the ramble

Typos of the week:

“I’m not a looser by no means.”

“Hear’s a picture.”

“about me romantic exelent kisser super nice person”

“Is 38 to old?”

“I’mam active duty marine”

Well, it’s not the book you’ve been waiting for…but I’ve published an e-book! It’s a more detailed (and up-to-date) look at changing your name in Denver. So, if you are getting ready to make a legal name change, you should probably go buy it. And, bonus!, you just happen to be contributing to my writing career at the same time. Win. And win.

The other lovely benefit of this is that I’m learning (albeit with some possible bumps along the way) how to make and publish and format an e-book. I expect the next attempt (which may be on the topics of taking your dog overseas, how to budget for backpacking in Europe or how to publish an e-book – that’s right: clever) to be even better.

Usually I work on the weekends. But this weekend I got a rare treat. My clients were either still working on feedback, still gathering data or still sitting on unsigned contracts. Which left me a weekend all to myself. A weekend of movies and reading European guide books and talking about travel over glasses of wine.

Consequently, today is the first day in a long time that I feel time has slowed down. I’m sitting in my living room with no background noise and no agenda and nothing urgent that must be done right this second. It’s unusually quiet – in the house and in my mind. (And then, of course, right as I am typing this, Luna wakes up from her nap and lets out an alert bark for no reason at all. Or at least no reason that anyone cares about…possibly a dog being walked on our street or someone parking).

Hush, pup.

Back to silence. And thinking. And maybe doing a little reading. I did fall off the reading train a bit this month. Not that I haven’t been reading, but I haven’t been reading for pleasure so much as for research. Reading guidebooks and re-reading books about getting a visa in Europe and living abroad. But perhaps today I’ll get back to my novel: a thick book by Stephen Lawhead about Saint Patrick.

On another note, it’s been almost six months since I quit my full-time job. Lots of people (who are self-employed themselves) told me that once I quit things would fall into place, clients would come out of the woodwork, everything would work out. Back then, even though I knew I was going to do it, there was a little fear that things would be tight and tough and all work.

But those other self-employed people were right. When you take the leap and when you put yourself out there and when you love what you do and you do it well…when all of that happens, things just work. And I’ve been self-employed for six months. Still standing. Making new plans for big changes. Bringing into focus the vague dreams I had for a life of freedom–of living where I like and doing what I like and working on things that could change the world.

And now, in the quiet house, I think it’s time to take a hot bath and do some reading. Before all the clients get their files and data and contracts together (which tends to happen all at the same time – like a perfect storm every week).

As you know, I finished my book this week. Of course, this means another round of chasing down agents and thinking about publishing. Luckily for me, I don’t feel quite so desperate this time. It is no longer my ambition to be soley a book writer. I like content strategy and web writing and my business. And I plan on keeping on doing them–no matter what happens with my book. Of course, I still want to be published. But there are lots of ways to be published.

Having said that, a plan is starting to form in my mind.

I’ve already sent the first few chapters to the agent whose feedback was so invaluable to me two years ago. She’s the one who liked my voice. She’s the one who told me to expand the story. And she has first dibs.

If the book isn’t a fit for her or her agency (for those of you who don’t know the agency world: they mostly focus themselves within certain genres, certain types of books, certain types of authors), then off it goes into the void of agents who don’t love my voice yet.

If all of this fails me, I might just self publish. Before, I would have seen this as a heartbreaking failure. I wasn’t publishing the book for me. It was for the masses! It was going to be my livelihood! It was going to let me travel to exotic bookstore locales and sign books for my adoring fans!

I don’t see it that way anymore, though. It’s my story. I want it told. I want people to read it. And however they get it is however they get it. If one person better understands the nature of love because of it, good. If one person who is lonely feels like they have someone who understands them because they read it (or, I daresay, feels like I do about Eat, Pray, Love…that Elizabeth Gilbert seems like an old friend, telling me a story), wonderful. If people can smile and laugh and have a better day because my life has been ridiculous, the book has done its job.

So, here’s the thought: if I don’t have an interested agent or publisher by the end of the year, I’m going to start doing research on self-publishing an e-book. Meaning that no matter what, those of you who have been patiently waiting for me to get my butt in gear and publish this sucker will get your wish. You will be able to read it sometime next year. Though who knows in what format.

What an exceedingly good week!

.One.
After a long few weeks of working every day for varying amounts of time, I finally took almost three whole days off. I went to the gym. I replaced my embarrassingly holey tank tops at the mall (with BonBon as fashion support). I made shrimp sauted in truffle oil and covered in freshly grated pepper. That, my friends, is the good life.

.Two.
The second draft (and by second draft, I mean major rewrite that took the book from a 32,000-word short story extravaganza to a 70,000-word memoir. Still with lots of craziness. But now also with lots of heart. Today, I sent it off the the potentially-interested agent from two years ago. We’ll see if the interest has grown or faded in that time.

.Three.
Pookie the Raven introduced me to his handsome, kind, scruffy friend. Did I mention that he’s handsome? I win.

.Four.
After going through my wardrobe and significantly diminishing it by tossing out anything that looked garish, had holes, had stains or had been sitting for a year with the intention of finding a tailor, I found myself with very little to wear. For the past few weeks, this has been a source of stress for me, particularly as some of my staples (black tank tops and t-shirts) had made it into the toss-out bin due to holes. This week, I partially rectified the problem by replacing the tank tops (the rest of my wardrobe becomes so much more wearable when I have tops to wear under things!) and buying two cute little jackets.

I’m still holding out to replace the rest of what needs replacing (waiting until after my annual Naked Lady Party, which I’ve planned for early October – and waiting until this gym membership gets me in the shape I A. want to be in and B. can maintain). But at least I don’t have to run around naked. I consider this a win.