Bobbie O'Keefe's Journal

After yet another revision (I'd gotten some facts wrong and caught my error just in time) THE HOUSE ON COPPER STREET went to Red Rose Publishing, and soon I should hear from the content editor which will mean, of course, more revisions.

At Safeway, I dodged by a young man in a business suit who had commandeered the sidewalk corner outside the store as his office, walking back and forth as he conducted his business by the phone attached to his ear. A woman walked briskly by, busily talking into her cell, and an elderly gentleman stood nearby, listening intently to the device at his ear.

My phone? In my purse--not in use at the moment, but forever present just the same.

There are so many steps involved in a writer getting a book published that it can easily boggle the mind. SECOND THOUGHTS made it, and I'll always be grateful, but I have other work as well, and the first sale doesn't make a second sale easier. (Sigh)

First, one must get permission to submit a manuscript, regardless of the genre. Then that ms goes to a reader/free lance editor who then recommends it to the acquiring editor or not. If it passes that first test and is recommended, then the acquiring staff must read it and pass their own judgment on it. Then, maybe one gets a contract and perhaps not. Is the story too close to something else already in the works? How many spots are open in this particular line for new books? Is there a publishing trend in which this novel doesn't fit? This is guesswork on my part; I'm sure there are a myriad of reasons why a book is not chosen.

I have a mystery, a romantic whodunit, that passed the first step with Five Star, but no contract has been offered. I just received permission to submit another novel, a romance that has fared well in four different contests. I'm still hoping. Got my fingers and my toes crossed.

Though I still don't have a publishing date, Red Rose Publication lists my two stories, "The House on Copper Street" and "The Two Most Unlikely" as coming soon. As Tony the Tiger would say: Gr-r-eat!

I'll never tire of it. This is at the tidepools, just outside of Princeton, CA.

The computer glitch was solved, the content editor and I agreed upon the text, and "Two Most Unlikely" is now on its way to the line editor.

Got some kind of glitch in files between the "Most Unlikely" content editor's computer and mine. Hers won't open what mine sent. Computers are great, most of the time, but sometimes....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!  You were born 6:13 AM which allowed your dad time to go to work that day. During the day he overheard a couple men talking about their kids and their ages, and he looked at his watch and figured out how many hours old his child was. 

I reread my latest three entries and got confused--and I wrote them. California law and skeletons has nothing to do with editing "The Two Most Unlikely." Evidently I tend to hop around a lot.

Just finished going thru the "Two Most Unlikely" editing, and it feels good. I'll give it one more run-thru, send it off, and see what the next step is and when.

I thrive on the writing part of a book, am intimidated by the promoting part of it, and procastinate at the reasearch end. But recently I tracked down a very important point: what California law says about transporting a skeleton.

Back in the editing process again. I really enjoy this part of it. Another good editor who is making me think and making the story better.

SECOND THOUGHTS is now entered in the RWA Rita, a biggie if not the biggie of contests, in the "Novel With Strong Romantic Elements" category. Even if I don't final, the scores will be highly beneficial, and it will be very interesting to see the names of the other authors in whose company I will be.

According to WorldCat, the worldwide catalog of libraries, my book is now owned by three libraries in Surrey, BC, Canada. For it to have made it out of the US, to me, is a real ego boost.

What a great book. I felt like I knew the characters. You are rooting for them all the way. A great story. I read it in one sitting!! Definately a MUST read!!!!!

Glad to say I'm back out there in the cooler air of mornings, noting sights and sounds, exercising the legs and arms and brain. (Well, what brain cells I've got.)

A friend at church wrote in a card that when losing someone you love, there is pain but also strength. I agree. God provides for us what we need.

Due to a shifting of editors at Red Rose Publishing, my two manuscripts somehow slipped thru the cracks. But they've been rescued and I've been assigned to a content editor, and things ought  to start happening (edit wise) in October.

Not only do I love to read, I've realized that I need to read. When things get heavy, I find that becoming involved in a story and with its characters takes me out of myself, away from the moment, and when I come back I can think more clearly. Is that called escapism? Whatever it's called, it's a gift from God.

This one from The Fiction Shelf, Midwest Book Review, Wisconsin Bookwatch, August 2009:

"Divorce may be the end of something, but that doesn't mean there can't be a new beginning. 'Second Thoughts' is the story of Derek and Connie, two divorcees, as Derek tries to recapture the flame and make his divorce a thing of the past. A romance set in a busy, realistic, and entertaining world, 'Second Thoughts' will entertain readers for hours."