Done... maybe.

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My review and edit on the proofread is done and filed as of just a few minutes ago. Many revisions, several additions. I'm exhausted and delighted. There will no doubt be some things to review and revise, but the biggest hurdle is cleared.

I now want to sleep for a week, but I'll opt for curling up with a glass of white Bordeaux in my big rocking chair. 

A Moment of Surreal Self-Promotion

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I've been on the road this week, living with slow wifi and a lot of mañana in the Land of Enchantment, so thinking about, let alone writing about, the actual business of writing hasn't exactly been front and center.  

But this morning it kind of hit me: the surreal moment of looking at the Interlude Press online store and seeing some very familiar book cover art with a virtual price tag attached: Sotto Voce, $15.99. 

In talking with some of the other IP authors, it's interesting to hear when the reality of it all hits home. For some, it's when they turn in their manuscripts. For others, it was dealing with edits. For many of them, I think it's when they first see the cover art. 

For me, it was the book store moment, and that Publishers Weekly Review that still leaves  me a little dumbfounded.  Despite years of being published in newspapers, or having words I wrote echoed by an executive or a politician they were written for, this is the first time I've seen my name—or at least, my pen name—attached to something for sale. 

It's an odd moment. 

For anyone who publishes, it should be a moment of accomplishment, and of some pride—a helluva lot of work goes into publishing a novel. Yet not too much—there is the constant balancing act of being grounded and humble, of not celebrating too much. It's stranger still for someone in the business of PR, promotions, and marketing, because  for the first time in my life, I am promoting myself, rather than an industry, an idea or someone else's product. 

Something to worry about mañana, I suppose. For today, I have a proofread to finish reviewing and a winery to visit.

Available for Pre-Sale on Tuesday... →

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You can’t be rushed when you’re making wine. You have to give it patience and care, and be willing to accept it for whatever its chemicals and nature deem it will become. You can make adjustments here and there, to be sure, but nature will ultimately dictate the outcome. There are some things you simply cannot force. A great wine, made with love and care, is one of them.

* * *

New York-based wine critic Thomas Baldwin can make or break careers with his column for Taste Magazine. But when his publisher orders him to spend a year profiling rising stars of California’s wine country and organizing a competition between the big name wineries of Napa and the smaller artisan wineries of Sonoma, his world gets turned upside-down by an enigmatic young winemaker who puts art before business.

Sotto Voce is the story of love and wine, and how both require patience, passion, an acceptance of change—and an understanding that sometimes, you have to let nature take its course. 

Release Date: October 21, 2014.

Pricing: $15.99 print / $9.99 multi-format eBook (US price)

US/Canada: Order the print edition from the Interlude Store before October 21st and receive the DRM-free, multi-format eBook for free.

International Orders: Sotto Voce will be available to order from most book retailers starting October 21st. Submit a copy of your receipt to promotions@interludepress.com by December 21, 2014 and receive the eBook for free.

Harvest & Crush

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I got working so late in the barn I forgot my #WineWednesday post: harvest and crush of the Syrah, or at least what survived the Great Mockingbird Attack of 2014.

After rolling up the nets, harvested and crushed all the Syrah in early morning/late evening Wednesday. The Zin is holding for a couple of days.

Now starts the sleepless period where grape must is checked and punched several times a day.

Seven Extremely Good Reasons to Write the Ending First →

amandaonwriting:

If you are writing for fun, and if you don’t want any help, please write any way that works for you. I am not trying to convert you to writing with a plan. It truly does not matter to me how you write. However, if you are struggling to finish a book that makes sense, I would love you to carry on reading.

Why should you do it?

When I used to teach Writers Write regularly, one of the first things I asked students was: How does your story end? I did this for two reasons. Firstly, as much as some people love the idea of working with meandering storylines, it has been my experience that those writers seldom finish writing a coherent book. Secondly, most people who go to workshops or sign up for courses are truly looking for help, and I’ve learned that the best way to succeed in anything in life is to have a plan. Successful people will tell you that you need to know where you’re going before you begin.

Smell the roses

This does not mean that you can’t take time to smell the roses, or explore hidden paths along the way. It simply means that you always have a lifeline and when you get lost, it will be easier for you to find your way back again. Remember that readers like destinations. They love beginnings, middles, and endings. Why do you think fans are terrified that George R.R. Martin will die before he finishes A Song of Fire and Ice? They want to know how the story ends. 

Here are seven reasons why I suggest you write your ending first.

  1. If you know who the characters are at the end of the story, you will know how much you should reveal about them at the beginning. 
  2. You will be forced out of the ‘backstory hell’ that beginner writers inhabit and into the story the reader wants to read.
  3. Hindsight is an amazing thing. We all know how different life seems when we’re looking back. We can often tell where a problem began. We think about the ‘what ifs’ with the gift of hindsight. You can use this to your advantage in fiction writing.
  4. You will have something to work towards. Instead of aimlessly writing and hoping for the muse to show you the way, you will be able to pull the characters’ strings and write the words they need to get them from the beginning through the middle to the end.
  5. Plotting from the ending backwards saves you so much time because you will leave out stuff that isn’t meant to be there. You will not have to muddle through an overwritten first draft.
  6. Writing the end forces most of us out of our comfort zones. We have to confront the reality of what we are doing. It might not be as romantic as flailing around like a helpless maiden, but if you want writing to be your profession, it’s good to make the outcome visible. This is a way to show yourself that you are serious. The end gives you a goal to work towards.
  7. The ending is as important as the beginning. Good beginnings get people to read your first book. Great endings get readers to buy your second book.

There are a handful of famous authors, like Stephen King and George R.R. Martin, who say they don’t plot. I think they just don’t realise they are those rare authors – natural born storytellers, and that plotting is instinctive for them. I have interviewed many successfully published authors and I can revel that the majority of them do believe in plotting. They outline, in varying degrees, before they begin. And yes, most of them know what their ending will be. Why don’t you try it? What have you got to lose?

I truly hope this helps you write, and finish, your book.

by Amanda Patterson

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy 10 (Amazingly Simple) Tips to Get You Back on The Writing Track and The Author’s Promise- two things every writer should do. You could also read The Top 10 Tips for Plotting and Finishing a Book.

I’ve been doing this to one degree or another since I was a reporter. I write the beginning, then the end, then go back and story telling the story that fells between those two points. It’s not for everyone, but it sure helps me understand where I started and where I’m ultimately headed.

The Juggle

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The next few weeks are all about juggling.

The Syrah, what hasn’t been devastated by birds that puzzled out the vineyard netting, was sitting at 23 brix last night, so I’ll be starting the routine of collecting and cleaning the various bits and pieces of harvest: the crusher destemmer, the fermentation barrels, all the way down to the buckets used for collecting the fruit off the vines. ETA for crush: sometime this week.

Crush is followed by the primary fermentation period, when my life seems to be spent largely in the barn, punching caps and monitoring wine chemistry at all hours of the day and night.This goes on potentially for weeks, depending on whether I am able to pull all of the fruit at once or not, before the wine is pressed and sealed off for racking.

It’s a long and involved process, and it’s hitting just as the workload is picking up in Sotto Voce and work-related responsibilities.

The proofreader’s edit arrived this weekend for my review, and I’m grateful to have a few weeks with it due to time constraints that are only exacerbated by the fact that I have a harvest to bring in. Since my typical work day has been running at about 14 hours lately, this is going to be interesting.