit. Here are my rates: (psst if you have ever used my freelance services, you get to keep using me at the original price you've paid for. If you are/were a BP author, you may cut these rates in half. If you were MY BP author, message me as you get special privileges!)

Content Editor Rates (in US monetary):

$400 US – 1 to 19,999 words

$600 US – 20,000 to 44,999 words

$900 US – 45,000 to 74,999 words

$1150 US – 75,000 to 99,000 words

$1300 US – 99,001 to 119,999 words

$1500 US – 120,000 to 200,000 words **Will include length suggestions and suggested scenes to cut or where to make it into two books, First half will get the three passes if made into two books, with an extra pass if necessary for this rate. I am also available if you have questions regarding any aspect of the edit I did.

 

These rates will include the following:

Three passes (three rounds of edits from me) ie, you send MS, I'll send first round of edits. You make suggested changes/reject them, add to the story. That equals one pass. On my end, you will have edits back within two weeks for anything under 100k words. Over will be dependent on how far over.

It will include general grammar, cohesiveness, pacing, plot issues, character arcs, and overall opinion on the story, ie fits genre, that kind of thing. You will get three passes which will give you a chance to fix any plot issues and still have edits done on them. I believe firmly in the author's voice, and way of telling the story. Also, the final edit is done with heavy emphasis on grammar, punctuation, etc. and is essentially a line edit even though that is not included in the rates. Payment is due upfront unless other arrangements have been made.

 

If you are interested or know anyone who might be, you can comment here, PM me on FB, or email me :)

 

So, that's what's up with me. What is everyone else up to today?

 

Must.Write.This.

I made a remark to an author/editor friend via DM. We were discussing the various projects I need to get finished yesterday. She mentioned hers, then I said,
"yep. And I need to write the one for you as well. Had a dream. may do something different than I'd originally intended."

Her response was to laugh and say that was a such a writerly thing to say :) Then I explained how I'd had a dream three nights in a row set in this very cool, very interesting world and I think I'd better write it and her response was a very enthusiastic yes. She knows.

Sometimes, you have to write things because you have to. I may not actually be able to use this story for any of the regular projects I have going on at the moment. I "may" be able to use the world as a basis for the short for the aforementioned editor's project, but, then again, maybe not.

I love when I "have" to write about a character, or world. Those stories end up being the best and most vivid. In this kind of case, it's more than a new shiny, or some idea, it's a I better write this or shrivel up and die. That's how it feels.

Now, I must toddle off, and write. Oh, nearly forgot to tell you, sent off line items for my full out erotica (this is NOT a HEA, just a lot of hot, hot, hottest sex going on between some sexy people who want each other) and am nearly finished with the short for The War of the Weres Series :) And I think I worked out the next step in Search for Sorren. Yes, it's going to take me a bit to go through each step on this. I can't just poof it out. Sigh. Too bad cuz I'd like to get it off my plate and out to a beta so I could get it to whom I need to get it to.

Editing and Weeding

Sigh. It  has been one of those mornings. I was feeling pretty good. But, I've spent most of my morning making kids do their chores and school. Took a break from edits last night and wrote. I wrote about 2500 words yesterday, probably doubling my month's total. I'd have to go look at earlier blogs to check for sure, but I've spent most of this month editing! Even some of the earlier word counts were from adding in scenes, description, etc while editing.

I EDITED A LOT THIS PAST MONTH. May was edit month because, well, just because. Then June came and OMG it was all about edit this and edit that LOL Well, I'm an editing fool! Editing is a lot like weeding. I told my critique parter, I wanted to be writing, crocheting, and planting. Not, editing, wishing for time, and WEEDING. But, think of how fast the weeds grow in your garden? Or your friends garden if you don't have one. I leave my weeds for a day or two and SLAM! Even averaging 30 minutes a day in weeding upkeep, they get away from me.

Well, same for editing. If I don't spend regular intervals editing, I start getting lazy in my writing and more problems will be there when it's time to edit. And, as has happened in my garden this week when I was too busy (and in too much pain) to do much yardwork and new weeds were introduced, you'll end up with new problems you hadn't noticed before.

There is also a lot of good in weeding. This is the first year we've really gotten this yard under control. For various reasons, the yard has lain fallow for a number of years, not even grass in last few due to flooding having completely ruined the yard. And, when weeding areas I've planted some ground cover, I've also discovered some new wildflowers growing :) It's fun and exciting to find them, especially since I'm sure the seeds had lain there, dormant, until I watered and cared for the area.

Same with editing. You will find unexpectedly good places that you know you wrote, but had somehow forgotten how beautiful they were in context. How, when working really hard at getting this or that skill, unexpected extras happen in your writing. Those moments when you see your book improve, the quality raised another notch. That is what editing is about. A beautiful discovery of gems and sanding and polishing them until they shine, like a rose among the thorns.


I haven't figured out how to write the code so that when you click on my cover of The Ulfric's Mate, it'll go to my publisher's website for order, so I'm going to inlcude the link here (it took me years to figure out how to do THAT much) about once a week :) Thanks to everyone who has already ordered and if you haven't yet, what are you waiting for? :D :D The cover alone is worth the price of admission.

My little darlings.

If you're a writer, then you KNOW I don't mean my kids. I mean special turns of phrases, or specific characters. I have a book out on preorder (as I think the WHOLE world must now know :P) and went through MANY stages of editing. The only one that gave me real trouble was the line item edit, and some of that seems to be "cultural" differences. Most of which, a forward seems to have helped. (Werewolf lore seems to have been mistaken for actual Native American lore. Um, no. Yeah. LOL) I just had to find a few links to add to the geographical information and voila. Not anything difficult. I have no issues cutting things out or rewording them for clarification. I want my reader to see, feel, and hear the whole bit. Now I know you can't please everyone, but I try :) LOL

In fact, even with cutting out whole paragraphs, I almost always end up with more. Yes, even on the edits I did for The Ulfric's Mate. I do believe it started out as 54k+ and change (well it started out as 12k+ if you've been following along lol but the contract was offered on the 54k+ version) and is now nearly 58k. Only 13 words shy. Perhaps I should have made the characters speak more :D LOL

Anyway, whether it's changing the wording, or straight out cutting whole lines or paragraph's, I'm pretty much, *bow to the lovely editor who is the goddess of words* and do what I'm told and try to learn from it. But last night, as I pre-read all the edits and comments before starting up (all the grammar changes are done, now time to dig in with it on paper and FIX this thing), I realized, for the first time, I'm going to have to kill one of my little darlings. The phrasing didn't come across correctly and to explain it longer will bog down the story too much. Sigh. *insert big crocodile tears falling on pages*

It was a bit of a shock to learn that this really is the first time. Don't get me wrong, I've killed off characters I liked (a fact which stalled my book as it completely changed what could happen in second half. I had nothing to fill in the space with :P) although they weren't my special darlings, put them through the wringer, about the only thing I haven't done to a character is make them stupid. I can't abide stupid hero/heroines. I hate them with a passion. In real life, people use intuition and clues to figure things out, otherwise, how would you know when someone was really mad before they say anything?? Ticks me off when a character is too stupid for words. Okay, off that rant.

But this time, I'm going to have to delete it completely. Whoosh. DELETE DELETE DELETE. Say bon voyage, hasta la vista, baby, good bye, gone. *more crocodile tears*

How does that make me feel? Nostalgic, but happy. Yes, despite the big crocodile tears, this makes me feel happy. It is a step in being a published author (which still hasn't sunk in. I mean, I'm working my arse of here. What? I know. Could be worse. Making money crocheting and growing my own food isn't the worst kind of work a person could be doing :P). A step that means, I have arrived at the real starting line, and that all that happened before was just prelim rounds.

I sure hope this horse doesn't mind a fat, albeit slimming down, jockey riding it :)

Editing is for May :)

So, I had to get a WP ID in order to make the stats function on my website work. Instead of just getting an ID I got a blog so I could follow some of the WP peeps I've been wanting to follow and can't through google feed anymore. Well, I was unable to. But, I have the blog, it's the same addy as this one, but instead of blogspot.com it's wordpress.com and I'll be doing duplicate blogs on both. I really dislike WordPress, but since Blogger changed, I really dislike it as well. So might as well join up, eh?

I'm very excited about all that's happening in my writer life. I'm feeling so much better after rereading a couple of books. One thing, I'm waiting for editor friend of mine to post her head hopping versus omniscient POV post then I'm going to link the shit crap out of it.

I get frustrated when I see head hopping comments because sometimes, I KNOW it's an omniscient POV book. That makes it hard as a writer. It's like the passive voice thing. Yeah, we want to avoid 'was' but 'was' is not passive verb in a lot of cases. It's context you have to look at for passive voice. Same with omniscient and head hopping. just cuz you can see more than one person's thoughts, doesn't mean they're head hopping. They're telling a full story!

Grrr. I keep running into that as I'm writing cuz of my own omniscient one I'm editing right now. I started trying to fix the back and forth when I realized I'd sent it to an editor and head hopping was not an issue, ie it is omniscient. So, at least until I finish this, I'm going to be angry about all the head hopping comments/blogs etc that I read that made it hard for me to remember the difference between that and omniscient.  A lot of well off, bestseller writers, write omniscient. (Kay Hooper for example)

Also, did I mention that my "secret" project was accepted J It's a short, partially inspired by my friend Branli on twitter and a drunken night w/ him and his friend Jon, via twitter! I love my twitter friends!! They really do inspire me more than many people can understand.

On the mother front, had a wonderful time watching my son at baseball practice last night, even if it was across a soccer field. He's improved so much! That was only his fourth practice and he's hitting it really far!! Like to the fences J Now if I could get him to work on his school work as hard…

Edward had a blast walking all over with his dad while they went camping J So I think both boys had a good time the last couple of days. Makes it harder to get them moving on to school though. That's what's happening right now. They've done home ec (a lesson on making tomato soup out of paste and how to whip butter) and had grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch. But now comes the boring work…

Isaac is on a terror this AM. He's getting into EVERYTHING so I think he and I will have to do a round of Old McDonald's Farm and work on his animal recognition. Wish me luck as this is a new song I introduced to him during baseball practice last night.

I have felt icky when waking up these last few mornings, but I still ran on Monday with the boys (they did 1.1, I did 2.0)  and today. I'm so glad I went today. I did a personal best of 2.5 miles!! I'm so excited. When I started the couch to 5k (approx 3 miles) I didn't even think I could run a mile, but I did 1.2 miles the first day! Now, I'm consistently 2 or over, so I don't think that going for 5 miles by end of summer is out of the question. I've lost weight, although I have no idea how much, and inches. I know it's inches cuz I can't wear some clothes without them falling off. It was rather distracting this morning, trying to hold my britches up. :P

Yesterday, I had a very productive day on the writing front, editing the short story that's out on Smashwords, then getting it out on kindle with the grammar issues fixed. I also edited 70 pages on another story I'm getting ready for submission. I'm trying to get all these loose ends done so I can concentrate on my novel for Splintered Lands. May do the NaNoWriMo camp in June. That'll help me focus on words again. Anyways, with all I've learned editing The Ulfric's Mate, and Barely There, I've been on a major editing kick. Works great if you have things to edit like I do, but makes it hard for word count as my internal editor is a lot harder to turn off.

I have lots to edit, so I'm kind of making May my edit month here. I'll rerelease Cerisa's Quest (Fantasy) and The Winds of Fire (militaristic romance thriller) by end of June, I think. Hoping to have Cerisa's Quest in next two weeks. It needs the least amount of work. I'm going to go through The Winds of Fire. I'd intended on it being omniscient limited and someone said I was head hopping, so I changed things. Now have to do a little more research into the limited aspect and reread a really good blog, then edit it how I'd intended it to be. Have to find that blog first :P LOL So off to work I go! Hi ho, hi ho…

I did it again.

I kept writing the posts in my head. Honest. But then, by the time I got around to computer time, I'd forget to blog :S lol Well, this week, what have we to tell you?

I did a blurb up, rough draft, for my book coming out July 6th (It's so close!!) called The Ulfric's Mate. (You're either new, or not been reading if you don't know the title and release date, but I still like to say it :) Have to fine tune it. It's a lot like your query. In fact, I used my  query as the starting page.

My book is off to the line item editor, so close to being finished. Little squeaks keep leaving my mouth whenever I think about how close it it to time! I  have a few people who are going to do blogs/giveaway arcs for me :) It's all getting geared up for the big launch!!

I have managed to get in a lot of yardworkd despite having sick children, camping, etc. to do. I've also gotten most of that pesky room redone. Just a few bits on the floor left to sort. Brought in the other boy's dresser and am on 3 of 5 in sorting out his clothes. :) Plus, doing laundry.

One big change I did, was take all the clothes out of 8yo dresser and put them in an open squared cubby hole thing that has 8 cubbies and I can't believe how well it's worked. The 3yo hasn't even messed with it like usual. My 8yo would pull out ALL OF HIS CLOTHES in every drawer when looking for clothes. Drove me batty, made a huge mess and half the time, half-all of the clothes would end up back in the wash! But this new way, he can see everything and make a choice :) He loves it. Thank goodness! It was either going to be a huge hurrah or a freaking bomb. With high functioning autims likely (just need to get through paperwork stuff to see for sure) but similar behaviors already marked, you never know with change.

I've done some editing for CP (have lots more to do!) and did some editing on on old book as my mind is having trouble making my body work. The end of the day, I'm so exhausted from the physical work that I can't get my writing done. At least with the edits, I can do a few pages at a time and feel like I'm getting somewhere. I have written some new words, have lots to map out on this other book. I also need to revamp my book on smashwords with my new editing skills and formatting skills. LOTS OF WORK to do inside and out, but will be loads of fun :)

Planted more beans and roma tomatoes and finally a few flowers :) I got marigolds to keep the animals out of my garden (I've had some problem with getting the leaves chewed off :(( and one of my squach's dug up) the added benefit to that, of course, is they're wonderful in soap :) Hurrah!

I have a column planter my husband made with petunia's in the center at the corner of my tomatoe garden so people don't trip on the boards or smash my plants :) It looks purty. I put the leftover ones at the outside border of the new area I planted w/ roma tomatoes and beans (I'm looking at having a bumper crop of beans!) Will have frozen beans coming out my arse, I think! And tomatoes...oh the tomatoes. Once those start coming... I'm hoping to have over two hundred pounds of them :) think 40 ish plants will work? that's not counting the romas, cherry, or pear toms...I canned over 200 lbs of them the year I was able to really can :)

lettuce is going well :) have some pepper plants, not sure if one's going to make it or not :( Oh well. I have more seeds to plant...this is going to be an interesting year, that's for sure!

How's your garden growing??

Day 18

So, I didn't do so hot advertising yesterday's post. :( *bad Leona. No doughnut!*

Today's assignment is hair. Well, that's easy. But I wondered as to how it would look, but I like the one. I happen to be wearing a headband today. An awesome I love and would cry if I lost it head band.

I love that headband. Sigh.

Anyway, today we did housework, but my back is killing me from the copius amount of yardwork I did yesterday, so the going was slow. Then when I did get outside, I found about six inches of pea gravel in the area I wanted to till up. So I shoveled more rock today.

Then, when I finally decide to start the first round of tilling, I could get the damn thing started, but not run very long. My  back nearly killed me in protest. Grrr. So I gave in for the night, went to Michaels and got chocolate, bead needles and some clearanced prettyies which I'm going to make into jewelry for my author photos. Yep, you read that right :) I found my jewlery. I found some fleur de lis stuff, and real silver to boot... *sings* I'm so excited!

My poor husband's rolling his eyes. But I had a Mary Kay sale out of my stock and I told him I was selling it so we could have money for my clothes, jewelry, & make up cuz we don't have money in the household budget. I gave him 40 bucks for milk, eggs, sour cream, and snacks...and a mocha in the morning :)

So, things lightened up a little bit around here. they're still tight as tight can be, but at least I found my jewelry for author photos!! I'm nearly ready. I would like some nice jeans, crochet cardigan, and a bold shirt. I'm going to make the cardigan (In my spare time, right? LOL) and I'm still watching for jeans. I have cowboy boots, thinking of doing a cowboy hat too :D I did find jumper dresses which I'll do a couple of the head shots in. Crazy. LOL But, I need new photos for my avatars, so here I go :D

As for writing, I'm about a third of the way through my edits-on-paper-input-to-computer step. And I'm ready for the day! Er, night... LOL I work the third shift. And the second. And the latter half of the first... Well, I'm a writer AND a mom... it's not like I get any time off! My run to Michaels? First time I've been there in weeks!!!!

Oh, right, back to the writing. I have gotten my meds and it's taken a week to get anywhere useful, but getting there I am! As I've said, I'm in editing process for the short for the Ravaged anthology for Breathless Presss (insert loud cheers and clapping here! These guys are AWESOME) and I'm trying to get some other writing done to turn into them and pray they lurv it :D

So on Midwife's Moon, I'm kinda stalled at 17,055 cuz of my meds & edits, but watchout boys, here she comes. On the "secret short" I'm working on, I did get a bit done cuz I'm allowed to work on it when not editing. I'm at 8,169. Remember, I started both of these stories after March 25. And I've written on other short and printed out and started edits on a novel I have 55k+ on for Splintered Lands so... I need to quit being so hard on myself. Not so much on here, but at home. I'm very critical of how much writing/cleaning/gardening I get done. Sometimes I forget to take into account how much there is to do! LOLOL

Well, this got REALLY long... so, good night :D

Day 16

I know. Where's 15. Lord knows. LOL The 15th was sunset day and I STILL HAVEN'T GOT A SUNSET even though I thought that day was like DAYS ago LOL Just to prove I have taken a picture of a sunset, which is kind of an entry ritual into becoming even an amateur photogropher, I'm posting an old one:

Ocean Shores, WA

 My husband and I went to Mercer Island for a work thing for me and we decided, hey, let's go to Ocean Shores...we arrived just about sunset. It was beautiful. I don't have all of the pics I took then posted here. A couple I don't plan on selling as prints, but may end up painting. We'll see. I offer one of the other one's for sale from my Etsy shop. Which reminds me, I'd better check if it's still listed. :/

A painting by me.

Well, today's assignment was a flower. So I took a pic of the first O'keefe inspired painting I ever did. :D We had just finished a section which included O'keefe in art class. That was when I made a big jump in my art skills. She speaks to me. Apparently it was noticeable, since my professor asked, "So, how long you been channeling Georgia?" LOL He'd taught me off and on over the years as I could afford the class. I'd like to take another class from him. Indepnedent Study. Le sigh.

Anyway, I love this style of painting. I'm not sure why, but I do. This was done with a pallette knife exclusively. My first for that as well. I'd used it in bits and pieces before this. But not exclusively. Tomorrow's assignment is easy--too easy. There's going to be too many choices and I'll end up freezing not sure what to choose.

I'm writing. *thunderous applause* yay!! got over my uncertainty, then lost my rhythm, but found my rythym again!! Yay!! so, between yardwork and backpain, I'll be plugging away and getting not only edits, but writing done!! Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. :D I love finding my writing groove!

New website is up!

So I posted on my new website :D Yes, yes I did! A comedy erotica. It's on it's own page with a don't read if you're under 18 disclaimer. I've already gotten some good feedback on the story. It is funny! www.leonajbushman.com

I'll be doing more shorts and a even a serial for my fantasy friends :D I'll take requests even :D Can't promise I'll be able to fill all the many and varied requests I get, but I'll try :D

I've had a couple orders on my etsy which I'm very glad I started :D It's inspired my husband and family to do things as well. My son, who already had started making pictures to buy as soon as I mentioned the idea to my husband, went into a frenzy of picture making. We've also done a class project with the laminator after my husband was inspired to make pics with clip art for the baby's drawers to help everyone keep it straight and teach him what things are.

I've also found some good feedback and help with it that reminded me at a time I sorely needed it that I have friends. Good friends! They may be from the bowels of cyberspace, but they've proven truer and more real to me than some closer at hand. (I have a couple close by as well so don't think I'm dissing on you!)

I have finished putting the paper edits on the paranormal I need to turn into a novella/novel along with the notes of where to add scenes into the computer. That sentence needs editing, but for the life of me I can't think of how else to say it. Anyways, I've also edited severely for like the hundreth time chapter one of Gal Friday Noir as well as a rewrite, and started the tense fixing of the rest of the novel. Found some good tricks as well :D Should be ready by the time an agent actually asks for a full anyway LOL

I love being so productive. Tomorrow I'll go through the paranormal on paper again and start writing scenes by hand. I shall have to be careful of my writing as I could barely read the chicken scratch I used last time!! I have become so adept at cyber writing that my handwriting skills have suffered. No more! I tell you. NO more! I shall have lovely handwriting skills. *stops for the laughter to die down* I can dream, ya' know.

I've already got the traitor mapped out etc because I was going to use it in a sequel anyway. See, when I wrote this short, i'd intended it to be a series of shorts over this one story. The things the editor has asked me to put in are things I'd plan on addressing in future works. So it's only a matter of getting them written and inserted at the proper place. A huge chunk will go in middle and at the end. But I'm flirting with the idea of having a few chapters from the POV of "the bad guys" which is why I'm doing another paper edit so soon. I think it'll help me find the appropriate places for chapter breaks and inserts.

Anyway, my child is actually asleep at 10:46 pm with no movie or coercing. Score 1 for MOM :D and DAD LOL so I think I'm going to hit the hay a little early tonight!! I hope everyone's day goes well and you all are productive where you want to be.

PS don't forget about my website :D love to see you there!

Is stress stopping you?

So after posting my Friday excerpt, I read it. And guess what I found? Errors. Yep. That's the problem with changing tenses :P

Oh well, I think I fixed them. We shall see. Waiting to hear from the lovely Anne-Mhairi or my other reader who was kind enough to explain all the POV issues. I'm trying to convince myself I'm not going to destroy this one during edits which is my worst quality as a writer. I have a paranormal that I have specific recommendations of what to do (not put an i her or an e here but add to this part of the story, etc.) and I'm afraid of messing that up as well LOL

I need to breathe and do it. Part of the problem is my family really needs the money, so I'm feeling the pressure twice as bad. I can't afford to mess up my two best stories I have going on right now.

Anyone out there have that problem? Does money or time pressure you into being afraid of messing up? For me it's not time, but I've heard that can be bad. Share with me your stories and what you do to decrease your stress-besides eating chocolate. I can't do that 24/7. My hips have vetoed that option! lol What do you all do to relieve stress?

She's alive!

Now, usually, I use that to mean I only fell off the ends of the earth, or had a really hard time I've recently come back from.

Nope, not this time. This time, it's literal. My daughter is alive. Why is that a big deal? Here's the story...

Out of the blue, I get a real live phone call from my text loving, zillion words a second, daughter. I already know something is up. So, then, in that voice that means she knows I'm not going to like what she says, she says, "How are you mom? How's everyone?"

If you're a parent, or close to a child, that voice combined with that non-sequitor is bad. Very bad. But, I play along. Sort of.

"We're all fine. What's up?" I ask her. Then she starts with the hemming and hawing. "I'm fine, we're fine, um, yes, but I'm fine."

Now my mother's heart is going OH SH**. I'm trying to let her tell me her way, but it is hard.

"When we left the roads were fine," she finally gets out. Silence on my end. I knew it wasn't good.

"We were going to his (bf) mom's house for holiday things, you know. And, well, um..." I decide to help her when she stalls again.

"Where does his mom live again?"

"Spokane. So we, like, um,"

Okay, I have to tell you, she uses um to usually mean I'm being an idiot, or to stall giving me really bad news. Notice the ums? And I'm editing for clarity...

"We, um, the roads looked fine. But, um, we hit black ice. We went off the left side into the ditch. And um,"

Now, I'm ready to burst in with questions, but she had to go add the 'and, um' to her story. I'm positively speechless. There's more?

"See, Justin (bf name) told me to get out of the car. I know the cops usually say to stay in your car, but I got out." her words are rushing now. And she's still using this tone of voice that I haven't heard from her in years.

"And all of the sudden a truck is heading towards us. It smashed into the passenger side of the car, right where I was sitting!"

OMG let me tell you, my heart is no longer beating a staccato, it is frozen in my throat.

"You're lucky you weren't hit anyway," I finally choke out.

"We started running as fast as we could in the snow. So, yeah. I've had my holiday excitement for the year."

"I guess so! I'm glad you're okay. Where are you?"

"Spokane, we were just past..." names an exit close to Spokane.

"I'm glad you're okay," I say.

And as she starts to speak, her phone dies.

My daughter, she should go to law school. She loves to argue semantics. I don't know how much arguing she actually did with him. But the point is, she got out first. Probably saved her life. For sure saved her body from grievous injury.

Whatever happens from this point on, she's had her Christmas Miracle.

I was so relieved that she was okay that I spent the night editing little bits, and playing twitter big bits :D I'm back to editing, and already tired :( Need sleep, and caffeine. But I'm happy with how the editing is going. Still have over 100 pages to go on current page count. Probably be closer to another 150 before I'm finished. Sigh.

Funny thing is, before I broke my glasses, I liked editing. Now it's harder than it used to be. :) Well, back to the editing process and trying to be a good mom and alpha female...

I'm baaack

Today, I went Christmas shopping. My husband got his Christmas Bonus in the shape of a gift card. I'm not going to say the amount he got, but it wasn't large. I was happy it was anything. This is first job either one of us has had that has given any bonus. So we went shopping.

I hate shopping. We ended up saying we will get x or x if there are still any. The next payday is the Friday before Christmas. We ended up getting a stool. (I am short!) garbage bags and a miter tool for making frames, etc.

My husband is making shelves so that I can get my canvases put up, so they will hopefully quit getting destroyed. Also, it will give me more organizational room in the craft/sewing/art room. Hopefully, when this round is done, I will quit losing large $$ amounts in things to mice (number 1 culprit) dogs, kids, and the cat. I will also hopefully quit losing large amounts of time to having to clean/organize the new mess! That is what I am hoping for. I need that time, either for writing or for relaxing. I am so far behind on cleaning and relaxing :)

Catching up, though, catching up. :)

Last night, while baby took nap, I was able to get at least 12 pages of post-beta reader edits done. In doing so, I ended up 200 words ahead! And that's with erasing some things. Like had. Too, too many hads... I love having a beta reader who can explain. It's like having a doctor who can explain. It's awesome. It is the first real progress I've made on my writing since the computer crashed, and let me tell you, IT. FELT. GOOD. :D so good. I love writing. It's in my blood. I think, being creative is in my blood. Anytime being creative is withheld from me, I feel imprisoned.

Now, I have the scent. I have some really good ideas and know where I'm needing to go. I can't wait for it to be finished. My wish now, that I had glasses...