Briana Vedsted's Blog, page 29
May 8, 2013
A Toast to the Kentucky Derby
Take your lady friend out to buy a pretty hat and... Go South, young man. Go South! Go in the Spring. And while there bet on some horses and sip Mint Juleps for a day.
Mint Julep
How to make: Makes One Strong Julep (recipe from the Derby's bartender) Take out that sweet tea pitcher and make up a big batch!
This sounds pretty delicious!
What a beautiful day!
I woke up this morning inspired and energized. The rain for the last few days has been a glorious gift. The sun is shining through the clouds and it isn’t windy at all. The air is fresh and clean, and for some strange reason, I’m happy!
Today is House Cleaning Day. My aunt, uncle, and grandmother are coming down for the weekend, so there is lots of work to be done, but I slipped away for a few moments to write this post.
It is Wednesday (thank goodness! I’ve been thinking it was Thursday and my work week was almost over!) and I plan on tackling my manuscript this evening and hopefully getting done with chapter two. I was talking to my sister about the difference of rewriting a manuscript to editing it and the time difference that each job requires.
To start with, writing the manuscript can take forever. Then comes the rewrites, which also takes awhile and is not my favorite part, but oh well! And then the final editing stage, which really doesn’t take too much time once you set your mind to the task at hand. I’m really looking forward to getting past the rewrite stage and on to the editing part, because then I’m almost done! 
But there is one thing I forgot to add to my schedule: editing my book, Me and Billy the Kid. It is May, so my editors should be in touch any day now. And at the end of the month, I’ll be working with my cover artists, and then in June will be formatting and layout. That is going to take up a big chunk of time, so Here with the Wolves might go onto the back burner for a month or two.
And sometimes this month the water will be turned on and irrigating will begin. There is also branding coming up, hauling the cows to the mountain, horseback riding (not my favorite at all), and the rest of my summer jobs.
But even with all that on my plate, I’m unnaturally happy. I don’t know why, and I’m not looking this gift horse in the mouth. So thank you to everyone for making the first part of my week a great one, and here’s to hoping the week will end on a happy note, as well! Cheers!
Writing with Children
Reblogged from Legends of Windemere:
This is a rather common conversation for me:
Me: I didn't get much writing done yesterday.
Other Speaker We'll Call Bob: That's what happens when you have kids.
Me: Why do you think my son is the reason?
Bob: Because you have kids.
Me: I didn't say it was my son.
Bob: Oh . . . you see Iron Man 3 yet?
Kids are not a distraction to their author parents or family members! My siblings (and pets) leave me alone when I write for the most part, but the times that they do call for me, I step away long enough to clear my head and can then come back to my manuscript with fresh ideas.
May 7, 2013
Facebook vs. Twitter
Okay, I want to know what the point of Twitter is. I totally get Facebook. On Facebook you can chat, play games, and follow (or like) other people. You can have an Author Page and advertise your business, too.
Twitter just annoys me. Okay, so I have 42 Followers and I’m following 61 people, but it still annoys me. People are so pushy on Twitter! Almost every single time anyone has direct-messaged me, they are telling me that I need to visit their site, buy their book, etc. What is wrong with “Hi! Hello! What’s going on in your part of the world today?“ What is wrong with being friendly?
I just don’t understand. Grrr…
My New Schedule
Okay, here is the schedule I promised everybody!
Weekly goals:
Two chapters rewritten in my werewolf book
Four new posts on my blog
Limit my e-mail, facebook, and twitter time to half an hour in the morning and unlimited time in the evening after I’ve completed my daily goals.
Take the weekend off. Completely off. No computer work whatsoever. (Except checking my email and the blog for new comments, likes, and that kind of stuff in the evenings.)
So for this week my daily goals are as follows:
1. Get to chapter three in Here with the Wolves
2. Make it to page 200 in my friend’s book
3. Three more new blog posts
I figure that if I get this all done by the end of the week (Friday) I’ll be happy. And if I find that I can do the editing/rewrites faster than two chapters in a week, maybe I’ll bump it up to three chapters.
Goal for today: Get off of WordPress and actually start doing some rewriting!!!
Sunshine Award!
Sunshine Award!
Francesca at http://frannychallenge.wordpress.com/ very thoughtfully nominated me for the Sunshine Award! Thank you so much!
Here are the rules:
Include the award’s logo in a post or on your blog.
Link to the person who nominated you.
Answer 10 questions about yourself.
Nominate 10 bloggers.
Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blogs, letting them know they have been nominated.
Answers for the 10 questions:
Favorite color – red
Favorite animal – kittens
Favorite number – 7
Favorite non-alcoholic drink – Apple juice
Favorite alcoholic drink – I don’t drink!
Facebook or Twitter? –Facebook. I really don’t understand the point of Twitter.
Passions – Cooking and reading
Prefer getting or giving presents? –Giving presents. I love making people happy!
Favorite City – Denver, CO
Favorite TV Shows – Warehouse 13, Destination Truth, Haven, Defiance
My Nominees: (I’m only going to do 5 instead of 10)
http://amyrostron.wordpress.com/
http://lmoktan.wordpress.com/
http://helenvalentina.com/
http://readfulthingsblog.com/
http://balconyviewz.wordpress.com/
Thank you again Francesca!
May 6, 2013
I didn’t get a single thing done!
I just don’t get it. I’ve had a day off today. Or maybe an off-day. I’m not sure. But what I do know is that I didn’t get anything accomplished. I didn’t edit any of my manuscript, I didn’t work on my new book, and until now, I didn’t write any new posts for my blog. So what did I do all day? It was raining, so I didn’t work outside much, I spent half an hour giving my sister a manicure, folded some clothes, but other than that, I was on the computer and didn’t do a thing. The only progress I made was reading 35 pages of my friend’s novel.
So I’ve made up my mind: I need to have a schedule. I need to set aside some time for blogging, editing, and writing. But I can’t be on the computer all day. I have other things I need to do. I need to balance my time.
How long should I devote to wordpress, twitter, facebook, and email? That is my biggest challenge. I spend w-a-y too much time online. So what to do? Half hour in the morning, half hour in the afternoon, and an hour in the evening to catch up on anything I missed? Too much time or not enough? I need to finish editing/rewriting my book, too. That is high up on my to-do list. But how much time should I spend on it? Is two hours a day too little? I guess I could take a break from writing my new book. But I need to finish reading a book, help another friend edit a book, and then make time to help my sister write her book. Then I have my animals to tend to, family to be with, and countless other things.
Do any of you have a schedule? Can you help me? Any suggestions would be welcome. Or should I set goals, i.e. edit six chapters, write two news ones, blog four new posts etc. in one week? Then if I get that all done sooner than a week, I could have a day off to play games, or do extra writing. I’m just not sure.
I know I have more free time in the evening (6:30-10:00) and seem to write better in the evening, but I just can’t keep away from the internet! What to do???
Please Reblog This Blog- The Last Enchantress Is Free Today
Reblogged from scottandjudithpowell:
The Last Enchantress is free on Kindle today, please let everyone know.: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CF1E6RK
Help out these new authors and spread the word!
May 5, 2013
A New Award
Does anyone know how to create a new blog award? Is it legal for anyone to make up a new award? Do you have to get somebody’s approval?
I have an award in mind that I’d like to create, (I’ve got the picture, rules, and nominees already in mind!) but want to make sure I go about it in the right way. So if anyone has ever created an award, I’d appreciate your advice on how to go about it.
What is an Agent?
I’m going to ask a question that my fellow self-published authors are going to be hard-pressed to answer: What is an agent?
I’ve read that agents make the author’s job much easier by finding a compatible editor and eventually, a publisher. The publisher cuts the author a check for the work, and everything else just falls into place. Then the author rakes in the royalty checks, minus 15-20% commission the agent receives.
But I’ve also heard that going with an agent isn’t the best way. The editors take control of your manuscript, you don’t have a choice with the cover, and you still have to pay for some of the editing and marketing costs.
So for any of you authors who have been published traditionally, what did your agent do for you? Did you get paid for your work, or did you pay to have your work published?
The reason that I ask is because I really want to publish my werewolf book traditionally. But I want to know what to expect if an agent does accept my work.
