It’s almost June, RWA conference is coming up in a couple months, and I already have more books in my TBR pile than I can read by July. Now is the time to declare a book buying moratorium.
I always overspend at Nationals so I came up with this process a couple years back. I would stop buying books a couple of months before conference in order to save up a bit. Plus the RWA literacy signing is for charity so they do encourage you to buy books there and not drag in your bookshelf from home to be signed.
It’s killing me this year. Sherry Thomas’ His at Night is coming out…Joanna Bourne’s next book is coming. I can buy them all at Nationals, but…but…
Another thing about the buying freeze is it also frees me up a little to finish whatever imaginary deadline I’ve given myself before Nationals. This year the goal is to finish the first draft of my paranormal, Sorcerer’s Daughter.
Speaking of deadlines. I suppose they’re no longer imaginary…*shudders*
So the freeze starts…now.
P.S. I am making two allowances for two category books that come out in June that I really, really want. Now that I know how category sales are time sensitive, I have to buy these two books to support the authors. But that’s it!
P.P.S. I’ve decided checking out books from the library is still okay.
I’ve been a lot less avid about checking my website stats since my webmistress Liz took the site of StatCounter. (Thank you Liz. I might not have gotten those two manuscripts whipped into shape if it weren’t for you!)
But I still check the new SiteMeter stats once in a while to see what’s bringing people to the site. So far, the most referrals come from queries for “Jeannie Lin” or “Butterfly Swords” which, frankly, still makes me giddy every time. But the second most frequent referral comes from a link on Google images to Rhino.
I just saw the cartoon again last night and I do love the little creature. His wild, frenetic enthusiasm is unstoppable. So should I use this conincidence of events? Cross-promotion opportunity? Rhino the Kung Fu Hamster. Hi-ya!
There is definitely one part of me that is channeling Rhino right now. The part when he’s anticipating finally getting out of the trailer park to become a superhero alongside Bolt: “Let it begin! Let it begin!”
Remember Square One? Mr. Cohen, my sixth grade teacher, would show us episodes of Square One once a week. Well, the date just demands that this song be dragged out.
I wrestled the TV away from hubby today and flipped to the Food Network. The winner of The Next Food Network Star was already been crowned, and I missed it! I also missed nearly all of Top Chef Masters. Grrrr….
Hubby has been spending a lot more time in front of the TV since he’s been at home. It means my TV viewing has whittled down to episodes of Robot Chicken and Cardinals baseball games. I run away when the news is on and I told hubby he’s lucky I like baseball.
One of my sister’s friends who’s a television junkie told me that studies have shown that your brain waves go beta when you watch television and they use that as an argument not to do it. For her, that’s exactly why she watches television. Karen’s a smart gal — I’m going with her argument.
I might need to put my foot down as Top Chef Las Vegas starts. What do they say? Cheaper than therapy.
There must be a word for this. Not quite IQ…something about being able to assimilate and organize technological data well. Like I’m meant for it — though I really came to computers pretty late in the game.
In any case, I have a high affinity/tolerance for electronic info. I discovered it early on when I first started clunking around at the UCLA computer lab. It’s not like I’m a computer whiz. I’m not. But I naturally mesh with file systems and electronic organization and data on-screen. I rarely lose e-mails in the shuffle. Because I read them and categorize the important ones in my head and answer them later. I know there are computer based tools for that, but I don’t use them. I should.
All I can say right now is — Too much! TILT. Unable to compute.
Okay, Matrix. You win. Guess I should set boundaries.
Okay, I just had to get my publishing pep-talk post off the leading line. It’s more depressing than I like to be.
Little things that cheered me up this week:
1. Hubby spent a couple hours writing a Java app that calculates at the press of a button how many days we’ve been married. 404 days today. I love geeks.
2. Triple layered ice-cream bombe/torte dessert that hubby made. I love geeks who can cook.
3. I own a pair of candy-red killer heels. I bought them for the conference to show unity with the Ruby Slippered Sisterhood. *secret handshake ensues* I love looking at them since they’re so not me. I love being “not” me once in a while.
My sister suggested I watch “Lust, Caution” directed by Ang Lee while she was reading my manuscript. She said there were some similar themes in the movie to my story. I finished watching it two nights ago and still find myself thinking about it. The movie was a period piece set in Shanghai during World War II. Extremely emotional and, of course, very depressing.
When was the last Asian film you saw with a happy ending? Other than Jackie Chan? We seem to love the desperate and tragic twists to life. Everyone suffers and everyone dies.
Don’t get me wrong. It really was a beautiful movie. Gorgeous. Moving. The type of story that makes we want to write something with the same emotional depth, but just give it some hope and happiness at the end.
I check my blog stats maybe once an hour during the day. Isn’t it pathetic to constantly check whether the blogosphere is paying any attention to you? In my defense, I do work at home and staring at the same screens can get monotonous. So it does give me a little break.
Over the last week my traffic has increased due to searches for shirataki “miracle noodles”. Guess everyone’s dieting right now and this is the new fad. These curiously indestructable noodles are quite amazing. I’m a big fan of the Hungry Girl alfredo and tuna noodle casserole recipes.
I’m going to find out they’re made of people, aren’t I?
I am infatuated with Hungry Girl. It’s a collection of low fat recipes and dieting tips for women. The website looks fun and perky, like the cover of a chick-lit novel, and HG has low fat recipes for “fun foods” like onion rings and ice cream shakes and eggs benedict. She compares them side by side with the “real” version to give you some perspective. I found the site while searching for recipes using Shirataki “Miracle” noodles, another current infatuation of mine.
Fine, I confess. I gained some newlywed bliss weight because I have a high metabolism hubby who HAS to eat ice cream every night or wither away. (I hate him. Love him, but hate him.) And I have to be a bridesmaid this year plus fit into a nice dress for RWA conference. And I was tired of feeling down every time I tried on a pair of pants that didn’t fit anymore. Excuses, excuses…So I’m dieting. Dieting is a bad word in the weight loss world. I know it’s supposed to be a lifestyle change, but hey, I’m dieting. No two ways about it.
I made this great recipe for low fat onion rings yesterday. (Crushed high fiber cereal, seasonsings, egg white, dip the rings and bake them. It’s awesome!) And I realized I was feeling good not only because I got to have onion rings for a snack without all the fat, but I liked following a recipe and cooking. Part of me enjoys the actual process of dieting. I like the extra thought and effort it takes to plan out meals and hunt out recipes and the success of finding little tricks.
Because it makes me feel like I can cheat the system. MWHAHAHAHA!!!
Which is exactly why I like to study writing craft. I’m searching for Donald Maas’ Writing the Breakout Novel right now to add to my bookshelf. Reading books like that makes me look at my writing and evaluate what I’m doing. It’s the same high of finding low calorie noodles or cooking “no-guilt” recipes. It’s extra work, but somehow, I hope that therein lies some secret and that I’ll find the trick I need to make my writing phenomenal. I don’t mind working overtime for it, but I just want to believe there is a way. That anyone can do this.
I want to fit into my skinny suit and write a bestselling novel while eating onion rings. I want it all.
I was going to put “Asian fantasy” in the title, but then I had visions of people coming here searching for a XXX site—ugh.
I got a note from a reader who told me they’ve been searching for this sort of book forever and there’s not much out there. She had been going through search engines looking for Asian fantasy stories. It’s not the first letter I’ve gotten like that either. Each one makes me hopeful. For an unpublished writer to start getting fan mail, and not from friends who love me, that must mean something right?
It was a big boost when I found an agent who was excited to go to bat for me. We’re still on that search for the editor who believes that these stories will sell. Funny how much of an uphill battle it is to get into English language genre fiction when there’s a flood of movies, manga, anime and centuries of Asian language literature on the same themes.
Once in a while when I’m feeling blue and lonely, I do go googling for Asian fantasy fiction or wuxia. But that’s okay. I knew this was going to be hard when I started. I just have to keep improving the writing.
So if you’re out there. If you’re searching too and you’ve found me. Say hello. *waves*
I truly believe there is a market and I love these stories. I’m very stubborn and somewhat patient and there’s enough stories in this genre to last another couple centuries.
I’ve been a lot less avid about checking my website stats since my webmistress Liz took the site of StatCounter. (Thank you Liz. I might not have gotten those two manuscripts whipped into shape if it weren’t for you!)
In my defense, I do work at home and staring at the same screens can get monotonous. So it does give me a little break.
