I scheduled in fun yesterday and by golly, I had it! LOL I made it to Atlanta. Got in last night and hung out with friends. I watched them play Madden and I made one of the guys choose the Rams. The other one refused to play my Rams. He chose the Patriots and guess who got SPANKED!!!!! Yep, Patriots. This game is just like real life! (NOT!) LOL Well, this got me to thinking about my own Playstation. The one that's lying on the floor, next to the TV and not connected. The one that I bought maybe 4 years ago so I could learn to play Madden and spank butt. Yeah, that Playstation. So now since I finally bought a second controller for it last year, even though I've only played it twice, maybe now I'll finally buy Madden and learn to play. I'll have to pencil that into the schedule.

So I did have Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Moseley and I listened to it on the way down. It was great listening. Walter Moseley's Easy Rawlings stories are awesome to listen to on the road. They are so engrossing, funny, and enjoyable. I love them. Then had time to listen to my Jack Johnson's Brushfire Fairytales CD. I like this CD as well, but I do like In Between Dreams better.

And now, here I sit at a Panera's in Lithonia, getting some writing done before I welcome the in the New Year. Even though I bring my camera, I'm bad at remembering to take pics. Even worse at posing for them. But I'll try to put up a couple of good pics of tonight's New Year's party with my motorcycle club.


Here's to wishing you have a happy, healthy, safe, and prosperous NEW YEAR!!!!!

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It's the 30th of the month which means it's my day to post at BloggingInBlack.com. You can check it out by clicking the link. I also place an RSS feed on the side of my blog. Check it out today, and any other day to see what the writers there are blogging about. :-)

Well, I'm up and packing. I'm heading to Atlanta to bring in the New Year with friends and members of the Atlanta Chapter of my bike club. It's also part work too because I'm doing a write up on their New Year's activities. Along with doing that write up, I'll be working on a short article for Urbanburnout.com. And between working on Book 3, I'll think of ideas for my feature at Sportwave Online. I'll have fun too because I do plan to get some socializing in. That's actually going to be one of my New Year's resolutions because I don't spend enough time socializing, I think. :-) Still something I have to push myself to do. Maybe the first step would be to actually TALK on the phone though. LOL I don't know. I'm a text queen. My coworkers joke with me about basically having a computerized phone on my hip and I do everything on it except talk. I rarely pick up the phone and when I do, I'm anxious to get off. I'd rather text our conversation. It's just that I prefer talking in person rather than on the phone. The phone to me is just for the set up. When, where, and what time. But, of course, for me to have a person to person conversation, that means I have to uh, get out and socialize. Sigh. I'll work on it for 2008.

Well, I'm all geared up for the ride! :-) I bought Jack Johnson's Brushfire CD. A coworker let me borrow his Between the Sheets (?) CD and I absolutely LOVED it. He told me Brushfire was even better, so I bought it for the ride. I already listened to the first couple of songs and I've enjoyed them so far. And, I also have 20 hours worth of books on CDs. I have something by Walter Moseley. I think Devil in a Blue Dress, but I'm not sure. And I have The Price of a Child. So, believe it or not, the drive to and from Atlanta will be exciting. I'm looking forward to it. I love long driving trips specifically for this reason. Also gives me time to think about what I'm writing as well.

Toodles!

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I've been spending time going over the chapters I've written already. I confess. I'm like, "What the hell was I smoking when I wrote this mess?" What I'm finding out is that I'm not a good at writing under pressure or forcing myself to write if I'm not feeling it. Which is one reason why it would be hard to write to whatever the market dictates.

Okay, let me tell you what happened. Earlier this year, I was trying to hurry up to submit the first few chapters to my agent to shop. Probably wouldn't be an issue, except that I had so much going on this year (moving, job hunting and hopping) that I couldn't fully concentrate and get into a groove with this book. I've known for the longest the story I wanted to write. But in a rush to submit SOMETHING, I skipped my normal writing process. I didn't fully sketch or flesh characters. Well, I was only going to submit three chapters. Character sketches wouldn't matter for that, right? I could always go back and flesh them out later. NOT!

And then, I found what is comfortable for me is to just focus on the plot the first draft, then round out the story and flavor the second and subsequent drafts. Cool. Okay, but I don't know what the hell I did for the first five chapters that I wrote. It didn't flow. Characters were flat. I had first and third POV in the first chapter. I mean, I really looked at it and said, "What the hell? Who fucked up my story?!" LOL It was so screwed that it took me a minute to figure out how to smooth it out.

Well, the first thing I did was go back to my normal writing process. I went to what works for me. I sketched my characters to the fullest, then did my chapter by chapter plot outline. It still took me a minute to smooth out the first chapter. It was the opening I wanted, but it didn't flow. But I massaged it and massaged until now, GWA-LA! It's the way I want it.

Whew! That rush job? Remind me never to do that shit again....

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This is surprising to me, but I'm tickled pink. :-) I have to admit, the best gift I got for Christmas actually came from my manager. Now, who would have thunk a thing like that? A manager actually picking out a gift that fits you as an individual rather than say, one of several fruit cakes that was distributed to every employee alike? No, rather than give a "one gift fits all" present, he gave all of his team gifts that fit their individual personalities. He gave me this cute little writing inspirations book. I'm in a unique situation where my manager actually knows I'm a writer and thinks it's cool. He even asked me a few questions about writing, as he dreams of writing his own novel himself one day. So, anyway, the book is The Pocket Muse - Ideas and Inspirations for Writing by Monica Wood. It's just a tiny book with tips and writing prompts to get you writing. This is my first little book like this and flipping through it makes me anxious to try some of the writing prompts and put them on my website. It probably don't sound as fascinating as I'm making it out to be and actually, I don't know why I'm so fascinated by it. LOL But I just think it's the coolest little thing.

One thing that really got me though was the writer's opening. She talked of leaving her job and becoming a full-time writer. And how, after a while, she longed for her old job. She longed to be amongst people again on a day to day basis. I could really relate to that. When my first book was published, I wrote full time for a while. I felt blessed. I felt like it was such a dream fulfilled. But after a while, I wanted to go back to work. Writing is definitely a lonely profession, and I confess to having somewhat of a reclusive personality. It's nothing for me to go days without seeing a single soul or weeks without socializing, and I don't get lonely. I'm comfortable. Too comfortable. I can easily see myself becoming a total recluse closed off from the world. I have to force myself to socialize as it is. Not working, I think I'd end up being the reclusive senile drunk we've all heard of a time or two. LOL Besides, I agree with Monica's quotation of the paradox: You can't write without fully living and you can't live fully and still find the time to write. So true.

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Well now. I'm finding that the more I blog, the more I keep up with my writing. I'm thinking, maybe it's like doing more or being on your best behavior when you know your parents are looking over your shoulder. Being that I'm a writer and I'm supposed to be writing, the mark of shame would be to come here and have to confess that no, I haven't written a thing in over a week for no other reason, other than I've been goofing off. But as it is, by writing everyday, it's feeding into the current desire to finish my long overdue third novel, as well as sprouting ideas for new one. Just by thinking about what I could possibly write today, I thought of a new idea for a book. Now, exactly how the thought came about, I have no idea. Thinking about a blog post, and the final story idea, I see no connection. lol

But one thing I'm starting to think about is the route of publishing for the next book. Yes, when I'm finished, I will go the route of publishing again. Of course, I'll submit to my agent to shop for a deal. But to be honest, I don't feel the urgency or the necessity of getting a publishing deal anymore. No, I'm not saying that I don't want one. If one is indeed offered, yes, I'd take a look at it and consider if it's worthwhile. But one thing that comes with publishing your own first is that you know you can do it again, so there's no worry about whether or not you will have a published novel. Yes, there's still a stigma with self-published vs. traditionally published books, but when you've done both, I think, you're beyond caring what people think of your route of publishing. It would be the same book regardless of the route (provided you self publish a quality product). For me, the only think traditional publishing does is perhaps give you an advance to where you can promote (and you'll do the same promotion no matter the route). You lose a little control over your final product though, I found. And for book three, I have a clear visual in my head of the title and cover, and I'm not sure if I want to part with it. And that makes it more important to look at the current products of the publisher. So, basically, I've learned a lot by having done both methods. I had my agent when I self published Counting Raindrops and she was supportive. I'm sure if I chose to do that with book three, she would be supportive again (at least I hope so).

Like book one, I'd do it all myself if I self published. This morning, I was reading Lee Goldberg's December 26th blog posting about a posting he read on a vanity publisher that was sued by 275 defrauded authors. Aspiring authors, beware. Doing it yourself can be expensive, but you know you're not going to rip yourself off either.

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So yes, as I counted on, there was wrapping paper and Christmas boxes from last year at my mother's house. And I discovered that apparently procrastination runs in my family, as I and my two brothers all took up a secret location in the house to use mom's wrapping paper (and scissors, and tape, and labels, and bows) to wrap gifts that would be unwrapped in less than 15 minutes. You can't just give someone a gift at Christmas. Unwrapping is 95% of the gift exchange experience. Nothing like going home and feeling like your shortcomings are normal habits.

It's becoming tradition for my family to go see a movie on holidays and yesterday we went to see The Great Debaters. Awesome movie! This brings my movie viewing total up to one this year and it was well worth it. I'm not a big movie watcher only because I never make the time. I have to pull myself away from books to do so. But seeing this movie makes me want to check out a flick more often, if it's going to be as worthwhile as this. As I get older, I find my interests changing. I'm more into stories of real life obstacles turned triumphant victories. I'm also finding myself becoming more interested in science fiction and fantasy, which I can't help to notice, seems like a total contrast to me. It's like, one minute I want something real that I can relate to, and the next minute I want to escape from it and go to Never Never Land. I feel so creatively bipolar sometimes.

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It's Christmas morning and I've put in work already. So far, I've spent a good hour sending out text messages to wish all my friends and distant family members a Merry Christmas. This year, I wasn't too good at getting my Christmas cards out in time. How many? How about zero. It all just happened so fast. One day I'm eating a turkey dinner, then, KAPOWAH! It's Christmas. So, I'm taking the procrastinator's way out by texting all my friends and family. I'm about halfway done because I'm reading and replying to my other texting family and friends who are doing the exact same thing. So, like for every text you send out, there's 10 to reply to. LOL I'll finish the rest later.

Okay, I went Christmas shopping at the bookstore right? And they have gift wrapping, only, I have a $20 bill. I don't want to have my books wrapped and not put something in the donation jar because, well, everybody's looking. So, I ask the cashier for change. "We can't give out change," she says. I give her the stupid look. And I want to say, "Well, I can't purchase these books," and walk off after she's rung them up, but it's Christmas Eve and only a few hours left til stores closed and I don't want to go anywhere else anyway. So, she has me over a barrel. I give an empty look and say, "Ok." But I'm thinking, that's okay. Because I'm visualizing the leftover roll of Christmas wrapping I have in the back of my closet behind my suitcases. It'll be fun to wrap them myself, even though I'm not good at it. After all, sloppy wrapping shows effort. :-) So I take them hope and prepare to go to the closet to get the wrapping, and it's not there. Uh, not the Christmas wrapping....THE CLOSET!!!! I was envisioning the wrapping in the closet of my OLD apartment! I forgot I switched apartments in my building last year and that closet, nor the Christmas wrapping, does not exist. So, I'm left with either the non-biodegradable grocery bags (news report said they contain petroleum so while we thought we were doing the environment a favor, it was all for not. Yet again, we were guilted into making corporations richer), or going over Mom's house early so I can borrow some of her wrapping paper. And yes, she DOES have wrapping paper. Because at worst, there will be the old paper that she saved from last year's Christmas gifts.

Sigh. A procrastinator's work is never done...

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Okay, it's Christmas Eve and I just started and finished my Christmas shopping. Yes, I'm forever the procrastinator, when it comes to shopping. Anything to put off fighting for parking spaces and crowded shopping malls. But this time, it wasn't so bad. One, because I listened to audio books while I drove. So having to circle the lot a few times gave me more time to find out what happened next. :-) I even pulled it to a spot and waited a few minutes until I got to that "breaking point" in the story. And two, well, I cheated. I decided to do the majority of my shopping...in a bookstore. LOL Yes, I cruised the bookstore, which is my passion anyway, until I found a book that would be suitable for each person on my list. And so what if I spent extra time looking at books I was interested in? That's not the point. LOL So anyway, after three or so hours in one store (which is triple the time I like to spend in an entire mall), it was off to buy supplementary gift cards and I'm done. And here I sit at Panera's again, doing a little writing. What a deserving treat!

Writing is flowing again. Reminds me especially of writing book one. I get goosebumps thinking about certain scenes and I'm anxious to describe it on paper (or screen) as best I can so the reader can get the full impact of what I'm seeing and envisioning. Yeah, it's that writer's feeling again. I haven't really set a target for completion. Ah, what the hey...I'm going to shoot for the end of January. Wait...maybe mid February. Forgot, I'm an Engineer again. LOL

So, I'm back in a reading and writing frenzy, as I've said before, I'm sure. The thing about reading to me is, that it makes you itch to write. I haven't experienced it yet, but I would imagine that when I get writer's block, all I would have to do is pick up a few books to read. It inspires me to write. I've heard some writers say that they can't read when they write because they fear copying someone else's style. It's hard for me to relate to that. Yes, reading inspires me to write, but in my own style, I believe. Mainly because it seems difficult to honestly write in another style than what I comfortable with. When I write, it's like there's a drum and I'm writing to a rhythm. I'm familiar with the rhythm, which makes it easy. It's natural. I don't have to think about it. If I purposely try to write in someone else's style, or just force myself to write another way, it's difficult to me. I would imagine the writing would be choppy or disjointed. Because I wouldn't know what the hell I was doing.

On the contrary, even though I'm reading for pure enjoyment, I'm learning various methods other writers use say in presenting an idea, showing motives, introducing characters, using props and scenes, etc. It's like word association. When someone says a word and you're supposed to name the first thing that comes to your mind. You don't think of the same word that was said, but something else. And you probably could think of MANY different words from the mention of that same word. That's what reading while writing is like to me. It's pretty cool! ;-)

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Aaaahhhh!!!! I've finally found another groove. Another writing groove. Now, after work, I head straight to Panera's in the Loop and get in my writing for today, as well as do a little reading. All while sipping a latte or eating a toasted cinnamon crunch bagel (or brownie on naughty days). It's a relaxing environment and I have the background noise going on so I can write (I can't write in total silence. Silence is loud and distracting. I can't concentrate). And often times, like right now, you can find some interesting characters for future use. Listening to dialogue is fun too. Ahem...not eavesdropping....but um...research. lol So there's a couple of older gentlemen sitting at a table across from me. Got to be late 50's. One black, one white. Old managerial fogey look. And they're sitting here gossiping their behinds off! If I was reading it in a book with no tags attached, my mind would conjure up two teenagers or two women sitting on a porch with curlers in their hair. The conversation just does not match the looks.

There's another group of older gentle a few tables over. Hey, it's not my fault if they're talking loud enough for me to hear. But the white male (and I know that he is white not because I look at him, but appaarently, he feels the need to make this known to the men he's sitting with. And I look up to find that they perhaps have roots in India, and from what I can tell, not blind) is emotionally talking about a verbal conflict with another what sounds like co-worker, and talks about speaking to each other from the heart and with understanding. It's just the emotion in it all. Makes me want to sing kum-baa-yaa.

Lesson learned....if you're in a coffee shop and there are people by you with laptops, keep your voice to a minimum because you never know when someone is randomly blogging about you under your very nose. lol

So anyway, I'm making consistent progress on getting book three done. Finally. :-)

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*walking slowly into the room, whistling, like I've been here all along...*

,,,so as I was saying, the solution to health care, immigration, and global warming is all evident. Ahem.

Okay, so yet another long lapse in blog posts, and yes, things were still busy. I know I've said this before, but I think I'm on the verge of some normalcy now. LOL We'll see.

Well, in the meantime, I've started book three over from scratch. Hopefully, this will definitely be the longest period it's taken me to write a book. It's funny, because it's certainly not due to writer's block. On the contrary, it seems like the longer it's taking me to write it, the more ideas I come up with for it. The only problem is finding the time to sit and write. Lots of changes in my life this past year that has prevented me from doing a lot of writing and reading. But the last couple of weeks is an indicator to me that things are turning around.

I'm reading again. Yea! I'm in a few online reading groups, plus my co-workers and I are talking about starting our own little book club. Nothing structured yet but the plan is to discuss during our after work beer sessions. Now, THAT should be a fun book club. I can imagine our discussions already. Our first book is Moby Dick. LOL But in addition to that, my manager introduced me to Clive Barker. A couple of weekends ago, I went to the bookstore to look him up and ended up reading one of his short stories called the Book of Death. I really enjoyed it. This made me realize how narrow my reading choices have been. I never would have picked up a horror or sci/fi book. I did enjoy a mystery here and there though. But now, I want to read a book in each and every genre to see what I've been missing. Right now, I'm reading Imajika by Clive Barker and Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult. Just picked this one up yesterday and I'm starting Chapter 5 today. I'm also listening (in my car) to Chasing the Dime, by Michael Connelly. I've purchased on audio The Husband by Dean Koontz and Snow Falling on Cedars by David G. And purchased Can't Wait to Get to Heaven, by Fannie Flagg. Plus, I still have a lot of good reads on my bookshelf. :-)

So much for the reading, I'm also writing again too. Like I said, I'm pretty much starting from scratch with book three. Not really major changes, but major enhancements. This weekend, I went over all the main characters's sketches, back story and story line. Today, I want to go back over the outline, then re-evaluate the first four chapters. The time away from it gave me time to things more about it and come up with ideas that will make it more authentic. So, actually, I think the time away from it will serve me well. All in all, I'm hoping to have it finished by the end of the year, so I can immediately start my next book, which will be the beginning of a series. Yes, I do have it all mapped out in my head!

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Whew! Been a while since I posted. It's been over a year now since I've been saying that things are going to slow down and I'll be back on a regular schedule in a minute. Yet things keep getting busier and busier. So busy that I'm not meeting my own personal deadlines on my books, and well, you know that's gotta stop. So, I made up my mind, starting today, everything else comes secondary to finally finishing books three AND four, and, uh....making money. LOL

But guess what? I'm finally getting over it. I thought it would never happen, but I'm finally getting over my fear of public speaking!!! It was so cool. Yesterday, I was the Keynote Speaker at the 4th Annual Indianapolis Book Fest. I'd been knowing about this for months (which probably helped) so had time to mentally prepare myself for speaking. Usually, when I speak before an audience, I get that queasy feeling in my stomach, I'm a-sweatin' and my voice is a-trembling... LOL But this time, I really thought about it. I mean, what am I afraid of? The audience is my friend. :-) No but really, I thought about myself before I wrote my first book or being a reader. And when I went to events, I wanted to receive any information the author could give me. So, instead of looking at the speaking opportunity as me having to talk about myself or promoting my book, I looked at it as giving others information and sharing my experience with them so that they can know what they could possibly expect. WOW! It worked. I wasn't nervous because I felt like I was giving useful information in a casual way. Man! I could do that again! That was my best speaking experience thus far.

Don't get me wrong. My inner critic evaluated me and pointed out areas where I could improve, and, to me, that's okay. I just feel like I've gotten over a major hump in public speaking, and now I can move on to making a core speech and perfecting it! :-)

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Hey peeps!

It's been a while again, but as always, I'm busy plugging away. Hope you've been checking out my posts on BloggingInBlack.com. I do a monthly post there on the 30th of each month. I also post it on my myspace blog when I post a new one.

I'm also the new feature writer at Urbanburnout.com and my first article posted yesterday. Yea! This is exciting for me. Because I'm combining two things I love: motorcycles and writing. I was never interested in freelance writing until this opportunity came. There was never a subject that I was interested in enough to make it not feel like WORK! LOL But when it's something that you love, you don't mind doing. Only thing is, I so wish I had more time to write more than one article a month. Hopefully, in the future, I will.

Anyway, check out my first feature!

THE EVOLUTION OF THE URBAN BIKER SET:
Have Motorcycle Clubs Changed Their Focus?

PART I

If you’re ever blessed with pleasure of conversation with motorcycle club (MC) riders who have been on the set long before the biker boom of the ‘90’s, almost immediately you begin to feel their sense of pride in the unity and solidarity they possessed. You come to know their strength in having bonds tighter than any blood related family. You feel the cohesiveness that was formed by their common, undying passion of both living their life and in experiencing the world on two wheels. You feel a brotherly love that just has to surpass that of any love known or felt even in the deepest pocket of the city of Philadelphia. You come to know of a family fully committed to life on the road, to each other, and to living life to the fullest. And of these old school bikers, as their children, and their children’s children began to rise and go forth on two—two wheels, that is—and as technology has advanced and wealth increased, the black biker set of old has exploded and evolved to what best can be described now as the new urban biker set. In that evolution, with the additions of many new MCs, along with the exponential increase of Riding Clubs, the sprouting of Social Clubs, the movement of female riders from “riding bitch” to making some of the boyz eat dust, and the relentless flow of money onto the urban biker set, one has to wonder if all of these things have had an effect on the committed and strongly bonded brotherhoods of MCs of yesterday. One has to wonder, have motorcycle clubs changed their focus?

READ THE REST AT: www.urbanburnout.com/Features.html

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Just like life to get in the middle of your book promotion! LOL Well, it's been a hectic two months. Things were going great with promotion of the book, then I had to tend to some unplanned personal things that popped up at the most inconvenient time. And, as I've been saying, the day you stop promoting your own book is the day your book doesn't get promoted at all. And so it goes. But that's the life of an author and something you have to adjust for. So, now, things are back in order and I have to get caught up (once again) and get back on track.

Through it all, some great opportunities have come my way. I've never been interested in freelance writing because most of the topics I've seen never piqued my interest. And when I'm not interested in what I'm writing, that's when it feels like work. And I've got enough of that. LOL But over the past months, I've had 3 freelance writing opportunities to come my way that I'm very much interested in.

Today, Monday, April 30th, check out my first post at:

I'm excited about posting there every month along with my fellow authors. I'll post a commentary on the 30th of every month, so bookmare the site if you're not a viewer already, and check it out.

Also, coming soon, I will also be a regular poster at a sports website and an urban motorcycle community website. I'll let you know as soon as the first post is published!

Hey, if you're in Atlanta this weekend, I hope you can drop in and join me at a literary event hosted by my Sorors of the Atlanta Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. They are hosting "A Good Book and a Glass of Wine" event. Join us at the black owned restaurant and wine bar, Vino Libro at 933 Garrett Ave in Atlanta, GA. We will be there from 3 - 5 pm. Hope you can join us!

All right, gotta go get back on track!!!

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Ah! Finally getting a chance when I can breathe a little. Most of my activities this month are at home, so I’m finally getting to tend to some things during the weekends as well. And yes, while I did have to buy new underwear, I finally found the time to do laundry! LOL I’m telling you….trying to promote, do events, and write a book, all while going through the normal routines of life, is no joke. It ain’t easy. But it’s so true that if it’s your passion, you’ll do it no matter what’s going on around you. I’ve been fortunate to have opportunities to come my way. But even when they come your way, still, a lot of follow through and follow up is required. Sometimes quite a bit of back and forth. Sometimes requiring you to put additional promotional documents together (if you want it promoted). Dozens of phone calls, emails… Trying to create and supply everything needed, which can be different for each event. And then, add to that the event and opportunities you seek on a daily basis, in addition to finding and exposing your work on a daily basis, to readers who are not aware. Doing this on the internet, in addition to going out in your area on foot to network, street team and distribute promotional material at literary events, in stores, the post office, wherever you go and tagging cars…on a DAILY BASIS. Sit and imagine. Imagine how tiring it can be, how you have to squeeze in exercising, fun and relaxation; how while you’re at home alone doing all this, your friends think you’re sleeping or laying on the couch eating bon bons while watching a bootleg movie. Because no one SEES a writer working. Wondering why you don’t pick up the phone to just chit chat, maybe thinking you're just ignoring them. Dishes and bills are piling up and waving at you; the laundry basket is overflowing and if the mold in the fridge continues to grow, it’s going to open the fridge door itself to take a seat on the couch and say, "What's good?". And, because they can’t see all this, your friends say, “You can put it aside ONE day (and they say this every other day) to come hangout until the wee hours of the morning, or party, or go skating, or go on a date, or...etc. And you want to just shake your head, sigh, and say, “You think you know…but you have NO IDEA…”

It’s work, it’s a challenge, and it’s a rush…

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Okay, my apartment’s a total mess again and there’s no time to straighten in up. Can you say, tornado central? LOL Once again, I feel like I’m there for a few hours to sleep, do a couple of hours of “book work,” then shower and get ready for the next day. I’m embarrassed to say this, but I’m just going to have to buy a pack of underwear now because I haven’t had time to do laundry. Shame, I know. But I’m going out of town tomorrow morning and since I’m driving to Cleveland, that means I need to just get home, pack, and get to sleep so I can drive out at 4 or 5am. No time to do laundry! Well, if things are busy, that always means things are going good as far as promotions. To me it means I’m doing all I can. If I’m sitting at home doing something other than promoting my book, then I feel like there’s a problem.

So like I said before, the primary focus right now is my hometown peeps. So, I hired a local “publicist” and she is GREAT! Funny how we started working together. She’s a poet (Mocha Latte) with her own platform on Wednesday nights (at the Loft starting Feb. 28th). So, I’d been going to her shows, and she came out to my signing. Without any intent, sistergirl was selling my books for me like hotcakes. I mean, she literally convinced folks to give my book a try, since most had never heard of me. I’m still a little reserved. But she’s one of those open people that can walk up to someone and talk about anything. Plus, she LOVES to promote others in whatever they do. In seeing how she worked, I’m like, I need this lady with me! LOL So, we started talking, worked out terms and now I’m her first client. It’s something she’s always wanted to do and something everybody she knows has been telling her what she should do. I could relate to what she was saying. Same thing with me in becoming a writer. So now, we’re helping each other. I’m telling her what I know about the needs of a writer as far as a publicist. She’s helping me because she has a local literary fan base and connections, plus she’s a driver into getting what she needs to promote. To me, it’s a match made in heaven. We’re just getting started but having her on my team for local promotion has been a blessing already.

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Feedback about First Fridays is starting to come in and I'm cool with what I'm hearing. It's always great to hear reader's opinions of what you wrote. And, like I said, this time, I do feel more mellow with the feedback. After Counting Raindrops, there were some thoughts shared that made me want to ask, "Are you sure it's MY book you read?" LOL Not because it wasn't liked. But usually because of some reference drawn that was from an internal perspective and projected as the underlying factor for a scene, a character, or the whole purpose of my book. Usually something I never even thought of, but they swear up and down, that that's what I was saying. LOL Yeah, it was with Counting Raindrops that I learned that in addition to personal reading tastes, readers all have different realities which may cause them to have a completely different interpretation of your book and believe to the depths of their soul that "this" is what you meant. While they may be wrong in stating what I meant, they're not wrong in their personal interpretation. That's what I've come to learn and respect about readers. If they think it's the best thing since Vaseline...it is..to them. If they think it could be better...it could be...for them. I think getting to this understanding has made me a sane writer. LOL

On another note, man...lots of stuff going on (stay tuned at my Myspace Page. First, I'm scheduled to do an interview for an online magazine that's off the hizzy (can I still say that?). Can't wait to share it with you. Also, I'm on eTour with Marguerite Press and will post the site locations and chat times. And I'm traveling to Cincinnati this weekend will sign at the following locaton:

Friday, February 9th, 2007; 6 – 8pm
Book Signing
Waldenbooks
Kenwood Town Center
7875 Montgomery Rd
Cincinnati, OH 45236
513.791.0011
Bill Carl

Busy, busy, busy, but I guess that's always a good thing. :-) And hey, I'm running a Valentine's Day Contest! Check it out! And for those of you who come out and get a book in Cincinnati, you'll be entered too!

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Okay, I'm cheating. LOL I posted this on my myspace blog last week, and I'm cuttin' and pasting it here. Sue me. LOL



This weekend starts off my events, and it's the second time around for me. My second book. And with llke anything, you learn from experience or you change things around from experience. And your thoughts and attitudes can changed, based on the experience from the first time around. What's different this time?

I'm more relaxed about things. The first time around, I was worried about getting all positive reviews, packing the bookstores with interested, avid readers, and trying to be everything to everybody and be everywhere. Now? Bump all that! LOL I've learned from the first time around that not everyone is going to like your writing or your stories. Does that make you a bad writer or a bad storyteller? No. It's just a fact that just like I might not enjoy a certain genre or prefer books that have less narrative, so might other readers and reviewers have a preference. Although I can say about a good 98% of my reviews from my first novel were positive, it's funny how as a new writer, you focus on the 1 or 2% "bad" reviews (and honstly, thinking back, I can only remember 2 not so kind reviews). You can allow one harsh review negate the 99 positive ones you receive. So, what I've learned is to concentrate on those that enjoy my style of writing. I've learned to take in constructive criticism and separate and absorb that from actual personal preferences in reading (because I found unpleased readers can take your story and re-write it for you in their mind and tell you how you should have written it to make it more pleasing or more relatable to them...all different ways, of course. So the moral is that no matter what you write, someone is not going to be totally pleased.). I've learned to focus on my audience. They'll let me know who they are.

And this second time around, if I can say, I've learned that it is very true that African American women give very little attention to reviews, ads, and accolades. But rather if their best friend or cousin Shaniqua read your book and if she loved it or hated it. That determines whether they buy your book or not. So again, focus on the readers who love my style rather than give thought to those who don't.

And this second time around, I'm enjoying it more. I don't worry about packing the house because I'm a new writer and I have to prove myself and build my readership. So, should I happen to have only one reader to come out to a book signing or 50, the focus is to connect with readers and encourage them to pass the word along to fellow avid readers if they enjoy my writing style. Now, thus far, I've been blessed to have even more readers to come out over my debut. And I pray it will continue to build from there.

This second time around, although I promote like crazy, I don't feel the need to push like I did the first time around. I mean, push readers to post reviews on Amazon.com, push reviewers to read and (hopefully) post positive reviews on my book. I'm very anxioius for feedback and reviews. But, this time around, I feel comfortable in allowing whatever to happen to happen. And with that, thus far, I've gotten positive feedback and friends to come to me and offer to do certain things from the heart, and not out of obligation. And that certainly feels better.

And because of all this and more, this second time around it's even MORE enjoyable. Because I don't look at or compete with other authors. We all have something to offer and an audience that will receive it. I'm more relaxed because the readers who come out either enjoy my writing or who are interested in what I'm doing and want to know more about me and my writing. And now, I'm loving this even more. I can be me, and have more fun this second time around. :-)

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One down and one to go! Had my first event for First Fridays last night. Pics will be coming this weekend. But it was great and I had a great time. We just hung out at Mack’s Sports Bar and Grill, eating, drinking, and chatting. My motorcycle club members were hosting and ever present in their vests. And they even bought books too! How awesome! It was great to get the support of family and to see my different friends come together and act like they knew each other. Well, actually, some of them did, but we just didn’t know it. Found out that night. Small world. Isn’t it funny how that works out sometime? People came from Lyrics of the Lou, a Wednesday night poetry set I hit up at the Filter Bar (if you’re in St. Louis, you got to check this out. It’s hot!). And then there were people I’d never met before who told me they heard me on the radio and came by to check me out. Now that was so cool!

So, today is Friday and I’m chilling and fixing my mind to Saturday’s signing were this time I’m actually going to have to get up and talk in front of people. It’s a reading, Q & A session, and whatever before the signing. Then I get a call from someone that I came to find out was a Soror, who wants me to come to her book club meeting next week and to bring books because she selected my book for February! Awesome! And of course, I offered to come back in February and sit down and chat with them about it. But, of course! So, I’m feeling good about the 11 books for each member that she’s telling me to bring. Because I also know that my other friend, Angelia, who works in the school district and sold 25 of my self published books in a single day at work (and who gave the book club lady my info to contact me)…well, she’s taking orders for this book, so I’m feeling pretty. Next thing I know, another friend, a nurse at a hospital, calls and tells me she has a minimum order of 30 (but she hasn’t talked to everyone yet and this is only one of the hospitals she works in), and can I come up to the hospital next week to do a “hospital signing?” Okay, I never did that before but, HELLZ YEAH!

These are FRIENDS. It feels so good when you don’t ask, but people offer because they WANT you to succeed and sell books. They see you out there chasing your dream and they want to help you catch it. Asking nothing in return (although they will get something). I can’t tell you how warm that makes me feel. I got their back at any time.

So, kick off weekend is going GREAT thus far. I don’t think I could ask for anything better.

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In the midst of things. Going to events, passing out promo cards. And to people on the street everywhere I go. Calling on the job to try to hook up events, interviews, making arrangements for the book release party, doing follow ups, making my infamous "to-do" list...checking it twice.... Oh wait, that's Santa. LOL In other words, at the daily author grind.

Well, if you're in the St. Louis area, at 11:15AM tomorrow (Wednesday, January 17th), tune in your radio to FOXY 95.5FM because I'll be on the air for a live interview! Hope you're able to give it a listen!

Then Thursday is the book release party and I'm still in the process of tying up loose ends for it. But come on by Mack's at 6PM. You can pick up a copy of my book, get some Mack's appetizers and a free drink. And what's a party without cake?!!! It's going to be a good time. :-)

But if you can't make that, stop by the Brentwood Border's on Saturday afternoon at 2PM. I'll do a reading, take your questions, and then sign books. It's my kickoff weekend and I'm scurrying around trying to make things perfect. Yeah, I can be a bit of a perfectionist. LOL

It's the writer's grind. LOL

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Just got wind of a review in the Seattle Medium News: First Fridays Review Check it out.

And that reminds me, forgot to mention that the December/January issue of Heart & Soul magazine recommends First Fridays as a read in their Searching for Soul section. Check that out too!

Lots of good things are happening and I'm still working hard to put things together and doing promotions for my upcoming book release party. Overslept this morning cuz I was doing promotions last night and now I'm sitting here at this computer tired as all get out, hoping like heck this cup of coffee is going to do the trick and wake me up. LOL

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My page is finished!!! Check out my Myspace Page. Let me know what you think about it. If you're on Myspace too, hit me up and let's be friends! I know it took me a long time to get around to getting one done, but I've been on it ever since! It takes awhile sometimes for me to get with the latest program. LOL But check in with me there too. I plan to keep this blog and talk about my writing/publishing experience only. But there, I may talk about that, plus any other literary related thing that's going on. Check it out!

Well, so I'm back doing the promotion thing now. With the first book, I was in Cleveland and I did a lot of internet publicity, and ads, and did fairly well. However, this time, my strategy is to hit up the hometown and get word out on the street about me as a hometown author. It's easier to do that now that I'm here in the city. My first promotions was to hit attend our local First Fridays event and get word out. Now, usually, I'm shy and not very good about approaching people and starting discussions. But one thing I'm noticing, since joining a motorcycle club, I seem to be coming out of my shy shell. What?! Say it ain't so! LOL It's funny when you find out what it takes to get you to change. I'd taken public speaking classes and considered Toastmasters...who knew that all I needed to do was become a biker. LOL There's no such thing as being shy around bikers. They will make you talk, make you dance, and just make you be sociable. So much to the point where you're like, to heck with it. And you're always at functions where you no one knows each other but in 15 minutes, you will know everybody in the room! So, I've gotten a lot better at approaching people and I was able to do so Friday night. A lot of ladies were very receptive, especially since the book was called First Fridays. Hope they show up to the book release party! So, after I passed out my promotional business cards, I waited until the party got going, then I went to the parking garage to hit up everybody's cars, just in case I missed them. LOL Yeah, it's on again.

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Release day was yesterday!!!! Hopefully books are on shelves. Okay, now here comes the part where I have to make people aware that it's there, tell them who I am and what I write and try to get them to give a new writer a chance. Hard work. But this time, I a book wiser. With Counting Raindrops, I tried a little bit of everything within my budget and too much stuff outside of it. So, with just a teeny weeny bit more knowledge and a little bit of experience, I'm choosing my promotions wisely. Being here in my hometown this time around affords me to introduce myself to St. Louis, so that's the focus this time. So peeps here will come across me in email, see me pubbing at events, in bookstores, and just walking down the street. LOL I got work to do!

Hey, if you get Heart & Soul magazine, check out the write up on First Fridays. In the Searching for Soul section that begins on page 63, First Fridays is included as a recommended read!

I'm also in the process of constructing my MySpace page. I want to keep this blog as strictly my writer's blog to capture my writing and publishing experience. Yeah, ,I know, when I write to it. LOL But there's so much other stuff I want to write, share and talk about that's not necessarily writing. Like about other things I'm involved in and riding my bike and my motorcycle club and just living life. I'll post when it's done.

Well, here's to praying people will pick up First Fridays and check it out. I'm anxious to start getting feedback.

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Okay, um…yep. I’ve heard it, but now I think I can confirm for myself. It gets more difficult the second time around. LOL Wow. Now I’m looking back at writing, publishing, and promoting the first book and thinking, “Those were the good old days.” LOL Because now, with the second book, you’re not only trying to promote for it, but also trying to write the next book or short story on top of everything you normally do. Whew! So, back to not having a life and spending every free moment on book related activities.

If there are any aspiring writers out there, I agree with all the other writers out there who constantly say that if you write, you gotta do it for the love of it, and not for the money. I wouldn’t even know how to estimate it, but I would guess that if I were to be able to calculate all the hours I put into my writing career vs. money made from it, it would HAVE TO average out to somewhere around $2/hr. And that’s a generous guesstimation. LOL But still, the truth is, as much as it’s wearing me out, I really love writing and creating stories and I find myself always anxious to finish the next writing projects to have someone read it. It’s funny how when I’m finished, I’m not thinking how much I can sell this story for, but rather my thoughts are on whether or not readers will enjoy this story as much as I do. The thought is a nervous one on whether or not I created a story that will engross the readers and whether the reader will have difficulty in putting the book down because they want to see what happens next. It’s like, yeah, I do want to be able to support my lifestyle by writing, yet, money isn’t the primary source of satisfaction in the completion of the story.

Get it? If you do, explain it to me because I don’t. LOL

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When you start a new venture, EVERYTHING is exciting about it. Because you're full of enthusiasm because it's all new and fresh. Like starting a new job. That first day, that first week, or that first month, everything is all good. Until you've been through it before and you discover what you dislike about it. You discover which tasks are mundane and which ones you actually might even hate after you've gone through it a few times.

The literary world is the same. Yes, I love writing and I love publishing and promoting. When I self published Counting Raindrops, everything was new. It was fresh. It was exciting. I loved writing the book. I loved putting it together, soliciting to get bookstores and libraries to order it, promoting it, selling it, getting myself involved in literary events, traveling, etc., etc., etc. Loved it all. Even when I sold Counting to Hyperion. It was still exciting. It was new and I loved every bit of it. Same book, but re-done, so, a fresher product. And now, under a traditional publisher. So...exciting. Less stuff to do, because a publisher is involved now. But more stuff to consult on.

And now, here we come to the second book. I took time away from the literary world to enjoy life. I got out of the flow of things. I'm hopping back in and going back to what I did before. Planning publicity and promotion, consulting with the publisher and writing the third book. Only, this time it feels different. I've been down this road twice before and I'm discovering the things that I really don't care for. Can't say I hate any of it. But now, I'm finding myself wishing I could just sit back and write. Read and write. Study the craft, and write better. But a writer can't do that. Well, I can if I'm not concerned about selling a lot and having a full-time writing career.

This weekend, I got so into a book. I'm reading Quicksand by Nella Larsen and I love the narrative. I didn't want to put the book down. And when I did put the book down, I immediately wanted to start writing. But I couldn't because there were things on my list that I had to get done for the second book. It's very frustrating to have a fire burning within you, but you can't tend to it. You have to put it aside and hope that it's there burning when you get back. And it's the beginning of the week and your weekdays are long and you know you'll have only an hour or two here and there until the weekend comes again, but you have plans already for the weekend and there's not going to be much time for writing which means another week with scattered hours until the next weekend and...sigh....

Just feeling a little frustrated at the moment....

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Well, I successfully got through a great two weekends of events and had a great time doing them. The Friday before The Big Read, I did a radio interview on the St. Louis NPR radio station. It wasn’t until that day that I thought and realized that it was actually my very first in-studio radio interview. I didn’t know if I was going to be nervous or not, but when I got there and did it, I found it was virtually impossible to be nervous. Because even though you have a large audience, you don’t see them. So I felt comfortable freely answering the interviewer’s questions and engaging in conversation. Okay, so that’s one part of speaking that I do like!

Then the next day was the actual event. I did a panel from 11:30am to 1:00 pm with Eric Jerome Dickey and Professor Eugene Redmond of SIUE. When we first got there, there were only people in the first three rows or so. Very light crowd. And I confess, while I wanted a large crowd for sales, seeing the small crowd made me feel comfortable in speaking. And before our panel, I mentioned to Eric how this was the part that I disliked the most and he gave me tips right there on the spot and talked to me about doing speaking engagements in general. Told me of some of his experiences and how he still gets nervous. So that was cool. And by the time I spoke after him, I was completely cool. The room filled up a lot more as the panel continued and I kept my cool! I read from First Fridays for the first time. Not surprisingly, I waited until the last minute to pick a passage to read. And this experience is different because unlike the first book, I haven’t had a reader to read First Fridays. So, I don’t know what the reaction will be. So, I read my excerpt and during my reading, people are just laughing and laughing. And I’m listening, and even Eric and Eugene are on the stage behind me laughing. And I’m thinking…. “WOW!!!! They like it!!! They REALLY like it!” LOL

But it was a really cool event and I had a really great time. I’m definitely looking forward to participating in The Big Read next year!

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Well, things are moving right along. I should be able to notify you of website updates in the next couple of days. Now, I'm currently working on preparing for The Big Read on Saturday. But before then, I'm doing a radio interview Friday, October 6 from 11:25 a.m. to 12:00 noon on 90.7 KWMU, the St. Louis NPR station. Check me out!

And here's info on my participation in the BigRead:
11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
African American Writers Of Today Panel

Eric Jerome Dickey, Chasing Destiny
Eight-time New York Times bestselling author Eric Jerome Dickey’s new novel is filled with intrigue, speed, and sex appeal. And an unforgettable female narrator rides her sexy yellow motorcycle right through it all. Dickey was born in Memphis and is the author of twelve novels, eight of them New York Times bestsellers. He now writes full time and is currently at work on a series of comic books for Marvel’s popular X-Men series, featuring the characters of Storm and The Black Panther. He lives in Southern California. The New York Times calls him “addictive”, While Entertainment Weekly hails him as the “king of African-American fiction.”

Cherlyn Michaels, First Fridays and Counting Raindrops Through a Stained Glass Window
A bright new talent in African-American fiction returns with her second novel, filled with smarts, sass, and sex . . .Naja’s on a nine-month countdown -- for her baby, but not the kind you’d expect. Naja’s baby is an Internet café, the entrepreneurial dream she’s been pursuing secretly while working in a St. Louis office. When she’s laid off, Naja finds herself looking for new ways to network; at her best friend’s suggestion, she attends a First Fridays get together. To her surprise, she meets Russ, a handsome, charismatic man who offers to back her venture. Soon enough, he wants more, but Naja is reluctant to mix business with pleasure. However, resisting Russ’s charms is trickier than she imagined. Cherlyn Michaels was the 2004 Shades of Romance Magazine Best new Multicultural Author of the Year and was nominated for the African American Literary Awards Show Open Book Award for Best Self-Published Author of the Year. She lives in St. Louis.

Eugene B. Redmond, Drumvoices Review
Eugene B. Redmond, Poet Laureate of East St. Louis is currently a Professor of English and the editor of Drumvoices Review at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. His awards include a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Pan-African Movement USA, a Pushcart Prize: Best of Small Presses, a Tribute to an Elder from the African Poetry Theater of NYC, and an American Book Award.

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Well, time is getting close and we're right outside the busy window. Three months before release and that's when things really start to get hectic. And I'm so waaayyy behind on everything! Blog updates are few and far between, still haven't updated the website (working on it now) or put together the next newsletter. But things are about to get underway now. I finally came to the realization that I need to prioritize more and that I just can't do everything that I want to do right now. So, I had to make some tough decisions. I had to let go of some things that I wanted to do and that I loved to do. Sometimes you have to do that. You have to take care of business, then later, have time to take care of the other things that you're passionate about. Gotta set the priorities.

In addition to all the things that come along with promoting the next book, I have an upcoming event that I need to prepare for as well. The Big Read here in St. Louis (Clayton), MO. It's going to be Saturday, October 7th. I just found out that I'm sharing panel space with a writer I look up to, Mr. Eric Jerome Dickey (11:30 am - 1:pm). That's going to be cool. If you're going to be in the area check it out: http://www.bigread.net/AuthorTentB.htm

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Every time I think I’m back, I’m not.  LOL  No, but this time, I’m good.  For real. Free time is winding down and I got to get back to the consistency I used to have in the writing career.  I’ve been writing here and there, but long gone has been the writing 10 – 12 hours a day.  I’ve enjoyed the summer and I’ve been practicing riding my motorcycle, a Ninja 600 ZX6.  Like writing a book, it was one of my dreams and I’m fulfilling it now.  I bought it in June and have had some major issues with it.  Can you guess?  Yes, height issues.  We took 2 or 3 inches of cushion out of the seat, plus lowered the bike a couple of inches.  But I was still tipping over…like a cow.  A sleeping cow.  But now, I’m in the game and doing good. Got my stiletto boots and I’m rolling.  LOL  And for the bikers out there, no, I won’t be relying on the 5.5 inch heels forever.  I’ll have the bike lowered in the “off-season.”

So now, it’s back to business.  I’m planning to finally get that website updated, and to post to my blog more often.  I’ve had so many people to email me about my blog being informative in showing them the path that I took to publishing.  I’d love to keep you all in the loop about the process and progress of book two.  I’m working on my next newsletter where I’m giving away an advance copy of First Fridays, so if you haven’t signed up, you might want to do so now. :-)  I had a phone conference with my publishers many weeks back and I got to get back to business.  The book comes out January 2nd and believe me, now I know, that’s not a lot of time to work with.  Time to get movin’!

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*Rolling over and rubbing my eyes with my fists*
What time is it? It's spring now? Almost summer? Dang! What day is this? The 4th of JUNE???

Ok, ok, ok... See, what had happened was...a few months ago, I was about to do my routine post to my blog, right? So, then, one of my girls called. And she was like, talking, like she always do, right? That girl know she can talk the ears off the dead. Just talking and chewing and chewing and talking. So, when she asked me that, I just said, OK, thinking it was done, right. And I can get back to blogging. So, I go, right? Then, next thing I know, BAM! It's June!

LOL. I'm back and no I still don't have any sense. It's going to take a few posts to update everything. But to sum it up, I just took some time off. Had to get some stuff in my personal life sorted, organized, and filed. Lost 15 pounds. Met my goal. Yea! But you know how it goes. I made a new goal to lose 10 more. Went and filed child support against the baby daddies that I could have had or might have one day. You never know and with the way the court system works, it's best to start early. I went to motorcycle school, passed the class, got my endorsement on my license that says I am legally allowed to rule the road. So y'all better watch out! LOL I'm working on getting a bike right now. Looking for a '92-'95 GSXR600. If you happen to come across one, holla.

So, book stuff. Counting Raindrops is doing very well and the publisher is pleased. It's always a good thing for the publisher to be pleased. The second release, First Fridays, is scheduled for release on January 2, 2007. I'm joining a literary tour group and hope to be in an area near you. If I am, come check out my books! I know January is a long time away and not exactly a date that we're rushing to get to. At least those of us up north or in the Midwest. So, I'm preparing to update my website with the new cover, the first chapter, and reading guide questions. In the meantime, the cover and synopsis in on Amazon.com and you can even pre-order it, if you so choose. :-)

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be back soon. :-)

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So I have my new story carved out now, but I'm still doing research on my major issue and trying to decide what angle to take. What's going to make it the most interesting? Since the issue is surrounding a married couple, I need to ask some of my married girlfriends what they think if.... How would they respond to.... What would they do if.... The thing is, I like to do this without them knowing that I'm asking for the purpose of writing a book. I've notice that when I ask questions of my married friends who think it's for a book, I get textbook or relationship retreat answers. LOL But take the same question, and ask it after talking about the frustrations of raising children and the frustrations and raising a husband, it's like they're caught off guard and the answer is totally different. Until they realize who they're talking to then they sober up and try to clean up the real response. LOL

I've had to stop awhile to try to get my reader's guide questions together for First Fridays. By the way, a lot of people have been asking and my publisher set the publication date for January, 2007. Only 11 more months to go! :-) Gives me the time to write 2 more novels and the 3 short stories I want to get done this year. So, anyway, I'm having to go back and re-read First Fridays to try to pull out deep, gripping questions. It's funny because as soon as I'm done with a story, I'm finding that I don't remember all the details. I actually have to sit down and really READ it in order to consider meaning. I know what's going to happen. But what are the underlying messages that the writer slipped in or was trying to convey? That's what I have to try to capture again. LOL It's not easy. When you're writing, you're in a moment. A different world. On a different level. Then you come back down to earth and have to figure out in your normal mind what the heck the your message was if you had one so that you can explain it to people because, believe me, they WILL ask! Lawd! Book club people had me doing flips at meetings asking me about minor details and what a character was thinking when he/she said or did this or that? They had me going back to re-read excerpts in the meeting because I didn't know and I wrote it. LOL

Well, this re-read is the first of many. My editor told me that I should expect to get the copyedits back February 17th (my birthday weekend!). I must have read Counting Raindrops 25 - 30 times, and STILL don't remember all the details! LOL

Here's a synopsis of First Fridays that I wrote recently:

When Naja Rodgers loses the dead end job she didn’t want, she accepts the invitation of a friend to attend First Fridays networking parties to find a business partner and move her entrepreneural thoughts from dream to reality. At a St. Louis First Fridays event, she finds a sultry and savvy business partner in the form of the handsome Russom King. Despite his good looks and their obvious attraction for each other, out of fear of possibly bringing bedroom drama to the boardroom, Naja vows never to mix business and personal relationships and to keep things strictly professional with Russ. Eventually, however, she falls for his charm and into his arms, and soon finds that bedroom to boardroom drama is the least of her worries. She finds that mixing business and personal relationships could cost her more than she ever imagined.

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Well, I'm getting a good start. I'm finally settling into a good morning routine for book three. Right now, I'm working on shaping my story idea and doing research. I know the main story idea, but I'm considering different ideas to bring a twist to it. What's helping me with that is research and finding out what is the most common or most familiar response to the set of circumstances I'm presenting, then consider "what if's" in the opposite direction. I'll talk about the book more once I flesh out the idea. So, those of you around me, quit asking me what the book is about! I'm shaping it now. LOL

Hey, do you subscribe to Essence or pick it up? Well, there's a page called "Feel the Fire Fiction" where they have recommended books for your Valentine's Day reading. And, you guessed it, they recommend my first novel, Counting Raindrops through a Stained Glass Window! Now, how cool is that? Way cool. :-) I didn't find out until one of my friends sent me an email congratulating me for the mention in Februrary's issue of Essence (page 90 to be exact, but who's paying attention? LOL) I'm finding that a lot of mentions I find out only when someone who knows me see it, then congratulates me on it. As if I knew all along. LOL It's pretty cool though. :-)

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Okay, so it's already the middle of January and I'm STILL not back on track yet. LOL But no, I'm not vacationing still. Wouldn't that be nice? :-) But doing a little life sorting and organization. Getting things lined up for myself for this new year.

Literarily, (is that a word?) I finished up a book, Soul on Bikes - The East Bay Dragons Motorcycle Club and the Black Biker Set. Yeah, I'm really gearing up for this spring! LOL It was a book I bought a while ago and, like so many others, it was sitting on my shelf. Since I joined a club, I selected it to read to see what the experience was like back then. The book was quite interesting and I really enjoyed it. It even got me pumped up about doing things with my club. But even if you're not into motorycles, it was a great read because it also reflected on the times, which was from the 50's until present day.

Okay, other than that, I haven't done much literarily, except thinking. A LOT of thinking! LOL I've come up with so many story ideas that it's not even funny. But it's time to get to writing! Okay, the new goal is to start writing on Monday. January 16th. Yep. That's the NEW plan!

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I forgot to post the contest winners!!!! The winners are everyone who posted (by the due date) their list of favorite authors/favorite books. If you posted your list on my blog, send your mailing address to cherlyn@cherlynmichaels.com and I will send you an autographed copy of my book! I'm on vacation, but you will get them the first of the year! LOL Congratulations and Happy Holidays!!!

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I guess I'm getting a hang of this writing vacation thing! LOL Yes, I've still been taking care of "life" stuff and relaxing, talking, and hanging out with the friends I haven't spent much time with since I've been back in St. Louis. It's been really great. This is my last week of vacation, as I've planned to start working on book three beginning January 2, 2005.

But don't get me wrong, even while I'm on vacation, I'm still an author. I carry my promotional cards with me everywhere I go and everytime I come across readers, I give out my cards. I also keep a small stash of books either on me or in the trunk of my car. Since I'm no longer self-published, I don't have the box of books like I used to. But I figured a way around that. I invested in a small stash and every time I make a sale from it, I used the funds to restock the stash. So, I can still bring the bookstore to the people. And I've also shared a handful of books with several family members for the same thing too. They take the autographed books to their jobs. So, I'm still out here trying to work it while I'm having fun.

A colleague of mine sent me an email to congratulate me on the review of my book in Black Issues Book Review. It's in the January/February issue if you want to check it out.

Well, I'm out. Going sportbike shopping today! I hope not to be away too long. :-) But I'll be back in the swing of things at the beginning of the year. :-)

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Isn't it funny how time flies? I know I said I'd be back December 1st. I can't believe it's the 7th already!

Okay, so I can breathe a little bit. It's like, you know when you get a cold, and both your nasal passages are blocked? Then, things get a little better and one of them opens up so that you're breathing through only one side of your nose? It's not 100% clear, but hey, at least you can breathe a little? Well, that's what it's like for me right now. LOL And first, let me say that if you've sent messages to my inbox, I'm not ignoring them and I promise I will answer. :-)

So, I finally finished up that short story that I was working on for an anthology. My story is called Kettle Black and it's about a young woman who has been scarred in a marriage and thus has developed some trust issues for her future relationships. Sounds familiar doesn't it? But you know me. There's always got to be a twist. Let's just say that when we are wronged, sometimes we can come up with some pretty trifling answers and try to justify them to ourselves as reasonable. Also, while we're busy pointing out what's wrong in others and the world, sometimes we need to look within. So, when will this story surface? I don't know but I'll be sure to let you know. The line up of authors on this project is pretty awesome and I'm sitting here wondering how in the heck did I get selected. :-) It's cool, though. I'll let you know.

So, I finished the story last week and basically took another week of to relax and enjoy life. I've retired my pen for the remainder of the year and I'm trying to have a social life (while I still promote and sell out of my bag on the streets. You can never stop promoting and selling! LOL) Trying to hang with my new Ruff Ryder family (I discovered that I may have to adjust my 10PM bedtime schedule on certain days and take a nap in the afternoon!), meeting new friends and going out, hanging out with old friends. It's been cool. A girlfriend of mine called to give me two tickets to the Rams game on X-mas Eve. So, you know I'm excited about that. I've already invited a friend to go. Finding a football enthusiast who wants a free ticket is never hard to find!

But, of course, this is life and nothing is ever all fun and games. I had to go back to making a "to-do" list. All the things I neglected while trying to complete my short story, and now are urgent items that I must do if I don't want to be sued, pistol-whipped, or disowned by family and friends. And the plan is to get as much reading done as possible before I start on another short story for another anthology at the beginning of the year. Next year's writing goal is to write a minimum of 3 short stories and 2 novels. And I've learned my lesson. The plan is to do it immediately and at my leisure to prevent myself from writing under a deadline. Because that really sucks!

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Okay, I dropped in because I know I've been on an unofficial and unannounced hiatus. LOL As you can probably guess, I'm overloaded with stuff. I'm finishing up a short story and I have my last booksigning this weekend in Baltimore. By chance, if you're there, and you were planning on coming out, please note that my Sunday signing at Urban Knowledge has been changed to Friday from 6 - 8 PM.

So, this time, I'm going to officially say that I'll be on hiatus until round about December 1st (I'll post the contest winners to the blog).

Oh, and speaking of Thanksgiving, I'm going to be on the road, driving to Baltimore on Thanksgiving day. But, before I go, I'm going to hang out with my new MC family, as they volunteer to serve Thanksgiving dinner at the Larry Rice Center (in St. Louis). Yep, that's right. Last week, I became a prospect member of a motorcycle club.

So, last week, they spent time volunteering with the Feed the City program. This Thursday, I'll joined them for a few hours to serve Thanksgiving dinner to many St. Louis families in need. I love what they do and I'm extremely happy to be able to join in and be part of it all. There are so many families here and elsewhere who are not able to gather together and have a meal with their own. I want nothing more than to be able to share a part of my day and spend time with others on that day of thanks.


Well, I'm out for a little while, so, everyone enjoy your Thanksgiving!!!!

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I had an unexpected dilemma on Monday. I really needed to make more headway on the new short story I'm writing, then I still needed to do a re-read on the current on and offer feedback to my co-authors. So, I was all settled in for a full day and evening of writing. I was even planning on nixing Monday nite football and just watching at home. Then, I got a call from a friend who works for Anheuser-Busch. She says she has free tickets to see a private concert and did I want to go. It was Nelly.

I pride myself in dedication to my work. A lot of times you have to make sacrifices. Sacrifices that hurt. Even though you set your own schedule, you know what you can and cannot do. Or at least what you should or shouldn't. You know that to get to that place that you want to be, there are some calls you're going to have to not take, some places you're going to have to pass on going. Some concerts you'll have to pass up. Even Nelly.

I wasn't a huge rap fan anyway. I love old school rap, and I do listen to rap on the radio, although I admit to switching the radio station when it starts to get crunk.

"So, do you want to go see Nelly tonight?"

I felt like a true author as I pulled my cell phone away from my ear, gave it a twisted look, and answered, "Girl, are you drunk? Hells, yeah I wanna go!" And I tossed my laptop to the side, scattered my writing notes all over the floor, and made a mad dash to the closet to find an outfit to wear.

I had a good time. The three of us devised a plan, divided up, and got front row seats together. There were about a million acts that came on before Nelly. Local talents. It was my first rap concert and I must say that I enjoyed it. I put the music aside and focused on the verbal talents. Once I got into that, I found myself really impressed with these local kids for being on the stage. I still don't get the presentation: a million and one people on stage in the background, just strutting around, drinking, and bobbin' their head every once in a while. But I liked it.

And then Nelly came on and put on a nice decent show. I do wonder if it was tamed down from a normal concert (after all, this was an AB concert and it was 21 and up), and if so, I appreciated that. :-) He did some of his hits, then sang a little old school R&B, did a little old school rap, while sharing the stage and the mic with Murphy Lee and the rest of the Lunatics and then brought it back to their current day hits before leaving. It was a really good show and a really good break.

I went home and smiled at my laptop and told her I'd see her in the morning. :-)

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For those of you in the St. Louis area, we're looking for the support of 100 teachers, authors, artists, and illustrators!!!:

If you've visited my blog, you may know that I am working with a group of dedicated individuals to begin 826STL  – a fabulous offshoot of 826 Valencia, writer Dave Eggers’ commitment to providing free writing workshops, tutoring, nurturing and inspiration for kids 8-18 who love to write (or to get them excited about writing and its power in their lives).

The very best thing about 826 is that it SUPPORTS BUSY teachers!  Imagine a group of 10 professional writers and/or artists coming to a classroom free-of-charge, and working with young people, at the teacher’s direction.  So, for example, if kids are working on a book report or an essay about Lewis & Clark, the 826 volunteer team could (and would) come to the classroom, sit down with the children and give them POSITIVE guidance and support!  And…this is only one of the many creative programs 826 offers in its work with St. Louis area teachers  Super cool organization.Yay!  

We have partnered with the 150-member St. Louis Writers Guild and we’re getting the ball rolling on the long and complicated process of applying to develop an 826 St. Louis. As part of that process, we must demonstrate that St. Louis teachers need and want this service, and that St. Louis has a strong community of writers and volunteers who will support the organization.

If you’d be interested in and willing to have your name appear on a list of 100 TEACHERS, EDUCATORS, WRITERS, ARTISTS, AND ILLUSTRATORS FOR 826STL, please contact me at cherlyn@cherlynmichaels.com. If you know any other area teachers/educators, writers, artists who would be interested in lending their name and support to this fabulous organization, please pass this note along. I think this would be an amazing asset to our community!

Please let me know or contact me if you need any more details. Please email me your consent to be listed on our application if you are in support of this program.

THANK YOU!!!

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CONTEST! (FROM NOVEMBER NEWSLETTER)

Giving away books is cool! I'm having a ball. But this month, I want to know a little something about you and you're reading habits. So, I have two numbers in my head (no jokes about nothing else being there besides those numbers!). I'd love to hear who are your favorite authors and your favorite books. The two people to post that match the numbers in my head will receive an autographed copy of Counting Raindrops. For example, the 57th and the 93rd persons (not posts). Those numbers are examples only, so don't try to post in those spots (you'd probably be waiting years! LOL)

So, tell me now, who are your favorite authors and what are your favorite books?

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I had the most pleasant surprise Tuesday night. I had a meeting with my non-profit startup team for Studio STL (if I hadn't mentioned before, this is a writing organization for kids that we're trying to get up and running by June next year. Currently, we're applying for affiliation with 826 Valencia.). So, team member Beth is going over the draft of the application from beginning to end, and she has this excerpt about St. Louis that would be perfect to convey why St. Louis would be the perfect location for the affiliate writing center. She says that she hopes she can get the author's permission. So, she does this wonderful set up, and we're all on pins and needles to hear this excerpt, including me. Then she starts, "The Es-Tee-El. I cruised into my city westward bound..." And I just break out in something. Either a chuckle, or a light scream of excitement. I don't quite know what it was. Don't think anybody else had a clue. But she was reading from Counting Raindrops, Vanella's description of St. Louis when when she's driving home. I was so honored. I actually started blushing. She felt that it really captured the excitement of St. Louis and why it would be perfect for an 826 writing center.

There are centers in San Francisco, New York, Chicago, to name a few. And we're trying to get in our application by December to get the next affiliate here. With or without the affiliation, we're establishing ourselves as Studio STL and will be up and running by next year. We're meeting every week until we get the application in. Yes, somehow, I'm managing to squeeze this in amongst everything else. But this is something I really want to be a part of. It's funny because when we're at the meetings talking about it, I'm getting all excited. I love stuff like this. It's more than a writing center. But it's a place of creativity and imangination. Each location has a theme. Like one has superheros and they'll have a store that sells superhero supplies. The writing center has the superheros theme. So, we've been going over themes for our center and I'm getting all excited because I want to be one of the kids and explore. I'm forgetting that I'm supposed to be the adult and put it together and assist the kids. I love exploratory stuff...like museums and science centers. I can spend all day in a science center. Anyway, to get a better idea, check out 826 Valencia. It's going to be awesome.

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The book signing at Urban Knowledge in Memphis was great. It was hosted by the Unique Women's Social Club and they created quite the scene and drew in the crowd. They had nice little gift bags that they raffled off, had tasty refreshments, and just looked spectacular in their red shirts. I like red. :-) And Kim J. had already read my book and just talked it up a storm to customers. She got quite a few people excited. LOL Anyway, I don't think I ever had such a good time at a book signing. I didn't want it to end.

With one more weekend signing left in Baltimore in 3 - 4 weeks, it's back to the grind. I stated that I was going to take Sundays off. Well, let's just say that I had a light Sunday yesterday. Did a few things while watching the game. It wasn't a full day off, but I'm good.

I have 3 weeks left to finish up a story for an anthology. I'll be able to talk more about it in the near future. I'm also working on a revision to a story for another anthology. That's due the end of this year. Copyedits of First Fridays will probably be back any day now, so I'm trying to clear the plate as much as possible. Speaking of First Fridays, I had a conference call last week with my editor and publisher. It was the first time I've had the chance to actually talk to my editor directly about FF. I knew she loved it, but didn't know exactly how much. She says she feels it's an even stronger novel that Counting Raindrops. That was great to hear. Like I said before, unlike Counting, I hadn't had anyone to read First Fridays before my editor saw it. So, I didn't know what type of feedback to expect or if someone else would like it as much as I did. I was worried about a "sophomore jinx". Wondered if I would be able to be creative on the second book and have it get positive feedback like the first. But after hearing my editor's comments, I think I stand a chance. ;-)

Well, as usual, there's work to be done so I best be gettin' to choppin' some wood! (Don't try to figure out what that means because I have no idea myself.)

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Hey Peeps!

I know it's really been a while now, but things are crazy hectic. Just so much to do. Last weekend, I did the St. Louis Book Festival as planned. However, I hadn't expected to be in the midst of another revision, so I was knocking that out too. Got it Thursday and spent that night and all day Friday doing the edits. It was pretty much all line edits, which requires just adding commas here, changing a word there, deleting that, and rearranging this. So, no scene creations or anything...simple stuff. But a lot of stuff. So, when I say, I edited all day, I mean, ALL DAY! Don't know what time I started, but I remember finishing at 10:30PM and my bottom was hurting!! LOL I sat on the sofa, so it was soft. But I guess sitting in that position for so long got to me. Anyway, I got it done, Friday night, but then I had to find time to print it out, burn a CD, package it, then ship it overnight. Worked all that around the 2-day festival and shipped it off Sunday morning. Feels good.

Now, all I need to do is make it through a signing in Memphis, TN this weekend and my busy October will be complete. I had events every weekend. I'll be at home the next few weekends before heading to Baltimore for signings Thanksgiving weekend. The biggest shopping weekend of the year! Yep, I'm going to need some rest for that. Because it's going to be a challenge trying to shop in between signings. LOL

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I need to hurry and finish up a few little things. I'm expecting a guest today. That's right. My editor's assistant emailed me yesterday to let me know that First Fridays is on its way back to me and should be here today. That was quicker than I thought! I just knew I'd have at least two weeks to work on other stuff, but intead, my editor finished it in a week! So, I'm about to do the serious apartment cleaning and laundry that I've put off for what seems like ages. This afternoon, I'll be into the second round of revisions for First Fridays.

Ups and downs this week. For the first time this season, I went out to watch Monday night football. Last year, I lost a Superbowl bet and was to pay one of the guys $50. Last night, I just knew the Colts were going to win, even though the Rams are my team. But then, the Rams were up by something like 17 points. So, Mikey comes over to me and says, "Double or nothing?" So, I say yes, because I'm thinking there's no way the Rams can lose a 17 point lead. Then I say no, because I'm like, it's the undefeated Colts. Then, he's taunting me about being a chicken and my pride kicks in. So, I stick my chest out and say "It's on!" and I proceed to talk trash the rest of the night. Well, at least until the third quarter. That's when I got up and told Mikey that I'd pay him his #$%!&*! $100 later.

I went upstairs just in time to see Pujols hit a home run at the top of the 9th to win the game and bring the game back to St. Louis. Then I watched last night as we lost. But we had a good season! :-) Going to try to be there when they take the wrecking ball to Busch Stadium.

And, I didn't win Powerball. But then again, I didn't play either. Gotta remember to start doing that...

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Back in for a moment. Had a bad mishap at my signing this weekend. I go to the store to sign, and I see no indication that I'm supposed to sign there. No store announcements, no signs on the door, no nothing. Worse yet, I see all this stuff for another author. I case the place and see a set up with his books on display. So, I approach the associates and tell them that I'm there for my signing that's schedule for a half an hour from then. They tell me that they have me nowhere on their event calendar. I'm so distraught. I've been advertising my butt off for this signing. So, she gets on the phone to find out what's what, and I call my agent in near tears.

So, she can't find me in their system, but says they can set up a table on the lower level (which is good) for a meet and greet. Problem is, the 50 books that my publicist said were at the store are not there. They only have 3 books in stock. It's 15 minutes before the signing. I tell her I have a few books at home (my author copies) and we agree on terms to sell these. I'd use the money made to replace them. So, I get in my car to go home to pick them up. That's a 15 minute drive, one way. So, I arrive back at the store at 20 minutes past the time I'm supposed to sign. There's a small line of people waiting for me to autograph their copies (how cool is that?!). So, we count in my book, she goes up to get an invoice, and I start signing copies. The first few people are people who read the self-published version and enjoyed it so much that they bought the new version. How cool!

So, the associate comes back down with the invoice and shows me were they're selling my books that are listed as $12.95 for $7.99 because that's the only price she could find in their system. I only get a fraction of what we sell the books for, so I won't even make enough money to replace the books. This would be a total loss for me because the books wouldn't count as sales anyway. I think things over and decide to cut my losses and just learn from the experience. So, after 45 minutes, I wrap up and take the rest of the books with me.

I get home and do some research and find out that my publicist mistkenly booked me for a Brentwood Borders...in Tennessee. Instead of my hometown, St. Louis, MO. So, no doubt, this store had my 50 books, and probably signs everywhere saying I was going to sign. And probably cursing me out because they think I was a no-show.

Well, aspiring writers, this just "shows to go ya." Sometimes, things can go wrong when you least expect it. Hey, crap happens. You just gotta pick up and move on to the next thing. So now, I'm preparing for another St. Louis event this weekend at the St. Louis Book Festival at the Muny in Forest Park. The following weekend, I'll be in Tennessee, for real, this time! LOL In Memphis.

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Popping in for a brief moment. I'm still working on my edits for First Friday and I might possibly be able to finish up today. Spent all day working on it yesterday. Can't tell you how many hours because the day is a blur. All I can tell you is that I was in my pajamas all day and I listened to the television as the Cardinals won the first game of the Championship series (you know I had to get that in, right?) LOL

Anyway, my Twin posted a comment yesterday that I thought would make a great post for today. Here's his comment and question:

I've been noticing that you've been doing ALOT of legwork on your own lately . . . aren't you with a major publishing house? I know that you can't afford to let up at all, but why are you working yourself into 25-hour stupors constantly doing things that they should be handling with ease? Am I missing something?



Well, Twin, and all, :-) Yes, I'm with a major publisher, but I'm also a new writer. Most publishers may not do a lot of promotion for new authors. And these days, any author should expect to have to promote themselves. As a matter of fact, my agent said my marketing and promotion skills were an added bonus in picking me up. My publishers came right out and told me this over dinner too. That in addition to loving my story, they were attracted to the fact that I was a self-promoter. I'm hearing that a lot of publishers are looking for new authors who are also self-promoters.

So, that's one piece of the answer. The other is that I'm neurotic, anal, somewhat controlling, and have perfectionist tendencies. I like to give it my all. I have a tendency of going overboard. For advertising, and promotion, my mind is going 24/7. I'm trying to think of ways to reach the readers who might enjoy my story and my writing. I'm trying to think of ways to reach the people who don't normally read, but would read or buy my book because they are related to me, they know me, they know someone who knows me. etc. I'm thinking of ways to expose myself to people who wouldn't hear of me otherwise and I'm trying to get to where they are. Even if they don't buy my book the first time around, I'm working on name recognition so that they'll be familiar and want to give it a try when First Fridays come out.

Even if 5 or so years down the line, I ever reached the point where readers bought my book instantly at release, I don't think I'll ever be able to sit back and relax. I think that's just me. I think the focus would change, but I think I'd still be out there. Because I do enjoy emailing and talking to people who read my book. I enjoying going out and introducing myself and my book to readers. I enjoy thinking and carrying out new ways of promoting. I enjoy the hand-to-hand promotion.

I do get tired, but I think I enjoy being a busybody. It'd be great if my publisher put tons into promoting me (and hopefully we will get to that point). But I still think I'd be on the go and working myself to the bone. I'm unstable like that. :-)

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I took the day off yesterday and I must have slept 25 hours. :-) Okay, maybe just a good part of the day. But I did feel exhausted. I had a whole day planned, but decided to just sleep, and watch football in between naps. Apparently, I needed it because I barely moved all day. LOL I even read a couple of chapters of the short book I've been reading for the past month or so, Soul City by Toure. And I feel refreshed now. Energized! Which is good, because I'm going to need all that energy to get caught up. Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time I took an entire day off.

More of the same. I have mailings and announcements for this week's signing; make arrangements for books for an end of the month signing; finalize an additional signing for next month, prepare and mail shipments, sell sheets to stores to request they order my book (if they haven't already) mail receipts to my publisher, put together my final email campaign, and do promotions. And then I have to squeeze in editing First Fridays. :-)

Well, let me get started. Ain't nothing to it, but to do it!

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If you're a frequent visitor to my blog, you've probably noticed that I'm becoming a little scarce. And you can probably guess why. Yeah, things are hectic right now. But it's a good kind of hectic. From what I can see, things are going to be busy like this at least for the remainder of the year. Within the last couple of days, I came to this realization, and made it a point to calm myself and just do the best that I can. I create my daily to-do list and get through as much as I can. If I don't get to something, I'm not going to stress out, or die, I decided. :-) I've come to terms with the fact that I may not hit everything 100% and everything doesn't have to be perfect. Each morning, I look in the mirror and tell myself that the most important thing is that "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gosh darn it...people like me." LOL

I spent the last few days trying to get everything prepared for my upcoming signing this weekend and putting out a major fire associated with it. The unexpected. Good thing is, my publisher step in and got some things squared away for me. I'm still working on trying to get edits done and I'll admit that I haven't had any of those 10 hour days because there just aren't enough hours in the day. This time around, promotion and preparation is a must if I want to avoid having signings where zero people show up. The editing is coming along a little slower than I'd like, but it's getting done. At worst, I'd probably have to ask for a few more days. But we'll see if it comes to that.

And, believe it or not, I'm making time for mysellf so I won't stress myself out. I made it a point to get back in the gym this week. I had gone from working out 4 - 5 days a week to not at all. It's been about 2 months and I was starting to feel the effects. It's strange because I was getting more tired. My energy was zapped. It's funny how that works. The less active you are or the more rest you get, the more tired you are. So, I've got to get myself back in the gym so I can tire myself out so I can have more energy. LOL Sounds backwards, but that's the way it goes.

Okay, gotta get to working. So much to do that it'd take me forever to list it here. The first local signing is tomorrow and I gotta make sure everything's squared away for that. :-)

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