Words Written: AETW: 754

When I got to work today, I stopped at the receptionist’s desk to choose my lunch order for the day (Caesar salad with chicken, although the decision wasn’t easy), and the HR director was there. She’s putting on a seminar today for the three interns (all of whom work in Books) about résumé writing, and asked if she could show them my résumé, because out of all the ones for my job description (for which there were two open slots), mine was by far the best. Well, gosh and shucks! I had no idea! Apparently I did really well at tailoring it for the specific job, plus I kept it to one page (design skills at work… Let’s see, if I change the hard returns between paragraphs from 6 to 5 points…), etc. Go me. I freely admit I learned everything from the Knock ‘Em Dead series of books (and no, they don’t pay me to say that—the books are excellent!), and Ken helped a lot.

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Ooh, I just found a mistake in the 2005 World Almanac. (I’m reading it for work.) I’m such a geek.

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Bah. I’m a little bit grumpy right now, and I have to get this off my chest before I write. I’m not sure whether I’ll post this, but if you’re reading it, sorry for the grumpiness, pets. It’s part of being a writer—not the fun part, unfortunately—but I suppose if part of the purpose of this journal is to chronicle my Quest for Publishing, then it should be noted.

Teresa and I sold a story to a nice market in the UK. Very good pay for the genre, the editor loved our story and our writing, and there was opportunity for more projects. Then we got the contract, and our jaws dropped. The phrase “for the full term of copyright” stared out at us.

“Full term of copyright” is the writer’s lifetime plus 75 years.

Not hardly. We went back and forth with the editor, who has been apologetic and helpful but firm. It really isn’t even with her purview to change the contract. Meanwhile, Dean and Kris put up with me peppering them with questions (“What if we phrased it this way? What do you think of her response? Does it mean X or Y?”) until Kris finally told me it was a bad contract, don’t sign it, and why do I keep asking? Because I don’t want to accept the inevitable, that’s why. I want to sell the story, I like this market, and the money’s good.

But that is not a decision that would help my career. And I say, bah. Pouty lip is involved.

It doesn’t look like this will affect another project that’s in the works, thank goodness. And it’s a good story that I suspect we’ll be able to sell elsewhere. But a tiny part of me longs for the naïve time when a sale would have been enough.

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Well, I’m glad I ranted about that and got it out of my system, because writing ended up going well tonight (once I got going, at least). The prologue to AETW is almost done, and I think it’s much better thanks to the suggestions from the Novel Workshop. There’s so much more urgency. The book overall isn’t a suspense so the level of urgency won’t sustain throughout, but I think what I’ve built up in the prologue will resonate throughout the book. At least, I hope so!

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Today’s mail brought the April issue of Locus, which is chock full of OCW-ers! Announcements of Phaedra’s first novel deal, of Loren and Steve turning in their Conan books, of Kris selling more Retrieval Artist books and winning an award for her last (not the most current) Smokey Dalton mystery, and of Sarah H’s latest sale. Hurrah!

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Currently Reading: Too Much Temptation, Lori Foster (Brava)

Lately Listened To: RWA CDs; Evanescence, Fallen

Recently Watched: “CSI” rerun