Kimberly Nee's Blog, page 7

Checking In

I'm up to my eyes in revisions for Windemere - and with the amount of red all over this manuscript, I have to wonder how it ever sold in the first place. Yikes. But, the good news is, most of the red is easily fixed, although the plot is going to change a little. I've been mulling it over for the better part of the last week, and I think what I need to do is going to be pretty smooth and seamless. Guess I'll know in a day or so, when I get to that part of the editing.



I've been tempering revisions with watching the Olympics. I love the Games (the gymnastics, swimming, and diving mostly) so they're on while I'm working and I'm sorry, but when the gymnastics came on, everything else pretty much got ignored.



But now we're moving into the Track and Field portion of the Games and they don't really hold my interest quite like the other sports. And since I don't think professionals should be allowed to compete, I don't watch the basketball or tennis (although I do love tennis.) For me, having pros in takes away from what the Games are supposed to stand for - which was always showcasing amateur talents.



And now, it's time to get back to work. I'm about halfway through these edits, and only now coming up on the really big changes that need to be made. **sigh** Wish me luck!

A Bit of This & That

Things have been relatively quiet around here, since I turned in Windemere. I've been fighting with the blurb (which will go to my publisher this weekend, thank God. I hate writing blurbs almost as much as I hate writing a synopsis, which is saying a lot.) I'm working on a blanket for my nephew, so my nights are spent knitting and purling, which is relaxing. The other night, the hubs and I watched Sherlock Holmes, which wasn't quite what I expected, but I still liked it. It's the first Jude Law movie I've seen where he didn't make my skin crawl, so that was a plus. And it had Robert Downey, Jr,. in it, which was a HUGE plus. I'm not a huge movie person (I think the last one I saw in the theater was the very last Harry Potter movie, so that tells you how often I get to the movies.) I watch a lot of TV on DVD, though. Right now I'm working my way through M*A*S*H, and you know you've got brilliant comedy when an episode written forty years ago is still funny today.



I've also been doing some research for my next book. It's been fun, but a little challenging. I don't mind research, rather I kind of enjoy it. It's like solving a little bit of a mystery or solving a puzzle. I usually end up with tons more info than I could ever use, but since there's a chance it will turn up in a book later on (like the research I did on sugar plantations for Eden's Pass. That book came out four years ago and I ended up combing through the research files for it for information while I was writing Windemere) so it's all good.



Our dryer is on its way out, so the hubs and I have begun the joy that is comparing and pricing dryers. Joy. And I always find that the more research I do on stuff like that, the less I end up knowing. I hate reading the reviews, because for every one who loves a certain item, there are at least two more who hate it. I hate buying anything big like this because I know that a week after I get it, the one I really wanted will go on sale, but I've already bought a more budget-friendly thing instead. It's like buying a new car, only worse because I lease my cars, so I'm only stuck with it for 3, maybe 4, years. A new washer or dryer or oven is going to be in my house forever.



I can't believe summer is half over already. Back to school shopping is right around the corner. Of course, that means cooler autumn weather is as well. Then again, judging by how cold last winter was (I think the temps averaged in the forties. Not exactly frigid) it might not be such a relief after all. This summer has been brutal. I've never seen so many days where the temperature, combined with the heat index, hovered at 105 degrees. It's been awful, especially since I hate the heat. We've also had a lot of thunderstorms, which is good, since we really do need the rain.



So, that's really it in my corner of the world. I'm looking forward to watching the Olympics over the next two weeks. I love the Olympics - summer and winter - so it'll be a nice break from the ever-depressing news (and endless political bull^%&* that I won't even get into because it pisses me off so much.) Go Team USA! :D

A Little More About Reviews

Wow, when the WTFery abounds, it really abounds. What is going on in the world to create such absolute, idiotic, crazy? Is there something in the water? In the air? Am I being punked? Are we all being punked? Because it's getting to the point where we're about all filled up withe crazy.



It all started with the nimrods wanting to out so-called bullies (who, we've discovered, aren't bullies. They simply have a different opinion than the nimrods would like them to have.) And then somewhere, someone sipped their cup of crazy and decided they simply could not live unless they outdid the nimrods.



Which brings me to a second post about reviews.



So we all know I'm shameless. I read my reviews. I will on occasion Google to see if there are any new ones (Gasp! Cough! Gasp!) And I'm not going to apologize, either, so there. Meh. :D



Anyways...



But what I would never do, (aside from attack someone who gave one of my books a less than glowing review - yanno, because she hated the heroine and wished the hero had killed her or something like that) is pay for a review.



Let me say that again.



I would NEVER pay for a review.



EVER.



There are two reasons why (well, there are more, actually, but these are my top two) -



1. If I paid and got a crappy review, I'd be pissed. Why the hell did I pay you when I can get someone who hates the heroine and wants the hero to kill her for free?



2. If I paid and received a glowing review, I'd be suspicious. I paid them, right? So they damn well better say how golden my wurdz are, right?



So, apparently, there is a certain blog that charges $95 for a review. $95???? Really?? Egads, I must be cheap because I wouldn't even consider paying that for a review. I'm not crazy about coughing up the $$ for ad space on really well known and respected romance review sites (I do it, but man, I'm so cheap it really stings. Even though, I do recoup the costs in sales/exposure, so it's all worth it in the end.) And in some cases, it costs a lot less than $95 for that advertising space.



And really, considering there are so many well-known, well-respected review sites that don't charge for reviews, why on earth would you even consider paying for a review? True, a lot of them are backlogged, so your book might not be reviews, but at least if it is, you can be fairly certain there is no amount of bias involved.



Now, this review blog states that it only accepts books it thinks will garner 4 or 5 stars to begin with, but I still fail to see how that justifies charging for a review. And really, what good is any review blog that refuses to post less than stellar reviews? What's the point? If a book doesn't work for a reviewer, that reviewer owes it to the reader to say why, doesn't s/he?



And that brings me to my next point. This blog states that it is there to "help authors, not destroy them."



Um, reviews are not for authors. They are for readers.



Let me say that again (and I think I said it in my previous post as well, but I'm not above repeating myself)



REVIEWS ARE NOT FOR AUTHORS. THEY ARE FOR READERS.



Ahem. So really, while a glowing review (especially an honest glowing review) can be a massive ego-stroke for an author, it's really not about the author at all. They are for the people who are considering which book to buy. The reader.





Now, while I was doing a little bit of research for this post, I noticed that the site in question has nothing on it about charging a fee for their reviews and I can't say for certain if it ever appeared on their site, or if that little tidbit only comes to light after an author submits a request for a review. I do know of two authors who did not learn about the fee until after they submitted the review request. I did look at Kirkus Indie Reviews, and they very clearly state right on their Indie page what they charge for a review. Now although this is Kirkus, which is extremely well-known and highly respected, the Indie Review is a different arm. You don't pay for a Kirkus Review review (Department of Redundancy Department??)



And then there was what happened with author Michele Gorman. She is one of those two authors. When she blogged about whether or not reviewers should charge to their reviews, the site in question responded by threatening a lawsuit. So Ms Gorman went and removed all references to the site (although, one cannot be guilty of defamation if what one claims is true. Dear Author did a nice little summary of it yesterday.)





But the point still remains the same - I don't believe in paying for reviews and it isn't something I would ever do.



Note: This post was originally written on 7/18, but due to a power failure in my neck of the woods, it's only being posted on 7/19.

On Reviews

I will admit, I read my reviews. I occasionally Google to see if there any out there I haven't seen. Maybe that makes me self-absorbed, but I don't care. I want to know what people who've read my books think of them. I want to know what a reader didn't like about them, as well as what they liked. I'm curious. And partly, there is a delicious sort of feeling that comes with a four or five star review and why a certain book garnered those four or five stars.



To be honest, I'm even more interested in the lower starred reviews. I want to know why a particular book didn't work for a particular reason. If the same reason shows up in different reviews, it means there might be a weakness that needs working on.



And I'll admit, it's tough to read some of the less than glowing reviews. One reviewer of Eden's Pass said she hated the heroine so much, she wished the hero had killed her. Ouch. That stung because I always liked Finn. I never realized she might garner some serious dislike amongst readers. And when I read that review, I realized that the reviewer missed something important earlier in the story. If she hadn't, perhaps she wouldn't have hated Finn quite as much as she did. I debated about replying (and we all know what that usually leads to, so I opted not to in the end) and pointing out what she'd missed. But then I thought better of it. Although it stung, it wasn't an attack on me. It wasn't personal. It was one person's opinion. And that person was entitled to her opinion.



That's the thing with reviews. As authors, we need to put out the best story we can. But when it comes to reviews, perhaps our best is not the reviewer's, and not everyone is going to love every single golden word that goes down on paper. If someone's paid good money for one of my books and they didn't like it, and they want to post a review on Goodreads or Amazon saying so, the hard-earned cash they plunked down for my book gives them the right to say why they didn't like the story.



And that does not - I will repeat this part - it does not make them a bully . It doesn't make the reviewer a wannabe failed author who is exacting revenge by writing negative reviews (okay, maybe some instances this is the truth, but I highly doubt it's the majority of bad reviews. Sometimes, people just aren't that into your book. It happens. Get over it.) It certainly is NEVER justification for "outing" the reviewer and possibly putting her or her family in any sort of danger.



Whether I like it or not, I am a public figure. I put my work out there and take the chance that someone might not like it. I know, when I open that computer file, or sign that contract, or turn in final edits, that someone will (hopefully :D) buy it. And while I'd love it if everyone could see what an obvious literary genius I am (kidding!), it just ain't gonna happen.



But the reality is, reviews aren't for the author. They are for the reader. And I do NOT want anyone thinking they need to defend me from someone who doesn't like it. As a matter of fact, I don't want you speaking for me. I don't want you attacking a reviewer for me and I sure as hell would NEVER want you "outing" a reviewer on my behalf. Ever. Not cool. So. Not. Cool.



So, while it's not nearly as fun to read a two-star review as it is to read a five-star review, so be it. I'm a big girl, I'll get over it. And anyone who feels the self-righteous need to out someone because they didn't like certain book needs to stop and think about how they would feel, if someone posted their personal information all over the internet.

Freedom!

**happy dances**



Why am I happy dancing? Because Windemere is done. And by done, I mean, off to my editor to await the red pen of death (so to speak.) I am a free woman once more! Yay!



Okay, so I still have to turn in the cover art sheet, but the book itself is done. The rewrites (my rewrites, of course) are done. The pressure is off and I can sit back and veg tonight and not feel guilty because I should be working. It'll all start over again, of course, once the first edits come in (and those are the ones I dread the most, the ones that leave me thinking, "Wow, how on earth did I sell this crap?" The ones that make me think, "My editor must think I'm the worst writer evah!" and "She's probably wondering how on earth I sold this crap as well.")



Ah, the life of the writer. Or more appropriate, the life of the writer who signs the contract before writing the book. It's not nearly as nervewracking when I know the manuscript is written and rewritten and polished to the finest shine and goes out on submission. I far prefer the polished to a fine shine prior to subbing submission. But I'm also a glutton for punishment, soooo...



And now, I will take a little mini-vacation. Not long - just a few days - but it's a vacation that I have totally earned.



Windemere is finished! Yay! :D

Done!

With a week to go until my deadline, Windemere is finished! YAY! And lest my editor read this and faint dead away because she thinks it's only first draft finished, I mean the polished, finished book is done. Happy dance! I'll read through it, make sure I caught any and all typos (and apologize in advance for any I might miss) and then BAM! Off it will go.



And then? Then I will take a few days off and relax now that the pressure is off. It will come back, in the form of edits, but that's okay. I can deal with that.



So, we're nearing the halfway point of the summer. Already??? I know that technically, summer only began what? Three weeks ago? But as a baseball fan, the turning point in the season is the All-Star break, which is this week, so I think of it as the halfway mark of summer as well. Although, it is hot enough to fool me into thinking it's August - what's up with this weather? It's ungodly, really.



Anyway, my plans for the remainder of the summer are really quite simple. I'm halfway through Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series. I'll hopefully get a few blog topics out of it because, quite frankly, I'm not enjoying this series as much as I thought. Mostly because it seems to me each of Quinn's heroes is more of a jerk than the last. I know of at least one blog post I want to write, and it was inspired by these less-than-heroic-heroes. For the first time since I bought my Kindle, I've made notes in Romancing Mr. Bridgerton (the one I'm reading now.) I've never made notes in a book, but this one was irritating me to the point where I had to, because when and if I review it on Goodreads, I want to make sure I don't forget what some of my beefs with it were.



We have a family vacation coming up, which I am really looking forward to - I haven't taken a real vacation ins years. We aren't the type to take a yearly family vacation, so when we do, it's really something to look forward to and I can't wait for this year's! And other than that, I'll be polishing Don't Tempt Me to get it out the door and under submission. And aside from research, I have nothing else going this summer. Go. Me.



Gotta love summer!

Satan Called...

He wants his weather back.



I stole that from a photo someone posted on Facebook, and it fits perfectly with the beastly weather we've been having around here. I know it's summer, but it isn't supposed to be this hot and sticky until the end of the month, the beginning of August. The end of June/beginning of July? Too. Early. The thermometer in my car registered 103 degrees the other day. 103 degrees! Egads, what's that all about?



Our town did Fourth of July fireworks this past Friday and we sweated our way through them. By 9PM, the temperature had dropped, but you know it's freakin' hot when you think, "Hmm... it's only 95. That's not so bad." Because that's exactly what we were all saying as we sat there, waiting for the show. Despite the heat, it was so worth it. The kidlets love fireworks. I love fireworks. It was a nice (if albeit hot) way to spend a night as a family.



A few weeks ago, we took the kidlets to see the Somerset Patriots play. They're our local  Independent League pro team and they are awesome. I love going to the games because it's close to home and about 1/16th the costs of going to see a Major League game. I'd rather sit at TD Ballpark and watch the Patriots than slog all the way out to Yankee Stadium, sit in traffic, get all pissed off at the morons on the road (because we are littered with idiot drivers. You can tell who they are by the out of state license plates. Really, if you're in the left lane and driving 55MPH or less, by law I should be allowed to run your ass over. MOVE OVER!)



Now... where was I?



Right, the Somerset Patriots. So, we took the kidlets and it was the Boy's first pro baseball game. We were a little nervous about taking him, since he used to be very sensitive to sounds and overstimulated by crowds (gotta love ADHD) but we figured that since the tickets only cost $8, parking only costs $3, we'd wouldn't be out a ton of money if we had to leave early. (Eight dollars to see an awesome team, in a beautiful ballpark that doesn't have a bad seat? Perfect. You can't say that about any Major League ballpark/ball game. See why I like going??)



As it turned out, we worried for nothing. The Boy was a little antsy at first, but then he got into the game and all the family-oriented things they do between innings (I will confess to being disappointed that they didn't do the Dizzy Bat Race. That's always a riot to watch) and he had a great time. Every Friday night, after the game, they shoot off fireworks and the Boy adores fireworks. They go off to music, so he was up boogie-ing like a madman. It really was a great time.



And now, I'm diving into the last revisions for Windmere. I have to turn this book in to my editor by the 15th, so I probably won't be surfacing much before then (I know, huge shocker, right???) And that's only if I don't melt by then, due to this Hell-like heat wave. Yikes. How many days until autumn???

Why I (Probably) Won't Read 50 Shades of Grey

I know, I'm a little behind - 50 Shades of Grey was like, sooooo last month, right? Well, anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I'm always behind the latest craze. Trendsetter is not a word anyone who knows me would use to describe me.



The other day, the Hubs and I were sitting out on the deck, while the kidlets played in the pool. He was reading Stacia Kane's Sacrificial Magic and I had my nose buried in my Kindle, reading A Night Like This. I don't know how it came up, but he asked me if I was going to buy 50 Shades (okay, that's it, I'm not typing it out any more. It will heretofore be known as FSOG.)



No. I don't plan on it. I have no desire to read it. Ever. I've heard the writing is awful and the oh-so-steamy love scenes? Yeah, not so much. Vanilla at best is what I've heard. And I'm not about to part with my hard-earned buckage to read something that I've yet to hear anything good about. I have nothing against erotic romance, or even straight up erotica. I've got quite a few really good ero-rom books on my Kindle. I'm not much into Erotica itself, but if someone recommended something, I'd probably read it. Just to see.



But FSOG is not on any TBR pile in my house. Not in paper. Not in digital. I have no plans whatsoever to rethink that. My TBR pile is big enough (you should see my Amazon wishlist. My husband goes pale when he sees the number of books on it. :D) and I'm not about to add something I really don't care about reading.





Then there's the whole "It began as Twilight fan fiction." I have nothing against fan fiction. Hell, I wrote it before I even knew what fan fiction was. But I'm not paying for glorified fan fiction (not to mention, the author's whole diss of the fan fiction writers and readers kind of burned me a little. You shouldn't really forget where you come from and you certainly should never dismiss the people who read your work, loved your work, and helped you go from self-published fan fiction writer to commercially-published novelist.) when I've yet to read anything positive about it. And I've never read Twilight, nor do I ever plan to read it, either. I don't care about Bella and Edward, nor do I care about Christian and Anastasia. I do care about my free time, though, and I'm not going to waste it on this book.



So maybe I'm missing out on some great literary treasure. I don't think I am, but if it turns out otherwise, that's okay. Somehow, I don't think I'll mind all that much,

Summer Reading

Last November, as many of you know, I broke down and got a Kindle and promptly fell in love. Since then, I've read something in the neighborhood of 30 books. I don't know if I'd read 30 books in the five years preceding my Kindle. Back before I had kids, I would read about a book a week, but since then? Maybe a book a year. I didn't realize how much I missed reading until I bought that Kindle and I've been making up for lost time since.



Over the winter, I tackled Sabrina Jeffries 'Hellions of Halstead Hall' series. I'm current on Stacia Kane's Downside Series. And now it's time to restock the Kindle with a new series.



A few years ago (okay, about 6-maybe even 7) I bought Julia Quinn's It's in His Kiss. And to be honest, I never finished it. I'm not even sure I made it five chapters before tossing it aside. That summer (and I know it was summer. I just can't remember if I was pregnant with the Boy or if he was a baby) no matter which author it was, I just couldn't get into the book. I tried to read A Loving Scoundrel by Johanna Lindsey, two or three Eloisa James books, and the Julia Quinn. I don't think I finished one of them and I don't know why.



Fast forward to last summer. I was in CVS and saw Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn and, on impulse, grabbed it. While the kids played in the pool later that afternoon, I devoured that book. It was awesome! But it was, I'm ashamed to admit, the only book I read last summer. Bad me.



Then I got my Kindle and you know the rest...



Two weeks ago, after finishing the last Hellions book (A Lady Never Surrenders, which was pretty good, by the way. Sabrina Jeffries was one I hadn't read and ended up with the first Hellions book on impulse), I needed something else for the shore. You have to have a book at the shore. And I found A Night Like This, by Julia Quinn. It's the second of the Smythe-Smith series. Devoured that in the two days I was at the shore. The next one won't be out until next spring, though. Wah. :(



But now I'm hooked on Julia Quinn and that's good because I plan to read her entire Bridgerton series (I believe this is the series that introduces us to the Smythe-Smiths) which is 8 books long. I started The Duke and I last night and I'm already a third of the way into it. And that's how I plan to spend my summer - reading Julia Quinn. Oh, and outlining a book I plan to write come fall. And that's pretty much it.



So, what's on your reading list for this summer?

Hard to Believe

Another school year is drawing to a close already. Yikes, how is that possible? It seems like just yesterday we were recovering from Hurricane Irene (was that storm downgraded? I think it might have been, but I'm still calling it a hurricane. So there.) and had no power, intermittent water outages, a refrigerator full of spoiling food and a little boy terrified of the dark. The week before school started, I took the kids to stay with my in-laws until civilization was restored. It seems like just yesterday. Was it really almost an entire school year ago?



In just a little over a week, I'll have a sixth grader and a first grader under my roof. A sixth grader. Holy carp... How does the time go by so fast? It's insane, how it speeds by.



We had the pool opened last week and little by little, it's coming together. Thanks to a very mild winter, there wasn't too much ick in it, although there is a lot of sediment. It can only be vacuumed a bit at a time. Then it gets doused with chemicals (the part I really don't like all that much. Not big on chemicals) and the next day, second verse, same as the first. Hopefully we'll get a good summer out of it. In the last few years, we've had to replace the pump, have it relined, have the lining fixed after Irene, and have had a bunch of little things go wrong. Anything having to do with the liner is a complete headache, because it usually requires draining and refilling the entire pool. It's a 35,000 gallon pool. It takes five days of nonstop hose-running to refill. Blech.



My spring planting is just about done. I have two flower boxes on the pool fence that are bursting with color - red, white and purple pansies this year. The purple ones are beautiful - they look all velvety and the color is amazing. Last year I waited too long and all the pansies were gone, so I ended up with snapdragons, which just really didn't work too well in the boxes. Lesson learned.



My tomato plant is producing - there are four tomatoes growing, with about half a dozen flowers to go. Yay! Fresh tomatoes all summer. And once the basil is ready - fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil all around. I also planted two other herbs, but I can't remember what they are and the packages disappeared. I think it's parsley and rosemary, but I can't swear to it. Hopefully, I'll recognize them when (if) they sprout. What I think is parsley has come up, but it isn't quite recognizable yet. As for what I think is rosemary, that hasn't come up yet, but if I remember correctly, it takes a while. Guess we'll see.



So we're gearing up for the change in pace. I've got a bunch of books loaded on my Kindle for summer reading while the kids splash in the pool. Our vacation is planned, and now it's just time to wait. We're doing a Caribbean cruise this summer, which I'm totally looking forward to. And I'm sure we'll hit the Jersey shore a few times as well. The Boy's been asking about going to the Boardwalk, so that's somewhere in the cards as well. It should (hopefully) be a fun summer.



Bring it on. I'm soooo ready for it. :D