As always, I made it down to the wire with my proofs, emailing them in at around 5:30 NY Time. It’s been confirmed that they arrived safely, and so I’m done. I doubt I will ever read the book again for the rest of my life. It’s too brutal to see what you can’t change, you know?

Now, I am literally exhausted. Just wiped out. I’m going to crash early tonight. Tomorrow I’m going to get the crits I have waiting finished, and then, aside from edits to two stories and writing a short, all I have left for the rest of the year is TPB and I’m so glad. I really, really like this story and it’s important to me to be able to concentrate my full attention on it.

So I’m going through my proofs and I’m thinking there are whole passages I’d write over again if I had the chance, and how readers will read this, see what an amateur I am and never buy from me again. My career will be ruined and I’ll live in a cave forever. (I’m only partly kidding.)

And then I got this wonderful, wonderful, wonderful letter from a reader who’d just finished Misled and loved it, which reminded me that the reason I do this is to share my stories, and all the other stuff is outside my scope to worry about. Is BBA obviously a first book? Sure, the rough edges show, but I’m feeling much better about that after reading how my story gave her the escape she looks for when she sits down to read. The email came at just the right moment. (I wrote Misled around the time I wrote Stolen Pleasures.)

In other news, I updated my RITA judging choices this morning. I hope I get some erotic romance in my pile. *rubs hands together*

…has ended and I didn’t finish near as much as I needed to. Not even half. :doh: It’s killing me. I have three crits sitting here that were won or purchased (my cps are lost in their own writing right now, which is a blessing in a very sad way. I miss reading their stuff.), my proofs (which need to be resolved by the 12th. Yep. One more day) still need to be read, the bookshelf on the Passionate Ink website is still not completed. I haven’t reached the half way point in my ms, which I’d promised myself I would finish by Sunday. I have emails in my box that are red flagged from days ago that need to be answered. I have a list of links that I need to go through and weed out the dead ones. (It’s my share of work for a group site)

My 6 year old son told me today that I spend too much time working and not enough with him.

But look at that list above. Do you see how little of that has to do with writing my books? So I’m cutting back. Big time. Kacey said:

Everything else has to take a back seat. Which means saying no.

And I’m going to have to start doing that a hell of a lot more. I’m going to start saying NO to things that aren’t related to my writing so I can have a life with my kids and write good books. That’s my plan and I’m sticking to it.

In other, more fun news, Bad Boys Ahoy! :pirate: is now on sale on Amazon UK, Amazon France, and Amazon Germany, which is happy news because my dad and his friends live in Pisa, Italy. :cheer: (It’s also selling on Chapters.ca and Amazon.ca for Canadians.)

Hubby took the day off tomorrow and we’re going to go out to lunch for the first time in years. :bounce: So it’s not all bitching and moaning :baby: over here at Sylvia Central. (I just hate feeling like stuff is getting left behind, you know? Especially my family.)

I sit here and realize how much of my time is eaten up by things that have little to do with writing. Like Passionate Ink, where I am presently President, PAN Liaison, and webmistress. And the other chapters I am a member of and participate in. And the e-mail… good grief the daily e-mail deluge. Blog postings here and on RTB and on the new PASIC blog. And promo. Not just for Misled, which just came out, but also for Bad Boys Ahoy!

Yes, I hire the coordinating of my promo out, but I still worry about it. Selling enough copies of BBA really scares the crap out of me. Do enough readers know about it? Do they know what it looks like, what it’s about, when it’s coming out, etc. etc.? People tell me, “Do what you can and then forget about it.” But I can’t. I know I’ll be kicking myself for not doing something I should/could have done.

And tonight, I sat here writing a scene that I enjoyed immensely, and tomorrow I have another scene to write that I will enjoy immensely, and I think, “When did everything veer so far away from just writing, which I absolutely love? Why is all of this other stuff intruding on what matters most? Why am I worried about who is buying what, and who is and isn’t linking to me, and whether or not I’ve got enough exposure for BBA and myself? Why do I have so many commitments now that have nothing to do with writing?”

I don’t know.

»October 9, 2005 9 pm EDT
Sylvia chats at The Romance Studio.
TRS Chat Room

I found Bad Boys Ahoy! selling on Walmart.com! :bounce: :cheer: :yay:

You are ‘Gregg shorthand’. Originally designed to
enable people to write faster, it is also very
useful for writing things which one does not
want other people to read, inasmuch as almost
no one knows shorthand any more.

You know how important it is to do things
efficiently and on time. You also value your
privacy, and (unlike some people) you do not
pretend to be friends with just everyone; that
would be ridiculous. When you do make friends,
you take them seriously, and faithfully keep
what they confide in you to yourself.
Unfortunately, the work which you do (which is
very important, of course) sometimes keeps you
away from social activities, and you are often
lonely. Your problem is that Gregg shorthand
has been obsolete for a long time.

What obsolete skill are you?
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