Damned traffic!

New Guy called me tonight from the road; he was stuck on the 134 Freeway and it was not moving. Not at all. In fact, he called 10 minutes later and said it still hadn’t moved, so he was going to be a while.

I checked one of the traffic websites, and sure enough, there was an accident on the 134 West. So he was 40 minutes late. Very frustrating drive.

Y’all know where this is going, right?

Of course! It was all MY fault. Because he wouldn’t have been on that damn freeway in the first place if he weren’t coming to see ME.

Hey, I didn’t tell those idiots to crash into each other! I didn’t send out a bulletin telling half the people in L.A. to get on the freeway at the same time. However, these logical points merely disintegrated into the Top Ether.

“I’m going to take my road rage out on your bottom,” he growled.

“Why can’t you get a gun like everyone else?” I blurted.

“Because this is more fun, and far less jail time.”

Humph.

A couple of minutes later, I couldn’t resist needling him a little, saying, “You know, this doesn’t really feel like road rage. It feels more like a road snit.”

“Oh yeah??” Aaaaaand, that was the end of the warmup. Me and my big mouth.



Ah, but it’s OK. I wasn’t really complaining. 🙂 

Afterward, he asked if I was happy. “Oh yeah,” I gasped. He laughed. “But not too happy?”

“There are different types and degrees of happiness,” I mumbled, still spacy. “This isn’t like birthday cake happiness, it’s more like spanked into @#$%ing oblivion happiness.” Probably not the most articulate of explanations, but I think he got it.

Excellent news — the remaining four books that CreateSpace owed me were delivered today, so I was able to give NG his signed copy.

My face is a bit overexposed, but I still like this shot — Lookie! Me and my book! 🙂

I need to stop clicking on CreateSpace every five minutes to check on sales. Obsessive much, Erica?

Thanks for another lovely Monday, not-so-New Guy. 🙂

This is IT, kids, Part 2

Hope everyone had a nice weekend (including my Spanking Court pals at the Tampa Tanners party).

OK, so you already know my book is available in paperback here and here. Now it is also available in a Kindle version, also on Amazon, here. I joined Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) and followed their instructions for converting my book file to an e-book file.

Personally? I don’t care for the Kindle version; the paperback has more personality, I think. For one thing, it has the cover. Also, when you’re formatting for an e-book, you can’t have headers or footers, or bullet points. And of course, there aren’t page numbers, so the Table of Contents is useless.

I had three black-and-white ClipArt pictures imbedded inside the book: 1) a long-stemmed rose on the title page; 2) on the Part I page, a partially opened rosebud, and 3) on the Part II page, a rose in full bloom. However, when it went to Kindle, those three pictures became black squares. I didn’t know how to fix that, so I deleted them.

I know there is some way to generate a Table of Contents in an e-book, where instead of page numbers, you have hyperlinks. So when you want to go to a particular chapter, you click on it in the TOC and it takes you there. Neat trick, but I was damned if I could figure out how to do that and every time I tried, I messed it up. Instead, I deleted the TOC altogether.

So it’s not as good as the printed book, IMO. But a lot of people aren’t old school like me; they love their gadgets. I had to make a gadget-friendly version.

I brought the first perfect copy to John this weekend. Tomorrow, I should be getting the other four copies I’d ordered and I can give/send them off. One will go to the young man who proofread the book before it went to final — he did say he’d leave it to me whether or not I wish to credit him, but I figure if he hadn’t wished to remain anonymous, he would have commented on the blog at some point. So I will keep his name to myself. But speaking of him, he also wrote my very first review on Amazon, which I’d like to share here.

Late Bloomer is an intriguing answer to the question “Who is Erica Scott?” Written by Ms Scott herself, the book takes us on a fascinating and intense journey through the author’s life, starting in early childhood and concluding sometime near the present. The book is divided into two distinct parts. In the first we learn about Erica’s early years where we’re introduced to her world, her family and the conflicts (internal and external) which define the backdrop of her life. In the second half of the book we see Erica bloom and turn her mere existence into a life of taking chances and fulfillment.

Throughout Late Bloomer Ms Scott maintains a well-paced and witty narrative. She has a knack for presenting to us the Big Picture and then zooming in to explore specific moments in time, fleshing out the details. Then we’re pulled back again to look at how the Big Picture all fits together. It’s a well organized pattern and it keeps the story flowing.

Often times the first half of Late Bloomer covers serious, dark subject matter. Ms Scott tells us that she did not lead a happy and balanced youth and she doesn’t pull any punches. To her credit she doesn’t let the story get bogged down either. The reader isn’t asked to feel sadness or to pity the writer, facts are simply presented and then we move on, all the while treated to Ms Scott’s singular wit.

The story takes a sudden turn in the second half and we’re treated to a brighter version of Erica, one in which she is full of adventure, humour and, yes, more wit. Fans of Ms Scott’s other works will know she’s a fan of spanking, of being spanked, and we get to experience her introduction into that pastime, into that world. Her descriptions are engrossing, amusing and detailed. She doesn’t hold back, sharing with us both the good times and unpleasant, the funny stories and the shocking. We get to follow Ms Scott into her film career, to the spanking parties; we meet her co-workers and her friends. She shares it all.

Late Bloomer is the ultimate introduction to Erica Scott, she lays her whole life out on the pages in a beautiful, articulate display. We see many sides of Erica’s life, the sad times and the fun, the lonely moments and the euphoric – all of it wrapped up in a humble, honest and humorous style. Late Bloomer is a story of hope, of being dealt a bad hand and staying in the game anyway. It’s a touching tale of discovering late really is better than never. It’s about an amazing woman who struggled, held on and ultimately shaped her life into an exciting adventure. I recommend reading Late Bloomer and, through it, getting to meet the wonder that is Erica Scott.

Thank you. ♥  I am honored, and hope others like it as much as you did.

So… Kitty of Kitty’s Exotic Paddles has generously offered to make some room at her Shadow Lane vendor table if I’d like to sell some books there. I have to decide fairly quickly, since I have to make sure to order them in time. What do you guys think — should I? I have never sold anything at a party before. Someone suggested I get 50 copies… there is no way I’d sell 50 copies. I was thinking more along the lines of 10 or 12. If I do it at all.

John took me out to a lovely seafood dinner last night to celebrate, and we have the SL party in two weeks, right around our 15th anniversary. Fun times. 🙂

Still pinching myself…

This is IT, kids

The announcement. The one I’ve been waiting for make for a long time now.

I got the latest final copy via UPS last night around 6:30. Once again, I delayed a while in opening it, because after all the snags, I was afraid of what I might see. But finally I did, and looked at the front.

It was perfect. No more cut-off fingertips.

Then I flipped to the back. Yup, they moved up all the copy, and it was no longer sitting on top of the bottom edge. However, for inexplicable reasons, they also moved the ISBN box up, so that the copy that wraps above it now still too close. But it clears it.

You know what? I don’t care. I’m done. It’s the back cover, and it’s 99% perfect. Enough is enough.

Soooooo… this is it.

***MY BOOK IS AVAILABLE!***

At the moment, it’s only in paperback, although I will have a Kindle version soon. You can buy it at the CreateSpace e-store, or on Amazon. It’s $12.99 at both sites (but FYI; if you buy it at the CreateSpace site, I get a bigger cut). 😀

I honestly don’t know what to do first, after I send this blog. I guess I’ll compose a tweet. Update my FetLife profile. Give it the weekend to sink in, and then think about how I’ll go about marketing this book and spreading the word. But the one thing they recommend over and over at CS is having a blog and keeping people apprised of all the book info from there, and that I have.

Still can’t believe this is happening. I started this book in January 2010. I reread over 50 paper journals and countless online posts and blogs, collecting history. I edited and re-edited and re-edited. I envisioned a cover… and ended up going with something completely different from what I’d first imagined, but I love it. And now, Friday, August 19, 2011, I’m finally announcing that it’s done.

I sincerely hope people will like it. I hope, if you do, you’ll talk about it, recommend it, help me get it out there more. What Happens to Naughty Girls, at this time, has sold 200 copies. I want this one to do better. It’s much more personal. It’s me.

I’m so excited, I don’t even mind (too much) that I wasn’t Chrossed today.

Thank you, everyone, for following along with my process. Have a great weekend, y’all.

So, SO close…

So I heard from the CreateSpace folks yesterday; specifically, my contact, Laura. She’d gotten my package and given the books to Technical Services, and now she was contacting me on their behalf.

Apparently, whenever you resubmit the interior (which I did), they reprocess the cover. (And they do this because? That makes no sense, if the cover was already perfect. Why not just reprocess the interior?) The cover has now been shifted back up so that my fingers are no longer cut off. As a courtesy, they’re sending me a copy of the revised book; it’s coming to me via UPS.

OK, that’s all fine, but… I had ordered and received five copies. I don’t want to give out copies to my friends with covers that are screwed up. (sigh)

Back on the phone with CS customer support this morning. 1) Is the cover, now supposedly fixed, going to stay that way? and 2) don’t I get four more replacement copies?

Laura wasn’t available, but Brandon was helpful. He assured me that the cover file will not be tinkered with any further and if it’s right now, it will stay right. He also told me that he’s putting four more copies in UPS, and I should get those next Monday.

So… I am waiting for the first copy to arrive, the one Laura sent, which will come before the other four. If that one is perfect (and it better damn well be), I will post THE ANNOUNCEMENT. Since there have been so many glitches, I need to see the revised cover first, just to be sure.

It’s so close. I feel like I’ve been teasing y’all, and I don’t mean to. Just sharing the process. I know once it’s done, all the delays and frustration will be worth it.

You know, I’ve been so focused on the book, I haven’t thought at all about Shadow Lane, which is in two weeks! The pre-party buzz is starting on FetLife and last night, I had my annual Shadow Lane dream. I swear, before every party, I have a dream in which something goes wrong. Last night’s version had me wandering around frantically searching for the room parties, and I couldn’t find any of them, because the usual folks who have them didn’t show up. Yes, I know. Stupid. But despite my subconscious mind playing tricks on me, I’m not all wound up about this party. Not yet, anyway. I wish Danny and Sophie were going; I will miss them so much. The folks from Northern Spanking aren’t coming this time either. But… many others I want to see WILL be there. And who knows what surprises and treats are in store.

Re. the book: For the last time, I hope — stay tuned! 🙂

Bad Kitty

That would be me. At least according to my shirt.

John calls me that often. Since I consider myself to have many feline traits (love to sleep, picky eater, hate loud noises, won’t pay any attention to you unless I damn well feel like it), it’s a good fit, I think.

New Guy, of course, thought the Bad Kitty needed obedience lessons. I hissed at him. He didn’t like that.

As soon as I went OTK, he complained about my shorts. “What is this — you’ve got buttons on these back pockets. You want me to hurt my hand?” He started wrestling the shorts down immediately.

“What a sissy boy you are,” I teased, “afraid of a few buttons!” Oh, he SO did not appreciate that.

He was big on the wide leather strap tonight; I think I got more of that than anything else. As usual, all the toys blurred after a while.

Besides the usual two rounds of spanking, guess what else we did? Yup — watched a Spanking Court clip! My second one (the one we had to reshoot) went up on their site this morning. It was fun watching it with NG, since (as you would expect) he had a running commentary going through it all.

“I notice you don’t count in halves and quarters with me!” (He’s right, I don’t. That would be really, really foolish.)

“I would have started over at one if you said that to me!” (Well then, I won’t say it to you.)

“I would have chosen a heavier paddle!” (Well. How rude.)

Anyway, for those who haven’t joined the SC site yet, here’s a photo:

Check out Mr. Meanie-Face! You’d think I’d annoyed him or something. And that was before he switched to wood.

Anywayyyyyy… I guess I’m Good Kitty for a while. A brief while. Purrrrrrrrrr.

Potpourri

I really don’t have a whole lot to say, but given that my stats finally went up this week, I should say something.

Something.

OK, now that I got the smartassery out of the way…

I got the prepaid UPS mailer from CreateSpace so I could send back the WIN proof copy and the one of the FAIL final copies. The UPS slip was marked “Urgent Next Day” and attention to the person I spoke with on the phone, so at least it’s not going to land on the desk of someone knowing zip about the situation. I covered both books with Post-It notes and I took pictures of them before packaging them. So now it’s out of my hands. Stay tuned, once again!

My mother is leaving the hospital tomorrow and going back to her facility. Her kidneys, which appeared to be failing, have started working again. Crazy. To those who would say “Wow, that’s great news”… well, no. No, it isn’t. (sigh) Yup, some will judge me for that. So be it.

But enough of that. Time to lighten up — tomorrow is Monday! 😀  It was a fun weekend with John. I swear, no one makes me laugh like that man does. We were in a Chinese restaurant last night and he practically had me in tears for several minutes. The server kept looking our way; she must have thought I was nuts, because I was laughing so uncontrollably. But of course she was far enough away so she couldn’t hear what he was saying, and she couldn’t see his deadpan face.

It’s like I’ve said — the man is the Devil.



Oh, and speaking of laughs, I was cruising the weekend blogs, catching up, and I ran across a photo that made me howl so loudly, John came running in from the living room. Sarah Gregory was in town this week and she shot with Clare Fonda. Apparently, Clare’s dog gets excited around spanking; damn, that must be one happy pup! 😀

I look forward to seeing both Sarah and Clare in a few weeks at SL. I suspect Clare is going to leave Maxxxi home, however.

Oh, and now that I’ve been on Twitter for two weeks, I can share my impression so far. Once in a while, there is something interesting/funny/poignant/whatever to read. The rest of the time:

1. a whole lot of conversations going on. Why don’t these people just IM? Or text? Or (gasp) talk?
2. a lot of talk about food and drink. Yes, I’m sure your sushi or your Dairy Queen sundae was delicious, but the rest of the Twittering world doesn’t really care. No, Craig, no one has mentioned lattes yet.
3. many, many, MANY photos. Fine, except everyone and their kinky mother already has a spanking photoblog, so isn’t it getting a bit redundant?
4. some people must live with their fingers permanently on a Blackberry. Their tweets number in the thousands. No one, not even that weird bearded Dos Equis dude, is that interesting.

Hope y’all had a nice weekend.