Tag: Writing

The Frustration of the Neverending Afghan

by eileentroemel, posted in Crochet and crafting, Writing

Last night I worked on Vicki’s afghan.  I made good progress with getting a row and a half done.  I went to start the next row and discovered that I didn’t have enough yarn to complete the row.  This is the one variegated skein I didn’t get over the weekend.  I was all set to keep crocheting but unfortunately I didn’t have the yarn to do it.  I was very annoyed. 

Tonight after work I’ll be stopping to get the skein of yarn.  Hopefully they have the variegated I need to do this one freaking row.  I grumbled at Vicki about it and she said to just skip the color.  However, it would look odd if I just skipped it – it would ruin the whole pattern. 

There I was last night in the mood to work on it and I couldn’t.  The yarn failed me.  In most cases I typically buy extra yarn so I don’t have this problem but with this afghan we didn’t buy extra – probably because the yarn was sort of pricey.  It is beautiful yarn but a little pricey.

Once I have the yarn, I’m hoping to get that row done and start on another of the rows.  I’m to the point in the afghan where I just want it done.  For most normal rectangular afghans if I had five rows left, I would just finish it.  I’m frustrated because I can’t just rush through the end of it to have it done and because I ran out of yarn. 

I’ll have to be patient because there is nothing I can do about it – that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.

On the writing front, I’ve been working on editing.  I finished editing a fantasy novel.  I need to get the changes into the computer now.  I also have a poetry book edited.  I’m going to work on production of both of these so I can work on getting them out soon.  Then I will look at the third poetry book and the second fantasy novel.  They both have a lot of editing to go on them. 

With all of these I have to work on artwork / covers as part of the production.  I have wonderful people who help me create beautiful covers.  I’m looking forward to working on these covers and other artwork for the fantasy novels. 

Secret Past

Moon Affirmations  Daily Meditations Using the Moon Phase to Focus Your Energy

Moments in Nature

A Fresh New Day

by eileentroemel, posted in Life, Writing

My husband is a morning person.  This is wonderful in that by 10 am in the morning he accomplishes more than most people all day.  However, as a night person it means I’m often woken earlier than I want to be.  This was the case today.

Now that I’m up though, I’m noticing the beautiful day.  The temp is reasonable and the humidity low.  The house is opened up and the birds are singing.  If it weren’t for the traffic noise, I could almost go back to sleep just listening to the birds.

I’m up though and I have too much to do to waste time when I could be working.  I didn’t accomplish anything yesterday except to get rid of a nasty headache.  After work, I made a phone call about getting books in a chain bookstore.  I’m not holding my breath but it would be really nice.  Today I’m prepping my books to send to the chain for review.  That is top of my priority list.

Once I was done with that phone call and typing up the letter, I pretty much did nothing the rest of the afternoon and evening.  I’m watching Flashpoint on Netflix so I watched that and then crashed.  My head was hurting so no crocheting.

Today will be more productive I hope.  Prepping the books for mailing, organizing my poems for the next Moments in book, and fixing two spots in my fantasy novel.  I have to decide if one area needs more description or not and if the other section could do without a transitional paragraph.  After that it is one more read through and then I begin the production part.  For the poetry book, I have to make final cuts and arrange the poems before starting the production part.

My two crochet projects are calling to me so when my brain is about to explode from the writing stuff I will work on the afghan and the experiment.  Yes I am experimenting with a new stitch and yarn.  I like how it is working up so I just need to finish it.  I also want to try another pattern in this book before I review it because the one pattern I am working with had errors in it and I had to fix it.  Before I review it and add in that bit of information, I want to see if the error is consistent.

If I get to working on Vicki’s afghan, it will be a good time to have a couple of movies to watch.  Each row takes so long it is good to have a distraction while I work on it.  I was talking about Kevin Costner movies to someone so maybe I will see what Netflix has in the way of his movies and do a Costner weekend.

Weekend Looms

by eileentroemel, posted in Crochet and crafting, Life, Writing

With it being a non-pay week, I have absolutely NO plans for the weekend.  This may sound like an abysmal weekend but for me, it is heaven.  It means that I can work on writing, crocheting, or whatever else comes to mind. 

The difficulty will be in narrowing down what I do from all my options.  I’m working on production of another poetry book, editing a fantasy novel, and looking at short stories for submission to a contest.  In addition, I’m also working on the third book in the fantasy series.  I’d like to finish writing the story. 

On the marketing end, I’ve been sending emails announcing my book coming out.  I’ve hit several local papers, bookstores across the country, and sent out review copies.  Now all I have to do is hope that someone pays attention and purchases or the newspapers do an article.  Marketing is not my strong suit though I do know about it as I worked in it for a small amount of time for one of my jobs.  I do know I can send out hundreds or even thousands of emails and only get a few hits on it. 

This is also one of my more difficult things to do because marketing tends to be over the top for claims and I don’t believe in doing that.  However, it doesn’t grab people’s attention if I just say – hey here are three good books try them out.  This makes marketing difficult for me. 

On the crocheting side of my life, I’m working on Vicki’s afghan.  It is slow going because it is octagonal and each row takes a long time to finish.  I started a different project with some of my new yarn as a short project but I have a logger jam of afghan requests right now.  I have four in my queue. 

It is time for me to start thinking about what I want to do for gifts for winter so I have them done in time.  I have an idea of what I’d like to do but it is a matter of time. 

This means the weekend is an open book.  It will be nice to have a quiet and hopefully productive weekend at home. 

Halfway through the Year

by eileentroemel, posted in Life, Writing

It just dawned on me that we are halfway through the year.  My first six months of 2014 have been incredibly busy with writing, family, and work. 

In January, I was disappointed I didn’t get the grant I’d tried for.  I was very disappointed to the point where I thought I’d never have the time or ability to publish my work.  The year started rough for me in other ways too.  Vicki injured her shoulder so I spent a lot of time helping her. 

Between these two things, I thought I would delay more of my writing activities.  I thought it would be the end of the year before I would have any progress at all towards publishing. 

Here we are though halfway through the year and I’ve managed to help Vicki get better and publish three books.  It astounds me that I’ve accomplished so much. 

At the same time, I’m not just sitting back and waiting for the money to roll in – because it won’t.  I’ve been very busy working on marketing material, contacting independent book stores, and doing research on marketing.  I’ve also been editing one book with a second one in the lineup.  I also have two more poetry books I’d like to get out there.  Plus I have two short story books I’d like to compile. 

My daughter also reminded me to go out and google my name to see who was using my material.  I did and contacted several people to have them remove copyrighted material from their web site.  I had a discussion with one gentleman about whether his taking my picture and material and linking to the original site of the material was an infringement of copyright.  Needless to say we did not agree. 

On the plus side I found a very nice site that talked about my article on Dutch Ovens (whatscookingamerica.net) in a very complimentary way.  I was surprised and pleased by his glowing review. 

I graduated college in December, turned 50 in February, and will be celebrating 33 years with my husband this month.  I have to keep reminding myself that I’m progressing in the right direction and some things just progress at a slower rate than I would like. 

Overall, I’d say the first half of my year has been pretty good.  It has had some rough patches but the high points out shine the low ones.  Wonder what kind of mischief I can get up to in the second half of the year?

Secret Past:
Available on Barnes and Nobles:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/secret-past-eileen-troemel/1119169953?ean=9781499159868
Available for sale at:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/426548
Available on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Past-Eileen-Troemel-ebook/dp/B00JL38Z7C/ref=la_B00JL4PEJ8_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1398097355&sr=1-1

Moon Affirmations:
Available for sale at:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/432900
Available on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Moon-Affirmations-Daily-Meditations-Energy-ebook/dp/B00K08TF3K/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1398791925&sr=8-5&keywords=moon+affirmations
Available on Barnes and Nobles:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/moon-affirmations-eileen-troemel/1119387496?ean=2940045859738

Moments in Nature:
Available at Barnes & Nobles:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/moments-in-nature-eileen-troemel/1119566668?ean=2940045940085
Available at:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/437602
Available on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Moments-Nature-Eileen-Troemel-ebook/dp/B00KBFOWSK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400077630&sr=8-1&keywords=moments+in+nature

A View from the Recliner

by eileentroemel, posted in Life, Writing

It is difficult to be limited in what I can physically do.  However, I’m trying to be productive with my time.  Research and marketing have been top of my list while I’m laid up.

To this end, I spent a chunk of yesterday researching new age bookstores for Moon Affirmations and emailing a number of them to introduce my book.  Whether it will produce any sales only time will tell.  Next for me is to see what a good place to market to for the romance novel and the poetry book.

Great news for Moments in Nature – it is now available on Barnes and Noble.  Also Smashwords has connected with two more channels of distribution.  One of which is to get into libraries which are great users of ebooks.

Aside from book stuff, I’ve been crocheting.  I’m done with baby gifts and am now working on sponges.  I’ve had three requests for sponges so I’m working with my left over crochet cotton to make sponges for these three people.  After the sponges though, I’ll probably go back to working on the afghan I’ve got started.  I have three more afghans to make after this before I start looking at other bigger projects to take on.

While crocheting, I watch tv.  I finished MI5 and have moved on to other things.  I watched a movie about World War II called The Couple.  It was interesting.  Then I watched a PBS series called Heat of the Sun which takes place in the 30s in Kenya.  That was pretty good.  Finally last night I started season 1 of Grimm.  I watched two episodes and it was okay.  It seems a bit darker than I normally like but I’ll watch at least a couple more episodes before I give up on it.

My days seem really short because I’ve been sleeping in.  This is great for my sleep level but tomorrow when I am back at work and can’t sleep in this could be bad.  Hopefully it won’t be a problem.  I’ll be glad to go back to work and catch up.  It will be nice to have a different view than the one from my recliner.

A Pick Me Up

by eileentroemel, posted in Crochet and crafting, Life, Writing

Tonight, I was feeling a bit glum about being stuck in my recliner.  Don’t get me wrong I love my recliner, it is comfy and usually offers comfort when I’m in pain.  However, I have a lot going on but the doctor says – stay off your feet and rest – I pretty much have to.  Experience has taught me that resistance on this is never good.

Here I am feeling a bit down and out in my recliner.  I crocheted during the day creating a new pattern for a bag that I think I like a lot.  I finished off MI5 – damn them killing off my favorite character who had actually lasted ten seasons until the very last episode.  I was sitting in my recliner having answered emails and done a couple of other things feeling glum.

I look over and my Kindle Fire is sitting on the couch next to me.  I’m currently reading three books – Harry Potter 6 in my van as I drive; Lean In on my normal Kindle; and Wrede on Writing on my Kindle Fire.  I thought about playing backgammon on the Fire (another of my obsessions) but the book drew me in tonight.  I started reading and two hours later I’m feeling better about myself and about my writing.

Patricia Wrede is one of my favorite authors.  She writes fantasy and is fabulous.  I fall into her novels and don’t want to come out even when she has finished them ever so wonderfully.  I almost always want more of her writing.  Last year she published a book on writing.

Writing books tend to be academic and well (apologies to all the teachers I know) boring.  I was going to give this book three chapters and move on to something else.  Well I can’t stop turning pages.  I’ve read 15% of the book (it’s an ebook so I don’t know what page I’m on).  I LOVE her writing.  More than just her writing style though – she actually talks about writing in a way that isn’t academic but is humorous and intelligent.

I said to one of my professors “You can’t teach writing,” to which I think she took a lot of offense.  You can teach parts of writing like grammar, syntax, sentence structure, and so on.  You can’t teach where an idea comes from or how YOU as a writer will develop that.

Wrede talks about all of this.  She goes into the different possibilities and encourages the reader to find the way that works best for them.  I found myself in some of her descriptions which uplifted me because here was someone else who got what writing was for me.

Her humor and common sense shine through.  Her biggest piece of advice essentially is find what works for you and stick with it.  That isn’t the only thing she talks about though.  She ranted (maybe a strong word but this could be because I rant about it when I read a book) about authors who need to improve their basic skills like grammar.  Here are two quotes from her discussion that I LOVE:

“A writer whose work is littered with sentence fragments and runons cannot make effective use of sentence fragments to increase tension, or pacing, or emphasis.”

“If everything else is in standard English, dropping some unusual syntax, punctuation, or grammar into the text has an impact because of the change.  The less often the writer does it, the bigger the impact.”

I’m a grammar nut.  I like to diagram sentences and I like to break the rules – all the time.  I know what proper grammar is – I just don’t always like to use it.  I’d had this discussion with all of my professors with only one or two of them conceding that depending on the writing depended on the appropriateness of breaking the rules.

In academic and other professional writing, you absolutely must be grammatically correct.  However, when it comes to fiction, you don’t have to be and when you aren’t it can be a highly effective tool.

While I may be a grammar geek, I understand the effect ungrammatical work can have on the reader.  Oh and for those out there – if you find grammar (or other errors) in my writing – let me know.  I’ll fix them.  I’m good but I’m nowhere near perfect.

If you’re a writer and you want good advice, check out Wrede’s book Wrede on Writing.  If you’re not a writer, check it out anyways as it might give you some insight into your writing friends.  You could also check out her other books and stories.  She is an excellent writer.

Oh and no longer feeling glum.  She made me laugh, agree, and recognize myself in the way she talked about writers.  While I may be stuck in my recliner, I’ve still got things I can work on…

Progress

by eileentroemel, posted in Life, Writing
Yesterday was exceedingly productive.  Secret Past is now available in e-book, large print paperback, and paperback.  I’m very proud of it and am thrilled that I’ve sold to people other than my family. 
In addition to getting the final version of Secret Past out into the world yesterday, I worked on budget and paid bills, clipped coupons, crocheted on a graduation gift, and read another fun book.  It was a full and busy day.  I got home from work early and was able to organize a bunch of stuff.  I do have a sloppy pile of paperwork that needs to be filed.  I hate filing but I will try to get that done today. 
Today I’ll be working on a grocery list and putting coupons together.  Ken is going to do the shopping this week.  I will be working on production of my next book.  This one is more complicated because it has amazing drawings to be included by TJ Jahns.  The drawings are simple but beautiful, reminiscent of Shel Silverstein. 
Unfortunately I woke up aching so I’m probably not going to be able to sit on the computer for long today.  I’ll be making the most of my time here.  Then it will be back to crocheting.  Last night while I crocheted, I watched Mansfield Park and Elementary.  Both were good and different.  I’ll probably do something like that today. 
One of the things I did yesterday was to put all my guides for self-publishing into a binder so today while I work I’ll be able to easily pull out the binder and follow each step.  It’s nice to have a handy reference right there.  I know what needs to be done for most of it but I can do a quick read just to make sure.  I’ve also got my project spreadsheet which helps me keep track of where I’m at with each project. 
It is the weekend and I’m supposed to be relaxing. In a lot of ways this is me relaxing.  Those who know me can stop laughing, I like to be busy and I like to make progress.  I don’t have to have a perfect house or fancy clothes or stuff like that.  I do have to write and crochet.  It seems along with the writing I also have to keep moving forward with projects which means production of books.  I think I’d lose my mind if I didn’t have these two things.  Crocheting keeps my hands busy and writing keeps my mind busy – or maybe it focuses my busy mind.  Either way, I’m a better person – happier, more content, and easier to live with – if I’m busy with these projects.
Secret Past Available in e-book and paperback:

Another Weekend

by eileentroemel, posted in Crochet and crafting, Life, Writing
Tomorrow is Friday.  I’m so relieved this week is over.  It isn’t that work is bad.  It is just that it has been busy and demanding.  The weekend promises to be almost as busy, though.  My todo list is very long right now.
In the writing realm – I’m working on a paperback copy in normal size print.  Hopefully by the weekend it will be reviewed and ready for me to do the next step.  After that I’m working on production for my Moon Affirmations Meditations manuscript.  Back to square one for epubbing and figuring out how to do the pictures I want to have in there.  I also have edits to do on my fantasy novel.  If I manage to get through all of that – I have quite the long list of other tasks. 
In the crocheting realm – I have three graduation gifts to work on.  This involves me sitting still and focusing on creating wonderful items for the student workers I’ve enjoyed having work in my office. 
In the life realm – there are bills to pay, errands to run, and so much more.  I almost feel like I need a weekend after my weekend. 
I just finished reading my first “fun” book since finishing school.  I read a non-fiction Quiet which was quite good but I wouldn’t classify that as fun.  I just finished Thankless in Death and I’ve moved on to Mirror Mirror.  I think I’ve read two chapters in the new book and would like nothing more than to spend the night reading that but I have coupons to clip and a few other things to get done. 
Here I am with so much to do and not enough time.  I guess I will be working on prioritizing and balancing all these different things that I want to get done.  Reading, writing, crocheting, and life – I know there is a balance in there.  I’m just not sure how well I will balance it all out.  I’ll probably fall more than once but in the process I’m having a hell of a lot of fun.

Secret Past available on Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/426548

Editing

by eileentroemel, posted in Writing

While organizing in my office this weekend, I unearthed the manuscript I had been editing.  My first thought was to just put it in the bin with the others for that overall story.  I couldn’t quite bring myself to do that.  I picked it up to move it to the bin and couldn’t so set it back down – in the way of course.  After doing this a couple of times I realized – I need to put this back in my purse and take it with me. 

Editing is a part of writing.  A good editor is worth their weight in gold.  There is nothing more irritating when you are reading a book than to edit it as you go.  If the manuscript hasn’t been edited thoroughly almost anything can slip through from a grammatical issue to a typographical issue to even a story inconsistency. 

The biggest complaint about self-published books is that they are poorly edited.  Part of the problem is that writers often cannot afford a professional editor and/or think they are good enough to not need one.  The thing is no matter how good you are – you need an editor even if you are your own editor. 

It is better to have other eyes on the manuscript because after the third or fourth round of edits you stop seeing what is on the page and start seeing what you think is supposed to be there.  A good editor should catch those things.  A good editor will tell you where your story lags or is inconsistent or doesn’t make sense. 

Editing is a tough job because authors (this one included) don’t like to hear criticisms of their baby.  Believe me their manuscripts have the authors blood, sweat, and tears in them.  The hardest thing as an author is to take a step back and say – what doesn’t work, what does, and why are you keeping something someone else says should go. 

As an author and editor, it is usually pretty easy for me to say add or delete (though deleting is hard for me) even when it is my own work.  However, I have people who will kick me in the bum if I don’t follow my instinct. 

For my current manuscript, I wanted to try out a different beginning so I rewrote it based on people’s criticism.  I like the second opening to the story but it didn’t pop and sort of slowed the action.  When I presented it to two of my readers, one liked it and one didn’t.  The one who liked it said it read more like a movie script than a book.  As I’m writing a book, I am sticking with the original opening. 

Having reworked it doesn’t mean I’m tossing out the opening.  If I ever get to a point where the book is popular enough to be a tv series or movie, I would do the other opening I wrote – maybe.  I listened to my critics and considered an alternative but ultimately made my own decision about how to rework (or not) the section of writing. 

Editor fees can run anywhere from $25 – $100 per hour.  Some editors won’t even look at your work for under a certain dollar amount.  Most editors want payment up front.  This sounds very demanding but I can tell you from personal experience it is hard to do work and then have the author not pay you – especially when it gets into bigger figures.
 
An editor is an advisor who will offer suggestions on how to make a manuscript better.  The author has to decide if they trust the editor’s experience and advice as well as whether the changes suggested are good for the manuscript.  It is your choice as the author – make it a wise one.

Piles, Packing, and Organizing

by eileentroemel, posted in Life, Writing
I’m not really sure where January and February went.  March is already half done and I don’t know where that went either.  I know I’ve been busy with helping one daughter with health issues and the other daughters with different things.  However, I don’t feel like I’ve been able to catch my breath.  Stuff I intended to have done in January I’m just getting to and it is March.
This morning first thing – before my five day headache had faded to manageable – Ken and I were up and out of the house to run errands for gathering things to take to Vicki.  She sends me a list and gives me money – we go get.  One check mark off my todo list.
We come home and I play on the computer – answer emails, play Bookwork, write in my journal, and tackle piles.  Most of my writing is now organized the way I want it.  I still have some piles that I’m not sure how I want to handle but I’ve gone through several pile and have them labeled and put away.  Things are easily identifiable and accessible. Items I will use often are at hand and others are placed further away. 
Next on my list is some computer work which will take a bit and then I’m off to pack my crafting suitcase for my trip.  I’ve got many of those items ready to go in the suitcase it is just a matter of getting the suitcase out and putting them in.  Although there are a couple of things I want to pull from the craft room. 
When I’m done with these things – providing my headache hasn’t screamed back full force – crocheting will round out my day.  Ken is working in the basement.  The basement guys were here and fixed it last weekend so he can work on getting his workroom set up and the guest room set up.
Tomorrow is a whole different day and I’ll have to figure out what I will be doing then.  Probably more organizing and packing but you never know.  If the headache I’ve had for five days continues I may just spend the day in a dark room doing nothing.  I’ve decided the worst thing about a headache is I can’t crochet while I’m home sick.  It hurts too much.