Kyle Michel Sullivan's Blog: https://www.myirishnovel.com/, page 59

What a day...

The flight to NYC was nice and on time. Got my rental car without a hitch. Set Google Maps to take me to my location, up the Hudson Valley, through the no-tolls area...and the fucking thing took me through the Mid-Town Tunnel into Manhattan. $12 toll to go through the tunnel. And by the time I realized what was happening, it was too late to get off the freeway. In NYC, you have to plan your exits five miles in advance so you can get over in time to make them.

I still arrived early, so aimed to get some lunch at a Chilis...that was in a shopping mall where 3 of the 4 main entrances were under construction. Lots of signs saying We're open during construction. Great. How the hell do I get there without having to walk a mile? Only got an hour for lunch. I wound up at a Micky D's.

So...the job itself is in a storage facility and that turned out great. Still have a lot to do before the pickup, but I think I'll get through it okay. Six hours to do 12 boxes? I think so. But it is tiring. And then will come the drive back to JFK to drop the car and go to a hotel in mid-town Manhattan to get ready for the next job.

But flying in over the Hudson Valley and then Long Island Sound and Manhattan, I started feeling the wonder and magic I used to feel when I was traveling. It's a short flight so I didn't need to worry about needing to use the bathroom, so I got a window seat. I did used to love those. Looking out at the passing country or oceans far below.

Seems I still love this view...since I used it in part of APoS-Derry.

Some progress...

I submitted APoS-Derry for copyright protection and then for an LCCN from the Library of Congress. Should hear back in about 2 weeks. In order to submit the story to Publishers Weekly and Book Life, for reviews, I have to make it an electronic copy so spent much of today prepping that.

And I still need to finish the Table of Contents links...and since I found a fucking typo in the new stuff I'd added...of course...maybe do another look over it. No. No, I'm not going to worry about it, for that. I'll go over the printed copy with my red pen, in detail...maybe even backwards...when I get home. If all I want is a review, being anal is counter-productive.

I'm off to NYC in the morning to handle two different packing jobs so won't have a chance to do much till I return on Friday. I kind of wish I'd been able to take Amtrak down and back, since it's more leisurely and I can work on the train in much better comfort. JetBlue sends dinky jets back and forth to JFK. My flight's at 8:30am so I have to get up at 6am to get ready and go. Not my favorite time to travel.

I've expanded my time in LA for next month's job, since it looks like another might tack onto it. Besides, I want to go to the new Academy of Arts and Sciences Museum, down at Fairfax and Wilshire. Have to look into it a bit more, but it would be worth it, I think.

I'm still going to check into setting up HTRASG with D2D, since it's so offensive to Ingram and Amazon. We'll see what happens once I'm done with APoS.

Learning process...

I thought I'd set up Carli's Kills with Draft2Digital to get it back out and running, and away from KDP...but when I uploaded my text it killed all the formatting I'd done. A 230 page book was suddenly 340 pages. My copyright info was on the wrong page. And it looked like they're increased the font to 12point from 11. I couldn't figure out how to get around it, so I had to dump it.

I'm checking with Ingram to see about setting it up on there, again. I simply want nothing to do with Kindle. Posting CK on there was an experiment that netted me nothing, so it's time to put the book back where it belongs.

I did some research on getting a PCN and find it's fairly straightforward. First, I'm going to copyright this draft of APoS-Derry and start that process. And I'll submit it to Publisher's Weekly to be considered for a review. If that doesn't work, then I'll hit Book Life.

I printed up a full copy of the book...which took way too long to do. Turns out my printer, for some weird reason that I cannot figure out, would not print pages in the batches I wanted...in Word. When I finally shifted to a PDF, it worked fine. Another aspect of my new laptop and programs I need to learn something about. It's probably just a switch someplace that I have to flick and can't find, on first view.

I'm so tired of not really understanding how technology works. But I'm not a quick or easy learner, with that stuff. My retentive abilities are minimal for the computer maven crap. Wish I could do better, but at least I'm not completely lost.

Yet.

Typically brilliant on my part

I'm so smart, I think. I set up APoS' cover template from Ingram based on 360 pages...but when I got done reformatting it, completely, including hearer and page numbers and all the attendant nonsense, it would up at 346 pages in a 6x9 format. BUT...also is now, officially 140,000+ words. Which includes the bio and ToC and copyright information.

Fortunately, when I sent in the new details, it didn't make a difference in the spine width since this is in hardcover. All the measurements are the same. Thank God. I did not want to have to go through all that shit, again, because I like how this cover image turned out. Might be a bit too stark, but I'm getting feedback on it.

Something else I did during the formatting was make the text simply look good. No single words in the left border or on the following page. Consistency in font. Making sure there's no page number or header on the chapter's first page. It's amazing how involving that can be.

And how I still have issues with Word fucking around with me. I set up each chapter as its own section. So when I get done with one chapter's heading, I tell the header and footer not to continue from the previous section so I can make the pages number right and the headers do what I want. But on several occasions, it changed the page numbering on the previous section and I'd have to go back in and redo it.

It was a lot of work. Just like in my earlier version of Word. I guess I should take a course in the damn program, like I should with Adobe Ps. Learn a whole new language or something. I used to be able to speak French and okay Spanish. Maybe I'll do that, too. Really fry what brain I have left.

Anyway, it's close to being exactly right, now.

Ps is just fucking weird

I got Photoshop Ps and started working with it and it's just different enough from the CS I had that it drives me nuts. I need to figure out a lot on it, and see how I can change it to suit my preferences, but this is the first pass I've done on a dust jacket for the book...and it took me four fucking hours just to get this.

For example, when setting the guidelines, I can't get it to work in inches, which is what the template is in. So after wasting way too long trying to figure out how to make that happen, I just reconfigured the dims of the template into pixels and did it that way. 

I'm also finding my mouse and Ps are way too sensitive to touch, together. Hell, to my fingers getting anywhere near the trackpad or mouse. I'll deal with dulling them down tomorrow.

BUT...this is beginning to come together. I looked into the Library of Congress about getting a PCN for the book, making it super-legitimate. That's a Preassigned Control Number the LoC uses to classify and list your book. I don't have to have it, but it looks so nice, in a hardcover.

I'm going to print out a copy of APoS, tomorrow. Had to go get another cartridge to get ready for it, and some other running around for meds and such. Also got a new bookshelf since I'm running out of space.

I'm beginning to think I may start getting somewhere with Brendan's story...

Done, for the umpteenth time...

A Place of Safety-Derry is through its latest proofing and wound up at 360 pages, of which about 344 are text. The rest is title page, info, Table of Contents and about the author. I'm going to put my list of other books below my bio, this time, and make it clear I've written an array of novels. Most gay-oriented but some straight. Many with intense sexual content that fits the erotica category, but not all. I've written what I've written, and each one of those books got me one step closer to this point.

I doubt anyone who's actually grown up in Derry will think I've done a good job with the book. Some events I took a bit of creative license with, and excused that by saying it's all Brendan's experience. His interpretations of what's been happening. Some he glosses over; others, where he's more deeply involved, he details as someone caught in chaos and confusion.

This is not an historical novel, even though it's based in history. It's Brendan's story as he tries to navigate his way through a deteriorating situation, like he's on the Titanic and not one of those designated to get in a lifeboat. Some people managed to survive, despite that. I deliberately refused to go with the usual tropes of a friend being killed to teach him some important fact of life, or someone in his family crippled to give him a visual reminder of where his anger stems from.

Even during the slaughter of Bloody Sunday, he's a step removed from those being shot and killed. He knows them well enough to recognize them, but not like they were friends. And he only sees a couple of people shot. It was too out of control and all over the place, and he's hurt and in shock, so he can't take it all in. It's not until he meets with Joanna a couple months after and takes her to the circle fort that he can open up and make decisions about leaving.

I will say half of this book's structure was not consciously set up, but it works well. Brendan did a good job of keeping me in line.

Problem solving day

This has been one of those days where stupid little things keep popping up to demand attention. Like my laptop dumping my connection to Fios and me having to reboot to make it work, again. And one of my jobs, next week, deciding they want me a day later than we'd planned on, meaning an extra day in NYC, which ain't cheap. I'm trying to talk them back into the original schedule. That or after Thanksgiving.

I also need to get paperwork from a client for the export of some books to the UK and they're in a cranky mood. And another job popped up in LA that might require I stay extra time there, too. Actually in Sierra Madre. And Seeking information on import requirements to the UK now that Brexit is in full swing and the Tory government has decided to do all they can to destroy the country's economy.

Then there's just going to get groceries but also wanting to recycle old DPZ bottles only to find the machines aren't working at one store so needing to go to another. It's was $1.30 in bottle returns, so worth the change, but another irritation.

Oh, and Voting! Which is currently looking very good for Democrats across the country, despite all the doomsday crap from the MSM. Anything that happens is bad for Democrats, no matter how good it is. And there's the catastrophe in Gaza where people blame everything on Israel and ignore Hamas' part.

And how the situation there has taken Ukraine off the front page and now more people are crying for Ukraine to just give Russia some land in exchange for peace, when appeasement has never, ever, once worked.

I still managed to get through the chapters on Bloody Sunday and the immediate aftermath, in APoS. Brendan has begun the process of leaving Derry, still planning to work on a cruise ship or ocean freighter to build up money and settle wherever Joanna winds up going to university. He just needs a passport and letter of clearance from the RUC, now called the Police Authority.

So...30 pages left to go.

53 pages left...

Closing in on another pass. After this will come more formatting. I've broken the books into Sections to make it easier to prep correctly. Headers on each page with page numbers in order. Just need to work out the look I want for them.

I kind of like this one, but it can be difficult to set up properly, so the header aligns correctly with the text. We'll see how it goes in my new version of Word.

After that will come working up an ebook version, in which I will do yet another read-through to seek out any recalcitrant typos. I'm also going to ask for reviews from BookLife and Publishers Weekly. I'd like to add them to the back of the dust jacket.

Which means, I'm not actually sending the book in for set-up at either Ingram or Smashwords till after the first of the year. I don't want to publish it till 2024, and things are getting to be so tight this month and next, it's better I delay than rush it through and not like what comes out.
I'm also considering working up a map for the inside, to give an idea of what Derry looked like in 1966, with a couple of fake streets for Brendan to live on. Still thinking about that. It might make the logistics too precise.
Can't have that...oh, no...

Closing in...

Okay, 2/3 of the way through this pass on APoS, and the way it's formatting I'm up to 348 pages. Looks like the final book will be around 360. I've done a bit more trimming and shifting of moments to better help the flow, so it's really turning into an 8th draft. Shit. Is there a clinical name for a writer who can't stop re-writing his work?

I like being back on standard time. DST has always thrown me off, and I hate how it was expanded some years ago for no good reason. But I woke up the morning feeling good, and it's been a good day. I wish they'd do away with the time change and keep it like this...but I'm hearing they may make Daylight Savings Time permanent and that is not pleasing to me.

Something I added to Brendan's character from mine is how I like the night. Day is okay, and if it's overcast I'm happy enough, but it's nighttime when I feel best. I like how the darkness minimizes the ugliness of things. I built that into Brendan and it makes him even less like the rest of his family. I think I know where this is heading, but it won't come together until book three, when he returns to Derry and learns more about his father. Feeling very positive about that, now.

Is there someplace in the world that stays on standard time, year round? I think I'd like to move there.

BTW, Remember, Remember the Fifth of November.

I'm gettin' old...

The job in LA went well. Finished early. Came home early. During my short stay managed to finish a pass through APoS for proofing...and a bit of rewriting. Started reformatting on the flight home, to prep for the hardcover book...and promptly found a typo that I'd missed. So anal little me had to start re-proofing as I rewrote and formatted.

I got in late, last night, had a grilled cheese for a very late dinner, slept for 8 solid hours and got back to work. I honestly do not remember having this much trouble on any of my other books. I reread a fair portion of A65 before sending it off to that competition and found one occasion where I'd doubled up on a word. That's it. And I didn't do 1/10 the proofing on that one as this.

I halfway wonder if part of the issue is that I've been working on it for so long, and done a lot of copy paste from one draft to another, and made copious drafts of moments then pasted them in so that I honestly just jumbled everything up. Or maybe it's just a case of my mental abilities declining as I slip into my sunset years. But reality is, the typos I'm finding are really easy to miss, like no period at the end of a sentence, or missing quotation marks.

Something I have not done is my backwards read, which would keep me from getting caught up in the rhythm of the story. But I don't think I could handle doing that for 139,000 words over 340 pages in a 6x9 format.

I have to admit, this has been a fight to keep going. But I want the book to be as perfect as possible, and my innate paranoia about typos is really working overtime in my fucked up head.

That said...the bit of rewriting I've done has improved it, I'm absolutely certain...and I caught a couple of boo-boos. Like when Brendan sees Joanna for the second time. They're outside Austin's, an expensive department store on Derry's Diamond square. He sees her and her friends go down to a Woolworth's on Ferryquay Street and follows them.

The way I described it, I'd had the girls crossing the square to go down the street, which would place the store on the wrong corner. So corrected that. Also removed a bit of repetition.

It's little things that will make or break this book.