Totally judging my book by its cover
Another step in this lengthy process of publishing a book is complete- I picked my book cover. I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but everyone- from a little kid to a marketing genius can tell you that first impressions are important. The cover is the first thing everyone will see and might be a deciding factor in reading it.
The night my publisher sent the first few proofs of the cover, Dad was in Arizona with my Mom visiting some family. I had to text the images to Mom to show Dad (Dad has a smart phone but says he doesn’t know how to access texts). She responded that he was “ok” with them. (That’s the seal of approval from Dad, it’s not going to get much better than that).
So that is a big part (at least to me) of this book being another step towards being on the shelves (or in your e-reader).
The even better news is that Dad is back from AZ and I look forward to being able to see him for lunches again.
(The picture above is a picture I found online of a pin Mom & Dad found for me in AZ. I will wear it proudly).
FOOD (one of our favorite topics!)
When you read the book *coming out in December- woot!*, you’ll notice Dad talks a LOT about the food in Vietnam. He goes into the Army provided rations, the local fruits and vegetables and the taco stand. Yes, the taco stand. In Vietnam.
So during our usual Thursday lunch meeting, I suggested a new place. An aside about Dad, you will see that he was very adventurous with food in his younger days. Now, not so much. He finds a place, decides he likes it, and wants to go there EVERY week. Sometimes I have to throw out different suggestions. 95% of the time, he loves them. If I go too outside of the box, it’s a failure. There is a great fusion taco place in downtown Fayetteville. You don’t take a 75 year old man that’s been raised on traditional Mexican food to a fusion taco place. “Tacos?! These aren’t tacos!” he said, quite loudly. He feasted on their side orders of chicken wings and fries that day.
I digress. I decided to try out of the box again, and I found a Vietnamese restaurant that had good reviews. While I know that my dad LOVES Asian food, especially Thai food, we have never had Vietnamese food together. I was worried that it might trigger something.
We got to the place and Dad studied the menu. I knew what I wanted- Bahn Mi. For the amount of Vietnamese restaurants Fayetteville has, they don’t usually serve Bahn Mi, so finding it here was a treat. (Bahn Mi is a sandwich- pickled veggies, usually pork, and some heat- peppers). I opted for their Chicken Bahn Mi and he decided to try Bun Bo Xao (vermicelli steak). As we waited, I asked him if he had eaten any Vietnamese food in Vietnam.
He replied, “Well not really. There were no restaurants, except in the bigger bases like Long Binh, but we were never near the big bases except to fly in and out. We mostly ate our rations. When we were near Michelin, there were some locals that sold ham and cheese sandwiches. I was skeptical at first, but some of the guys in my platoon ordered them. They were $2 or $3. I laughed when I saw the sandwiches, when they were delivered by a young boy on a bike. They were white bread, with slices of ham and cheese. We figured they were somehow breaking into one of the food supply points and stealing their supplies. I ordered them occasionally, when I just wanted something different than rations.”
Dad and I will always bond over food. Except fusion tacos.
So the edits are in…
Much to my dismay as a 1) first time writer 2) impatient person, there are MANY steps to writing.
Of course I wrote the book, then it was edited (approximately 97 times). Then there was the agent and publisher queries (aka begging). Then the magical moment when I got picked up.
Now the publisher has sent their edits.
“More edits?” you’re probably thinking. (If you’re a seasoned writer you’re laughing at me.)
Yes, more edits. So this makes like, 98 times the book has been edited. I would be insulted, but we all know my tagline is “I’m not a writer” so I’m blissfully unaffected. My goal is to have them back to the publisher by Saturday.
That was the PLAN. I sat down around 1030 pm last night (after a full day of work) to “just glance over the RC”. (The read copy, with the edits incorporated into it.)
I shouldn’t tell you this, but I will. I made it for about 19 pages and then I was out. Fast asleep. Mouth open, phone on the floor kind of sleeping.
IT IS NOT BECAUSE THE BOOK IS BORING! (I’m saying this part really loudly) I think it’s the fact that it was the 900th time I had read it, 1030 pm at night, and already kind of tired.
So now I will stop procrastinating and go back to reading, while I’m wide awake!
Cruising and writers
Maybe it’s the idealist in me that thought that a vacation on a cruise ship would be the perfect spot to write. I’m glad I didn’t think I would get anything seriously accomplished.
- There are no freaking outlets ANYWHERE on a cruise ship. We had one in our bedroom. ONE. Not a double one. Just one. Thank goodness for the internet, because I was prepared for this and brought a power strip. So, theoretically, I could have typed all day in my cracker sized cabin. If I wanted to see the ocean, or not appear to be a hermit though, I would have had to type in a public area where I found ONE double outlet, on 6 decks.
- Writing on paper sounds romantic, but since high school I’ve been composing everything on a computer. I was able to jot down some ideas on a tablet (the paper kind, not the $199 ipad kind) but other than brief ideas and where / what to research it didn’t go very far.
- The constant sway, sway, sway, of the boat will put you to sleep no matter how long you slept the night before and how awake you feel when you stretch out in your lounge chair.
Other than that, it was a great trip, I accomplished a great tan and some marketing ideas and lots of sleep.
I’m eagerly awaiting edits from my publisher and then it’s on to the next step! (which is….?)
Raise your hand if you know a published author!
So….the small press publishing company responded and they would love to publish my book! I can’t say too much until everything is finalized. Also, the book won’t be available for 4-6 months (queues, last minute edits, etc.).
I thought waiting for the answer would be the hardest part. I was wrong! Knowing that I’m going to be published but having to wait for all of the red tape is even worse. There is so much I want to do to start marketing, but I need to have the cover design first. I have ideas, but once again, can’t say anything 🙂
The only good news in all of this (well, besides the being published part) is that I can start working on my next mental health non fiction work- it’s about Borderline Personality Disorder- scary stuff!
Thank you so much for your support! I’ll continue to keep everyone updated! 🙂
An Open Letter to Children of Combat Veterans (take 2)
Happy 4th of July Weekend!
I remember being a child and loving this weekend. It was the best weekend of summer! I was already well established into my sleeping in late/staying up late, lounging around, playing outside and swimming schedule, so 4th of July just meant parties! Parties and Fireworks- and food!
There will be plenty of awesome activities this weekend- cookouts and barbecues, block parties and pool parties. People will grill burgers, dogs, ribs, chicken and steak. Watermelon, cake (often decorated with strawberries & blueberries to resemble the flag) and ice cream will be consumed by the ton.
Still, if you’re a kid of a Combat Veteran, this weekend might be a little different for you. Dad might not want to go to the barbecues and parties, he might want to stay in the safety of your air-conditioned house. He might not want to scroll through his Facebook feed and see all the pictures of people eating the aforementioned hot dogs and watermelon. Worst of all, he might not want to go to the fireworks show.
We all know how awesome fireworks shows are, especially on post. I can only speak of Ft. Bragg’s, but I’ve been going as long as I can remember. The 1812 overture with cannons, the Golden Knights jumping in, the parade of flags, and of course, the fireworks, once it’s dark.
And Dad. Sitting in the cab of the truck, ignoring the excited demands that my sister and I would shout- “Dad, get out here, you’re missing them!”
See, 4th of July might not mean the same thing to your Dad as it does to you. He likes the barbecues and the watermelon and the long weekend, but he doesn’t like the memories that he might associate with the day. Independence Day (4th of July’s REAL name) is about gaining our independence from England. It’s also a lot more than that. It stands for freedom. You might have heard “Freedom isn’t Free” or “Some Gave All” growing up. While we formally remember fallen Service Members on Memorial Day (in May); it’s hard not to think of all the brothers and sisters in arms you went to war with when everyone is talking about freedom, America, and waving the American flag.
Your Dad might even resent some of these people. He might feel that their patriotism only comes one day of the year, when he and his fellow Service Members fight for our country EVERY day of the year, in many countries and many different situations. That’s ok if Dad feels that way. He still loves YOU.
You are one of your Dad’s most prized possessions. He wants to protect you and make sure you’re safe at all times. This is why he might seem overbearing at times- not giving you the freedom that your other friends have. He loves you, trust me. Despite the yelling and the arguing, he loves you.
So what about that fireworks show? Why doesn’t Dad want to go to that? Being courteous when it comes to fireworks & Combat Veterans has gained a lot of press this year. It might not just be the fireworks themselves. It could be the heat, the traffic, the having to go on base. All of these things could be triggers, or make your dad uncomfortable. All of these reasons might also be why Dad isn’t excited about all the cookouts and parties this weekend either.
It can be difficult to be the kid of a Combat Veteran, trust me, I know. Never forget that your Dad loves you, and that you mean the world to him.
4 July 2015
(Author’s Note: as in my previous version of this, the Combat Veteran is “Dad” not Mom. While this may seem sexist, I assure you it’s not. While I understand that many females are Combat Veterans and serve, females are less likely to express their PTSD towards their children, or aggressively. Females’ PTSD tends to look like depressive symptoms.)
I no longer think I’m going crazy…
I know it!
I would have bet large sums of money that a year or two ago, I wrote an open letter to all Children of Combat Veterans for 4th of July. My plan was to re-post that today. I have now looked on my 2 wordpress blogs (one of which I forgot existed), 2 hard drives and 3 facebook accounts. Alas, no letter.
I have some theories about this.
1) It was all a really vivid dream
2) It was so spot on, that the government didn’t want to anyone to read it and erased it from all of my computers.
3) Aliens. (This should be on all lists of conspiracies)
I wanted to text a client of mine to ask her if she remembered the letter, because I remember discussing it openly with her in a counseling session. But what if THAT too, was a vivid dream?
Can’t have my clients thinking I’m crazy! I have one more hard drive to check, then if I can’t find I, I will try to remember and re-write it because I think it’s really worth mentioning.
Pins and Needles
To use a cliche, I’m waiting on pins and needles. I’m living on coffee and little sleep. After lots and lots and lots of rejections, a small press company has expressed interest. I spent a good bit of time last night formatting the entire manuscript to their submission requirements. It took a really long time for me to hit “submit”.
I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the next 4-8 weeks!
Dating after 8 years of wedded bliss…
No, my sweet, sanity inducing husband didn’t leave me after all of this time (we celebrated 8 “official church years” yesterday). I feel like I’m back in the dating scene again though, specifically the online dating scene.
As my friend and mentor, Sharon, and I sit in the coffee house caffeinating ourselves, I am pouring over literary agent websites. Apparently, with the tenacity of a 40 year old with her biological clock ticking, reading E-harmony profiles.
“Oh!” I’ll exclaim, “this one is taking new submissions! He wants non-fiction”, my voice rising with excitement. “oh, wait, it says ‘no memoirs’. Sigh. I’ll try another one.”
The rejections come in without even a first date- too short, not the right genre, or sometimes the generic “thanks but no thanks.”
“READ ME!” I want to email back to them. “at least the first few chapters.” No, they have already moved on, eyeing the cute blonde with the cleavage shot in her profile.
And the rejections keep rolling along…
(Sorry, US Army for taking some liberty with your song.)
Ok, seasoned writers. The rejections are starting to roll in. The thank you, but no thank you emails are hitting my inbox so quickly, I’m afraid I will break the internet.
How do you stay sane in the face of all the “No!”? Do you work on a different project, do you find even more publishers, agents, etc. to submit to? Do you visit a witch doctor and promise your 3rd born child in exchange for a publishing deal?
Seriously, y’all. When I feel like giving up I think of all the Service Members that wanted to give up and couldn’t. If they can march across a combat zone with 55 pounds on their back, I can surely handle rejections.
Have a great week and keep writing!
Joanna Nunez, Author 