Snow day here, with a major storm underway

Working from home via laptop. Anticipate significant shoveling throughout the day, and looking forward to testing out my new flannel-lined jeans.

Copyedits are en route to Bantam with expected arrival later this morning, and arcaedia liked the revised proposal I sent her. So all in all, life is good.

ETA: I win at life. Itinerant snow shoveler stopped by just as I was getting ready to pull on my boots. The first half-dozen inches have been taken care of, which will make the next pass significantly easier.

2007 in review

Everyone's posting their stats, so I might as well.

THE SEA CHANGE: started 2007 with a bang by writing the eight chapters needed to finish the book (approximately 40K), then a whirlwind of revisions, copyedits and page proofs so that the book arrived in stores as scheduled.

THE FINAL SACRIFICE: which was written this summer in a burst of "OMG must do now!" with constant encouragement from the folks over at novel_in_90. Subsequently revised and have just completed copyedits.

Secret project: wrote and revised proposal.

Over my career I've averaged writing a book a year, so this was a bit more productive than average, making up for slacking off last year. I also took a new job, moving out of I/T finance and back into a technical role as a database designer/admin supporting the finance organization. The new job has come with the requirements for strange work hours which have necessitated adapting my writing schedule, but on the other hand, it's interesting work, so the tradeoff is worth it.

2007 was my tenth anniversary as a published novelist, and I swear I don't know where the time goes. Naively back in 1997 I thought that by the time 2007 came along I'd be a best-selling author, or at the very least I'd have the feeling I knew what I was doing, but not so much.

But as I've been working on the proposal, I realize that my truths are the same. I like telling stories. I like creating characters and the worlds they live in, and I like sharing these with other people. Few people ever manage to publish one book, and even fewer get two. I've managed eleven novels with another one due out next year. Sure I'd love to make the bestseller lists, but where I am right now is a pretty darn good place and I ought to remind myself of that more often.

For 2008, there's the June release of THE FINAL SACRIFICE to look forward to, a busy schedule of cons & booksignings, and work on the new projects to keep me busy.