Time to Kick Back!

Erin and I have been under heavy deadlines the last six weeks or so. You can read about my emersion from the Editing Cave and Erin's dip into it here. I got my edits turned in, and Erin got her first round completed for The Fulfillment--the third installment in The Fulfillment Series--and we thought we'd be done. Nope. Nope. Wrong. Erin works for Book Fish Books as the marketing guru, organizer, and a "special projects" line and copy editor. She's wicked smart but pulled in about 50 directions at once.

So, in between editing Travelers--the latest BFB book--she has been working on another round of edits for The Fulfillment. On top of that, I've started work with Pandamoon Publishing, my publisher, on the cover for 122 Rules, and I've begun writing again on its sequel, 122 Rules - Redemption. I am beyond excited for Matt and crew to apply their splashes of brilliance to my book jacket. It's a fun, five-year dream coming true.

Whew! That's enough to keep anyone busy. But work is work, and it needs to be kept in priority. In spite of deadlines and work coming to fruition and all that, it's not the most important thing in life.

Last night Erin and I watched the movie About Time. If you haven't seen it, I totally recommend to take the time and fire up ye old VCR. Here's the trailer.

The story is about a man who can go back in time and re-live a day or event in his past. He learns that the most important thing in life is to live each moment to the fullest. Enjoy the time you have, and don't waste an opportunity to be with those that you love.

My lady and I see eye-to-eye on pretty much everything, and this is no exception. So even though we've had pressing deadlines and a million things to do, we always take time for each other. For us. This last month has been no exception. Join us on our adventures!

I watched the Portland Aerial Tram being built and, for years, saw it sailing overhead.

This week, we got to take it for a spin!

The machinery was really cool and kinda had me geeking out, but the best part was dancing with my lady on the landing while we waited for our ship to come whisk us away!

Talk about a brilliant, beautiful ray of sunshine!

Along with keeping Portland weird, we in the PNW are known for our bicycles, and those abounded!

Here comes the ship!

The views from the tram were just awesome!

More views of our fair city. It felt like we were Peter Pan flying over the rooftops!

We rounded out the evening at a restaurant I'd always wanted to try and a stroll around the city. 

But we've done more than just take one night. We also:

Used the selfie booth at the 4th of July celebration and later watched local fireworks under the clear night sky.

Made it to a hot air balloon festival. Totally sweet to see these giant windbags all lit up at night.

Went to a street festival in da big city!

Hawt lady in a stylin' hat at the festival!

Took a day out of our schedule to chillax with a bowl of popcorn and a little Justified!

Somewhere over the rainbow! View from town yesterday after it started raining for the first time in forevs.

Erin and I always have a lot to do. We have aspirations and real life problems and responsibilities, but in the end, it's just the two of us and always will be. I want to be dancing with my lady when we are 80--albeit maybe a little slower than we do now--holding her hand, and going on crazy adventures.

Everyone is given the same 24 hours every day. Get rid of the stuff in your life that you don't need--money doesn't actually buy happiness nor does the acquisition of material items. Get what you need to live then spend your time with those that you love. Make sure they know how you feel about them. Unlike in the movie, you'll never get the moment back, never be able to relive an instant, never be able to grasp that missed opportunity. Make the most of it.

Until next time!

Batman, OB1, and Me. Also, The Winner Is...

Batman, OB1, and Me.

I have emerged! Rising up from the depths of my cave like Batman! I poked a hole in the roof this weekend and allowed the sun to caress my way-pale skin for the first time in I don't even know how long.

The Cave

Batman

Why was I sequestered away for so long? Was it a bad case of hermititis? Or worse, did I become a Hermit?

Maybe I thought I was OB1 Kenobi and needed to hide in the desert of Tatooine? Lying in wait to save the universe. As awesome as being a Jedi knight would be, it's actually something much simpler and a ton scarier than facing a saber-wielding Sith Lord.

While Erin and I were on the train coming back from our second wedding (and honeymoon!) in the South, I received my first round of content edits for 122 Rules from my publisher, Pandamoon Publishing.

Yikes!

Editing is both an awful and wonderful place, but it always ALWAYS starts in hell.

The night that I got the editorial letter and manuscript comments, Erin and I read through the notes. It took me a little bit to get past the Help! I can't breathe! My book is crap and is going to take a complete rewrite just to be worthy of being on the back of a salad dressing bottle, phase. But we did what we always do when faced with an overwhelming task and just took it piece by piece. I literally created a list of my characters and plot points and under each, a bulletized list of things to change.

It took hours, but after it was done, I sent it to my editor, Anya Kagan. She reviewed it and within a few minutes we were IMing until we'd agreed on everything that needed to be done. She did a hella good job being able to see something decent in what I've always thought of as just a long-winded email.

I'm grateful for Pandamoon, Anya for her expertise, and for my wife, Erin, a brilliant author, my biggest supporter, and my best friend. Over the years, Erin has edited 122, listen to me drone on and on about plot twists, characters, word choices, so on. She helped write my synopsis letter, and she was the one who insisted that I do PitMad which helped me get onboard with Panda to begin with. So any success from this book--or, let's face it, from me in general--is largely due to her, her efforts, and her love.

Of course, Anya's not done with me yet. Last night we finished. Erin reviewed the book and had a bunch of notes. I dotted the last of the T's and crossed the I's, then attached the behemoth to an email and clicked send, instantly transmitting five year's of work to Anya. Now I wait for my editor to lob it back like a virtual game of Hot Potato. But I'm ready to take on whatever comes next.

Then of course there's our editor cat, Trinna. She's easily the most difficult of the lot to make happy. She spent hours and hours in my lap dictating, supervising, directing, and sleeping as only a cat can do.

Trinna is NOT impressed by dangling participles

Name the Character Contest!

One of the things that came out of the editorial letter was the need to rename a secondary character, so I held a Name the Character Contest! And the winner is....Krystal Angela Azucena!

Her suggestion: Coral, it means small stone in Latin. Since she has a small part I thought it an appropriate name for her.

Love it! So, our ill-fated waitress has been named Coral! Thanks to all that played and congrats to you, Krystal!

Until next time!