Well, as usual, somehow I'm pulling it though. Somehow, I keep forgetting that the 10 hours a day I spend writing...that's the easy part. :-) Promoting for books and events, that's where the real work kicks in and it's nonstop. You're praying for ten hour days then! LOL

I mailed out signing invitations to my local newsletter list, made store flyers and delivered them, plus a whole lot of little stuff. The suitcase is still packed, but what the heck! I have to repack it for tomorrow anyway. :-) I'm putting the finishing touches on my discussion for the Symposium this weekend and I'm looking forward to going. After this weekend, I'll be home for much of October, which will be cool. Doing signings in other locations can be fun. But it's great if you can spread it out instead of going somewhere every week. Personal preference, of course. Last year, I did what I had to do. Sometimes, I was in a different city every week trying to push my book to the locals. LOL Some authors do enjoy that type of travel and do it with a full time job! I might just be burnt out from it because I traveled 85% of the time on my job when I was working. Another reason why I prefer driving rather than flying these days.

So today, I'm finishing up my discussion, packing the suitcase, and then I'm going to a special luncheon today! It's called: Understandiing your Government - A conversation with members of the City of St. Louis Board of Estimate and Appointment." This is an opportunity provided my sorority to meet with public officials to talk, have dinner, and ask questions. Should be interesting.

Then I'm back on the road in the wee hours of the morning, headed for Dayton, OH. Then I'll come back and continue with mailings and weekly preparations for the next signings. Oh, and I should get First Fridays back sometime today or tomorrow. If I get it today, I'll be able to take it with me and review the recommended changes and consider the issues, then come back and begin on it Monday.

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Back and swamped. Okay, I'm not going to get overwhelmed...I'm not going to get overwhelmed....inhale, exhale.

I keep saying I'm going to recruit an assistant, yet I don't have the time to do so. I know of an author who took on a college assistant (intern) who was interested in writing. The benefits for both were great. The author received much needed assistance in projects and promotions, while the assistant, who was an aspiring author, received first hand knowledge about the publishing industry, plus one on one contact with an author. The intern has since completed her own manuscript and has struck out on her own. I'd like to do that. If I can find the time to solicit for one.

Anyway, just got back and I need to prepare a discussion on Plot Tension for my session at the Pen to Paper Symposium in Dayton, OH this weekend. I also need to send out flyers and invitations to my upcoming local signings, make and deliver store flyers, begin discussions with my new host of my Memphis signing, make arrangements for a 3rd local signing that I've been invited to join, make and send out my October newsletter, and submit a contract for a book tour that I want to participate in. And that's just the prep and planning stuff. We haven't even gotten to the errands I need to run yet, unpacking and repacking the suitcase for one.

Okay, I got three days to do all of this and this is quite a bit of woman-hours. And I got a message from my editor that she expects to send my edits for First Fridays tomorrow. Wow! I thought I'd have at least a month before edits came back! So, I need to get the bulk of this out of the way before edits come back. I'm imagining that edits during the first months of the book release is going to be a little tough. But I'll get it done! :-) The good thing is that she says she LOVES it!

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Made a little progress yesterday. Finished an interview, drafted a letter, made handout flyers for my upcoming local signings (will distribute beginning next week), finalized my travel plans to Baltimore for this weekend's Baltimore Book Festival, and few more little must do things. I'm preparing to hit the road, so I won't be back until Monday. I'll see you then!

In the meantime, I got this email from an online group that I subcribe to. I like it, and thought you might like it too:


How To Increase Happiness in Daily Life

1) Endeavor to change the way you look at things. Always look at
the bright side. The mind may drag you to think about negativity
and difficulties. Don't let it. Look at the good side of every
situation. 

2) Think of solutions, not problems.

3) Listen to relaxing uplifting music.

4) Watch funny comedies that make you laugh.

5) Each day devote some time to reading some pages of an
inspiring book or article.

6) Watch your thoughts. Whenever you catch yourself thinking
negative thoughts, stop them, and try to think of pleasant
things.

7) Always look at what you have done and not at what you
haven't. Sometimes you start a day planning to do several
things. At the end of the day you feel frustrated that you
haven't been able to do all of those things, and you become
unhappy. 

Look at what you have done, not at what you have not been able
to do. You may have accomplished a lot during the day, and yet
you let yourself become frustrated because of some small things
that you did not do. You have spent all day carrying out
successfully many plans, and instead of being happy and
satisfied you look at what was not done and you feel unhappy. It
is unfair towards yourself. 

8) Each day do something good for yourself. It can be small
thing, such buying a book, eating something you love, watching
you favorite program on TV, going to a movie, or just having a
stroll on the beach. 

9) Each day do at least one thing to make others happy. This can
be a kind word, Helping your colleagues, stopping your car at
the crossroad to let people cross, giving your seat in a bus to
someone else, or giving a small present to someone you love. The
possibilities are infinite. When you make someone happy, you
become happy, and then people try to make you happy.

10) Always expect happiness. 

11) Do not envy people who are happy. On the contrary, be happy
for their happiness.

12) Be where happy people are and try to learn from them to be
happy. Remember, happiness is contagious.

13) When things do not proceed as intended and desired, do your
best to stay detached. Detachment will help you to stay calm and
control your moods and reactions. Detachment is not
indifference. It is a completely different thing. Detachment has
much to do with inner peace, and inner peace is conductive to
happiness.

14) Smile more often.

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Okay, nothing got accomplished, book-wise, yesterday. However, I drove to my orthodontist in Erlanger, KY yesterday and finally....THE BRACES ARE OFF!!! And I've been smiling all night, and all morning long. Even smiled in my sleep. You know Bob's smile in the Viagra-like commercials (can't remember if that's his name or the name of the product), well, my smile is bigger than his now! LOL Now I can take some photos that my publisher and agent will actually like. They wanted me to smile more, but I didn't want my braces to show.

But anyway, I got a lot to catch up on because I only have a couple more days before I head to Baltimore. Got to get to cracking. It's going to be another long day. But I'll be smiling through it all as my tongue keeps molesting my teeth. Now that the bars and wires have been removed, it can't seem to keep its buds to itself. :-)

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Hey, that ad in Sister 2 Sister that I mentioned a few days ago is in the current issue. The October issue with Whitney and Bobby on the cover. Check us out on page 2. :-)

The good news is I got through half of my "to-do" list. The not so good news is, three more things were added. :-) I can't say it's a bad thing though because things being added are things that could possibly increase exposure. UCLA Writer's Program invited me to do an interview for their quarterly byline. They like to follow the successes (being published equating to success) of students of their programs. So, that's always cool. I'm also sending them the Hyperion version of my book for the library. They already have the Archland version.

So, another day in my apartment, except to get out and run errands. I haven't fired up my printer in months, so I finally did yesterday and it will only print in color. Not black. Black ink is pretty important to a writer, I've come to find out.

But, I did make some progress. I got in the first draft of a timeline I'm putting together for the Writer's Studio. We're all moving forth with that full steam ahead. It's an exciting process. I'd been a little bit behind due to finishing the first book, and now I'm finally getting caught up and able to add more input. And I'm starting to think about my lesson plan for my discussion on Plot Tension for the Pen and Paper Symposium in Dayton, OH on Oct. 1st. And author had to pull out, so the organizers considered me and invited me to talk on the subject of Plot Tension in her place. How cool is that? Eventually, I want to get into teaching writing. I didn't think I was ready yet. After all, I only have one published book and a completed manuscript. I went to a St. Louis Writer's Guild Banquet a couple of days ago and met a lot of interesting literary people in the area. One of them teaches creative writing at a higher learning institution here in town. When he told me that he taught creative writing, I discussed my desire about getting back into writing classes. I missed the UCLA Extension workshop this year and that's been the best writing experience I've had to date. So, he looks at my book, looks at my publisher, and says, "You should be TEACHING writing classes, not taking them." I've heard this before. In the back of my mind, it's something that I want to do eventually, but I still feel that I'm not really ready yet. I feel I need to establish myself more as a writer before I can be considered qualified to teach.

Of course, promotion is number one and most important in the initial months after the release. Balancing this is proving to be difficult. It's on the list and it should be something that I do daily, but I'm having a hard time getting to it like I want. I expect to promote a minimum of 4 hours a day, and as of yet, it's not happening. But I got to make that happen, do or die.

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It's starting again. The "to-do" list is growing faster than I can get items complete. I'm back to creating and following a list again. I got ten items on the list today and praying that I can get through half of them. I'd hire an assistant, but I'm sure they'd want to get paid, and, well...

Okay, good news. I've been spotting several copies of my books in stores locally and I'm making my rounds. Hit a few stores this weekend. I went in to see if they were in stock and where they were located with plans to rearrange display areas, if necessary. :-) But, I didn't have to do that. Not yet. Store personnel can make you feel good. They always seem so elated when you stop by the store to ask if you can sign the copies of your book. Their eyes light up and their mouths drop as they grab the "autographed copy" stickers. And for just a second, you feel like you've done something special. LOL But seriously, it's a great opportunity to talk and greet store personnel. And, of course, I took it upon myself to greet anybody browsing the AA book session. I feel like I could run for office. I smiled, gave my card, shook hands, and introduced myself and my book. If anybody had a baby, I definitely would have taken him/her in my arms for a hug and a kiss. :-)

Okay, got lots to do. I need to come up with a lesson plan for a discussion on Plot Tension. I was invited to teach a session at the Pen to Paper Symposium in Dayton, OH the weekend of September 30th. Then, I need to finish a timeline for the St. Louis Writer's Studio, print, sign, and mail off a contract, create and send a special newsletter on book tour dates for this month, write a letter to a book club, and notify my newsletter contest winner and get address so I can mail free book. And that's just to get started and that's before I begin the promotion work for today. It's always a bunch of little stuff.

But first, I need to walk 'round the corner and down the street to Starbucks to get another half pound of Breakfast Blend. If I don't, nothing on this list will get done.

Yea! for the Cardinals who clinched the division on Saturday! And for the Rams who beat the defectees, the Arizona Cardinals and our former quarterback, Kurt Warner (even though he's a good guy.).

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It's starting again. The "to-do" list is growing faster than I can get items complete. I'm back to creating and following a list again. I got ten items on the list today and praying that I can get through half of them. I'd hire an assistant, but I'm sure they'd want to get paid, and, well...

Okay, good news. I've been spotting several copies of my books in stores locally and I'm making my rounds. Hit a few stores this weekend. I went in to see if they were in stock and where they were located with plans to rearrange display areas, if necessary. :-) But, I didn't have to do that. Not yet. Store personnel can make you feel good. They always seem so elated when you stop by the store to ask if you can sign the copies of your book. Their eyes light up and their mouths drop as they grab the "autographed copy" stickers. And for just a second, you feel like you've done something special. LOL But seriously, it's a great opportunity to talk and greet store personnel. And, of course, I took it upon myself to greet anybody browsing the AA book session. I feel like I could run for office. I smiled, gave my card, shook hands, and introduced myself and my book. If anybody had a baby, I definitely would have taken him/her in my arms for a hug and a kisss. :-)

Okay, got lots to do. I need to come up with a lesson plan for a discussion on Plot Tension. I was invited to teach a session at the Pen to Paper Symposium in Dayton, OH the weekend of September 30th. Then, I need to finish a timeline for the St. Louis Writer's Studio, print, sign, and mail off a contract, create and send a special newsletter on book tour dates for this month, write a letter to a book club, and notify my newsletter contest winner and get address so I can mail free book. And that's just to get started and that's before I begin the promotion work for today. It's always a bunch of little stuff.

But first, I need to walk 'round the corner and down the street to Starbucks to get another half pound of coffee. If I don't, nothing on this list will get done.

Yea! for the Cardinals who clinched the division on Saturday! And for the Rams who beat the defectees, the Arizona Cardinals and our former quarterback, Kurt Warner (even though he's a good guy.).

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Hey, remember the St. Louis Writer's Studio that I said a group of us was forming here? Group member, Erik, has put together our St. Louis Writer's Studio Blog. Check us out and read about who we are and how we bumped in to each other to form this bunch. :-)


Okay, I don't think I'm ever going to get out of my apartment for an extended worry-free, non-book related period of time, until like February. Thursday is when I had the conniption. That's when I went around to a couple of bookstores and a couple of Wal-Marts to check out where my book was so I could tell people where to go (...to buy my book). Well, all 4 locations that I went did not have my book on display. So, being a writer and over dramatic, I'm thinking that there's probably not a book of mine available in my hometown of St. Louis (I have reported sightings of it in other parts of America), so, after hyperventilating, I round up the posse to stage a march. A march on bookstores. So, there we were, down the street from the first bookstore, donned in our "Free Counting Raindrops" T-shirts, just coming out of the huddle where we practiced our literary rendition of "We Shall Overcome." You never heard a literary rendition of We Shall Overcome? Believe me, you don't want to either. ;-/ We had signs: On front "Counting Raindrops on shelves"; On the back "By any means necessary." I was leading the pack with my bullhorn, ready to lead our chant:

Me: What do we want?
Radical Readers: Counting Raindrops!
Me: When do we want it?
Radical Readers: NOW!!!!

So, just then, my editor calls me on my cell phone. I tell her I need to call her back because I'm right at the start of the protest here. She knows because I always tell my editor what's going on. :-) We cool like dat. So, she tells me to hold the phone. She says a call just came down from Sales, and then she runs down what the bookstores purchased. I get off the phone with her and quiet the now raunchy radical readers...they've got determination in their eyes and fire in their bellies and they're ready to march. So, I call up a few bookstores again. I can do that, see, because I put them in my cell phone on speed dial. So, I call store after store, and sure enough, they do have copies of my book after all. Some are just getting them on the shelves. Some say they just got the shipment in and it's in boxes, and to call back tomorrow and they should be out.

So, there's nothing left for me to do but to disperse the angry crowd and tell them to go home. I explain through the bullhorn what happened and they're grumbling and I can see that adrenaline has set in and they're ready to rumble and if I don't do something, there's bound to be some cracked skulls soon. So, I step through them, shouting through my bullhorn, "Move it along! Nothing to see! You ain't got to go home, but you got to get the heezy out of here!" Most of them calmed down, mumbled as they went to the bookstore and browsed the bargain book section, got tea, coffee, and cookies, then sat down and got their read on. Didn't take much.


And now, I'm home, sending out newsletters, updating my email and mailing list, creating flyers for my local signings (October 8th @ Knowing Books, 3-5pm; October 15th @ Brentwood Borders, 2pm), preparing mailings to bookstores requesting that they order my book and sending them promotional cards, promotion, promotion, and more promotion and 10 hour days. And as you can see from the story above, I'm getting delirious.

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LadyLee put up her more, um, formal review of Counting Raindrops on her site. Click on her name to check it out. :-)

Thanks to all who have left encouraging comments on yesterday's post or sent an email. I really do appreciate all comments. As you can imagine, no matter what, there are always butterflies. And it's not like a one time performance. Like you have butterflies before a speech, or a play, or a dance, and then you do whatever and 2 - 4 hours later, it's gone. For the first time novelist, the butterflies last the entire first 3 - 6 months, because these are the crucial months. LOL So thanks to all of you for congrats!

I called my agent to catch her up to date and had planned to get off the phone quickly. I always feel like she must be busy and I always plan to make my statements quickly and keep myself to a two minute maximum. Well, after giving me a pep talk, inspiration, and coaching, I found that we were on the phone for over an hour. This is one of the reasons I'm so grateful for my agent. She has a very beautiful spirit, encourages me to call her anytime, and gets back to me as soon as she can when I have to leave a message or send an email. She even helped me to decide not only which story would be the next best to write, but also we put in order the next three books from my list. She's awesome. She's an author too, and she's been in my shoes. So not only does she know the industry, it's like she knows what I'm thinking and feeling. She knows exactly what I'm going through, whether it's the upswing or the down, because she's been there herself. She always knows the right things to say and to tell me what to think about, and what to consider. Just by nature, she's one of those people who ask you questions to pull things out of you to help you to come to your own conclusion about things when you are conflicted about something. Then, only after you've come to a conclusion will she add her input. She doesn't seem to want to influence your decision.

As you can probably tell, I like my agent. :-) You know how it is when you call up your best girlfriend and you talk for a long time, just gliding from subject to subject just by going with the flow of the conversation? That's what it's like in talking to my agent. Sometimes we have to go, "oh, and back to business...." LOL

I think she's a keeper!

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IT'S RELEASE DAY!!!

Okay, now that the second book, First Fridays, is submitted, now I can turn my focus back to Counting Raindrops. I'm excited about the release under Hyperion and pray that it does well. Later this afternoon, I'm hoping to get out and about to visit bookstores and Wal-Marts to see where it's available locally, and to drop off some promotional cards. I hope that you will either go out and pick up a copy at a Wal-Mart or bookstore near you, or online at Amazon.com, or BN.com. I'd really appreciate your support. :-)

This month, I'll also watch out for our ads. We're supposed to be in Today's Black Woman and Sister 2 Sister. The latter has already put up a cute little ad on their website. They've animated the cover a little bit. Click the link to check it out now because I don't know how long it's going to be there.

So, how am I going to spend release day? Well, I'm going to actually turn the cell phone back on again. Then I 'm going to try to complete and send my September newsletter (I'm a little behind), submit minor website updates, then go store hopping. I might even treat myself to some Broccoli Cheddar Soup from Panera's. Aaaahhh!!!! Can you say, FREEDOM!!! In case you didn't recognize it, um, that's basking. LOL But on a serious celebratory note, I'm going to try to go to the Cardinals game tonight. The magic number is 2 to clinch the division and we could do it tonight. AGAIN!!!

The work begins tomorrow. The focus is back on promoting Counting Raindrops. Then I need to take care of things I've neglected. Got like a foot of new growth under my braids that I need to get taken care of, my fill is going to be about half of my nail bed, and I gotta clean up because THIS PLACE IS A PIG STY!!!
LOL Not really. That's just one of those over exaggerated terms that my mother used to use when I was growing up and I like saying it any chance I can get. :-)

What's next for writing? I got the next 7 - 10 stories (can't remember how many off the top of my head) ready to be written. The next three are vividly in my mind. The next two, I'm actually conflicted on which one to write first. I could go either way so I'm going to try to get some advice from my agent.

I'm excited. :-) Please pick up your copy today! And of course, drop me a line if you do, and especially when you read it.
Okay, until tomorrow....

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IT'S PRINT DAY!!!

It's a wrap! My second book, First Fridays is in final form and ready to see my editor. Okay, here are some specs and facts:

Word count: 76,000
Pages: 357
Estimated ACTUAL writing time: 3 months
Revisions: 3
Title: First Fridays
Genre: Contemporary fiction; relationship
General themes: business and personal relationships
Setting: St. Louis - Mill Creek Valley (resurrected from the dead!)
Main Cast Members: Naja Rodgers (main); Allison "Allie" Rodgers (li'l sis); Andi (Allie's daughter); Russom King (Naja's business partner); Vlora Dern (Naja's best friend); Chaney (owner of Mill Creek Valley's "Rosebud Cafe" - the neighborhood hangout/meetiing place); Jarvis and Manny (neighborhood kids)

Stay tuned for small excerpts in the near future. :-)

All right. Let's get this baby printed and shipped!

I smell FREEDOM on the other side of the horizon!!!!

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Congrats to the New Orleans Saints! They won 23-20 over the Carolina Panthers in a kickoff in the last few seconds of the game! Awesome! On the flipside, my team, the Rams, got creamed. By the 49ers. THE 49ers??? What the...! Okay, okay, enough about that. I won't turn this blog into a football blog. :-)


Okay, I'm jittery and I'm not getting any sleep. I'm excited. Now, you probably would think I'm excited about the release date the day after tomorrow. I would think that too. But that's not the case. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about it. But that's not what's keeping me up. It's the completion of this second book and actually turning it in to my editor and awaiting her feedback. The more I revise it, the more I get excited about it.

And this process is a bit different than Counting Raindrops. With the first book, I had tons of feedback--although I didn't believe them when they told me that they liked it because I thought they were just trying to be nice. LOL The first to read it and give me feedback was Tiffany in Cincinnati (You'll see her in the acknowledgments). I remember going to her house and she read it for me in installments as I wrote it. It was nerve wrecking for me, although I don't think she knew that. I was sitting across from where while she read pages. She'd read silently, then all of a sudden, just burst out in laughter. And I'm wondering, "What? What? What's so funny???" And she'd read some more and just laugh. And (she probably doesn't remember this) her first feedback comments to me were, "Oh! You got skillz!!!" LOL And I'm sitting there, grinning until my face hurts, but wondering, "Okay, what does that mean?"

I find that I'm analytical. It feels so good when people say they enjoy your story or enjoy your writing. But I always try to capture it. To put it in quantifiable terms so I can understand. So I can create a formula that I can repeat over and over. I still don't have that yet and that's the only thing that makes writing nerve wrecking for me now that I have one (and almost 2) completed novels under my belt. On the other hand, maybe it’s good that I don't know because if I knew exactly, I would probably try to concentrate on that as I write instead of writing freely. With the first and now the second book, I just wrote without worrying about style. And perhaps for those who like it, that's the reason they like it. Logically, I'm sure this is the case. But still, there's that knuckleheaded nerd in me that's trying to figure out a formula.

Okay, last day of revisions!!! Got to make it good because right now I'm running on caffeine, adrenaline, and no sleep! LOL

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IT'S FOOTBALL SUNDAY!!!!
Ladies, put on your jerseys...just your jersey, m'am, just your jersey. LOL Don't have a jersey? Well, I guess you best be headin' on over to your favorite department store's LITTLE BOYS SECTION! If you've already read my book, you're feeling me right about now and you know what I'm talking about. LOL As I do my third and final revision, I'm kicking off my first football Sunday with the Fox pregame show, then, whoever is playing at noon, then the Rams at 3:15pm Central. Wish I could go tailgate or go to a sportsbar to watch, but I'll be able to do that next week!


Right on schedule! Finished the second draft last night. Whew!

I'm quite pleased with it. Honestly, I'd be comfortable printing it out right now and sending it in a couple of days early. But I'm not. After I finished last night, I still had enough energy (believe it or not) to outline a plan of attack for the next couple of days.

Over the next two days, I'm going to review the additional scenes that I've outline. I briefly did this last night. These are scenes that came into my head from nowhere while I was writing. And rather than go back and search and try to work it in immediately, I wrote it down for later. I already went through some of them and scratched them. While they may have been interesting, or funny (to me), they really did nothing to advance the plot. Maybe it'll fit in another story another time. But there's a couple of ideas there that I will fit in.

Then I'll go over each character one more time to make sure they're distinct and realistic. And finally, I want to go over the flow again and check for over used words.

Well, on with revision three---the final revision! :-)

HAPPY 1ST FOOTBALL SUNDAY!

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Awesome progress news. I met my two chapter minimum AND revised another two chapters. So, I'm all caught up to my original goal and SHOULD finish up the second revision at the end of the day Saturday, if I keep up the two chapter minimum. I probably revised the same as far as word count. But I knew toward the end that I had one really short chapter (1000 words) and a couple that were in the 2000+ range whereas my other chapters are 3000 - 3500 words. So, that's why I was able to catch up. Nonetheless, I'm almost finished with the second revision. And I think I'll be able to squeeze in two days for a third revision where I'll make sure there's a closed loop on each main character and input things from the side notes I've made.

I was thinking, did I ever talk about what the second book is about or even the title? Not sure. I haven't done the dreaded synopsis yet (I hate those), but I did sum it up for an interview that I did recently. The title of this second book is First Fridays and the main character contemplates mixing business and personal relationships. In a nutshell, here's what it's about:

In First Fridays, my 2006 release, the main character Naja Rodgers is a entrepreneur and is very much attracted to her business partner, Russom King . Problem is, she doesn't believe in mixing business with pleasure, for fear that mixing the two could possibly result in relationship drama that carries over to the board room. And she's not sure she wants to take that chance and put her baby--her business--on the line. But after Naja does give in to a relationship, she comes to find out that it could even be worse than she ever imagined.

Why "First Fridays?" If you're into professional networking and you're in one of the host cities, you might be familiar with the First Fridays networking events. While the characters contemplate business and personal relationships, they take you and give you an inside view of these First Fridays events. Some of the people you will meet are quite funny. Some of the happenings are outrageous. And yes, some of this is from personal experience and observations. I attended quite a few First Fridays events in Cleveland, and a couple here in St. Louis. :-)

What I'm hoping to bring is another contemporary relationship novel where a main issue is explored and the reader will also laugh and find the journey enjoyable.

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Sigh! Only met half my goal yesterday. Had some things to take care of. Life started getting in the way again. Started getting late notices in the mail and under my door. They want their money and they want it now. I'm like, Geesh! Can't you see I'm trying to meet a deadline here?! For pete's sake, give me a break! But since nobody was listening, I thought I'd better take care of some things before I found myself sitting in the dark. But great news to report! Went to my last visit with the chiropractor. I'm good as new! Well, except for those 10 pounds I said I was going to start a couple of weeks ago...then September 1st. Well, after I get this book done, it's number one priority. I mean it this time.

So, I'm still two chapters behind, but in no danger of not meeting the goal. Still, I like to have a fews days of cushion, just in case.

*STRAIN* Must...get back...to writing....*pant* *pant* Must...get back...to writing....NOW! *pant* *pant* *END STRAIN*

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Another 2 chapters and I don't know how many hours. Let's, see...5 in the morning, then a long break, 6 in the evening, so, roughly 11 hours. I added a couple of scenes as well as revised.

But, early on, I got an email from one of the contest winners, LadyLee, and she shared with me, her thoughts on my book. Although I can't share the whole thing here, as she gives a lot of details, I'd love to have a little fun and edit and post her comments: (WARNING: THIS IS EXTREMELY EDITED, BUT FUN)

Hey Cherlyn,
"Counting Raindrops..."  was off the chain!!! I LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's rare for me to get choked up when reading a book....But that part in your book...Oh my God!  That messed me up.  And she wakes up and sees...  Oh Jesus!!! I had to put the book down.  I've read some similar scenarios, but with your writing... I don't know, it was just like I was right there inside Vanella's head feeling what she was feeling, you know what I mean? 

And then when ... And the Daddy was ... Whoo, goodness!!! That was another part that shook me completely up.  Had to put the book down again.  I was an emotional wreck! Thanks a lot, Cherlyn (LOL)! Let's not even talk about when Vanella goes and...That whole porch scene... It just messed me up... And that scene where Kizaar and his Daddy are...You had me holding my breath there!

Now when Vanella ...and it looked like they were going to ...I was like... Hmm... I don't know Cherlyn... don't go corny on me, now!  But I liked how that didn't play out after all.  That was quite realistic.

Overall, I loved the fact that this book had a different female protagonist.  I love it! I love it! I love it!

And I liked that near the end...That's been my attitude of late, so I can relate to that.

But I liked how you had ... I didn't know how you were going to pull that off.  Quite original indeed! 

I thought the title was superb.  I was thinking while reading the book "what does this "Counting raindrops..." title have to do with anything"?  I kind of figured it out a few pages before you mentioned it.  Real cool concept.  I love it!

This book was good to the very last drop!! 


P.S.  A quick writer question:  how much of your own personality/habits do you allow yourself to write into a character? I mean do you guzzle that Pinot Griot wine like Vanella does? (LOL) (That type of stuff.).  I noticed that you said in your 9/6/05 blog that you like football.  Did you purposefully have Vanella like football because YOU like football? 


Okay, this is Cherlyn answering the question. :-)
Uh, yes, there was a lot of me in not only Vanella, but in several of the characters. Let me see if I can name a few of the things we have/had in common:

-We both were engineers and work for a Japanese manufacturing company,
-We both sipped Pinot Grigio (I think that's still her favorite, I've since moved on to Merlot,
-We both love sports, football and the Rams in particular,
-We both were born and raised in St. Louis and lived in Cleveland,
-We both avoid button down shirts like the plague,
-And as a confession, we both did that measuring tape thing for a while. Three-eighths of an inch? Oh, LAWD!!!! LOL

But still, I'm not Vanella and the story isn't about me. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!


But yes, I do incorporate some of the things that I'm familiar with and may do and like myself. But I also mix in things of friends, family, people I've worked with or met. And some things I just totally make up. This would all be stuff that I put in my character sketch so I can keep straight who has what quirks and why.

Okay, enough fun for today...gotta go write... :-)

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Well, I did it! After getting one chapter done I managed to break away for a moment and get to the Big Muddy Blues Festival on Sunday night. It was great. There were maybe five or so stages set up at different spots on Laclede's Landing and bands played various styles of blues. Food and drink vendors lined the cobblestone streets that were closed off to traffic. Tons of people. In bars and restaurants, walking and sitting along the streets and lawns. Young, old. I quickly saw that this was an extremely popular event.

And here's one of the downfalls to leaving your cell phone off. I had a friend trying to get in touch with me because he had tickets to the Rams' last preseason game. My friend knows how much I love football. My friend knows how much I love the Rams. And I missed the call. I wanted to kick myself. On the other hand, it's probably good that I didn't know because that was my 11-hour workday and I do think I would have ditched the writing for football. Well, hey. I'll be done next week and will have all season to go to the games.

Yesterday, I got another chapter revised after spending part of the morning volunteering with United Way to collect money for the Hurricane Victims. So, now, I'm two chapters behind where I really want to be, but I'm not really worried. Okay, the countdown is on. I got exactly one week to whip the last half of it into shape and get it to my editor.

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Turned out that the Muddy Blues Festival was yesterday and today (not Friday). And I didn't get to go yesterday. :-( I'm hopeful that I can step out a bit today, but I gotta meet my quota. I actually revised two chapters over ten or eleven hours yesterday. Yeah, took a lot longer than I thought. I stopped for no more than 30 minutes each for lunch and dinner. Maybe a couple of 10 - 15 minute breaks to stretch out and that's it. I probably went over the chapters beginning to end, word for word, about five or six times each (before I split them up, because they were quite lengthy). I kept at it until I felt the characters were extremely visual, their dialogue was individually realistic, and the entire chapter flowed. I guess sometimes it goes easy like my first couple of chapters, and sometimes it takes time. I have to confess that sometimes, I can be a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to projects. Maybe that played out yesterday because I am treating this like this will be the last revision before I turn it in to my editor. So, I want to make sure it's shaped to my satisfaction and it's something I enjoy and that I think readers enjoy. That's the goal here.

So, I gotta get to through my two chapter quota today and I hope to do the festival at least a little bit tonight. But if not, I'll be free to do whatever after I finish this book, so, no biggie! :-)

If you're in the St. Louis/East St. Louis area and you'd like to donate to the Red Cross for the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund, I'll be one of a few St. Louis Cares Volunteers who will take donations on Labor Day at the St. Clair's Square Mall in Fairview Heights, IL. I'll be at the donations table Monday from 10 AM - 2 PM, so come on out!

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Didn't quite finish with the two chapters from yesterday, but chapter three was like double the average word length, so it was like completing two chapters by itself. Only have five pages to complete chapter four, so it's all good. Actually, I got stuck at a point much early in chapter four. Just couldn't find the flow. It wasn't extremely late, but I'd been writing six hours straight, so I gave myself a pat on the back for a good effort done, and decided to give my mind a break until the next day. I may not have even put the laptop down five minutes before creativity hit again for the spot that I was having trouble with. So, I pick up the laptop and tell myself to just write that part, then give it a rest. So, I do. But then I clearly feel what happens next. It's in my fingertips and I just have to get it out. So, of course, I do. Next thing I know, I'm typing for another couple of hours. I kept typing until the breaking point which was five pages before the end of chapter four. How cool?

Well, I'm about to drink and savor my morning coffee (especially savoring now because when I have to go back to Starbucks for another pound, the price may have gone up, IF they have the kind I like at all. They were out of Breakfast Blend, due to Katrina). Then I'm going to get my quota in so I can hang out at the Muddy Blues Festival! I'm getting excited just thinking about it. It's going to feel like a jailbreak!

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Hey, if you get Black Issues Book Review magazine, check out our ad for Counting Raindrops on page 2! ;-)

First day of revisions went smoothly yesterday. Did chapters 1 and 2 and as a matter of fact, I hope the rest of the chapters go like that. I got finished rather early in the evening and was considering doing chapter 3. But I thought it important to space it out. To just let it flow and not force it. To not rush it, just to try to get it in earlier. In between time, the story doesn't leave my mind and new thoughts and ideas will pop up at any given time. I'll find myself jumping up to add a word, or a sentence in a certain spot. It's like, the littlest, the oddest, or the most insignificant thing can trigger a thought for the novel. Or sometimes, it seems like the thought just comes from nowhere.

I also read in between. I usually read a page or a chapter of something before I start writing. Reading helps me to jump start my mind and put me in the writing mode. Last year, I remember reading EJ Dickey and Gloria Mallette books. This year, I'm reading my own, Counting Raindrops. How cool is that? LOL But seriously, I'm reading my own book to get me back in the flow of my own writing style. But I do read other stuff too. I just finished up Seeing Red by Jill Shalvis. I hadn't read a romance novel since I was a teenager. Seeing Red was good. The storyline had a bit of mystery to it, plus there was humor laced throughout. This wasn't like the Harelquin romance I read way back then. And now, I've gone back to my Norton Anthology of Short Fiction and I'm in the midst of The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy. I read and study classical writers and try to alternate in readings.

Okay, if I'm good, I'm going to attend the Muddy Blues Festival this weekend. This is another event on Lacelede's Landing, which, again, is right around the corner from my place and I will probably hear activities from my apartment. The Muddy Blues Festival goes Friday to Sunday or Monday and I expect there will be Blues singers and bands all weekend long. This is an annual event in St. Louis, but it will be my first time ever attending. So, the plan is to get two chapters a day revised in the morning and the afternoon, then spend the rest of the day hanging out. Well, at least two days. We'll see if I can do it.

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