Traci Hunter Abramson's Blog, page 7

The waiting game

Yesterday I completed my first writing goal for the month, to submit my latest manuscript to my publisher. Now I begin the waiting game to see if it is good enough for publication. Every time I submit a manuscript I go through the same thing, the worry that what I've written won't be well received or that somehow I will disappoint the editors who have been so supportive of my past efforts.

Books like this one are the hardest to send, ones that are different from what I've done before. This nov

What next?

I can't ever resist a challenge. With that said, my friend Tristi Pinkston is doing another BIAM (Book in a Month) this month on her blog Tristi's Challenges, so of course I had to sign up. I'm already a little behind since it started yesterday and I'm still trying to figure out what my goals should be.

The first thing I want to accomplish for the month of July is to submit my next novel to Covenant. It's written, it's approved by the CIA, and now it's in the hands of my very capable sister-in

Great surprises

I love surprises...as long as they're the good kind. For the past week, I've been trying to improve my novel, Crossfire, in preparation of it being considered for publication. I had submitted it to my publisher back in April, and finally all of the evaluations were in.

I always look forward to reading the evaluations. Usually the evaluators have at least something positive to say, but more than that, they also point out what I can do to make my book better. And I'm all about trying to get bette

Mr. Sticky Guy

A question was posted to my online writers group today asking for advice on how to have a successful book signing. I am certainly no expert on how an author should act at a signing. When I have one, I see it as an opportunity to meet people. I might sell a book or three, or I might not, but I typically enjoy myself because I see signings as a social event.

Still, the question got me thinking...and remembering. Often when I go to a book signing, I take a little treat for the bookstore staff. Aft

The light at the end of the tunnel

Every few days I see that light at the end of the tunnel. I think to myself that if I can just survive another day or two, if I can just get these few more things done, that I will be able to put my life in order and find two minutes to sit down and relax. At this point I would settle for 30 seconds...make that 15.

My sister-in-law who has graciously edited for me for years has fallen pray to cancer again. She was widowed several years ago when her youngest child was an infant. Her two oldes

Fun, fun, fun...and research

Sometimes you just have to have a lot of fun. Last night was one of those nights. I was invited to go to Norfolk to visit a book club there. I generally have a good time when I meet new people, but I didn't expect to have THAT MUCH FUN! Everyone who came was wonderful and made me feel so welcome.
This picture was sent to me by LeAnn, but more pictures are up on Deborah Henseley's blog here.

My hosts, Hap and Vicki Cluff, had me over for dinner before the book club which was wonderful, complete

Life is good...so why is everyone else falling apart???

Everything has been going great for me lately. I have a new book out that's doing well, another finished and submitted, and yet another one in progress. My family is healthy and happy (most of the time) and my oldest daughter is FINALLY at college where she is happiest.

So how can my life be so great when everyone around me is going through such huge trials? I'm not talking about the little bumps in the road either. One of my closest friends is facing stage 4 cancer, again. Another is deali

453...

unread e-mails. This is what I found when I booted up my computer after being away for several days. While on my trip to Utah and Idaho last week, my internet access was limited to what I could accomplish on my cell phone. I thought I was being so clever to check my e-mails every day to make sure there wasn't anything critical that I needed to take care of. I just never realized exactly how many I was skipping over.

So yesterday I opened up my inbox and was stunned at the number of unread e-m

Whitney voting

The Whitney Award voting is coming to a close. The Whitney Committee, comprised of various authors, reviewers and bookstore owners and managers have all been frantically trying to read the last of the finalists, hoping to find a clear favorite in each category by the end of this week.

As for me, I had to pick and choose which categories to vote in. Living in Virginia where I don't have easy access to LDS books, I was faced with a choice. Buy the majority of the books on the finalist list (exc

Pretending to be a celebrity

The fun thing about having a new book out (Lockdown was released this month) is that I get to pretend to be famous for a little while. I've been very fortunate that Lockdown has garnered some positive press in the past few weeks. Today an interview with me was posted on LDS Bookcorner, which is mostly a get-to-know-you kind of interview. I even admit what kind of music I listen to when I have control of the radio.

Besides this recent interview, I also found out that Lockdown has been reviewed by