Neglecting my riding and writing

Hello,
I've been neglecting both my bike riding and writing this blog, and actually I should start zeroing in on the topic for my next novel. I do this all the time though, and eventually I hit on an idea that sticks and it becomes my new book. So I'm not going to worry about it, and besides, I need to promote my current novel before moving on to something new. I've been pushing myself hard lately, working on the website particulars and a million other things, and that's why I decided it was time to do a ride with my fellow Wolverines (Michigan bicycle group).

So this morning I drove over to Beverly Hills (Michigan) and did 42 miles with the gang. I haven't been riding much compared to the kind of riding I've done every year for the past 15, so I was a little worried about keeping up. I know I'm not in shape, and that wouldn't be much of a problem except that everybody else is! I've probably done less than two hundred miles since spring, barely anything. Riders talk a lot about miles, how many miles they rode on a given day, how many for the season, how many for the year. Oddly, other riders are actually interested in this stuff, unless the rider in question goes on and on about it. Gives them a chance to mention their miles, for the day, for the season.... You get the idea.

Anyway, the flats were fairly easy and I kidded myself into thinking I was okay. We hit the first set of hills and I struggled, but didn't fall behind ... too much. We usually stop for coffee and a sweet roll midway, and I was fine until we were about two miles from the stop, then I bonked some and lost the group, but knew the rest of the way fortunately so it wasn't a problem.

But on the way back my lack of conditioning really began to show, and when we hit Kirk in the Hills, normally a fun set of ups and downs, I fell apart. I literally almost fell over I was going so slow on one hill. I lost the group again, but fortunately my friend Steve took pity on me (he knows I don't know the way back at all) and led me out. The group stopped and waited around the corner, which was nice of them. Steve and I would have missed them totally, but they yelled out to us and we were able to rejoin them. I plan not to let this happen again, and will keep a better riding schedule. I don't like it when people have to wait for me. Plus it's my fault, not theirs, that I haven't been riding. It's also a lot more fun to ride when you're in shape, less heavy breathing, cramping etc.

But I'm glad I went. I missed everybody, and it hasn't felt normal lately. I love to ride, especially with my group. It was a great day! Nancy

Update - Website live as of July 11, 2007

Visit my website to read a FREE EXCERPT of my mystery romantic-suspense novel, Her Last Letter.

http://www.nancy-cjohnson.com/

Books are available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and can be ordered through most bookstores.

I finally have High Speed Internet!

Hello everyone,
Yes, I know getting High Speed Internet isn't a really big deal to most people, but it is to me. I don't like to admit this to myself, or to anyone else for that matter, but I tend to make changes very slowly and only after much consideration. I am one of the least compulsive people I know! Dial up was just fine with me, and like those turtle people on t.v., the Slowskis, using a slow connection wasn't much of a problem for me at all. It was a problem for those who wanted to get a hold of me though. Since I'm on the Internet more than usual lately, my phone just rang and rang and rang ... no answering machine ... nothing. I never heard it, of course. Plus, I didn't miss getting any of the telemarketing calls (I mean, who would?) and I got a lot done because I wasn't interrupted. But I couldn't watch videos or listen to audios and it was very frustrating when something interesting presented itself. If you've never had dial up, you wouldn't be aware that audios and videos are impossible to listen to or watch. It's like trying to watch someone with the hiccups trying to talk!

The nice thing is that it isn't going to cost a lot more than we were paying before, and we get better t.v. programming too. We even get an assortment of free movies, some of them pretty decent.

My book, Her Last Letter, is available on Amazon now. And Angie and I uploaded the cover image recently and it looks really good! It's also available at barnesandnoble.com, but the cover image isn't up yet. We're planning to take care of that this weekend. My website is almost complete, just taking care of some shipping and handling details needed by PayPal. It's a lot more work than I thought it would be. I want to offer the most reasonable shipping possible, and also the quickest. I worked a lot on that the last few days, and I think I have it just about under control.

Well, it's late and I'm exhausted. So, I think I'll get to bed. Been on the computer too much tonight. Nancy

Update - Website live as of July 11, 2007

Visit my website to read a FREE EXCERPT of my mystery romantic-suspense novel, Her Last Letter.

http://www.nancy-cjohnson.com/

Books are available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and can be ordered through most bookstores.

My books are here! My books are here!

Hi,
I guess you can tell I am excited. My books were printed and ready for delivery last Monday. And they turned out spectacular! I am so pleased. The cover looks even better than I thought it would, and the interior turned out beautifully too. I love the color of the interior pages, off white, almost a soft yellow, and I love the feel of them. They are smooth and soft to the touch. So far (cross my fingers) I haven't discovered any errors in the text, which would be my fault, since I had many chances to look it over. As much as I liked reading the manuscript, I like reading the actual book even more. I can't wait to get my books into the hands of readers, whom I can only hope will love them as much as I do! I have all kinds of wonderful ideas for my next book too, but first I would like to receive feedback on HER LAST LETTER before beginning in earnest. That way I have a better chance to learn what readers liked about this one.

It's all so very exciting. I am now a published novelist! Whether I sell one book, or many, nothing can change that fact. It has been a long, long road to this point, but I'm finally here! And the view is awesome! Nancy

Update - Website live as of July 11, 2007

Visit my website to read a FREE EXCERPT of my mystery romantic-suspense novel, Her Last Letter.

http://www.nancy-cjohnson.com/

Books are available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and can be ordered through most bookstores.

Books arrive as soon as Friday!

Hello,
Well, my books may be ready for delivery as soon as Friday! I can't wait to see them and examine them. Though I already know what the cover will look like, this will be the first time I see the book covers with their beautiful glossy finish. The covers I've seen so far have more of a matt finish. The first thing I'll do is open one up and hope it's as perfect as I think it will be. I've heard horror stories of books printed upside down with missing pages or with globs of ink, etc. I don't think I need to worry about that since a very reputable book printing company is handling the job. I've been very, very pleased with them so far, but I tend to worry about stuff like this. What's that old saying? If anything can go wrong, it will. Let's hope not.

I've been staring at my computer screen too much lately, neglecting to exercise, so I decided to get some air today and took a walk around the neighborhood just before sunset. It was nice to move. I saw a few other people out too. The weather was so pleasant today, started out cold, then warmed up quickly to about seventy-five. I didn't realize it was nice until about three o'clock, when I had to leave to do some errands. I walked out in a sweater and light jacket, only to see people walking around in shorts and sleeveless tanks. That's the funny thing about this time of year in Michigan; people are dressed all kinds of ways, some overdressed, some under. By June everyone seems to have figured it out.

I'm hoping my website will be finished soon. The mockup site does look great, and I like the flash that Lisa has added. My author page, links page, and order page are not ready yet, but it's getting close. Angie's site http://www.angiedesigns.com/ is more complicated than mine, so it's taking a bit more time. I proofread some of her site today and found a few items that needed to be corrected, and will do a little more of that tomorrow. She is so very busy, she just doesn't have time for everything.

Well, it's time for bed. I'll check in soon. Nancy

Update - Website live as of July 11, 2007

Visit my website to read a FREE EXCERPT of my mystery romantic-suspense novel, Her Last Letter.

http://www.nancy-cjohnson.com/

Books are available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and can be ordered through most bookstores.

Press Check

Hi there!
No, this doesn't mean the Press is giving me a check, though I wouldn't mind. Press Check means that before my book is printed, I get one final chance to check the cover as it comes off the press. It was sort of fun, but scary. I stood there with the pressman and the guy handling my account, and watched as my cover came rolling out of the press. I was supposed to look at it and see if the color needed small changes or not. It looked great to me, but they both looked at it and decided the girl on my cover had a little bit too much rouge in her checks. They corrected that and ran two more covers, just to check and make sure everything looked right.

I'd already gone through the process of looking over my proof copy of the book, and a proof of the cover, and was very pleased, but still.... The last thing I want is to have errors in the interior of my book or on the cover, but it's amazing what can be missed! As far as I can see all the pages are there and in the right order. The printer was given a file, so if there are mistakes, more than likely they will be my own. It must be devastating for an author to find errors when it's too late to change them. I looked over another author's new book the other day, and found a mistake on the acknowledgment page, right up front before the book even begins! How sad. I can only hope that at least I've caught any big mistakes. I did change one item on page 194, because even though I checked over my manuscript what felt like a thousand times, I'd left the word hor doerves on two separate lines. Hor was at the end of the first line, and doerves at the beginning of the next. How in the world did I miss that?

I'm not sure if I finished this blog last time, because it appears to end here. ??? I just noticed this now. I only signed on to edit a few mistakes I made. Anyway, it will end here now because I have no idea what I may have written before.... Oh, well. Nancy

Update - Website live as of July 11, 2007

Visit my website to read a FREE EXCERPT of my mystery romantic-suspense novel, Her Last Letter.

http://www.nancy-cjohnson.com/

Books are available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and can be ordered through most bookstores.

It's good to be home on my own computer, although....

Hi,
Well, the library was an interesting way to spend a few hours getting stuff done, but I'd rather write from home. Though I must say that the chairs at the library are way more comfortable than mine, and if I wanted to spend some money I'd definitely invest in a new computer chair. It's also easy to check out free DVDs while you're at the library, then easily return them the next day. I picked out Pride and Prejudice, a book I read and enjoyed a lot as a young girl. Seeing the movie should be really interesting. Plus, going to the library gave me an excuse to get out of my robe and get dressed, something I'm a little slow doing sometimes, especially if the weather looks bad. I also liked hanging out with the people at the library. Everybody keeps pretty much to themselves, but still there's an air of contentment and comeraderie. You feel that if you asked someone a question, they wouldn't ignore you or be rude, they'd just try to help you out, and then drift back into their silent reverie. I saw an older lady sitting reading a book, alone, but not really. You had to figure she could have read the book at home, but felt more comfortable there among her like-minded library friends. I also noticed a man holding a baby, a very good natured baby, who didn't cry and seemed to have picked up on the contented atmosphere of the library as well. The father sat using the Internet for several hours with the baby crooked in his arm.

Well, I'm tired and I guess I should go to bed. I'll get back to you soon. Nancy

Update - Website live as of July 11, 2007

Visit my website to read a FREE EXCERPT of my mystery romantic-suspense novel, Her Last Letter.

http://www.nancy-cjohnson.com/

Books are available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and can be ordered through most bookstores.

Internet Down

Hello!
Well, I'm at the library writing this blog as my Internet at home is down. With any luck it will be up and running soon. Like at least one of the characters in my book, I hate it when things break. Actually, that probably applies to all of them. Who likes it when things break? Repairmen are the only ones I can think of at the moment ... and maybe toddlers. I'm planning to go to the book printing company tomorrow, which reminds me, I need to do a map quest before I leave here. I vaguely remember the directions, but I wasn't driving the last time so I wasn't really paying attention. The printing company is huge, or huge to me; I guess it is considered a medium size book printing company as companies go. It is over 10,000 square feet and a cool looking building inside and out! They put out a quality book product, and were nice enough to give me a tour of the building and an explanation of all the equipment housed there, and how it functions. I understood only a little of it, but it was really interesting. The book interior will be printed in sections called "signatures." At their company, a signature is 8 pages. I guess signatures can be as much as 16 or 32 pages. They will be using off-set printing for my book, a good choice. They also offer web printing, also a great choice and lightening fast I'm told!

So, I'll hand over the hard copy (manuscript) proof of my book tomorrow, and also a copy of the cover. They will use each to check against the proof copy they print, I suspect, in case of errors (mine or theirs). It will be 4-5 weeks before the books are printed and ready for me. That will give me time to work on my marketing plans, already in the works. But more on that later.

By the way, it is finally a beautiful Michigan spring Sunday afternoon, so I am anxious to get back outside! I'll talk to you soon. Nancy

Update - Website live as of July 11, 2007

Visit my website to read a FREE EXCERPT of my mystery romantic-suspense novel, Her Last Letter.

http://www.nancy-cjohnson.com/

Books are available online at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and can be ordered through most bookstores.