It's Been A While!

You may have noticed I haven't posted much since my last entry stating I'd completed my first draft of Sibylline Nights.

That's because I've been taking a well deserved break. I've been knocking around some fanfiction ideas with a friend, and playing Sims 3. Not working is bliss!

I was taking a break, but this week Hubby is away on a business course and has no one to run his video game news and reviews site, VideoGamesInteractive, so I've been writing up news articles for him on there. It's a scary process, as I've never written non-fiction before, but I seem to be doing well. He hasn't threatened to divorce me yet!!

Though of course my novel is never far from my mind.

Although I've got a way to go yet, publishing has been in my thoughts a lot recently.

Something I've wondered about for many years now is the merits of traditional publishing versus self-publishing.

A few nights ago Kyra Lennon and I were talking, and I linked her to this article about an author who dumped her publishing company, because she didn't like how they were representing her books, and has gone back to self-publishing.

One of the things both Kyra and I agreed upon is when self-publishing you're 100% in control.

But is that always a good thing? Sometimes don't you need an editor to pull you into line?

On the flip side though, are editors always right? I've seen a few published books that make me question how they've gotten on the shelves, and even some of my favourite series have moments where the editing hasn't done the books any favours.

And of course, with traditional publishing you're likely to make more money, and possibly get an advance. Plus editors, people to market your book etc. are easier to find.

With self-publishing everything is off your own back. I'd love to hear from successful self-published authors about if they've actually made a decent living from their writing, and how they go about finding editors, cover designers and ways of marketing their books.

It seems during my "break" I've missed out on a lot of blog posts, so I'm going to try and catch up in the next few days, in time for Kyra and Rachel's WiP: The Movie Blogfest.

First, on Kyra's blog I came across the Lucky 7 meme by Jaycee DeLorenzo.

Here are the rules:

1. Go to page 77 of your current MS.

2. Go to line 7.

3. Copy down the next 7 lines - sentences or paragraphs - and post them as they're written. No cheating.

4. Tag 7 authors.

5. Let them know.

"If its any consolation you've lasted a lot longer than many people in your circumstances would. I've seen so many witches with newly awakened powers just crash and burn."

"How was it for you when yours manifested?"

"Scary. It took me years to get use to it."

"I can only imagine how seeing dead relatives would feel."

"You've been thinking about them a lot recently, haven't you?"

"Its been hard not to with everything that's happened."

"Yes, I imagine so. What do you know about your mum and dad."

For this I tag the following people, if you haven't done it already. Though please don't feel pressured to do it, as it's just for a bit of fun.

1. Dianne Gardner
2. Hope Roberson
3. Cassie Mae
4. Kelley
5. Angela Cothran
6. Roland D. Yeomans
7. Donna Hole

  

I was also given two blog awards by Kyra, and one of the awards came with some questions. Here are my answers to them:

1. Favorite Color? Pink
2. Favorite Animal? Wolf
3. Favorite Number? 4
4. Favorite (non-alcoholic) drink? Tea or Coke depending on the hour (I don't tend to drink Coke after seven PM as the caffeine keeps me awake.)
5. Facebook or Twitter? Both! I use both for different reasons.
6. My passion? Erm … writing? My family.
7. Getting or Giving presents? Giving presents. Nothing compares to the joy of watching your kids open their presents on Christmas day.
8. Favorite pattern? Huh? I don't think I understand this question. But for what it's worth I quite like the pattern I use as a background on this blog.
9. Favorite day of the week? Hum … Currently Monday as that's when I watch all my good TV shows.
10. Favorite flower? Gerberas

I give back the award to these people:

1. Leigh Covington
2. Ashley Nixon.
3. Kyra Lennon
4. Tasha Seegmiller
5. Kyra Lennon

And if any of you would like to answer them - though again, don't feel obliged to - here are ten questions for you:

1. In romance novels, do you like hot and steamy scenes or do you prefer a "fade to black"?
2. What colour are your living room curtains?
3. What TV shows/ Movies/ Video Games/ Songs/ Books do you think have inspired your current WiP?
4. What would your choice of  last meal be?
5. How do you take your tea/ coffee/ hot drink of choice?
6. If you had to spend the rest of your life re-reading one book/ book series over again, which would it be?
7. Who is your favourite Muppet?
8. Do you believe in lucky charms? And if so, do you have any?
9. If you had to write only in the style of another author, who's style would you adopt?
10. What colour if your favourite tea/ coffee/ hot drink mug?

  

I also had a second set of questions from Donna Hole who said about me: "who I believe thinks every month is NaNoWriMo; seriously she can put out the words."

That gave me a good giggle! Thanks Donna! And it's true, I do tend to achieve more when I have NaNo-like pressure to inspire me.

Here are my answers to Donna's questions:

1. Who is your favorite fictional character, and why? Oh, that's a tough question. I have lots of favorite fictional characters. As far as favorite male fictional characters go I like dark, brooding often misunderstood men, who have the capacity for deep love and passion, like Harry Potter's Draco Malfoy. For favorite female fictional characters I like strong independent women who have to or have recently overcome some sort of adversity, like A Song of Ice and Fire's Daenerys Targaryen.
2. How do you come up with the names for your own characters? I just pick names that I like the sound of, sometimes checking if it's appropriate/ popular for the time period the story is set. I think I probably spend more time than actually necessary on baby naming sites, though!
3. What book would you pass up, even if it was offered for free? Twilight! No offence to those who like it, but I read the first two and found them very one-dimensional and Bella hard to like.
4. Do you listen to music while you write? If so, what is on your playlist? Not really, I find it ruins my concentration. If I do listen to music while writing I don't have a special "writing" playlist, it's just whatever music I'm into at the time!
5. Do you have to make time to write, or have a set schedule; and do you have any writing quirks? When I was writing to get my first draft finished I was trying to make sure I wrote at least 1000 a day. I find I write better in NaNo-like spurt, where I write upwards of 10k in a week, and then I can take a break and do no writing for a month or so.
6. Who is you dream agent/publisher? Hum … I haven't given it too much thought really. It's something I plan on looking into in the future. Doubleday, Little, Brown and Company and Voyager Books are all pretty well known publishers, who coincidentally publish books I like and would fit with the genre of Sibylline Nights.
7. Do you prefer printed books or ebooks? Printed books, without a doubt. I've only read a handful of ebooks. I do love the convenience of ebooks, and the ability to store hundreds of books on a Kindle, but nothing beats the feel and smell of printed books. Plus, I love reading in the bath and that would not be a good idea with a Kindle.
8. What is the weirdest dare you ever accepted? Hum .. I'm having a real hard time thinking of one. It has to be something I did in secondary school, but that was almost fifteen years ago now.

I won't tag anyone again, as I've tagged a bunch of people. But please feel free to answer the same questions I did from Donna if you'd like. 

Okay, I think I've bored you all enough, so I'm going to call it a day now, and head on over to see what I've missed on everyone else's blogs.

Thanks for reading!!