The Mountain Effect

You are flying along in a clear blue sky, humming a little song to yourself, when someone pulls along side in their jet-fighter and says they really like the way you fly. 'And incidentally, don't you like my jet-fighter?'
It's a cool looking jet-fighter. But when you take a good look close to, you realise it has some gaffa tape in a few places. Infact, it's quite a ropy old jet-fighter, but it has potential. There is quite a bit of rust that could do with a good scrape and respray/rebuild.
But small parts of the jet-fighter are quite breath-taking, angles, curves, the sheen and sleek of it. You can see the potential. You like.
If it's rebuilt it could be stunning. - - You say this.
'You wanna help rebuild it?'
Sounds like a plan.
But as you fly along in tandem, making a list of changes that really need to be made, it's becoming quite cloudy, until you can't see where you're flying anymore. And all the while the guy is distracting you with compliments.
"Look, I can't see because of all these clouds, and if I'm gonna work on it we really need to land, so you can sign the rebuild paperwork and I can get on with fixing it." He agrees, but keeps on flying through the clouds.
"Are you gonna land?"
He thinks about this for a good long while. 'Nope. I've decided the jet-fighter is fine the way it is afterall. Bye!' He peels away in a vertical climb.
The clouds part and you are nose to cliff face with a mountain.
SPLAT!
Belatedly you realise that that wasn't cloud, it was all the smoke he was blowing at you.
Darn.


Well, that was educational. Sometimes these things need hammering home.

So, the American re-write is well and truely dead. I suspected this was the case back near the start, but it was such pretty smoke that I allowed myself to get carried away and ignore the many warning signs.
FOOL THAT I AM!

Take heed kinder. If someone says they love you but won't commit, it means they don't love you at all, they just want the chance to use and abuse you.
*narrows eyes*

Goodbye Producer No#2. That was ... interesting.

Self-publishing - Part II

Read Self-publishing - Part I here

Overall, I am very happy with the service provided by Authors OnLine.

There was a slight hiccough with the cover text design on The Yes / No Tarot Oracle, (as to where it was placed in relation to the artwork) - the designer must have been having an off day; but this was sorted out to my satisfaction very promptly once I had made them aware of the issue.

They are a very good company and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them, if any of you lovely people ever did want to take the self-publishing route.

Feel free to email me if you want any further information about the service, beyond the details they give on their website.

They would normally take between 8 to 10 weeks to get your book published once you hand in all the documents ... the only reason my second book took so long was that my illness prevented me from signing off on it right away.

I have put links to both the Tarot books in the side bar - they are available in softback via print on demand from most booksellers, and the PDF versions are available to buy from Authors OnLine should you want to.

I'm so chuffed, here are the pictures of them AGAIN! :)

.....

"I ATE'NT DEAD"*

Well, that was a new experience. And one I hope never to repeat.
My balance is still off slightly, so walking in a straight line doesn't always happen according to plan, and crossing the road is at best a dangerous gamble ... but then, isn't it always?
Much better than I was. I can concentrate for over half an hour now without my brain melting. So writing is back on the agenda. Way hey! :)

When you can't read, or watch TV, or surf the net, and you're just about well enough to not be asleep 24-7, it gets incredibly frustrating. ~ You want to write, but all you can do is the imagination part of it, because pen to paper is as overwhelming as trying to read. - - I don't know how to describe it...?

Overwhelming, is the best description there is for the sensation of being utterly unable to concentrate or focus your attention; it's all too much.
But if you haven't experienced it, that means nothing to you. It's horrid though. Crippling.

After over a week of being asleep, and then 3 days of dreaming about chocolate cake, and then another two days fantasizing about the perfect lamb chop, followed by a day of fantasizing about liver and kidneys cooked to perfection ... and all the while the thought of actually eating makes you very ill ... Eventually your brain gets pissed off and starts tackling the important problems like - how the heck do I fix X in story Y. - - Now all I have to do is remember all the fixes I came up with and get them written up. :)

So now that it's mid bl**dy April, what happened while I was out of it?

...

Well, both my books are now available in print, or in PDF if you prefer. The first one came out at the beginning of February, and then lurgy interrupted me signing off the second one until just before the Labyrinthitis took me out for the count.
I will blog about the process next time - - once my brain is a bit more together. With pictures, and links, and such. HOORAH!

In the mean time, please dont cough near me. LOL.

Laters!



*from Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchett