I write, hence I read more too?

My Kindle shelf is getting larger and larger. It's amazing how a world of depleted reading habits can changed... as far as I am concerned, ever since I've started writing seriously. There are two reasons really. First, it's because of, as I said, writing. You kind of need to read other authors to have any chance of 'getting it'. You know what I mean? Second, Amazon and Kindle store for that matter have changed everything. I can download tons of wallet-friendly free and 99 cent books. That is a true revolution in reading. For me at least.

All of this has led to much more reading but it's a different kind of reading. I now read some 10 books simultaneously because Kindle knows where you stayed last. Smart, ha! Looking at Amanda Hocking's latest post, she is pretty much along those lines too. That reminds me of another issue that she covers in her latest post - that of book descriptions. I always wondered what it is but she just got it so right. I'd never read a book based on the provided description. They are sooo... lame (in most cases).

Am I shooting myself in the foot here? Because I'll need to write one too. I guess Amanda's advice of writing a 5-word version is right down my alley. It's about deception amidst war. How about that? Or perhaps love and deception amidst war? Ah well, I'll figure it out in time for publication.

By the way, I also found a fantastic ebook reader for my daughter. Sadly, they're still negotiating a deal with retailers here in the UK but once out, GoBook 8" Tab should be big hit with children eager to benefit from colours and interactivity.

Being knackered

Am I knackered? You bet I am. I work until 2am or 3am every single day apart from Saturday night. Am I whining? Not by slightest! I am editing my first novel and although I should have finished it by now it only gets better and better. Perhaps a writer can afford a slippage once enriched by a portfolio of well accepted books but the first one needs to be good. The hell with good, in author's eyes it needs to be perfect. But here is the catch - it can't be good/perfect unless you invest enough effort. Enough effort that is to get completely and utterly knackered.

So where am I now you might ask. I just about finished Chapter 5 and two chapters back I realised working chapter by chapter and polishing them to the literary atoms suits me most. I edit the chapter once, accept all changes and then I comb it again and again and again, until... well, until I am happy with the flow and words and pace... I really feel like I am going through a PhD journey again but this time it's all about fun. I truly and wholeheartedly enjoy every bit of it.

And you wouldn't believe what happened yesterday. Well, I'm still not sure I believe this either but here you go. It was 2:30am and I was reading a page (page 143, I think) without changing a thing. So far so good but wait! Somehow I managed to fall asleep and when my head bumped against the screen I noticed page 143 has been edited. Should I be even telling you this? Well, call me crazy but that's what I saw (a miracle?).

And again, do I whine? No I don't. Oh boy, I love every second of writing and editing. I am knackered but I am damn happy and as Jason Donovan said to Piers Morgan today - "happiness is the key to success". One of the best interviews I've ever watched, by the way.

That's life - wonderful and peculiar

I begin to wonder whether ups and downs in human life are nature's deliberate attempts to either make or break you. I'd much rather stay on the "make" side, thank you. So, what happened? Well, I kind of didn't follow my promise of heavily promoting my new Construction Management book through my social media accounts. I did mention it once or twice but that's not self-promotion in its true sense. So, I decided to do this yesterday using my Twitter account. Mind you, I only sent out one book-related post.

It took Cesar Abeid from Remontech, a Canadian Construction Management company, a minute to respond and ask me whether he could interview me for his really well received podcast. I thought he was joking. You know, one of those automated spam posts or something. No, no, no, he is a real person! I talked to him today and he humbly presented the idea behind his podcasts. It's absolutely fabulous and it only took one (ONE) tweet. He will interview me on Thursday and believe it or not, he was thanking me! Hello, it's me who should be grateful and I am, I totally am.

Anyway, not being used to this I thought that was sensational. But then I read another tweet a couple of minutes later. It was sent by @beas_bloomsbury. Bea basically asked for some help with their kitchen floorplan and offered cakes as a form of payment. Anyone who knows me would understand why I replied to her within a split of a second. Come on, it's CAKES we're talking about!

I checked her website and then realised: Bea is a celebrity patisserie chef who a few years ago turned down the offer to be a head chef at Nobu London. She now owns her own Bea's Bloomsbury on several locations (including Chelsea and Maltby st.). The patisserie has been praised all over the world. Surreal, I'm telling you. I need to survey her main kitchen on Saturday and she offered to treat us at Maltby st. Market. I am thrilled! The update follows but in the mean time, thanks Bea for your kind offer!

Oh yes, and I am still editing my novel. It's getting together really nicely and all these revisions and delays are totally necessary. I guess it will be finished by the end of May and published on Kindle in June. Watch this space!

Self incredulity or whatever

Wow, I haven't posted anything since March. What can I say, the whole of the spring term was incredibly busy and then there was Easter. We visited our parents, my father managed to catch pneumonia and I was intentionally offline for the most part of the Easter break. Intentionally, yes, because I got sick of hundreds of e-mailed demands per day. Everyone wanted something so I simply cut myself off. On the other hand, being with my family meant a world to me.

In the mean time my copy-editor returned the book giving me plenty to work on. Though, I am happy with the feedback - I need to address a few points but overall the work is publishable (apparently). I confess the delay, I confess that much more needs to be done to raise the quality of my first novel and I confess, I began doubting myself. It's one of those periods filled with disbelief that I could ever publish a book.

Ah well, I read a dozen of posts by J. A. Konrath and Googled a few more unbelievable Kindle success stories. It's all to revive the spirit and it's all to stimulate dreaming again. Am I back? Well, no, I always need a week to get back to my best performance after holidays but boy I enjoyed not sitting in front of the buzzing machine with a screen.

Delay

I received a very polite e-mail from my copy-editors yesterday explaining that they are willing to give me my money back because they won't be able to deliver within the advertized 21days! Wow, I was thoroughly impressed by their honesty.

OK, they do preach left right and center about their short turnaround times but hey, it's the quality that matters and a couple of weeks up or down - it won't matter in the long run anyway. I've been busy with my day job like mad in the recent weeks - hence the silence on my novel writing front so I was even more understanding as I know pretty damn well how damaging deadlines sometimes can be when you're dealing with all things unpredictable. Trust me, creativity doesn't know project management and you cannot squeeze it into the clamp of time.

Of course, I am eagerly awaiting the results and since this is my first novel, I'm not surprised they need more time than usual. I still believe though the book has got a compelling story and is easy to read. It should be an interesting subject for young adults who will be able to sympathize with Nathan's fears and understand the origins of his demons. Oops! I told you the main character's name... Ah well, it's almost 1am and after half a year of excruciating tempo, even holding a backspace key seems like too difficult.

So, all in all, I'm happy with the progress - despite the delay. I'll get the book back from the copy editors on the 30th March (or thereabout) and that means it will be available on Kindle store towards the end of April. I'm still happy though, it's the second book I wrote within a year!

Waiting game

I've recently signed up with Goodreads and almost instantaneously got more than 20 friends! Yeah, you might think that's not much but let me tell you something, I am thrilled. Even Amanda Hocking is my friend now on Goodreads and that makes me even more thrilled! Don't laugh, let me enjoy the moment.

It gave me an opportunity to revisit my list of books I read and it's not that short but I don't even remember all the books I've ever read... Though, Kindle has made reading now so accessible I will be reading like a passing train so watch my space on Goodreads. ;)

My book is with the copy editors right now... I am awaiting their report and it is a waiting game but my mind is not playing games with me this time and I am really relieved. Yes, I do expect very critical feedback but what the heck, you've got to start somewhere. Everyone is writing about "beta readers" though and I simply can't find any! All my friends are either so busy it would take them a year to get back to me - perfect for actually going mad; or they are not native English speakers. Well, I decided to do extra self-editing and then sent the book directly to my copy-editors. Look, I've got to start somewhere. It's not ideal but it is a start.

I've also started writing another book of mine (better say continued writing). It's a guide for aspiring individuals who wish to pursue PhD/Doctoral studies but I am writing it in a story-telling style to grasp the attention (I hope). Will be fun in the coming weeks as I am also planning to start writing my next novel. I haven't figure out the title yet but something to write about in my next post.

Long time

I haven't posted anything for so long Firefox actually wanted me to retype the already saved password... Shame on me! Ah well, life was tough in the past few weeks and tiredness caught up with me big time. I'm swinging from exhilarated anticipation of something wonderful to dark depths of self-doubt but I'm not giving up (apart from an occasional rant on my blog - purely for cleansing purposes though...).

The Construction Management Strategies book is coming out on 30 March 2012 and my novel is coming out by the end of March too so I should be happy, right? Wrong! I spent weeks now doubting myself, doubting my writing and desperately scanning through the books in Waterstone's whilst on a business trip in Edinburgh (ssshhh!), trying to compare my writing with published and respected authors.

Good grief, why does life play around with our emotions so much? I read an article today saying we should let go and give our emotions space to breathe. I'm doing it, don't you worry about that but doubt always finds a way back (if only I'd have such a good Sat-Nav!). I let go, it feels fabulous for a while but then it comes back again and so on and so forth. Doubt, get out of my life!

My hope and my wish? All of this will go away once my books are published. In the mean time, I sit and wait for my copy-editors to do their job dying in doubt and praying my copy-editors don't come back saying it was all in vain. I love the story, I think it flows nicely but doubt is eating me alive right now. Aaghhhrrr