At Long Last!

Well, I've finally managed to finish all revisions to my 106 books. (Number 107 will be my last one because I still have my two blogs and a few other things to squeeze in there.) Now, I am finally done, and I can safely say that I do not wish to write anymore again. I've had my fun over the years, but now I am free to happily partake in other hobbies. I will now leave you with some parting words, as I am going to quote Huckleberry Finn from Mark Twain's novel: "...because if I knowed what a trouble it was to make a book I wouldn't a tackled it, and ain't a-going to no more."

Making Real Progress!

Well, I've been making the corrections on my private books, and I now have only twenty left to go! (Including these two blogs.) If I got that much done in only one week; imagine how long it will take me to finish the rest! (Well, ok, it might take me longer than I anticipated because I have to do some afterhours on my computer at work, and I saved the big boys for last!) Well, I am actually going to work on a few more right now, so wish me luck!

Finally Done with the First Part!

Yay! I am finally done with revising and publishing all my public books, so they are error free and ready for sale! I will take at least a week off before I think start revising all my private books, and I will not write another thing (except for small things for work) for at least a year! I am glad that I am finally finished with all this. Will be back to update everyone later...

I am so Sick of These Books I Could Puke!

Sorry, I should have had more of a positive entry tonight, but I am still not done with two books after three hours of revising afterhours at work. Will keep plodding away though, see what I can do...

Getting There

Yes! Got only about 23 public books left until I am done with this portion. For the -1 or -2 of you who are reading, don't expect any new posts for a while. Because after this, I am taking a long-deserved break!

Still Slightly Sane...Sorta

Well, 22 books down on my final revisions. 21 of them are public, so that means I only have about forty more to go until I am done revising the public books *mock crying* Since I couldn't get anyone else to do this for me, I have to finish it myself. I am definitely going to take a little break between the public and private books because this is an arduous task, indeed.

But I Still Have to Finish revising my books! :p

Well, I have 10 books down and 96 to go. I said that this process is going to be lengthier and more strenuous, but I have to do it, especially now that other librarians will see, from my short bio., that I have books which are available for purchase. I might take a little break once I revise all my public works. There is no rush to get all the private books out. Well, gonna get a pizza tonight to celebrate the news of my recent acceptance. It will be a pizza well-earned!

Yay!!!!

Well, it's official. I finally got my acceptance notice from the guest editor of Indiana Libraries, the journal. My paper on intellectual freedom is going to be included in the special fall issue concerning the subject! I worked really hard on my paper, and I am glad that all my effort has paid off!

Hooray!!! I am Done!

Well, I've finally done it! I've finally finished proofreading all 102 of my books. Even though I only played my video game for a precious, few minutes and did not entirely finish my copy of The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, I still managed to muddle through all 18 that I had left to proofread prior to my vacation. (Of course, I still have four more additional ones to complete, but that should be a cakewalk. I was pleasantly surprised that I got through my biography of Duran Duran so quickly.) Now I can read books which don't require me to be in proofreading mode.

Well, now that the first part is completed, here comes the real bitch of the whole project. Now, I have to go back and type in all my corrections. This would not be much of a problem if I didn't have to do this part on computer. My home computer does not cooperate with the files as well as the one at work. And while I hate spending time afterhours at my library, I may just have to stay over for a few nights, during my leusire time, and finish these books. I still haven't decided whether or not I am going to wait a while before I do this, but it has to be done at some point if I want people to buy my books and give me money so I can get the hell out of my job! Anyway, just wanted to update you and let you know that I am finially finished with the first part after two, long months!

Now, I will try and post updates to the second part of my project as well, but just to forwarn you, I might not exactly be in a jovial mood because, quite frankly, it is going to be a pain in the ass. But this will also mean that my books will not contain errors, and they are more readable to people who wish to buy them. Maybe people at work will finally recognize my writing abilities, thus enabling me to get more than my big toe out into the literary world.

Slicing My Way Through 18

Hello everyone, Yay! My vacation is finally here! Time for video games and Stephanie Meyer! (Of course, I will still have to do more on these 'yucky' books, but that doesn't mean that I can't enjoy other stuff as well.) Well, this is where I'll be leaving you for the next ten days. (*And I'm sure that the suspsense will be killing you in the meantime.) Happy trails (No, not the song, I hate country music. Just regular happy trails.)

20 Below, Baby!

No, I am not referring to the temperature outside. Cold weather sucks! I am down past number 19, and I will be starting book 18 in a few hours. Even though this one is a long booger, I will not have a defeatist attitude about getting it done within a few days. (I still technically have a little over 24 hours before my official vacation starts. I will be able to get at least a little chunk finished by then.) Well, gotta get back to doing some other shit for now. I'll update you sometime tomorrow.

I'm Gonna Make It!

Blah. Still stuck on book 21, but I should not be saying "blah." Instead, I should be saying "yeah!" I only have a small portion of book 21 left, (can't say how many pages because I forgot to number them!) but I should be able to get through it very soon after I get home. I will not stop once I reach twenty. I am going to keep going until some other stuff needs to get done, so I can enjoy my vacation!

I Can Do it, I Can do it 20 Times!

Well, am now down to book 21. I will definitely reach my goal before my vacation starts. Now, if I didn't have all that pesky cleaning to do in between. But, as lazy as I am, I still don't like having the house a mess. Besides, the cleaner the house will be, the less mom will nag me about all that stuff. HEAVILY anticipating my vacation. I will be reading other literature for a change.

That's all I have for now

Proofreading sucks!

Mental Note: Get an editor

Making it Happen!

Down to number 24. I may be able to achieve my goal of reaching 20 before my vacation starts on Friday (maybe more if I am lucky). I have less than ten pages to read on book 24, which will hardly take me any time at all. I think the next few are poetry books, so I should be able to breeze through those relatively quickly. Looking forward to allowing myself some time to read some other books, like The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, and Go, Mutants! (by Larry Doyle). I know this does not sound like very high-brow reading, but what truly is? Even Shakespeare, during his time, was considered very lascivious and low-brow. Now, he is one of the most canonized writers in the English language! I rest my case.

I Can Read and Eat at the Same Time!

I managed to get through 25 pages of my most recent book, which is about 1/4 of the way through. I know this may not sound like much to some, but it's a big chunk to someone who shovels food in her mouth while she is trying to make corrections with her right hand!

I am Slowly Going Crazy...

Well, okay, I'm already crazy (as one can guess from this project). Down to book 26, I was able to go through ten books (so far) since last Monday night. I will be able to start a new one during lunch today, and I might even have time to do some more proofreading tonight, that is, if my husband decides to stay up later than me. Usually, the prose ones are a quicker read because the print is bigger. It's going to be fun having to align all the poetry books once I make the print bigger. Oh well, at least the books will be longer, and they won't look so ridiculously small that they are hardly counted as books.

I'm thinking that during vacation I might take things slower. While I hope to be down to only 20 books, (not sure if I will make it that far) I might just say "fuck it" and play my video games or do some recreational reading for a while. I've been dragging my way through this project for nearly six weeks. Man, it would be nice to have a break for my break. I mean, I've earned it, right?

Well, unfortunately, I am still a good while away from finishing the first portion of this insane project. I will be back sometime soon with anymore interesting details. Try to keep yourselves amused until then... LOL ;)

Nice Weather We're Having, Isn't it?

Well, I am happy to be off work on this sunny day. Pretty soon, I am going to take a nice, long walk before the temperature shoots up again. Then I'm going to... Oh, wait, this is a blog about writing. My bad! Well, I am down to 28 books (not counting the two new ones that I just published, so it's really more than that). Hoping to keep that steam engine rolling. That walk sounds pretty good right about now. I think I'm going to go do that. I'm sick of proofreading, so wgat else is new? ;p

Under 30 (in Books, Not Age)

Glad to know that things are moving along. I am currently down to book 29, and I am whipping through them very fast. My goal is to be down to 20 before my vacation starts. (I'm pretty sure getting anymore than that done is an imposibility.) I am off tomorrow, so that will give me some time to continue with this madness.

Not looking forward to the second part of this phaze.

Will keep you updated...

(By the way, where the hell is my acceptance e-mail for my intellectual freedom paper?) :p

Yeah!

Ok, I am now down to about only 35 books, give or take, so it's getting down to the nitty gritty! Still more poetry, still hoping to get as much done before my vacation starts. I think it's been five weeks today since I embarked upon this ludicrous project, so that means I can hopefully finish all this part in less.

The fun part is going to start when I have to correct my errors on computer. That means I am going to have to log on, access my files, (which I will have to unpublish most of them first because that's what you have to do with a previously finished revision) make the changes in the documents, upload it all again, finish publishing the book, and then, go back and check to make sure the file is how I want it. Once I start buying copies of these new books, I sure as hell am NOT going to do it again! That would really drive me insane (and not the cute kind of crazy that I am now)!!

Be on the lookout for loads of more fun... Har Har (Can you note the sarcasm?)

More Poetry, More Promise

Despite my recent dismay regarding this entire proofreading project, I feel that I may be able to finish the first portion soon. I have three weeks until I get back from vacation. (Unfortunately, I still have about eleven days until it starts.) By then, hopefully, I will be able to have most, if not all, of this portion finished. The fact that I have (at least) a few more poetry books to revise gives me more hope, because they are fast to read. I feel that the Duran Duran biography is going to be the biggest pain in the butt, regarding revisions, though it was something that I started five years ago, and I would not rest until it was finished. But, like for Madness, I will NOT (create an index) and revise everything possible, unless I decide to publish it elsewhere. Besides, I am not much of a Duran Duran fan anymore.

Still have not read my personal copy of The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner or the book published by our local author. But, the sooner I can get my books done, the sooner I can put them back on sale so that people can buy them. (I had better get my paper published in Indiana Libraries after all this effort.)

Well, that's about all for today. I do not want to exert myself too much on this post. I'll keep everyone updated.

BTW: Happy Birthday to Mom! Hope you enjoy your special day!!

I'm sick of proofreading :p

Okay, so I finally got under 40 books to revise, and I finished Alwine's travel journal, along with Madness (my novella). Now, let's see if I can prevent myself from undergoing madness for the rest of the process. (Now I know how Julie Powell felt while she was blogging and cooking Julia Childs's recipes.) I have yet to start books 103 and 104, but I am still really gung-ho about finishing the others first.

Earlier today, I found most of my poems from my second book of poetry published on Amazon, A View of Dreams, on an old floppy disk from a few years ago. I copied and pasted the portion that was available and sent it to myself. This way, I can go on amazon and revise it. The only problem is that I have to re-type the missing poems (and I may not feel like doing so for a good, long time). I think I might have to hold off on that one, and Opening the Doors as well, because I do not want to lose my page on amazon.

I know that I am at the point of loathing, regarding revising these books, but the sooner I get it done, the sooner the process will be off my mind. And I will never have to do it again, unless a regular publishing company gives me incentive some day. Then, I will go back and revise Madness, Reach up for the Sunrise, and A Year in the Life of Emelie Jones. For royalties, which can help pay off our mortgage, I will gladly pull out the remaining strands of my hair to revise these books! :)

On This Day

It is bright and sunny outside, and I am feeling good! Though I still have half a day left, I am happy that I will be going home to my husband soon.

Now, on the book front. First, I will mention a good friend of mine, who recently had his third book published on http://www.lulu.com/. I am extremely happy for him, and I am glad that he has found so much success on lulu. It makes me feel good that I recommended the site to him. I finished my copy of Sizzling Sixteen and have returned it to our library. I also checked out that book written by one of our patrons. Proofreading wise, I am on book 65, although the one I am currently reading is not one that I have written. (So, that brings my total down to 105.) This particular title was written by my great-grandmother (on my mother's side), Alwine Baurman, on her 1910 trip to Europe. Interestingly enough, her first entry is dated June 25, 1910, exactly one-hundred years ago today!

Alwine was a first generation American. Her father, Augustus Baurman, came over from Germany in 1866 and received his U.S. citizenship in the state of New York. (It is interesting to see how much our family has branched out over the decades.) She gave birth to my great-aunt, then my grandfather, who passed everything on to my mother. Now I am the proud carrier of our family heirlooms.

When I first read her memoir four years ago, I was completely captivated, and I had a difficult time putting the diary down. Though people often get on my nerves, and I feel that our world has gotten too fast-paced; it's nice being able to escape every one in a while. That's the purpose of any good book, whether or not its commercially known. That's what I eventually want my stuff to be, but it may take a while for my work to mature like that. Besides, once I am finished with these masochistic proofreading, I am taking a huge break from writing! (Except, for my blog, maybe...) I also have all those delicious books waiting for me back at home.

Anyway, back to the main subject at hand. It's amazing how our family has had this book in its possession for 100 years--about 50 yearswhich it has been with my grandparents. When they passed away nearly five years ago, my mother gave this book to me. It was a real treat not only to read the book, but I enjoyed transcribing it as well. Sure, I had a difficult time reading some of Alwine's handwriting, and I had to google the names of the places, just to make sure that they were the right locations and that I spelled the names correctly. I am also proud of the fact that Alwine Baurman is now searchable through any online search engine. Before I had transcribed and published her work on lulu, the Internet had not even heard of her. I hope that Alwine is in heaven, looking down with pride at what she has accomplished through me. I am proud to be a vessel, concerning this special period in her life.

You Know, its Funny

Kinda ironic, the fact that I like online interaction much better than face-to-face interaction, mostly because it involves writing and is not forced. (My apologies, my last post was NOT saved, and this is the abridged version. Too bad, because this one is less articulate. Oh well.)

Still did not find anything about that self-publishing company, but I will try again some other day. Later...

Reading and Proofreading, too much to Balance

Ugh! I am feeling extremely tired and reclusive today, but when I got a chance to get away, I felt better. I have finished proofreading 63 of my 102 books. I am now on 64. I had to take a few breaks in between revising my most current books to read my library copy of Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich, who is the only author that I read consistently. I have a very sporadic book "diet," and much like my food diet, there is no consistency. Now I am finding out that some of our patrons have self-published books and somehow managed to get them into our library collection. I have tried to do that for years! (Well, I didn't actually ask anyone because I didn't want to piss people off.) But, being in charge of collection development, I think I am entitled to have at least one book in our collection. Of course, I will have to revise one that I think is suitable, and I can't overlook the fact that these other books look really good. At least I found a local publisher in Charlestown, so I might check out their webpage and look at their publishing requirements. Still waiting for news on the paper I wrote for Indiana Libraries. Might be back later...

Overcast

The clouds outside have been taunting and teasing me, making it look like it's going to rain. But I have yet to see a drop. I was hoping that I would not have to water the lawn when I get home because I want to spend my time doing my own thing. Maybe it rained at home. I could put it off until tomorrow...

(I know, this has nothing to do with writing, but I had to fill in the void.)

Is anybody as crazy as I?

I've reached the point of no return. Surely I am not the only frustrated writer out there...

About a month ago, I decided to go back and revise all 102 of my self-published books because I cannot tolerate any errors. I am also hoping to get an article published in the journal Indiana Libraries. The guest editor said that they are most likely going to publish my article on intellectual freedom in this fall's special edition. Since I included a short bio. along with my submission, I feel as if I have to go back and revise all my books (even the ones to which only I have access) because I mentioned the fact that people can access my books through http://www.lulu.com/ and http://www.amazon.com/. In the rare event that any library would want to purchase any of my books for their collection, I want to make sure that the print is large enough and that the books are free of errors. (I do not have the luxury of an editor or a proofreader.)

I have been writing for approximately sixteen years, and I've tried to stop several times, all to no avail. And though my work has been rejected before, I, apparently, am not the type to give up so easily. But with me having only proofread about 60 of my 102 books in four weeks,
(while putting many other things on hold) I am seriously starting to question my sanity ;) LOL