Peg Herring's Blog, page 20

Wading into a Bureaucracy

My mother-in-law received two new I.D. cards (with different numbers) from BC/BS, which I figured was something that needs investigation. I'd also received a form to fill out that made no sense to me. And in addition, about a month ago her mail from them had started going to the nursing home rather than to me. Bright and early this morning I thought, "I'll kill three birds with one stone."
Ha.
Ha Ha.
Step 1: Go to the website. It has my address for mailings. Hmm.
Step 2: Call BC/BS Got a very nice lady who said she has my address for mailings. After some back and forth, she told me I needed to call Blue Care Network, which isn't the same as BC/BS.
Step 3: Call BC Network. Got another nice lady who was able to correct the mailing problem but had no idea why MiL got two ID cards (plus the new one BC/BS had sent). She said I had to talk to Blue Care Advantage.
Step 4: Call BC Advantage. Got a woman who re-checked the address for mailings, so we're pretty sure I'll get them. Then she confessed to being unable to figure out why we got two cards from BCA. She will call me back when she finds out the answer.

Total time: 45 minutes, which I understand is not too bad for these things, except only ONE of my three concerns is (presumably) solved. One is pending, and the other we didn't even get to because we don't know which customer number is correct.

I will admit that these people were more helpful and responded more quickly than back in the '90s when my mom was sick. But 3 departments just to find one little old lady in one insurance company? She also has Medicare, Medicaid, and a different insurer for her prescriptions. I imagine her care records as one big snarl: the nursing home, the insurance companies, the Hospice people, and the prescriptions, and I'm willing to bet no one knows for sure who's getting paid what.

I guess it helps that the 3 people I spoke with were all very nice. When dealing with a bureaucracy, that's about all one can hope for.

One of Those Busy Weeks

You know? The times you're going to be in the car more often than out?
That's me this week.
Knowing that was going to be the case, we got busy and did a project we've needed to get done for some time, painting the shed built by my dad in the '70s and shored up over the years through John's efforts. It's out of sight from the house, so I tend not to think of it until I'm driving away, and then I'd often think: "That thing needs paint!"
I like to paint. Things get visibly brighter as you work, and the result is usually pretty satisfying.
So we finally did it. Five gallons of Barn Red and a lot of elbow grease later, it looks pretty nice for its age!

What Am I Working On, You Ask.

The weekend was great. Lots of people come "home" to our tiny town for the Fourth festivities, so we ran into old friends everywhere. The question often came up, "What are you working on now?"
Short answer: the 4th Dead Detective Mystery, but it's been interrupted a lot by the other three in the series. The first book The Dead Detective Agency, was published in 2011, the second, Dead for the Money, in 2012. Then the publisher got overwhelmed and didn't move forward with Book 3, even though it was edited and ready to release. At the beginning of this year, I asked for the rights back (the contracted time was up) and went about re-releasing the books with new covers, which you learned about last week if you're a regular reader. (I don't want people to re-buy the books, thinking they're new.)

Now it's time to finish Seamus' story, so my first priority is Dead to Get Ready--and Go, in which he will investigate his own murder. Its release is a long way off, probably early 2016.

After that, I plan to write one more Simon & Elizabeth mystery to end that series.

And that slacker Maggie Pill needs to get to work on the fourth Sleuth Sisters.

And I'm finally getting Somebody Doesn't Like Sarah Leigh into print, for all you non-Kindle readers. I know it's been irritating, but it's hard pushing those publishing people around! I like what the cover artist did with the new cover, and I'm hoping the print books will be out by the end of July. Audio books might follow, if that's your thing.

Choosing New Covers

I asked the original publisher of the Dead Detective Mysteries to give me back the rights to the books. They were very nice about it, and I began the process of re-publishing them. Since audiences are often interested in how book covers come about, I thought I'd share my experiences with this series.

When publishers accept a manuscript, they often ask the writer for her ideas on what the cover should look like. There is NO guarantee they'll listen, and other writers I've spoken with had covers they hated or felt didn't represent their books at all, but they were stuck with them.

When asked about a cover for Book #1, I said I pictured a girl on a ship with a mysterious man in the background. My publisher's cover artist chose this as the cover for The Dead Detective Agency. Some people liked it; some didn't. A couple said the girl looked like my daughter; others said she looked like a robot. My first reaction was disappointment, but I recognize that I am NO judge of art, so I left it to them to say what would sell.

This time around, it's up to me what the cover will look like, although I worked with a cover artist because, as I said, art isn't my forte. I still liked the ship/mysterious man combination, so this is what the artist came up with.
The second book had a great cover when it came from the publisher, with the Mackinac Bridge as the background, but I can't use someone else's art when I re-release the book. I asked the new cover artist to do much the same thing but with a little less of a dark feeling, since the books are rather light-hearted in their look at the Afterlife. They definitely aren't scary, spooky, or gory. Here's what we had and what I chose for the new version:

Book Three is my choice of cover, since the old publisher never got around to releasing it. The artist found a detective to represent Seamus and we have several poses, so it will be the same guy in Books 2, 3, and 4. Three looks like this:

I like that there's a theme connecting the books now: similar lettering, the same Seamus, and the character(s) in front of the most important setting, the ship for #1, the Mighty Mac for #2, and Toronto for #3. Note of interest: Title fonts have gotten bigger in the last few years because so many people buy their books online. It's a huge no-no to have the title too small or fussy to read when it's reduced to a tiny little rectangle online (as the original for Book #1 is).

Four isn't coming until next year, but it will feature another pose of the same Seamus with an "old Chicago" cover, since he's going back to solve his own murder. Shout out to Phillips Covers for the new art, and for taking the burden off me. Once again, NOT a cover expert!

Ice Machine Hogs

I stayed in a hotel over the weekend, and my room was across from the ice machine. I was trying to work, and at one point the noise of ice hitting that little plastic bucket went on and on and on. I knew what it was: someone was filling their cooler before they left the hotel, too lazy or cheap to stop at a gas station and buy a bag of ice.  Later I went to get some ice for myself and--you guessed it, the ice machines on the first, second, and third floors were all empty.
And there, my friends, is the sad part of life told in microcosm. If we each thought less about ourselves and more about what others might need in the future, a lot of problems on this planet would disappear.

And the Winner Is--

Almost everyone liked the cover with the two figures on it best. I can't show it to you yet in final form, because I asked the cover artist to do a little touching up, which she confided this morning is driving her crazy. (Better her than me!) I don't like the messiness around the girl's left hand, and since I have no idea how much work it is to smooth that out, I asked. Apparently it's a lot.
Anyway, I should have that cover soon, so the first two Dead Detective books can be re-issued by the end of June. Don't buy them again if you've already read them.
I mean, you can if you want to...   :)
I talked to a fan who thought she liked Book #3 (DEAD FOR THE SHOW) better than Book #1, so she went back and re-read the first one. Now that's dedication!
I almost never re-read books, except of course for editing and re-editing and re-re-editing. By the time mine are published, I'm tired of them. It was interesting, therefore, to read the first 2 DD books several years later for this re-issue. I still like them, though I fixed a sentence here and there.
Now I'm at work on Book #4, which will be the last involving Seamus. It's going along well, but they always take longer than I plan on. I'm thinking early 2016 if all goes well.

Help Me Pick a Cover

The Dead Detective Agency will soon be re-released, since I got the rights to the series back from the original publisher. I must choose new covers, and these are some options the cover artist sent me. I'd love some feedback. This is Book #1, where Tori finds out she's dead and on the ship that takes people to the Afterlife. 

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Simon & Elizabeth Are Back

At my signing on Saturday, a reader asked about the next Simon & Elizabeth book. Sometimes I feel like I neglect them, but it's mostly because my publisher accepts the manuscripts and then sets a date for release 20 years in the future.

Okay, maybe not 20.

Five Star is an excellent publisher, and they have a large number of authors who keep writing more books, so each submitted manuscript is put into a queue. I sent them the fourth in the series in late 2013 and got June 18, 2015, for my release date. Once I've done the work they require, editing, writing cover copy, etc., that leaves me with well over a year to forget the book exists. So if I haven't mentioned my historical series lately, that's why.

Book #4 is called HER MAJESTY'S MISCHIEF. Elizabeth is now queen, (hence "Her Majesty") and she wants Simon to go to Scotland and form an honest appraisal of Mary, Queen of Scots. The "mischief" in the title might refer to Mary and her plotting, but Elizabeth was no slouch at plotting mischief herself. She's thinking of offering Mary a husband (and not just any husband!), but reports of the Scottish queen's character vary widely. Some say she's sweet and innocent; others say she's a conniving, evil woman. Scholars actually still argue about which impression is most fitting, and the events in the book concerning Mary are true, except that Simon didn't go along because Simon didn't really exist. For our purposes, however, he does, and Elizabeth trusts his judgment. Unlike the rest of the men surrounding her throne, he has no political agenda.

Simon does have an agenda, though. He's recently learned that his brother-in-law was murdered, and being Simon, he wants to investigate. Elizabeth, being his monarch and possessing her father's Tudor stubborn streak, insists on having it her way. While Simon is gone to Scotland (where he gets into all sorts of trouble), his son Henry decides he'll investigate. That, of course, leads to its own set of perils.

The book is up for pre-order on Amazon & Barnes & Noble (maybe others, I just checked those two). So far it's hardcover only, and I have no idea when e-books will be available. They claimed there would be paperbacks this year, but nobody tells the authors the scheduling of any of that. We wait and see just like everyone else.

Waterfall Hunting

 Facebook was the instigator, as usual. Someone posted a map of waterfalls in the UP, and I mentioned to JC there were some we hadn't seen. That led to plans for a weekend of waterfall hunting.
It isn't difficult to find waterfalls within a day's driving distance of us. We just head north, and no matter which direction we take from the Mackinac Bridge, we'll find them. This time we went through Sault Ste. Marie and into Canada, up Highway 17 all the way to Wawa. Most of the falls we'd seen before, but there's always a thrill for me at the powerful pulse of water in the springtime. Magpie Falls (above) is one of my favorites, but we climbed up to see Crystal Falls from above, and that was impressive too. It turned out the map wasn't very accurate, leaving out several good falls (like Magpie) that John knew about from his travels in the area.
We were surprised at how much ice is left along the eastern shore of Lake Superior, but it is, after all, Ontario, which has enough different weather zones to be its own country.
Back to Michigan, we drove west, hitting Tahquamenon Falls as well as a bunch of smaller ones along our way to JC's hunting camp, where we spent a night . (Yes, there are mice inside and mosquitoes outside, but it's very, very peaceful.)

I didn't write a word all weekend. Waterfall hunting is a great way to really take a break from work.

Let's Fix English

I'm a staunch defender of correct grammar, but there are some things we could do to make our language easier to use.

1. Allow ain't. The reason we have so much trouble with it is that some subject-verb connections are done with the adverb not added to the verb: you aren't, he isn't, etc., and some require us to attach the verb to the pronoun and let not trail behind: I'm not, you're not.
The simplest fix would be to let all pronouns use ain't for the negative: I ain't, you ain't, he ain't. Yes, it sounds wrong to those who paid attention in English class, but simple works, and in a generation, maybe less, it would be fine.

2. Forget whom and whomever. They sound stuffy and no one knows when to use them anyway. Once an editor tried to "fix" my usage, and I had to explain that "to whoever made the phone call" is correct.

3. Find a plural for you. I dislike yous, but I think I could live with y'all or even simpler, yall.

4. Invent a neutral pronoun. When we don't know if the person discussed is male or female, we get all confused. Most people use they or their ("A person never knows when their chance will come."), which is wrong since their is plural and only one person is mentioned. It would work, but we seem reluctant to use that word for people, and there would be that nagging problem of whether its needs an apostrophe or not. (It doesn't.) So we need a pronoun with no gender, but any way we try to combine she, he, & it ends unfortunately. Heesh is one possibility that's been suggested. ("A person never knows when heesh chance will come.") Maybe.

That's just the beginning. Elect me Grammar Protector and I'll come up with more.