Category Archives: Sing Sweet Nightingale

Sing revision update #6

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OMFG. I am *THIS* close to finishing the first round of revisions on Sing, Sweet Nightingale!

THIS CLOSE! Pinch of Sunlight (c) Dani Simmonds

Seriously. That close.

So close, in fact, I almost convinced myself it would be a good idea to give up sleeping last night to finish it. I’m glad I didn’t manage to make myself think that was a good idea (I need sleep or I am an awful person), but now I have to sit at my day job and try NOT to work on my book because I have ALL THE THINGS to do this week at work and it’s not going very well and I feel like I’m going mad because all I want to do is go hide in a Starbucks until the book is done!

*deep breath*

On the plus side, I think I should finish tonight! Then all it needs is a read-through to make sure I didn’t skip anything thinking I would go back to it and then forget… I do that sometimes. And then it goes off into cyberspace to my editors and my agent and OMG! Round one DONE! That will be a freaking milestone of epic proportions and I am thrilled to be almost hitting it!

Do I get to laze about after that? NOPE. I have another set of revisions to work on and Book 2 of The Dream War Saga to finish and a WIP I really, really want to dig back into. And, of course, a day job I have to try to keep myself from getting fired from.

Ahh, the glamorous life of an author!

*dives back into the day job*

Edited to add: (5:27 pm)

AHH OMG IT’S DONE! Read through here I come! Then all that’s left is to send it off! YAY! 

Sing revision update #5

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I think the end is ACTUALLY in sight this time.

Last night I managed to work through the chapter where everything collides. Lots of things happen, lots of things need to be dealt with, things, in short, are simply everywhere! Some stuff, as well. But I got through it and now I’m on the other side of the mountain, teetering as I peer into the valley at the bottom of a very sharp decline.

How fast can I wrap everything up? My goal is to have it done by Friday night. I hope. If I do, I get to read This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith, which I forgot I pre-ordered! Yay incentives! If I do that, I might also let myself have a weekend of doing nothing. I haven’t had one of those for a while.

Wish me luck! It’s time to gather up all the threads I laid out during the course of the story and try to tie off as many of them as I can. Not all of them, of course (where’s the fun in that?) but most. 😉

Sing revision update #4

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I am in the home stretch!! Or, at least, I think I am.

Honestly, it’s hard to tell. Every time I think I’m getting close to the finish line, I swear the damn thing moves! It definitely did yesterday. I was sitting there looking at this chapter going, “Am I really close to (insert important moment here)? How’d that happen so fast?”

I stared at it. And stared at it. And the other people in Starbucks must have thought I was completely zoning out because I kept staring at it. Until I finally couldn’t deny the fact that I needed at least one more chapter in between those two points.

I grumbled for a little while and bought myself another drink and then inserted the placeholder for the chapter. Now I just have to go back and actually write it. Which is kind of the important part, I guess. 

Without my ridiculously incapacitating illness this past week, I’d probably be done with the revisions by now. But that is not the case. Since I’m back at the day job this week, I’m hoping to be able to finish by the end of the week. I hope. Have to, really, because deadline is approaching and I have other projects that need my attention. Like book 2. And Secret Project # 1. And Secret Project # 2. And all the other things I have going on. I like to keep busy. 🙂

So wish me luck! I’m diving back into the trenches as soon as I get off work today. Hopefully the finish line is done jumping around on me.

Today is the day I start playing catch-up.

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Catch it! (c) Mateusz Stachowski

For the first time all week, I almost feel like my brain is a brain and not a pile of steaming nothing locked inside my head. Excepting a stiff neck, a slight cough, and a runny nose, I’m almost better! Kind of. I did sleep until 10:30 in the morning today, which is really weird for me, but maybe that’s why I’m feeling a little better than I expected.

My day job is closed for Good Friday, so that means I have today, tomorrow, and Sunday to play catch up and revise the rest of Sing, Sweet Nightingale. There’s still a lot of work left and, of course, the chapters yet to be written are the more complex, emotional, conflict-ridden chapters. Well, no one ever said being an author was easy, right? Not like it’s an office job where your work load can be handed off to someone else if you’re sick and a deadline is looming. And I wouldn’t want it to be anyway. But, still, I’m a little worried everything I write this weekend will be complete and utter crap. Although my brain is more awake than it has been the rest of this week, I still wouldn’t say it’s working at full capacity.

So, wish me luck! Into the trenches I go. After, you know, food of some sort. 🙂

Getting back into the swing of things.

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Forest Playpark (c) Colin Brough

After a week away from life, this is my first day back at everything. I got back into my revisions on Sing, Sweet Nightingale over the weekend, but today I’m back at the day job, too. and it’s been a busy, hectic Monday. Definitely a Monday.

Getting back into life after a week in the fantasy land of traveling, cover shoots, cool weather, and family visits has been hard, but it’s something I’m going to have to get used to. Lots of traveling this year and probably even more next year! Letting myself slack off too much before getting back to work isn’t a good idea. Even if it seems like it at the time.

But how do you do it? In theory jumping right back in is great, but actually making your brain cooperate is something else entirely. My recommendation, and what worked for me this weekend, is having a routine. near the end of December, I started writing at Starbucks with my Surface. I would go to the Starbucks around the corner from my house and sit there for hours until they kicked me out or my brain started sending smoke out of my ears. I’ve done it so often since then, that it’s pretty easy for me to get down to work once I get to Starbucks. Unless something is actively distracting me (like someone sitting there talking to me), I’m usually pretty productive at Starbucks. Whether it’s a place, a time, or a soundtrack, setting up your own routine can be incredibly helpful when you’re suddenly coming back to work after days or even weeks away from your words. It doesn’t make going back to the day job any easier, but that’s a completely different problem. 😉

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! I’ll check in again later this week. <3

My trip to DC! Or the parts I can tell you about anyway. ;)

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My photographers Jeremy West, Jeffrey West, and Lauren McCall testing out the flash

I can’t tell you much about my cover shoot, but the process was fabulous and I want to make sure I officially thank the entire team responsible for the amazingness of the day. My models were all FANTASTIC, the photography team was totally behind the vision for the series, and my editors were as excited to see everything start coming together as I was. THANK YOU EVERYONE! I will remember this day for the rest of my life and the awesomeness of it all is hard to put into words.

In addition to the day of photo-shooting, I also got to spend a few days visiting with my editors, my family who lives in Maryland, and wandering around DC! By the end of the trip I had more than one person tell me I could come stay with them if I felt like moving and it was SO HARD to pack my bags and come back to Florida. Luckily the weather has been nice in Florida this week (meaning low humidity and tolerable temperatures), so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

I wish I’d taken more pictures of Maryland, but most of the non-photo-shoot pictures I have are from my day sightseeing in DC. To take a look, just click the link below!

I can’t wait to see the cover for Sing, Sweet Nightingale (hopefully by the end of April!) and am so excited to share it with you all (definitely at the end of May!). Check back on the blog for more updates and information as it gets closer to that time! <3

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This weekend is going to be AMAZING!

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Washington (c) rendo79

Tomorrow, lovelies, I leave my day job at five, drive over to the airport, get on a plane, and land in our nation’s capital city: Washington, D.C.!

I won’t be in the city much because everything I’m going for the five days I’m in the area happens in either Maryland or Virgina, but it’s going to be amazing. It could be happening in Antarctica and I’d be happy!

What things, you may ask? Lots of them. Mostly, though, I get to spend quality time with my wonderful editresses Danielle and Patricia and talk about all things The Dream War Saga! The weekend will be a book-centric time and I am SO FREAKING EXCITED ABOUT THIS TRIP! Is it tomorrow yet?! Why can’t it be tomorrow yet?!

**deep breath**

Right. Okay. I’m fine! I think.

On top of book things, though, I get to meet in person a lot of really cool online friends and hang out in an area of the country that actually knows what winter feels like! For this Florida girl, that is awesome!

I’ll be posting pictures and things on Twitter through the weekend, so if you’re not already following me (@byericacameron), go fix that!

Now, please excuse me. I have to go do ALL THE THINGS at the day job today so I can take the whole next week off!!! 😀

Sing revision update #3

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Progress is being made! And I finally know for sure that it’s progress in the right direction! Woohoo!

I have to go back and rework a section of this new draft, but that’s okay! Because I get to keep most of what I wrote and that makes me happy. 😀

Also, just in case you didn’t know this already, beginnings are HARD. Like, seriously. Extremely difficult. Like, climbing Everest difficult. It seems as though I’m getting closer to the top of this particular mountain, but I won’t know for sure until I stand up there and plant my flag in the snow.

WE SHALL SEE, I SUPPOSE.

In the meantime, here! Go visit Cracked.com and let them entertain you while I try to make my brain stop sending smoke out my ears…

Sing revision update #2

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Guys, after working 14-16 hour days since last wednesday, I totally feel like this right now:

Study 2 (c) Colin Adamson

HOWEVER, progress is being made and I’ve been told from trusted sources that it’s GOOD progress! So, yay! There’s no time-back guarantee that my editresses shall agree, but I will just have to take that chance and go where these revisions are taking me. Because right now it’s a really fun place. EXHAUSTING, but fun. 🙂

This also means that my brain is not really capable of thinking of non-SSN related things for very long right now. Because, you know, this happened:

[Co-worker comes into my office. I look up. Their mouth is moving and the words are completely lost.]

Co-worker: … Right, Erica?
Me: Did you say something about dreams?
Co-worker: [blank look] What? No.
Me: Right… of course. Sorry, what did you need?

So…. yeah. I’m going to go hide in my editing cave again. Because that’s where my brain is anyway.

Sing revision update #1

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I am full throttle on revisions! Movin’ right along, I tell you. The longer this goes on, though, the more this is both a good thing and a bad thing.

Bad news first: Sing, Sweet Nightingale is starting to creep into my dreams again, which hasn’t happened since I NaNoed the novel in 2011. For most authors, dreaming about your book probably normal and/or welcome, but this series… well, let’s just say my dreams is the LAST place I want them.

The good news: I’ve managed to revise two chapters a day for the past two days. IF I can keep this pace up (and that’s a big IF), I might actually have a chance of finishing these revisions on time! Yay! Honestly, I wasn’t sure that was possible. I’m still not sure, but I guess we shall see.

Okay. That’s all I have for now. Back to the day job and sneaking in revision whenever possible!