Down to the writing wire -- deadline in sight
Natasha the Cat meowed for half the night, meaning that I've had half a night's sleep. In the immortal words of Pooh: "Oh, bother."
Great sci/fi author and friend Mark Van Name blogged this morning on The Stages of a Book. Educational and entertaining reading for those of you who are pre-published -- or those of you who are just curious how a book gets from author brain to bookstore shelf.
I'm in the final two months of writing Bewitched & Betrayed -- or eight weeks if I want to freak myself out. Yep, I had to pause before typing the title, thinking to myself: "what's the name of the book I'm working on now??" With The Trouble with Demons coming out a day before I turn B&B in, it's all starting to run together in my head. PLUS, I'm thinking about the next books in the Raine series, because as soon as I turn in B&B, I start writing plots/proposals for those to get another publishing contract. Yep, after I turn in B&B, I'll be an author without a contract. This usually makes my left eyelid twitch for about a week until I adjust to the idea. Then I get my butt to work coming up with the next 2-3 books for my agent to pitch to my editor. If God smiles, my publisher makes an offer, my agent negotiates for a better offer, and in the end a brand-spanking-new contract is writtten up for the number of books bought. Then after signing on the bottom line, it's my job to write the books I've promised (and been paid for) and deliver them before their respective deadlines.
One thing I've noticed about myself in the last two months of writing a book: the more focused and intense (meaning "running-around-crazy frenzy") my writing schedule gets, the messier my office becomes. A messy office is nothing new, but at this point in my countdown to deadline, I don't care how messy it is. Being a neat-freak, this is definitely different from the norm.
I meant to talk today about specifically what I'm doing in B&B right now, but I kind of went off on a tangent. You can blame the cat. I'm sleepy. I'll see if I can blog on that tomorrow. And as soon as I have time to think about it (hopefully this week), I'll decide on a contest idea for the two ARCs I have to give away. Thank you for all of your wonderfully creative input.
Your sleepy author who has to go get on the treadmill now,
Lisa
Great sci/fi author and friend Mark Van Name blogged this morning on The Stages of a Book. Educational and entertaining reading for those of you who are pre-published -- or those of you who are just curious how a book gets from author brain to bookstore shelf.
I'm in the final two months of writing Bewitched & Betrayed -- or eight weeks if I want to freak myself out. Yep, I had to pause before typing the title, thinking to myself: "what's the name of the book I'm working on now??" With The Trouble with Demons coming out a day before I turn B&B in, it's all starting to run together in my head. PLUS, I'm thinking about the next books in the Raine series, because as soon as I turn in B&B, I start writing plots/proposals for those to get another publishing contract. Yep, after I turn in B&B, I'll be an author without a contract. This usually makes my left eyelid twitch for about a week until I adjust to the idea. Then I get my butt to work coming up with the next 2-3 books for my agent to pitch to my editor. If God smiles, my publisher makes an offer, my agent negotiates for a better offer, and in the end a brand-spanking-new contract is writtten up for the number of books bought. Then after signing on the bottom line, it's my job to write the books I've promised (and been paid for) and deliver them before their respective deadlines.
One thing I've noticed about myself in the last two months of writing a book: the more focused and intense (meaning "running-around-crazy frenzy") my writing schedule gets, the messier my office becomes. A messy office is nothing new, but at this point in my countdown to deadline, I don't care how messy it is. Being a neat-freak, this is definitely different from the norm.
I meant to talk today about specifically what I'm doing in B&B right now, but I kind of went off on a tangent. You can blame the cat. I'm sleepy. I'll see if I can blog on that tomorrow. And as soon as I have time to think about it (hopefully this week), I'll decide on a contest idea for the two ARCs I have to give away. Thank you for all of your wonderfully creative input.
Your sleepy author who has to go get on the treadmill now,
Lisa
posted by Lisa Shearin at
6:52 AM
12 Comments:
Even though B&B is due right on top of the release date of TTWD, I hope you get to have some sort of celebration anyway.
Do you have ideas for more Raine books? I'm betting you have tons. What about any other kind of story?
Good luck, Lisa! Don't get too insane - unless that means more books sooner! :D
Gee, you got your teeth worked on, treadmills, deadline... Busy, busy, busy! You need a break!
I definitely need a break. Three hours of sleep last night (squalling cat), a wreck on the way to work this morning (I wasn't involved, I just got caught in the traffic jam), got to work late, missed a company meeting, and now I have a migraine and have to proof tiny print. Lovely start to my day.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Otto, yes I have ideas for more Raine books -- and a spin-off series. ; )
Don't ask, because I can't tell.
Good luck! You'll nail this deadline and have a shiny new contract before you know it. :)
Three hours of sleep and you still got up early to get on the treadmill?! That's willpower I certainly don't have. Congrats on that. My cat does the LOUD meowing too at night sometimes, but she usually gives up after a few minutes when no one comes to lavish her with attention. :) Good luck on the rest of the nitty gritty of B&B. That does kind of suck that the release and deadline are so darn close, but I do hope you can celebrate!!
Oh man.
I have two cats. Sometimes they yowl at night. Sometimes they fight with eachother. (Oh, and sometimes they're quiet and cuddley, but those times don't come to mind quite so clearly.) Either way, I get a little bitter when I come home from a long day of trying to explain non-restrictive, adjective clauses (or some such thing) to undergrads through my sleepy stupor and my cats are taking a nap.
Just the knowledge that there are obviously lots more to come is enough! :-)
Thanks, everyone!
good luck Lisa!
I am sorry that you have to go crazy writing for your deadline, but I was happy to hear that there will be mmore books - I was half thinking that Bewitched and Betrayed would be the last one
thanks for the chance to get an ARC :)
I'm going to go do my work, and then sleep (ahhh, sleep sleep sleep)
good luck with meowing cats (I have cats, but they either sleep with me or go outside, they don't wail at me...)
Good luck with getting enough sleep. Between dealines and kitties that can be a real challenge! {lop-sided smile}
Anne Elizabeth Baldwin
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