Kate Danley's Blog, page 20

Updates and such

Howdy, howdy, howdy, folks!

Urg.

So behind on emails.  So behind on posts.  But the reason is I'm writing like a fiend and.... drumroll please... looks like Maggie III will be released this June!  The title was chosen from your suggestions over on my Facebook page, Vondada has been commissioned to do the paperback cover, the bones of the book are done, and now it is just a process of re-writes, beta reads, and proofreading.  So, thank you for your patience!  Now, off to write, write, write!

Tonight's Homework

Tonight's Homework, originally uploaded by eyduck.

Just incorporating the edits from my proofreader into my latest manuscript and giving everything a final pass.

In which I owe you a real blog post...

Where have I been?  I KNOW!  You've barely been able to get by without me.  Where have I been?  London.  I've been in London.  It's a long awesome story and I will get it to you ASAP.  It's just that I also finished up my upcoming manuscript which means... drumroll... that you have a new book coming your way soon.  Here's a hint.

WonderCon... da da da da da... WONDERCON!

(sing it to the melody of "Hollywood")

So, are you hanging around the Anaheim area March 29 - 31, head on over to the convention center for WONDERCON (da da da da da... WONDERCON)!  I'll be signing books over in the Small Press area at table SP-30.

http://www.comic-con.org/wca

Also at the table will be Giddy Girlie with all of her glorious peg people, marquee pointillism paintings, and other assorted awesomeness.

The other reason to come over is that (crossing fingers) I'll be unveiling the Maggie For Hire audiobook.  Think of this as her debutante ball, with better ball gowns.

Hope to see you there!

March 2013 Edition of the Kate Danley Newsletter

Well, if you need all the news squished together in one convenient site, the March Edition of the Kate Danley Newsletter is now here!

http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=f0b5051e15cad1810e753eb91&id=8f7807b564

I have a sneaking suspicion that I may have sent out an old newsletter to those of you who subscribed via plain text.  Ugh.  I iz a computer wizard!  But click on the link above and you can see all the awesomeness as intended to go out!

One step closer to WORLD DOMINATION!

For those of you who have been patiently waiting, just wanted to let you know that a whole bunch of my books are now available on other platforms.  This publishing thing is all a great big experiment.  There are some real advantages to staying exclusive to Amazon, but I figure I'd give this a try for a little while.  If you appreciate having my books on other platforms, please buy a copy and tell your friends!  I'm letting the market inform this decision.

Still waiting on iTunes to propagate the Maggie books, but here's the rest of things.  Also, if you live outside of the U.S., most of my books are available internationally.  Just do a search on the amazon.co.uk, amazon.de, amazon.ca, etc. near you.

Maggie for Hire (Book I)
Kindle
Nook
Kobo

Maggie Get Your Gun (Book II)
Kindle
Nook
Kobo

5:00 Breakout
Kindle
Nook
iTunes
Kobo

Quite A Pair
Kindle
Nook
iTunes
Kobo

Some days writing is hard

What I think sometimes it is important to remember is that sometimes writing is hard.  It is a billion mile wall in all directions and all you have is a chisel and a hammer.  Some days, only a spoon.  Tink. Tink. Tink.  All you can do is hammer away, hoping, like a prisoner in Alcatraz, that maybe, after ages and hours, you'll see the sun shining through.  You keep hoping, keep praying that with each strike, maybe you'll hit the keystone and the whole thing will come tumbling down and you'll be able to go running through a field of prose in full flower.

But mostly, it is hard.

You can't leave, though.  If you walk away in the middle, you'll just be going to another wall that is just as thick and strong.  You have the same tools as you were attacking that last one with.   Tink.  Tink.  Tink.

It feels like you're reinventing art.  The moderns tried to express happiness without painting a smile.  Sure, you can say, "She was happy", but that still leaves you with 69,997 words left to go.  How do you describe "happy" without the word "happy"?  How do you make a stroke which will convey emotion without painting the representation of someone experiencing that feeling?  What comes next?  What comes next?  What comes after that?  And next?

It's hard.

But still you chip away, because one day the wall does fall.  And when it does, you hear that you get to attack the next wall with a jackhammer instead of a spork.  With your luck, though, it will be made of mashed potatoes.

In today's I Am Morphing Into a Los Angeles Writer Hipster Douche

Today, I decided I needed to go to a coffee shop to write.  Why?  I think the question is Why Not?It’s what all the cool writers do.  They write.  In coffee shops.  And I, I have decided, shall be cool.I also needed some tough love to turn off the Netflix.  Holy smokes!  Do you have any idea how many shows they have?  A lot.  They have a lot of shows and I can watch them all in my bed with my family sized bag of Doritos from Costco with no one around to give me disapproving stares or wonder how I smuggled it past the ticket takers in the lobby.  A word of advice?  No one will ask you if you’re really pregnant.  Unless you’re a dude.  In which case, tell them you have a belly goiter.About a half hour in and my second bowl of coffee, I suddenly REALLY looked around the coffee shop.  It had crystal chandeliers and black upholstered wing back chairs and they got some artist to come in and write the menu on a 20x30 foot blackboard wall with hand lettering that would make Platt Rogers Spenser cry.  There were handmade pastries with crystallized sugar and rustic bread made with the tears of a widowed farm woman. And sitting at all the marble topped tables with their iron work legs?  A row of us asshole writers who looked like we had rolled out of bed and decided pajamas were good enough.  What a wonderful world we live in that I can eat a scone beneath an $800 chandelier on a Monday morning.  Next week, I’ll brush my hair.  Maybe.

Fan Chat 1/23/13

Whatcha doin' Wednesday night?  Join me at 6:00PM (pst) for a LIVE online fan chat with the lovely and talented Kristyn Burtt!  Bring your questions!  Come hang out!  Click here to RSVP!

http://www.spreecast.com/events/fan-chat-with-author-kate-danley

Fan Chat 1/23/13

You've got burning questions. Well, I have answers! Join me Wednesday, January 23 at 6:00 PM (pst), for a live fan chat on Spreecast, hosted by the talented and lovely Kristyn Burtt.

Woodcutter, Maggie for Hire, upcoming projects (more Maggie, upcoming Dead Man book), how to indie publish, how to go from indie to traditionally published... BRING IT! I'll try to have answers for you. And if I don't have answers, I'll at least make my fibs entertaining.

RSVP online at
http://www.spreecast.com/events/fan-chat-with-author-kate-danley