Boy, was my face red!

And no one was around to see it! HA! Of course, I have no shame and just had to come tell you all about it.

As you may remember, when last we met I was finalizing the formatting for the print version of my novel (aka the new baby, linked to the left <-----). I think I've got the font and size the way I want it, and the layout of the chapter headings looks good.

I've been going over the whole thing looking for uneven pages, typos, too much hyphenation, etc. Not any easy task, and very tiring for these old peepers, let me tell you. But I digress. On to my uh oh moment...

I was reading over one paragraph, and it just didn't look right. I sat back, thought a minute, then read it again. Ah. Hmmm. Crap.

I had become a misuser of your and you're. I know you can't believe it. I couldn't either. And in the same paragraph, consecutive sentences, at that!

Oh, the shame. The humiliation.

Yeah, I need to get over myself. Is there a twelve step program for writers who think they are above common grammatical mistakes?

I've fixed this problem, and you can bet my eagle eye is focused on finding other errors. Time for another pass-through on ye olde manuscript.

 On a side note, Kris Rusch has another great installment in her series about estate planning for writing, you should go check it out.

Well, until next time, Gentle Readers. Take care and prepare, for the tax man cometh!

Have you ever thought about dying?

Now, I don't mean to be morbid, but death and taxes wait for no one. I was reading Kris Rusch's blog on estate planning for writers, which has some sobering anecdotes, and a link to Neil Gaiman's site, where he has this handy PDF you can download, is in the comments.

http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2006/10/important-and-pass-it-on.html

It's a very simple will that could act as a preliminary will for all of us writers worried about protecting our intellectual property. I don't have much published right now, but I have things plotted out, works in progress, loads of story ideas, notes and covers that I'd like my children (and grandchildren, etc.) to benefit from after I'm gone.

I figure I've got another good 40 - 45 years left, but copyright extends 70 years after death. It may be longer in the future. That's more than one hundred years! How many generations is that? A lot!

I don't want to leave what could be valuable intellectual property in the hands of someone other than my heirs. And, yes, I fully intend for my work to be valuable, now and in the future.

Go check out the links, and start thinking about what you want to happen to your work after you're gone. It's not tempting fate, really. Being prepared for things like this is the loving thing to do for your family.

I'll also put the link to Neil's site on my resources page, so you won't have to go hunting for it if you decide to wait awhile, or can't act on it right now.

Work on the next book goes on, getting the words down nicely and fiddling with a cover idea. More short stories to come also, as soon as I can get to them. I've got Mama's radiation treatment this afternoon, and the dreaded grocery shopping. Eeewww!

Ta for now, Gentle Readers. Keep calm and think of turkey.