A Little of This, A Little of That

Je suis prête pour l'hiver, mes pieds au chaud...
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Hear ye, hear ye!  It is Tuesday and I am wearing the first toe socks of the season! They have penguins on them and red toes.  How fun is that?  Add to that the infinite bonus of wiggling them at my husband, who is supremely freaked out by toe socks, and you have the beginnings of a good day.  Oh, and I’m having porridge for breakfast, which always reminds me of my months in Scotland.  Lyle’s Golden Syrup is da bomb.  Now if we can just get it cold enough for my favorite wool sweater, I’ll be well on my way to my happy place (that’s winter, in case you didn’t know).

I sold my 2000th copy of Forsaken By Shadow last night.  Oh wait, no technically it’s 2,000 DOWNLOADS as I haven’t separated out the freebie review copies I gave out.  But still.  Give me a couple of days and I’ll hit the 2,000th actual sale.  Last week I topped $1k in sales, so I have officially earned out more than the typical novella advance from traditional publishing.  In approximately 7 and a half months. In the face of the gangbusters success of many of my indie compatriots, I must remind myself that this is still damn good for someone just starting out.  I am reminded of Jamie DeBree’s comment months back that writing (or publishing?) are like perennial plants.  The first year you sleep, the second you creep, and then in the third you leap.  So this year I’m sleeping, perchance to dream really freaking big dreams of future success.

If I’m not mistaken, Pot also had her 2,000th download of Husy Money last night, which is pretty damn skippy, IMO.  If you haven’t read it yet, DO IT MAN! (all points of sale are listed in her sidebar)  It’s awesome!

Yesterday I did my full read through of my first draft of Devil’s Eye, making revision notes and small edits.  Got through all of the small stuff before dinner, and this leaves me with just 2 scenes left to rewrite based on the new location I’ve decided on for where the Big Bad has holed up.  Then it’s off to Pot for critique.  I am pleased to report that it DOESN’T SUCK.  Trust me, this is a huge load off.

I learned last week that I can actually churn out 1-2k a day.  But it means that I have to blow off EVERYTHING else I’m supposed to do, so this week I am playing catch up on everything I put off.  Lecture writing, exam question writing, food blogging, Evil Day Job duties, cleaning…  It makes me more comfortable with the idea that 500-750 is my comfortable, I-can-reasonably-expect-to-manage-this-even-on-my-busy-schedule number of words.  Which I pretty well knew already, but it was nice to have it confirmed.

It has been almost two full years since the last 70 Days of Sweat writing challenge.  As I’m buffeted by all the NaNo babble, I find myself really really missing Sven and wishing that there would be another.  Maybe a little longer.  Like 80 or 90 days.  A full quarter seems wholly reasonable as a period in which to write a novel without losing your mind.  Maybe I’ll start one (we all know I’m big about starting things).  Would anybody be interested in participating in something like that?  A saner, slower writing challenge, maybe to finish or make sense of the drivel that came from NaNo.  Or possibly to start a new project?  I could have a new inspirational author blogger every week.  :brain starts churning: Let me know in comments.

9 thoughts on “A Little of This, A Little of That

  1. First off, let me say congrats to your sales AND your toe socks 🙂 What do men know about fashion anyway. I would be very interested in a more sane challenge than NaNo. I am participating right now in NaNo, but life gets in the way, along with my brain. I have stopped several times in my word count for countless reasons: changing plot, editing (I know this is forbidden in NaNoLandia, but I must be me). I’ve decided that I must outline, otherwise my plot will lose steam. So, I’m cutting back and not worrying about word count, writing buddy competitions, or anything else but how I need to keep the juices flowing. This is my very first novel, so a challenge is definitely motivational to keep me from procrastinating.

  2. Many congrats on 2k, $1k, and getting through your Devil’s Eye draft. I have to say, you’re fast with those edits.

    The toe socks? Well, I’m not quite feeling it. You’ve got me wiggling my toes and cringing.

  3. Congratulations, Kait! That’s awesome.

    I would definitely participate in a longer writing challenge. Count me in.

    Toe socks? I think they’re cute, but I really don’t think I could wear them.

  4. Thank you much! 2k downloads yesterday, 2K sales should be today, but 1K dollars…probably not for a while yet at 35-40 cents on most sales. Maybe by the end of the month if things would stay steady though! Yay!

    I don’t know how I’ll feel when it gets past the imaginary money stage. I’ve gotten one royalty payment of like $23 so far. So I’m looking at what’s on my spreadsheet and it’s just a lot of cool numbers right now.

    Wow, I even feel crass talking about imaginary money. Holy Socialization, Batman.

    1. Susan, I count imaginary money also. I haven’t even published a novel, and I keep nagging myself to get on the ball so I can start receiving imaginary money.

      One thing I do like about NaNo is the freedom to move on. I don’t know about others, but I obsess over the clean draft. So much to the point, I can’t move on. I love that NaNo encourages no editing. For the first time since September 2009, I feel as if I’ll actually get a novel written.

      Depending on how tiresome the editing process is, I might continue with the no-edit during the first draft trend.

  5. Woohoo! Congrats on your huge sales…great job! If this is you “sleeping”, you’re going to take the world by storm when you leap. 😉

    I really don’t know how you can wear those socks though. LOL Don’t your toes get lonely all separated like that?

    Interesting that your comfortable word count is around 500-750…mine is right in that range too, though I generally try for 800. That’s mindful, “edit-as-I-go” speed, not NaNo speed (which is kicking my butt this year, but I still have hopes of catching up). Now that I know what a cleaner draft looks like, I’m having issues with just racing along without care.

    I’m starting a thriller novel in January…which would be perfect for a slower paced challenge since it’s so far away from my normal romance genre…

  6. Yes please, bring back Sven! You know I need him when I can hardly keep up blogging – all because I write in the am, type it all up at night and barely manage to check in to NaNo and the writers’ forum before going to bed! (if only laundry and house cleaning weren’t necessary…) I’ve been averaging 3000 words a day – never ever thought that was possible, but everything else falls by the wayside.
    I owe you about three posts worth of comments, mainly to say congratulations!!! on 2000 downloads and finishing Devil’s Eye [g]

  7. Slower is better and more attainable for me, too. (I haven’t updated my NaNo count in a while, although it has increased, and I’m still behind).

    LOL. I have socks like that, too, although I prefer my rayon fleece fluffy socks from Target.

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