Among Women by JM Cornwell

Scheherazade told the Sultan stories to distract him into letting her live another day. In 1984, Pearl Caldwell writes stories to survive.

Amazon.com

Powell's Books

A friend recently told me he was doing inventory because the powers that be wanted all the ducks in a row before they got there to count them. I told him it was easier to count the ducks when they were in a row instead of having to chase them down.

I've spent most of the past week chasing ducks. Every time I thought my book was done and uploading in just the right way, I'd find something else I needed to do to satisfy the Meatgrinder and eventual publication in Smashwords' Premium catalog. To top it all off, Amazon wasn't playing nice and wouldn't go live with my novel, despite their promise of 24-48 hour turnaround. Objects seen in the mirror may be farther away than you think, and none of the ducks would cooperate. Now they have and I'm relieved.

This whole e-publishing experience feels like it has taken longer than writing, rewriting and polishing my novel. It's an illusion made more frustrating by anxiety and running around after all those ducks. It's finally done. No doubt there is a missing letter or period or quotation mark somewhere that some reader will pick up and complain about when they buy the book. That's what they will focus on and not on the story. Its a given. I'm ready for them. I've been through the review process and am armored against the negative reviews. In fact, I don't really worry about negative reviews as long as they bought the book first. What else can I do but take a breath, heave a sigh, take a few days off and begin again on another book? I'm ready for them.

The ducks are in a row and ready to be counted. I think I'll sleep now.