"Dying Embers" is fully funded on Bookstart! 
Thank you too all of my pledgers for the money and for sticking with me while we waited. A new year is rolling around with new adventures and getting published is going to be one of them.
The campaign is still going on for twenty-seven days and there are still a lot of awesome rewards left so not to worry. But now the publisher will begin taking your money and asking which of the rewards you want. Once I have the paperback copies edited and out I will begin doing book signings at local bookstores. Hopefully even at Powell's! 

To be an author, to be anything really, one must be able to take constructive criticism . In some ways it is obvious. Spelling and basic grammar always need a once over from a fresh mind and who really cares if someone notes that your commas are out of place. Paragraph form and overall structure are somewhat trickier and require a higher level of criticism but are (usually) equally easy to accept. I am sure there are some people who get snippy when you delete their semi-colons but I fortunately do not know them.
Then comes the double edged dagger that is character critique. They are ones creations, ones children, and some stranger wants to come along and change these beings one has crafted from nothing? And even if the author keeps her ego in check there is the danger that an outsider might not understand the unique traits that make the character what it is and any suggested changes might ruin the final product, or at least overwrite the author's voice.
And heaven help critiques of jokes and humor...
Still, with all the pitfalls and traps it is critical to get that second opinion, do remember who you are and get someone you trust, but find yourself a critic.  

My Very First Book
Okay, so I must have read at least one book, a real chapter book, before I opened "Charlotte's Web" in the third grade, but no book before had ever pulled me into another world like that creation of whole cream and tears did.
It was the very first book that the teacher had assigned to the joint 3rd/4th grade reading group. That first day we were assigned to read nine entire pages, and write a report on it after! I was shocked, I tell you, shocked! How on earth was I to complete such a herculean feat? Why simply wading through two pages of my sister's Harlequin Romances had taken hours and nearly bored my poor seven year old mind out of its skull. But I plunged in, and fifteen minutes later realized that I liked reading. 
I was captivated by the characters, led on by the plot, and devastated by the ending.
It still sits in my mind like a warm summer day. 

Another bit of good news today and another step towards publishing "Dying Embers"!
Mamma Baby Haiti is a charity dedicated to providing maternal care and neonatal care to the island nation of Haiti. After the massive quake in 2010 they set up a clinic in the primitive conditions left by the disaster. Since then they have been doing amazing work with the local midwives improving conditions for mothers and children. %10 of all the author profits will be going to them and they have just granted permission to use their name in the book. :) 
So dust off the disclaimers and onward! 

Big news on the fundraising front for the publishing! "Dying Embers" just passed the halfway mark and the patron numbers are now in the double digits! 

Today's damaged computer +update has some good news all around. 
First up the new keyboard that I ordered has shipped, but the delivery date is about three or four weeks out. It was however pretty cheap and remarkably easy to install. So the technical aspect is looking good.
And the computer itself is fine. The keyboard base is a solid plastic sheet that protects the sensitive internals from idiots with the among other things. So there are no  other issues than the dead keyboard.
Finally my wonderful brother, who doubles as the family IT guy, loaned me his old wireless keyboard - on which I am currently typing - and now I can get back to my regularly schedualed internet usage and probably more importantly, my writing.

Well, long story short, my laptop  took  a good long drink of tea. It was good stuff with honey and coconut milk too. So Gabriel is fine but until the new keyboard goes in it is screen - keyboard work. 

Oh, you know the one. He is a genius, or possibly just below genius level but the man is good. He is the one to run to with tech issues be it corrupted software or cracked screen. Even if he can't take care of it himself he know who can cheaply or quickly.
Sounds perfect right?
Well then there is the other side. He always wants to make things better. EAS they call it in the medical field. Early Adaptor Syndrome. Symptoms include keyboard shaped dents in the face and various electronic devices forcefully lodged in in the body. 
He has an idea, like say, "Let's make the wi=fi connection better!" and before you know it there is some shiney blinky now "device" plugged into the wall. Oh it looks harmless, with its sleek plastic body and its soothing green lights, but the moment you turn your back, it cuts off your internet. When you summon the IT guy it works of course, and he gives you the luddite look. But the moment he is gone there is a distinct evil snicker from the plug and suddenly H.A.L creep-thousand is blocking your email again. 
Fortunately I don't have to resort to a space walk yet, just unplugging the thing works.  But so help me if it starts singing Daisy it is going down like the chickadee it resembles! 

For most of this Sunday I was followed around by the oddest sensation that something malicious was chasing me. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal save for the fact that my housemate told me she had had the same feeling all day. 
It was curious enough that it made my list of story ideas under the "Things that go Boomp in the Night" folder. 

So today began with a pile of good intentions to tackle the pile of  piles in the garage. I was making decent headway on that task when a very sturdy  walking cane, pretty sure it belonged to a ninja,  jumped out of the sky and attacked the back of my head at a rather critical juncture of two skull plates. So whee! Is concussion time again! Break out the anti-inflammatories and analgesics and try to get some bed rest. 
Except for the part where I was up and around with all those good intentions? I was preparing the farm  for that lovely windstorm that is moving up the coast...
Hopefully it will all hold. 
Now there goes the sun behind the cloud banks and the wind is picking up. 
This is the calm before the storm.