Quill & Quire? No way!

I'm learning there are certain events that act to legitimize this effort of mine to carve an existence as A Writer (capital A, capital W). Typing "The End", signing on with a publisher, working with an editor that is not MS Word Spelling & Grammar check, seeing the cover (still my favourite), holding a real book, finding it in the library or bookstore, hearing a review outside the obligatory readers (family and friends)... so last week I got to check another off my list. Aptitude was chosen as the Editor's Choice and reviewed in The Quill & Quire!

The review will go online after a few weeks, but I've got my hardcopy to stare at now :) The editor, Dory Cerny, spent the first half of the review setting the story up and explaining some of the background, then she jumped into the fun stuff — her opinion of the story! She used words like "complex", "delightful", "lustre" and "vividly" and finished the review by saying: "Sampson's dystopian tale is a multi-layered and thought-provoking examination of the concepts of free will, duty and what it means to truly love someone." She got it.

I'm getting there...

N

Review of 2014 and Gear Up for 2015

Another year? Already?

Since Game Plan was published in November of 2013 much of early 2014 was spent in the afterglow of debut publication :) I travelled to Vancouver and hoped my way back via Saskatoon and Toronto to promote my story... it didn't result in wide ranging publicity like I hoped, but I visited with great friends and talked to new people - even got to run a workshop at my own high school, which was the highlight.

Spring and summer were spent writing my third novel and and submitting my second... what a roller coaster that is, doing both at once. The excitement and hope of creating, the frustration of rejection, all swirled together from day to day sometimes from hour to hour.

Fall brought acceptance of my third story, sorta out of order. I felt kinda like I was leaving the second behind, abandoning and forgetting it, giving up. And that felt awful.

I discovered Wattpad and posted Nine, which became featured (and has over 8000 readers!), the first chapter of Game Plan and a companion short from Charlie's point of view.

The biggest writerly decision I made this year is to try self publishing. Kinda scary, though now that the decision is made, it's less scary and more exciting. I can't wait to do all the parts, and have to be careful not to rush into it and miss the chance of making it the best story possible.

So where does that leave me going into 2015? What goals are set? Not 'revolutions' as PJ calls them, but goals:


1. Create an excellent second story with the direction and support of Fierce Ink Press.
2. Process through the stages of Self Publishing and create a fantabulous story.
3. Up my GoodReads 2014 reading challenge from 35 to 40.
4. Stay off the diet Coke.
5. Write more short stories, submit to lit magazines.

I should probably be more specific, eh? Like with specific numbers and timelines and stuff... but little steps right?


N

Self Pebbling

I have no idea what 'self pebbling' is but my phone insists I forget 'self pub'ing' and try pebbling instead. This computer too. Is it a sign?

I've been talking with a friend about self publishing. I'm strongly considering it for my second book that is out on submissions. I love that story. LOVE it. And it makes me sad to think no one wants to publish it... and so far no one does, except me. So, why not?

Except every seven minutes I do an about-face and decide I should keep knocking on doors to find a perfect fit through traditional publishing. Self publishing is daunting. It's expensive. It's risky. But I've read it's rewarding and fulfilling and fun. (I don't really believe the 'fun' part). I'm not a salesperson. I'm basically the opposite of a salesperson, so how would I get the word out about a book I published?

Which of course, comes to the point... what is the point of publishing?

1. To make millions of dollars so I can buy more fun toys for the cats.
2. To become famous, a household name for generations.
3. To make an idea, a file on my computer, into a real, live, hold in your hand and sniff it book.

The first would be nice, but I'm not banking on it. The second would be horrible. The third? Seems pretty close to true. So if that's the end goal, then self pub'ing would be much more productive than self pebbling or even knocking my head against the closed and locked publisher doors.

I might just go for it.

N

PS. I have no idea what this tree has to do with 'self publishing' which is the google search under which it appeared, but isn't it pretty?

Stone Dust and Lucky Clovers (previously known as The Practice)

My passions include - my kids and their dad, my dog, writing, reading, taking pictures and baseball.

Of these, the oldest is probably baseball.

I love the art of the game, the history, the culture, the class. The superstitions. The stats. The smell of grass and dirt and the squeak of a new ball. The way real stitches feel under the fingertips... Baseball is more than a sport, it has a soul all its own.

I have written two shorts centred around baseball. Nine is available through Amazon and Kobo, and my latest was just released by Cobalt Press in their Cobalt Review: Special Baseball Issue. (Click here to read it! I'm RF for the Home team, which is the only way I get to play on the grass).

N

100th post! - Good time to feel like a 'Real Author'

I've posted a few times about wondering when I'll feel like a 'real writer' or actually believe that I'm a 'published author'... I got another dose of that this week!

I was so lucky that Game Plan was picked up by Fierce Ink Press. Not just because they're awesome but also because it was the first submission I made for Game Plan. Literally.

Looks like my second novel will have a more typical course to publication - I got my email on Friday. I prefer the word "decline" to "rejection", don't you? But here's the secret: I looove my second novel. I love the story. I love the characters. I love the messages and the theme. If Game Plan was 'publishable' then this one is too. So I got a copy of Writer's Market that came with the online subscription and my attention will shift from my WIP back to my UntitledSecondStory. It needs a title. The decline email provided great feedback and suggestions so I know where I have to focus. I'm excited to get back in it!

N

Ah Friday

Snow is really quiet. When it's raining, you can hear it hit the windows and the roof or hit the puddles as they get bigger. Snow just floats, heavy and slow and silent. That's what's outside my window. And while it might sound poetic, I hate snow. HATE it.

But whatever. I'm tucked into my office chair with a puddle of a cat perched on one knee. My desk light is making a circle on my computer and my diet coke is cold and fizzy. I have on my Fierce Reader hoodie that is too big and sooo slouchy it's perfect. My Acadia sweats and my way too expensive wool slippers that are actually worth every penny.

I've got the skeletons of three people pounded out. Today I'm going to do some digging into journalistic writing and try my hand at news articles. My newest project is starting to take shape, starting to grow and move on it's own and hopefully soon I'll have to rush to keep up.

I hate snow, but I love Fridays :)

N

17 Pages

I have 17 pages left in the UntitledSecondBook to edit before I throw up and send it off to the publisher for a submission. It's not any easier this time. In fact, I think it's harder. When I submitted Game Plan it was a pie-in-the-sky shot - nothing to lose, might as well send it. But now that I've published one book, I feel like I'm tediously treading on shaky ground - is a writer still a writer if no one wants their second book?

N

Writing Day... not!

So Monday and Friday I am supposed to write. The problem with that plan is that since I'm not seeing clients on Monday and Friday it makes it easy to book infrequent appointments so they don't interfere with my weekly schedule. So I'll spend half of my day today addressing my 'real job', and the other half taxiing the demons around... not much time left for writing.

I received feedback for my SecondUntitledBook and I have so much to tackle! Can't wait to get a solid day to get on it. Guess it's looking like Friday instead.

N

Making it Happen

I tell my kids 'do your best' with everything they do - school, sports, music... all we ask of them is they try their best. Well, for now anyway, at some point we'll have to up the ante since their professional sporting careers (NHL, NBA, WNBA) are our retirement plan. But for now, do your best.

I talk with them about 'my book' and they know I'm working to make it the best it can be, and they are excited that it'll be published. (They're not all that excited to read it, Jack suggested the first chapter would be enough for him to get a good sense of what he needs to do for the cover art b/c the rest might be 'too boring'). What they haven't added up yet is that publishing a book is something I always dreamed of doing, and by putting in the work, time, effort, I am now anticipating fulfillment of that. The subliminal message I'm hoping they get is that if you want something, go do it.

On Friday I jumped off a building. Okay, I didn't really jump, I walked slowly down the side, but it was 35 stories of walking slowly down the side. I was happy my kids were there to see me go. Again, it was something I wanted to do... I faced a challenge and fulfilled a commitment.

Sure rappelling and writing are kinda different. But the message I'm hoping my kids get from it is kinda Nike-esk. Just do it. Try. Push. Step up and then don't step down.

N

Declaration

Sooo, I was sitting in a meeting this morning with a tableful of people I didn't know. We had to do the whole 'go around the table and introduce yourself' thing. It got to me and I said my name then said "I'm an SLP, a writer and a hockey mom". The hockey mom thing is half a joke - I'm a bball mom too, and swimming and music and homework and mean-vegetable-pusher. The point of the story is I introduced myself as 'a writer'. To other people. Out loud.

I have no idea what 'a writer' is. Grammatically, a writer is 'one who writes'. By that definition, I've been a writer since first grade. I've been serious about writing fiction for a year and a half or more. By serious, I mean committing several hours a week to a concrete and defined project (well, two). Was I writer then? Somehow signing a contract that says someone else thinks I'm a writer makes me start to believe it.

However it happened, identifying myself as 'a writer' today was very cool. There were no fireworks or expressions of shock and amazement, but I was smiling wide inside.

N