Sunday progress

Note the increase of 8 pages in my progress list. It's not much, but it's something.

Getting copies of my own books

I never thought this would be a problem.
Or, at least, not for what I refer to a “the Archetype book” – The Complete Writers Guide to Heroes and Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes. Back when I was on the writing conference circuit, I would order box after box of these things, usually by letting my editor at Lone Eagle know I needed them. That worked until about 2005 or so, when Lone Eagle, which had previously been sold to IFilm, was sold to a new company.
But by then, I was working full time as a lawyer again, and had stopped going to so many workshops. I was no longer selling the books myself. I had a case or two left from conference days, and occasionally dragged a few along when I spoke locally. And every now and again, someone would decide that paying full price for the book with autograph was better than the steep discount Amazon offers. [I’m flattered!]
But in April, just before the Las Vegas Writers Conference, I discovered (or perhaps was reminded?) at the last minute that I need to bring my own books. And AACK – I only had 11 left. Well, those went quickly.
And then there were none. I mean –I do not even have a copy for myself, other than a manuscript copy. And I am speaking at a few writing venues in the coming months.
Well, I can, of course, just buy it at the store like everyone else. In fact, I could buy a bunch a copies at Amazon for that nice discount. Amazon’s good, but hey – I can get it half price!
If, that is, I just figure out who is selling them days. Seems Lone Eagle keeps getting passed along to bigger and bigger publishers.
My royalties come from a company called Nielson. But apparently that’s a dead end for buying the books.
After four phone calls, and four emails –all to different people and companies, I finally tracked them down. Turns out that Random House now owns Watson-Guptill, who in turns owns the Lone Eagle imprint. Or so they say.
But, the good news is - my books are on the way.
Whew!

Back in the saddle

Well, so much for sacrificing all for the client. I tried, really I did, but the brief was not coming together in a way that I could consider anywhere near my standards. Truth, I was just too sick.

Fortunately, illness is an acceptable excuse for an extension. And thank heavens for paralegals who can put together a request, because by the time I was ready to admit I couldn't get it done, I was in no shape to do even that. But I have a great appellate paralegal named Martha, who got it done for me. I was out on Monday, and was even sicker on Tuesday.

I came in to work yesterday, but that was mostly to get my hours for the month of May in. I was way late. It may seem crass, but the truth is, if we don't send bills, we can't pay our own. And the computer needs the electric bill paid. Plus, I might get yelled at if I don't get them in.

While at work yesterday, I was able to put out a few fires that were still smoldering from my absence, review a court order that gaveth and tooketh away (mostly gaveth, fortunately) and then went home to bed again.

Today, I am back. I still fear I'll lose a lung with every cough, but at least I can still up straight. more importantly, I can think straight.

Meanwhile, my latest contribution at Living Las Vegas is up, a paean to Boyd School of law, celebrating its 10th anniversary. See Law School, Vegas Style.

But have I written any fiction?

Of course not.

Sundays, briefs, and illness.

This year, Sundays have been the most productive for me, in terms of my fiction writing. This is because my critique group meets on Sunday afternoon. Each member is expeted to bring up to 10 pages of new material.

What this means is that I am generally writing those 10 pages Sunday morning. Sounds stressful, but it has worked. We've met 14 times, and thanks to that critique group, I have written 138 pages of My dog Carries a Knife.

We are not meeting today, though. My husband, Steve, was planning to run a marathon in San Diego today. But he got sick, so we cancelled the trip.

That turned out to be a good thing for me, because I had an appellate brief due Monday. The calendar in my head, which I should NEVER trust, said that brief was due June 11. Fortunately, the calendar that appears at my desk had a reminder about this brief.

Of course, I am sick, too. Slight fever, very sore throat, cough, aches and pains, etc. But the brief is due. And so I will write it today, polish it tomorrow, and file it.

I will not work on my book.

I will feel guilty for the five minutes it took me to write this post, when I could have been researching cases or outlining the brief, or whatever.