That time of year...

...when I'm run off my feet with all the things to do! For a few days last week I didn't even turn the computer on, which is pretty strange for an Internet geek like myself.

In a nutshell, the Undercurrents book launch was a fabulous success, I'm (fairly) close to being ready for Christmas, but still have a long list of things to finish up. So blogging will likely be at a minimum until after the new year. I'll post a fuller report on the book launch if I do get a minute, though, and I want to talk about some writing plans for 2009.

Undercurrents--the launch

The book launch is almost upon us, coming up on Thursday evening. We had a meeting tonight to iron out the final (I hope!) details and go over our checklist of things to think of. I believe we're ready--at least as ready as we're going to be! Bringing this book into being has certainly been a learning experience, which continues even now that we hold printed copies in our hands. The work is far from over!

So, if you can't make it to our launch, please check out the Third Person Press website, www.thirdpersonpress.com, to find out more about the book, and maybe even order a copy!

Respite?

Yesterday afternoon and evening I took a brief and idyllic respite from the busy-ness of the past month. I started a knitting project. I played video games with my son. I did some online Christmas shopping. I hung out with my daughter as she finished her NaNo novel. It was nice.

Today I feel like I've jumped back onto the hamster wheel and it's spinning twice as fast now. It's the week of the launch! More books arriving! Last-minute promoting and details to finalize! More shopping, more lists, more things to get to now, now, now!

Don't be too surprised to see that my daily blogging stint comes to an abrupt and sad end.

NaNoWriMo Update

Of course if you're keeping up with my little widget in the left sidebar you can see my NaNoWriMo progress in terms of just word count, but it doesn't speak to my mental state.

This is the hardest NaNo I've ever done.

Well, maybe that's not true. The first attempt last year was going so badly that I switched horses in mid-stream and had to make up a week's worth of writing, but after the change it flowed like water.

I think the problem this year is that I didn't have enough time to think about it beforehand. I'm not much of an outliner, but I do like to have an idea of the story arc. This year I only had an idea about the beginning and not much more. So it's going very slowly.

In addition, planning the Undercurrents book launch and doing all the promotional work for it is taking far, far more time than I ever expected. That was due to my own naivete, but it's been a learning experience all the way through, so why should this part be any different?

Anyway, I hit 40k last night and want to put on a drive now to the finish. The house is clean, groceries are laid in, and I'm making a map of the week that includes lots of writing time. Hopefully it will work out.

Book Launches

The past year+ has been busy for me with the task of co-editing an anthology of speculative fiction from regional authors. We received, read, commented on, accepted, rejected and edited stories, dealt with the jobs of deciding on a print/sales venue, book design, typesetting, cover art, back blurb--it's a lot of work to make a book!

I've decided that all that went before was basically a cakewalk compared to the job of organizing a book launch. Venue considerations, refreshments, arranging readings, arranging inventory and sales details, invitations, press releases, posters, flyers, promotional copies, review copies--wow. I have to have lists to keep track of my lists. ;)

Undercurrents Cover Art

Presenting the final cover art for the project we've been working on so diligently of late: Undercurrents: A Cape Breton Anthology of Speculative Fiction.

Right now we're waiting for a proof copy to arrive in the mail. The waiting is difficult!