I write because... (a rant amid an affirmation & progress)

Hey beautiful people!

Lol, doing my best to have posts up regularly here. Though my brain goes awol sometimes, I have a whole crew of guests lined up for the coming weeks to keep the postings flowing. So this week might've been some hit&miss, after the staggeringly knackered kinda day I had yesterday, I missed the Links posting. Forgive me, and here's a glimpse of what I went through.

Imagine dealings with an ISP to make sense of their contract; banks conveniently 'forgetting' to cancel your standing order payments even after we've rolled into 2013; muggy heat and scorching sub with temps in and around 38degC at barely 10AM - and you have my day yesterday. On top of that, I had a scene to write in Inescapable, Book 1 of the Eternelles series, so my bestie and collab partner, Natalie G. Owens, could progress with her part on the project. Oh, and edits to finalize for not 1 but 2 clients.

In the middle of all this, I come across an email from my pub house's accountants, informing me that, as from February, they will be withholding taxes from all royalty payments, and any non-US citizen could fill in form whatever number to claim a refund under tax treaty laws.
Amount withhold? 30%
Issue for me - I'm from Mauritius... which doesn't have a tax treaty with the US.

Consequently, the IRS and US government just sent me a reeling 'up yours!' by chucking 30% of my earnings without any hope of me getting that money back.

Which made me wonder - if I lost 30% of what I made, was it worth it to continue working to earn a pittance? For a minute, I stared my projects in the face... Wouldn't it be the same for me to offer them all for free? After all the blood and sweat and time and energy that went into them, I also had to forego 30% of everything I would've made?

I must've hit the lowest pits of despair and self-doubt possible for an author yesterday. I had tons of projects lined up; in fact, so many projects I could derail my (somewhat fragile) health in trying to get them all on the rails. Was it all worth just 70% of what I can make on them?

But then I remembered. I recalled why I wrote, why I started writing, why I powered on when rejections were slamming me down from left, right, up, and down.

Why do I write? Because I want to share my stories with readers.

As simple as that. I won't go as far to say that I bring something totally unique to the book world - every author worth his/her salt does that. I won't say that my take on the cultural world of Indian-origin folks and Muslims in Mauritius is not seen elsewhere. Trust me, I know I have tons of competition out there.

But I also know that I have opened countless emails, and even met 'live' fans, who have told me I brightened their day with my stories. That they've loved reading what I have penned down. That my writing brought them something 'special' (whatever that might happen to be.)

I never thought I'd write for money. Yes, it's a dream of all authors to be rolling in the moolah brought in by fantabulous sales and a movie deal and all that hoop-la, but that's just what it is. A dream. Something we all aspire to. Doesn't mean we'll make it... I remember a quote that I'm gonna hash up badly coz I don't recall it exactly and also who said it originally, but the gist was:

"Knowing we'll never reach the stars doesn't mean we can't chart our paths by them."

I don't know if my sales will ever be fantabulous. I don't know how much money my writing can and will bring me. I don't know how many fans I'll ever get, how many lives I might get to touch...

I do know that I have stories in me, and that I'd die if I didn't write, and if I didn't share them with the world. If I can do that, and still earn something beside those lovely words from fans, then awesome. If not, well... It's all God's work, and I accept it. I know who I am and where I stand, and that's what matters.

And speaking of writing, there is some progress to show this week! Worked on Book 1 of the Eternelles series, that takes a jump of nearly 6,000 words this week through my addition to the plot. Now Natalie G. Owens must work her magic. Who knows - by next week, we might've crossed the half-way mark on this project!

Oh, and Leila, the heroine from my upcoming 1Night Stand release, Once Upon A Second Chance, (releasing February 5) is in the demon Bunny's hot seat today. Come read a bit about this Muslim girl who's not had an easy life till now, but who, nevertheless, allows nothing, and no one, to cull her spirit! Here's the link!

Looking forward to a nice weekend with the hubby & hyenas now. Hopefully, these temps will lower and we'll be able to sleep at night.

Hope ye all have a lovely weekend!

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

What are you listening to? Let's Move To Some Tunes!

Hey peeps!

Another week on the way. Yep, I didn't post yesterday, because it looks like I'm gonna need a more rigorous schedule to get all the work I need to do done, so blogging is (not getting the axe! LOL) but it will have to be more structured. Monday updates will come every other week now. I know I babble a lot, but I really don't have that much to talk about. *grin*

No guests visiting this week, so I thought I'd jolly up the place with some music. These are tracks that have been on repeat lately on my phone, tunes I really like (and yes, I like fluff. Never hid that truth!)

So rock on!!


Love this girl's quirky style and her energy levels are just amazing. I always end up energized when I listen to this track.




Who doesn't like a little bit of diva attitude? This one is perfect for those times we all wanna indulge the spoilt princess that lurks inside us. :)




Good-looking men, and good-looking men who sing amazing well... and in Italian! What more can a girl ask for?




Latest one on this list - just came out in the UK, from the winner of the X-Factor. It's a cover version, if I'm not mistaken, but it's beautiful, anyhow. Love the lyrics, and I'm definitely thinking how and where to use that as soundtrack for a story.




What are you listening to?

From Mauritius with love,

Zee

Progress Friday Update! 3 new contracts & a brand-new-looking site!

Hey peeps!

Seen anything different here? No...? (what do you mean, No???) LOL.

Forgive me, but I'm absolutely giddy right now. Spent most of the morning tweaking with codes and all that lovely hoop-la to make an airhead and/or non-nerd cross-eyed, and this is the result. A blog that doubles up as a website and steers clear of the previous clutter I had displaying on all my pages. Found some nifty tips and tutorials on the Net (what can you not find on the Net???) and here's the result. Your thoughts?

Anyhow, it's been a really, really long time since I posted a Friday update. To tell you the truth, the reason is because... I didn't have any update to post. With the hyenas at home, it took nearly all my brainpower to work on the rewrites and edits/polish on my Island Girls series before I managed to sub somewhat on deadline. Then the real holiday season started, with hubby staying home half the time, and there went any hope of getting anything done. Not that I still possessed the brain cells necessary to write by then. To laze out seemed like the best choice while I let my synapses re-wire themselves.

Have they re-wired? I'm not too sure... because, you see, I'm opening WIP documents and staring at blank half-pages this past week. With kiddo back in school, I expected to ramp up and rev up all guns a'blazing to write, but it sorta looks like I've been away from my WIPs for too long and need to re-acquaint myself with them again.

Consequently, no writing progress so far...

But I have other things to talk about (and here you thought I was about to shut up. No such luck, sorry! *grin*)

Well, guess what? Those 3 Island Girls books I rewrote all through November and half of December... have been contracted at Decadent Publishing, for the African Ubuntu line! Seems like the editors loved the stories, and little me couldn't be any prouder.

You see, these are the stories that originally called me to writing. Book 1 in this series, The Other Side, was my first ever foray into the world of writing. It was pubbed by a local publisher here in Mauritius, did pretty well, too, but when the rights reverted to me, I took them. Why? Because I had grown a huge lot in the 7 years since I'd penned this book, and this progress showed in my writing (and was sorely lacking in that original version!).

The story of a divorcee of Indian origin, a girl born in London to Mauritian parents, it spoke of how she met up with her first love when she comes back to the island. The one that got away; a man she gave up on, because he is of a different race. On this backdrop of Mauritian society, I had their love bloom.

Though I'd set out to write only this book at the time I started penning stories, I met the heroine's (Lara is her name) 2 younger sisters. Housewife Neha, and spirited Diya. And of course, both suddenly had a story to share...

Diya had her story briefly published with a now-disbanded epublisher, but Neha never got the chance to tell the world her story.
Enter Decadent and their Ubuntu line... and these books seemed 'perfect' for the requirements. What did I have to lose, right?
Turns out... nothing! I only gained, and now have 3 more babies ready to come out into the world this year.

And speaking of my babies, one of them received its fantabulous cover over the past few weeks. Check out the gorgeous cover Scott Carpenter created for my first Western Escape book, Transient Hearts. The models are totally Shayne and Grayson, while the landscape portrays, to a T, a pivotal scene's location in the book.

So now we head into the weekend and I need to wrap my head again around the idea of writing. Of getting into my WIPs, more precisely. My bestie, Natalie G. Owens, is expecting me to write my part of a chapter in our collaborative Eternelles series, on Book 1, Inescapable, before she can work her magic on the ms. Then I have a brand new series I am starting (of course, you know me by now - I can never write just one book from a new concept/location!).

Hope ye all enjoy a fabulous weekend with your loved ones!

From Mauritius with love,

Zee