Wednesday, January 04, 2006

SURVIVING BAD GRAMMAR AND OTHER WORD TANGLES

SURVIVING BAD GRAMMAR AND OTHER WORD TANGLES

14 days until release

Monday, December 19

Bound to be gritting my teeth...
Are Mondays ever fun? Honestly, it's like karma sprinkled something really foul on the day in general. Today appears to be no exception. I have a mountain of reading to do for my day job--all of it in dire need of grammarizing. But I can't touch it. Torture, I'm telling you! How am I supposed to look at all those misused semi-colons without running and screaming?
Worse, I have to summarize it all in a neat little spread sheet we're supposed to socialize with the world. I'm supposed to keep it purely factual...but say a nice thing or two along the way. Hmm, I write fiction and I don't think even I can stretch the truth enough to say something nice. Like I've always heard, If you can't say anything nice... Yeah, I didn't say anything at all.

But Determined to do something productive today!
Once I'm home, it's back to chapter 11 of the manuscript in progress. Yet again I'm reminded why this wasn't working. I promptly start tearing it apart for, like, the 3rd time. I NEVER do this, so it's disconcerting. A friend writes to ask me if I saved the old version(s). Takes me at least ten minutes to stop laughing. Um, no.

Or not...
I pinpoint exact moment in the chapter that I started having problem...then promptly close the file. I need to be sending emails to people, don't I? Sure! I have a book coming out in two weeks, after all.

Certainly there's someone I haven't told. Let's see. Who do I know with the biggest mouth? That's a good place to start. Unfortunately, that would probably be me, so I need to look farther down the list. RWA chapters, check. Readers who have visited my website and entered contests, check. Neighbors, check. Grandmother (who will tell every single friend and relative I've never met), check. I'd love to hunt down one of my college professors who told me years ago that I was better at creating fiction than putting together a marketing plan. Hearing those words again would make me feel so much better.

I drop new emails to a few pros with big, wonderful websites who cater to readers everywhere. Maybe with their help I'll stop angsting. Well, it's a nice fantasy, anyway...

Running down the list:
So yicky Monday has finally ended. I did accomplish a few things:
  • Moved forward on promotion plan for BOUND AND DETERMINED - COMPLETE (a little bit each day and hopefully something will help)
  • Work on existing manuscript - COMPLETE (still wishing like hell I was finished!)
    10:30 pm - I'm tired tonight. But have to stop hubby and thank him for being chief cook and bottle washer these days. He's filled in every gap I haven't had time for since I found out that BOUND AND DETERMINED would be coming out early.

Except he draws the line at picking up the house beyond his office and the kitchen. So after half an hour of mindlessly shoving things back in closets and drawers for my folks' big arrival tomorrow, I collapse.

Tuesdays aren't karmically tainted, right?

Shelley Bradley

2 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Hey Shelley...moving right along! LOL Just for the record, I probably have the biggest mouth you know! LOL Who do you want me to blab to? Wait, all my buds! Okay, consider it done! :)

2:25 PM  
Blogger Shayla Black said...

That would be awesome! I really think I've blabbed to everyone I know, I'm just too dang excited about this book!

Your bribe will be in the mail *g*

5:47 PM  

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