So the proofing is done and I can relax a bit before plunging into the next project (which will probably be a TV spec script of a currently popular show, although my second YA novel manuscript calls to me longingly). Research for the spec script involves watching eps of the TV show on my Tivo and making notes. Rough life, ey?

But before that, I had to go hang out with my friends, have a beer, watch the kids soak each other with large water guns, and eat Pam's delicious grilled pizza. Along the way I got great news - my friend Harry Connolly's new sci fi novel will be out in September. A mutual friend has read an advance copy and sang its praises to the heavens. It is the first part of a trilogy, and I can't wait to read it.

Another friend is busy finishing up the treatment for a horror film for the SyFy channel. He's gotten great feedback from the network and is happily fleshing out his outline and clarifying the story points. Fingers crossed they love the script and that we're all soon watching it on a bigscreen TV soon.

Add in my homemade quacamole (food processor broke, but squeezing the limes canceled out the garlic smell lingering on my hands), fudgie oatmeal bars by esteemed baker Brian, Pam's delicious grilled pizzas, and a clear night in Burbank with nearly everyone up and hula-hooping, and you've got the recipe for an inspirational good time.

And a nod to the men and women of our armed services on this Memorial Day, whose courage in serving out country through the years through desert, mud, jungle, and sea provide further inspiration. It's everywhere if you look hard enough.

Proofing takes Forever

(Sung to the tune of "Diamonds are Forever")

So I'm proofing the rewrite, and totally underestimated the time necessary for it. I hummed along thinking, la la la, I'll just whip through the proofing and send it off.

Ha!

You can't whip through proofreading, because then it isn't proofreading, it's speed reading. I often say the words out loud or consciously make my eyes embrace each word as it comes along as I proof. Otherwise I'd skip along, tra la, and skip all the typos and awkward phrases. Writing and reading are so much more fun than proofing. But you can't send out a manuscript with errors, baby. It's not professional. And it's us amateurs that need to look professional the most.

A little more than halfway through the proof. If lucky, and determined, I hope to finish it tomorrow.

Writers don't work for you

I love George R.R. Martin's grand fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, and I'm impatiently waiting for the next book to come out so I can see what happens to all the characters I've come care about so fervently. Jon Snow! Tyrion Lannister! Arya Stark! These are some of the most three-dimensional, fascinating people I've ever met, and I can't wait to remake their acquaitance.

And GRRM, as we fans call him, has not produced the fifth book in his series on any of the dates his publisher has put forward, promising us we'd have the book.

This doesn't make me mad, as it does some of GRRM's fans. But it does frustrate me. Write, GRRM, write! That's what I think. How hard can it be?

I'm a writer. I should know better.

Neil Gaiman puts it brilliantly in a response to a GRRM fan's question on this topic on his blog.

You can click on the link to read Neil's thoughtful, oh-so-right response in full. Or you can get the gist from one sentence:

"George R.R. Martin is not your bitch."

There's a lot more to it. But that's the essence of it all. If you pay for a book, then you got what you paid for. One book is not a promise of future books. George R.R. Martin does not work for me. And he has his own life to lead.

Still can't wait for the next book, though. Hang in there, GRRM!

Editing Letter

I haven't been fortunate enough to get to this point - but if a publisher takes on your novel, they edit the heck out of it with what are called "editing letters." Here's one author's humorous take on the horror, the horror.

Nerds Rule! (Friday Fun Post)

Just read this excellent post on the Best and Worst Things about Dating Nerds.

As a nerd myself, I must agree with the posters complaints and compliments. I have also dated my share of nerds, and even a few hot guy/nerd combos. (Yes hot guys with hot rods and black leather jackets can also secretly collect action figures. The world is a complex place.)

Nerds are fun. I speak as one, so I am biased. But they tend to be creative, thoughtful types, and playfulness is connected to both those things. Writers tend to be a bit nerdy, even the seemingly hot ones. I heart Neil Gaiman, but underneath that leather jacket and behind those big brown eyes is the soul of a comic book geek. And guess what? That just makes him hotter! Do not underestimate the nerd. We're writing your favorite stories, fixing your computers, having crazy sex, and checking out the latest price of that removeable mask mego Robin action figure on Ebay all at once.