For a variety of reasons, it’s been a tough week. I woke up this morning in bad mood. Sometimes when I’m feeling cranky, I’m able to channel that feeling into something creative. Today, I most definitely am not able to be creative. So, I have been working through my list of pointless, soul-sucking tasks. Why be on hold at a customer service line in a better mood? And vacuuming is definitely a chore for a testy mood. How dare those dust bunnies collect there!
Having mowed through a sizable stack of current issues, I turned my attention to marketing. Marketing is not a job for the grumpy; however, my marketing staff is singularly lacking alternatives. And Paw Prints in the Ledger will be out in 41 days! Reviewing my list of marketing items (I am a list maker) I realized that my blog had been neglected for 38 days!
So… what have I been doing?
Paw Prints in the Ledger: Audiobook
I read a lot of audio books, and it was important to me to have an audiobook option for Paw Prints. After doing some research (really, you can learn anything on YouTube) I test drove recording a chapter. While it was acceptable, part of me knew that if I was reading this recording on a long car trip, I would be disappointed. I decided to grit my teeth and hire a narrator.
This turned out to be an interesting experience. ACX, the Amazon company that will produce and distribute the audiobook, facilitates an audition process where professionals submit a recording of five hundred words selected by the author. I received sixteen auditions and they were all really good. I narrowed it down to three and asked some follow up questions about Oregon pronunciations. In the end, I selected Stacey Lind to narrate Paw Prints.
We are now several more steps down the road to an audio book. Stacey and her production crew think the recording will be done mid-August. From there, the audio will go through several quality checks. In short, we are hoping for a release date close to the August 27th print book date, probably around the first part of September.
Another task in this process is creating a book cover for the audiobook. After contacting The Wild Rose Press, I discovered that using their book cover would not allow me to change or add any information (such as the name of the narrator.) I created this comparable cover for the audiobook.
One disappointing thing about the hiring of a third-party narrator is the number of typos she has found. Typos are not the end of the world. I read over them all the time, and not just in my own work. But it does leave something to be desired when a minor character has a sex change between scenes…
Ruff Justice
A secondary project over the last few weeks has been finishing the edits and rewrites on the second Canine Accounting Caper book. In February, I would have said the book was done, but by the time I went through the full editing process on Paw Prints, there were a lot of things I wanted to adjust. Finally, last week (July 7, to be specific) I turned in the manuscript to my editor. Now, it’s hurry up and wait for the edits.
Shifting Jobs
With book #2 turned in, I could have worked on editing #3. Instead, I chose to switch trajectories and work on my children’s book.
I submitted the children’s book I am calling DDD to The Great Critique held in the last part of June. This gave me a lot of good feedback which I am still pondering.
A second children’s book, referred to as W for now, has been through a couple of critique processes. With the story “done” the next big step is the illustrations. I have had value studies done for a while, but the colorization process is daunting. Through the SCBWI, I am taking a class over the summer called Portfolio Percolator. I’m using this class to work on colorizing the spreads.
Any Art in There?
Between my day job, currently described as writer, which includes all the tasks above, I still try to produce some art. You know… as a hobby.
In the first part of July, the Pacific Artists’ Co-Op Gallery had its quarterly reset. I turned in several new pieces (which I failed to get a photo of) including the one above, “Whale of a Tail”.
Continuing the theme of large paintings, I used a reference photo of my tiny cat, Anouk, to paint a large piece called “Buried Treasure.”
I think I’m hilarous.
Between and around these paintings, other pieces have appeared.
I have also managed to enter the NWWS International show with “Gifts” as well as two newer pieces.
I need to enter the Watercolor Society of Oregon (WSO) show by the end of the month, which is where I hope the crane paintings will go.
In final news, my friend, Sandra Pearce, and I have made arrangements to paint together in September for the Coastal Plein Air for the Florence Regional Art Association (FRAA). If you are in the area, plan to stop by the event in mid-September. If you’re an artist, consider entering!
I think that’s all the news that’s fit to print around here. Running through my list has made me a little less grumpy. I’ll give the dog another walk and hope the fresh air continues the trend. I hope you are having a great summer!