Not long ago, when my daughter was here for the weekend we looked through pictures. I thought it was interesting through the generations that over and over, we strike the same poses. We stand the same way. The kids always look peeved because they don't want to be there. The adults are solemn and stoic. This picture is my brothers and me in front of the house where we lived in about 1958. Weren't we a charming bunch?
This is the house hunk and I with our brood at Grand Canyon around 1980. It was August, but only about sixty degrees there that day, cloudy, rainy, and the kids were freezing. Naturally since the hunk was holding the little one, he didn't notice that her blanket was down around her tushie.
This is a picture of some ancestors ca 1850. Don't they look like a happy bunch? Two of the girls and the little boy (on dad's lap) married into another branch of my family. I figure that's the way to make sure you don't feel like an in-law.
These two are man and wife, last name Farmer ca 1840. They lived in Arkansas when it was a territorial frontier, long before it was a state. He was a blacksmith. When I look at them, I can readily imagine that they had the perseverance and gumption to stick it out. Times were tough. They had what it took to make it.

I wonder what my descendants will think when they look at my pictures after I'm long gone?

anny

Ah, the heartburn of edits, critiques, and reviews! My baby, my baby is so precious. I just know it's perfect. Really. Well, almost. No?

For an author, there is nothing that stings so much as criticism of their work--whether it is deserved or not. Any author who says otherwise lies. Oh, we can be big boys and girls about it, but deep down, it still bruises the ego.

If we are to present our best work then that input is necessary because most of us are too close to our work to see the flaws. Even minor flaws can mar our work and prevent us from placing our best work before the public. The way I see it, there are three stages of criticism for my work. (I'm not counting myself as I should have done my own edits before it goes to the next stage.) Count the number of times I used "work" in that paragraph! Talk about flaws...

Critique partners: When I have my chapter/section/piece that I'm working on polished up to the best of my ability, then it's time to send it off to my critique partners. Contrary to what some people think, it's not their job to tell me how wonderful it is. I have family, friends, even neighbors who can do that. No, their job is to point out the flaws in my writing.
What is it with you and the head hopping?
Why are there nineteen characters in this scene?
Did you know that you used the word "just" twelve times in two paragraphs?
I have no idea what the first three paragraphs are about!
Or conversely, I fell asleep after the second sentence.

The critique partner is the first line of defense. She/he is the one who puts the brakes on the runaway train before it completely jumps the tracks. Rather than telling me how amusing/hot/sexy my writing is (unless my scene just totally blew them away!) what I need is for them to point out where and how I can improve. Otherwise, they are just cheerleaders yelling rah, rah.

After the critique partners shake things up, it's my job to go back and fix things. And when I've done that to the best of my ability, then it's off to submissions.

Editor: If my book is accepted, then eventually an editor will go over it with a careful eye and a big fat red pen. Well, not really a red pen. In this new technological age, it's all done on the computer with fancy hi-lighting and squawks of protests in the margins. But the end result is the same.

Why does hero have three arms in this scene?
Men are blond, women are blonde.
Fourteen "that"s on this page.
People are who, things are that.
Not on the accepted list of alternative words for penis--use something else.
There are fourteen characters in this scene. Cut some of them.
Why did the heroine suddenly turn into a whiney wimpy crybaby?

Sometimes, there are simply paragraphs of suggestions. This is erotic romance. Therefore, the hero/heroine should probably make it to bed sometime before Chapter Sixteen. There is no sexual tension in the story until Chapter Ten. At this point, you have a mystery with romantic elements--not an erotic romance.

Whatever there is, the editor is committed to improving the author's book, so taking the edits personally just doesn't work. When I received my edits and final line edits, I always read through them immediately to make sure I didn't have any unanswered questions. Then I left the computer, walked around, had a cup of coffee and thought about them.

Until my frustrations were under control, I didn't work on the edits, because my best writing is not accomplished when I'm in a temper. And sitting in front of my computer is not the place to get over my mad, no matter how temporary.

Editors do not generally set out to destroy the writer's fragile ego. Really. And if your ego is that fragile, maybe you should find another line of work. Yep, your feelings will hurt. But if you want your book to be the best it can be, then get to work.

If you have radical differences of opinion with the editor, those need to be resolved before you make changes. Believe it or not, the editor is not God. However, before diving in, make sure you really, really want to draw that line in the sand, because likely your book will not be published by that publisher and you will need to go elsewhere.

Yay! I've made it through the editing process and now my book is released and I anxiously await the reviewing process.

Reviewers: Reviewers are the toughest audience of all. They're readers, generally not professionals in the writing field, but they know what they like. And when they don't like your book, they say so in a public arena. In the Internet age, public has a very different meaning than during the print age. A bad review will likely be read world-wide. Ouch. It doesn't just sting, it humiliates. No matter what spin you put on a bad review, it sucks.

But there are things still to be learned from a bad review. Don't shove it under the mattress. Print it out. Cool down. And analyze that review. What exactly did the reviewer not like? And... are they right? If so, how can you change things so your next book is better?

At every step in the process, the author can learn valuable lessons and use those lessons to improve their writing. Would I rather my critique partners pointed out the flaws privately instead of hearing about them in a public review? Yeah. Oh, yeah. But if my story made it through the entire process still flawed, then that unflattering review may be the last chance I have to learn something that will make all the difference in my next book.

So don't forget to thank them for their hard work. Critique partners, editors AND reviewers. They're worth it.

anny

Physically I've reached the point that I can no longer traipse along on long hikes. This weekend my daughter and her family came to visit. While here they took a notion to visit the Maryland Zoo. When I regretfully pointed out that I wouldn't be able to walk that far and suggested that I would stay home, they proposed renting a wheelchair at the zoo.

After some discussion, that's what we all agreed would work. We left pretty early for the zoo, but it was already hot and muggy when we arrived. On the drive, I had second thoughts about the wheelchair solution, mostly because I felt like a fraud. But the quarter-mile walk from the parking lot to the main entrance quickly disabused me of the false notion that I would be able to spend the day at the zoo on foot.

So, without further reservations we rented the wheelchair and began the day. Immediately, it became apparent that there was more to spending the day in a wheelchair than just renting one. First of all, the zoo is one hill after another. Someone had to push the bloody thing!

Fortunately the zoo is laid out with the idea of being stroller and wheelchair friendly. There were very few steps and all of those had an "alternate route" planned. Fellow travelers were gracious and friendly. I had a lovely time, though I'm not so sure that my son could say the same since he was the main pusher.
Here's a picture of my two granddaughters and my step great grandson in the heron's nest in the Children's Wilderness Park. There was a bog complete with giant lily pads for the children to use as stepping stones across a brook, giant tortoise shell for them to crawl inside and a couple other "nests" for them to try on for size.

What I discovered spending a day in a wheelchair was that most people were unfailingly polite. But there were a few that pretended that I didn't exist. It was difficult to give up my autonomy, my right to go where I wanted to, when I wanted to. And as much as the zoo really worked hard to make the paths "accessible", they obviously forgot to test them out with someone who was actually seated in a wheel chair. Every single one of the heavy railings that lined the path had a broad cap that was exactly at my eye level! It made it tough to see the animals and impossible to take pictures.

It definitely wasn't a chair with a view!

anny

Take a good look. That's me. I'm an ordinary everyday kind of woman. No glamour. No high living. My office is in the living room squashed in with all the other odds and ends. The sole advantage I have over most other writers is that I'm retired with no children at home. It could be that you won't see me again. Why?

Google my name.

In the first page, you'll likely find that my books are listed on multiple piracy sites. Just like everyone else in the world, I work for money. Oh, you thought I wrote for love of the word? Well... not!

Writing is a difficult, thankless calling. In order to write well enough to be published, I must have a workable idea, write a story a publisher will contract and a reader will be willing to buy. For every story of say... fifty thousand words there is an initial time investment of approximately six hundred hours. Hmmm.

Current minimum wage in my state is $6.55. So my initial time investment is worth $3,930. That does not cover my taxes, supplies, or Social Security. In order to recoup my investment I must find a publisher willing to offer me a contract (for most e-pubs there is no advance!) Then I will spend additional hours on edits, final line edits, and promotion--again all without receiving a dime. So let's add in that additional time... That's another $786.

Eventually, approximately eight months after the initial contract, my book is released. Now I'll tell you a secret. The most that I've ever made on a book is $3, 260. That was for sales over a year. That's the only book I made that much money on. My average sales over a year for an individual book are about $1200.

For my best selling book I'm in the hole to the tune of $1456. For my average sales, I'm behind (in time invested) $3520--per book!

As the proliferation of piracy sites and theft have increased, my sales have steadily decreased. In the last six months alone my sales have dropped over 50%. A glance at the download numbers on the piracy sites make it clear where those sales are going.

In effect, I'm mugged by my readers every time I contract a book. I don't know a single person who would continue to work at a profession if they were robbed every time they were paid--if they knew that more than fifty percent of their wages would be stolen by thieves. Why should I?

Quite frankly, the local McDonald's is hiring and I doubt that I would face the same kind of theft there. If I worked the same number of hours--at minimum wage--I would net at least $11,921. That's $2,500 more than I made last year from writing.

So...what would you do?

anny
www.annycook.com
www.annycook.blogspot.com

When
I was growing up, my grandmother used to caution me, "Be careful what
you pray for--you may get it." It wasn't until years later that I
understood the underlying truth behind her words and learned to pray
instead for things to work out.

Often our wishes and prayers are
based on faulty information or partial information so the things we ask
for aren't really what we would want or need if we had all the facts.
The thing is--we can't know another person's heart. We barely know our
own. And we can't live in another person's mind. Goodness knows it's
tough enough living in our heads. So when we pray or wish for certain events to happen, we don't really know if that would be the best thing or not.

In
my lifetime, I've had heated discussions with the Creator, questioning
his wisdom and omniscience, because I didn't have the whole picture.
Only in hindsight do I see how straight the path was though it
certainly appeared to be crooked and hilly when I was traveling along
it. When I despaired at the detours, they were really bridges over
troubled waters. When I was impatient at the road blocks, they were
much needed rest stops.

I've now reached an age where I'm more
content to wait on the future. So much of my life I was in a hurry to
get there that I nearly missed the journey while striving for the
destination. Each of us is exactly where we need to be at this time on
our life's journey. Enjoy.

anny