Day 2 (Monday):

Word count:

• 3913 / Total: 5626

Encouragements/helps:

• A quiet room.
• Knowledge that a graveyard shift was coming up, making writing on Tuesday difficult.

Challenges and distractions to overcome:

• None. Great writing day!

Odd sources of inspiration:

• The swaying shadows of tree branches on my curtain.

DAY 3 (Tuesday):

Word count:

• 0 / Total: 5626

Challenges and distractions not overcome:

• Exhaustion from graveyard shift.
• Voting day.
• Play rehearsal.

DAY 4 (Wednesday/Today):

It’s almost noon and I still haven’t written a word. I’m overwhelmed with sadness and disappointment that Question 1 passed, repealing Maine’s gay marriage law. It’s not an abstract political issue. To my family it’s personal. I’m trying not to be bitter. I’m trying to NOT give into hate. I’m trying. And I’m going spend the afternoon trying to channel those feelings into my writing. Here’s hoping it works.

Yesterday was Day 1 of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). 50,000 of a novel in 30 days. I’m using it – yet again! – to write the prequel/sequel/companion to Waiting For Spring (aka Rick and Wendy’s book). That’s right…I chucked the last version. Again. This will mark the third time I’ve begun writing it. The good news is, I’ve got a handle on how to tell the story this time. Seriously. I’ll post more information about the novel as the month goes on.

So, how did day 1 go?

Words written:

1713

 

Encouragements/help:

Hubby made coffee

Hubby washed/dried laundry

Kids – who are doing the Young Writers NaNo – and I went to a write-in at the Camden library

 

Challenges and distractions overcome:

Helped hubby put in a storm door.

1 1/2 hour play/choir rehearsal

3 hours of driving (to rehearsal and write in, then back home)

 

Odd sources of inspiration

Sprinklers in the ceiling of library

Old lamp on table of library

 

Today I have to get twice as much written to make up for what will no doubt be a zero word count day tomorrow. (Working graveyard tonight, voting in the morning, sleeping in the late morning/afternoon, play rehearsal in the evening.)

How much of Tess Dyer was inspired by an actual person or situation? What is my favorite sentence from Waiting For Spring? And what’s up with all of those sex scenes? The answer to these questions – and much more! – can be found in this interview, conducted by Andrew Kent (author of Spam & Eggs: A Johnny Denovo Mystery) at the Backword Books blog. You can also find out how you can Tweet2Win a signed copy of Waiting For Spring. You know you want one.

For the next several weeks, Backword Book authors will be posting interviews with each other on the Backword Blog. This is pretty cool, because you can get to know each author twice…as an interviewer and interviewee. Just as exciting, you can enter for a chance to win a free book each week.

Last week, Henry Baum – author of the upcoming The Book of the American Dead – was featured, with Charles Dodd White winning a copy of the novel. This week it’s Kristen Tsetsi. Check out the interview and ask her a question of your own, for a chance to win a signed copy of her very excellent novel, Homefront, (See my review of it here) and a PDF of her short story collection, Carol’s Aquarium.

“The 70 authors on Operation Ebook Drop asked me to say: More Troops please.

We have dropped approximately 4000 Free discount coupons linking our brave men and women deployed in the Armed Forces to some of the finest Indie novels in the industry to keep their reading devices filled with a variety of genres and styles. If you are a troop who has received an ebook drop, sound off here, so your comrades can step up and request our gifts.

If you want to participate and are a deployed member of the coalition Armed Forces, just drop me (edwpat at att.net) an email with your name, unit and location (and a little feedback – our authors enjoy some feedback), and I’ll set you up on the program.

If you’re an author and want to join the ranks of the givers, publish your book(s) on Smashwords and set up a 100% discount coupon and then drop me a line at edwpat at att.net and I’ll forward you the troop list and set you up for all new incoming troop book requests.

This program is only a month old and happened by chance here in the Kindle community. Indie authors care and we want to make a difference by thanking our troops for their efforts.

 Edward C. Patterson former Sp5 E. Patterson, USAR 6th Batallion, 60 th Artillery (1966-68)”

The cashiers at our store are required to swipe each bill of $10 or higher with a special counterfeit detection pen. If the bill is real, the pen mark will be light-to-dark yellow. If it’s fake, the mark will be black; almost like a permanent marker. It’s kind of a pain in the ass, and makes the process of cashing out a customer that much longer, but it’s what we’re supposed to do, so we do it.

Yesterday, a group of hunters from Connecticut came into the store to buy hunting  supplies (Bud Light, Jack Daniels, chips…) and paid with a hundred dollar bill. As per company policy, I swiped it with my trusty pen. This elicited a chorus of hearty chuckles.

“What’s so funny?”

“That pen,” said Hunter #1. “As if you’d find any counterfeit bills up here.” Then he laughed some more.

You could say that this comment left me feeling rather indignant. In fact, you could say that it pissed me off. Who did these ignorant pinheads think they were, coming up here, polluting our fair state with their ugly, gas-guzzling Hummer, hunting our deer, and insulting us like that? Did they think Mainers don’t have the know-how to fashion realistic facsimiles of legal tender? Did they think we we’re without computers and printers and ink and internet access? Did they think we have no brains at all? 

I felt it necessary to put these Mighty Men of Arrow and Bow in their places.

“I’ll have you know,” I began, drawing myself up to my full five foot three inches and giving him an icy stare, “that Maine sees LOTS of counterfeit bills. Lots! We’ve gotten some in this very store! In fact, last month the cops raided a house just a few miles down the road that turned out to belong to the head of a counterfeiting ring!” Then I gave him a curt nod that said So There! and tossed him his change. 

Just imagine my reaction if they had scoffed at our citizens’ newfound commitment to having an increased share in the opiate trade…

Behold the new “Waiting For Spring” book trailer! If you want to share it with family and friends – or post it on your blog – I would be VERY appreciative!

  Do you have boobs?

Then go schedule a mammogram.

Do it today.

…to enter the Backword Books contest. You could win SEVEN signed paperback books. Here’s how ya do it:

The rules: We want to hear your thoughts about self-publishing in a blog post. What is your general opinion of it? How likely are you to do it?  Do you think it will change the face of publishing in the future? That sort of thing.  The drawbacks of self-publishing are welcome as well – if you don’t like it, you don’t like it. But include your reasoning, while keeping in mind that a scathing attack on self-publishing probably isn’t going to do it for us.  You know…just keep it polite.

The main requirements for the contest are:

1. The post links back to www.backwordbooks.com, as well as the URL for this contest. If you don’t have a blog, you can post it as a note on your facebook page. Or MySpace, if you’re on MySpace.

2.  We’d also like to hear which book you’d most like to receive from our list – perhaps where you heard about the book first and why it interests you. This will help us choose where to send books for second prize winners.

Please let us know of your entry because we want to compile them all in one place. We’ll judge entries based on…well, purely subjectively: what we think is a good, well-reasoned post.  We hope it’s a good way to get a discussion about self-publishing spreading throughout the blogosphere. Please send links to your post via the form on this page.

Deadline for the contest is September 30. That’s THIS WEDNESDAY!