More Sunday morning (writing) musings

A gobsmacking amount of slug/snail deterrent to keep safe this assortment of zinnias, marigolds, nastutiums, etc...

After days of rain, a little sun is prevailing, but not as much as was forecast for yesterday. Cloud cover is natural here in Humboldt County, so I took the opportunity to spend much of the day pouring over my novel (because being inside when it's sunny outside feels extremely wrong). Having rearranged it from four parts to three went fine, but we'll see how I like it upon another round of revisions, although at this point revision is a little heavy-handed. Few typos were found, yay! Several commas were excised, ha ha, (I do love me some commas when writing) then they are deleted as I make my way through various rounds of edits. But there remains at least two more read-throughs, mostly for my own personal edification. Then.... We'll see what happens next!

Prepping a novel (or series) for publication is an involved process; covers to design, blurbs to conjure, timelines to arrange. We're hoping to go on holiday next month, so my plan is to release this series upon our return. Meanwhile there's the garden to consider; I put several flower seedlings in the ground on Friday (see photo above), potted up a plethora of tiny tomato plants into six inch pots. I don't know how much fruit I'll get from them this year, in part that they're so small and our growing season, while spanning much of September, is tied into how much sunshine we receive, and that depends on the marine layer. Next year I'll start seeds much earlier than I did this year, and thankfully my eldest gifted me several toms that are in a much better place to produce something before summer's end. My baby tomato plants are more for my own pleasure to see how well they grow. Kind of like my indie novels; I don't do this for wide exposure.

There's a distinct thrill in self-publishing that I'd forgotten in the whirlwind of querying this series; these books are MINE. Which sounds a little greedy upon first glance, but having released my first novel via traditional publishing norms, the liberty of DIY'ing it is so satisfying. When writing this series, there was a sense of distance due to the awareness that an agent/publishing house might want this or that altered. I made extensive changes to my first novel, but I was so wet behind the ears and eager for it to be released, that was fine. That was also fifteen years ago, ahem. I'm almost fifty-six with several books under my indie belt and if this is the way my authorial career rolls, no problem. Stepping back into novelist shoes, I'm happy to simply be back on this track. A few years ago, I had no desire to do more than try to figure out what life was all about with both of my parents gone.

Querying this series reminded me how grateful I am for the opportunity to publish on my own terms. Twenty years ago this wouldn't have so easily been the case, not that I had time two decades ago for such frivolities. Now time is a precarious notion; writing remains a priority although sunshine pushes me out of the chair into the outdoors (and I won't even bring up how the quilting has fallen out of grace, sigh). Time also has seen a shift in other manners; a dearly beloved family member will be starting round #2 of chemo this coming week. So yeah time, hmmm. Life is short. Need to sort out some book covers. And get tomatoes in the ground in another month. And plant a few varieties of pumpkins. And finish a quilt on the wall (so I can slap another up). And write blog posts. And do some laundry. Yeah, time. Time to publish another story. Because that's what I am. A storyteller (among other things)....