Ups and Downs

This has been a week of ups and downs for me and my family. The lows include two close friends being diagnosed with cancers, my son (with whom we live) being laid off, and the death of our darling cat(we had her for 19 years). All rough patches. But there were high points too...The bookstore where I work held a book signing for me (and two other local authors) on Friday night. Though I had all three of my "print" books there, the focus was on my newest one, PRIME TIME, and I thought it went pretty well. During the signing, the local TV station came in and interviewed us and we made the 10:00 news. That was fun. My best friend and critique partner came over on Thursday and we spent several hours brainstorming and got problems worked out for both of us on our current works-in-progress.

That brainstorming session gave me the nudge (re: kick in the butt)to get focused. I was splitting my writing time between two stories, not into either one enough to really work on it much. According to my own logic, I was too concerned about my own issues to worry about a character's problems. And yes, I'm still worried, but I am also dealing, which I wasn't before.

My new story, a fantasy, is starting to shape up nicely. I've got the main characters named and fleshed out, the issues they're facing and when they're facing them charted out, and work done on secondary characters. I'm starting to love this book more and more with each day. The excitement of writing is back for me, plus, it's a bit cathartic. As I write my characters into - and out of - bad situations, I work through my own troubles. My characters are facing thing much worse than I'll ever face, and they're going to survive (at least, the two main ones will!) so I will too. Together, we'll all get through this. Like my characters in PRIME TIME, you can't hide from your problems, but have to face them. To find out more about PRIME TIME, or any of my other stories, click here. It will take you to my wordpress site where you can see both Vicky Burkholder, and Victoria Allen's stuff.

May you have a good day/week with more highs than lows.

Vicky/Victoria

Ups and Downs

This past week has been a roller coaster ride. At the highest point, I got notice that my book, PRIME TIME, was finally out in print. I've been waiting for this moment for four years. It took a new publisher to make it happen. This book received great reviews in its original from, even getting four stars from Romantic Times magazine. My new publisher looked at the book, liked it, but decided it needed some work (which it did!). The new version is even better than the original and is now out in both e-format and print.

In addition, I finally finished the new story I was working on. I've been struggling with this one for so long, but I'm happy with the way it turned out and was especially happy when I wrote 'THE END'.

In addition, I have a shadow. A 16 year old girl who has to do a paper for school on what she wants to do in life. She wants to be a writer so has been with me at work for the last few days (I work in a bookstore), asking questions about writing and the writer's life. She's forced me to do some heavy thinking about this life that chose me. I dashed some of her hopes (she believed you wrote a book, sent it to a publisher, and they published it. That easy.), but I also pointed out that if you are a writer, you're going to find a way to write. You may never make money at it, but you're going to figure out how to make it work. It's been kind of fun. And interesting to have someone who thinks I'm amazing because I'm a writer. (giggle)

But when things are going that good, you know there's going to be a shoe drop. And one did. Heavily. On Wednesday, my hubby and I had our pet, Pixel, into the vet for her regular checkup. She passed with flying colors, but because she's 19 years old, the vet did some bloodwork and tests just to make sure everything was okay. Friday we got the call. All was not good. In fact, definitely not good. As in, she's reached the end of her road due to advanced liver disease. There is no coming back from this. He said she'd stop eating, lose weight, and eventually, just pass away.

How do you say goodbye to a furball you've loved for 19 years?

I know there are a lot of people out there who won't understand our attachment to her. After all, she's just a cat. What's the big deal? I also know there are a lot of people out there who *will* understand. And grieve with me.

As I said, a week of highs and lows.

May you have a happy week.
Vicky/Victoria