I'm Baaack! And other bits of news.

Well, I got discouraged over the none response to blogs and then tried to blog again at Christmas, but my Blogetary at on the Wordpress blog had crashed and I didn't know how to fix it so I gave up. I guess I could have blogged here, but I gave up. And I was busy. So last night, I finally got back on the bandwagon because my blog got fixed. So now I can repost here what I blogged there. Hopefully you'll enjoy it. Or not. I do meander.

Rachel Olivier at Mountain View Cemetery, January 2014

See there? That's me at Mountain View Cemetery last month when Mom and I went out there to track down a relative's grave. It was a good trip. Took three hours to get out there by bus, but it was a good full day. And it was a good visit with my mom. So,where have I been? Well, somehow, back in December, when I was writing a blog, something got messed up in the innards, the code, of the thing. I don't know code. I didn't know how to fix it. I didn't have time between making Christmas presents and trying to get back to work on my novel to track down an answer. Then Mom came to visit. It's taken this long for me to have a good solid hour and a half to spend on the phone on hold so I could find someone to help me out. *sigh* But it's done now, and here I am!

The game plan, back last fall and winter, was to finish my novel and be able to email/mail it to people who had volunteered to read it by Christmas or New Years. But, with the crafting and the Christmas and the cleaning and the visit, and then there was a complete restructuring of the first part of the book, all creative work on it came to a halt. Now I'm trying to get that momentum going again while my friends still have a sleepy winter to read through. I don't think that's going to happen. Chances are I'll send out the book to them right when they're all going on vacation or really busy at work. There's still so much I need to catch up on. Last fall I was staying up until 2 or 3 a.m., sleeping until 8 a.m., going to work, coming back, taking a nap, and then ignoring everything but the novel, assuming I could then finish by Christmas and then move on with everything I was putting off. But instead, the novel isn't finished and neither are all things like bookkeeping that I put on hold for so many months. And I'm trying to go to bed early and get up early.
I think I might need to go back to the stay up until 2 a.m. and get up at 8 a.m. schedule. I got stuff done then. Trying to be in bed by 10 or 11 p.m., I end up awake at 1 a.m., and have a tough time getting back to sleep and I still sleep until 8 a.m. So, I'm still tired and nothing gets done. I hate afternoons. I never get anything constructive done in the afternoon. It needs to be at night. That's when my brain relaxes and opens up and work gets done. I used to always say I needed to live someplace where I'd sleep in the afternoons, so I think I'm going to go back to that. See if that won't kick my brain back into gear so I can finally finish this huge multi-character fantasy novel book thing that's been sitting in my brain for the past 30 years.
In the meantime, though, I still need to do those other things - the bookkeeping, taxes, housework, seeing to family issues - things that I put off for so long. And I still need to get to work, pay bills, and somehow find more work so I can make the rent that was raised this month.
We'll see how this goes. I was so ready to have this book done by the end of December, and now I feel like that song, Brother Can You Spare a Dime. I grew up hearing Judy Collins singing it, and whenever I felt depressed or like things weren't going anywhere, that was what it felt like to me, even back in high school. And then I start asking myself why I can't just be normal and want a regular job and regular life like everyone else. But then Utah Phillips - or more correctly Dorothea Brownell - said it best when she said to Utah's daughter Morrigan when she was complaining of the same thing about her dad. (I recommend listening to the entire 6:45 minutes, but the bit below shows up at around 4:50) Imagine the desire of young tween girl to fit in and not be embarrassed by her dad.
Morrigan Bell: "Why aren't you normal?!"
Dorothea Brownell gives Morrigan's shin a kick. "He is normal! What you meant to say is average!"
I try to remember that, but it takes work.
That's a bit of what's been going on here. Hope to get back to blogging regularly and more coherently and focused. Please remember me for any of your proofreading or copyediting needs. Or if you need an article written or a resume revised. Or check out my fiction and poetry at rachelvolivier.com.

The last of the late, great blog contests, blogs, other things.

Crossposted from blogetary:

Well, last month's blog contest went over like a lead balloon. But that kind of implies at least a modicum of flight. It's better to say it sank like concrete shoes into the deepest, darkest part of the ocean. No one entered. So, I will not be trying that again.

I have a friend who taught me this saying, "You get up. You put your boots on." Some days that's all you can do. Nothing else but to look before you and try to put one foot in front of the other.

Otherwise, what's the alternative? I try to remember that, because each day brings new possibilities, but the truth is that sometimes the only reality is doing what's before you and realizing it just may not ever get any better.

This should be a post either espousing some great literary, writerly thing, or hawking my wares as an author, or putting my proofreading business out there. Or even trying to sell ad space in the classified section at the Larchmont Chronicle. That's what I should be doing. But, I've kind of run out of steam, you see.

1) I sold a book at a bookstore, but the bookstore, having held onto my books (2 of each) for a year, bless their hearts, sent back the other 7 books.

2) My books on Amazon haven't sold in a year and a half.

3) Haven't sold a book on Lulu for about a year.

4) Haven't sold many books on Alban/Sam's Dot Publishing, either.

5) Classified ads are struggling along, but they are barely paying for themselves. I don't know what I was thinking even taking those on. I'm not a salesperson.

6) Over the last few months, I've averaged about $150/month in proofreading business (gross).

7) The proofreading gig that I had oh-so-briefly and hoped was going to be regular monthly additional income, albeit small (they were getting it for $15/hour instead of the regular $25/hour), and that I hoped would lead me to other proofreading jobs, has gone away. I think I made it worse by begging to get it back.

I've applied to Pavilions/Safeway. That's within walking distance so I know I won't have to worry about being late on the bus. I've sent in applications to temp agencies, but the stuff they have is usually a 2 hour bus ride away and I can't guarantee I'd ever get to work on time. I'm looking for gigs on Guru.com and Monster.com. Media Bistro stuff is all in New York, but I try there, too sometimes.

I can only do what I can do. I am college educated with a degree in English Literature from a good liberal arts college. I have more than 13 years of experience proofreading and copyediting, as well as editing journal articles and undergraduate academic papers and sprucing up resumes, cover letters and bios. I do a good job.

I am not a book editor. That takes training and an apprenticeship that I have not had. And I'm not a replacement for a writers group where someone can hammer out the good and bad of their work in progress. I am too casual and cavalier in who I am for the corporate business world. No one but my friends and family seem to be crazy about my stories. But I am a darn good proofreader and copyeditor.

I could try to be a barista at a coffeeshop again, but the machines have changed so much since 1996, I'm not sure I'd adapt well unless it were an old school Italian coffeeshop that had a machine with a good pull on it.

I don't know what else to do. I guess we'll see what the future holds.

You get up. You put your boots on.

Well, Hello August

Cross posted from Blogetary:

Realized yesterday that July was over (duh) and I had completely forgotten at least three birthdays during July, if not more. That's July for me.

For me, the month of July is like the hours between 3 and 5 p.m. on any given day. I know they're there. I see them coming. I know that unless I fight it with all my might, my body will become a sluggish bunch of goo at that time. Anything you tell me, I will forget. My brain will slow down and go into sleep mode. And if I do happen to sleep, when I wake up I'll look around and wonder where the two hours went and what a waste of time and I could have been getting so much done....

That's what July is like for me. I saw it coming. I knew I'd probably have little or no paying work coming in. I knew I'd forget everyone's birthday unless it was posted on Facebook. I knew I'd feel like I'd slept through the entire month once I hit August. I tried to prepare for it,  yet here I am, realizing once again that I forgot Pye's birthday, my cousin's birthday and a friend's birthday. *sigh*
In a perfect world, I'd be able to save up enough money throughout the rest of the year to take July off completely. Maybe grab the cat and go rent a cabin or something someplace. Oh well.

So, hello August! Good to see you! Let's see about getting some things done.

On that note, a year ago in August 2012 my novella, Needs Must When the Devil Drives came out through Sam's Dot Publishing. And I still have some copies here. So I thought I might see what I could do to find a home for one or two of them.

A year before that, in June of 2011, my novella The G.O.D. Factor came out through Sam's Dot Publishing. Still have some copies of those. Also could find a home for a couple.

A lot of changes have happened over at Sam's Dot Publishing since these books were published, and where exactly to get these was a musical chair shuffle for a little while. White Cat Publications, Alban Lake Publishing and Sam's Dot Publishing all seem to have listings for Needs Must When the Devil Drives, while The G.O.D. Factor seems to be only with Sam's Dot Publishing and Alban Lake Publishing. And then I think Smashwords.com and Amazon.com both have ebooks available. But you can always contact me for copies if you're a little confused or go here.

But you can always get The Holly and the Ivan, Rae's Bar & Bistro, and Uncommon Faire: A Fiction Sideshow through Lulu.com and Amazon.com.

In the mean time, if things are a little tight for you financially, but you've always wanted to read one of the above five books, then I'll make you a deal for the lovely month of August. Hot deal. But it means you're going to have to do some work and be creative.

I want a 150 words - essay, story, logic proof, on the one book you'd like the most of the above. You can tell me why you want it. You can tell me a story about it (fiction or nonfiction), you can set up a logical argument for why you deserve it, you can even write what you think the story is (since I'm assuming you haven't read it yet) and make it completely different. Or write me your own story but my novella or book only makes a cameo in it. Whatever. As long as it's no more than 150 words - that's half a page. Then email that to me at rachelvolivier [at] yahoo dot com (make the obvious adjustments).

If I really like your 150 word essay/story/thing then you could get that book that you wrote about for free. If I really, really like it, then I may ask you if I can post it on my blog with the announcement that you won.

Deadline is midnight Pacific Time Saturday, August 31, 2013. I'll contact winners by the end of September.

So, stay cool and enjoy the rest of the summer!