Hello from Florida!

It’s nice and hot here. I’m at the library, checking my email (there wasn’t much.) Just thought I’d drop a line while I was connected…

I’m over 21k as of last night, and halfway to 22k. So it’s moving along. Not quite sure where it’s moving, but I have faith I’ll find out.

The Bob the Builder DVDs I ordered (along with Terry Pratchett’s new book) came yesterday. So we’re set.

I won’t be updating any more this week. See you in July!

I didn’t quite hit 21k, but I’m almost there. Since I’m not worrying about finishing by Friday, I’m taking it slow and getting other stuff done as well.

I have to go to a meeting tomorrow for work. Ugh. Other than that, my schedule is clear for the rest of the week. I have stuff to do every day (at work and at home) and I should be all caught up by the time I leave on Friday. Barring disasters, of course. Yay!

I am soooo looking forward to this vacation. Can’t you tell?

Umm. I have figured up and decided that I can bring $200 in spending money with me to Florida. I’m not expecting to spend it all unless I find some priceless antiques in the thrift stores, but at least I can have that much if needed. (And we’re kind of tight on room anyway, so I can’t bring much back with me.) I do not intend to use my debit card at all while in Florida. And some of that money will go towards groceries, like water for tea.

It feels nice to go on vacation with spending money. The last time I went to Florida, I went with $40. Dad loaned me $50 while we were down there, but I was still poor. And I guess I’ve been poor for so long that not being poor is a bit of a shock. But a nice shock, nonetheless.

At least, if needed, I can ask my wonderful sisters who are staying behind to check my email if I don’t get to the library. Hmm. That should work.

Hit 20k on TER, and I will go further tonight.

Also finished reading Sunshine. Now that that particular diversion is over and done with, I can get back to work.

Josiah might have a bigger part in this book than I first thought.

Oh, and the last time I looked, Budget Cuts had crept up to #9. Eeek. And I thought that particular rise on the bestseller list was over and done with (for the second time–this is the second time this has happened.)

Saturday I received a nice check from AntiqueWeek for my auction coverage. I will definitely try my best to write for them again. I wish all nonfiction markets were that easy to work with! Impressive.

TER is almost to 20k, btw. Which should mean I’m almost halfway done, but I’m not getting that impression. We shall see. If it runs a bit long, that’s okay, but I don’t want it much over 50k. (I don’t want to pull a J.K. Rowling and have the third book three times the length of the second.)

I didn’t get much done this weekend, but then again, I didn’t have a lot to do. I’m rereading Sunshine, and I reread NS (finding more mistakes!! Argh!) Thankfully, the similarities between the two books seem to be all in my head.

My last day of posting will probably be Friday. I have a lot to get done between now and then, but nothing that will be too difficult to get done between now and then.

I am so looking forward to vacation. If only so I can concentrate on writing. My two goals: Finish TER and finish SCR. We’ll see if I succeed.

Third goal: Don’t get sunburned. But that’s not really writing-related.

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There’s a conversation/argument winding down on sff.net that I’ve been reading with both interest and dismay. It started out as a simple request–whether or not Double Dragon Press was legitimate and whether or not a reading fee was acceptable for contests (Evidently they run a contest that costs $25 to enter and the only prize is publication.) This ballooned into discussion by the snobs of sff.net (I’m sorry, but there’s no real better term) proclaiming that small publishers aren’t professional and there’s no way to become a professional by subbing to small presses.

There was also a comment about busting one’s butt writing a novel, and wasting it on the small press publishers.

So anyway, since the scams newsgroup is not the place to post my thoughts on this, I thought I’d post them here. (Or some of them; I’m trying to write another essay about snobbery in the SF field as well, and I might just sub that somewhere…)

Point #1: I don’t “bust my butt” to write novels. In truth, I find them relatively easy to write. Sometimes they give me fits, but I can usually work through the problems and come out on the other side with something publishable. Short stories, on the other hand, are hard. But that’s just me, and I have a lot more experience writing novels than short stories.

The only way I would bust my butt writing a novel is to go completely OOG (out-of-genre) and write, say, a historical romance. Or even a historical fiction novel. That would be hard. I would probably bust my butt a bit on that one. However, since that’s OOG, I’m not likely to attempt one of those any time soon. I’m not saying it won’t happen (especially if I write the history of the Hunt novel, but that would also be historical fantasy, technically, so not really OOG) but it would probably be a NaNoWriMo novel and a total experiment. (Hey, it worked for CtS, didn’t it?)

So anyway. I’m sure–I know–other writers are different. But you can’t assume generalities, especially when you’re posting in a public newsgroup where everyone is not the same.

Point #2: I like ebooks. I like small press publishers. I consider them professional sales using my definition of professional sales. (What is my definition of professional sales? If you get paid for it (royalties or an advance (for fiction) or direct payment (for nonfiction)and there’s decent distribution, it’s a professional sale.)

I have said before that it’s theoretically possible to make $30,000 a year from royalties from ebooks. I still believe that. (Not there yet. But since late 2001 (when my first book came out), my royalty statements have at least doubled each year.)

Also, I get to design my own covers. And I think I’m getting better at it.

I just don’t see why some ‘professional’ authors have to act like such snobs. It really makes me hesitate to submit anything to NY at all because of this attitude. (And it’s not everyone. But it’s a pervasive attitude, and it bugs me to death.) It also makes me not want to go to cons that these people frequent, for that reason alone. (Because in all honesty, I’d much rather be writing. But anyway.)

SF is a small genre anyway, if you think about it. I’ve not seen any recent percentages, but last I heard, romance had cornered something like 50% of the genre books sold, and mystery, sf, westerns, and something else brought up the rest. (And this is just genre books, not mainstream.) I don’t remember if they separated science fiction and fantasy, but it was only something like 17% of the genre books sold.

There’s not enough room for petty squabbles and snobbery. We should try to get along and broaden the sf readership, bring in new blood to the fan bases, and work together to make things better for everyone.

Considering another figure I read somewhere (and pardon me for not checking my facts), if the average ‘professional’ author makes $6,000 a year (or somesuch; it’s a pitiful figure) then damn it, don’t you think these people would be more inclined to work together to make the sf field grow? You can’t survive on $6,000 a year anymore.

Hmm. Maybe the criteria of ‘professional’ should be bestowed on people who only make enough to live on. What’s the SFWA criteria for editors who want to join? $25,000?

I wonder how many ‘professional’ authors would have to give up their memberships if the rules were revised to match this amount?

Definitely something to think about…

Oh, and yesterday we went to both Goodwills, because they had a 50% off sale, and I think I hit the motherload. Only spending $60 total, even, which wasn’t bad. I got a lot of good stuff, including a Chinese terra cotta teapot with a double strainer and an older redware teapot made in England. Some Denby dinnerware, a lot of handmade pottery (including a blue mug that is very cool) and some advertising pie plates I thought would look cool in my eventual kitchen. Some shirts, and two pairs of jeans… I think I satisfied the bargain hunter urge until we get to go to Salvation Army in Florida. (The Salvation Army stores in Florida are lovely. The Goodwill stores in Florida stink. (Literally!) It’s the opposite here.)

When I unpack stuff in Storage, it will be like going to Goodwill all over again, because a lot of the stuff I’ve gotten, I’ve packed right away and I don’t really remember what I have or don’t have anymore. In that respect, Storage is like a black hole. Only I will eventually get everything out and sorted and put away (or sold.)

Oh, and I guess I’m collecting teapots now. Not cutesy teapots; cool ones. And functional too. I hate non-functional stuff, no matter how much it’s worth.

Last night, I saw HP 3 at the drive-in. We stayed for Shrek 2 and got home around 2:30am, which is the latest I’ve been up for a while. Needless to say, I’m not in tiptop shape this morning.

The last time I read HP 3 was when it came out, so I’d forgotten much of what happened. For some reason, the HP books aren’t conductive to rereading, at least for me. They were good (except for the last one), but when I started rereading Book 1, it just didn’t hold my attention. And anyway, mine are in Storage at the moment, and quite difficult to reach. That’s going to be my excuse.

For what it’s worth, I liked the movie. I’m not sure if I liked it more than the others or just about the same. I loved the visual effects of the map, though. And Lupin. And Hermione.

Oh, and Buckbeak. That’s one hell of a CGI effect, there. One of the best CGI effects I’ve ever seen.

Even though it was long enough, it seemed too short. Although I think I wouldn’t have stayed to watch Shrek 2 again if it was any longer; the movie didn’t actually end until midnight.

Definitely one I will buy and watch again.

I have this rule that anything I do* has to pay for itself, at least the cost of materials. Meaning, if I knit and crochet, I have to sell enough to keep me in yarn and knitting needles or crochet hooks. It has to be self-sufficient, not in time involved (although that’s always nice) but in cost of supplies. Same goes with jewelrymaking.

That’s one of the reasons why I don’t stamp anymore. Stamping, while interesting enough, was far too expensive supply-wise to ever support itself. I couldn’t make enough money selling cards or what-have-yous for less than $1 each to cover the cost of buying very expensive sets of stamps. (I spent approximately $600-$750 on stamps in the space of a year and a half. I sold them for more than what I paid for them, but not by much.)

This is probably why I haven’t actively pursued really learning how to play a musical instrument, now that I think about it. All of my collections have value (yes, even the typewriters) and everything I do has value. (Sometimes I’m the only one who can see the value. But it’s there.)

But anyway. For years and years and years, writing has not been self-supporting. Largely because of the fact that prior to 2001 I didn’t submit anything much at all.

This is why I like epublishing and small publishers. Not only do you get a quick turnaround (for the most part), you do make enough money to cover expenses.

Expenses are negligible unless you count computer equipment, but the only thing I own that I use 99% exclusively for writing is the Dana, and I did make just about enough in royalties last year to cover that cost.

I fully intend to use royalty money to buy myself a new computer by the time I move out, if things continue to go the way they’re going. Or, at least, a good portion of the cost, since I don’t just use the computer for writing.

Not everything I do has monetary returns, of course. Growing my own food has cost returns, because I don’t have to buy food if I grow it. Doing yoga has health returns, and makes me less-likely to have to have health concerns. (Okay, maybe everything has monetary returns in the long run. Which puts my point all the more in perspective.)

And that’s probably one of the reasons I don’t watch TV. I have so much better things to do with my very important time.

I realize that not everyone shares my point of view. When I explained to someone the reason why I didn’t stamp anymore, they didn’t understand my reasoning. But to me, it’s sound. I don’t do things (hobbies, whatever) to lose money.

And that’s also the reason why I price things cheap enough for normal people to buy. I can’t stand seeing necklaces, for example, that cost less than $3 and less than fifteen minutes to make (and yes, that’s the average cost of any necklace I’ve seen at craft shows) being sold for $20-$25 or more. (I do average in time involved for jewelrymaking, btw. But it’s not much time at all.) That is why I was able to sell my chokers for $4 ea., 3 for $10 at the craft show and still make a profit.

Anyway. I think this post is beginning to ramble, and I’ve probably gone on long enough.

(*outside of the day job, like hobbies, or writing.)

TER is finally beginning to pick up. I won’t get it done by the time we leave, but that’s okay. If it stays on track, I’ll get it done while we’re in Florida.

I sent NS to a very kind reader last night, and submitted TSoR to Jintsu. Trying to get some stuff taken care of before we leave, obviously.

I haven’t heard from either of the editing jobs I applied for. I’m not all that worried; there are a lot of conventions and expos, etc. and the one editor said it might be a couple of weeks.

Tomorrow is Friday. This week had been dragging, so I’m very glad. I had a dream last night that I forgot to come to work this morning because I thought it had to be Saturday, but that didn’t happen.

Yesterday afternoon a storm blew through that dumped 2 inches of rain in less than 30 minutes. Needless to say, our street was covered with water in the usual spots on the way home, and a couple front yards were lakes. The creeks were really rushing last night, so after supper I donned jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, and my trusty hat, and took the camera out for waterfall pictures.

(They aren’t huge waterfalls, just ones in the creek. But I got some good pictures.)

About three or four miles back there’s a cliff that would probably have been streaming with water last night. But it takes a couple of hours to get back there, and the mosquitos were bad enough where I was. (I’ve only been to the cliff once.) But it was so hot and muggy that my clothes were sticking to my skin. Ugh.

The water in the creek almost came up over my boots, which means it was about a foot deep in places. I took a couple pictures where the creek had jumped the bank, too, and saw a groundhog foraging for greenery as well.

Somehow, Budget Cuts has moved back up to the #10 spot on the Fantasy Bestselling list at Fictionwise. And one person just liked it ‘okay.’ Ah well. Can’t please everyone.