I need to make better use of this blog. Besides the fact that I pay for it every year, I’m gearing up to publish my first book (!), a cozy mystery, and 1) I need to stay accountable and 2) I want to take you along on my self-publishing journey. There’ll be challenges, learning curves and it’ll probably get pretty sweary!
So, every Thursday, like I did three years ago… I’m going to write about what I’m enjoying, progress I’m making on my cozy mystery, maybe a rant or two… Just whatever life’s throwing at me and what I’m throwing back.
Here goes:
Our Evil HOA is making us paint our house. The cost is heart-thuddingly high but since we may be (or may not be, who can tell what the future holds…) aging in place here, we have to do the upkeep according to the bylaws. My advice—never NEVER live in a place with a Home Owners Association.
Last Saturday was my late mom’s birthday. Every year, we celebrate her day by having lunch at an Italian restaurant, Graziano’s in Yorba Linda. It’s a family run place with authentic tasting food. So good! Chef’s kiss!
This year, we followed the baked ziti with a protest outside the Richard Nixon Library. Colorful balloons were passed out to draw attention and around 250 enthusiastic people came out to take full advantage of our First Amendment Rights. The Mom would have been proud.
Speaking of Italian restaurants… I watched a couple of good movies this week, one set in Italy and one on Staten Island, both with Nonna’s as important characters. I hadn’t meant to watch to a theme, but that just happens sometimes. With books, too, once in a while, .
La Dolce Villa, starring Scott Foley, has a widowered businessman rushing to Italy to stop his daughter from buying a fixer upper villa, thinking it will be just one more thing she’ll bail on. With the help of the lovely mayor of the small, floundering town, and a group of bored nonnas who sit in the village square all day, the villa blooms, and so does love.
The other movie is Nonnas, the based-on-a-true story about a man who opens a restaurant in the aftermath of his mother’s death. His idea is to bring in real-life grandmothers to do the cooking and create a family atmosphere that people will love. I’m not a big fan of Vince Vaughn but he’s lovely in this, along with Brenda Vaccaro, Lorraine Bracco, Talia Shire and Susan Sarandon as the nonnas. Make sure to watch the credits, for footage of the real restaurant!
I had set a goal for myself, with the help of the Write Brave Challenge issued by the Writer’s Atelier, to finish my revisions on the cozy mystery by last Thursday. Which I did – huzzah! I’d been dragging my feet due to a mix of imposter syndrome and reluctance to figure out next steps. The joy of being a writer! Or any creative, for that matter…
Next goal: Having my laptop read the book to me – it’s helpful to hear the words, even though the “reader” is somewhat mechanical. It cracks me up when it mispronounces words, especially names, but sometimes it comes up with sophisticated pronunciations I thought it would miss. And even though the rhythm of its speech is odd, I can still hear when a word is missing or a line just doesn’t sound right. I’m about halfway through. After that, I need to find beta readers to go through it and give me some useful feedback. I’ve already had an editor look at it and she gave me great suggestions, which I’ve incorporated into the story.
I’ll be using the 100 Days to 100K (words) writing challenge this summer, initiated by The Writing Gals on Facebook. Besides the Thursday Thoughts words and possibly more revisions, then the self-publishing roller coaster, I want to start either the second book in my series or a romance. Any challenge that gets me inspired to write, I’m in! If you’re interested, join the Writing Gals page and join in the fun, beginning May 24th! Onward!
And if you want to see the cute little Snack Sized Facts videos The Husband and I are making with his character, Professor Nuttbar, click here for his YouTube channel. We try to get them out once a week, so subscribe if you’d like to see more. Here’s our latest:
Till next Thursday!
I'm Writing As Fast As I Can 