Monday, December 08, 2008

No Rest for the Deadline-Addled

It's been a week since I turned in a pseudo-complete draft of NOT QUITE A HUSBAND and I feel completely out of breath. I've been running around the house trying to put some organization into our sadly disorganized existence, in front of the computer replying to all the accumulated emails, updating my website, and making a Xmas newsletter, and doing the usual mommy stuff, including freezing my rear off on the coldest day of this season--so far--helping out at the junior kidlet's school trip.

And after a whole week of rushing about (okay, there was a day of writing in my contemp romp and a half-day of frowning over the next historical project), I look around and these are the things I have not done:

1)Send Christmas presents to agent and editor
2)Read either of the manuscripts I promised I'd read for possibly blurbing
3)Sort and shred the mountain of statements that have been accumulating since I was still in grad school
4)Put up our paltry few strings of Xmas lights, b/c junior kidlet delights in them
5)Laundry (His Hawtness dealt with the previous load, and since I'm not currently on deadline, I feel like I should do more.)

Boy, more and more I'm beginning to think people love historical romance for the abundance of servants! And maybe they read Harry Potter for the house elves. :-)

Before I rush off to fight the neverending War on Dirty Clothes, let me point you to RT's website, where you'll find the video interview I did with the awesome Morgan Doremus during RWA San Francisco. You can also see the videos here and here.

I was rather wondering about the timing of the videos being featured on RT. Morgan Doremus had told me that usually they'd haul out the clips when there's some news about me or my book. And then Meredith Duran told me that PA has been nominated for a RT Best Historical Debut award. I haven't seen it posted anywhere so I'm going to have to trust that Meredith wasn't just having fun with me. :-)

Okay, off to the seasonal frenzy again.

Dec 10 Update: Sent presents. Put up lights. And did laundry. :-)

9 comments:

HeatherB said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
HelenW said...

I must admit, however disagreeable deadlines are (and they are the worst!), your list of things yet to do does sound interesting. Of course, other people's lives always seem more interesting. :)

Good luck on the historical debut award.

Off to watch the interview!

Helen

Anonymous said...

Sherry,

Nice interview. I don't envy you all those re-writes. By the end of all the editing, are you sick of the entire book or is there a sense of pride and accomplishment that it's complete?

Sherry Thomas said...

Heather,

Wrong thread. :-) Put it in the blog entry below so you get your chance at the prize.

HelenW,

LOL! Never thought them to be interesting. More like okay, let's get on with it. But I actually am looking forward to the manuscripts.

Kim,

I've never been sick of a book, but I've been awfully sick of continuing to work in a book. Does that make any sense? For example, with DELICIOUS, with each draft, I grew to love the story more, because it spoke more and more deeply to me. But all the same, at the very end, I used to put my head into my hands and GROAN when my editor wanted more changes.

It's a wonder I never took up either caffeine or alcohol. :-)

Anonymous said...

Sherry,

Did you see that Michelle Buonfiglio chose Private Arrangements for two awards? You won this year's Best Debut Historical Romance Novel and tied for the year's Best Historical. You can find the entire list on her website. Congratulations!!

Liviania said...

Congrats on the nom! And finishing the laundry. I'm holding off on mine until I go home and can foist it on my parents. (Ah, college.)

Anonymous said...

Besides the above-mentioned award from Michelle Buonfiglio for Private Arrangements, I just read on another board that Delicious was rated one of the five best romances of 2008 by the Library Journal. All this recognition must make the arduous writing process worthwhile. It also must increase the pressure on delivering quality books.

Sherry Thomas said...

Liviania,

Lucky, lucky you. :-)

Kim,

Wow, your information is fast. I talked to my editor this morning and told her about the LJ list, and she said she hadn't sent me yet b/c she was waiting for the link/scan.

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Publishers Weekly picked Private Arrangements as one of the best books of the year. They said: Deft plotting and sparkling characterization mark this superior debut historical romance, wherein an English lord agrees to grant his wife a divorce if she produces an heir within a year.

The awards just keep coming. Again, congratulations a a great book. Happy holidays.