A Good Month

I finished proofreading the YA steampunk book last night, so that will go to my editor on Monday (I hate to send things like that to people on Friday. I'd rather at least give them the illusion of a cleared desk before the weekend -- and I really hate it when people dump things on me on Fridays). In the future, I will have to make a point of avoiding getting into any other creative projects just as I'm trying to do something like proofreading that requires focus because that was a challenge here. I'd read a paragraph, then get a book cover idea and rush off to look up stuff.

My attempt to make work a priority has done well for me so far this year. I'm already more than a month ahead of where I was last year in time worked (it was more than a month later before I'd worked this much time), and this month I've finished a screenplay, revised a novel and plotted part of a novel. If I can keep this up all year, I'll really rock and roll. Next week I'll get back into the book I was working on, which is the sequel to the one I was talking about yesterday. One benefit of self publishing is that you set your own publication schedule and aren't having to work around other books in the list, so you can put out two books back-to-back. Imagine, only waiting a month before the sequel! But that means I have to finish the book.

I do love the idea of spoofing the generic urban fantasy book cover, but I'm not sure that's feasible because it would require commissioning an original painting, and that gets expensive, probably beyond the budget we're working with. But I did describe the idea to my agent, so we'll see if she knows a way to get it done.

It's very hard to come up with an image that says "whimsical fantasy adventure, with fairies, but not the cute kind, and a dog! But also with some serious women's fiction elements, like family roles and obligations."

In other news, they announced this week that Haven has been renewed for essentially two more seasons. Technically, it's one "season," but it's 26 episodes when they usually do 13-episode seasons, so it looks like a way to get one more season in before they have to renegotiate five-season contracts. I'm very relieved because I was worried about ending things on that particular cliffhanger, and I haven't been able to mentally write my way out of it because I have no clue where they're heading (and that's what I like about it).

Now, though, we're in a TV dead zone because of the Olympics. I may catch up on a lot of OnDemand stuff and do a lot of writing. I tried watching the first episode of BBC's Atlantis, but it was standard-issue bad British fantasy cheese, and not really the good kind, so I'm not sure I'll bother unless I get really bored.

My plan for the day is to pick up some books on hold at the library, wash dishes, and nap. My plan for the weekend is to read, maybe do some housework, and nap. The nagging allergies have really worn me down, and I'm hoping that some slightly more moist air and some rest will help.