I’m happy proud relieved to announce my latest book, Nope. No Excuse At All is done, finished, completed, and at last ready for the world.
Long-time blog readers know I’ve been working on this for a while. In fact, let’s just rewind my time tracking software back to April 13, 2014 and take a look. I spent about forty-two minutes on it that first day and here’s what I logged:
Playing with the idea for a cover, just as inspiration to keep going.
Yep, before I wrote a single word, I mocked up a cover. I then did some actual work and logged this:
I started “writing” last week, but I’m going to rewrite that first paragraph now and then call it a day. Oh well, it’s a start. And I WILL finish this book this year. In fact, in time for the holidays.
Ha ha ha! Oh, that’s good. Finished in time for the holidays three years ago.
Suffice it to say, that didn’t happen. In fact, I spent less than two hours working on it that first year. It wasn’t until March of 2015 that I really buckled down. At that point, I (again) assumed it would be ready in time for the holidays that year, but nope. Nor again in 2016.
But here we are, with just a couple days left in 2017, and it’s finally ready! And for anyone who likes numbers, here’s the amount of time I spent working on it, by year:
| Year | Time |
|---|---|
| 2014 | 01:42:35 |
| 2015 | 72:46:46 |
| 2016 | 42:56:24 |
| 2017 | 218:05:50 |
| Total | 335:31:35 |
It feels like a lot of time. Especially as it dragged out over the years. But to put it in perspective, I easily spend around 200 hours a year just sitting in my car between work and home. And to really put it in perspective, I spent 1,420 hours over this same period on the house move. And, technically speaking, the house move still isn’t completed. 🙂
For the die hard number nerds, here’s that time broken down by activity:
| Activity | Time | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Writing | 103:37:47 | 30.89% |
| Scribophiling | 81:59:20 | 24.44% |
| Revising and Proofing | 75:13:48 | 22.42% |
| Layout and Design | 49:35:51 | 14.78% |
| Research and Development | 09:06:39 | 2.72% |
| Publishing | 07:30:37 | 2.24% |
| Admin | 05:36:18 | 1.67% |
| Web Development | 01:49:28 | 0.54% |
| Accounting | 00:37:13 | 0.18% |
| Marketing | 00:24:34 | 0.12% |
But enough mindless banter. So without any further ado, here are two Amazon links for your convenience:
Hope you enjoy it!
Tami
Oh goodness, congratulations!!
Charlie
Thanks!
Julie
Congratulation Charlie. I downloaded your book and it is on my first to read when my full days of busing start up.
Writing isn’t easy and you’ve proved that it takes hours and hours to do something that can be published. I am excited to read your book.
Happy New Year Charlie and family.
Blessings!!
Charlie
Thanks, Julie. Hope you enjoy it. And as far as the “hours and hours” goes, I’m trying to not think about that aspect as I move ahead with the next project(s), lest I get discouraged. 🙂