Wedding Weekend

I spent the weekend preparing for my stepson's wedding. It's the closest I'll ever come to being involved in a wedding since I don't have "kids of my own." My stepson's mother is out of the picture, her choice, but still unfortunate. His new wife's mother died when she was young, and her dad never remarried. So my hubby and I tried to help out any way we could.

I am exhausted, but it's a good exhausted. Probably not as exhausted as my dear friend, Em, who did all the flowers and decorations. She's so talented. By the time she was done, it looked liked we'd spent thousands on the flowers and decorations. Em, you are a jewel. Everything was perfect. The wedding was unpretentious but classy. The setting out on Hood Canal was beautiful. The weather was mid-seventies. And the bride and groom looked so in love.

This was probably the nicest wedding I've ever been to, despite it not being the most expensive or the fanciest. It goes to show how far you can go on a budget when friends and family chip in to help. Not only that, but the bride and groom went out of their way to make every guest feel welcome and special.

Weddings are funny things, and unfortunately, good and bad memories can be made depending on how they're organized and who really runs the show. I'm still trying to move beyond a painful and humiliatng experience at a recent wedding which was painstakingly orchestrated to make it obvious we were not welcome there and were not considered part of the family. So you can imagine I was a little guyshy at attending another "family" wedding.

Of course, this wedding was different. I had a hand in raising my stepson, and he considered my new hubby and I part of his family as did his bride. Besides, I was involved in the planning. It was important to me that every guest feel welcome and an essential part of the ceremony despite anyone else's negative history with them.

Congratulations to the bride and groom!!!

A Warm Weekend

The Northwest has been cursed with some awful weather this spring and summer. Finally, we're getting a little taste of summer this weekend. As I write this, it's 8 pm and about 76 degrees outside. Lovely. It doesn't get better than this.


Our house is surrounded by trees so we're in the shade right now, but it's still warm and calm. I'm thinking it's the perfect time to sit in the hot tub with a glass of wine and enjoy the evening just watching nature do its thing.

Sunday we're going boating around Puget Sound on my ex-husband's boat. Did I say ex-husband? Yes, I did. After the inital two years of hating each other (which I think is expected when a relationship breaks apart), I forgave him and he forgave me, and we moved on. My hubbie introduced him to his new wife, as she was a friend of ours. We've all become great friends over the past few years. While most people consider it weird, they also admit that's how it should be after a divorce. Instead, many divorced couples can't seem to get beyond the hatred, their zeal for vengance against perceived wrongs, and their quest to make friends and family pick sides to further destroy the hated ex.

In fact, as I'm wandering all over the place, my next book Forward Passes deals with the results of a contentious divorce and how it negatively and tragically affects the children, even long after they've grown into adults. It's a sad situation, and mental health therapists will be the first to tell you that there's no cure for a parent who turns their hatred of their ex into an obsessive passion. You see it happen over and over. I'm sure every one of you has a story to tell from your own experiences or a friend/relative's experiences.

I'm currently shopping Fourth and Goal, book one in my Seattle Lumberjacks Football series, around to larger publishers. Forward Passes is book 2 in the series. I'm about a third of the way done.

I'm looking forward to seeing both books in print.

Songs

Currently, some of my favorite songs are:

1.  I'll Pray for You--Jaron and the Long Road to Love (A little too vengeful for me, but I can appreciate the sentiment).
2. I'm In--Keith Urban (just a fun, upbeat song).
3. If You're Going Through Hell--Rodney Atkins (My hubbie's and my anthem from last spring).

There's more... I have to think about it.

Rainy Weather? Who Cares?

My hubby and I are currently on a San Juan Islands vacation. It's pretty much rained the entire time with the exception of a few sun breaks.

We don't really care. In fact, while sun would've been a nice plus, we really didn't expect it.

One of our favorite places to stay, Rosario Resort, re-opened recently, and we jumped at the chance to stay there again. Not to mention, the reasonably rates attracted us, too.

So here we are on our last full day here, unless we decide to spend one more day tomorrow. We're playing that by ear. I'd like to share a few pictures with you of our trip.

_______________________

This picture is of the rowing pond at Rosario. Robert Moran built it for his guests to enjoy about eight-plus years ago.

 We witnessed this sunset on our ferry trip over. I wish the colors would have come out better. They were much more vivid than this.

This is a view looking out at Cascade Bay from the Rosario Marina.

I'll post more pictures on my Facebook. If you aren't a friend, you can friend me at:

http://www.facebook.com/jamidavenport

Where Were You When...

There are certain events in our lives which will always be remembered by each of us answering the question: Where were you when...? September 11 is one of those. The Nisqually Earthquake is another for those of us who live around South Puget Sound.

If you're a native Washingtonian, and you've been around a while, you probably know what May 18th means.

It's the anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. Since today is the 30th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, I thought I’d go out on a limb and date myself by telling you what I was doing on May 18, 1980.

It started out as a hot, spring Sunday morning in Pullman, Washington. My roommates and I were students at Washington State University. It was almost finals week. All four of us hit the books that morning and didn’t turn on the TV. Oblivious to what happened that morning, we noticed an odd-shaped storm cloud heading our way. The thing was huge and black and angry looking.

Mitzi decided to call her parents to check in. The first thing she mentioned to them was our impending store. To which they replied: Mt. St. Helens blew today. Turn on your TV.

We did and studying was put on the back burner. The emergency broadcasting system was activated. Fire station vehicles with loud speakers drove through the parking lots and warned students to stay inside. Breathing ash into your lungs wasn’t something any of us planned on doing. So we hunkered down and waited for the cloud to arrive. Before long the skies were black, the street lights came on, and the ash started to fall like dirty snow. Eventually you couldn’t even see the light from the streetlights. Our balcony was covered in about six inches of ash, which we collected in jars. I still have a few jars full of ash.

For the next few days we stayed inside a stifling hot apartment until we ran out of food and alcohol. We donned our masks and ventured out into a world very different from the one of a few days ago. This new world was shrouded in gray. Everything was gray. Mt. St. Helens had left her mark and saved us from finals, which we were allowed to skip.

It’s an experience I’ll never forget.

Publishing Alternatives for the 21st Century--Part 3: Choosing a Small Press

Not all small presses are created equal or EVEN close to equal. Beware when picking a small press. Some are run as professionally as any large NY press, while others might be anything but. The owner may not have any background in publishing or even business. She may not have a penny to invest in the company, which means royalties may be late or non-existent. Protect yourself and do your homework before signing with any publisher. I hope the following suggestions will be of some use to you.

Choosing a Small Publisher (ePub)

There are a mind-boggling amount of small presses in cyberspace. Each day brings several new ones. At the same time, several existing presses close down and leave authors without a home for their books and often without the royalties owed to them, not to mention a long struggle to get their books rights back.

I’m going to assume you have a preliminary list of publishers you’re considering.

How does a person go about choosing the small presses that they wish to submit their works to?

First of all and foremost: RESEARCH. RESEARCH. RESEARCH. I can’t stress this enough. Here are some great ways to find out about a small press that interests you:

• Google them. Do a web search on this publisher. Read everything you can find.
• Ask for recommendations from writers loops and author friends.
• Check out their website and contact authors published with them. Include authors not just at the top of their bestseller lists, but at the middle and bottom. Most authors will give you the straight scoop if you ask the right questions. If one author expresses displeasure with a publisher, but the majority love that publisher, don’t put much weight on one disgruntled author. If you find several unhappy authors, I’d approach with caution or not at all.
• Run a business background check. Several Internet companies will do this for you for about $25-40. You’ll need to be able to find the publisher’s name and a physical address in order to do a background check. Check the background of the company and the owner. If the company doesn't make its physical address available, proceed with caution.
• Buy a few of their books, again, not just from their top sellers but from their mid-list and lower authors. You may find the editing very different for a top-selling author as compared to a beginning author. Also take note of how easy or difficult it is to buy a book from their website.
• Find out about their editing process. Do you get assigned the same editor for one book or all of your books? Do you have contact with this editor to discuss improvements needed in your manuscript? How thorough is the editing? Do you see tons of errors in their published books?
• If this small press offers print titles,  buy a few to see the quality of the print books.
• Checkout review sites to see what kinds of reviews their books are getting. This may give you an idea of the quality of book they publish.
• Do you like their covers? Covers sell. That's a fact. If their covers are bad, chances are editing is substandard, and everything else about the company may be less than stellar.

If they pass your initial background check, consider what you want from a publisher. Some questions to consider:

• What kind of distribution do they offer?
• Are their books available from major distributors, such as Fictionwise, MobiPocket, Amazon (Kindle), Baker and Taylor, Ingram Book Group.
• Do they offer print books? If so, are they available through major distributors such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble?
• What do they offer financially to an author?
• Do they pay an advance? This is very rare in ebooks and not a necessity.
• What percentage of sales does the author get for each book? What do their books sell for?
• How often do they pay royalties? Can you find out if they pay on time?
• Do they offer any type of promotion?
• Do they have a marketing department? A few small presses do have a marketing person available to assist authors?
• Do they offer any free promotion, such as advertising?
• What do you think of their website?
• Is the website attractive, easy to navigate, quick to load?
• Go through the process of buying a book. Is it straight-forward? Or is it confusing and awkward?
• What about their publishing process?
• How many months/years out are they scheduling slots? How long do you want to wait to see your book in print?
• What do you think of the quality of their editing? Buy a few of their books and see for yourself.
• What is their editing process? Do you get to work with the same editor all the time or do you get a different editor for each book? There are pros and cons to each. It depends on your preference.
• Can you get a copy of their contract?
• How many years is your book under contract? Five to seven seems to be the average. What happens to your book rights if the company is no longer in business? Do they revert back to the author?
• Are you required to give them first right of refusal on any subsequent manuscripts? On books in a series?
• How do they handle reviews?
• Who’s responsible for soliciting reviews? Do you need to send your own book out for reviews? Do they send to a group of reviewer for you?
• Are you provided with free copies for contests and to submit for reviews?
• How many and what kind?
• Do you get any input into the covers? How much do the covers reflect the story and the characters?

When I was doing my research, I made a spreadsheet of which items were important to me. Then I checked off which small presses offered what I wanted.

From there I read their submission instructions and submitted to the ones that interested me.

I hope this series has been useful to you. Please let me know if I’m missing anything or if you’d like me to cover other topics in the future.

I'm Guest Blogging at Stacey Espino's Today

Join me at Stacey's blog at:

http://staceyespino.blogspot.com/2010/05/welcome-guest-blogger-author-jami.html