The Writer's Life 1/11 - Whining

It was one of those days I had to remind myself that my life is far easier than most people's. At 64, of course, that might change tomorrow, but right now I should be thanking my lucky stars every minute of the day. I was cranky when I left the house at 11 AM, frustrated by the difficulty I'm having preparing my rock n roll epic, Rising Star, for publication. I haven't been able to figure out how to assign page numbers en masse in the upper right corner. I've begun to do it page by page. I'm up to 65 -- of 520, and I have no idea whether it will throw the entire file out of kilter. At least I'll have something to do during tomorrow's storm. I also noticed more space than I'd allowed between two of the chapters. To keep the number of pages to a sane minimum, I separated each chapter by just five lines. Two have more than half a page between them, and I couldn't figure out how to close the gap within the file. I'm sure the problem will show in several other spots.  I suppose it's not that big a deal, but I'd like the product to be as close to what publishing houses issue. Many readers expect a self-published book to be shoddy.
   As I turned toward my car I noticed a massive cloud formation approaching. I muttered aloud. The floating book shop would be an unpleasant experience. Fortunately, I found a spot in front of the Chase bank, so I'd be able to duck into the car if the cold got to me. An hour later the sun returned. I was so relieved, and I felt foolish about the inner whining I'd done. I could feel my toes thawing. I thought business would be good, as my inventory is excellent at the moment. Alas, there was only one buyer, and I had to speak up to make the sale. I remembered a woman telling me she was a fan of Barbara Taylor Bradford, and I had a pristine paperback of Just Rewards. Thank you, madam. Another woman, who has read all of James Patterson's work, passed on my recommendation of David Baldacci. If one enjoys Patterson, there is a 99% chance one will enjoy Baldacci. Ugh! I was so tense my head and neck were aching. I've taken a couple of ibuprofen for the first time in more than a month. I hope they've warded off what might be a migraine, which I haven't suffered in ages. I'm seeing something akin to a movie marquee, which an eye doctor told me long ago was a symptom. The last two times it happened the headache didn't follow. It makes reading difficult, though. Anyway, it's small stuff compared to what some poor souls suffer. Oddly, being miffed about such  negativeness contributes to it. The mind never ceases to amaze.

Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/rP7o9

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/