Minstrel

Minstrel

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Bright Idea (Yeah, Right)

So I had this bright idea; instead of building a web site I'll just add pages to my blog.  I can do everything that I need too on these pages, right?  Sure, you could but I can't.

I purchased software to teach me how to build a website, I've mentioned it before.  I still haven't figured out how it works, so the website isn't coming from that quarter.  I found a site that would allow me to customize to my hearts content.  (Wix) I don't think that I'm going to finish there either.

I do however own the name Crazy Vampire Lust and Dogs.com.  I just don't have anywhere to but it.


I hope you will take time to take the poll that you'll find on the right.  I'll tell you just what dark secrets your answers reveal about you later.

Meanwhile, I'll keep working on that website and making the pages work here.  I know, the pages work fine, I don't.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

The book is out, almost & a Name change

Its a book!

I think.

At least I submitted it to Create Space to publish.

Then I got the second email from their  support department.  It appears that the mistake they mentioned in the first email and had decided wasnt real and something I didnt need to be concerned about turned out to be real after all.   Now they werent earth ending mistakes, but they were enough to have me panicked over the idea that my book, my sweet baby of a book, the pages that I had slaved over in an attempt to make perfect, the pages that tried to drive me to a stay in the padded palace, were going out into the great wide world in a flawed condition.  (Insert profanity of your choosing here)

Soooo... I submitted a file with the errors fixed and crossed my fingers.  Any finger crossing, finding of four leaf clovers, or throwing of change into a wishing well on my behalf will be gratefully accepted.  I need all the help I can get.

But remember, you dont have to wait for it to appear in print.  You can purchase a finished volume at Smashwords.com and with the coupon (I wont be mean and make you look it up, Ill give it to you again at the end of this) it is only two dollars!  Besides, its way too expensive on Amazon.  $17.00!

Oh, and by the way, you may have noticed my name change on this thing.  Sorry but this really is my name.  You probably liked Danu Adair better, it is certainly easier to pronounce.  I had to change it though; I chickened out on the book and used my real name.  I dont have a problem with my name, its only that its difficult for non Finnish  people to pronounce.  (If your Finnish, you are actually Soumi.  Now can someone explain that one to me?)  Not the Linda part, thats easy if a big mistake.  Its the Laaksonen part that people get creative with.  A surprising number insist on putting an R in it.  Others add extra syllables.  As if it didnt have enough already!   Others add an O and move the e around.

Anybody still wonder why I tried Adair?  Anybody wondering why I decided to use my real name? 

Yeah.  Me too.

and the coupon code is...AR66Y not case sensitive

Monday, September 19, 2011

Murphy/Rufus Magee

I did say that some day I would tell you about Rufus Magee, after seeing the picture of Butterscotch the Basset on today's puppy I figured this would be the day.

In Molly and the Vampire: A Sensible woman learns ect. (that title is too darn long) You meet a Basset Hound named Murphy.  He was created as a remembrance of My big old boy, Rufus Magee.  Now when I adopted him from the Sacramento SPCA he was already 8 years old and his name was Beau.  The name had to go.  It's not that I have anything against that name; it would be a fine name for a Basset.  Unfortunately, at that time my mother had a very small, very cute Beagle named Beau.  You can see how that could be a bit confusing. 

As I've said, Beau was small for a Beagle and really cute.  He had the darkest eyes and these little worry wrinkles between his eyes.  Yes, Beau was cute, he was also demented.  I have always suspected that he had escaped from a hospital for the enormously weird.

Rufus on the other hand, was not demented.  He had a great big heart and the gentlest soul I have ever known.  He was also a picture perfect Basset.  That means that he was a big dog with massively heavy bones, soft eyes, broad chest, triple the amount of skin needed to cover his body, pony sized feet,  and legs that were about 2 inches long.  Some people think that adds up to funny looking.  SOME PEOPLE NEED GLASSES.

You may have guessed that I am fond of the breed.  You would be right.  I've had four of them and they were wonderful.

If you have ever had one, then you already know, but for all you unfortunate people who have never been loved by a Basset you have to remember one important thing.  Do not under any circumstances let them out without a leash.  And I don't mean you can just hook one on your baby and let go.  Hold on to the other end of that sucker with everything you've got.  Remember, what's on the other end of that leash is a nose that is second only to a bloodhound and a focused determination the likes of which you've never known.  Remember the massively heavy bones I mentioned?  They are all wrapped up in muscle, and being as low to the ground as they are they aren't likely to tip over.  They will trip over their own ears, especially as puppies.  But come on, how cute is that?

Now Rufus would escape out the front door every now and then.  I never figured out how he did it.  Yes, he was short, but even taking that into account he was a whole lot of dog to miss seeing as he pusher past your ankle.  I was lucky because he was old and tired easily.  He always went in the same direction, and always stopped in the yard three houses down from ours.  He was tired and his nose had been satisfied.  It was a boring suburban neighborhood and nothing interesting was leaving a trail worth following.  The lady of that house would come knocking on my door to let me know that he was sitting on her lawn watching the cars go by and I would go down and fetch him home.  The first couple of times it scared me silly.  The thought of loosing him ... well, I didn't want to think about it.  After that, it became obvious that he had no intention of leaving me, he just enjoyed a little sight seeing.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

The Joys (HA!) of Editing

I know, I've been gone again, but I'm back know.  I'm even almost sane.  I have been working on the second proof copy of Molly and the Vampire, A Sensible Woman Learns About Love, Lust, & Things That Go Bump in the Night.  I really am bad at titles.

On the first page I missed a period.  It went down hill from there.  If the next proof isn't perfect I will have to give up and forget the whole thing!

Only kidding, I am way too stubborn to give up; but I just might be forced into a symbolic burning of the book.  It wouldn't help; but it would feel fabulous!

This time around I ordered 4 copies and gave one to each of three volunteers along with pens, highlighters, and a pad of sticky notes.

My first victim read three chapters and told me she was surprised at how well it was written; But it just wasn't her kind of story and she "couldn't get into it".

The second reader realllly like chapter one, but that was more than a week ago and I haven't heard another thing.

The third left on vacation yesterday and said she was taking it on the plain with her.

I also put another sample on Creatspace and asked if it was at all amusing.  I got one NO!  One person who liked one line, and one woman said that she found it funny and thought it very witty.

And I wanted to write this book why?  What's even harder for me to figure out is why I still want to write another.  That one is well under way, oh, and I have ideas for numbers three and four.  Yeah, I have officially lost what little was left of my mind.

I get this way when I'm painting as well.  There is always a point when whatever I'm working on is a disaster and it is never going to work.  It's usually right before I find that the whole thing is falling into place and I'm going to finish without screaming and throwing heavy objects around the room.

I am actually only 120 pages from finishing up the edit of Molly.  Most of the mistakes I'm finding are little bitty things like an extra period, an oddly miss typed word, not spelled wrong but showing up with a 9 in the middle.  I swear, I do not know how I managed that one.  And no, spell check didn't catch it either.

Now I'm trying to learn how to put together a web site.  If I would just settle for one of the premade ones that you just insert your own text into everything would be fine.  It would be finished.  It would be up and running.  But NOOOO.  That would be too easy.  That would make sense.  I have to design the whole thing from scratch.

Now the program I'm using insists that it is all very simple and all I have to do is follow their very clear instructions and I will be blissfully happy in no time at all.  They lied!  I'm certain that many or even most people would have no trouble at all.  Sadly; I am not most people and I'm doing everything wrong.  I must be; things keep disappearing on me.

Another thing, the company, Serif is located in England and they call me to "check on how I like the software" and of course try to sell me another program.  Last time the call came when I was sick with some kind of cold/virus thingy and in my weakened state I ended up with another program.  It wasn't all the fault of my illness.  It was his accent that did me in.  I couldn't understand half of what he was saying, but it was just so darn cute. 

The programs are actually great and if I ever figure out how to use them, I will be very happy.