Oy! I Don't Have A Photo...

I got my Author's sheet from the publisher today. Most of the information that they want is easy - website address, blog address, a summary of the story and a brief bio. But one of the things that they want (of course, because it only is sensible and reasonable) is a high-resolution author photo. I don't have one. I have photos of myself, which is a vast improvement over fifteen years ago when I wouldn't allow a photograph to be taken of me.

This pic of me was taken at the State Fair this past Labor Day.

I'm torn between making a quick appointment for a professional photo which I will probably hate and which will cost me more money than I have right now, or going with something that's a bit more candid. Candid I can do, formal...not so much. I'm basically someone who is intense about my own life, but laid back when it comes to interacting with the rest of the world. I've considered myself to be an artist for a long time, and I interact with the world on my own terms as much as I can. I try to be true to my art and I consider my writing another part of that artistic vision.

I've been reading Steven King's "On Writing" which was recommended to me by Elfscribe. I'm finding a lot of similarities in approach, but what I have found really helpful is how my current schedule is mirroring his recommendations. He recommends writing daily. His goal is 2000 words each day and he writes in the morning and continues writing until he has achieved his 2000 words. If things are coming easily, he might exceed that number, but he won't do below it. That's very similar to the schedule I set for myself to achieve in NaNoWriMo, and I'm finding it very comfortable, although my sleep is suffering because I had to push my morning wake-up time even earlier. After I have my 50,000 words down, which will probably be by the end of the weekend, I may relax just a bit more. I'll let myself sleep that extra 20 minutes again, waking up at 3:30 am instead of 3:10 am. And if I don't have my 2000 words by 6:00 am, I will just continue working on it at the coffee shop to achieve the goal. I work there now, but now it is to extend my 2000 words into 3000 words.

My characters are changing directions, but to where?

The only absolute I can say is that I'm loving my historical character more than I ever thought I would. I've been neglecting my contemporary character to concentrate on him because he's so challenging. I'm not sure if this novel will go the direction I had originally intended, but I'm on the surfboard and I've just caught the curl. I want to ride the wave.