IWSG: So many much things happening!

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It's been a crazy couple of months. Deaths in the family, some life changes, writing career choices... being a grown-up is exhausting. Where to begin?

Let's start with some awesome news. I was asked to join the board of directors for the Capital City Writers Association! Squee! I feel honored and all that. Mostly I feel completely unprepared, overwhelmed and worried that I'm gonna screw up. That usually means I'm doing the right thing.

Beyond that, I'm in a full re-write and it's crazy. I'm struggling a bit with it because I feel like I'm carving the funny out of my novel. I'm replacing it with depth but I miss the funny and I'm worried that I'm writing something more dour than I wanted. We'll see.

Speaking of this damnable book, I made a dumb decision.My heroine is a rock singer/song writer and there is a bug-fuck crazy part of me that decided I need to have a line or two from each of her songs at the beginning of each chapter. A great idea, if I were in any way talented at poetry or song-writing. But alas, I'm too long-winded and literal. But what is life without completely stressful and unnecessary challenges? So I've been writing song lyrics and I can confidently call them, "Not completely awful." So yay?


Also I found out that someone I really respect as a writer (and general smart person) has decided to self-publish. This paused me for a bit. I have no problem with self-pubbing and it was always in the back of my mind as a possibility but now I'm seriously considering it. 

I absolutely believe I can get an agent and get my books published traditionally, but do I want to do that? I feel like my options are the prestige of being "chosen" or the checking account of someone actually selling books. If you have a solid business plan and do it right, you can make a living for yourself with self-publishing. Everything I've been reading and researching tells me that if you choose traditional, you'll be eatin' crackers, waiting years to see your book in print, still doing all the legwork of pimping your work and you'd be making next to nothing. But boy would people respect you more. Sadly, I cannot buy a house with the respect of my peers. I am an artist but I'm a practical one. 

 Anyhow there's more but this is long and rambling enough. Oh yeah, check out my pretty new blog logo and template design. I did everything, including all the coding myself. Take that web designer-who-must-not-be-named. It looks a million times better. I'm so happy with it. I still have some jiggering to do, especially with my footers and my sidebar but I'll get there. Now that I don't hate looking at it, I can take some time to do it right. 

How YOU doin'?

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This post is part of the Insecure Writers Support Group blog hop. We are here, we are insecure, we are legion. Go check out some other blogs on the sign-up list and give a neurotic writers some love and support.

Blog Under Construction

http://edmonyasir.blogspot.com

Don't be concerned if things keep changing or looking weird around here. I really liked my old blog header and color scheme but as I was working on making author business cards to match my blog, I realized that the design didn't actually reflect my writing style, whether its in blog posts or in my fiction. 

If I wrote slick, sleek urban love stories, the crisp white background with whimsical bubbles would be great. But I write edgy romance with characters who swear and have emotional problems and like to bone in the backs of rusty trucks. My stories are gritty and sexy and offbeat and my blog should reflect that, I think.I think grungy purples and blacks reflect my crusty personality much more than the bubbles did.

Anyhow, I'm still playing with the background. It's hell making a background big enough to fill the screen but small enough to fit into Blogger's stringent 300k or less requirement for uploading. Also I have to figure out the CSS to make my header sit flush against the top of the page. These things will come when I have more time.

So yeah. I've been working on this for weeks. So if you think it sucks...

I'm joking, of course. You aren't ugly. You read my blog which means you're gorgeous and you have impeccable taste. If you think the new design sucks I wanna know. I just said that because I wanted an excuse to put up another Dean Winchester gif. Seriously, my obsession is unhealthy.


If you have opinions, thoughts, concerns or comments about the new look and tagline, let me know! I'd love to hear from you.

Writer Worries: when your fictional business name turns out to be a real one



"Blushing In Pink" dress by Ouma



A character in my novel is a fashion designer starting an urban, alternative bridal boutique. She upcycles old dresses into couture gowns that people can actually afford. My character's business deserves a cool name.  I have spent the last week making up every cool name I could think of, just to Google and find out it already exists.

Now I know if I were actually starting a business, my business name is  only held in the state where I copyrighted it. But for the purposes of a novel, can I use the name of a business that already exists? I googled and didn't really find an answer.

I have a huge list of buzzwords that I have been putting together and tearing apart like refrigerator magnet poetry  and I'm getting frustrated. I need a name that is romantic and edgy and urban. One that declares that this is a bridal shop but not that kind of bridal shop. You aren't going to get white blindness from staring at generic gowns in this boutique. You won't find $10 worth of gauze sold as veils for $70. Instead it's a place where the prices are reasonable, the veils are birdcage-y and the dresses are made with love and color. It's the kind of shop where chick flick moments are optional but feeling like a badass is not.



Wow I think I just wrote the commercial for it :)

Anyhow, these are the names I made up that turned out to be real bridal shops:



Claire Pettibone Gown



She Said Yes

Something Old, Something New

Committed

All Frocked Up

Frocked Up

Unbridled

Unveiled

Swoon

I also have a list of ones that I googled that didn't come up as being shops but I'm not sure if I like those as well as the others:

Unlaced

Unruffled

Aisle Less Traveled

Rock the Frock

Vixen

Scandalize

Lovesick

Gorgeous But Deadly

Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions?