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I have been working with AJ since she started writing seriously. I was there to encourage her to finish the first novel and I was the one sending her mails that said things like “send me another chapter or else…” But I must admit that the hardest part of being a manager is not peeking.

AJ has sent me treatments for all the stories in her head. A treatment is a brief summary of the whole plot and AJ’s include the twists, turns, and ending. This is why I can’t look at them. It’s important that they be stored somewhere other than on her own computer in case something happens to her machine.

So I save them, both on my computer and on a back-up CD. And I don’t peek. Even though I REALLY want to some days. Since I read as she writes, it’s important that I not know what is coming next. So, I live my life waiting for the next chapter of the story, unable to flip ahead and read the last page.

-Eli

I had promised myself I’d be published by a certain age – an age I’d rather not publish! Needless to say, that year came . . . and went . . . and I still not only wasn’t published, but hadn’t even finished anything. That same year I was sitting on my couch reading (surprise!) and thought to myself “this book is crap! total crap! I wrote better than this in 8th grade!” It wasn’t really snobbery on my part. The book was some seriously bad . . . crap.

But these two things combined, like two sticks in the hands of a boy scout . . . and it sparked. I didn’t have to be brilliant. I didn’t have to write the ‘great american novel’. I only had to do a few things: 1) Finish! 2) Be better than he-whom-I-won’t-name-publicly. 3) Persist.

As we go along here, Eli and I will tell you how I/we did it . . .

-AJ-

Just 2 days ago I finished my big edit of my third book (GOD’S EYE). I call it the ‘big edit’ because I don’t know what else to call it. It’s the one I do, on my own, before I ship it off to the publisher. They may (will?) send some changes back, but at this point, likely not anything big. So this wasn’t the first edit, or the last, but it was the big one! I’m off to crack open the champagne, then figure out to crack open the local Fire Department. I need a ride-along!

-AJ-

The hardest part of my job as AJ’s manager is to stay organized. I have files for everything from treatments, to convention newsletters, to legal paperwork. I have spreadsheets all over my computer with dates, notes, and reminders. You have to a system that works for you.

For Phoenix, we have to work backwards. We have a date in mind when we’d like to be published, but that will certainly move around some. There’s a 6 month period minimum where the book is completed but not available – this is when the reviewers get their hands on it. Continuing backwards, there’s the time it takes to have the books physically printed, layout and design, final editing, cover design, and publisher approval. All this comes after AJ finishes writing.

Each of AJ’s books is in a different phase of the process, so staying organized is key. Otherwise we could miss an opportunity or get pushed back. It happens all the time and then we have to decide if we delay the release to fix the missed opportunity or move ahead without it.

-Eli

Just in case the other 3 pics from my desk didn’t convince you that I’m a total geek, I’ll go one more step.
As a writer I find myself constantly editing my work. It sits for 3 days after I finish writing it, then I edit it. If I’m in the middle of writing something big, I usually edit the previous day’s work before I start writing the next day. It gets another edit before it goes to the publisher, and who knows how many edits after that?
Thus I know all the keyboard shortcuts for editing functions.
I once found a keyboard with programmable keys, which was amazing! One-touch cut and paste are my friends, but a ’save’ button and ‘find’ button were my dream!
Since I’m picky about the squishiness of my keys, too, it was difficult to find a keyboard with the right squish AND programmable keys.
One of the Best Buy employees found me looking bereft over in the keyboard aisle and took pity on me and tried to help. Here’s what he came up with: The Belkin Razer gaming pad.
14 programmable keys and 3 maps. It was intended to be used with online games where you would want to quickly type a series of keystrokes. So you write a macro for the keys you want, then program it to a specific button. You can speed it up to super-human, too. No waiting for the program to type out the keys. One touch and Blattow! there it is.
Yup – I jacked it for typing. I have one layout dedicated to all my crazy logins and passwords, but one whole layout belongs to writing. I have ‘replace’, ‘find’, whole word delete and highlight both backward and forward! Also ‘copy’ ‘paste’ ‘cut’ ‘print’ ’save’ ‘close’ and ‘italics’
I haven’t yet figured out ‘highlight’ but I did learn how to toggle back and forth between screens! So I can pull up my editor’s comments then toggle over to my copy and insert any changes without picking up my mouse/pen.
I know it makes me look geeky, but since I wasn’t avoiding that anyway I have decided to embrace it!
I had an older version of he gamepad and got this newer one for Christmas. The older one got demoted to my travelling laptop set-up. Yes, I have two of them.
But this is pure writer’s heaven!

 - AJ -

This may be just because I already honked my desk up, so why not add another odd thing?
For my other job (not writing) I am required to use a pen pad system so that I can handwrite on the computer or make pictionary-like drawings.
My company shipped the Bamboo Pen system to me, and I was then given time to practice with it. The Bamboo itself is amazing, responding to subtle time and pressure changes made by the writer. The interface we use is not so slick. So the first time I presented to my bosses, I was prepared to Wow them. Instead, I wrote like a mentally-challenged second-grader.
Though apparently everyone does that, and they were not concerned, I was mortified. In an effort to get better, I threw out my old mouse and just used the Bamboo Pen.
Here’s the Bamboo Pen . . .

And one of my drawings made with it (A drawing of Sin’s special weapon holding pants from Vengeance, that I made for the artist who does the cover art)

- AJ -

I think I’m like a lot of you in that I’m really picky about my keyboard. I have a close friend who wants his keys to click each time, but I like mine really squishy.
Another keyboard issue I have is this: I never learned to touch type. I know, how can I be a real writer if I can’t really type? Well, when I get going, I can touch type, but not consciously.
Then add in that I did a huge project for work a few years back and I typed so much that my left arm went numb. Really.
I decided it was time for a change. And here is the change I made: I switched to a Dvorak Keyboard.
Qwerty history (Qwerty is the standard keyboard configuration) – it was designed to slow people down. Yes, it was. On the old typewriters, if you typed too fast you would jam the swing arms that came up and printed the letters. So there was a maximum speed. Word processors changed all that, but the keyboard stayed because everyone was used to it.
Dvorak designed a different key layout that was made for speed and for reduction of wrist strain.
I’m never going to break any land-speed records on this thing, but I did teach myself to touch type when I started with my Dvorak keyboard. I also tilt the board away to mimic the natural set of the human wrist.
Though none of this is necessary, some kind of consession to comfort has to be made for anyone spending high quantities of time typing.
Dvorak has big advantages, but also drawbacks. Though my arms and wrists no longer hurt, my typos are unique. Because the vowels and common consonants are all clustered together, typos often create real words. ‘Whole’ becomes ‘whale’ or even ‘whore’ – and spell checker doesn’t catch it!!

Here’s my keyboard – crazy letter configuration and squishy keys and all!

 - AJ -

My desk is a crazy place. I’m one of those people who knows which pile each thing is in. And that means the desk is covered with piles of papers. On top of that, I’m sitting at my desk so much (my other job also requires computer work!) that I realized I was getting sedentary. Plus, I’m a fidgetter! It’s really hard to fidget in a computer chair.
My solution? An exercise ball.
The floor space in my office got eaten up, because I still have the chair, too. But I use the exercise ball about half the time and, as the yoga gurus would have you believe, it’s true – I have much better core strength now.
I will warn you this though: if you are sitting on an exercise ball and you start to laugh, you can roll right under your desk. It’s really funny/scary to the other person if you are on camera at the time!

 - AJ -

4/6/10 – This is the start of the Blog! We are following Phoenix closely from here and we need a logo. This is my version. There will be a better one later, I promise – when a real artist can get his hands on it. In the meantime you get my version. Ha!

- AJ -

12/15/09 – Eli and I were writing up some business documents last week and I realized that the name “Recognition” doesn’t suit me. We change the title to “Phoenix”. This is, of course, after we check Amazon for other books with this name and buy the corresponding PhoenixTheBook.com webpage! But it’s official, Jason’s story has a new title. I like the marriage of the story of Jason and the Argonauts and the journey idea with the myth of the Phoenix rising from the ashes to start a second life.

- AJ -