On Editing Older Writings

Child of Galina was very difficult for me to edit. C.o.G. was first completed in 2006. The first time I edited this novel a year was spent on it. Scenes were added, sentences (and even paragraphs) cut. Descriptions were gone over with a fine tooth comb. Everything was saved to my laptop and backed up on a flash drive.

I was finally finished and started sending C.o.G. out to publishers.

A few months later my laptop crashed in a MAJOR way. Even the operating system was gone, not to mention my files, photos...everything. But that was okay, most of that stuff was on my flash drive in my desk. No worries.

I worked on my laptop, re-installing everything I needed. Now to get my flash drive and open up my files and re-save them to the ol' un-trusty laptop. I open the desk drawer that I keep the flash drive in and it isn't there. I search the other drawers, no dice. I search my purses, laptop case, dresser drawers, end tables, night stands, under the couch cushions, everything in that house was turned upside down.

I never did find the flash drive, and it's whereabouts are still a mystery 7 years later. I did, however, find the first rough draft of Child of Galina. I put it away, heartbroken that over an entire year's worth of work was gone.

2013 arrived. Many, many things had changed in my life since I lost the final version of C.o.G. in 2007. I was in a  better place physically and emotionally. I'd moved home, gotten a divorce, went a little wild, got a job, calmed down, started dating, went back to college, changed jobs, got engaged, graduated college, got a house, got married, new job started stressing me out and killing my soul so at night when insomnia haunted me, I edited the original rough draft of Child of Galina, and there waiting for me were memories of some of the things i'd gone through that nearly broke me and the reasons why coming back home had saved my life.

Editing C.o.G. from the viewpoint of having come through it all was much more difficult than when I edited it the first time. Some things were lost in translation as a different person was editing the novel than the person who had written it.

Child of Galina will always be where I truly started as a writer, but I have more stories in me, some that I'm working on right now and I hope to do justice to my new stories, better than I was able to give to C.o.G.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year

Christmas Eve is here and I've realized that I've not updated this website since I was laid off from my job in August.

I healed from my surgery with no noticeable issues. I also was able to find another job by the time September rolled around and so far I am very happy in my new position. I am working at a training center facility that is ran by my state's Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services as an executive secretary.

Also in this time I was informed that I had a poem I submitted published in The Book of the Tribes. Which is pretty exciting for me.

As of this posting there are only 15 copies left of the soft back version of The Book of the Tribes. It can be purchased at http://www.ozhorrorcon.com/apps/webstore/products/show/4171409.

Also, in my new job I've had a lot more free time, most of it has been spent catching up with friends, family, and doing a bit of crafting, now that things are beginning to calm down I'm hoping to take up writing again, both online and working on my next book. So be sure to look for more postings from me here as well as over on Clive Barker Cast.

Dealing with Job Loss

Getting laid off or having your position within a company be terminated can be hard. Especially in this economy. I've been dealing with having this happen to me within just the past week. The shock of it has finally worn off, the fact that I actually have a bit of free time while searching for another job is opening itself up to me.

However, with the stress of having just gone through surgery and then losing my job I managed to catch a hell of a cold. So this past week has also been spent trying to get better without going to the doctor because with the loss of my income I don't want to waste any money on things that can be avoided or done without. I'm finally on the mend and my fever has broken so I think that avoiding a copay at my doctor's office will be possible.

Thinking about things like that is a bit scary as well. What can I do without, what can I do to make our money stretch further right now so that we aren't facing foreclosure on our home in a few months if it takes me longer than expected to find another job. What kind of job do I even want to pursue...

It is like being a scared kid all over again, except now instead of being afraid of the monster under the bed, I'm afraid of putting too much strain on my husband, afraid of not finding another job, afraid of, well, everything. When you were nearly living paycheck to paycheck anyway losing a job is even scarier.

I know I'm not the first one to face this, especially in this economy, but for me this is a first time experience. I've never been fired or laid off before now. I've got a lot of emotions. Some are good, some are dark. But I'll just face this one day at a time as I do everything else. In the meantime I'm going to try to make more time for writing on here, writing for the Clive Barker Cast and writing my next book. I might even get the house cleaned in my spare time. LOL.