Did You Miss Me?

Hi there! Remember me? That writer who blogs and travels and writes and revises and then does it all again? I'm back! Well, sort of. I've been super busy writing and revising a new story which is highly important to me. It's a foot in the door and I can't squander it. And, to be honest, when everything is said and done, the books must come first.

This story has been kicking my little tushie. I've reworked the first three chapters so often that I think I want to kick it back! I have to write the story to know the people, so I wrote the entire manuscript in two weeks after I took the kid to college. Then I revised the first three chapters, reworked them. Then I revised the entire book again. Then I sent the first three chapters to my critique partners and they made me think about the conflict some more.

Ah!!! But now I think I have a better start to the first three chapters. And I know what I need to do to fix the rest of the book. But I really have to finish this partial and send it to publishing house. I do. However, I'm not rushing this opportunity to shine. I want the partial to be strong. Super strong and powerful enough to get that request for more OR a revise and resubmit letter. I've been getting a lot of R&R letters. A good thing, but certainly not restful or relaxing in a writer's world.

When I haven't been writing, I've been doing what we all do in the real world. Still guiding the College Kid, still supporting my friends and family, still working out and dieting, still traveling and attending writer's conferences.

And I've got fun events coming up. Celebrating three debut novelists on the blog, coordinating the Linda Howard Award of Excellence contest, going to the Southern Magic Readers Luncheon with my very own basket to raffle (stay tuned--photos will follow after I build it), and gearing up for a fantastic holiday season.

So I'm back, but I'll be flitting in and out of the blogger world like a manic social butterfly. Seriously, there are not enough hours in the day! But whenever I have to make a choice between writing, revising, or other writerly stuff, the book trumps it all.

James Scott Bell said it best:

What are the ten best forms of SELF-PROMOTION?

1. Your book.
2. Your book.
3. Your book.
4. Your web presence.
5. Reviews
6. Publicity (shortened for the blog-get THE ART OF WAR FOR WRITERS)Face time.
7. Face time
8. Your book.
9. Your book.
10. Your book.

If your books do deliver the goods, word of mouth will do more than all your self-promotion efforts combined. 

I'm not published yet. But I WILL BE ONE DAY. My way. I have an ongoing theory. If I don't have a product, then time spent on blogs and building web sites and frittering on social media is pointless.

So guess what I'm working on the rest of today?

MY BOOK.