I cruised Amazon this morning, and saw that Trick or Treat (Pocket, Oct. 2009) has a cover and it’s adorable! (Tried and failed to link to the image, but you can click the link and see it. Really, adorable is the word for it.)
And also, hey, I have a May 2010 Pocket release I didn’t know about. Why is the writer always the last to know? Is called Getting Even.
Apparently it pays to cruise the web more often.
For a first week back after a whole lot of travel and no reading, writing, or online activity at all, I’m surprised at how productive I’ve been. Although in retrospect it’s not such a surprise, because my brain is rested, refueled with experiences and images and the stuff creativity is made of, and I’m ready to work.
Clearly time off is good for writing. I did not go off to wallow in slothdom and never write again. I came back and knocked out edits on one project, got another set of edits well underway, and also hashed out all the details on a new project and have that ready to roll (and in fact I have a great opening already written).
More valuable, though, I came back with a clarity of focus I’d been lacking; I’d been unclear on what I wanted to do, and now I know exactly what my game plan is. And it includes shelving a book I’ve been waffling on all summer, but that’s okay. The truth is, that book doesn’t fit what I want to do, overall. Not at this time. So it would be a bad idea to sell it now. Knowing this, I’m okay with putting it aside.
I’m still working my way through Camelot, and since I’d like the weekend off, I’m going to be buckled down today.
1. Two Knights in Camelot (magic, reincarnation, hackers and the Russian mob collide in Vegas): revise, get final scene smoothly inserted and polished, send back to editor. Figure out how to resolve Morgan La Fay because I really can’t leave her in Merlin’s cage.
2. Plot a special ops plot and find a title for it that’s better than The Eye of the Noodle but you have to start somewhere. (I always have gawdawful working titles. Along the way I always find a proper title that’s fit to be seen in public.)
I am editing Camelot. EC editor agreed with me on something I thought should be there but couldn’t figure out where to put it in gracefully, and made brilliant suggestion for where to put it without shoe-horning. This is why authors heart editors.
I’m also brainstorming something fun. I have a rough idea but need to flesh it out.
In other words, it’s Monday. Back to work!
I came across this article on Sufi perspective for heart and business, and this definition of work/heart ease really struck me.
"Your heart is at ease when your work: (1) benefits others and is of use, (2) does not incur any “sin” or “karma” problems with your own heart, (3) is honest."
Something to ponder. I think storytelling is honest work, but I often ask myself if the kind of storytelling I’ve been doing is of benefit to others, or if it’s promoting the message I want to spread. The marketing angle is all about the sensational, not the emotional, and I wonder if the emotional message (love heals, love makes us more of who we really are, love gives us the courage to grow and change) gets lost in translation.
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