Well, I read through Public Domain again, and spotted a couple more boo-boos. I always like to read through proofs a couple of times at least, in case I miss some dreadful howler on the first pass. This is a big task with a 75K manuscript, but not so bad on a 4K short story. There are a handful of thingoids in PD that need dealing with... mainly because I sent a draft of the thing to the editor for a look-see at quite an early stage. Because it's not my usual type of story, I wanted to know if it would be acceptable, and if not, I'd write another... But it was acceptable, and I never went on to work it over any more, when under other circumstances, I might have done. The good news is that it was pretty much okay as it was... there are just a couple of repetitions here and there that I might have spotted on another round of editing. Otherwise, I don't think I would have changed it anyway...
That's about all I've done today so far, except for some pottering around on MySpace. Which is fun, but it scares me too. Not for the timewasting, which is bad enough, but for the fact that I feel it's a dangerous space, wide open for the nefarious activities of spoofers, hackers, crooks, creeps, nutters and general mischief makers. I think one needs to be very wary there, somehow... It's a great promotional opportunity for writers and other kinds of creative types, but it does merit some care and caution...
Well, I still don't know what project I'm going to do next. When Suite Seventeen is turned in, I'm out of contract, and that's a very depressing state of ungrace to be in. My editor has murmured about projects, but so far, not come to me with anything more concrete than that... and I feel that because I'm not proactively pushing stuff at him, he might forget about me and work with other writers who are hungry and eager and full of dynamic ideas. I suppose I must really discuss this with my agent, but in the meantime, I have various bits and pieces to edit inc. a novella and a short story or two, which could do to be polished and put out there. Nobody's going to accept anything that's still festering on my hard drive or in a heap of A4 in my office!!!
In other news, I've just started reading Alison Kent's how-to book The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Erotic Romance. I read a preview of Chapter 20 aka Getting Wild and Kinky and that was totally fabboo, but now I'm going to work my way through the whole book. This book is perfect for me, as I need to understand better how to meld romance and erotica more harmoniously, and raise the volume on the romance side of things to match that on the erotica side of things. It's also v. apt for me because as most people who've read my blog for a while [both here and at the old place] will realise, I am actually a bona fide Complete Idiot! :)
I think there's much to be gleaned from writing how-to books, even if you've been in the game for a while, like I have. There's always something new to be learned, or something that you need reminding of that you've forgotten. Or, and just as important, you can find affirmation in them, in that, you can find yourself going... 'Oh god, yes, I do that...' and you realise you're doing something the right way, or at least in a way that's one of the right ways to do a thing. I think that when I've read Alison's book - which I know is going to be invaluable - I'll dive into Janet Evanovich's book, How I Write. Obviously, I won't be writing romantic crime in the near future... at least I don't think I will... but I expect there to be a lot of great advice of use to writers of all genres amongst the pages.
Ah well... better get on with something, I suppose...
Sunday, 1 October 2006
Saturday, 30 September 2006
web site housekeeping day
Okay, it's a kind of foofing about, but it's something that would have to be done anyway, so I did it. My main site www.wendywootton.co.uk has needed some minor updating for a while, so as I just can't get into writing, and I needed to avoid my proofchecking, I thought it would be more useful to update my site rather than spend the day cruising MySpace making new friends.
There are no great design changes. It was mainly adding info about Sex in Public, and posting links to a few reviews, and updating all the blog links to point here instead of the old place. The review bit was actually very cheering. In total, there seem to be quite a few of them now, and when folk say nice things about my writing, it fair bucks me up! It was all very time consuming work, though, and fiddly here and there, but thank heavens for Dreamweaver that can do global changes for things like the blog link.
One of these days, I suppose I should do a makeover of both my Wendy site and my Portia site, but I'm having enough trouble applying myself to writing as it is... In fact, I know it sounds silly when I design myself, but I'm almost tempted to get someone else to makeover my site for me. I was reading on a romance writers' message board only yesterday how important it was to have a high impact site if you really want to make an impression, and I know the poster was right... But I've always resisted anything that looks too self conscious, as I don't want to look like a product or a brand... I just want to project a very personal sense of 'me' with my site. Not me as the big time writer [like, yeah...] but me as a the real, living person... And if I should go for a new design, by someone else, one of these days... there's one thing I will not embrace, no way, not in this freaking universe... and that's referring to myself in the third person on my site!!!!! I mean, how pretentious is that? I'm not the Queen, for God's sake! When I encounter a 'third person' site, even if I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the author is the sweetest, most unassuming and most genuine person you could possibly imagine, there's this subconscious muttering gnome of curmudgeonliness inside me going 'get her, the snobby cow!'
I have heard people say that the 'third person' approach makes people think that you're much more successful ie. it implies that there's a whole team of people looking after business for you... But I think the shrewd site visitor can always tell what stage the author's career is at from the amount of books listed, their type or genre, and their publishers - and from that deduce that there is no mighty machine behind her or him. LOL!
Yikes, I don't know what brought that little tirade on! Just felt like a bit of a whinge about one of the many minor niggles that get on my wick from time to time...
There are no great design changes. It was mainly adding info about Sex in Public, and posting links to a few reviews, and updating all the blog links to point here instead of the old place. The review bit was actually very cheering. In total, there seem to be quite a few of them now, and when folk say nice things about my writing, it fair bucks me up! It was all very time consuming work, though, and fiddly here and there, but thank heavens for Dreamweaver that can do global changes for things like the blog link.
One of these days, I suppose I should do a makeover of both my Wendy site and my Portia site, but I'm having enough trouble applying myself to writing as it is... In fact, I know it sounds silly when I design myself, but I'm almost tempted to get someone else to makeover my site for me. I was reading on a romance writers' message board only yesterday how important it was to have a high impact site if you really want to make an impression, and I know the poster was right... But I've always resisted anything that looks too self conscious, as I don't want to look like a product or a brand... I just want to project a very personal sense of 'me' with my site. Not me as the big time writer [like, yeah...] but me as a the real, living person... And if I should go for a new design, by someone else, one of these days... there's one thing I will not embrace, no way, not in this freaking universe... and that's referring to myself in the third person on my site!!!!! I mean, how pretentious is that? I'm not the Queen, for God's sake! When I encounter a 'third person' site, even if I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the author is the sweetest, most unassuming and most genuine person you could possibly imagine, there's this subconscious muttering gnome of curmudgeonliness inside me going 'get her, the snobby cow!'
I have heard people say that the 'third person' approach makes people think that you're much more successful ie. it implies that there's a whole team of people looking after business for you... But I think the shrewd site visitor can always tell what stage the author's career is at from the amount of books listed, their type or genre, and their publishers - and from that deduce that there is no mighty machine behind her or him. LOL!
Yikes, I don't know what brought that little tirade on! Just felt like a bit of a whinge about one of the many minor niggles that get on my wick from time to time...
Friday, 29 September 2006
Sex in Public
Well, today I must do some proper work. Writing work. I foofed a lot yesterday, despite my best intentions. I mean, I did some web stuff, and I've a bit more web stuff to do today, but yet again, I did nothing towards writing except look through some notebooks and discover a few scrappy story ideas.
So, I think my best course of action is to do the proofs that I have on my desk [aka on the bed beside me, as I mostly work out of my bedroom on my laptop these days] They're for my story Public Domain, which is in the Sex in Public Wicked Words collection. This one's a bit unusual, as it's sort of alternate universe, sort of futuristic, and sort of sci fi. Can't really say too much about it, for fear of giving away the plot... which is micro thin, of course, it being written by me! But it's a bit of fun and a change of pace and scene, and I hope everybody will enjoy my hunky hero Cicero. [No relation to any Roman philosopher or whatever...]
So, I think my best course of action is to do the proofs that I have on my desk [aka on the bed beside me, as I mostly work out of my bedroom on my laptop these days] They're for my story Public Domain, which is in the Sex in Public Wicked Words collection. This one's a bit unusual, as it's sort of alternate universe, sort of futuristic, and sort of sci fi. Can't really say too much about it, for fear of giving away the plot... which is micro thin, of course, it being written by me! But it's a bit of fun and a change of pace and scene, and I hope everybody will enjoy my hunky hero Cicero. [No relation to any Roman philosopher or whatever...]
Thursday, 28 September 2006
no more foofing
Since I finished the first draft of Suite Seventeen last week, I've been mainly foofing about and achieving very little. I haven't done a scrap of writing, although I have done a bit of web design, so I suppose I shouldn't be too hard on myself - because at least that's something creative. And I have expanded my horizons a bit on the computer. I've set up a MySpace, I've uploaded more photos to Flickr and learnt how to do things there, and I've even posted a new message on my sadly neglected Amazon Connect profile. I've also installed Zone Alarm, for a bit of extra computer security and I've been experimenting with del.icio.us for saving my favourites. At heart, all these things are displacement activities, but sort of useful ones too, so I don't feel too disgusted with myself for spending time on them.
I've also set this blog up here. For a long time, I've been not feeling too keen on Bravejournal... for several reasons. The limitations of the sidebar, the limitations of layout and look, the infuriating advertising in the posting area which frankly gets on my wick and tends to muck with my browser. Now, as I had a pro account there, I simply don't think there should be any ads at all, but there are, and I've had enough of them... I have toyed with setting up Wordpress on my own webspace, but even with broadband, the login process takes a ludicrously long time. Something to do with the way the program talks to my ISP... Life's too short to spend that time just twiddling my thumbs waiting. Which brings me back to Blogger, the blogging platform I began my very first blogging efforts on... I'd always been put off by the necessity to get in and footle with the template to add links and stuff to the sidebar, but now I've discovered beta Blogger, those shortcomings are no more. Admittedly it is beta, and a tiny bit cranky here and there, but generally, I'm well pleased with it so far. And I think most of the crankiness is due to my 'puter needing a tad more memory. But that's something I'm planning to correct in the v. near future with a little trip to PC World for a bit of RAM therapy.
Anyway, all this is just more foofing, innit?
Today, I will be mainly:
I hope to do a few other bits and bobs too...
I've also set this blog up here. For a long time, I've been not feeling too keen on Bravejournal... for several reasons. The limitations of the sidebar, the limitations of layout and look, the infuriating advertising in the posting area which frankly gets on my wick and tends to muck with my browser. Now, as I had a pro account there, I simply don't think there should be any ads at all, but there are, and I've had enough of them... I have toyed with setting up Wordpress on my own webspace, but even with broadband, the login process takes a ludicrously long time. Something to do with the way the program talks to my ISP... Life's too short to spend that time just twiddling my thumbs waiting. Which brings me back to Blogger, the blogging platform I began my very first blogging efforts on... I'd always been put off by the necessity to get in and footle with the template to add links and stuff to the sidebar, but now I've discovered beta Blogger, those shortcomings are no more. Admittedly it is beta, and a tiny bit cranky here and there, but generally, I'm well pleased with it so far. And I think most of the crankiness is due to my 'puter needing a tad more memory. But that's something I'm planning to correct in the v. near future with a little trip to PC World for a bit of RAM therapy.
Anyway, all this is just more foofing, innit?
Today, I will be mainly:
- uploading a fab new cover image for a web client
- taking an initial look at proofs for my story Public Domain, which arrived yesterday
- uploading an extract of Gothic Blue to my PortiaDaCosta.com web site
- maybe even setting up another blog, for posting extracts to... [got this idea from above mentioned client
I hope to do a few other bits and bobs too...
Wednesday, 27 September 2006
Gothic Blue
Today I was all set to upload an extract of Gothic Blue to my PortiaDaCosta.com web site, but the best laid plans of mice and erotic authors didn't pan out... Instead, I futzed about with the layout for that site [on my own computer, no changes at the site yet], then spent ages reading Romantic Times, and conversing via email with a mate about the reviews there... and then I finished off by spending ages playing with this blog.
But tomorrow, I promise I will upload that extract! I think it'll be the prologue, which tells how the poor accursed Count Andre Von Kastel gets himself into a terrible pickle!
If you think this cover image looks familiar, by the way, you may have seen it here. Many thanks to my buddy Saskia for the link.
But tomorrow, I promise I will upload that extract! I think it'll be the prologue, which tells how the poor accursed Count Andre Von Kastel gets himself into a terrible pickle!
If you think this cover image looks familiar, by the way, you may have seen it here. Many thanks to my buddy Saskia for the link.
my lost Boy
Apparently, I can upload photos to this blog via Flickr, so what better piccie to try it out with than this lovely one of the late, and very much lamented Boy. He was such a sweetie.
my first post at wendyportia
This is my first post at this new blog I'm trying out. Not much to say, because I'm having a bit of a mare of a day and I'm not achieving much. If this beta Blogger system works out, I may well move my entire blog here, because it seems as if you can do more with this new Blogger in terms of putting goodies in the side bar... Bravenet is useless on that score, as you can only put text links and not piccies and text and other bits and bobs...
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