Moving!

I haven't posted here in a while.  That's because I've been at work on my website.  There's a new blog.  Please check for me there:

http://www.uzurimwilkerson.com/

I look forward to seeing you there.  :-D

Still Working

Well, I'm still here.  I've been proofing Sour, the second novel in my "Bitten" series.  Violence!  Jealousy!!  Family secrets!!!  Menage-a-quad!!!!  I have about twenty more pages to go before I need to transcribe the corrections and updates into the computer.  Then I'll hand it off (again) to Rochelle.

I've finished my new webpage for the most part.  I just need to adjust a few things and add some links.  Once I complete those tasks, I can start advertising the site.  It's funny because I already have ideas for when it's time to advertise Sour.  What do you think of squished lemons?  Kidding.

I may be transferring this bloggity blog over to my website, so stay tuned!

Sillyhead

I had to laugh at myself last night as I finished up edits on the vampire sequel. I had typed them in just fine, but I finally sat down to re-do the calendar. See, to help me keep track of events, I write them on a calendar print-out. I had one, but it was outdated because I have added events since then. As I skimmed through the pages, I had to go back to the computer to insert the date changes. I think I was pacing my living room for a good half hour, going back and forth between my print-outs and my computer. I also found out that this story extended into the next month. On the original calendar, the story only took place over the month of September. This will cause a problem that I'm so glad I'm able to catch right now. In Sweet, it's mentioned that the two main characters first met in October, and had been together for eleven months. Now, with the extended storyline, their anniversary needs to be pushed back a month. Since we're still in the editing stage of Sweet, it won't be hard to change that. Man, I would've been devastated if Sweet was already published and I saw that issue. Good thing Rochelle told me to get ahead of edits on the sequel.

Update

I sent over the updated manuscript of Sweet. Rochelle said she'd get back to me in a few weeks. We've set up a meeting in two weeks to check in and review my timeline, which she sent to me through email. We'd like the manuscript to be polished and ready by the end of the month. The rest outlined the next steps in publication. I'm excited.

In the meantime, I've been working on the sequel. Rochelle and her crew have already started publicizing Sweet, with blasts on Twitter and Facebook. She even found the perfect picture for the cover. She advised me to check out the Aziza Publishing website so that I'd have an idea of what they do for their authors since the newest release was this month. I'm going to take the time to review Hannah Spivey's interviews. Thinking about interviews makes me nervous because I get tongue-tied sometimes. But I'm used to public speaking from school, plus Rochelle will be there to coach me.

I've had to make some tweaks to the sequel. I had noticed that I was dragging at first with revisions. I had been trying to psych myself off. My coworker Antoine said that the only person who can hold you back is you. I already knew I could be my own worst enemy. Here I was, freaking out and doubting the quality of my work before it had even been made public. Gesh, what am I going to do when critics get a hold of the book? Obviously Rochelle and her people loved the novel. They'll like the sequel. And if not, we'll work together, like with this novel, until it's perfect. I was being stupid. Ever since my mother told me to cut it out, I've been moving more quickly.

I Love This Comic Strip

Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net
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Under Construction

I've been working on a webpage. It's a little something, something for now so people can learn a little about me. Check it out:

http://sites.google.com/site/uzuriw/home

Jennifer is Demanding

I have the first four chapters in hand with corrections and comments. I'm trying to figure out the best process. I had already made some edits before receiving theirs, meaning my changes aren't going to show. So, I printed out my edits and theirs. Now, I have to read over their comments and accept them or not, as well as enter my corrections. I wish there was an easier way of doing this. I'm only on page six and it's already tedious. I guess I could go page-by-page of their printout with my draft on the computer. That'll save me a step later. Except I'll still have to enter my corrections into their electronic draft. Ugh.

Jennifer, my coworker, suggests that I enter their corrections into my electronic draft. Sounds like it's less work. Yay.

Type, Type, Type...

I received the first round edits for the first four chapters. Basically, I need to stop holding back. With the sex, with the language.

::rubs hands together::

Getting creative is tough for me at times. I'm kind of an introverted personality. That doesn't work with writing. Plus, I know I want this to be adult science fiction, not young adult. I know YA sells because the young'uns follow whatever's popular. But that's not the genre I want to write in, at least for this series, and at this point in time.

Patience is a Virtue?

I guess so. I've been tapping my foot for two weeks, waiting for the dear edits. It's a process, I keep telling myself. I'm not the only one on the roster. I've finished my edits of the novel based on some of the critiques she gave me during our last communication. I'm just waiting for my editor's notes (Sidebar: I have an editor!). What's the most diplomatic way of hounding someone without actually hounding them?? In any case, I've put the novel aside for now. I don't want to overwork it. Instead, I'm working on the sequel to keep myself busy. This one makes me a little nervous. I'm afraid there's too much going on. A lot of new characters are introduced. Hopefully it's not bogged down or crowded. This round of revision should let me know.

Back to reading...

Contract, Signed

It's official. I'm a member of the Aziza Publishing company. We sat down tonight over dinner, discussing our works, the contract, and the future. I'm so happy, I don't even know what to do with myself right now. Yay!!

Meeting, Postponed

My work computer's always so finicky. I tend to have a hard time logging on to post. Either way, I have been neglecting my poor bloggy-poo.

So, I finished my edits last week. It was weird and exhilarating and nerve-wreaking. But I'm ready to hand it off for another round of critiques. I know that once it's in book form, I won't be able to look at it. I can see myself writing in the margins, trying to change dialogue or sentence structure. I think that was the toughest part. I had to rearrange a lot of the sentences, whether because they were too long or rambling or to give them more punch. Grammar, folks. But I love it.

I had emailed the publisher about setting up a sit-down to discuss the contract. It seems good and fair to me but I want to make sure I understand everything I'm signing. We were supposed to meet tonight for dinner but she needed to postpone. So, next week it is. :)

Oh, and I've started telling people. It's tentative info I give because you just never know. I'm getting closer to doing my happy dance, though.

Contract

I received the contract today for my review. I haven't opened it yet since I'm at work. I'm starting to get excited...

I've been working hard with editing. I try to make sure I work on the novel everyday, even if for a little while. I'll probably see if I can get someone else to go over it for me when I'm done. I want it to be a good book, entertaining, no grammatical mistakes, the whole nine. I did read the review the publishers had sent me. It wasn't as bad as I had feared. I will probably have to ask them for some clarification. They mentioned it needed a bit more imagery (which I agree, especially as I'm re-reading. Boston needs more of an appearance) and character development. So I want to check which characters need more... fleshing out, in case I don't see it. I may feel they are well-rounded and three-dimensional, but it might not translate on the page.

As I've said before, editing is hard.

The Review's In

The red indicator light on my Blackberry flashed to let me know I had an email. I was happy to see it was from the publishing house. She sent me the review of my novel and was also letting me know that my contract was currently being drafted. The excitement I had was quickly matched by my nerves at having to read a professional review. I don't know what to expect. I'm open to revisions but criticism.... I know, I know, get over it, silly. This is a good thing. I've been accepting rejection letters for about a year now, maybe longer, with considerable aplomb. Someone wants to publish my story. So, I need to suck it up and see what she has to say about making this the best novel it can be.

Yay!

Waiting

I heard from the president of the publishing company. She agrees with her staff that the novel is publishable. She feels there are some re-writes needed. She also explained a little about her company and how they work. I'm waiting for their reviews so I can look into revisions. I was thinking of printing out the manuscript. I like to work with hard copies when editing. I mostly read on the monitor while I'm at work because it's easier. But it is different reading on the screen versus on paper. Of course, that's over 200 pages and I have no ink at work (j/k. Of course I wouldn't print something of that size at work....).

I also picked up my Idiot's Guide to Getting Published I bought a couple years ago. There's a section about what happens when someone says "yes." I had stopped reading before then. Now, I'm just making sure I understand the language of what's coming next, what happens with a sit-down.

I haven't been writing too much. I was going over the first vamp novel, the one I submitted, making a few changes here and there. The psychic one is at a bit of a standstill. I've already began an outline but I'm stuck. I'm not bored with it, which is a fear, but I think I just don't know what the big events are yet so I don't know how to get to them, if that makes sense. I had also looked at the Book Four in the vamp series. This is what I do when dealing with writer's block: I look at other stories (I'll probably start pulling up stories I started in high school and college. There're also the ideas I had started around the time I was laid-off last year); I read sitcom recaps on TWoP; I think of other story ideas; I read Cyanide & Happiness comics. It's my way of taking my mind off the current plot line, hoping that when I come back I'll have a sense of where I was going.

Stay Calm...

I received an email from the publishing house tonight with positive news. So, I finally finished filing a claim for copyright for the vamp novel. I've been doing a little reconnaissance to figure out my next move. Yay!! that someone wants me. Scratch of the head about being sure I make the right decision. :)

Success!

After three days of trying to log in on my work computer, I'm finally able to post something new (from my own computer but whatever). Of course, I have no real updates. I am writing. I've been editing the third novel in the vampire series. I had also picked up on a novel I had started back in 2009 about a psychic who's not really a psychic, she's more of a master of interpretation.... I have to do some research on that one, like finding the right subsidized housing where she and her father lives and seeing what Centerfolds is like on the inside. It's interesting because when I started it in '09, it was a whole lot more upbeat than it is now. And it's in first person! I haven't written first-person in so long. And it's present tense, which is so hard. My mind is hard-wired for third-person. One good thing is that one of my co-workers mentioned that he is friends with a budding author, Steven Barthell (author because he is published). He hooked me up with his BBM so that I was able to ask him a few questions about how he became published. He didn't have a lot to say but he did put me onto his publishing company. They had found him through their wesbite. So, I looked on their site and submitted my vamp manuscript since they were looking for science fiction. They said they take about three months to respond. I think I'll look into more agents tomorrow.