Okay, the title for this is Cryptic Voodoo. It was inspired by a song by Evanescence. I got the first two chapters done this week. Now I just have to poke a beta or two to look at it to make certain I’m not rambling. It’s darker then my other books, and maybe disturbing to some, but I’m excited to have finally gotten it started.

I’ve feeling very positive about this one, though it’s a tamer romance with a high level of paranormal so we’ll see where it goes. Maybe if I am lucky and my muse and I communicate well I can get this done by my birthday next month. 38 and 5 books completed, not too bad since I started writing non fanfic 6 months ago.

7,199 / 67,500 (10.7%)

Okay, the story of the morning starts of with a letter from Creatrix Books. Their first reader LOVED my book Natural Order, and they are sending it on to a second reader. Even so, they for sure want to publish the book. Now is time for the environmentally gentle confetti and the sparkling
pomegranate juice in a crystal flute right?

That’s kinda what I thought my first acceptance would be like. Thing is because of financial constraints within the publishing house, they are looking at a release date of no sooner than Spring 2009. Now I know print publishing take more time than ebooks, but that still seams a long time, over 2 years.

It leave me to wonder… should I just shut up and be happy someone liked my first novel enough to WANT to publish it? Am I just being impatient, or is two years plus a really long time to wait if I want
to establish myself in the market?

Don’t get me wrong I am thrilled to finally hear from them about it, I’m just not sure if I am being unreasonably concerned about the time, or if there might be a legitimate concern at the reason for the delay.

I talked to the publisher and Creatrix said they would not have me sign the contract for a year. They said I was welcome to shop it around more if I want. If in a year I haven’t found a publisher I thought would do my book justice, then I could sign with them at that time.

They are a small, new publisher (about 2-3 years now), but great people and were open to the high pagan spiritual content of this particular story. I haven’t seen their contract, and I know their distribution is not really high since they publisher is only a couple years old, so I’ve been considering my opinion, who else I might submit to. In the end, worse a publisher can do is say no thanks, and then in a year I return to Creatrix.

So yeah, still a reason to celebrate, but no big party until a contract is signed (after a lawyer looks at it). Getting a yes for this book, so soon after the no for the other, does feel really, really good not matter the downside in the time frame.

Moon.

BTW: that you to the nice person who sent me this quote. I just had to post it.

“The greater the artist, the greater the doubt;
perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize.”
~Robert Hughes, Time Magazine

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

“What food might this contain?” The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The pig sympathized, but said, “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”

The mouse turned to the cow and said, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap– alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house — like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient.

But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer’s wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember — when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

(I want to thank all of you that send me emails encouraging me after my most recent disappontment. It helped to brighten my spirits and gave me some great information in my determination to drive ahead with my work)