Getting Ready to Edit

The continuing saga of my novel: Jettison

, 1999

Suitcases litter the hallways.
Laundry litters the floor.
Dirty on the floor of his room.
Clean in a heap in mine.
I will put the suitcases away when I get out the holiday stuff.
Although, with a new half-wild kitten in the house....and a Chinchilla in the kitchen....
Laundry remains unfolded all week - so my son is reduced to banging on my bedroom door in the early morning hours, draped in a towel (beach) and trying to find clothes.
Folding it does not occur to him.
Nor to me.
Troy's costume vests are in this pile.
I will, eventually, "get around to it".
I have one.
A roundtuit.
This weekend I scrubbed the kitchen floor. In spite of drizzle and a wet dog. Before I got to the point of planting potatoes on it.
I vacuumed.
I did dishes.
I did shopping. By myself.
I cleaned off my desk by the computer.
I got organized.
Uh oh.
Duck and cover!
When I clean my desk - executives shiver!
It's a sign.
My secretary, back when I had one, would catch me doing this and sit with a fist full of sharp pencils and pads of clean paper, ready.
Cleaning my desk means I am mentally preparing to start a major project.
Pre-run press edit of the 400-page Jettison novel.
Let's see where I are....
I've sent for the library of congress ISBN numbers (10).
I've sent for a quote from Banta - a big printer located (one site anyway) in South Fork, Utah - a company that I did business with before when doing manuals for AMCC and then for IMP (3 years ago the last one). They knew who I was.
I've started inquiries into the process of making a calendar - oh, we just HAVE to go to Florida and take pictures! After the book is to bed.
I've submitted insertion orders to Romantic Times and StarLog for May and June issues.
Insertion orders are written space orders - you reserve space in the magazine - and you have mechanical specs - rules that must be followed to submit your 4-color ad - CMYK film, dimensions, colors, fonts, whatever...
You pay when you send in the film and you have a given deadline. From them. You work against this deadline.
As soon as I like a quote from a printer (book must cost less to make than the cover price after all), I will have 800 number and other order information.
I have a website (www.jettisonsaga.com) in the works - not in my work folder yet. Best Internet (purchased by Vario) is screwing around.
And Troy's site (www.troysutter.com) can now be started. It's alive!
I sent copies of some of the best photos from Ron Jones (Phase Infinity), myself and my son (Johnathan W. White of Manta Ray Photography) to Troy - FedEx - should be there tomorrow.
Hot shots.
I sent photos to Romantic Times and a write up of the book, background, the shoot. I sent the cover art and the centerfold photo and the one where I am shooting Troy.
One of them anyway. There are more.
Next steps.
Printer selection.
Text for the ads and the ad design.
Edits.
My G4 is still among the missing. (Apple!!!! Grrrr!) (Motorola!!! Boo! Hiss!!)
So I will set up the G3 notebook with a 21" monitor (if possible) and check - do I stay in Word (ick) or switch to PageMaker? In which case I need to go to Fry's.
And I should buy a new set of clean fonts from Adobe - if I can figure out how!
And breathe!
It is the end of the month.
Ergo, time to edit the love scenes.
Aren't hormones wonderful?