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As you can see, I'm still playing with the photo-editing program -- learning more all the time too. I pretty much figured out how the layering works yesterday, and today I want to explore the composite operation feature. Anyway, here's my latest creation. On the left is an eagle I painted in water colour. On the right is the same eagle after photo-editing. Man, he looks evil -- kind of reminds me of Poe's Raven. I think this would make a great book cover. Hmm ... now let me think. What story would go with that picture?

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While I wait to hear back from editors, I am trying to learn how to use my new photo-editing program. As I study the program's features, I'm trying them out. It's wicked! I love it. Yay! -- Something new to waste my time on. So far this morning I've been playing with the basic tools, and this is what I've come up with. 

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This blog entry is a 180 degree turn-around from my last one. I've gone from blah to ah -- and I have to tell you, ah is a much better place to be.

When I published my first book, I thought I was on my way. The publishing door had opened, and I was on the inside. It was a nice dream while it lasted, which was about as long as it took for my second novel to get rejected. Say what? How could that happen? THUD! With one ego-smashing rejection, I plummeted from the clouds and did a painful faceplant in reality.

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Okay, so I've just coined a new word. I'm allowed. I'm a writer. If Lewis Carroll could do it ...

'Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogroves, And mome raths outgrabe

... then why not me? This is my blahg. It's what I do when I don't feel like doing anything, but I know I should be doing something. So I'm blahging. It's like a blog only less so. A blog is interesting; but a blahg? well ... not so much. A blahg is a vehicle for conveying one's internal blah.

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Being a published author is one part writing and nine parts rewriting. Anyone set on becoming an author should embrace that concept. If you're not prepared to have your work critiqued, and if you're not open to change, you would do well to find another line of work. Editors bring objectivity to a project, and after being up close and personal with a manuscript for months, objectivity is something a writer is lacking.

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Last summer I was invited to join a local writing group -- River Writers. I was a bit nervous at first -- after all I didn't know anyone -- but the other writers were so welcoming, that the feeling of being an outsider soon vanished. We meet every other Thursday to critique each other's work and share our writing news. We chat about books we're reading and writing websites worth visiting. We pick each other's brains and discuss writing bones of contention, as well as opportunities.

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I spoke to my editor at Lorimer this morning, and we worked out the minor bumps in the plot of the next Zach & Zoe novel. The first one won't hit bookstores until May, but it's time to get moving on Book 2 if it's going to be ready for spring of 2009.

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I'm done! Yahoo!! Finished my Egypt book right on schedule. I'm a little cross-eyed from working on it non-stop for 10 weeks, but I got it done, and that's the important part. I launched it into cyberspace this morning. Now all I have to do is sit tight and wait to find out how much re-writing the editor is going to want me to do.

Not that I mind. In fact, I rather enjoy rewriting. It's a lot easier to rework something than to invent it from scratch.

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They say a change is as good as a rest, so I'm nailed to my chair in front of the computer as usual, but I'm blogging instead of Egypting -- for a few minutes anyway. 

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Well, this is it -- my new website is officially online, thanks to my son's weekend-long efforts. He designed the site for me at Christmas, but has been so busy with his job that he hasn't been able to do all the final tweaking necessary to get it up and running. Poor guy spent his entire weekend working on my site. I feel a bit bad about that, but he assures me he didn't mind, and I choose to believe him. After all, he would never lie to his mother.

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My trip to Victoria was a great success. I was only gone 3 1/2 days, but I packed as much into that time as I could. My school visits went really well. All the classes were wonderful, and it was a lot of fun speaking to such attentive audiences. Everyone asked terrific questions too.

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Tomorrow I take a break from work on my latest book and head off to Victoria for another round of school visits. I'm looking forward to it -- I just wish I were a bit more organized. Lately my mind seems to be ever in Egypt, and with the editorial deadline just three weeks away, I'm feeling a tad pushed. Never mind. It will all work out. I'll hit the deadline even if it means pulling a few all-nighters.

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