life

Sunday Post

Well, it's been a busy month. I wasn't around for a chunk of it--physically, as in I wasn't home and away from my PC, and mentally/emotionally as in I retreated from everything.

Yesterday I watched Amelie. It would likely surprise no one that it's one of my favourite movies, however it probably would surprise people to know that of all the movie characters that ever were, I probably identify with her the most. Not that I do good deeds for people (eww, no--I'm evil), but her inability to relate to others and build relationships. My social circles consist of people who are friends with each other, and then there's me, off to the side, stuck in her own head and not really a part of things.

Which is probably why I'm okay with uprooting my life and moving in a few months to a place where waitresses stare at me funny when I request a meal that doesn't include meat. I'm going to be a distant hermit no matter where I go.

And you know, I don't really have a point in saying this; it was just on my mind and I've been silent for weeks, so I thought I'd ponder it 'aloud' on the blog. I feel Amelie-ish a lot of the time. Only with less awesome hair and sans the cute, quirky guy to borderline stalk.

Stuff I Did This Week:

* I let everyone know I am not dead yet.

* Did some arty stuff called Wild.

* Facebook has changed their "Become a Fan of" button to "Like." So while initially I kind of ignored my FB page and never really invited anyone (as the number of invites I get to things often drives me batty) because I didn't want to force them to be a "fan" of me...now I'm kinda insulted that more of my friends' list doesn't "like" me. Is it because I'm distant and Amelie-ish? http://www.facebook.com/pages/Skyla-Dawn-Cameron/9912704791

Stuff I Sorta Contributed To:

* Friend J.A. Saare dealt with piracy again--she was quite disheartened when her latest release was uploaded to a pirate site. So of course I jumped on board to play Veronica Mars and help her find this person. 3 hours on the phone later... Well, here's the saga: Part One: Wherein She First Discovered the Piracy, Part Two: Portrait of an E-Pirate, and Part Three: Update.

This story did have a somewhat happy ending, which has gone to show that it IS possible for authors to reach the people illegally uploading their work and, in some cases, nip this problem in the bud. (Of course, a few months ago Jaime also spoke to one Sarah Sandford from Australia--specifically, from the Wangaratta area, I believe--who had requested illegal copies of her work...Sarah assured Jaime she wouldn't do it again, and then just last week tried to steal one of my books. She had no excuses or apologies for ME when I asked about it.)

Stuff I Tangentially Contributed To:

* Well, I acquired and edited the book, so...that's where my contribution begins and ends in this case. But I love the book so much that I want you to purchase it and love it too, so behold Sarah-Jane's fabulous trailer for Thief!

Stuff I In No Way Contributed To But Dig:

* Lili Saintcrow talks about how she's not the enemy in ebook pricing (and how neither is her publisher). Besides the fact that her post is AWESOME and very right, something interesting comes up in the comments that I think about a lot.

Sometimes it seems, as writers, that we can't say anything without readers perceiving us as insulting them. What I don't think people understand is that...you haven't seen an author's inbox. Most people wouldn't BELIEVE some of the stuff "fans" say to writers. I'm a nobody, and I get everything from backhanded compliments to hatemail. Saying "Please don't complain to me about something out of my control" isn't being disrespectful to readers; it's a request for respect and a showing of transparency about the business.

(Tangent: I'm also sympathetic because in my job I *constantly* get yelled at for Shit Out of My Control. And then I explain how and why it's out of my control and *still* get yelled at.)

* In a similar vein, Jaime pondered how to respond to negative reader letters. (My opinion? If it's angry/insulting/provoking, I don't answer it. Sometimes I try, but if an email ticks me off, it gets starred for a later reply and then I tend to forget about it. Moral of the story: expressing your displeasure with a book is fine, but try to be nice if you're writing to an author personally. We are actually people.)

* 50 Things You Can Control Right Now.

* The Writing Style of Twilight. All I can say about this is...TRAITOR TEARS!

* And on the subject of Twilight, Translating the Eclipse Trailer.

* I attended Boobquake.

* via ICAHK, UK Gov't "too busy" to stop a woman from being deported to her death.

* April 20th was Random Act of Kindness Day for friend Rissa Watkins to honour the baby she never had.

* Jim Hines on Authors Behaving Badly. If you missed the whole Rejection Queen saga, Fandom Wank has the detes. Get some popcorn.

And here's a random Amelie fan vid that I found and LOVED. Yes, I watch fanvids and am a total nerd.

link in case the embedding doesn't work

And that pretty much sums up the past few weeks in April. Did you guys read/do/watch anything totally awesome? Leave a link!

A Day In the Life...

So I thought I'd write about what my day is like to better explain why the hell you guys don't have a new chapter of Curio Killed the Cat yet.

7:30 - 8 Wake up. Say hi to boyfriend. Start answering email.

8:30 Have breakfast while continuing to answer email.

8:45 Brush my teeth.

8:50 Continue working on the computer. Here's some stuff that I do:

- Schedule books for Munania well into 2010, speak with authors about it, get yelled at by authors, yell back, etc.
- Create cover art. I usually have a few to do a month.
- Check on the status of the next several books in the queue. Send out "To Do" lists.
- Log slush. Distribute to readers. Read slush. (We usually have at least a few hundred to go through at a time.) Send rejection letters.
- Read in house submissions and discuss acceptance or suggestions for changes.
- Get an angry email about something someone asked me about two days ago that I haven't replied to yet. Bite my tongue and reply nicely.
- Discuss schedule, book, and publishing stuff with the company owner and art director. We're constantly talking about promo opportunities, stuff that needs to get done, etc.
- Read the news.
- Apologize to the boyfriend for being a workaholic. And then discuss with him work stuff (because he's doing website design and maintenance for us).
- See what information people were supposed to send me, and then chase them down.
- Send books for review. Try to find new reviewers as well.
- Occasionally, do edits for my own work when my editor contacts me.
- Say, "No, I can't do that right now--I'll do it next week" when I get a new assignment. And then I do the thing I was asked to do last week but didn't have time for.

This usually continues on until nearly 2 pm. At some point, I take a total of an half an hour or so to have lunch, and then get cleaned up for work. My other work, that is. Also, I feed and take out the dog.

2:00 Walk to the office.

2:30 Arrive at the office. Bitch about the cold. Then I do lesson prepping, answering phones, helping other tutors, etc.

4:00 Tutor.

7:00 Walk home.

7:30 Arrive home. Bitch about the cold. Help finish making dinner. Eat dinner while catching up on email. Usually the world has imploded in my absence and I have to save everyone.

9:00 Watch Lost on Wed., The Office on Thurs., and Dollhouse on Fri. Try to not let myself work.

10:00 Work on the computer. Usually I'm up late talking to the art director at this point. There may or may not be alcohol involved.

12:00 Bed time.

1:30 - 2:00 When I actually fall asleep. I'm an insomniac, plus I think I have restless leg syndrome. I don't sleep very well.

And I do all this to make a poverty-level income.

I'm trying really hard to get writing in, but the past few weeks have been nuts. But I promise, promise you'll get a chapter this week, and the regular one next Monday.

In the meantime...you could write fan-fic? ;-)

This Is Why Christmas Surprises Suck

So what if I go to work today, and I get hit by a bus, and I die an hour later after being in a vegetative in the hospital?

That would mean that I would DIE WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT MY CHRISTMAS PRESENTS ARE.

Really, it's nice that people are so full of faith and belief that I'm going to live for at least the next two weeks, but you don't know what the future will hold. Anything could happen. Ergo, you should give me my presents NOW so that I don't die wondering what the surprises are.

Thank you.