Will most likely never be solved.
The list of suspects is:
Me (in a non-drug-induced sleepwalk).
Scooter (who hates closed doors and revealed the door was closed by frantically trying to open it at 5:00 this morning).
Some unknown entity who slipped into my apartment for the sole purpose of closing my bedroom door.
Once Scooter woke me, and I opened the door for him (with an apology for misjudging his motives in making noise), Scooter decided I was awake and therefore it was playtime. I have now taken to hiding my glasses, since he's gotten into the habit of knocking them off the night table at 4:30 AM, as a subtle hint that playtime and/or breakfast should ensue immediately.
Mornings are not easy around here.
I can however solve the mystery of what I've been up to recently. First of all, I had to recover from my giving blood/fainting in the parking lot experience. And I had to tell my friends all about it (the vast majority of my friends don't read my blog, and therefore my life is a mystery to them). And I had to recover from the extremely exciting Super Bowl. And I do a lot of laundries (load number three is now in the drier).
But there have been a couple of other, slightly more professional, things going on.
The first is making progress on getting my older titles onto ebook readers.
One of the people who reads my blog suggested a company that knows how to do it, and I exchanged many friendly emails with a person at that company. He explained that for already published books, they need a hardcover copy and it doesn't hurt to have a letter saying the rights have reverted back to the author (aka me).
So I plowed through my outside storage closet that holds all my extra copies, and found some that I already have reversion rights letters for. Kind of arbitrarily, I selected three and mailed them off. It's going to take a few weeks before they magically appear on Kindles and Nooks (at extremely inexpensive prices). I will update you on the wheres and whens and whats as I know more.
When I cleared out my file cabinets in early January, I found a manuscript for a young YA ghost story novel called Dummy that I had written around the same time as Life As We Knew It, and which had gotten lost in the LAWKI scramble. I reread it and liked it all over again, so I retyped it, editing and polishing and updating it as I went along. I emailed my agent yesterday to ask if she'd like to read it, and she gave me a cautious yes. I think I've scared her with my past couple of failed novels.
When I hear from her (which will probably take a while; she's a swift negotiator but not a swift manuscript reader), I'll let you know what she says.
I think that solves all mysteries, except what am I going to get Scooter for his birthday (which I decided a while back falls on my birthday). He certainly doesn't need any more twist ties (my apartment is littered with them, since he never puts his toys away).
Whatever I get him, I hope he'll enjoy playing with on his own. He may like 5 AM playtime, but it's no mystery that I don't!
14 comments:
I have my fingers crossed for Dummy! I'm pretty intrigued since I'm a big horror / ghost story fan. Good luck.
Hi Mr. Cavin-
I really like Dummy and I hope someday other people will like it as well, but it's not a horror kind of a ghost story.
It's actually a first person narrative, with the ghost doing the telling.
I'll certainly let people know what's happening with it.
We miss Miranda and Alex! We find ourselves wondering where they are and how they are surviving! Do you have any plans to write another book in this series? Our fingers are crossed!
April & Kate
I hope dummy sees the day light soon!
Hello to April and Kate and Rose-
I really don't think there's going to be a fourth moon book. My attempts at one ended in failure.
I miss Miranda and Alex also, but the odds are if I did write a fourth book, they'd end up even more miserable. So we're probably all better off if I don't.
Somehow or another Dummy will see the light of day,but not in the immediate future. I'll keep everyone up to date as the process drags on!
The 4th book attempt "failed." That doesn't mean that rewriting it, maybe doing it by hand, in part, would give it the oomph that would appeal to the publishers.
But you've just won yet another award for your work, so the painted picture of "failure," doesn't hardly match.
And that cat is just plain whacked. Cats are not supposed to control your life that much. It's spring training season almost - maybe you can trade him for a more stable beast.
FAILED?!? I still have cash money to spend on said 'failed novel'. puuushaw .... hurumph.
Good morning Anonymous and Fear Death By Water-
I have no problem with failing, maybe because I did so much of it in school. Or maybe it's from having a big brother, so I always lost to him in important things like ping pong and arm wrestling.
I'm afraid though I'm stuck with Scooter. He's just so darn cute, and when he's sweet, he's the sweetest cat around.
What the heck?! A book not being published is certainly not a personal failure - not in your case, anyway. Waht the heck's going on? Why this bent?
Of all people you know the vagaries of the publishing business. Cheesh. Enough.
Write or not, but the pity party is over. word - "Ospanta" Sounds perfect as a call to pen.
wasn't a pity party was me begging for the fourth moon book to see the light of day ... mainly the light cast by my trusty reading lamp. winkey emoticon ...
Hello again to Fear Death By Water and hello to Anonymous-
Anonymous, if the tone of my blog irritates or annoys you, then why not stop reading it? There are countless other blogs around, and you might find another one that suits you better.
Thank you so much for posting an answer! My daughter read it with the most amazing look of awe on her face! She is 13 and we still read together nightly. We choose emotionally challenging books, which is how we came about the "Life As We Know It" series. In our minds, Miranda and Alex find a way to survive and be happy! If Dummy hits the book stands, we will be sure to read it! Have you read The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman? Such a great book about ghosts and growing up!
Thanks again
aap
Hello again aap-
I always think it's great when parents and children read the same books. My mother used to read the books my brother and I took out of the library.
I haven't read The Graveyard Book. I'm functionally illiterate when it comes to most fiction.
But that doesn't keep me from writing it!
Well, after your boorish comment about not reading the blog, rather than your giving some consideration to not pursuing the woe line of thought and word, I accept your invitation to leave and not return. Best of luck to you.
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