Yikes. So many things have happened I’m not sure where to start.
For starters, I finally got my laptop fixed and this is the first post from it! I’m very happy to have gotten it back. The issue? A damaged motherboard from excess heat. No surprise. I found Norton running up my CPU and caught it WAY too late. (About six months). I’m backing things up a bit more, though thankfully my projects all auto-save to the cloud after each modification. So, I didn’t lose much last time. Still, it was all the fragments, or pieces of docs not in sync that caused the most annoyance when my laptop was dead. Therefore, I’m a bit more proactive to backup regularly. Also. I don’t anticipate this 7 year old laptop to last longer than six months.
In the meantime, I’ve had to transfer my domains out my old host/provider of 11+ years. I was devastated they were going out of business. I’ve been with them for so long! I’ve referred so many start-ups to them! And as I once posted on my fb page; I’ve been dreading the site transfer. The mere act of doing so (as easy as it is), feels like defeat and affirmation that nothing ever lasts. It’s a reminder of the transience. Sure, it doesn’t help I turned 30 that same month either. It sort of felt like: OMG EVERYTHING IS DYING! #OMGCAPS #OMGBRANLICAPS
But, on the plus, I do get to work with a very close and dear friend. Plus, he’ll stop accusing me of cheating on him with another provider 😛
My PS3 remains dead and that’s not really so bad, since I have new deadlines. Well, I have higher expectations for this year. For starters, I’m going to publish something under a pen name. I’ve gone back and forth on the reasons why. I’ve heard all sides. Many asked “Why? You’re just starting your career. Why do this to yourself? Why limit yourself?” I honestly don’t see it as limiting myself. Yes, it’s a bit early to be branching out into a pen name, but there are stories to be written that are very different. There’s a sort of duality in my head, two personas that like very different themes and very different endings. And therein lies my problem. This pen name will mostly deal with darker elements, not entirely science fiction, and most stories will not have what is considered a ‘happily ever after.’ It’s a challenge, I think. And a part of me is thrilled by the idea of haunting the reader with philosophical consternation. I want readers to leave inebriated by deep thought.
The story under my pen name is done. The developmental editor and two beta readers have returned with their thoughts. All that is left are the revisions and the final polish by the copy editor. I’d like to say the worst part is over, but as any writer knows, it’s only just begun.
Meanwhile I’ve been outlining a new series. Specifically, I’ve been outlining the first book in the series. I spent the whole month of January just writing ideas down, character descriptions and bios, and lots of research. I’m hoping to have this ready for a late Summer release. Oh, and have I mentioned I need to revise the third and final book in the Project Horizon series for a December release?
I don’t know how other authors do it. Somewhere, somehow, in all this I’m also supposed to ramp up my blog entries on my author site and promote my books. Then again, they say the best promotion is to get more of your work out there.
It’s a rather ambitious play this year. A part of me feels this will be my best year yet. Here’s to 2014!
