Diary of a Tiger: w/c Fri 25 Mar

Chapter 13: Week commencing Friday 25 March

Friday
For all of Friday I was editing. Hard-copy editing for the Yorkshire editing/proofreading/writing client. There was nothing else on my planner. Just editing. I did actually do some other work, but it was gig list and band admin for Diane’s Gig List and for Monkey Dust. I also pitched 3 story ideas to a publisher who wanted pitches Tweeted to them.

We went out and did the weekly shopping so that we had the entire weekend free. The poet had been in contact with 2 people at work who had since tested positive for Covid. So we were both testing daily, fearful that (a) we might not get to see our mother’s on Mother’s Day, (b) we might pass it along to other shoppers, and (c) we might have to cancel the band’s appearance at a charity gig on Saturday night. So we did the shopping on Friday.

To say that I was furious with one of the poet’s colleagues is putting it extremely mildly, for one of them had known all week that his wife and several (aka more than 4!) kids all had Covid, yet he didn’t have the decency to tell anyone at work until he too tested positive. We know it’s no longer a legal requirement, but when at least 3 of his colleagues (that I know about) are classed as vulnerable, then the least he could have done was warn them.

The Weekend
On Saturday we still had negative tests. One of the books that Amazon said wouldn’t be here before 6 May arrived. We nipped out to get a couple of things and put petrol in the car. And the charity gig went ahead.

On Sunday we still tested negative, so went to see the poet’s mum first, then we went to see my mom, and then we went for a short walk around Calke Abbey. The editor at the publisher I Tweeted on Friday asked to see one of the books.

Monday
On Monday, a new Wordsworth Short was published.

Arrivederci Roma is an old favourite of mine and, even though I say so myself, it still brings a smile to my face whenever I read it.

You can find all of my books on the BUY MY BOOKS tab on the blog, or you can go to www.books2read.com/DianeWordsworth.

We had to take the dog to the vet on Monday morning, as he’d developed a strange lump on his foot and it split open at the weekend. The vet gave him some antibiotics and some steroid/anti-inflammatories and asked to see him again next week.

The rest of the day was spent on the regular pitch and partial so I could send it to the publisher I Tweeted on Friday. Everything else was pushed on a day. Even if the pitch isn’t successful, it was an excellent exercise for me, as it forced me to address a saggy middle in the original synopsis. If this publisher says no, then at least I have the full outline now to work to.

Tuesday
On Tuesday I had to post a quick and late ‘publication day’ post for Monday. I hadn’t had time to do anything on my publishing challenge, so the only thing I had to talk about was Monday’s publication. As it was a day late, it became an ‘out now’ as opposed to a ‘publication day’.

I had to rejig the project manager, as I’d lost an entire day on Monday doing the pitch. It’s looking as busy as ever, so I deleted one recurring project for now: the short story for fiction market #2. I’ll revive it when I have time to do it. At the moment, the not doing it is having a negative effect on the rest of my work, as I keep berating myself for not doing it.

The revisions had arrived for Part 1 of Book 9 for GW1 client, so that was the next job. I spotted a faux pas on my part. I had an earl’s estate just outside Brighton at the start of the book, but only 4 or 5 chapters later, it appears I managed to move it to Hampstead Heath, which is miles away from Brighton.

How did I spot this and how did I fix it? Well, at the start I was referencing sea bathing, and there is no sea in Hampstead Heath. There are, however, several bathing ponds, and ponds that were built before my story started. So, phew! I was able to rescue it this time, by changing Brighton to Highgate and sea bathing to pond bathing, and voila! (Said she hopefully.) I hope the fix works.

The rest of the day was more editing.

Wednesday
Wednesday should have been more ghostwriting. However, because I was behind on my publishing schedule, and because I’m better off doing the ghostwriting in bigger batches, I published two books. One is for this coming Monday, the other is for the following Monday. Both are short stories.
A parcel of books arrived, another 2 that Amazon swore blind would not be available before 6 May… I’m so glad I’m monitoring this.

I checked my sales on Draft2Digital, and they’ve escalated during March, all paperbacks too. I think with me buying one copy of each of them, the booksellers may have ordered extra in, so not all of those sales have been verified yet. However, it’s still a massive load more than I ever sold on KDP.

I was behind again on my blog posting, so I wrote up the post for Wednesday just gone, 30 writing prompts, and duplicated it over on Medium.

And then… it was back to the editing.

Thursday
Thursday and today were/are both set aside to catch up (again!) with the ghostwriting. Doing the revisions on Tuesday served as my refresher, but still I sat and stared at a blank screen for a while. Then, because I’m overwriting this one a bit, I had to move chunks of the outline along.

On Thursday I still had a load of story from Part 2 to write up. I’m hoping the overwriting isn’t too… well, boring. It did take the pressure off writing enough words for Part 3 as I have more than enough material.

The last job I had to do for this month was my multi-project word-count spreadsheet. I updated it with the actuals, added in today’s words, and created the April version.

I was also delighted to watch the latest kickstarter campaign I’ve backed creep over the threshold for the final reward. If this still stands after admin costs are taken into account, then I’ll have 12 new books and another 10 online writing classes in the bag.

Very soon, in the near future, I want to start doing these classes and submitting the assignments. I think I’ll concentrate on those for a bit and forget the typing practice for a while.

Today
Today is more ghostwriting. The deadline is tomorrow. Then on Sunday we’re off out for the day… weather permitting. Hopefully we’ll see puffins.

Have a great weekend.

Note: I’m not including links because they take forever to edit out when I’m preparing the final version of the book for publication.