There's just five days left before I fly off to Phoenix for the GCLS convention. My publisher called and said she decided to attend at the last minute and since we'll both be batchin' it, it looks like the casino will be our main hang-out. I've read two of the three manuscripts I'm mentoring this year. Overall, there is a story, but they need a little help. Then again, don't we all. Considering it took me twelve years to get my first book written and submitted, I really can't talk. Guess I should have been more aggressive, but never figured anyone would actually publish the damn thing.
I'm pretty excited about hearing Katherine Forrest speak since she's the guru of lesbian literature. Of all the "oldie" writers, I must say I enjoyed her books the most, especially her detective series. They actually have a story without a truckload of gratuitous sex. It always ticks me off that so many lesbian writers think readers won't read their work unless there are twenty solid pages of sex thrown in there. Call me old-fashioned, but the journey to the bedroom is usually more erotic than the activites in the bedroom. Leave a little something to the readers' imagination! Oh, I forget. Not everyone grew up in the pre-television days like I did where you actually had to have an imagination. :) There were some great radio shows back in the day, as if you needed any more proof of my age! I recently read somewhere that 60 is the new 40. That was certainly encouraging. After all, age is nothing more than a state of mind and if you think you're old, you probably are. To me 16 seems as if it were only yesterday.
I'm supposed to be painting a recent renovation to our house, but can't get up the enthusiasm for it right now. I'm waiting for someone to come by and replace a cracked window and don't want to have to stop working once I get a full head of steam going. I have a meeting for work right after lunch and am not too excited about that, other than getting lunch somewhere. I have almost a month of vacation time remaining and hate giving up even an hour of it while I'm off. I enjoy working with the kids, but the adults drive me freakin' crazy!
So, wish me well on my journey next Wednesday. My time between flights is pretty short and one airline is all the way across the DFW terminal from the other one. Hopefully the tram will be functioning and move quickly. Wish I'd paid more attention to the layover time when I booked the flights. Oh well, it keeps life exciting. I'll have a full report once I return. Until then, take care and keep writing.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Catching Up
Now you know how terrible I am at keeping up with this sort of thing. I promised I would attempt to make regular posts here in case anyone wanted to read them, but it's been a few months since I've been here. Sorry about that in case anyone has read it. I've been working on upgrading my MySpace page, with the help of one of our children, and think it looks a little better. I've added a number of pictures and the book trailers I made for two of my books. My friend, Gary has also put up a nice website for me and I have linked this blog site and the MySpace page to it so I can sort of gather everything up and manage it a little better. My website is http://brenda-adcock.com and the MySpace page is www.myspace.com/bkadcock.
And speaking of books, I have finished the latest revision of my next book, The Sea Hawk, and sent it off to my editor. Hopefully, there won't be a truckload of changes that need to be made. My partner and I spent a week in New Orleans near the end of June so I could soak up the atmosphere. About half the story takes place in old New Orleans when it was only the French Quarter. We never left the Quarter during our visit and I learned a lot of interesting historical facts about the city when it was still relatively in its infancy. I hope the description I included in the book will make it enjoyable for the reader. It will be released in January 2009 unless something unforeseen happens.
My fifth manuscript has been accepted by my publisher and is currently scheduled for a July 2009 release. It's entitled Tunnel Vision and is very loosely based on a murder that occurred on the university campus where I did my undergraduate work. As far as I know that guy is still locked away in a mental institution somewhere. I think it's an interesting story, but then I think they are all interesting.
At the end of July I am attending the Golden Crown Literary Society convention in Phoenix, Arizona. It really a terrible time to be in Phoenix no matter how dry they say the heat there is. I don't anticipate spending much time outdoors. In fact, I will probably never step outside the resort where the convention is being held unless I suddenly develop a desire to feel my face crack from all that "dry heat". My last book is a finalist for a Goldie Award in the Mystery category, but I seriously doubt it will make it any further than that. Still, it is an honor to be recognized even a little for your work. I have been asked to be a presenter in one of the categories so it looks like I'll have a reason to wear my tuxedo again. The poor thing only gets dragged out once a year. But I enjoy the opportunity to wear it. Makes me feel kind of cool.
I'm a terrible time manager and haven't gotten much written over my summer break. I'm sure once I return to work in mid-August I will be more productive since my time will be more limited. Thus far this summer we have done a ton of renovation on our home and thankfully we are almost finished. I'm getting too old now for all that manual labor.
Well, it's getting late and I have to be up bright and early tomorrow because I was tapped for jury duty in our local municipal court. They turn no one down for city court and I get to spend the day listening to people explain why the broke a traffic law and shouldn't be punished for it. I've served in city court before and they are mildly entertaining and about half the time the jury doesn't believe the police officer. An interesting commentary on the local law enforcement system.
I'll try to post more regularly, but it's likely I won't post again until after my trip to Phoenix. In the meantime, take care.
And speaking of books, I have finished the latest revision of my next book, The Sea Hawk, and sent it off to my editor. Hopefully, there won't be a truckload of changes that need to be made. My partner and I spent a week in New Orleans near the end of June so I could soak up the atmosphere. About half the story takes place in old New Orleans when it was only the French Quarter. We never left the Quarter during our visit and I learned a lot of interesting historical facts about the city when it was still relatively in its infancy. I hope the description I included in the book will make it enjoyable for the reader. It will be released in January 2009 unless something unforeseen happens.
My fifth manuscript has been accepted by my publisher and is currently scheduled for a July 2009 release. It's entitled Tunnel Vision and is very loosely based on a murder that occurred on the university campus where I did my undergraduate work. As far as I know that guy is still locked away in a mental institution somewhere. I think it's an interesting story, but then I think they are all interesting.
At the end of July I am attending the Golden Crown Literary Society convention in Phoenix, Arizona. It really a terrible time to be in Phoenix no matter how dry they say the heat there is. I don't anticipate spending much time outdoors. In fact, I will probably never step outside the resort where the convention is being held unless I suddenly develop a desire to feel my face crack from all that "dry heat". My last book is a finalist for a Goldie Award in the Mystery category, but I seriously doubt it will make it any further than that. Still, it is an honor to be recognized even a little for your work. I have been asked to be a presenter in one of the categories so it looks like I'll have a reason to wear my tuxedo again. The poor thing only gets dragged out once a year. But I enjoy the opportunity to wear it. Makes me feel kind of cool.
I'm a terrible time manager and haven't gotten much written over my summer break. I'm sure once I return to work in mid-August I will be more productive since my time will be more limited. Thus far this summer we have done a ton of renovation on our home and thankfully we are almost finished. I'm getting too old now for all that manual labor.
Well, it's getting late and I have to be up bright and early tomorrow because I was tapped for jury duty in our local municipal court. They turn no one down for city court and I get to spend the day listening to people explain why the broke a traffic law and shouldn't be punished for it. I've served in city court before and they are mildly entertaining and about half the time the jury doesn't believe the police officer. An interesting commentary on the local law enforcement system.
I'll try to post more regularly, but it's likely I won't post again until after my trip to Phoenix. In the meantime, take care.
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