The reality of publishing

Heide, thanks so much for your comment.  Bless your dear heart!  Actually, Random House Press was  interested in Sanna, but they wanted me to re-write it to make it more,"edgy" and "darker."  It wasn't sufficiently violent and depressing.  If I had killed off Sanna's parents in the first chapter, and kept her terrified and despairing, I might have gotten to print.  Since that isn't the kind of world Iwant to live in, that isn't the kind of world I wanted to create. So I self-published.  And since I suck at marketing, you won't find me on the news-stands in every American airport.  Oh well.  Maybe I can be famous when I die.  (grin)

On the other hand, e-books is looking quite promising.  People can make an end-run around the big publishing houses.  If I make Sanna available as  e-books for a mere $1.99, I will still make a profit, and a lot more people will be able to enjoy her adventures.  I have to check out my contracts with Author House (the press that I went through to self-publish) and see if they have e-books rights.  If not, friends are putting together an e-press right in the neighborhood.  Yayyy!!!

Mr. Tim, do you know if Jan York is available to do another cover?

I'm about to have a big unpacking party in my head.  I don't know what's valuable and what isn't, and I'll be at this for wayyy too long if i don't get some help.  The kitties are chasing vermins out, there's settees and sofas to settle into, and DH will bring in sandwiches, coffee and tea.  There are boxes of cookbooks and bodice-rippers, costume jewelry, old photos, old clothes and God knnows what else.  I found an ivory cigarette box that had scarlet nail polish spilled on it.  Can it be cleaned?  Or would someone like to take it and carve it into wonderful new things?  Clothes were stuffed away without being cleaned first, and the armpits have rotted out, but the fabric is silk and fine wool.  Anyone want to help me sort for the quilt bag?

Bang!  A revelation.  Mom had lovely, nice things (like me) that she just didn't know how to take care of.  She wasn't destructive,or even indifferent, just ignorant.  Ok, that helps a lot.

Thanks with your patience as I tease out these symbols and artefacts.  It helps to write it down, and if I have an audience, I'm a lot more likely to be faithful with the work.

In the meantime, do you see that yellow stuff?  It's sunshine!  It's sunshine at 4:18 in the evening!  In December, it's pitch black by this time.  Summer really IS coming!!