A Year in the Life of a Novelist

A Year in the Life of a Novelist
or
How I Wrote a Great Deal Without Saying Much

by Sandi Layne

I am sitting here with my new laptop computer.  Actually, it’s a refurbished MacBook Pro.  I used to have a MacBook, when I started writing here for My Vamp Fiction.  Then, in September, my computer took an unexpected trip to The Land of The Gray Screen, leaving me sitting here with an unpleasant expression.

There are no words when you lose your means of producing them.

As the year started, I was having cover art being created by graphic artist, Megan Dooley.

Link to title:

As a self-published author, I get the opportunity to choose what goes on the back cover of my novel, so I tinkered with what I wanted to have Megan incorporate on the cover. She asked for images I wanted and I can’t remember everything, but I did insist on the inclusion of a claddagh ring being on the cover in some way.  Megan did amazing work, blending and coloring and then going through trial after trial as she worked with the printer’s template and the graphic’s resolution once it was completed.  We had a good time working together. :)  And she’s still speaking to me, so that is “WIN” in my book.

I also did a new thing and had this title “Kindled” to sell via Amazon.  I will say here that I was less than thrilled with sales on the Kindle edition of this title. Overall, I had the same number in print as in electronic formats, so I don’t know if I’ll be doing that again for my next book. We’ll see.

About the time this was ready to be published, my husband’s employer filed for bankruptcy and he lost his job when the company shut its doors for liquidation.  Understandably, this set me off my stride in terms of novel-writing, though I did do a bit of freelancing during this transitional time while he found a new job.

Spring of this year found us moving.  My husband moved months ahead of the rest of us, so he could get to work and find us a home.  Which he did! My job was to pack the house and get our sons through the rest of the school year.  Which I did!

I also backed up my computer at this time, tucking everything away to a flash drive.  I did my best to be proactive. I also backed up my Kindle onto my laptop.  Turned out to be a good thing.

Because we moved in the summer and my Kindle died and then my laptop’s harddrive deep-sixed and I was left with a !!!! expression on my face.  And my flashdrive…hadn’t been unpacked yet.

Now, this is not to say I wasn’t writing during this time. If you’ve been following Quill’s Corner this year, I’ve posted a column every month, as well as being involved with some extra-curricular activities, writing blurbs, a foreword, and so on. My productivity was affected, though, by the loss of my laptop.

Fortunately, I have amazing pre-readers! One of them, a lovely woman named Kathie Spitz (who beta-read Making a Diamond for me) had the text of my historical romance novel that I had passed along for her opinion.  One third of the novel, to be precise.  She had it all and she emailed it back to me because, alas, I still can’t find my flashdrive.

Word to the wise? Backing up your work to a remote location is a good thing. Just made very sure that remote location is accessible when you need it.

I have written thousands of words this year. Tens of thousands.  In addition to editing, volunteering my time, writing derivative fiction (still working on the Pride and Prejudice story!) for my own amusement, and other projects, I have been busy enough.  I hope, though, to finish a new novel in the first half of the new year.

Daydreaming, after all, is my stock in trade.

To sum up:

There was once a daydreamer named Sandi
Who with words could converse, e’en bandy!
Her computer, though, died –
Her imagination, though, sighed –
So she moved, re-quipped and is now dandy.

May your holiday be filled with all the best blessings. May it be rich in good feeling, rich in fond memories, and may you be surrounded by your nearest and dearest,

From Quill’s Corner: