I was tagged by Nina for this. I rarely do memes but since I don’t have anything else more useful to post on my blog today, here it goes!

Here are the rules:

Go to page 7 or 77 in your current manuscript
Go to line 7
Copy down the next seven lines as they are – no cheating
Tag 7 other authors

It’s not much taken out of context, but this is from Exactly Where They’d Fall page 77, one of Amelia’s chapters:

She [Piper] wanted to switch tents so she could bunk with Tom, which left Amelia only men to bunk with, most of them being strangers – liberal and forward-thinking as Amelia might have been, that was just not going to work. But there was also Drew. “Come on, it’s Drew,” Piper said. “You guys are friends. He’s not going to assault you or anything.” She paused then, a very serious consideration, nodding her head. “He might dream about you naked though.”

He he. That’s the start of one of my favorite scenes in the book!

And also, I don’t like tagging people. It makes me feel icky, lol! I don’t want anyone to not be tagged and feel left out. So if you’re reading this, consider yourself tagged! And post a link here in the comments if you do one, so I can read it!

daylight savings time:

The clock has dust on it; I notice this as I take it down to change the time. One hour lost. Who dusts their clocks? I don’t have time to dust my bathroom of all its toilet tissue fluff. I’m lucky if I have time to clean the toilet at all. The bathroom mirror is speckled with dried water from toothbrushes and face washes. The counter top is wiped; at least there’s that. The round vanity light bulbs are mismatched, two compact fluorescent and two (standard) ones. Time moves forward without stopping. Before you know it, you can’t even remember what old-fashioned light bulbs were called.

So begins a new 52 weeks project! (Just a few weeks late… how did it become March already!?)

This year’s project is much simpler than the last. No finding story excerpts to set up. Just a few simple minutes of my time, once a week, one “interesting” spot, and noticing things. (Note that “interesting” will be subjective, obviously – whatever is interesting to me at the time. I’ll try to adventure a little further than my messy bathroom next time, lol!) (more…)

With the indie author hat comes a great responsibility. If you have the power to bring any words you want to the world, then you shoulder the WHOLE responsiblity of making sure they’re the best words you have to give.

Self publishing is not the easy way out. Sure, it *can* be easy if you’re doing it wrong – and yes, lots of people will do it wrong – but to do it right takes a great deal of self-discipline (even more self-discipline than it takes to publish traditionally, since the only deadlines and bars set for you will be your own). It takes a lot of stubborn-headed persistence and a little bit of idealistic hope.

And maybe some insanity too.

But most of all it takes the responsibility to know when something is ready, or when it’s not. (more…)

Need to do some edits… pour coffee #1, might as well get Tumblr, Pinterest, and Facebook out of the way… coffee #2, okay now work, chapter 4.2, read it, one scene, push a few commas around… what’s the weather like out there? (wouldn’t know because I haven’t even opened the blinds yet today – haven’t gotten out of my robe yet either)… oh, edits *clicks back to manuscript*… read a chapter that is not 4.2, push around different commas… could at least work on some blog posts, stare at them, push some commas around… *song on the TV* oh hey, I like that, wonder if it’s on iTunes?… somehow magically end up on FLICKR swiping pictures that look like Leila, who is not even really IN THIS BOOK… WRONG BOOK!… coffee #3, chapter 4.2, stare at it, stare at revision notes, revision notes look like a big brick wall with holes in it… maybe feeling more visually artistic today, think about painting something instead, go to art space… art space is near the kitchen… make lunch… pour coffee #4, get stuck rereading chapter 2.5 – oh yes, that one is still my favorite, that one doesn’t even need much work at all… unlike 4.2, which is DEFINITELY not my favorite… get on Twitter to complain… contemplate coffee #5 but probably shouldn’t… feel bad about having not gone out for a walk on such a sunny day… child is coming home in an hour… read chapter 4.2 again, note two more things that need fixing but actually fix nothing… the big brick wall is infinitely big… push around a couple more commas… have complained enough on Twitter so decide to complain into a blog post instead.

At least the blog is updated?

A book title poem, for Annie.

This was much, much fun! Everyone should try it!

Bad Behavior

Jane sexes it up.
Bad behavior
for
broken angels.
Normal people don’t live like this.

The life before her eyes
was
the odyssey,
and
then we came to the end.

Black tickets
on
the road
to
where the wild things are.

Today I have a guest on my blog! Jenna’s newest book is Off Leash, which looks like a really charming and fun read! It’s currently waiting for me on my to-read pile. I’ve read her first book, Healing Touch, and loved it. Today she’s here to tell us about some of her first publishing experiences, where she’s come from and where she is today.

Welcome Jenna!

A Look Back

Hi, Laura. Thanks so much for having me on your blog. I love hanging out with other authors and readers.

I thought I would talk a little bit about my self-publishing experience since you are on the cusp of putting out your first book. Wow – congrats!! To me it seems like a million years ago, but it was only a few years.

Healing Touch is my first title and it was released in October of 2009. A couple years later I finished Off Leash. If only I knew then what I knew now. Ha ha.

I remember uploading my ebook and instantly jumping over to my reports page. I thought for sure it would spin like an odometer. No, no it didn’t. Sales were slow in coming. Back then there weren’t any freebies to compete with, but still things were slow.

My title was one of approximately 400,000 available on Amazon US. I think the last time I checked there were over 1.3 million ebooks listed. Amazon UK didn’t even exist!

Sales were slow and I made some bad mistakes right out of the gate. I plugged my book in forums that didn’t allow it, sent goofy spam email to bloggers, and basically made a fool of myself. At the time there were only a handful of indie authors. Writers today have so many more resources – books, blogs, forums, and groups. Lucky you!

Despite the slow start and the mistakes, I had some great experiences in the last few years. I received nice feedback from readers on my work and made lots of wonderful online friends. Sometimes the smallest things sent me flying. A few months after Healing Touch was published, a reader contacted me through Goodreads and asked, “Where can I find your other books? I want to read them all.” You have no idea how thrilled that made me.

There are lots of ups and downs as well as hard work but the little flashes of excitement keep me going. This is an image of a moment I will cherish forever. It is a screen shot of the Amazon UK ebook ranking page. Note the title BELOW mine.

Sigh. If only it would last.

Good luck with your release, Laura. I’m sure it will do great. I hope you find as much pleasure with this experience as I have.

If readers want to find me on the web they can read about my titles here on my website.

I also have a book blog called The Book Snoop.

And if you really want more of me you can check me out on Twitter.

- Jenna Anderson

If you remember back in this post, I promised a “part 2″ to my self-publishing mini-series, and yes, that’s still coming. First though, I need to retreat to my editing cave. I’m passing off my final, FINAL draft to my proof-readers NEXT WEEK! (OMG, right?) We’re like, almost there, people!

I could panic just thinking about it, which is why I’m trying not to think about it too hard, lol!

I’ve finally uploaded the rest of my Traverse City pics from last summer – the deep blue waves, the sand so white you can just tell it would be so warm and smooth between your toes. They’re very relaxing to look at, so go check those out!

So, for now, I have a guest coming to my blog tomorrow! Jenna Anderson will be here, and it’ll be my very first time hosting a visitor on my little corner of the internet, so I hope you’ll all stop by to say hello and make her feel very welcome.

Then on Friday, I’m going to start my preview series for Exactly Where They’d Fall, and you’ll get to read the whole first chapter for free! I’m going to try out Scribd for reading. Seems like a really nice reading and sharing platform. And from there, if you don’t want to read it online, I believe you can download it as a PDF and read it on your e-reader! Or hey, print it on paper too if you want!

The preview series will be the first five chapters of the book, one of them posted (for free!) every Friday leading up to Release Day!

Also, I’m not sure if it goes without saying or not, but in the weeks to come, with the preview series, or any blog entries of substance, and on Release Day of course, I would appreciate any and all sharing or FB liking or reblogging or retweeting you might feel like doing. It’s a big job, and I’m one little woman. I feel stupid and cheesy typing “PLS RT” after every Tweet or whatever, so I won’t, but just know that if you do, I’ll love you forever and ever and ever!

So if you don’t see me much on Twitter or Facebook or wherever these next couple weeks, you’ll know what I’m up to. After I get this proofing draft out to my very gracious proofreaders, I’ll have some more time for blogging again, and I’ll follow up with that “part 2″ of the self-publishing series. And making other fun goodies for Release Day, like bookmarks and key chains!

But for now, into the editing cave with me! Deep breath and think of a happy place…

This is not going to be a post about what I think you should do – you’re the only one who can answer that for you – but this is a post about what I’ve decided to do, and why. It seems, since we all have these choices now, people feel inclined to vocalize what choices they’ve made. It’s become something akin to mommy wars – bottle feeding or breast, working or stay-at-home – which isn’t always a good thing. It splits us more often than it unites us. Has there ever been a time authors have been so split? Indie on one side, traditional on the other?

In any case, we feel inclined to talk about the choices we make, and that’s what I’m doing here. It’s something big and exciting for me – the most exciting change in my life since I became a mom. It is like becoming a mom all over again, the anticipation of launching my paper baby in a few more weeks. Less diaper-changing required, though paper babies do oddly require middle-of-the-night feedings sometimes.

the indie author hat:

It’s sort of funny how the industry has changed in just the twelve months since I first drafted this post. (And now you’re thinking: Who the hell keeps a blog draft hanging around for twelve months?!? Well, I do, lol!) When I first drafted this post, it was February last year. A little bird whispered the idea of indie publishing in my head – that bird was my friend Nina, so if you want to blame someone, I guess you can blame her. (more…)

It’s shocking to me how little I’ve managed to say publicly about this book so far, especially when I used to say so much about previous projects. I have my reasons – gun-shy about all those half-written books I didn’t finish (yet), which made me worry I’d never finish a project. That I was incapable.

I’m not incapable, I know now. I just had to find “the right one”, catch the right timing. Everything is kind of like dating, you know?

I’ve also got a great group of girls to babble to about it in private, and I find that’s a much safer option in the early stages of a project.

All that said, I can’t really say this book is in its infancy anymore. If a book was like a child, it wouldn’t even be a snotty pre-schooler, or a moody middle-schooler who thinks she knows everything. It might be a high schooler, that I’ve taught everything I know, and that I’m about to ship out into the real world, ready to stand on her own two legs. Oh how I hope she’ll make me proud! (Okay, that analogy is spent.)

Exactly Where They’d Fall is about many things: friendship, love, betrayal, trust. It’s the story of a group of friends – mainly Jodie, Drew, and Amelia – and what loyalties they owe to each other, or don’t. (more…)

Best Song: “Someone Like You” by Adele

This was one of the “soundtrack” songs I played on repeat while I wrote Exactly Where They’d Fall this year, so maybe I have a more emotional reason for considering it my favorite. If anyone was ever curious to know how my book feels in song form – it feels like that. Ouch, huh?

Gorgeous song though. I couldn’t get enough of it, even as much as they splashed it all over the radio.

Best New Toy: my Canon Rebel t3i

Best Date: we didn’t have enough of them, but dinner along the Occoquan River on Not-Rapture day – do you remember Not-Rapture Day, lol! May 21st, 2011 – the air was abuzz with hilarity and we were child-free for four hours. 6:00pm rolled around and nobody dissipated into thin air. We wondered briefly if maybe we just didn’t make the list… but then it seemed nobody made the list.

Best TV Show: this was the year I fell in love with Shameless (UK version). It’s not new to most people, but it was new to me.

Best thing that would have been totally awesome had it actually panned out: I started to do an online boating course as novel research, with the plans to buy an actual boat this spring. After finding the info I needed for the book, I never did finish the course. I will though. Because I totally want a boat!

And yes, we’ll then own a boat before we own a house. But that’s okay. Maybe we’ll just live on the boat and float around the world and never have to pick a place to stay?

Best Movie: Biutiful. This is a 2010 film we rented on Netflix. OMG, bawl my eyes out!

Best Place We Visited: This was a close call. I went to some pretty amazing places for the first time this year – Bath, in England. Seeing the clouds sink down into the Shenandoah Valley! Truly spectacular places to see. But after all the hype I’ve been hearing from friends over the years, we finally made a trip up to Traverse City, MI.

Fell in love, people!

Nevermind the fact that it’s hours away from almost everything (or well, maybe that’s *why* it’s such a treasure?) The charming town, the oil and vinegar shop, the popcorn, the little-bitty-almost mountains, the forests, the breakfast shop with the awesome omelets and the good coffee creamers, the farmer’s markets, the earthy people – there’s a lady with a coffee shop who gave a cookie with every cup of coffee, and she gave Dylan a toy with his orange juice! OMG.

And the water! The warm sand, and hot sun, and that icy, icy cold, royal blue water.

Love. That is all. <3

(I also kept thinking, it’s because we’re in tourist season, isn’t it? Maybe they all turn into frozen vampires once September rolls around. I’d like to believe not though.)

Best Book: Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close

Best New Addiction: Tumblr. Tumblr is so fun! I started up about three of them in seven seconds, lol! Combine Tumblr and Sims and you get a Simblr = OMG indestructible. Many a great moment have been lost to Simblrs!

Best Hippie Idea: Coloring hair with henna. I’ve been meaning to try it for a long time, but only got around to it this year. It’s fun to read about how to mix different colors for dyes.

Best New Pipe-Dream: indie authordom, for sure!

(Narrowly beating out my whimsical 5-year plan to buy a house in Traverse City?)

Best Accomplishment: finishing a whole novel! Beginning, middle, end, finished! Not 40% of a book. Not 85% of a first draft, with notes for an ending. A whole book.

I can finish things, people! I can!

And then I finished two more drafts of revisions on it too!

Happy New Year everyone! Here’s to a super awesome 2012!