The other day, I went to the eHarlequin site and bought two of the Historicals Undone titles. I was curious to see how they're written. I mean, these are only 10-15,000 words. And I write historicals. How long would it take to write 10-15K words? Huh? Huh? But I see that most of these are Regency set. Wonder if they'd be open to westerns? Anyway, I bought two titles, including the one from this cover pic, and it took me until just a few minutes ago to figure out how to get them into my computer. I really hate to admit that, but it's just the truth. I bought the books in PDF format and when I downloaded them, I got ACSM files, which are links to nowhere, according to my computer. I ended up having to download a newfangled Adobe reader and setting up an account with them. But the files still wouldn't download from the site. I still got the ACSM url links, and when I clicked on them, a window popped up to tell me they couldn't be opened because they were corrupted. Well, great. I finally tonight got the bright idea to manually drag the ASCM files into the newfangled Adobe reader file and, VOILA!, it worked. The things downloaded and now I have them. But, wow, what a bunch of crap. I've downloaded plenty of free ebooks in PDF format and never had a problem. I think this has something to do with the DRM versions of these files.
In other news, I've been having my annual month of May identity crisis. Last year was the worst. It was exactly one year ago yesterday when I swore off writing forever and dropped out of sight. That lasted a whole eight months and I nearly went insane in the meantime. On second thought, maybe I actually did go crazy and just don't realize it. I once told Mary, I thought I was losing my mind. She told me that crazy people don't know they're crazy, so that meant I must not be--crazy, that is. Personally, I think there's room for argument.
Speaking of identity crisis, I've gotten into a real muddle with my work in progress. Muddle really isn't accurate, it's more like I've come to a screeching halt. After thinking about it for a couple of days, I realized I've got two other plots trying to butt in. This is the result of writing an entire manuscript without knowing diddly about GMC and THEN going back and trying to fix it. I brainstormed so many different GMC scenarios, two of them were evidently pretty strong and got stuck in my head. Now they're trying to butt in on the action. So I've got a heroine with a three-way split personality. She should be all the feisty, can-do girl, but shades of the strong-willed, independent and the emotionally damaged heroines keep rearing their heads and trying to drag their baggage into the mix. The only solution I can see is to promise these two gals their own stories somewhere down the road and hope they'll behave themselves long enough for me to finish heroine number one's story. Sheesh.
Devon
Sorry you had problems with your computer. I wouldn't know anything about that :-p, right...
ReplyDeleteGlad you figured it out.
Were the stories any good, btw?
I think you were crazy to give writing up, and crazy to get back into it. Make sense?
Keep plugging away at it.
Devon, I'm so glad you got the books! Sorry it was a pain, and of course I feel somewhat responsible because of my book recommendation the other day.
ReplyDeleteAs I was reading about your wip, I was thinking three books. Yay! You're thinking that too!
Don't you dare drop out of sight. I mean it! How about pretend it's still April, or skip ahead to June?
Jennifer my computer drives me up the wall sometimes. Fortunately, I'm ususally able to figure out the problem, even though I don't always know how I did.
ReplyDeleteI got about 3/4 of the way through the story last night before the words starting blurring together. I was at the point where they were dashing off to the hero's chamber when I had to stop reading. So far, it reads like a very rushed, simplified regular historical. I'll report back on the sensuality level after I read that part.
And yeah. What you said makes perfect sense. We're all nuts. ;o)
Mags, yes, this is all your fault. I dashed over to HQ and bought those downloads the other day after reading your blog. The other title is the one you recommended, btw. It's longer, so I'm saving it for last. I'm looking at the bright side of the computer headache--at least now I know how to download these DRM files.
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm definitely thinking in terms of series these days. Although, I don't know if these 3 stories would be considered that. Their only connection is that they have eerily similar plotlines (which would have to be changed, of course).
I don't intend to drop out of sight this time. The worst of it was 3 or 4 days ago and I'm still here. :o)