I'm convinced.
I need a draconian taskmaster standing over me with a cat-o-nine tails, hot coals, and possibly a braiding wheel, while withholding my caffeine to get me to actually sit down and write. Then again, part of me doesn't believe that even Torquemada could get me to turn off my phone, DVD commentaries, IM's and email programs to devote full attention to the book I'm working on. It's not that I don't like it. It's not that I don't want to write it. I think part of the problem is that I placed that deadline on myself and I got so wrapped up in the launching of the various sites (there's going to be even more interference when I launch the actual site that will combine all of these disparate blogs, journals, and message boards) that I am now dreadfully behind on the task at hand. I've considered moving the deadline, but that isn't going to do me any good. I'll just procrastinate even more until the new deadline arrives. I'm just going to have to buckle down.
This isn't a bad thing though. I have quite a number of reviews forthcoming from various authors, publicists, and agents who have contacted me to do reviews-- so the foundation of Lyrique Tragedy Reviews is growing at a pace that I am elated about. In fact, you should check out the following sites regarding the upcoming reviews and interviews!
- The Tara Ison interview for her upcoming book The List, which was just reviewed on Lyrique Tragedy Reviews (and the sister site on Lyrique Tragedy's MySpace) will be posted soon!
- Because She Can by Bridie Clark will be reviewed and posted here in the next few days. With any luck, there will be an interview to follow!
- R.M. Hamilton's debut dark fantasy novel, Unscarred will be reviewed and followed up with an interview as well. R.M. Hamilton is also the founder of Authors of MySpace, a site used to promote the writing talents of authors who also have MySpace accounts and to promote their new releases.
- Clifford B. Bowyer's "The Imperium Saga" continues with the third book of the "Fall of Imperium" trilogy called The Siege of Zoldex, and the sixth book in the spin off YA Adventures of Kyria series, Quest for the Shard. Both were released this month and will be posted here and at BookPleasures.com soon!
~ D.M. Papuga
4 Comments:
Last summer I listened to the CD audio version of Douglas Adam's posthumous "Salmon of Doubt", in which he's quoted, in similar vein to your invocation of the deadline muses, that his publisher used to lock him in a hotel room until he got something written for a particular deadline...and that he loved deadlines...he particularly liked the sound the made as they went whizzing by (my paraphrase, not his exact words). :-]
..alex.
Dawn,
a suggestion about your stated plan to coalesce reviews, etc., into one location: (1) you already have, and (2) don't.
:-)
I know this sounds counter-intuitive, with the speed at which authors are posting their stuff to proprietary locations (see the website of a childhood friend of mine: http://www.davidpogue.com)...but similarly, with the speed of the evolution of the net, you really should use the various sites just like you would various pieces of software on your computer: blogger is for reviews, myspace is for the hoi polloi, librarything is for, well, books, youtube for videos, dot mac for, well, OS X-ers.... :-) Don't take up your writing time with organizational procrastination, when the whole web game will change in 30 minutes. Like my sister says about weather in Denver: If you don't like it, wait for 30 minutes!
I know, I know - I'm a great one to talk...but those are my thoughts on this matter. Good Luck!
..alex.
Alex,
I would love for a publisher to sweep me up and lock me in a hotel room with a laptop, a crate of pepsi, no TV and minimal internet service! I know a number of authors state that they sometimes have to force themselves to go away and lock themselves away for a week in a hotel, cabin, on the beach--whatever works, but with no phone, no contact unless it's an emergency.
And never fear, It will be a while before I find the need of the procrastination muses again (they love organizational distractions--you should see how meticulously my DVD collection is organized!). If your sister is right, then I should be stuck to my keyboard in about 30 minutes...
~Dawn
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