Keeping Up With Mother Nature

Waking up today to a rainy, misty Saturday. And I was just getting used to the minus 27 degree temperatures. Well, time to put away the parka and bring out the umbrella - good job we are an ambidexterous crowd up here in Canada.

Although I must say that the week in Monterey California in March is starting to look realllllly good.

Not a great deal to report in my writing world this week except that the cover for the third Anna Sweet has an image! The publisher sent along about ten stock images for me to vote on and I narrowed it to four that I thought might work. Of those four, she liked one. I also had Ted weigh in and he liked one that I'd also liked. So these two choices went to the designer and she tried both - only one worked properly, and I have to say, it looks stunning. Unfortunately, the one Ted liked best wasn't the one selected :-) No big reveal yet though - I'll share the new cover when I can.

I was going full steam ahead on the latest Stonechild and Rouleau manuscript last weekend up until Tuesday and then my energy reserve crashed. However, I did spend time going through each chapter and writing down the major plot points and descriptions of characters etc. This will help me in the long run to make sure all the facts are correct. I'm closing in on one-third completed so a good time to take stock. I remember in my first book catching the fact that I had a character driving a car at the beginning of the book and a van at the end . . . it's these little details that can trip you up. My worst habit is calling a character by the wrong name - something I'm guilty of doing in real life.

Just thought I'd alert you to a rather nasty practice going on in the reader reviewing world. People whom those in the book industry call 'trolls' post nasty, anonymous, one-star reviews on Amazon and other book-selling sites for no good reason that I can come up with. They might say things like, 'so bad I couldn't get past the first chapter' or 'this drivel isn't worth paying for' . . . or much worse. I was speaking with my publicist (by e-mail) and the only way to counter this is for readers to post good reviews when they like a book. I encourage you to praise the authors you like on the book sites - this is a tough enough business without having to deal with the nastiness of these no-good-for-nothing, mean-minded, cowardly 'trolls'. (Some day I'll tell you what I really think . . . .)

I'll be spending much of this weekend staying out of puddles and working away at my desk. I find it's at about this point in a manuscript that momentum becomes the most difficult. Once I get to the half-way point, the writing seems to pick up speed. So, nose to the grindstone and we'll see what unfolds.

I hope you stay dry and warm this week, my friends. Maybe, snuggle in with a good book or treat youself to some comfort food. We're going to make it through this January together . . . come hell or . . . high water.