Before we get into this week’s batch of procrastination, some news news on the next book front. We were shooting for summer, but we’ve now been scheduled for this October. And I should have an exact date soonish, too. So stay tuned for that announcement. Meanwhile, here’s a whole bunch of procrastination to get you through the weekend. 1. Listen to Arthur C. Clarke (author of 2001) tell a kid who will be in his 30s in 2001, what his computer life will be like in 2001 — and pretty much nail it. This made me a little sad for all the futuristic stuff I know is coming but won’t see within my lifetime. Hopefully they really will figure out how to upload our consciousnesses into machines one of these before-I-die days. [Arthur C. Clarke] 2. Here are some scholarships for moms seeking degrees. [Consumerist] 3. Good news, Throne nerds, GAME OF THRONES has been renewed for a third season. [Deadline Hollywood] 4. Watch a self-driving Google car take a blind man to Taco Bell. Is it wrong that I almost don’t want to buy this house we’re waiting to hear back about, because I want to have money at the avail to buy one of these self-driving cars as soon as they come out? [Digital Trends] 5. This is really amazing advice for getting ish done when you have no free time, but still want to get your side hustle on. Right now I’m working on a non-fiction and fiction book in tandem, and these tips are helping me stay caught up with both. Keep in mind, I’m only recommending the blog post itself. I haven’t bought any of the products advertised in the banner and sidebar. [I Will Teach You to Be Rich]...

Dearest Readers, I am so, so, so, happy to announce that we made a deal with Amazon Publishing over the holidays. My second book, THE AWESOME GIRL’S GUIDE TO DATING EXTRAORDINARY MEN, will be one of the flagship novels for their soon-to-launched women’s fiction imprint. We haven’t settled on a release date quite yet, but we’re aiming for this summer. Also, it was a two-book deal, so they’ll also be releasing my third book, THE MOST AMAZING LOVE THE UNIVERSE HAS EVER KNOWN, which I’m happily working on now. Since Amazon isn’t quite Big Six and isn’t quite an indie pub, I imagine you might have a few questions, which I’m going to try to answer next. But if you have any more questions or want clarifications, ask away in the comments:   Q: Will AWESOME be available as a print book?  A: Yes!   Q: Will AWESOME be available in bookstores? A: Yes! Will let you know which ones as soon as we have a list.   Q: Will AWESOME be available on the Nook and iPad? A: I think so… will have a definite yes or no soonish. For now consider it a strong maybe.   Q: Will you ever update your headshot? Your hair is so much longer now.  A: I know! I know! I’m working on it! I’m just really in love with that pic. I so hate to lose it….   Seriously, though, as I’ve said to quite a few of you off-blog and offline, I think that Amazon Publishing is just a terrific match for me. My acquiring editor, Kelli Martin, is an awesome and happy person, and it’s been a real pleasure working with her so far. I loved Amazon’s contract terms and their proposed marketing strategy...

So yesterday I began my third rewrite.  And in many ways, it feels like I’m reporting to you from the trenches of the third year of the U.S.’s involvement in World War II. Allow me to explain this metaphor : Your rough draft feels a lot like 1942. You’re sick of reading books that are not the one unspooling in your head. In many ways, you feel like the books that aren’t your books are the enemy. They’ve attacked your Pearl Harbor, and now your all gung-ho to kick some butt. Full of piss and vinegar, you write your rough draft. However, your first rewrite, the second draft or year of your war, isn’t so pretty. You lose a lot of friends. A lot of friends. Favorite sections and characters. They just disappear. And then the few remaining friends you have start turning on you, doing things you don’t want them to do, betraying your original vision at every turn. You start to feel worn down and crazy. You wonder why you’ve decided to enter this fray. You write love letters to your old life, the one you had before you started this novel, wondering if you can get back together with it, like you never left it for war in the first place. Your old life writes you a Dear John, and alas, you’re stuck with nothing but a war you’re not sure you can win. But you’re the one who enlisted, you have to finish out your service. You set your jaw and just keep writing until you’re done with this terrible draft in which so much blood was shed for the good of your story. Then if you’re me, which in the case of this metaphor, you kind of have to...

So I’ve promised on several occasions that I would post the rough draft of the first chapter of my second book, THE AWESOME GIRL’S GUIDE TO DATING EXTRAORDINARY MEN. When I made this promise, I was floating in a cloud of hopeful writing theory. Why not show people how the sausage is made? I thought. Many writers talk about their process in such ephemeral way, I thought, why not show readers how a first chapter goes from something very rough to something that you might actually  be willing to share with another human being. At least that’s how I thought about it when I was feeling all fanciful and up-with-writing. But some kind of switch flipped on Monday, and when I typed in the words “come back on Wednesday, when I’ll be posting the rough draft first chapter of THE AWESOME GIRL’S GUIDE TO DATING EXTRAORDINARY MEN” it felt like I was typing “come back on Wednesday, when I will pose naked in front of you without the benefit of lighting or photoshop.” Here’s the thing about Photoshop. Certain people are always complaining about overly Photoshopped magazine ads and covers, but you know what they don’t complain about? All the little stuff that also gets photoshopped, stuff most folks don’t even notice. For example, my alumnae magazine recently did a feature interview with Gloria Steinem — the current picture of her that they used for the article was probably Photoshopped. Most author photos, including my own — subtlety Photoshopped. So why oh why, I asked myself, would I agree to show my work without the benefit of editing, lighting, or even a spot of makeup? I tried to figure out how to get out of this not thoroughly thought-out promise. I feared that people...

So I got a copy of my galleys today and … well, let’s just say it really feels real now. And it’s funny, b/c I’m at the same point in the rough draft of my second women’s fiction novel, the point where all the really delicious plot points kick in, when people connect and fall apart, and start transforming into who they’re going to be at the end of the novel. When the really starts to feel real. Technically this is the best part, because this is the part when stuff really starts HAPPENING. However, it’s also the part of the novel that I’m most scared of. So much of writing is hard work, that it’s a little weird when you get to sweet spot of it, the part where you just get to sit back and watch your characters fight and love and do all the stuff you’ve been setting them up to do from the beginning. On another hand, this is the worst part, b/c I become obsessed with the book. Why is this post in so late? Because yesterday I spent the time that I set aside for my Wednesday blogumn in book thrall. Why am I resenting having to get my hair together before an important meeting tomorrow? Because I’d much rather be writing. This is the good part, but life doesn’t pause for the good part. Ah well, what can you do? . Ernessa T. Carter is the author of the novel, 32 CANDLES, which will be released by HarperCollins/Amistad on June 22, 2010. Pre-order your copy on Amazon...

“Sixteen Candles Meets E. Lynn Harris” — that’s what they’re calling my book in-house at HarperCollins, according to Marketing Manager, Bobby Brinson. What a nice compliment! Find out what else he had to say about 32 CANDLES here. Though, it should be noted that my father wasn’t exactly “affluent” when my mother met him. But he was certainly wealthier, more popular and way more handsome than anyone else she had ever dated. Anywho, Mr. Brinson’s comments got me to thinking about how every novel is a Slumdog Millionaire of sorts, with every experience and detail you encounter adding up to a Frankenstein of a book. I’ve said before that the main two influences for this story were my mother and my best friend, but there are also elements of my husband, LA friends, my relatives, and many others. For example, I landed on Davie’s first job after an actress I went to grad school with told me in passing that her main job was at an LA cabaret, the male character of Nicky is inspired by my no-nonsense aunts, and Davie’s car is the same beater that I bought for $600 when I first moved to LA. It’s funny, b/c they always say write what you know, but often it feels like novels leave you little signs and gifts in everyone you meet and in every place you go, so that in the end, you’re  not just writing what you know, but also what you encounter and what you hear about. If you’re a conscious writer, every conversation carries weight, every hurt can be recycled, and every single person you meet is an inspiration. The other day, I was brunching with two other Smithies and I told them that I was working on a...

It’s funny that Valentine’s Day is bearing down on us like an oncoming train. I still haven’t figured out what to get my husband yet, and I’m having trouble finding time to get out and shop, because I’m way too busy writing the rough draft of THE AWESOME GIRL’S GUIDE TO DATING EXTRAORDINARY MEN, which I recently decided to append with a “: I LOVE L.A.” —  you know, because the title wasn’t long enough. If a lottery was won, you would probably find my family setting up shop in Hawaii within the the month, but for now, I just adore LA. Living here has been like a relationship that started off well, went sour. We almost broke up a few times, but then we got back together again in the best way possible. I love that every band that I’m interested in will eventually come through LA for a concert. After years of having to discover indie movies on tape and dvd, I love that I can now see whatever American indie I want in an actual movie theater. I like that there’s a scene for everyone in this city. If you’re a beautiful blond actress, there’s a scene for you. If you’re a schlumpy patent lawyer, there’s a scene for you. Even this nerdy black writer has been able to find plenty of friends in LA. It’s funny, because I’ve heard so many people say that they could never live in LA, because it’s too looks-conscious. I would argue the opposite. I found St. Louis to be way too narrow-minded about what constituted a good-looking person. But out here somebody’s always going to like the way you look — especially if you’re unique. I also love the movie-set diners, being able to...

So I’m almost done with my first-reader pass on my rogue sci-fi novel and I’m about to send it off to a manuscript editor. Really? An editor? you ask. Aren’t manuscript editors for people who can’t write or for people whose novels have so many problems that they need someone to come in and fix it for them? Well, I would argue that even if you’re one of those writers who thinks her novel is perfect after your third draft (which I’m not), that novel can still stand a pass from someone whose job it is to evaluate manuscripts. I don’t ever think any of my stuff is perfect. However, I do have a threshold for tinkering with things. I do my long rough draft, my longer make-it-readable draft, and my short-by-comparison, chapter-a-day first reader draft. Then I pass it on an editor. And having seen a lot of good writers in need of stronger editing, I hope to write novels this way until the day I die. From what I understand a lot of writers wait until they’ve been rejected a bunch before they send their novel into a manuscript editor. But IMO, you might as well do that upfront, that way you know for sure that what you’re sending out is your absolute best effort. +++++ On other notes, you know how a few weeks ago, I was all like, “Meet my new love, THE AWESOME GIRL’S GUIDE TO DATING EXTRAORDINARY MEN?” Well, that was before I actually started the process of writing it and now I’m absolutely terrified of this new novel. I’ve been trying to write the outline since Friday, and every time I sit down to do so, I suddenly become very interested in answering email or commenting on...

Towards the beginning of our relationship, my husband used to say this this thing that infuriated me. I would be all upset over a program and he’d say, “Calm down, these people aren’t real.” He got away with saying this a couple of times before I found the words to argue back. “When I’m writing, I totally feel like my characters are real,” I told him. “In fact, I find it hard to believe that they don’t exist somewhere. Some writer toiled over these characters, and I respect that they were written to be real.” And that kind of thinking is basically why I don’t get writer’s block. I got stuck a few places in 32 CANDLES, and at first I would wait until inspiration struck for the next bit, but when I finally committed to a daily writing practice, I had to write every day and couldn’t wait on my mercurial muse, so I just started asking my main character, “And then what happened, Davie?” After all, it was her story, she should be able to tell me what happened next. Lo and behold, she always answered. “I decided to fill out a college application,” she’d say, Or “I memorized a bunch of standards” or “I talked to him for three days straight, and here’s what he told me…“ Sometimes, she would tell me things after the fact. Like I’d be driving by a movie billboard, and she’d say, “Did you know that billboard inspired me to do that big thing I do towards the end of the story?” And I’d answer, “No, I thought you just decided to do that out of the blue.” And she’d say, “No, it was the poster.” And I’d have to reopen chapter twenty-whatever and rewrite it...

So this week’s current mood picture refers to the fact that I’ve sent my last pass of 32 CANDLES back to the publisher, and am now hankering down with a new women’s fiction novel called the The Awesome Girl’s Guide to Dating Extraordinary Men. As I mentioned last week, I was all sorts of in love with this new novel … but that was before I actually started working on it — or if we want to stretch the romantic metaphor, before I moved in with it. Now, I’m finding out the weird — almost schizophrenic way — that these characters who seemed hot-to-go when I was with another novel, are actually demanding nags. The novel has four main characters, but there’s one that I like particularly and she has been hinting that she wants to be a comedian. Yes, a comedian — even though I have little to no experience with performing comedy — only writing it. I tried offering her many other career options. I was even willing to let her be a writer, though I try to never, ever make my main characters writers — just because the actual act of writing is so boring that I know it’s not really of interest to anyone but other writers. But she stood her ground and insisted that she had to be a comedian, b/c that’s what she was. Okay, so though, I’m a write-at-home mom with limited evening time to do research, I shot off emails to a couple of female comedians I know and asked to shadow them at their next performance. Fine. But that’s all! I tell my characters. But how about the Spanish telenovellas? the guitarist-turned-singer asks. Wait, what Spanish novellas? You’ve got to watch some Spanish telenovellas, b/c...

  As I’ve told many people IRL and online already, I’m hoping that IVF will produce one more miracle baby for us by the end of 2010. But because I’m anxious, I’ve started to get a little scared that it won’t work the second time as easily as it did the first. Sometimes I think that I just shouldn’t talk about it. Maybe if I keep my hopes secret from the universe, then it won’t burn me. But then I remember driving to my first date with my future-husband, CH, and saying, “Universe, I’m ready, I’m truly ready,” and that turned out pretty well. So I look at pictures like this 4-seater orange Vespa, and I imagine myself and CH on it sometime during the 2020s with our daughter, Betty, and her future sibling, tooling around the Italiano countryside, and I think, “Yes, this could happen.” For whatever reason, I’ve always believed that if I talk aloud about something good happening, then it will and if I imagine something bad happening, then it won’t. For example, I never, ever imagined that my mother would die early, but before my date with CH, who I was really excited about, I said, “Universe, I’m ready, I’m truly ready.” The other day I read something which opined that a novelist shouldn’t tell anyone about her work in progress, just like a mother shouldn’t tell anyone about the life growing inside of her until it’s at least three months old. I actually believe the opposite. When Betty was confirmed, I told EVERYBODY. I called up friends, I wrote about it on Fierce and Nerdy. If a random friend asked me how I was doing two weeks after I found out Betty was a go, I would say, “Well,...