Monday, August 03, 2009

Win an eReader!

An apocryphal story - the word "apocryphal" here means "obviously untrue" - tells of two people, long ago, who were very bored, and that instead of complaining about it they sat up all night and invented the game of chess so that everyone else in the world, on evenings when there is nothing to do, can also be bored by the perplexing and tedious game they invented. ~Lemony Snicket

LOL... doesn't really have anything to do with today's post. I just liked the quote!

First off... just a quick reminder that the Long and the Short of It's second anniversary bash started TODAY. We're giving away tons of stuff -- the but the grand prizes are three (yes THREE) Sony eReaders. And, hey, feel free to spread the word :-)

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A writing friend, Wendi Zwaduk, shared her exciting news with me yesterday: she got her release date for her upcoming book with The Wild Rose Press. I was VERY excited for her, but also gobsmacked -- the release is for next May. Her edits are done, the cover is completed, the ARC is approved... and it doesn't release until next May... nearly a year from now. Holy smokes.

The reason this impacted me so much was this: even if I finally get something submitted (whether to TWRP or somewhere else), does this mean it will be a year or more before it's released? Because, yanno, I expect that with the NY publishers, but not with the ePubs.

So, I have to admit to being a little discouraged.

Still, I did manage to write a little last night. I opted to continue revising "Return to Stiller Creek" since it's the closest to being submitted. I clearly need to get something in the pipeline, so that's my goal. And, I will (I WILL) make time to write every day, even if it's only 30 minutes.

Yes, the fantasy still calls my name. Yes, I have other things singing their siren song. But, I need to be realistic and focus.

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Bad, bad news in Pillar Place: Monarch -- Jane died. She never even made her pupa. She went into her J and then just sort of... dissolved. It was quite icky. And Maria? Superglued Maria? Her pupa has turned black, so we're guessing she's a goner as well.

So, to recap: we began with ten eggs. We hatched four pillars. Nancy died as a baby. Jane died as a J. Maria died as a pupa.

And then there was one. All our hopes lay with Lenape.

NOT a good year to be a caterpillar.

In other news, though, I actually saw my first monarch butterfly yesterday... so maybe somewhere there are other pillars hatching?

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8 comments:

MJFredrick said...

That's a long time for a release date!!! I was really hoping to get something in print out before next summer but I haven't even started my revisions. Bummer. I had another friend with a long lag for her release date, but I don't think it was quite as long.

Allie Boniface said...

To be honest, I have heard that lately TWRP has been quite long/behind on scheduling its releases. I don't think that's the case with all epubs. I signed contracts with Samhain in January and April of this year, and my e-release dates were July and November (of this same year), respectively.

MJFredrick said...

I wonder if it depends on the editor and what her workload is. I contracted a book with SP in Feb. It's coming out in Sept. A week later, a chaptermate contracted with them and her book's out already.

Anonymous said...

Wow 1 yr seems like a lot.

So sorry to hear about all the sad butterfly news :(

Brandy said...

A year does seem quite a lag for an e-publisher. At least you haven't given up!
So sorry to hear of the other's not making it.

I hope your day goes well!

Melissa McClone said...

Hugs on the butterfly, but congrats on the big anniversary celebration!

Ceri Hebert said...

Wow... a year. That's such a long time! I wish I'd hear something from someone so I would know if I could move on or not.

Sorry to hear about your Monarchs. :(
I have seen a few out in the wild though.

Tori Lennox said...

Hugs re the pillars!