10/22/2012
Yesterday Amazon told me Hearts Afire – the e-version would be ready by today but, that hasn’t happened. Very frustrating. Their system reviews it and that takes a certain number of hours. Everything else I have done with them has taken fewer hours than they said it would, but for reason Heart’s Afire is sent to taste my patience because it’s been slow, slow, slow.
I was also hoping to have paperback copies ready in 2 weeks to take to the local Night Markets where I am having a stall but there seems to be no way that’s going to happen either. A series of delays on this journey – a week held up here, a few days there, another couple at the next hurdle – seem to be conspiring to make that impossible.
Essentially getting this book out has been the literary equivalent of pulling teeth…slow, painful, mess.
I’m pretty goal-focussed actually. I work well with deadlines. Sure, I might ignore them for weeks on end and run full-tilt towards them arms waving until I fall exhausted on top of the deadline but I get there. This book will have taken me two full months longer than planned. It was originally supposed to be ready August 24 and it’s Oct 23rd here today…I view this sort of inability to meet a deadline as a big failure….so I’m having to dust myself off and tell myself otherwise (though as you can tell I haven’t quite sold myself on the idea yet).
It also means I’m unlikely to have the next book Alpahet Dating ready in December. I am happy to report that I was re-reading parts of it today before I send it out to some generous readers and I still like the characters and the premise. ou may have to wait until January to meet the lovely Serena and her friends but I think you’ll enjoy them when you meet them.
Being a writer has many frustrations. There are so many set-backs and delays and things you have to factor in and can’t control, and I believe that’s true whether you’re being published by a large publisher or you’re an independent like me.
What one needs to try and remember is that it’s really all about the characters. I really like my characters and I want my readers to as well. I think of them as friends (my characters and my readers) and I want them to have a successful journey but ultimately I just enjoy writing stories about people whose company I enjoy.
