State of the CW

So I woke up today feeling sick as a dog. Part of this might be because I laid sod for my boss yesterday (THIS TIME OF YEAR IS SLOW, people. Only capslock can fully express how SLOW it is right now) and part of it might be because, tempreature aside (eighty digrees high, seventy low. I heart south texas) it is November and that means colds are everywhere. But I do not feel like doing anything today except curling up and going back to bed. Which ain't gonna happen.

I've officially decided, with five days left to go, to change the title on the next book. Prince of the Gray Keep no longer really fits. The story...ah, kind of got away from me. So it is now This Found Thing.

I am doing this because I am a self-published author who no longer gives a fuck. Ah, universe, with your rules about professional behavior:

I'm not famous, I'm not successful, but the freedom to do what when I want to TOTALLY ROCKS.

One more slight program change. I decided on the fifteenth as a release date last month, not knowing that it is...uh, dually...dully...dwalli...fuck it, the Indian festival of lights. Diwali! There we go, google comes through once again. And my boss is having everybody dress up in sarees while we serve people wine and chicken. I do not find out about this until november first. And naturally she got the date WRONG so I spent all month thinking, "Oh, thank GOD I'll have the book out by then".

Nope. So what we're going to do is, MIDNIGHT november 15th. After I survive my completely white boss's idea of Diwali.You will have book. With pretty artwork. I promise.

What's really hit me hard this month is a MASSIVE increase in my responsibility at work. The boss, for reasons that are totally understandible, has decided that I need to become her unofficial second in command. Not because I can actually do the job (I can't. I don't want it. I do not want to be first in line on the firing squad the first time somebody screws up) but because I am the only person who shows up consistantly, who also understands that "clean" doesn't mean "swipe a rag at the mess and call it a day" but rather "if at first you don't succeed, bring out the gloves and lye."

So whereas last month I had more than one day off, this week? Every day we're open, I'm there. I'm learning how to cook, or how to do the books, or how to do one of the ten million projects we got going on. AND I AM VERY TIRED. And the daunting thing is not getting this DAMN book edited (I love this book, but I kind of hate this book, because it went from "oh, little tiny fun project meant to get you interested in unreleased future projects" to "OMGWTFBBQ complicated") but getting the ARTWORK done. Because, thanks to reusing old artwork on the cover for preceeding book? And given how fucking complex this one got on me? I have to do something awesome. In a week. Involving EVERYTHING I suck at painting.

I'm going back to work now. Either that, or to go soak my head. One of the two.

OH! And the Buy Day...thing. Which I still don't know if anybody is going to do, but I'm going to do it anyway because I can. Here are the particulars, decided arbitrarily, as of right now:

When: Sunday, November 17th.
Where: Amazon.com
What the hell?: Buy Day is something I'm making up as I go. I'd like for those of you who intend to buy the book anyway to all buy it on the same day. So that I know I have repeat buyers. It's something I'd like to know so that I can make future plans. Do this ONLY if you intend to buy the book anyway. It's going to be 2.99. Decide if you want to buy or not, I'll be waiting over her in the corner.

If you do not intend to buy the book and you want to wait for it to become free...we'll see if I do that or not.

City of Bones reviews pick back up on Sunday/Monday/whenever I feel like not dying again.