People who know me personally know that I hate squirrels. I even wrote a small book on it that is in the process of being edited. The sequel is half way done. I was folding my clothes in my room on the 2nd floor yesterday to which I heard some barking. Looking left and right, I saw this little fellow on my chimney on the 2nd floor.
He lunged at me but oh so sorry there was a window between us.
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Early this year I contacted a publisher. I was inquiring about pricing for their editorial services. While I could not afford the fees he and I stayed in touch through email and the like. Last week he contacted me about an upcoming e-book he was putting together. It will be a collection of short stories from various authors. He wanted to include some of my short stories. I maintain the copyrights.
It will be available for free to download. The publisher will be eating the entire cost for the art, editing and formating the book so no profit will be made. I won’t see a dime for this but there are still positive reasons out there. As a new author, who is trying to break out, any free publicity is a good thing. People will get to see my works, have ways to contact me and also see what is on the table as far as WIP. The book will be shared by other publishers and editors. They might see something they like or know someone who could use one of the stories. That is another win. Finally when I write my query letters at least now I can place in the body of it that I have something in print.
One person told me that if I am not getting paid it seems pointless. I am not taking that route. I have to start somewhere. Even if that means one short story at a time.
It is the midway point of NaNoWriMo 2011. The adventure has had its ups and downs during my first attempt at this mash dash frenzy to 50K words. My goal has remained the same. I want the story that has been in my head for the past year to be placed down on paper. If I get a good portion of it written then I will consider myself a winner. If the word count is accomplished that is just icing on the cake
The two things that I have stuck to has been:
A/ Getting up at 5 am and writing for a straight hour. It is the best time of the day when my hands and joints are not hurting at full speed. The end of the day they are screaming bloody murder. Also life has a way of getting in the way and before we know it the day is already gone.
B/ A good NaNo buddy of mine named Ruth gave me a great tip. Before the month of November started, write down 30 plots I could write about. I would pick one each day to write on and stick to it until I got a word count I was happy with. That way I would not sit in front of the computer twiddling my thumbs.
At the moment my word count is 34,295 on day 15. I am tired and sleep deprived and I honestly can’t wait for November to be done. I need to get back to my projects that had to be push to the side due to this adventure I have embarked on. Will I do this next year I do not know but if so I will be better prepared.
I have always looked up to people who have written full blown novels that had word counts that overshadow my small words. Yet here I am with the word count slightly over 34K and still climbing. I have amazed myself and yes I am pretty darn tooting proud at the same time. Another perk of this NaNoWriMo has been my ability to show myself I can do it like the others and that at the end of the day is the best reward of all.
Sharon C. Williams-Author 