progress

Latest state of the self report:

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I was late to the day job this morning (second day in a row) because I got sucked into the revisions of Man Bites World again. Luckily, my supervisor was late, too. We rode up on the elevator together.

Yesterday at dinner, my wife started talking about our plans for this evening–we’ll be checking out the gingerbread house displays downtown, as well as having a nice dinner and maybe ride the Westlake holiday carrousel. I’d completely forgotten about those plans. This morning, when I called her from my desk to catch up with whatever, I’d completely forgotten about them again. Note to self: don’t take the usual bus home tonight.

Anyway, Newtonmas is next week. The boy’s birthday party is this weekend. Shopping is not finished. MBW is still not finished, although I expect to have a draft I can send to my agent very, very soon. Unfortunately, I can’t work on it this Saturday because of the party.

Did I mention my trip to the dentist? I had a cavity that needed filling, and while it was the best visit I’ve had in a long, long while (a new guy took over this practice and I think he’s great) it was still a lot of added stress and pain.

I’m also criminally behind on my sleep. What this all adds up to is that I’m stressed, exhausted, forgetful, and negligent of my own needs. I can’t keep more than three things in my head at once (and the health care reform bills insist on being one of them no matter how annoying the news gets), and I spend most of my time feeling slightly sick.

So you can imagine my state of mind this morning when I received an invitation to Norwescon. Actually, you don’t have to imagine it. It was Oh, hell no.

For those who don’t know, I’ve never been to a sf convention. I’ve been avoiding them partly because of cost and partly because they seem to be large social events full of people who already know each other. I don’t do well in crowds and I’m not comfortable with big groups of strangers.

Also, just yesterday I was reading Booklife by Jeff Vandermeer (btw: I’m reading Booklife and it’s interesting. More on that later) and he said it was best for authors to skip the types of promotion that make them uncomfortable.

“Perfect!” I didn’t say out loud on the bus. “I guess I don’t have to mingle with large crowds of strangers now!”

But then this email came today, and I’m currently over-fucking-whelmed with crap and you know what? I’m going to go anyway.

What the hell. It’s not until April, and considering my crazy schedule I will only be able to attend on Saturday, but the truth is that it scares me and makes me uncomfortable, and that’s reason enough to give it a go. The real downside is going to be the loss of my most productive writing day. Whatever. Once I do it, I can say I did it and never do it again.

They’re asking me to be on programming, which is a big huh? but okay. They’re also asking me to list people I don’t want to be on a panel with. I’m tempted to make up a name to two as a joke, but maybe they don’t have time for that. How am I supposed to know who to avoid?

Anyway, as grim as this post sounds, everything will be fine. I just have to buckle down a bit more and make sure I stick with sensible choices (for instance, going to bed when I’m stressed out instead of wandering my apartment like a ghost). But all this is doable and my wife has been very understanding. I just have to get through it.

Sorry this post is so long.

On the perils of being well-rested

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Saturday, I worked on Man Bites World. I had a good day, but I didn’t finish. Afterward, I met my family for dinner at a little Greek place and we caught two buses to Green Lake. Well, after three long, draining days of story revisions, I was a little too befuddled to appreciate the evening lights along the path around the lake, and the musicians (including a very large ukulele band playing “Rocking Around the Christmas Tree”). It was a long trip across town and there was, as usual, pain.

I returned home exhausted and slumped off to bed at 9pm. I woke up on Sunday at 7 am. Great, right?

Except I’m a night person. I keep an early schedule because of near-continual exhaustion, and without that exhaustion I can’t sleep. I was up until 3:30 last night. (What I should have done is more revision, but I knew if I started that I would never ever go to bed.)

Yay for a screwed up day! I strongly suspect I’ll be back on my old schedule tonight.

I’m back in the Starbucks again

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… but I’m about to leave. The section I’m revising is going to come out much shorter now, which is a good thing, since I’m 11K over the word count I promised. It doesn’t matter in a substantial way, but it makes me less anxious.

But I’ll be getting up in about five minutes to head to the library for another interview, and this time it may be on video. Maybe not, but maybe. I shaved, just in case.

Nervous? Me? No!

Update: No video! Phew! It went pretty well, I think. I went fumble mouth once or twice, but it wasn’t too bad.

Writing marathon, day two.

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I’ve had my first pint of coffee, caught up on (most of) my email, and skimmed my LJ friends list (thank you f-list). I decided not to dabble in today’s internet outrage, mainly because I don’t see why this is a big deal. Publishers have always released hardbacks first, then other editions later. If readers want to pay less, they have to wait.

I certainly do. While I am no longer clinging desperately from a slender sapling over the Cliffs of Bankruptcy, I still can’t afford to buy hardbacks. Earlier this week, I rushed to the new books section of B&N to pick up a copy of A Young Man Without Magic by Lawrence Watt-Evans (and to count the copies of Child of Fire they still had on the shelf–I know. I suck.) I’ve been waiting for this book for a while now, and when I saw it was a hardback, I had to put it back. That sucks for the author, but what can I do about it? Even trade paperbacks are a strain right now.

But for readers with the cash and the urgent desire to read now!, they can have the book in an expensive format.

As for e-books, it’s another format–and less profitable, too, especially since Amazon.com has been slashing prices so hard. Why is it such a shock that publishers are delaying their release? Various commenters in the linked post above claim that, if the e-book release is not the same day as the hardback, they will forget about it completely, which seems pretty doubtful to me. You also see the usual “I guess they want to encourage piracy!” statements, which isn’t worth addressing.

Also in the comments there, I believe I’ve seen the first instance in the historical record of a dedicated e-book reader stating that they would be willing to pay hardback prices for their e-books. Mark the date!

Jane at Dear Author thinks e-book buyers are “being punished” because of the ongoing price wars, which is not only wrong, but way too personal. Not being able to have the thing you want when you want it is not punishment.

It’s possible all this will change. It’s possible that someday movies will be released into movie theaters, on DVD, and on Netflix streaming on the same day. I guess. I’m just not particularly upset at having to wait for an edition I can afford, and I suspect that, in time, e-book audiences won’t be, either.

Added later: Or is it all about reining in Amazon.com?

Now, back to Man Bites World. I mentioned in a general way that yesterday was a productive day, but damn am I grateful for YouTube and its videos of “demonstration fires.” How did writers survive before the internet?

I still have fixes that need doing, but conceptually I think I have a handle on them. Now it’s just a matter of going through and addressing everything in square brackets (not to mention smooth out that prose. Christ.)

It’s 8pm

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And they’re about to kick us all out of the library.

That was a good day’s work.

Here I am

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I’m sitting in Starbucks on a day when I’d normally be at Day Job. I’ve taken two days off this week to work on Man Bites World. Hopefully, I’ll have it close enough to done that I can send it to my agent on Saturday or Monday.

Research has been concluded (I hope). Internet squabble dabbled in.

Time to work.

Dammit.

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Everything takes too long, including revisions.

Interview this morning

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I have an interview with the folks at Seattle Geekly in about an hour. Meanwhile, I’m trying to fix a scene in Man Bites World that makes perfect sense in every way except the emotional. I’m trying to figure out how these two guys feel about each other right now, and their past is so complicated that… Oh! I know!

Update: Interview went well, I think. Nice people.

Everything gets in the way.

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I’m itching to be finished with Man Bites World, but things keep getting in the way. Today it was an old lady at Starbucks who said: “Can I ask you a question, please?” and when I said yes, started on a string of inquiries about my Mac Book, PCs, viruses, wireless, etc. etc. She was a sweet lady, but a little odd. Her voice reminded me of the sound a balloon makes when you stretch the opening tight and let air out a bit at a time. By the time she left, I’d completely lost my train of thought and had to pack up anyway.

The day before I had computer troubles. The day before *that* I missed my morning work time and, while trying to do a quick lunch hour session at the back table, was joined by the biggest extrovert in the office. He just couldn’t bear to sit quietly reading a book while I was there to talk to.

And I’ve learned that it just doesn’t pay to tell people to shove off, especially at day job.

Tomorrow I hope to have a lot more quiet and be much more productive.

In which I go to a party

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A party of sorts, at least. Tonight after work I’ll be heading to 15th Ave Coffee and Tea for Cherie Priest’s BONESHAKER party. Details! I won’t know anyone there, which is usually a red flag for Socialization Fail, but who knows? Maybe this time my internal (conversation) editor will be a mere whisper.

If you live in the Seattle area and like steampunk/zombie/Seattle-apocalypse books, come buy a book and give me a hello. I look like this.

In other news, progress on Man Bites World continues. I really like this book, but this has to be the most ragged first draft I’ve written since well, my previous book. It has a small(er) cast of characters (which will be a huge relief to my agent and editor, I’m sure) and the story is more personal. All good. I just need to freaking finish it and get it out of my life.