Improvisations on Reality

Thanks once again to the Caper Journal mastermind and all-around powerhouse Lisa Marie Basile for her feature on me.

Link also placed in The Author section on the site.

K.G.

Minor update is in the works, and its name is A.B.N.A. Better known as…Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. And this is the first year they’re accepting self-published authors!

Needless to say, I entered. Am a little shaky, am a little bit…I don’t know, just nervous, but this is awesome. The possibilities are great; the winner gets a couple of grand and a contract with Penguin Publishing. I am not a fan of turning over my rights to the book in the event of a win – my inner control freak rears her head on this one – but considering it takes an act of Deity of Choice to get an agent and a publishing house nowadays, I am hardly going to complain.

So yes, my lovely readers, cross your fingers.

Book 4 will be done…agh, whenever it will be done. I can’t really sleep lately, but that’s for different reasons, most unrelated to writerly things. And I just got another editing session on with Book 2. Awesome!

So the Amazon thing. As you may recall, I had an incident where I noticed that there was a seller that had my book advertised for over a thousand dollars. I find it all rather funny, truth be told.

Well, what’s with the sellers listing my book as used?

To recap: I am self-published via CreateSpace. The distribution channels of CreateSpace, while getting better, are still pretty limited. The primary seller on the Amazon site is, in fact, Amason.That and I will be honest with you: sales had been lackluster and certainly I do not see how this could have ended up as ‘used’, seeing as no one that is listing it as used is, well, a real person.

So I shot off an email to one of the sellers and I’m now curious. How do they acquire their copies? And if this is part of the Amazon agreement, okay – that is fine, except I’d like to see the mechanics of it. I know for a fact that I retain my copyright via CreateSpace, but at the worst, I may consider shopping for an agent after Book 2 and selling the rights to a major publishing house. I would like to have my book not carried by scammers.

Third-party sellers I can live with. Just tell me the how.

K.G.

Dear WordPress,

90 spam comments? What the hell? That’s with Akismet?

E-gad.

Kat.

So I have the Book 2 proof in my hands (click link to see what it looks like) and I absolutely love it. It’s still the same feeling of “Oh wow, I’ve done it!” that I had when I got the proof of Book 1, but this time, it’s a more analytical feeling, especially considering that I’ve already gone through the “getting it to look professional” phase when I worked on Book 1.

Note: Jenna, this is amazing. In print, it’s gorgeous. Just, wow. You outdid yourself.

The overall edit is not half-bad, but that I am leaving to my kickass editors to get back to me on. I’m still ironing out things from Ch. 6 forward; that is to say, p. 130 our of, give or take, 450. Yes, 450. Properly formatted font and format 450.

On one hand, I look forward to editing it. On another, I remember the 10-proof brouhaha that was Book 1 and get the distinct impression that my insomnia is patting me on the head and saying, “Darling, it’s ok. You won’t be rid of me anytime soon.” Complete with requisite shit-eating grin, of course.

*headdesk* the irony to this is….I overslept today. I usually get up at 7:00am to go to work. I got up at 10:00am and only because the gas meter guy knocked on my door. And yes, it’s about to be the Busy Season at my day job. So this, plus Second Job (which is already in busy season) plus editing equals….a lot more incidents where my alarm clock is by the wayside.

I’m just glad now, more than ever, that I’m not doing this alone.

K.G.

Dear Muse,
What gives?! You return, I pump out a damn chapterload of Book 4; I wrap up the preliminary proofing edit of Book 2 and…what? Then you leave again? I thought we were friends, Muse. Or at least, with benefits, but leaving me high and dry when I need to finish this book really doesn’t count as a token thereof.

Now get back here.
No love,
Kat.

Okay, so. Book 2 proof should be coming to me the day after tomorrow, courtesy of the CreateSpace free proof offer. Which means that now I will have the task of prepping Book 2, but this time, alongside my editors. I love my editors, yes I do. A lot.

In other news…not awake. And worrying. And worrying about my lack of sleep. Yes, I’m aware how little that makes sense right now, but that’s my state of mind.

I will book some time off soon. If only to help get things done and together.

K.G.

Yesterday, Miep Gies had died at the age of one hundred.

In Nazi-occupied Holland, she helped hide the Frank and the Van Pels families, as well as Dr. Fritz Pfeffer, from concentration camp deportation. The two families were successfully hidden for two years, until their discovery on August 4th, 1944. When the Gestapo took away the Franks and the Van Pelses and Dr. Pfeffer, Miep Gies took Anne’s diary and other writings from the annex apartment and hid them.  She attempted to bribe the officials for their freedom, without success.

She was knighted by Queen Beatrix of Holland and received the Yad Vashem medal, among other honors.

Most importantly, she kept Anne’s memory alive. She was a living reminder of human courage, having gone to protect them at great personal risk; she was their friend, counselor, greengrocer, butcher, baker, errand-girl for the twenty-five months that the two Jewish families lived in isolation, at risk of being discovered every single day. Up until the last day, she fought tooth and nail to keep them alive and after the war, worked with Otto Frank to ensure they would be remembered. For the people she loved, she knew no boundaries.

We cannot allow ourselves to forget courage of this kind.

For the people we love, may we also know no boundaries. If ever shall we find our friends in need, may her action serve as an example.

Miep Gies, rest in peace. You will not be forgotten.

Just putting a good word of promo for a new forum I am on, Writers Anonymous.

Check it out!

K.G.

May I just say, I love my friends, especially when they tell me about shows like these.

So, last second, I found out that Jeff Lorber was playing at SOB’s in NY, so of course, I went. Was I in for a surprise? Yes. And that surprise’s name is Randy Brecker, one of the trumpet greats, alongside Eric Marienthal, another saxophonist who more than impressed me. I don’t see Brecker play often; the first time I saw him was with Chuck Loeb’s Metro, with Mitch Forman and Dave Weckl and that was a hell of an evening. So whenever I see him, combination of band regardless, I know I’m in for a good night.

SOBs is an awesome space, though. The tab was a bit hefty; only insofar as the menu, but I think it was firmly worth it. Brazilian food is amazing; Brazilian food with a Mai Tai and one of the ‘launchpad’ jazz artists on stage (Jeff Lorber played with Kenny G before he was, well, Kenny G) is phenomenal and well, well worth the extra cash.

More will come with an ETA… am just a tad scattered.