[[Welcome to my weekly writer’s diary where I’ll share my “Woot Woot!” moments and the not so “woot woot” moments of my writing world. And, yes, I might even share the occasional musing or two about reading and writing, two of my favorite things!]]

~~~~

Dear Diary,

            It’s Thursday ~ 10/11/12 ~ and…

I’m musing today.  I can’t speak for other authors but I have to admit to a bit of confusion (dare I say frustration?) about the apparent disconnect in the book publishing industry between what we’ve all been trained to expect from our books in the past, both as writers and readers, and the market of today. Things are changing so fast that it’s almost impossible to keep up or make conscious decisions before something new happens to change the tide in another direction.

Case in point.  Something happened this week that reminded me that I’m still lagging, both as a reader and a writer, in a publishing mindset that’s been around, well, forever. I won’t get into the specific event because it’s not the event that’s important to the discussion, but the subsequent musings it prompted.

I can remember the first time I picked up my new Kindle. (Only last year!) I’d put off adding any more electronic “stuff” to my beleaguered life as long as I could.  When I started considering the possibility of publishing my own book through the wondrous “new” technology of digital publishing — yeah, I was one of the last bastions of a land line phone only two months ago, too — I decided I needed to get a Kindle of my own.

Hmmm, where was I? Oh, yeah….lagging mindsets.  I swear it’s senility but my kids do occasionally tell me I’m not that old.  Or maybe I’m imagining that, too. 🙂

Let’s talk about my reader mindset.  Although I loved so many things about my new Kindle, like the ability to make the font bigger so I could actually read the book — okay, no more snarky remarks about old ladies and dinosaurs, please — there were certain things I didn’t like about reading on a machine.  Of course, all comments aside about type size (print book fonts are getting smaller to help publishers save printing costs, that’s good economics), I like holding a book in my hand. I like knowing where I stop reading when I toddle off to make dinner for my family.  I love the smell and feel of a print book. I love sifting through my 24-foot long, 8-foot high wall of paperback novels.

I miss these things when I read on my Kindle.  I no longer know how many books I have waiting for me to open their pages. They’re tidily tucked into my Kindle bookshelves but they’re no longer lined up side-by-side for easy skimming. I read across the genres and sometimes I feel like reading a historical. Sometimes I like reading suspense. And sometimes, I just want to pick up a cute little contemporary or a paranormal or a…well, you get the picture.

With a leather cover wrapped around my Kindle, one that opens up like a book, I can recapture the feel of a print book…sort of.  But I love throwing my leather book thong between the pages of my print book when I stop on page 85. I love knowing I’m on page 85. I love knowing that, by eyeball estimation, I still have approximately two-thirds of the book to wallow in before I finish. Yes, I have a love affair with my books but that’s a whole ‘nother topic!

It bothers me I don’t know these things when I read the same book on my Kindle.  Why?  Because I don’t feel the same sense of completion when I read that invisible “The End” that tells me the book is finished. I’m still used to closing the binding on that physical book and I don’t know how to get that same closure when I finish an eBook. I know I’m 25%, 60%, 85% through the story on my Kindle. But I want page numbers. I want to know that I got my money’s worth.

As a reader, it frustrates me that I’m unsure whether I’ve just read a full length novel of 50,000 to 100,000 words, or a novella.  When I hold a skinny book or a fat book in my hand, I know exactly what I paid for.

Which brings me to the other side of my musings.

As a writer, it frustrates me that my readers don’t really know if they get what they paid for either.  I know I write full length novels as traditional publishing standards fly.  My contemporary romantic comedies are the same size as the Harlequin Temptations (Satin Pleasures anyway, that may be changing with my next book 🙂 ) because the story was aimed at that publisher.  My romantic suspense is longer but that’s to be expected because it’s single title…again as the traditional publisher flies.  But on the digital devices, you really can’t tell.  It’s all too easy to feel cheated without a physical book weighing in on your senses and my suspense might feel as “light” as my contemporaries to some readers.  I hope not!

I’m a realist and I know there’s not much I can do to  influence reader perceptions especially when the traditional publishing benchmarks are masked or no longer apply. The story is finished when it’s finished. The last thing I want to do is add “fluff” to a story to make it appear bigger. If the story is told in novella length, that’s how I’ll sell it.

I like to believe I’m moving around this digital world fairly well. But questions pop up and knock me sideways once in a while, reminding me that I’m still a baby in Indie publishing, as most of us are since the digital world is still evolving.  How many of the traditional publishing expectations should writers carry over into our digital publishing?  How much do I, as a reader, have a right to expect of the authors I’m buying? I think we’re still all kind of wandering in the dark on both sides of the question. There doesn’t seem to be any easy answers.

Maybe tomorrow, there will be.  🙂

See you next Thursday for another rousing entry in Karen’s Diary Drop-In….

[[Welcome to my weekly writer’s diary where I’ll share my “Woot Woot!” moments and the not so “woot woot” moments of my writing world. And, yes, I might even share the occasional musing or two about reading and writing, two of my favorite things!]]

~~~~

Dear Diary,

            It’s Thursday ~ 10/04/12 ~ and…

I’m going in a slightly different “muse-y” direction this week with my diary entry. It’s been a great week, got a lot of things done, but looking down at my desktop I’m almost overwhelmed by the number of different lists staring back yelling, “Me, next! Me, next!”

I’m a list-maker. With the number of pies my fingers are dipping into every day, if I didn’t have lists to check my lists I’d be running nekkid in the street and babbling nonsense. Well, maybe not nonsense. It’s more likely I’ll be making lists of the characters my killer is knocking off. Whatever is being muttered, you can guarantee the men in pristine white coats will be hauling me off to the room with squishy walls and then what would happen to my lists?  I do have a sense of responsibility…not to mention a rather persistent Type-A psyche.

Anyway, when I turned my attention to what I’d share this week, it just made sense to make yet another list.  Think David Letterman and his Ten Top Things…only a lot more fun(ny?)  Okay, maybe it’s just me that thinks I can make a fun(nier) list.

Top Ten Things This Writer Needs to Make the NY Times Bestselling List

In no particular order.
Except #1 tops the list.
And I can’t write without a laptop, and…
Hmmm, never mind.  No particular order!

 1.   Gallons of Exotic-Flavored Coffee, preferably delivered at the top of the hour by a barrista with six-pack abs & a sexy smile.

 2.   Laptop with 42-hour battery so I’m not tethered to the office wall and can write poolside. Oh! I need a pool, too!!

 3.   Hours of romantic and inspirational writing music to get me in the mood.

 4.   Story ideas, people who continue to the do the things they do to provide my murderous and romantic inspiration.

 5.   Empty email Inboxes, magically addressed by email elves.

 6.   Private chef to make meals to help me lose weight while giving me strength to create and gentler curves to fit into my slinky, NY Times Bestselling author celebration clothes.

 7.   Press Secretary to handle all of my promotion so I can write the Bestseller.

 8.   Housekeeper to control the dust bunny ranch and put Peppermint Patties (little mints just won’t do!) on my pillow when she turns down my covers.

 9.   36 hours in a day, not necessary as long as the email elves, secretaries, and housekeeper do their jobs.

10.  And, last but not least, readers who think everything I write is “golden”!

I said it’s what this writer needs.  Needless to say, I’m still working on my list.  🙂

See you next Thursday for another rousing entry in Karen’s Diary Drop-In….

[[Welcome to my weekly writer’s diary where I’ll share my “Woot Woot!” moments and the not so “woot woot” moments of my writing world. And, yes, I might even share the occasional musing or two about reading and writing, two of my favorite things!]]

~~~~

Dear Diary,

            It’s Thursday ~ 09/27/12 ~ and…

As you may know — if you’ve been following any of  my recent Facebook laments — I’ve had another wild and interesting week.   If I were a negative person, rather than the upbeat one than I usually am, I would be wondering when the cloud over my head would lob the next lightning bolt into my world.  But, I am that positive person so I don’t want to talk (much 🙂 ) about what went wrong this past week.  Let’s focus on the good stuff and what I’ve learned…about me and the book industry.

To catch up the tardy readers (Hey, it’s okay to be behind on your blog/email/loop viewing! With any luck, you’re behind because you’ve been having a life!), my novel, SATIN PLEASURES, was pirated.  You can read all the sordid details in the Announcement I ran on Monday. I essentially gave the pirate site notice to take my book down or face my wrath…well, my nicely pointed fingernails against a chalkboard.  No, I didn’t say that either but the sentiment is there, you’ll need to read between the lines.

I have to admit, when I decided to self-publish, it never even reached the realm of possibility in my brain that anyone would ever want to steal something I wrote.  I mean, that only happens to N.Y. Times best-selling authors, right?

Wrong!  Imagine my surprise when I opened up a Google Alert on Monday and discovered someone else was giving away my book.  Without my permisson!  The gall!

Okay, no, I didn’t quite react that way, in an all fire and brimstone, take them out and shoot ’em vein. Remember my “no one would ever want to steal my work” surety?  For a long time — hmmm, a relatively long time in dog years — all I could do was stare at the evidence with disbelief.  This couldn’t be right. I think the biggest shock to my system had more to do with the idea someone thought I was important enough to pirate than with the act itself.  I mean, I just gave away an enormous number of freebies to get my book into reader hands, didn’t I?  This person was giving them away.  (There wasn’t an overt monetary gain that I could see anyway.) What was a few more?  I wanted my book in reader hands, didn’t I?

Interestingly enough, I learned several things about myself trying to answer these questions.

1.  I’m a control freak.  This is not really news to anyone who knows me, or if you’ve been keeping me company on this blog any length of time. However, I now know the reason I am enjoying my Indie career can be traced right back to my need to control all aspects of my writing.  I also know, deep down, I would never have been happy writing for the traditional marketplace.  I would have done it, had any of the editors who liked my work offered me a contract. But I can see now that, sooner or later, I was going to rail at the lack of control I had over much of my career.  If I’m going to muck it up, it needs to be because I screwed up.  Not because I had no say in the process.

I might not have had any control over what happened in this instance. Much as it pains me to say this, this is only one of the Indie publishing bugaboos over which I have little control.  The point is that it felt good to address the problem myself…well, in principle. 🙂

Which brings me to the second thing I learned about myself….

2.  I haven’t distanced “Business Me” as far from “Writing Me” as I thought, as much as I need to at any rate.  I spent over 30 years in the business world, in management, no less. I knew how to handle myself at work. I didn’t allow my feelings to overcome what I knew had to be done to take care of a problem. I managed to keep a cool head most of the time.  “Writing Me”?  Panicsville!  That may be an overstatement but it would seem that my writing self is a bit too much in touch with her feelings.  Because they were hurt.  And she ran like a panicked jackrabbit to the Facebook rabbit hole in a tizzy.

There’s nothing wrong with asking for help.  I’ll admit that I’m learning Indie publishing as I go, and I’ve made a lot of wonderful friends in the book industry who are all too eager to teach me what I need to know.  Thankfully, all of those fabulous friends immediately came to my rescue, made suggestions, and gave me solutions to pursue.  I think what surprised me most about the whole affair was that “Business Me” didn’t take charge first, calm the writer inside and then go fix the problem.  I’ve always been both right and left brained. It would appear that I’ve swung a little more to my emotional side when it comes to my writing career. I’m not convinced this is a problem because I need those emotions to write well. But, I need to work on finding a better balance with my practical, problem-solving self. Practical me needs to take care of business. Period.

Which brings me to the third thing I’ve learned about myself….

3.  I’m as insecure about my own writing as I ever was over the <mumble> years I’ve been doing this shtick. I have confidence in my ability most of the time.  I’ve worked hard to hone my craft and revised my heart out. I know I can write, I’m learning the publishing ins-and-outs I never bothered to learn while I was aimed at traditional markets, and I’ve learned to toot my own horn when deep in my heart I’m an introvert who only wants to sit in a room by myself and create worlds.  Sound like most writers you know?

Did you happen to notice my earlier conviction that no one would ever want to steal something I wrote?  On the heels of my astonishment so many people downloaded my book when it was free, having someone think it worth the “trouble” of stealing it pointed at a basic insecurity about my work I thought I’d eradicated. After all, aren’t we supposed to be the first to know our own worth?  Not I, said the fox! 🙂 I have no delusions that everyone picked up my free book because of what was inside — although to give most readers credit many did download it because of the promise of what I said, in the blurb, was inside, as well as the sample chapter that was available — but the new cover is spectacular and catches the eye.  In any case, I find it interesting that these two instances brought my basic insecurities to light.

Now that I’m aware of it, maybe I won’t go in quite such a tizzy when something goes awry. Maybe not.  A little insecurity may be a good thing, right? Makes me work harder. Keeps me from getting a big head. Gives me something to talk about in my diary entry. 🙂  I’ll take the new knowledge and move forward.

Speaking of moving forward, before I turn this diary page, I need to remind everyone of two fun things that are coming up. One for readers. One for writers, and maybe readers who want to become writers.

My first bookstore signing is coming up in three days!  If you’re in the Denver Metro area come see me and just say hi.  Hugs and smiles are always welcome, even if you don’t buy my book.  Date: This Saturday, September 29th; Where: A Novel’s Story Bookstore & Fine Tea Emporium, 17 N. Main Street, Brighton, Colorado. Who: I’m signing alongside award-winning SciFi and Western author, Cynthia Woolf.  She’s highlighting her wonderful Centauri series while I’m signing romantic comedy.  Your bribe chocolates are already in the bag…well, most of them. Somehow, the bag got a hole this week and a few went missing in all of the trauma this week.  I need to check the dogs’ breath. I’m sure they’re the guilty parties!

The second event is my 4-week plotting workshop, The “W” Plot…Or The Other White Meat For Plotters. Class begins Monday, October 1st.  If you’re a writer and need a plotting technique even a pantser can use (my first book written with this technique is SATIN PLEASURES), check out the basic information below. This will be my last workshop of 2012 and is good for beginners and experienced writers.  Those who join me will get a real hands-on-your-own-book experience.

Dates: October 1 -31, 2012 Fee: OIRW Outreach International Romance Writers Member $20 Fee: Non-Member $25  Workshop is open to all. You do not have to be a RWA or Outreach member. To register, go to http://www.oirwa.com/forum/campus/. For more information, contact Maria Connor, 2012 OIRW Campus Coordinator. http://www.oirwa.com/officers-volunteers/contact-campus-coordinator/. To find out more about Outreach International Romance Writers, please visit http://www.oirwa.com/

That’s it for now. I’m off for another round of adventures. Hope yours are full of fun, and not the least bit rocky!  See you next Thursday for another rousing entry in Karen’s Diary Drop-In….

[[Welcome to my weekly writer’s diary where I’ll share my “Woot Woot!” moments and the not so “woot woot” moments of my writing world. And, yes, I might even share the occasional musing or two about reading and writing, two of my favorite things!]]

~~~~

Dear Diary,

            It’s Thursday ~ 09/20/12 ~ and…

I’ve been busy…sick…productive…writing…let’s just say it’s been a week of ups and downs.

As mentioned last week, SATIN PLEASURES came off Amazon’s KDP Select (exclusivity) program. I’ve had the book formatted for other venues. Wish I could say I got the story up everywhere. Got knocked down by a particularly nasty virus.  The upside is that I lost 12 pounds.  Okay, not so “upside” since I lost it over three days.  As I said, nasty stomach virus. So been scrambling a bit to catch up.

I did manage to get the book uploaded at Barnes and Noble (as I write this on Wednesday), so you can expect to find it available on your Nook in the next day or two. I plan to hit Smashwords, Kobo and Apple next. Probably not all in one day.  🙂 Getting things uploaded for public consumption seems to take me forever.  Definitely not my forte.   Why we can’t just write our stories and make them available with a push of a button, all in the same format, is beyond me!

I’ve made serious changes to my work schedule since Monday, and it’s a mixed bag of the good, the bad and the ugly. Getting up at 4:30 AM is taking some getting used to, especially since I was staying up until 1 AM for years. I’m getting more sleep hours, technically, which is good for my health.  Sleeping the night through? That’s a challenge.  I’m sure my body will adjust. It doesn’t have a choice! LOL

Baby steps!

One wonderful thing the new schedule has done for me is shake some good writing time into my day.  Since Monday, I’ve written 4-5 hours every morning. I’m a plodding writer (or have been) and been having difficulties squeezing everything into my day, with writing always falling last on the day’s agenda.  Now, it’s the first thing I do.  Maybe it was all of my years in business but I’m not worried about donning my business hat, i.e. email, blogs, etc., until business hours of 8-9:00 AM.  As a result, I’m making progress again. Which is truly wonderful because I’m falling in love with this book (Killing Secrets) all over again.  I can’t tell you how eager I am to share it with you.

Speaking of books, last week I mentioned my booksignings. My UPS man delivered a box of SATIN PLEASURES to my doorstep. Felt like Christmas opening the box!

The first booksigning to come up is Saturday, September 29th at A Novel’s Story Bookstore & Fine Tea Emporium, 17 N. Main Street, Brighton, CO …if you’re in the Denver Metro area, come visit. I’m signing alongside award-winning SciFi and Western author, Cynthia Woolf.  She’s highlighting her Centauri series while I’m signing romantic comedy.  So, we’ll take you off planet and give you the romantic giggles at the same time.  Oh!  And there will be chocolate!  (My variation on, “Come to the dark side. There are cookies.” I’ll take chocolate over cookies any day of the week!)

I was interviewed by Mary Metcalfe on her LAKEFRONT MUSE blog on Friday, September 14th. You can find the “Sizzle, Suspense, Sparks Meets Killer Cheesecake” interview at http://lakefrontmuse.blogspot.com/2012/09/sizzle-suspense-sparks-meet-killer.html. Had a lot of fun with the interview.

I’m scheduled to teach my 4-week plotting workshop, The “W” Plot…Or The Other White Meat For Plotters, beginning October 1st.  If you’re a writer and need a plotting technique even a pantser can use (my first book written with this technique is SATIN PLEASURES), check out the basic information below. This will be my last workshop of 2012.

Dates: October 1 -31, 2012 Fee: OIRW Outreach International Romance Writers Member $20 Fee: Non-Member $25  For more information about Karen or her workshop, visit her online at:https://www.karendocter.com/> Twitter: @KarenDocter and Facebook:www.facebook.com/karendocter Workshops are open to all. You do not have to be a RWA member. To register, go to http://www.oirwa.com/forum/campus/. For more information, contact Maria Connor, 2012 OIRW Campus Coordinator. http://www.oirwa.com/officers-volunteers/contact-campus-coordinator/. To find out more about Outreach International Romance Writers, please visit http://www.oirwa.com/

Hmmm, it would seem that I am not keeping these diary entries short and sweet. Wonder if I’m forgetting something. Ah well, if I did I’ll just jot it down for next week. Wink. Wink.

See you next Thursday for another rousing entry in Karen’s Diary Drop-In….

[[Welcome to my weekly writer’s diary where I’ll share my “Woot Woot!” moments and the not so “woot woot” moments of my writing world. And, yes, I might even share the occasional musing or two about reading and writing, two of my favorite things!]]

~~~~

Dear Diary,

            It’s Thursday ~ 09/13/12 ~ and…

I’ve had a major Woot Woot week.  It more than made up for last week’s computer meltdown (my trauma is recorded in all its glory in my last Diary Drop-In if you happened to miss it).  It was going to take me a looooong to get over that series of events…I thought.  Who could have known I’d be riding the fantasy train into this week with three spectacular Amazon *free* days for SATIN PLEASURES!

I’ve had a couple of freebie giveaways since SATIN PLEASURES was released exclusively with Amazon in February, and I can’t complain about how they went. A number of readers were able to pick up Dan’s & Tess’s story both times, and I was thrilled.  This book has lived in my heart…and my desk drawer…for years. I’ve been dying to share it with readers, it seems, forever.  When I decided to sponsor one last giveaway before taking the book into other formats, I didn’t know what to expect. I couldn’t have planned for what actually happened.

As many of you know, my original book cover just wasn’t connecting with readers. So, with the help of a fabulously talented friend, I spiffed it up.  This giveaway, which I launched on Thursday’s blog, officially debuted the new cover and it became clear, very quickly, how important book covers are to readers.  The newly minted cover finally hit the mark, it fit my story, and I was happy to see the book start flying off the cyber shelves.

Then Pixels of Ink hit.

Can we say STUNNED? I was leaving my Just Write session with my critique partners that day when one of them stopped me to say she was reading about MY BOOK on that day’s Pixels of Ink highlights. Can we say STUNNED? After that, I could only stare at the numbers climb until SATIN PLEASURES hit #1 on Kindles Best Selling Free Sales for all fiction as well as romance. It stayed up there for two solid days.  Can we say STUNNED?

Literally.

It was one of the weirdest, most awesome, freakiest, and spectacular experiences of my career. I wanted to shout my glee to the world, and I felt positively obnoxious doing so.  I’d like to think I’m not the only one who straddles that fence. Writers tend to be introverts.  Many of us don’t feel comfortable promoting our own work.  Oh, we do what we need to do.  It’s the business end of writing and can’t be ignored.  I do enjoy tooting the horn for my fellow authors.  But, personally?  I’d rather sit in front of my computer and just write, make up my stories for my readers, and chat with my Facebook and Twitters friends about books and my favorite giggles of the day.

Things like this don’t happen often in a writer’s life so I’m grateful for the experience and, yes, I’m still feeling all warm and fuzzy inside knowing my story is on so many Kindles across the world.  I’m aware the new cover was the biggest factor in reader downloads. It truly is a wonderful cover and catches the eye so readers will take a peek at what’s inside.  With any luck, a number of my new readers will enjoy Dan’s and Tess’s story.  I’m hopeful some will even post a review on Amazon and other venues. Even better, enjoy my writing enough to want to pick up my next story.

My writing life returned to some semblance of normal on Sunday when SATIN PLEASURES strutted off its freebie pedestal.  It came off KDP Select (exclusivity) on Monday and I’m now preparing to make it available in other formats. I’ll announce those formats on Facebook and Twitter as they become available. Hopefully, before my next Diary Drop-In, I’ll have it up everywhere.

In the midst of all this broohaha, I also debuted the book cover for KILLING SECRETS, the first of my Thorne’s Thorns romantic suspense series. I’m working hard to finish the book for release within the month. If you happened to miss the cover, here’s another look. For peeks into the story as I write it check out my new Tuesday blog feature, Novel Gems. The book cover blurb is also up on my website at www.karendocter.com. I can’t wait to share Patrick and Rachel’s story with you!

Needless to say, my blast of writing demands I put the last corner of my office renovation on hold. Much as I want to get it finished…finally…I’d rather get KILLING SECRETS out to readers. I’m getting a number of requests to write faster. 🙂  It’s not like the paint is going anywhere and it’s been sitting here a while already.  Right?

I’m also working hard preparing for a bookstore booksigning on September 29th and another at the Colorado Romance Writers Tea for readers and librarians in October. I’m scheduled to teach my 4-week plotting workshop, The “W” Plot…Or The Other White Meat For Plotters, next month too.  I’ll talk about all of these events on my next diary entry.

See you next Thursday for another rousing entry in Karen’s Diary Drop-In….

[[Welcome to my weekly writer’s diary where I’ll share my “Woot Woot!” moments and the not so “woot woot” moments of my writing world. And, yes, I might even share the occasional musing or two about reading and writing, two of my favorite things!]]

~~~~

Dear Diary,

            It’s Thursday ~ 09/06/12 ~ and…

It’s been a long, hard week since I last checked in. For those of you who join me daily on FB and Twitter, you know of what I speak! 🙂

As I write this, I’m coming down from a traumatic couple of days when I thought I’d lost the last 10 years of computer files. First, you all have to understand, I’m a self-taught computer “whiz” ~ NOT!  I have spent the last ten years learning whatever I need just when I need it. Nothing more, nothing less. I’ve had numerous computer crashes, been cobbled together by experts, and toddled off after each event a little wiser.

I have learned a lot.  I know about flash drives and CDs and sending files to my internet Inboxes.  I feel secure in my daily computer knowledge.  I hadn’t, however, found the optimum solution to my long term file storage. It takes TIME to save files every day so, no, I’m not as faithful as I know I need to be, and I’m just frugal enough — okay, I’ll say it, c.h.e.a.p. — that I haven’t broken down to get the external drive my son-in-law’s been recommending so my files are saved automatically.

Which brings me to my recent disaster. Someone told me about Dropbox. It seemed like the ultimate solution. Not only would everything be saved automatically but it would be saved off-site so I’d be covered in case of a fire or lightning strike (had one recently that fried all of my computers and modems ~ hmmm, discerning the pattern of electronic disasters littering my background yet? 🙂 ).

Did I mention the “free” part in this life-changing decision? Frugal woman I am — yeah, yeah, c.h.e.a.p., it’s a life choice and a virtue, you know — I promptly signed up for my own Dropbox account and happily started dragging files off my laptop into the abyss of security.

“Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!”

I wish Robby, the Robot had been in my office on Tuesday. He might not have saved my sanity but I might have paused a second or two before gutting my whole career.  An exaggeration, I know, but it did feel that way. Anyway, I was an “overzealous” (the word my daughter used with a straight face when she came to rescue her sobbing mother after a frantic 911 call) dragster, I’d bypassed the “free” space limits of the program, and my computer went into catatonic shock trying to process 58,000 files. Really. 58,000! I’ve been my own businesswoman for years. Can anyone say, “Meltdown!”? Me, not the computer. Okay, yes, the computer, too, but mine was a lot messier and rippled like the aftershocks of an 8.5 earthquake.

Thankfully, my daughter is smart, knows her stuff, and is ever willing to fix her mother’s computer mishaps with a smile and a tone that soothes the savage beast that bore her. She found ALL of my missing files — they had been deleted — and told me how to recover them all.  It’s going to take me a week to get them all loaded back on my computer. As I’m doing this around everything else, I’m going to finally do what I should have done in the first place. I’m getting an external hard drive. It should arrive about the time I finish saving my career.

The moral of this story? Don’t ask me how anything works on your computer. Don’t listen to anything I say or recommend.  And, don’t let me anywhere near your office equipment. One touch and it’s bound to go kablooie!

And that’s just two days out of my week…tired yet? 🙂 No?  Then, onward ho…!

I completed another section of my office renovation. One last corner to go, probably the hardest since it includes a built-in shelving unit. Straight walls are so much easier.  Can’t wait to finish. Been long time coming.  A friend asked me what was taking me so long to post pictures. 🙂  A valid question.  The truth is this house is as old as I am, literally. The walls are all bare wood, never been painted. So, it’s at least one coat of primer and two coats of paint. I’m actively working in the office so it has to be dismantled and set back up in sections before I can move on or do my daily work. Did I mention the house is as old as I am, and I’m no spring chicken. Needless to say, both of us need refreshing. 🙂 Here’s hoping I’ll have complete pictures next week!

SATIN PLEASURES went “live” with a new cover and smaller size as a paperback on Amazon this week. I’m thrilled with how it turned out.  You might be wondering why I’m making these changes now. The truth is both digital and paperback versions have been exclusive to Amazon almost from its release in February. I was dying to make some changes to the book presentation itself, so it made sense to do it when I was ready to make it available in other venues. I’ll announce the releases as they are available in the next couple of weeks.

And finally, to celebrate, SATIN PLEASURES will be **FREE** on Kindle for THREE FINAL DAYS…beginning 12:00 AM Pacific time today, Thursday, September 6th, and running through 11:59 PM Saturday, September 8th. Feel free to spread the word to your friends.  Happy Reading!!

So much for my promise to keep these short and sweet. Did I scare you off yet?  If not, I’ll see you next Thursday for another rousing entry in Karen’s Diary Drop-In….

[[Welcome to my weekly writer’s diary where I’ll share my “Woot Woot!” moments and the not so “woot woot” moments of my writing world. And, yes, I might even share the occasional musing or two about reading and writing, two of my favorite things!]]

~~~~

Dear Diary,

            It’s Thursday ~ 08/30/12 ~ and…

It’s been a busy week since I last checked in. Too bad most of it was not writing! As you read this though, I’m making up for it at a Just Write session with my critique buddies.

I can’t tell you how much I LOVE my buds! We call ourselves “We Are Scripsi” and when the five of us meet on Thursdays for Just Write, that’s what we do…simply write…all…day. No phones. No families. No jobs. No…well, sometimes one or two of us can’t step away from those things every week, but we do try! 🙂 There’s something about getting together to write that creates an energy in the room.  It also helps to schedule regular writing time. We might chat for half hour or so, but when 9:00 a.m. comes around, we buckle down. If we get no other writing done rest of the week, we really cook on Thursdays. I’ve set myself a deadline to finish KILLING SECRETS by end of September so I need to get cracking!

I hope you caught my interview on Saturday, August 25^th, at The Reading Cafe ~ http://thereadingcafe.com/.  There was a review for SATIN PLEASURES posted, too ~ a wonderful review!  Reviewer, Barb, enjoyed it.  Made my day, my month. 🙂 I gave away copies of the book to two commenters. FRAN and ENI won!

As planned, I finished up the ceiling paint in my office, as well as another short wall that’s been keeping me from moving my desks around. I love the color.  It’s Emperor Gold. Bright. Vibrant. Sunny. I have windows in my basement office but I feel like I’m out in the sunshine whenever I walk into the room now. The color will be a nice backdrop for the rich colors in the oriental art & decor I’ve set aside just for this room.  Spent yesterday dumping boxes and debris out of my office so I could move furniture. I’m now the proud owner of a finished corner of an office. Hey! It’s one corner more than I had last week! Since I have all of the boxes, etc. in another room, I’m going to leave them there until I get the last wall painted. Hoping to report next week that it’s done!

Here’s a sneak peek of my little corner. Not finished putting items on the chocolate-colored cork board. Also need to finish computer set up, another reason I’m not moving boxes of books back under my desk. Forgot this 56-year-old house has no 3-prong outlets. Moved desks on opposite side of room and my dear husband needs to get me a new outlet like the one he fixed for me in old location. Will take more pics as I get things finished up. I’m on a roll!

 
Last night, I received the proof for my paperback version of SATIN PLEASURES. Soon as it’s approved, I can go “live” with the new paperback. Can’t wait! I love the smaller size and the new cover. Love holding it in my hand.

Okay, that’s it for now, short and sweet this time, just as I promised.

See you next Thursday for another rousing entry in Karen’s Diary Drop-In….

[[Welcome to my weekly writer’s diary where I’ll share my “Woot Woot!” moments and the not so “woot woot” moments of my writing world. And, yes, I might even share the occasional musing or two about reading and writing, two of my favorite things!]]

~~~~

Dear Diary,

            It’s Thursday ~ 08/23/12 ~ and…

Had a marvelous time escaping to the mountains last weekend with my family. We haven’t had a chance to camp all summer. Was beginning to think we might not make it at all this year. Only had one night out and didn’t get in any fishing, but it was great to get out of my office and into the fresh air.

Did wonders for my muse!  Pesky thing frolicked into the forest and took a character with her who was standing in the way of a scene I couldn’t quite write. It was tough letting Jack (hero’s cop brother) toddle off but it was for the best. I know he’ll be back for his own book, 3rd in the Thorne’s Thorns series.  Just wish I didn’t have to keep pushing him off the page. I’m soooo in love with him already!  Anyway, my hero and heroine are now talking to each other without the buffer. The scene was simply too cluttered with people! Didn’t finish the scene because the battery died on my laptop but know it’s working and it will finish up cleaner when I can tackle it again.

I didn’t mind too much that the battery died. It allowed me to enjoy some quality time with my husband, my middle daughter and husband and their little girls.  It was the first camping experience for both my newest granddaughter and our puppy. They both did beautifully. I see more camping trips in their future.  Of course, the eight-year-old already loves camping. She hit the trails with Grandpa whenever she could talk him into taking her. And we all tried a S’more’s Sundae (basically S’more’s in a sugar cone, all melted togther), a recipe we spotted on Pinterest. Something that didn’t require a fire…we’ve had enough of those in Colorado this year, so we ran a “cold” camp and used the trailer stove. It was fun and tasty, but doesn’t replace toasted marshmallow s’mores.

Last week, I debuted my new book cover for SATIN PLEASURES on Kindle. Today, as you read this, I’m tearing my gray hairs out reformatting the paperback version. What can I say? I’m a multi-tasker! Those gray hairs need reformatting, too!  Since I decided to change up the cover, it just made sense (at the time ~ today I’m ambivalent 🙂 ) to go ahead and reformat the book size.  I’m not overly fond of the trade paperback size and want my books to fit in my hands like traditional paperbacks. This means I have to make the type smaller but that’s okay. Should be able to do it without increasing the price on the book. At least, that’s the plan. In practice…? Guess we’ll see! With any luck, I’ll have this baby back up on Amazon soon.

I have an interview that will be posted this Saturday, August 25^th, at The Reading Café << http://thereadingcafe.com/ >> Hope you’ll check it out! Hope they liked SATIN PLEASURES, which they’re also reviewing. Nervous much? Hmmm, no, I always have this twitch! At least, I will…until Sunday. 🙂

This weekend, I hope to finish up the ceiling paint in my office, as well as another short wall that’s been keeping me from moving my desks around. Been up to my eyebrows in office debris for months and I need to get organization out of this chaos. It’s making my Type-A personality a bit crazy. So distracting! When I get things moved around, I’ll have one last wall to paint (buried right now behind my desk and treadmill) and I can start decorating.  Can’t wait to take pictures to share my oasis!

Okay, that’s it for now. Doesn’t sound like I’ve been working all that hard but there it is, short and sweet, just as I promised last week. (Yeah, yeah, I know it’s not that short! It’s shorter than last week so I’m satisfied. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know! 🙂 )

See you next Thursday for another rousing entry in Karen’s Diary Drop-In….

Dear Diary,

            It’s Thursday ~ 08/16/12 ~ and…

This is the first entry in my new weekly writer’s diary where I’ll share my “Woot Woot!” moments and the not so “woot woot” moments of my writing world. And, yes, I might even share the occasional musing or two about reading and writing, two of my favorite things!

I’ve been missing the personal touch on my blog lately. Don’t get me wrong. I love highlighting the fantastic array of authors and books I’ve been sharing on Mondays and Wednesdays. But I also enjoy sharing bits and pieces about me with readers. After all, you are one of the main reasons why I write…well, except for that whole “can’t breathe unless I’m writing” thing!

For those who have followed me any length of time, you know I used to have a Musings newsletter.  However, I tend to write “long” – I was one of those nasty students who wrote ten pages for every five page essay assigned in school – and found I was spending more time fiddling with my Musings than my books. I went from weekly musings to monthly articles to quarterly to…well, let’s just say I eventually set my newsletter aside and toddled off into the sunset of good intentions.

Yes, it had to be done.  In the past year, I’ve regained my momentum and published my first book. I finally joined the real world of social media and met a bunch of wonderful new friends on Facebook and Twitter. I’m still missing my personal chats with readers though, so I started wondering – a dangerous thing – how can I reconnect with my readers but not get so carried away it takes me three days to share what’s on my mind?

Voila! My answer is this diary. I had one growing up. I kept it locked and hidden from my sisters so they couldn’t read it. Of course, I want you to read this one! 🙂  A diary doesn’t allow much room which is why it’s the perfect solution to my need to share while also curbing my need to expound.

Yeah, yeah! I know I’m expounding! But this entry is the first and demands explanation, and I promise to keep it short and sweet next week. Maybe! I’ve called this feature “Diary Drop-In” as much for my benefit as yours.  Drop-In suggests short and sweet. Here’s hoping I can convince my brain in the weeks to come! 🙂

Okay, what’s been happening this past week in my writing world…?

For those who haven’t come across my multitude of posts on Facebook and Twitter, I was thrilled to release a new book cover for SATIN PLEASURES, my romantic comedy released on Amazon in February 2012.  I liked my original cover well enough. At the time I thought I needed an illustrated cover to get the cutesy feel I wanted. In truth, though, the cover just didn’t quite hit the mark with readers.  Not like the story did anyway. So, with a kick-in-the-pants from my critique partners, I redesigned the cover. I love, love, LOVE my new cover and hope readers like it as well. Just in case you missed it….

As one of my favorite country music artists asks, “How do you like me now?” 🙂  I still need to reformat the paperback version of the book with the new cover but that’s a project for this next week.

Many of you know I also started a new blog feature on Tuesdays called “Novel Gems”, sharing bits and pieces from my current project. It’s been fun and you seem to enjoy them so those will continue.

I also finished up two interviews this past week. One will post on August 25^th at The Reading Café << http://thereadingcafe.com/ >> along with a review of SATIN PLEASURES.  Yes, I’m sitting on pins and needles about that one! Will they like the book? Ack. The angst of a writer!  My second interview isn’t scheduled yet but check out Mary Metcalfe: Lakefront Muse at http://lakefrontmuse.blogspot.com/ to take a peek at her fun site.

I’ve set myself a deadline to finish the first of my Thorne’s Thorns series books, KILLING SECRETS, around the end of September. I need to write 1,550 words a day for next 32 days to get the approximate word count remaining or 2,175 words a day if I only work weekdays. The first word count is more reasonable considering my schedule, however, I know I tend to “live” on weekends and don’t get much writing done. Guess we’ll all see how I do, huh?

Speaking of which, I need to get back to work! See you next week with a much shorter Diary Drop-In….