One Step at a Time (Updated -- Twice)

So, the first rule of storytelling is not to tell everything all at once. And I’ve had so many epiphanies lately, I can’t count them, anymore. #iamfoolish

Anyway, my point is that last night I drove all by myself to my writers group meeting in Annapolis! Yes, I was in the driver’s seat. And I didn’t drive off a bridge or get hit by a tractor-trailer in a freak accident. (Another real life calamity from my past. Honest!) When I got there, I texted my husband to let him know I arrived. He’s a retired fireman, so you might say he was in the freak calamity business.

So, the meeting was awesome. The young adult novel seems to be coming along nicely. I guess.

Naturally, talk turned to publishing and agents and all that. I could have mentioned some of the ideas I’ve been cooking up.

(No pun intended. Ha ha …) But I didn’t want to be a cosmic party pooper. So … so much for that …

Then, after the meeting, I drove all the way home. And I’m here to blog about it. Yay!

Plus, when I got home, my proof copy of RIPTIDE was waiting for me. Excitement!

So my husband said, “Have you seen this piece of shit?” At which point, he started railing about the print size, font, whatever pointing out various flaws.

It was late, I was tired and my hand was torturing me as usual, so rather than argue discuss the details (like the fact that the whole point of a proof copy is to make sure the book looks like it’s supposed to, etc.), I said, whatever it was I said to make the discussion as short as possible. The end.

Except it isn’t. Now, I’m going over the proof copy. And I’m the publisher, which makes me responsible for the product. So, I’m going through methodically and finding the little errors, and writing down the instructions for the formatter. All the while, I’m thinking …

I can do this. Just take it one step at a time.

And we even got in a walk today. During which (I swear!) I mentioned Darwin’s theory of adapting to survive. I’ve been concentrating on walking on my gamey (sp?) foot more heel-to-toe, so I look a little less like Charlie Chaplin.

It burns my quad muscles a bit, but I’m hoping it’ll retrain my brain. Maybe. This was caused by a stroke, after all. A stroke in a Barnes & Noble. Have I mentioned that my writers group meets at a Barnes & Noble? The one where Jenny Lawson will be coming soon!

PS: For MaryC, because cheesecake simply isn’t enough.

Yowza!

PPS: We ended up going out for an early dinner before I had a chance to finish this post. And, while we were rolling down the faded suburban hellhole that is Route One, past the dying mall that’s going to be destroyed rebuilt renovated redesigned, my husband mentioned that one of the Laurel businesses had suffered a setback due to an incident that, in my opinion, may not have necessarily been the owner’s fault.

This ultimately made me realize all the more how risky it is to own a business and create your own product. Including books.

This led to an epiphany so profound, I thought my heart might stop. And I had it in the rest room. OMG!

But that’s another story …

PPPS: I have mentioned that this is a really great book, haven’t I?

Have I also mentioned that I have three degrees from the University of Maryland? Home of the Terps!

BTW, my protagonist, Sam McRae is also a Terp. Of course.

Before I go, a few things I found on the Interwebs:

There’s no place like home.

Why are we so obsessed with the Mayan calendar, anyway? The Mayans are dead, and there have been numerous calendars over the eons. What do any of them mean?

Obama’s happy news bumps Romney’s bullying story from the front page.

No, thanks!

Someone actually got paid to write this story.

Look who’s jumping on the bandwagon!

Dear God!!!!!!

Stay strong and eat your spinach.

UPDATE: I’d like to add that during my writers group meeting, I observed that bookstores need to change their long-standing policies of returning unsold books to publishers, if they want to adapt and remain in business, given the changes in the publishing world.

Bookstores are the only retailers I’m aware of that get away with this sort of shit are allowed to return unsold merchandise to the supplier for a 100% refund.

So … why is everyone asking publishers to adapt to changes, but not asking bookstores the same question?

This was a key point I forgot to mention.

BTW, remember the woman whose eviction I’ve blogged about? The one whose cat died, on top of everything else?

Well … I got an email from her with this awesome video.

This just goes to show we can all be happy fools and survive, no matter what. Thank you for sharing, Joanna! #iamfoolish

UPDATE 2: The fine folks at World O’ Crap have scraped their dough together to help Joanna. They’ve also posted here about how you can help an evicted woman in deep shit.

In memory of Biddy and Boy.

It simply astonishes me that this can happen in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. And that this woman on YouTube actually exists. In this reality, whatever that means. Ha ha ha … #iamfoolish