Vote Please - Pretty Please?

I'm still undecided in which name I would like to publish under, provided I ever get that far.  But I raised an Eagle Scout, so I know all about "Be Prepared".

I originally thought I would use Stacy Thurber as a pen name.  It's my maiden name, it's kind of famous (if you are familiar with James Thurber, that is), and I would answer to it (even though I have been Stacy McKitrick longer than I was Stacy Thurber). 

So my husband went out and snagged the domain name.  You never know, right?

Then I wondered if it just wouldn't be easier to stick with my legal name.  It's what's out there on this blog.  And as I mentioned before, I have been Stacy McKitrick longer (eight years longer and counting) than I was Stacy Thurber.

So my husband went out and snagged that domain name, too.  Yes - BE PREPARED.

Of course, you can get to my website with either http://www.stacythurber.com/ or http://www.stacymckitrick.com/.  It'll go to the same site (I didn't want to confuse anyone, in the rare instance anyone actually wanted to visit my site).  Then I thought of a good way to use my blog - Take a poll!

So, on the column to the right is a place you can vote.  Which name sounds best to you?  And if you don't like either, then don't vote.  I thought about putting that as an option, but seeing as how I will write under one of those names, I didn't think it would do me any good.

The votes may help me decide, may help me lean more one way than the other.  If I ever snag an agent, they may have some imput as well.  But voting can be fun, and I wanted to put some reader interaction on this blog.  Hope you join in the fun and vote!

Whew!

I think I finally finished THE UNCOMMON ONE: THE MYTH.  At least this round (ha ha).  I know a book is never really finished.  Agents or Editors will have their say.  I also have it with a beta reader right now, so hopefully if I made any glaring errors, she'll find them.  But I'm done for the moment. I didn't think I'd ever get there (wipes hand across forehead).

Now, it's off to working on the synopsis.  I've done one before, but it wasn't very good (plus I changed some stuff in the book).  I took a class and hopefully can put that to good use tonight.  I'm going to try, anyway.

Then, the scary part comes.  Finding agents, what they require, and sending out queries.  I already have a partial list started, so I know where to look.  It would be nice to get some out before the long weekend, but next week FOR SURE!  And then it's on to THE UNCOMMON ONE: THE REALITY.  Can't wait!

One Last Time

Okay, this is the last time I will mention my Xterra (or The Bumblebee as I so fondly named it in my book), until I buy one, anyway (grin).  My husband ran across one such Bumblebee on his trip to New Orleans last week and took this picture. 

Don't know whose car this is, but I'm jealous. 

And in other news, I only have about 19 pages left to edit.  It doesn't appear I'll be finished tonight, and tomorrow we go to a baseball game, so MAYBE I'll be done by Tuesday???  Or maybe it will go faster tonight.  I'll keep you posted (either here or on Facebook).

Word Count Thingamagingy

If you notice, my word count for THE UNCOMMON ONE: THE REALITY has not changed since I put it up there (and it’s not really the EXACT count, but close enough). Unfortunately, it will remain that way for a while longer.

The reason: I’m not working on it. It’s not that I don’t want to work on it – I do. I put that word count up there to motivate me to finish editing Book 1 (THE UNCOMMON ONE: THE MYTH ). And it’s working.

I’ve been editing every night. The end is near! And if my word count (which is still too high) isn’t down by the time I’m done, then I know where I can cut nearly 1000 words (I love the scene, but it doesn’t really MOVE the story forward, so if I don’t cut enough by the time I reach the end, I will remove it – boo hoo).

Deleting words is hard. Some of them are good, some not so good. Either way, I wrote them and I hate to see them go. But if I want my story to be “tight” and under 110,000 words, then I have to cut, cut cut!

I read a blog where someone stated if you write 1000 words a day, you can get three books done in a year (with 65 days to spare, even). Like I commented on her site - I don’t have a problem writing 1000 words a day, I have a problem EDITING them. But I did like that idea, though.

Since Book 2 is pretty much mapped out (I actually plotted-gasp!), then I can start mapping out Book 3 (while writing Book 2). Since I kind of know what I’m doing now (wasn’t that way when I began Book 1), I think maybe my process will speed up a lot more.  Maybe I can get three books done in one year. I can only hope!

I Finally Did It

On Saturday, I actually went and test drove a Nissan Xterra. This one, in fact. For a history of this story, click here.

I thought maybe I could get it out of my system. Wrong! Now I REALLY want one. Just not that color – thus no sale.

I’m kind of glad they didn’t have a yellow one (not that they make them anymore). Then it would have been hard to walk away. But I do believe I found my next vehicle. I liked driving it. I liked sitting up high. I could see me owning one.

But what color? I’m leaning toward the white (since they don’t make the bright red one anymore, either!). I want something visible. Unfortunately, yellow is the only real visible color out there. It just stands out in a crowd (or parking lot).

I figure I’ll own one in about six months. Maybe sooner. Depends on when my daughter needs to replace her old Civic (since she wants to buy my Altima).

Is it bad of me to hope she needs a car sooner?

What Did I Do?

I joined Facebook. Am I nuts? I must be. It’s not like I have the time (or know what the heck I’m doing).

But I found some people I haven’t heard from in a LONG time. Of course, maybe there’s a reason for that…nevertheless, I asked to be their friend.

Wanting to be an author is hard for an introvert like me. And now it looks like I’m trying to suck up to people. Am I? Is that what I’m really doing? I’d like to think that the process of being an author is finally forcing me to do something that I should have done all along – connect with people. I just don’t know how to do it. It’s scary as hell.

Pictures from RT

While at RT, I took some pictures.  Not many, though (this from someone who has a degree in photography).  I'm probably crazy to post some of these pictures - but what the heck!

This is me and Stacie (a classmate from RT and a follower of this blog) with a "Caveman" from Ellora's Cave.  Now, I must set the record straight.  I DID NOT put my hand on his leg.  HE put it there.

This was the scene as we stood in line for the Faery Ball.  You can see lots of people dressed in wings.  I was NOT one of them (I know, party pooper!).

This is a picture of the Book Fair (one-half of the room). It was a mad house, but I managed to purchase 8 books. Good thing I circled (on my list) which authors I wanted to visit. I would have been lost otherwise!

I don't know if I'll make it to another RT convention.  Maybe if they weren't so darn expensive, but who knows.  I'll probably want to go to Los Angeles next year.  It'll give me an excuse to drive up to Santa Barbara to visit my parents!

Back to Reality

It’s back to reality and the reality sucks. But I must bite the bullet. Things could be worse. I could be unemployed and homeless and I’m neither. So I’ll wait. It’ll get better. It’s got to. I’ve waited too long to find my passion.

While the week at RT was exhausting, I had fun. The only bad part was I didn’t have any time to write at night. Maybe if I had stayed at the hotel I would have found some time (of course, I may have used that to sleep), but I drove in each day from my friend’s house (much appreciated, too!) and left my computer behind. By the time I got “home” each night, I was too tired to even think.

It was nice to see some of my charter members (having name badges sure helped) and putting faces to names. I also enjoyed hearing some of my favorite authors speak. What’s really strange is to know that I belong in their group. I’m one of them! Well, the writing group, anyway. Eventually, I’ll make the published group (I’m very optimistic).

Brought home more books than I ever expected: 54. And I only purchased 8 of those. I can now see why readers like to go to these things. If they’re good, they’ll get their price in books returned for the cost of the convention. I don’t know how many of the 54 I’ll actually read (I’d like to say all of them, but I won’t hold my breath) since I spend MOST of my free time writing. I always carry a book with me, though (idea courtesy of Stephen King). You just never know when you’ll be stuck in line somewhere. Reading passes the time with pleasure (and speed).

I sent my 10 (requested) pages out to the agent yesterday (after I read it out loud and fixed any glaring errors) and hope to send some queries out this week. So now the wait begins. I’ll try not to be anxious (Unlike my daughter, who was invited to see the Penguins play in Game 5 in Pittsburgh, 12 rows from the glass – lucky girl!).