I’ve got a contract!!
Current mood: excited

I finally got a contract from my publisher for my sequel!!

The Allure of the Curse is on its way!

Now it's time for editing, and I have to wait for one of the Treble Heart editors to become available. This might be several days, but I'm eager to get started. It's just a surface edit for grammar, punctuation and spelling, so that shouldn't take long!

And then it will go into the queue for publishing!


Hooray!


Keep spreading the word and I'll keep posting! Deal? Deal! Ready, break!

2:36 PM - 2 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

good times!
Current mood: cheerful

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the book signing in Sierra Vista this past Saturday! Always a good time in Sierra Vista, and a special thanks to my Phoenix cheerleaders who made the long drive to hang out (and buy some books!). They even took some pictures and a video that's somewhere - I snagged a pic but haven't yet found the vid. I'll post 'em soon, I promise!

My Sequel (The Allure of the Curse) is currently at my publisher, and I'm awaiting a contract for publication! I'm *pretty sure* they're very interested and hopefully looking at a summer '09 release. Hopefully!

In the meantime I'm working on my other memoir project with my girlfriend. This is going to be a slower process since it's so new, but I really like the messages we can send to people through this book, not to mention the very good publication possibilities. I'll keep everyone posted, and try to post more often! Even if it's just random stuff, like I used to do!

Thanks for reading peoples, and keep spreading the word! Word-of-mouth is king when it comes to books like mine with No Advertising Budget!

Be easy (said the whitest man in america) :)

Currently reading : Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Harper Fiction) By Gregory Maguire Release date: 2007-09-25

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still waiting
Current mood: working

Not much to report, besides a fabulous trip to Flagstaff and the Canned Granyon... I'll be posting some pics from that trip soon.

In the meantime I'm working on a new project, something very new for me - I'm cowriting a memoir with my girlfriend. I'm told there's a much bigger market for this sort of work, so maybe if I get some success that way it'll help the sales of my vampire books. It's a totally different style of writing but the story is so good that the book will virtually write itself.

I won't stop writing my Curse books, though! Those are already in my head and need to be written like I need to keep breathing.

I'll keep everyone posted on my progress.

PS it's hot

8:32 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Happenings!
Current mood: aroused

Finally some news!....



.


.


.


I'll be at a multi-author book signing at the Sierra Vista Mall on Saturday June 21!
:)

In the meantime I've got a POTENTIAL deal in the works for my sequel... details to follow as soon as I know anything for sure. Wouldn't want to make a premature announcement.
Here's a hint, though: it's not with an agent.


And no, I didn't have restless leg syndrome. I had a soft-tissue injury in my spine somewhere and it's aggravated by being at rest in the same position. I saw a specialist and he gave me some super-Aleve and I'm down to only taking it if I'm sore to start with. Thanks for the concerns!

Hopefully I'll have some definite news by the book signing, but if anything happens I'll be sure to post it here!

word.

Currently watching : Carnivale - The Complete Second Season Release date: 2006-07-18

2:46 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

updating
Current mood: hopeful

Piles of rejections, but three requests for samples including one for the full manuscript. I'm still cranking out one a day... and someday I'll put it all together in a spreadsheet rather than the scribbled notes on halfsheets of paper :) I'll post the numbers when I have them.

In the meantime: Carnivale on DVD and a roadtrip to New Mexico with my girl. Impressions: a lot of driving, Albuquerque is Tucson Lite (not a good thing) and Santa Fe would be nice if anybody knew where to go. We were visiting fans at a minor league baseball game - maybe the first time that's ever happened. Did I mention a lot of driving? But good times.

I'll keep updating...

8:38 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

status update
Current mood: chipper

Hey peoples,

Query status: 23 (or so) rejections, 1 request for partial, 1 request for a full manuscript. Still at it - still many more agents to pester, and many weeks will go by before I hear about the partial and the full.

Good times! Can't be afraid of rejection in this biz.

In more good news, one magic pill at night keeps me from waking up in pain in the middle of the night anymore, so that's good.

Gotta get back to it!

8:24 AM - 1 Comments - 1 Kudos - Add Comment

The quest continues
Current mood: groggy

Still looking for an agent...

The last time I went through this process was 3+ years ago, and I’m finding that the same agencies I had to snailmail a query and SASE to back then are more than happy to accept an e-query now. Which saves me a lot of time. I’m averaging 1 query sent out a day... when I’m not

1) traveling (roadtrip to California. visited West Hollywood and lived to tell the tale), or

2) sick as all hell. Sinus infection hit me like a tonobricks and kicked my ass.

Plus I’m going to physical therapy because I did something to my back. Mom was right about posture, folks. Especially whilst at your computer. My new job has a lot more computer time and my Not So Great posture there strained the muscles around my spine. So now I wake up every morning at about 5am with intense, angry aches in my spine between my shoulder blades. And there’s no position that helps. Sometimes I can ignore it enough to get back to sleep. Sometimes I can’t. Sometimes you’re better off dead there’s a gun in your hand and it’s pointed at your head you think you’re mad, too unstable kicking in chairs and knocking down tables at a restaurant, in a West End town call the police there’s a madman around running down underground to a dive bar in a West End town...

Sorry. Maybe the lack of sleep is getting to me :) Actually most mornings are okay, it’s just an unpleasant way to wake up.

Rejection total: 4 (everybody has been polite, and my girl gives me a hug whenever I triumphantly announce another rejection)
Haven’t heard yet from: 7 (but if they’re not interested many will just not respond)

Keepin on keepin on,

P

Currently watching : Freaks Release date: 10 August, 2004

12:14 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Back at it
Current mood: optimistic

Hey out there,

So, after lots of busy times (moving, unpacking, buying all the stuff that you gotta after you move, traveling, screwing up my back somehow, going to physical therapy, etc.) I'm finally back to trying to get my sequel published. I'm trying to find an agent for this go-round, who can hopefully hook me up with a larger publisher. My current publisher has been very good to me, and did give me MY BREAK, but I'm aiming a little higher now.

This means I'm in for a lot of RE-JECTion, but I've danced this one before, so it's not really a big deal. Plus I'm fairly sure my current publisher would happily publish my sequel, so the stakes aren't quite as high. I'll let you know here how it goes: I kind of like the perverse pleasure that goes along with sharing my RE-JECTion with the world.

First tip for anybody else doing this dance: go read Nathan Bransford's blog. He's a real life agent and has lots of tips for saving yourself time and aggravation. I say this knowing full well that the chances of him accepting my query are slim, but helpful stuff is helpful stuff.
Linky: Click here

I'm excited at the possibilities. The last couple of months have been filled with a lot of change for me, but this part of my life will always be my passion and I haven't lost sight of that. Lucky for me I'm with a woman who understands (and approves) of this.

Promise I'll post more often! (Ha!)

Currently listening : The Reminder By Feist Release date: 01 May, 2007

1:24 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

busy busy busy
Current mood: busy

Wow.

I'm moving in a week - my lady and I are going into a larger apartment - and packing my stuff and tossing a lot of my crap and getting her stuff there and storage and etc.
Meanwhile at lunch I'm finishing the final edit of my sequel, and I'm very close. I'd like to start soliciting agents soon, but there's so much other stuff to do. Hopefully I can get some of that done at work too.

It's exciting, but there's a lot of work to be done... meanwhile Teh Stupor Bowl and my birthday are coming up at the same time. It's always that way, though... nothing ever happens conveniently.

By the way, the working title for my sequel:

"The Allure of the Curse"

(so that it sings with the preceding book
"The Cure for the Curse")

Good times.

Currently reading : Practical Demonkeeping By Christopher Moore Release date: 25 May, 2004

7:46 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Where Have I Been?
Current mood: giddy
Category: Life

I haven't been on much lately - too busy planning upcoming trips, Xmas shopping, wrapping presents, and spending time with my lady. She's made me so happy that I'm pretty disgusting, but I don't care.

I am still working on the sequel, doing the "read aloud" of the final draft. (I recommend that to everybody writing anything - read it out loud. Your ears will catch stuff your eyes miss) Since the holidays are here I'm going to hold off on sending out any query letters until the second week of January (roughly). I'm not sure if the writer's strike in Hollywoo (HOLLYWOO!!!) will affect anything either, but I read that some agents aren't getting paid because their clients aren't either... so even though I might have a delay until my next Pushing Daisies episodes air, my writing career might get a boost...

Or not.

Anyway, once some real stuff happens I'll be posting regularly again. I'm probably doing a book fair in Sierra Vista in March, and I'm currently test-driving my Discoveries 07 CD. Lots of these tracks aren't on Myspace, but iTunes ought to be able to hook us up.

Her name starts with an M, I met her at my job, I've been friends with her for like two years, and it has blossomed in to an obnoxious love that I am so grateful for.

Currently listening : The Good, the Bad & the Queen By The Good the Bad & The Queen Release date: 23 January, 2007

8:04 PM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment