Thursday, August 03, 2006

friday recap and update

"Oh, joyfully--joyfully--joyfully--go down with you into the night of the Grave."

Edgar Allan Poe to Sarah Helen Whitman - October 1, 1848.


first of all i want to thank everybody who replied to my broken post. I debated about that post for a long time, unsure of how people would react. i finally put it up about 2:00 am, probably because nothing at that time of the night seems real. I woke up the next morning thinking, oh, shit. :D

now i plan to put up another rather dark post next week, this one about death. it ties into the broken post, and is another issue i like to poke at from time to time.


i'm trying to get this first draft done, so for the next two weeks i might not be posting quite as often as i normally do. i didn't take my usual break after the 100 page mark and am just plowing ahead

i'm working on a sequel to pale immortal. i tried to get my publisher to agree to the idea of a sequel in the winter of 2005 because i felt the books should come out close together. at that time they weren't interested in dealing with it. (I don't know if this is just my publishing house or if all houses are working this way now. There doesn't seem to be much forward-thinking going on, and there seems to be an inability to make timely decisions.) i sent the proposal in sept of 2005. they finally agreed to it april/may 2006. my contractual deadline for book 2 was oct 1. i told them i couldn't possible write a book in 4 months. (taking sept off for PI signings, etc.) they gave me a verbal okay for dec. 1. a couple of months ago my editor asked when she should expect it. i said dec 1. she called a few days ago and said that she saw by my contract that the book was due oct 1. they wanted to move it up in their schedule, when did i think i could have it done? I think she was going to ask if i could get it in earlier than oct. i reminded her of the dec 1 date. i honestly think she completely forgot about our two earlier 'conversations" about the deadline, but it seems that i always come away from these things looking like somebody who's hard to get along with. *sigh*

8 comments:

Jude said...

You don't sound like you're hard to get along with - just sticking to what is feasible.

It's better not to rush it and I'm sure she'll appreciate that in the end as the book will be better for it.

Mary Louisa said...

Hang in there, Anne Frasier. We'll miss you, but we understand. (hug)

angie said...

Happy writing! Of course, I'll be annoyed that your blog won't provide the constant amusement and distraction that I've become dependent on. Guess I'll have to suck it up and get some work done.

Jaye Wells said...

I always follow up conversations like that with an email. Comes from my days as a magazine editor with freelancers who were casual about deadlines.

Good luck with the sequel. Can't wait for the first one!

Jaye

angie said...

Your new avatar is too, too funny. Got any extra pez?!

Christa M. Miller said...

Oh, hell, looking like somebody who's hard to get along with is a daily phenomenon in my life. :P Enjoy your writing! I'll miss you too, but how cool that you get to write a sequel (that they are interested in after all)!

Anonymous said...

Oh man, sooner after all that waiting for the okay? Yikes. I know the energy it takes to write fast and I understand about the blogging too!

Good luck, I know you can pull off an awesome sequel!

And you were very brave to share your past with us. =) I know how it feels to get things out in the open.

Jeff said...

I'm looking forward to the dark post about death you are referring to because I find that topic interesting.
As far as your deadline, it doesn't sound like you're hard to get along with, you were simply clearing up a misunderstanding. :)