Annoyance reigns in Celinaland...tempered with a little joyous shock

Okay, so my darn laptop bit it. I have a feeling that the brat got ahold of it and downloaded something and gave it a naaaaaaaasty trojan or something, because I've had to remove everything from the hard drive and reinstall Windows. Actually, I've had to TRY to reinstall Windows. It hasn't been overly successful yet.

I may just ground her until she's thirty.

I've just come off a stretch where I worked 9 of 11 days at the bar. My feet look like pork roasts with sausages stuck on the end. Normally, I'd be lying on the couch and blogging from my laptop but not today--oh no. Today I'm sitting upright and scowling at the desktop. Nice. It's like I have a migraine in my feet. My pain management specialist (high-falutin' talk for the dude who prescribes me medication for my back) is annoyed with me for working period. Of course, he's never annoyed when said job pays his bill. *grin* Oh well, more percocet for me.

In other news, Asphodel has hit number two on the bestseller list at Fictionwise in fantasy. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I'm just a leetle stunned. I hope it keeps rolling along. Now that I have more time, I'll be able to pop out some more publicity *groan* and hopefully crank it up a bit.

And I have a single reader rating to date. Said anonymous reader rated Asphodel as *great*.

Wow.

Just wow.

Off to work on the laptop some more. I'll post again later.

The Reckoning of Asphodel is Out!!!

OH MY GOD!

I am now a published novelist. My debut novel, The Reckoning of Asphodel is available now at n Mountain Press.

Breathe, Celina...breathe.

Whew.

I'm not even certain what to do. Since I just got off work at the bar, I'm certain that one of the things I'll be doing very soon is sleeping. But, I was so excited to get home and find out that my book was available now that I just had to blog about it..and update my website...and email all my friends...and well, just bask in it.

It's a culmination for me, a justification that I've found my niche in the world. I will never be a Stephen King or JK Rowling, but just the fact that a story I created is being shared by people I will never meet is an exhilarating rush.

I love it. *grin* Hopefully, some of you will love it too.

Don't Forget the Contest!

There's only a couple more days to enter my contest for The Reckoning of Asphodel! Details are to the side. And, if you like, you can catch the prologue and first chapter LIVE on my website Shoot The Muse!

The Counter Keeps Moving...

Four days, one hour, ten minutes and twenty seconds.

Nineteen.

Eighteen.

Seventeen.

Wow. My little counter buzzes merrily away and I'm left to wonder: have I done all that I need to? Somehow I think I forgot something important. If I could figure out what it is, I could get that done and go back to my compulsive counter watching.

Four days, one hour, eight minutes and forty-two seconds.

Forty-one.

Forty.

Maybe I should check the manuscript again? Make sure there are no stupid typos? No, it's probably too late for that. I think I'll go back to rewrites on book two...maybe that will settle me.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

A Fate Worse Than Death

So I had to make an emergency trip home to Tennessee. Long story, not worth getting into here, but let's just say that I was NOT looking forward to it. I got off work at the bar at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday morning and immediately hopped into the car with my two teenaged daughters for a quick trip across three states.

You know, after a ten hour bar shift, seven hours in the car is torture on a woman with a bad back. Let's just say that the Elves had their revenge. I can never go to sleep immediately after I get off work, and by the time I could have dozed off I was too worried about the teenager driving the car to even consider anything other than staying awake. Bad music aside (I was allowed no input... *pout*) there's nothing worse than driving through Kentucky as the sun comes up. First off, it's so BRIGHT. Ick. Being a nocturnal beast, the initial glare of sunlight bouncing over the horizon made me feel like Dracula in a tanning bed.

Second off, truckers are assholes. Particularly at 5 in the morning.

Third off, sleep deprivation and chain smoking combi to make someone on medication extremely queasy.

At any rate, we arrived in my hometown at about 9:30. I had an appointment at 11, and after that I figured that we would relax for the rest of the day, get a good night's sleep, and drive back on Wednesday.

Until the phone call, that is. All of a sudden, we had to be back in Ohio TODAY at noon. When did we discover this? Ten p.m. last night. So we grabbed a few hours of sleep and got back on the road at 3 a.m. this morning.

ARE YOU SERIOUS? Jesus H. Christ! Two overnight trips on consecutive nights without the benefit of a day of recovery? MORE 98 Degrees blasting over the speakers? Even MORE truckers switching lanes without looking for the car?

ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH.

I'm tired. I'm not leaving the house for two days at least. Period.