Good choices

The one thing I pray for without thinking twice is to make good choices. How do we know when we're making bad choices? Well, some of them are rather obvious. For instance, "Maybe I shouldn't have another martini while my ex-boyfriend is here with the Super Bitch." However, some choices are a little more tricky. Should I take that new job? Should I invest in a new floor for my living room? Should I yell at my kid just ONE more time for forgetting her spelling words for the third time this week? There are a lot of unknowns in life and not a lot of direction. We are, essentially, flying blind for most of it, praying our asses off, and crossing our fingers before jumping off of the cliff.

That's how I felt yesterday when I decided to table the 70,000 word manuscript that was viciously, unexpectedly chopped down to 53,000 words before my very eyes. Owie. I just knew, knew, I could not go through those 17,000 words again right away. So much of me went into those words. It felt worse than an amputation. I was devastated.

But I sighed, swallowed, had a cup of coffee, watched She's All That (because it was brainless, and I didn't have to focus), then decided to continue with the series I started last spring. All the while, I had no idea if I was condemning my writing career by not finishing what I was working on right away, which I am a big believer in.

As of today, I can tell you: GOOD CHOICE.

I sat down and started writing my little heart out. It was like I never left that world. Maybe I never did, because the MS I tabled was always harder to write than the series. I feel vindicated. I coughed out 2,000 words like it was nothing, and I intend to do so every day for the next several weeks. The first one in the series was written in eight weeks. I am not pressuring myself to do the same with RC, but I can feel that same fire. Watch out, world. This is big.

Big set back, big step forward?

So, you know how life hands you lemons? Some of you are saying, "Lemons would be a fucking improvement." I hear you. My whole year has been like that, and I'm really looking forward to 2012, just to see if anything will be different.

Yesterday, I woke in a great mood. I had slept well. I left the house early, rather than on time. I even got parking only a block away from my building. Sweet! I was on the right track. When I came to work, one of the building staff was busy waxing my floor for me. How nice!

How deceptive!

It wasn't until around three in the afternoon that I discovered that my thumb drive, which had been plugged into the front facing USB port on my computer, was in pieces! That's right. I suspect, though I have no proof, that the thoughtful staff member that had been working on my floors bumped the computer tower. Now the thumb drive isn't even recognized by my computer. And yes, I did go visit the Super IT Dudes across the hall. It's gone. And, along with it, 10,000+ words of my WIP, which I was really struggling with. AGGGGH! (In that Charlie Brown voice.)

Then, I made a decision. I'm tabling my WIP. I was really having to struggle with it, anyway. Far more than I ever struggled with the second book. So, take a little nap, my WIP. All 53,000 words will still be waiting for me when I return.

Then I was fine. Exuberant, even! I can finally return to the series I started last spring, the one that has been calling my name continually in my head, making it hard to focus on my WIP! So I'm reading through the first MS now, making changes, looking at it through eyes cleansed by time. I'll be back, WIP. For now, onward and upward. I'm super excited.

Then she tells someone, then he tells two people. Then they tell two people.

It's amazing how quickly a book is born. It's appalling how slow the growth is. The trick is, I've learned, word of mouth. So I say this to all my fellow writers, pimp that book. Give it away. Leave it in waiting rooms. Hand it to friends at your kid's gymnastics lessons. Seriously. Write a little note in the book that says, "If you liked this book, please rate it at Amazon.com." Less than a month after the birth of my print edition, I've received 39 feedback ratings, for a total of 4.5 stars. Wowza! Really? Wow! Not what I expected. Is the book good? Yeah, it's good. But, for me, it's a year old already. Porter House is my first novel. I'm writing my third novel right now. For me, Porter House is a thing of the past.

Still, I have to admit that it was super duper fun to read through Porter House again for the first time in nearly a year. I found out that I like it as an audience member. My characters drew me in, just like they did when they flitted into my mind, begging to be written about. It was a bit refreshing and liberating to know that I'll be able to, at some point, read all of my books like an audience member. Now...back to writing :)