How Long is Long Enough?

I am a skimmer.  When I read, I skim all the descriptive stuff.  I am impatient and I just love the action and I need to get to the end and find out what was going on.  When I wrote my first book (Secrets) I left a lot of the stuff I tend to skim out.  My book ended up around 41k words, as opposed to the 50+ thousand for a typical book.

Is this wrong?

Are there people out there who also skim?  Who just want to stay with the action and don't care about what the house looks like or what the character is wearing?  I really tried to add to the story, but it just felt forced and slowed the story way down.
  
Which then begs the question, how long is long enough?  If a book description interests you, then you see the word count is small (not short story small which is a different category to me) does that make you want the book a little less?  Let's assume the price is low, say 0.99-2.99.

I'd really love to know how people feel about this, especially because my second book will be coming out this  summer and I'm doing the same thing. I think the story is killer and the pace is great and that's all I want from the books I read but...

You tell me...

No Really, Why The Pseudonym?

I write under a pseudonym.  Why you ask?  Because I want to remain anonymous to my neighbors and protect my kids in case I'm ever famous.
No?  Okay, you got me.

Because I'm really a best selling author who wants to see if she can do it all again on her own.
What?  That's even less believable?

Alright, the truth is because I have a very large fear of failure.  My whole life I've been afraid of trying anything I might fail at, so I never did.  High school and college, I never tried out for anything if there was a chance I wouldn't be the best.  Don't get me wrong, I did things, just not challenging things.  So you'd think I would have learned to be a little braver, looking back on all the fun I probably missed out on.

Well, believe it or not, even though I don't use my real name, just doing this writing thing at all is a big step.  Because typically I have a dream, then talk myself out of it because of fear.  But this time I went forward.  I wrote the book, published it, am doing publicity, and my fear is abating.  I started telling my family that I'm writing a book (they think it's my first) and it will come out this summer.  It's a big step for me.  And even if it fails, I feel really good about doing it at all.

So, anyone else out there using a pseudonym?  What's your reason?  You can even leave a comment under anonymous and I'll understand:)

I just need an hour!

I am co-writing a book with another woman and we are about 2/3 done.  We plan to finish this draft in four weeks but some days (like today) I'm wondering how that is going to be possible.  I really just need one quiet hour to add 800-1000 words (first draft quality).  It should be easy, right?  But today I am trying to get back on track.  I've been neglecting laundry and dinner and exercising for about 4 weeks now doing publicity for The Hate and Secrets.  Today I did laundry, took some of the kids to a camp, made dinner, cleaned the kitchen, made lunch, and went to the gym.  It is now almost 2 pm and I am outside because my other two kids begged me to let them ride their bikes.  In less than two hours I have to go get my first two kids from camp.  Then all four will be home and there is no way I'll get anything done after that.  I should mention my kids are 7, 6, 4, and 3.  I can pretty much only work when they are not home or sleeping.
Now I'm not blaming this on the kids.  When I think back to my life before kids, I'm trying to remember how much free time I had back then.  It didn't feel like much but I'm sure there was plenty.
So, how does everyone do it?  How do you manage to find time to write?  I'd love to hear your tips.

What makes us love a character?

I read the first chapter of the new Charlaine Harris book today (from her website).  I'm really excited about her new book coming out.  My excitement about this whole series surprises me, though, because I never read supernatural books.  My genre is thriller/mystery.  That's what I read, that's what I write.  But I just love Sookie Stackhouse and I have to know what is happening in her life.  Right now I am also reading The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly.  I read the Lincoln Lawyer, mostly because I saw adds for the movie.  But I got the second book because I really like the main character.  So what is it about a character that makes us come back for more.  I can't really put my finger on it exactly.  Is it because we want to imagine they are our friend?  Because we see ourself in them?  Maybe they are what we wanted to be?
Who are your favorite book characters and why?

I'm guest blogging today

I am guest blogging today at   http://tamis-ramblings.blogspot.com/2011/04/from-author-of-secrets-sl-pierce.html

Please go check it out.  And leave a comment!

It's my alter book reading ego

Has anyone watched this youtube video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BuRuwR2JSXI

It's  funny because it's true!  It's who I become when I'm reading a book.  Anyone else get that way?  I was never able to describe the feeling exactly until I read Nora Ephron's I Feel Bad About My Neck.  I'll have to dig through and find the line but it's the perfect description of how I feel when I'm reading a good book.  Basically, everything else in my life becomes a huge bother to me.   

Anyone else get this way?

By the way, I'm not affiliated with this person at all.  I just came across it on youtube.

Math Can Be Fun

Today I discovered Analytics.  Yes, tracking of who and when my sites and twitters are followed!  What could be more fun (and no that is not sarcasm).  For those who don't know, I do have a PhD in Engineering so I am in 7th Heaven today.  I have been finding and analyzing my analytics for about two hours now and my how time flies.  Is anyone else out there having as much fun with this as me?  It's even more addicting that the Amazon KDP site (and if you are self published, you know what this is).  Sorry for those of you who will be overexposed to my tweets and facebook today, but I must experiment.  I have my own spreadsheet set up to keep track of the results myself. I better be careful, though, or I'll never finish that next book.  I suppose I'll have to treat it like chocolate - just a little a day.  Except the weekend, of course, or a really bad day, then all bets are off.  So, leave me a comment if you are monitoring your analytics or if you think I'm crazy.