Category: Shan and Priscilla Ride Again

More on the Grand Experiment

So, yesterday, I submitted the epub edition of Writing Neep to Smashwords, as planned.  Probably predictably Smashwords fussed that the cover was too small, so I had to upload a bigger image. Then it told me the book was published, but I couldn’t find it in my dashboard, so this morning, I re-re-uploaded the book, and it is now showing on the dashboard, as published and pending review.

So, yay, right?

Wrong.

Yesterday, a friend reminded me that Smashwords, in addition to all of the rest of its annoyances, large and small, requires that Certain Particular Holy Words be placed on the copyright page, something like “This is a Certified Smashwords Edition,” or…something.  Which brands the book as coming from the Smashwords Distribution Empire, and bully for them, but which also means that No Standard Copyright Page will satisfy them.  You cannot put the Holy Words on a page of their own, they must be in a particular place on the copyright page, and the words must be exact.

I had of course forgotten this, but what it means is that the book will not pass Real Human Vetting.

I am therefore calling it quits with Smashwords’ storefront and distribution empire.  The books that are on Smashwords will stay there, but I will not be adding new books.  I’m sorry about that, because I, like some of you, like to have alternatives to pubbing to Kindle and Nook; OTOH, Smashwords and I simply can’t reach an accommodation.

(Yes, I’m aware that millions of people every day pub to Smashwords and adore it.  I am not one of those people, and since I don’t use Word, Smashwords’ decision to base their entire conversion process on a bloated, buggy word processor works very much against me.)

So, that.

Last night, Steve and I watched “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar” and had a good time with it.  This morning, we’re doing catch-up with a variety of tasks, including getting Chapter Fourteen of Shan and Priscilla Ride Again ready to upload tomorrow, and doing some side-laundry.  I need to get with Sprite a little later and give her mane a trim under her chin where it wisps up into her mouth and gets made into little, soggy corkscrews of fur.

Also, the ribs still giving me back-chat, as they are, some careful stretching, and some time out in the comfy chair with The Golden Hawk, which I started yesterday.  My goodness, it does get on its bike and ride, doesn’t it?  And, despite a few eye-rollers like the first mate wondering, given the notoriety of their ship and captain,  how the crew can expect to land at Xtown to satisfy their “manly needs,” it’s really very readable.  Mr. Yerby knew how to write sentences, so he did.

Monday sadly requires phone calls, and I’ve got to get to the bottom of this desk, which has become chaotic again, mostly with Mundane Matters.  I wonder if there’s room in this house for a House Desk, so I can dedicate my desk to writing.  Too much to ask?  Yeah, probably so.

So!  Off to do battle with the to-do list.  I hope everyone has a restful Sunday afternoon.

Warrior Princess Jasmine Sprite reposing among her trophies
Warrior Princess Jasmine Sprite reposing among her trophies

 

Chapter Eleven: Shan and Priscilla Ride Again

A chance meeting on the streets of Solcintra High Port, with!  Auctorial Discussion.

Remember!  There are only four more chapters in the hopper.  This is an incomplete novel, which means there will be no resolution.  Prepare yourselves now.

Prepared?

Good.

Here’s your link to Chapter Eleven.

Chapter Ten: Shan and Priscilla Ride Again

We have a lot of phone calls and mundane business to take care of tomorrow, so, our busyness is your early chapter!

Please note that, with the posting of this chapter, there are only five more ahead of us.  Do recall that we’ve been viewing an incomplete work, and it will not end tidily.

Here’s your link to Chapter Ten.

Enjoy!

Welladay, Monday

One of the best things about freelancing is that you can mostly avoid having Mondays.

Mostly. . .but not always.

So!  Today was Monday, here at the Cat Farm, starting right out of the box, when all of us sleepyheads — by which I mean Steve, me, Trooper, and Sprite — were startled from Very Sound Sleeps (and in my case, a Very Intense Dream that I was just as glad to let go, except that I was Deep in Dreamspace, and waking up was — a jolt), by the sound of a knock at the door, at 7:30, which is what counts for early around here.  By the time I had surfaced from the dream, the knock had come again, and both cats had leapt up and dashed down the hall, Steve following.

But, there was no one at the door.  Careful examination showed that Scrabble had knocked a couple of brushes off the side of the sink in the bathroom.  They’d landed on the scale, which is wood-clad.

Knock-knock.

Knock-knock.

Sigh.

None of us was getting back to sleep after that, so to coffee, and an uploading of Chapter Eight of Shan and Priscilla Ride Again (here’s the link, if you missed it), which I did.  We then broke our fast and were discussing the proper structure of the day, when the mail arrived, always a moment of Great Excitement at the Cat Farm.  I left the kitchen, walked down the drive and across the road to the mailbox, where I gathered to myself a handful of. . .

. . .bills.

More than five hundred dollars in bills, only one of which (the car payment) was anticipated, much less budgeted for — all, save that one, medical bills.

For the sake of moving along the narrative, I omit the plumber’s bill for a heart-stopping sum, which had already been paid, check crossing invoice in the mail.

The surprise bills?  All were due “on receipt,” which — never mind.  So I wrote checks, and had a panic attack, and a shower, ate the leftover stir-fry Steve provided for lunch, retired to the sofa to read — and got up again to write a check to the guy who mows our lawn — for two weeks, naturally, since he had taken care of us while we were on tour.

Late in the day, a nice thing did happen.  More on that as I can.

Oh, and things seem to be moving along in the Great Plan to bring Belle to Maine later this month.  Just need to nail down the date and time — that’s good, too.

Things are somewhat calmer now.  Steve’s gone to chess; I did the dishes; Trooper and Sprite are with me in my office, napping while I blog.  In a bit, I’ll go back to the sofa and my book.

But!  Before I do that, I have news of a sort for Nook readers concerning Dragon in Exile, which is — Neither Baen nor BN understands why the Nook edition failed to find its way into the store, and the problem has been bumped Upstairs to the This Really Should’ve Worked Problem Solving Team.  More news is expected in two business days.  In the meantime, and as always, you may purchase an epub (Nook) edition of DiE — and all of — our published novels directly from Baen.  Here’s your link.

Also!  For those who appreciate a beautiful instrument, and especially a beautiful keyboard, there’s this.

So — how was your Monday?

Trooper and the purple duffle; a blast from the past.
Trooper and the purple duffle; a blast from the past.