Blog of Author Christine d’Abo
OMG I just got the BEST vacation present!! My editor emailed me to say that The Bond That Saves Us is being released on AUGUST 12TH!!!
*does a snoopy dance*
I so wasn’t expecting this to come out as soon as it is, but I have to say I’m tickled pink!! Over the next week, I’ll be posting some excerpts to tickle your fancy and get you all excited about the final Eternal Bond book.
Well folks, I’m not sure if hubby and I are brave or insane. We are getting ready for our family vacation, which starts on Saturday. It will take us the next two days to prepare for the drive.
I hear you asking, “Why so long, Christine?” Excellent question! You see we need all the prep time because we are driving from Ontario to New Brunswick. Now if you put this into Mapquest, it tells you that it will take 16 hours to complete this insanity. This (naturally) ignores the idea of traffic, or the fact I will have two kids and a dog in the car. Hubby and I are anticipating it will take us between 18-20 hours with stops and slow downs.
In the car.
With two kids AND a puppy.
Yes, yes, I hear your laughter now. But we are strong! We are prepared (or will by tomorrow night)! I have Gravol for the kids…and have figured out that we can give it to Jack too (he’s the dog, not my husband). We have the laptop and an adapter ready to go so the kids can watch Smallville (Superman saves the day AGAIN!), and I’ll have a good assortment of music to listen to while I drive.
And yes, I’ll do most of the driving. I’m a terrible passenger, so it’s less stressful on hubby if I just drive. 
So, I won’t be on my blog for two weeks, but I will be bugging everyone on Twitter.
Wish me luck!
No one claimed being any type of artist was easy. For the most part, friends and family don’t get what you do (even the really supportive ones), you are constantly battling self doubt, only to put your work out there and pray someone likes it. Those of us who do it have our own reasons for what drives us on. Sometimes, those reasons get a bit muddy.
I really love being a writer–but it is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I’ve never questioned my own ability to accomplish what I set out to do in my life. I wanted to write a book. I wanted to be published. I did and I am. Next on my list, I want to have an agent and be published with a NY house. I will…only a matter of time. But I’m impatient with myself. Honestly, it’s one of my greatest faults.
Why am I rambling on about all this? No, I’m not trying to toot my own horn, looking for sympathy, or prove I’m some sort of uber-awesome person. To be honest, I’m finding myself slipping. My writer self has been going through some soul searching recently. I’ve been asking myself some questions (what do I hope to accomplish? how am I going to get there?) and I’ve come to the realization that I’ve lost sight of why I wanted to be a writer in the first place.
I love telling stories. I like making shit up and getting a reaction out of people. If you’ve ever met me, you know I’m even worse in person. That drive to entertain is something very deeply ingrained in me.
Recently, I’ve lost sight of that.
I’ve been finding myself drifting. I’m more concerned with writing to the market. While that’s important, it can also be stifling. While I want to advance my career, I need to be true to myself. This is the reason I haven’t been able to do much recently. I’ve been feeling trapped as a writer–not quite good enough to go in one direction, but wanting a new challenge.
So, I’ve come over to my blog and am giving myself an opportunity to get all these thoughts out of my head and onto the virtual paper. I need to look at them and figure out what I need to do to move forward. I know a lot of you out there who read my blog are also writers. I’m asking for your advice as well. How do you keep yourself going and focused?
My motivation has slipped, but it’ not gone.
It really is funny to go back and read something you’ve written quite some time ago. It’s my voice, but not really. I’ve changed a lot over the past two years, and I hope its all for the better. That said, it can be really hard for me to go back and make edits to a story, knowing there is a problem with the voice, but not seeing why.
Thank god for critique partners! *hugs JK and Amy*
The good news, is that I’m almost done the edits I wanted for this submission to Spice Briefs. I think I need to add some more sex to it (because you can never go wrong with more sex), and then out the door it will go! This is my first time submitting to Spice, so I’m curious to see what will happen. This might not be the right story for them, but I’m excited to give it a go.
Once this one is done, I’ll be going back to my WIP for a while. It’s an urban paranormal, and very different from anything else I’ve ever written. If I actually sell this one, I might have to consider a different pen name. There’s no sex! Shocking, I know.
I really want to try and tie up loose ends over the next week and a bit before I go away on vacation. It’s been a while since we’ve been home, and I’m looking forward to spending time with my family.
I hope everyone is having a great week so far.
HUGS!
So maybe I need to post more blogs becasue yesterday, I was seriously motivated. I managed to get my read through done for my submission. Cut quite a bit, tightened some more and even got it off to my fantastic critique partners. I got through a contest entry (mostly) before I fell asleep at my keyboard.A very productive night.
I got stuff done! *does a snoopy dance
Today, I managed to get about a 1000 words written on my WIP before heading out to work. It was early morning, so I may have to tweak when I get to read it over tonight. Still, forward motion is positive. I also have a plan for another story that is half done.Been turning that puppy over in my mind all day.
I think what I need to do is make myself a bit of a project plan. What I want to work on and when I hope to have it finished by. I’m a task list kind of girl, so having things to check off makes me happy. I’ll give that a think.
The good news is that the writing is finally happening again. The editing is going well. I should have a release date for The Bond That Saves Us soon. You can pre-order All Bottled Up on both Amazon and Chapters websites (I giggled when I saw that last one), and I’ll have at least one more print book out by October.
I am a happy author today.
The weather is finally starting to turn nice where I am…I hope. The rain has been a bit crazy over the past few weeks making it not feel like summer. This weekend it was beautiful though, and I even managed to get out for a few walks with my dog. Jack and I have a nice route and I get to listen to lots of music as I go.
These walks have been very good for me. I’d been having difficulty focusing on my writing recently – not because I don’t want to write, but I’ve been putting other things ahead of it. Important things like family and friends, but still…
As I’ve been trotting around the neighborhood, my mind has started rolling over the three stories I have on the go at the moment. I’ve been spinning my wheels on all of them, not making any headway. Starting today, I’m going to change that.
I’m starting with the smallest of the stories (and the one that is 95% ready to go), and this week plan to clean it up and send it off for submission by Friday. I’m telling you here simply as public motivation…and if I don’t actually do it, you all have permission to kick my ass (Amy and a few others are actually close enough to me to physically do it to!).
So, goal for this week – Clean up story and submit it to Spice Briefs.
I’ll keep you all posted on how I’m making out.
Happy Canada Day! There is something fantastic about having a day off in the middle of the week. Not only did I get to listenn to the new radio play Torchwood: Asylum on BBC4 Radio, but I’ll be heading out for some festivities soon. When we get home there will be a BBQ and wine – good times.
And for your listening entertainment, this little video was Twittered by Leah Braemel. Silly thing has been stuck in my head for DAYS now. Enjoy!
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