Deadlines

I have a week left to finish up revisions for my editor. One week, only a small amount of revisions, very little of my day job taking up my time and a plan as to how I want the revisions to go. And yet....I am concerned.

Pressure is good, it makes me work, deadlines are better but only if they are imposed by someone else. My own deadlines come and go and I just make another one. That is the problem with this particular scenario. My editor didn't actually say I HAD to get the manuscript done by the end of January, just that it would be a good idea. Which means that this deadline I have is more like one of my own. Hence the concern.

Oh, I am sure that it will get done, just not without some serious sweat equity the night before I should be sending it off. Cramming, it is what I do best. But one day, maybe when I'm a grown up and writing for a living it won't be like this. Maybe, just maybe I will be able to make and meet my own deadlines.

Who am I kidding? This is part of the whole package for me, the last minute changes, the "Ah crap am I going to be able to get this done on time?", the cursing under my breath and typing till 3am. It's not a style for everyone, but it works for me.

Most of the time.

Holiday Brain Drain

Oh thank goodness the holidays are over. I do believe that most of my motivation and drive to write was sucked out of me along with all my cash. Now that's not to say I didn't do any work at all. Can you imagine the sheer number of new characters developing in my head with all the family members showing up, the fights and grievances between them, the drama, tears and laughter? Fodder, large amounts of fodder for stories, characters, plot lines, quips and conversations was all handed to me on a silver platter next to the turkey and cranberries.

All names will be changed as family/individual quirks and nuances are deposited into a story line, I wouldn't want my family to realize how often they are a part of my writing world. But for those of you who know my family, you may be able to pick out the familiarities. Actually, I am sure you will be able to.

With all the family milling about, there is always someone who sets something on fire, spills the punch, breaks the porcelain or as in our families case, pop Grandads boil on Christmas day. Yes, you read that correctly. How could there not be something there to use for a far fetched scene in a yet unpublished story?

Poor eating habits over the holidays induced a number of wild and fantastic nightmares, I say fantastic 'cause where else can you SEE what the world you are about to create looks like before you even set pen to paper?

So although I didn't ever actually write anything this Christmas season, I was busy penning notes in my head for a later date and time.

But now I am getting the creative juices flowing once more and I am finding myself a bit lost, with all this new fodder, it's hard to know which one to choose. One idea stands out, way out. It starts with a large boil being drained....hmmm....I wonder if I should put up the video of that for a little entertainment?

The reason...

Once more I am reminded that every moment of life is precious that we should live our lives to the hilt, chase our dreams no matter how crazy they might seem and love unconditionally.

We are not given to know when our time is up, when we will see our loved ones for the last time, or that perhaps words spoken in anger will be the last we remember shared. So this Christmas I will be trying to :

• forgive someone
• hug a little longer
• love a little deeper
• be grateful for the people in your life who support and love me
• laugh till I cry
• cry till I laugh

Those are just a few things I will be trying to do, to remember the true reason behind Christmas and hope that we can all keep the spirit of it alive throughout the rest of the year.

It's In!

The first edit is in, my professional editor has given the ms a read through and these are her first thoughts :

Oh, Shannon, I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this! Truly fine and fun writing. I haven't enjoyed a manuscript so much in a long time.

From there, she goes into the things I will need to change and at the moment, it isn't too much and the areas of improvement are where I thought there might need to be some tweaking done.

Am I happy? YES! I had hoped she ( the editor) would be engrossed enough in the ms that she might get back to me before Christmas, but was unsure as to how realistic that hope was. Now, I am back to doing some revisions, for the most part, moving scenes around, much like I thought I would be doing with the sequel, "Lust".

I had hoped that I would be able to get my ms off to Tor/Forge by the end of January, and now it is looking like that is a distinct possibility. One that is freaking me out. And of course, I mean that in the best possible sense.

Odds n' Sods

Wanting to wrap up a few loose ends. I have decided to wait on the name changing business (Identity Theft) until I have a contract with a publisher. That way if they, the publisher, wants to try and fit Shannon J Faganello on a book cover then they can and more power to them.

I have a Facebook group page now under Shannon Mayer-- Author, my hope is to get a fair number of people joined up and use it as a "See you silly publishers, lots of people want to read my book." And then of course the publishers will give me a contract because of all the people just waiting on my book. Whether or not my theory is sound will be some time in proving, but it is fun to see all the comments from people who haven't yet been to the blog or the website.

On the Facebook page I have under "discussions" the first part of a new short story. I will also be adding the whole short story to my website in the next week. There is potential for another series with the characters. At least I think there is.

Still haven't heard back from the editor, but I think this is fairly normal from the research I have done.

Last but not least, I will be diving back into the sequel for The Chronicles of Sin: Gluttony. "Lust" is about 1/3 of the way completed, but I may have to pull it apart and rearrange some of the scenes. C'est la vie. Did I spell that right? Ah, you get the point. :)

Starting Out

Lately, I have had the chance to speak to several writers still in the closet. They hear me talk about my writing and the process involved and they start to get excited. Not for me, but for themselves. You see, most of these people are my clients, my farriery clients. So they see me working at a trade that doesn't take a great deal of education (besides the long apprenticeship) and think "Hey, if my farrier can write a novel, why can't I?"

I think it's great, I love that maybe some small part of my writing is inspiring others to work at it themselves, but they all ask the same question, where to start?

Buy a journal or notebook, something you can keep by the bed or dinning room table, wherever you are, it should be. And then just start writing down ideas as they come to you. They don't have to be perfect, don't worry about the spelling, just spit it out. Writing is that simple to start.

As to what happens after that, I am still in the trenches so I will not act as though I have some real knowledge to pass on. Just start small, get those ideas out and the rest will follow. Believe me, I've written two novels that were "just ideas."

Identy Theft

Okay, it was bound to happen. My vanity got the better of me and I Googled myself. What I found was spine chilling. There is another writer out there with my name, my same middle initial, who even writes in the same genre. Crap.

I have a couple of problems with this; I take a great deal of pride in my writing, try not to put anything out there in the world wide web that is something I would be embarrassed about. On top of that, writing is what I see myself doing as a career, not just a love of writing but an actual profession. I am not so sure this other gal with my name is of the same mindset. No I am not trying to be mean. I am being honest.

I don't want my name associated with someone who is writing with no thought to what other people think, tell me what happens when a publisher Googles my name and finds this other gal and her writing? Even if she was out of this world incredible, the next JRR Tolkien, I would not want someone elses work to be mistaken for mine.

So do I change my writing pseudonym back to my maiden name...gulp...Faganello? I mean, for sure it won't be copied on purpose and it certainly is original. But it's also a mouthful, most people can't spell it despite the fact that it is phonetic.

Has anyone else run into this problem? Am I being oversensitive? Or do I have a reason to be concerned?