Midweek ROW80 Update

So I had a lovely start to my day when I heard from one of the two editors of the Magical Mayhem anthology that ” I couldn’t find anything to improve, not even a typo. It’s ready.” Meaning, of course, my short story Whisper of Shadow.  This made me quite happy, as the darn thing has been through four revisions and I would quite like to be finished.

Of course I tweeted that news first thing and some rude, cynical person responded “Or maybe you need a new editor.”  Which, frankly, just pissed me off.  I have done the work, I’ve done SEVERAL edits, you don’t know me, know nothing of my work, and some of us are actually THOROUGH and do our jobs RIGHT when we write something such that we are able to turn in something that doesn’t need more work.  Plus, the list of awards following said editor’s name really kind of belie the idea that he doesn’t know what he’s doing.  So to the cynic I say 😛

The writing has been…slow this week.  I got a solid 1376 on Sunday, a measly 120 on Monday, and 546 (just over my minimum) on DOTH yesterday.  I’m at that place where it sort of hurts, you know?  Like starting to run again when you’ve been off a few weeks.  Your body remembers but getting back into the groove just kind of sucks.  The second half of this book is planned out, but not as thoroughly or clearly as the first half.  There are things missing, but I don’t know yet what they are.  But whatever.  As la Nora says, You can fix bad words but you can’t edit a blank page (or something like that).  I’ll keep pushing forward, shooting for my minimum and using my plot bunny as a reward to motivate me.  Eventually the mental gears will be greased and things will move at a more rapid pace.

In other more positive news, for those who have been following my mini personal drama trying to find some good contemporary romance to read, I finally had success.  Courtesy of the fabulous Jamie Wesley and Nicole T. Helm (both contemporary romance writers themselves) (Thank you Roni Loren for introducing us!), who listened to what I like about Nora’s books (the friends and family thing she does so well), and offered up Jill Shalvis’ Lucky Harbor Series and Shannon Stacey’s Kowalksi’s series, along with several others.  And I had a rather obvious DUH moment when it occurred to me that ebooks have free previews, and that amount of text is usually perfectly adequate for me to sort out whether I’d like the book or not.  So yesterday I downloaded a crapton of samples and wound up buying Simply Irresistible, the first Lucky Harbor book.  Which, of course, makes me want to go play with my own CR plot bunny even MOAR…   But whatever.  I’m just SO HAPPY to have found some more authors who write the kind of CR I like since I have wiped out everything available by Nora.  Whoo!

16 thoughts on “Midweek ROW80 Update

  1. It never ceases to amaze me how rude people can be. I would have NEVER said something like that to someone. Besides, those of us who know your work know you are a perfectionist and you can do your job well. I have no doubt that the story was as close to perfection as it could get. 🙂

    Your word count doesn’t seem slow to me. The three days averaged just over 680 per day. Some days words come more easily than other days. Plus, some days are just plain busier.

    I’m glad you finally found some contemporaries that you like. I need to remember those authors when I’m in the mood for that genre.

    1. I know, right? I worked off my mad in a column for next week. After doing more poking around, this guy tweets only once every day or three, is a multi self published author with few reviews, and he doesn’t know me from Adam’s housecat. Where does he get off being a jerk when he knows nothing about me or my work?

      1. He might’ve been trying to be helpful, rather than snarky, because a fair number of self-published folks do end up with bad editors who don’t find errors when they should.

        And then a lot of folks in the fiction world assume that adequate self-editing is impossible. (Whereas freelancers and students are often expected to be able to adequately edit their own work. Figure that out.)

        Just a thought. 🙂

        1. Well I’ve never spoken to the guy, so he doesn’t know me, doesn’t know whether I am self published or otherwise (this anthology is not a self pub project), and generally came across as a jerk.

          1. That comment sounds to me like the guy was trying to be funny but his joke fell flat. That’s happened to me plenty of times. It’s not worth getting upset.

  2. Negative people are such pills. Good for you for ignoring them.

    Let us know if Simply Irresistible (and now I can’t get that song out of my HEAD) is good! I’ve been trolling for good CR as well~

    Have a great week Kait!

  3. People like that aren’t actually cynics: they’re incompetent people who have learned to cover their incompetence by criticizing everything. It’s a cover. And they blow their cover when they criticize things that they haven’t even seen — because what is there to criticize? It’s obviously not genuine.

  4. There are critics everywhere.Some people think a book or story is never done until a “professional” editor has gone over it and required edits or rewrites. Heaven forbid there actually be authors who do the work and turn in something clean and well written. *sigh*

    As for contemporary authors, so glad you’re trying out Jill Shalvis. I think I tweeted her as a rec back when we were discussing La Nora and Ireland. 🙂 I love her Lucky Harbor series and highly recommend her Animal trilogy. The first two books are currently available and the final book comes out in November, I think. I have her on my nook and I think the books are part of the Lend Me program. I’m more than happy to loan a few to you. 🙂

    1. I found her animal series at our local library and just got the first one too. I’m about half through the first Lucky Harbor book and definitely going to want to go for the rest!

      1. The first book and fourth book are my favorites so far in JS’s Lucky Harbor series. Ty is by far my favorite hero. *sigh* Isn’t it wonderful to find a new author you enjoy who has nice backlist AND is available at the library?

  5. Maybe he forgot the LOL or winky face?? <—Joke. I'm always amazed at the things people will say to total strangers. Good work plugging along on DOTH…I'm sure you'll hit a good stride soon! Have a good rest of the week, and have fun with your new book recs!

  6. I’ve been following your progress generally, Kait, and it’s frustrating when other tasks interfere with the writing. Keep at it. And enjoy the romances. Have a great weekend!

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