Ah, I couldn't decide which side to pick...
...So I took three. Hah.
Right, I've showed off the new car. On to the promised recount, shall we?
Let’s see if it works a little better today. I gotta say that it is very hard to get back into schwung after having detoured from the usual routine for a week. Now, if I’d been lounging during that time, I might compare it with returning to work after vacation, but since this blog thing is supposed to be my recreation, while writing books (and editing them) is the actual work, I don’t suppose that would be the right comparison to draw. Hah.
So let’s start at the beginning:
Thursday, around 11:00 PM.
The mail arrived. I did some goggling, surprise…or more accurately shock the most prominent in my head as I reread the message over and over again, bounced around a bit (driving the dogs insane, ‘cause I was walking around in a bit of a fugue). I headed into the house, called up to the second floor where the younger sibs were practicing their Spanish, and tried to be audible over the sound of the dogs barking.
Little sister peers around the corner, looking a little startled at my undoubtedly weird expression. “What, what?” she demands, thinking the worst, I’m sure.
Finally I made some sense and pleased smirks start to spread over the faces of the sibs, while we try to figure out how this publisher can already make this request, when the damn letters were send just four days before, a day prior to the car wreck.
It’s amazing that I (we, actually) managed to get the letter right at last, since in the past they seemed to leave an impression at all.
Writing letters where you need to distil a two-hundred-page book, into one is a serious pain in the butt…but the hard work paid off and that first step worked out. A minor victory, that’s how I want to look at this, no matter how it turns out.
It hits us then, we still have a shitload to read through before we can actually send it.
Considering that we hadn’t planned on actually hearing anything this early…the letter thing usually takes ages (2-6 weeks) so we had intended to take our time, just not to have to twiddle our thumbs in the meantime…we had another 27 chapters to go through.
It was hard, but in the end, we managed to calm down enough to settle behind the computer again and read until it is time to retire for the night. This is when I shortly put a pause in the daily reports on my blog, ‘cause we’re going to need to fully focus. From this day on; no more Internet, no more distractions, just WORK. Yikes.
Day one: Friday, morning, five hours after bed time.
We want to have the read through done on Tuesday, but put an extra deadline up to Thursday, 9 PM at the latest, no matter what, so we have to start cracking.
Edits get done, four chapters read through…out loud, mind you. My voice won’t ever be the same, I swear…and calls are made for the Land Rover we have found on-line, (I mentioned that last night, didn’t I?) so we can go check it out on Saturday morning. Though I would have liked to postpone the entire car thing, I do know that we need a car for emergencies and the car is an absolute gem that is just too good to pass up on.
Sixteen hours after starting the edit, bleary-eyed (pretty optimistic about the progress) and with only enough pauses to eat a quick snack have a dip in the pool and to stretch achy limbs, we go to bed and pass out for what is left of the night.
Day two: Saturday, early morning, four and a half hours later.
Time to head out to go look at the car. The owner could only agree to a meeting this early and on this day so we head put a hold on the edit and go to town.
The address is hard to find, what with all the one-way streets leading to the location. Luckily, the seller anticipated as much and had his assistant meet us at a well-known supermarket, so she could lead us there.
I am a tad disappointed when I see the car; it doesn’t look as pretty as it did on the pictures, which the owner explains is because he has hardly used it for the past two years. Apparently, he wanted to start an adventure business two years past, and when that didn’t work out, he decided to sell the vehicle.
It’s a ten-year-old Land Rover Defender, 110” long, 5 cylinders, and Turbo Diesel engine and actually went through a huge load of trouble back when the present owner bought it. He basically had to replace the entire engine and the gearshift mechanics, before he finally had it functioning. And boy, did that engine sound sweet. It had a purr-roar, and I loved sitting behind the wheel during our test drive. It felt like it ate mountains. Hah.
So, we looked at the Land Rover, checked out the obvious faults, calculated all that still needed to be done, and made a decision: I asked the owner how set he was on the asking price, which was when negotiations started.
We only had saved the amount a thousand under the asking price and said as much. There was a moment of silence, and then the owner thought fast, saying that if we paid the outstanding road taxes, amounting up to 200 euros or so, (anything more than that and he’d pay the difference) we had a deal.
It would stretch the budget considerably, but considering the lower price, we agreed.
A small contract was set up, a deposit paid and an appointment set for Tuesday where we’d meet at a gestoria, which is where such matters are arranged ‘round here.
That done, we head on home, taking only a moment to catch our breaths, have a dip in the pool ‘cause it’s bloody hot and then head inside to resume the edit.
By this time, all I remember of that day is the moist heat. Gawd, it was horrid. It felt like I was melting straight into my chair.
For the next couple of days everything’s a bit of a blur, I remember that there was, heat, frustration, discussion and actual arguments over difficult scenes (came across three of those, darn it) that had me want to scream on several occasions. And jubilation whenever we found ourselves breeze through particular scenes that felt so smooth it was like melting ice on the tongue. I love those scenes, they made this past week less like hell, I suppose. Also, the short jog we fitted in, just to clear our numb heads for a bit, was absolutely divine.
Day four: Monday, around five in the morning.
We spent nineteen hours struggling with one scene and breezed through four more that were great; we realize that we’re not going to make our Tuesday deadline, and have no choice but to turn in, lest we’ll be wrecked in the morning when we’re supposed to go to town to finalize the sale of the Defender.
Day five: Tuesday, early morning, four hours of sleep.
Considering I need proof for being a registered resident in order to buy the car, I head for town hall where I get the astounding news that somehow I am not registered. I don’t get it, and am more than a little freaked out since I’m supposed to be at the appointment in less than thirty minutes. I don’t know what the heck went wrong after I was registered there thirteen years ago, but the only way I could get that particular note was for mom to come to the town hall and have me registered.
Some rapid phone calls are made, the appointment postponed for another hour, and mom is picked up from home while I swear a blue streak at silly bureaucracy that makes everything far more complicated than it should be. First of all, why need registration for buying a car, second, why is it so bloody difficult to get that done, third, what the heck did they do with my first registration? It seriously p**sed me off, I’ll say that much.
Luckily, the mess is dealt with within half an hour, after which I drive mom home and then head for the coastal town where we’re supposed to meet with the seller, only forty minutes late. Aaargh.
The paperwork is dealt with, money exchanged for papers, and chatting exchanged about Spanish bureaucracy being a pain in the behind, before the deal made and we’re on our way…new car and all…to the insurance company to make sure everything is arranged for.
Got a bit of a break there, by the way. With the new insurance our agent managed to find for the car, we’re going to be saving up to 600 € a year, which is a rather pleasant thought, on the overall. Hah.
After an hour at the insurance agent’s office, we’re back on our way home where we spent about half an hour admiring the beauty we picked up…that of course won’t fit into the carport. The darn structure will need to be adjusted for the Land Rover to fit inside, but what the hey, we love the car too much to mind.
The edit continues; we have more than sixty pages to go, with the “real” deadline looming straight ahead.
Day six: Wednesday.
The day ended late with a rather brilliant edit (17 hours with no more than a one hour break throughout) that brings us to the end of the manuscript. In the morning, I finished a rewrite of a scene that kept stammering during the rereads, and since I am unable to get enough distance from a recently written scene we leave this particular one for the last possible moment, hoping that with the rewrite it will be less problematic to get through. I don’t know what it is with this particular scene, but we’d edited it three times and each and every time we ended up completely frustrated, with no idea as to what is causing the disruption. There are moments in this particular one that make me want to chuck the entire project in a rather asinine response to something that should be minor, in light of the rest that works so very well. Hah.
Bolstered with the completion of the manuscript, we hit the sheets a little after 5 AM, hoping that a good night’s rest of six whole hours will allow us to start fresh in the morning.
Day seven: Thursday. Deadline day! Yikes.
The majority of the day is spent going over the errors found by our five-brained team of proofreaders, writing the short letter to the editor apologizing for my tardiness and going over the synopsis. When we finally start on “The scene from hell” we have six hours left.
It’s pure horror. Our minds are mush from the past week of too little sleep, too much reading, rewriting and genuine prickliness from being this close to the deadline with, what turns out to be, too little time to get this final scene done to everyone’s satisfaction. Admittedly, there at the end we still haven’t figured out what makes big brother get stuck on this particular scene, but at least grammatically it is sound enough for us to feel up to sending the entire “crap” out, fifteen minutes after the set deadline of 9 PM in the evening. Aaargh. Personally, I have no trouble with the scene, but apparently, this is not the ruling consensus. Weird, how one scene can make all the good ones fade. Sucky emotions: They make no sense at all. A book’s supposed to have ups and downs, grrr.
Everything is double checked, the address, contact information and God knows what…it’s all a blur, really…and then………..the send button is pressed. Done! Out! Over. It’s out of my hands now. *deep sigh*
Nerves are screaming, when I finish checking the send-mail box, quickly shut down my computer and put it away in order to head out into the fresh evening air for a much-needed breather.
Time to put it from my mind. Not much I can do by worrying, so I better start focusing on other stuff. We’ll just have to wait and see how it goes from now on.
Luckily, the next day (Friday that is), I had to drive our tenant and her caretaker to the hospital, for an appointment, which earned me a wonderful relaxed hour. I’d taken a book and my MP3 player, so with the rental’s AC on it was a comfortable time spent doing what I love: Reading.
The trip was pretty long, considering the hospital is at least fifty minutes either way, but what the hey; I’ll look at it as if it’s practice, hah.
Once I was back home, I went through the majority of my messages for an hour or two did some fun chats online and then it was time to depart again. It was the last day we had the rental, and though the Land Rover will do the trick in emergencies, we decided to do the groceries for the next two weeks, so we won’t be pressed for those while the car is being checked over and then tested for fitness on the road.
Big brother and I are both looking forward to being able to start learning the workings of the car. It is a type that just screams for do-it-yourself work, and we’re definitely going to try. Most of the basics have already been dealt with, lights, the broken mirror, the backseat that was loose. Fun stuff. Hah.
So anyway, yesterday we did groceries with the rental car.
The rental is definitely not a good car for us, by the time we’re done with most of it, the entire back was filled to full capacity and little sister was squeezed between them in the back seat.
Well, I guess that about sums up the week that passed. Today I took the opportunity to do my usual morning chores and a good workout of seventy minutes or so, which was a pleasure, to say the least. Nothing like working with muscles when the brain’s been overtaxed so much. Worked a bit…very randomly…on the computer, mostly organizing the mess on my desktop and in my files, and then started on dinner. Ratatouille with macaroni, which I left to sudder while big brother and I headed up to the carport for the adjustments it needs in order for the Land Rover to fit in.
The extra support beam is removed, substitutes are put in at a higher level and the ground gets chopped with a pickax until at last, about half an hour before sunset the car easily slides in, looking pleased, or so it seems. Hah.
Well, I’m going to see if I can manage to turn in early.
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