HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

I had chocolate cake for breakfast because I've been good.

Then I went and had to work. But it was okay. My husband, who drives a bus too, managed to go grab a card from the student center bookstore, and secretly left it on my seat so that when I came back from a break, there is was. (All together now:

Awwwwwww)

Now that I'm off that bus, ready to relax some, champagne is chillin' and so are the glasses. Nope. Not any special number, it's just because I felt like it.

I am at an age (106 in vampire years) where I've gone through a lot of things. And writing has been part of my adult life. I used to dream of having a best seller, and be able to write for a living, but at this late stage of the game, and knowing what to expect from the traditional venue, I know it's not gonna happen. Not unless someone sees what I wrote and just has some crazy idea to make it into a movie.

When you get to this age, you realize that everything you've tried--for decades--just ain't working. I'm a realist. I don't have time to wait for an editor or an agent to "get back to me". I waited 5 weeks on the last one. Then my Internet was shut down--because of that phone company, which I got rid of--and due to that, my e-mail changed and I'll never know if she ever did get back to me, but I don't care right now. I can take a hint. Plus, I figured if she couldn't get back to me, I wasn't going to go groveling to her. I'd already had a POD publisher tell me they would like to publish my book.

It's apparent to me that I'll be driving a bus until I can retire. But I'd like to have my books out there. I'd like to earn a little cash, and I know that the vampire novels will be popular, since everything vampires is still hot--in books, on TV, and the movies. I'm not going to wait around for another year sweating, wondering if the same will be true then. I might have sold 85 books with my first one, "Spell of the Black Unicorn". If I did that well with that first one, how much better might I do with the vampire one. A lot of people's eyes bugged when I mentioned I was working on a vampire novel.

So, this is where I'm at. I know I've improved my writing since that first one, and I'm working on a few edits before I hand "Vampire Ascending" over to Copper Hill Media, and get a signed contract from them. After I make sure that they didn't change anything that goes against me from what they have at the on-line contract, then I'll sign up with them for sure.

Now, hmmmm, I think it's time for my scheduled bubble bath.