Pencil + Word

Artwork For The Lady Moons!

2012-02-13T10:32:00.000-08:00

Here is the new book cover for The Lady Moons, done by Claudia McKinney! Lovely! I'll be hiring this artist to finish out the rest of the series as well.

Sample chapters should be up and posted over at my Scribd page for download later this week! But for now, enjoy the beautiful book cover art!

:o)

Batman Help Me! (Short Animation)

2012-02-10T11:38:00.000-08:00

This has nothing to do with my own work but it's one of the things I love: Batman!

This animation short was posted a few years ago, before Batman Begins came out in theaters (great film, by the way! Big Nolan fan here!) but back then it wasn't in 3D - or at least I don't think it was. Last year I found that the original link was changed and the original You Tube channel this video was on was canceled. Here it is again, this time in 3D! I loved it so much and I'm glad I found it again. I hope I can convince the creators to have this series funded on Kickstarter, if they haven't already done that because I've been waiting on part two of this series for years now. Enjoy! Hope you'll love it as much as I do!

Books I've Acquired Recently

2012-02-02T20:35:00.000-08:00

As I've said before, when it comes to free or dirt cheap ebooks, or any book for that matter I don't download them or purchase them unless I know this is a book that I really want to read.

A book that I've been searching for some time now I found yesterday on Amazon in ebook form - Gargantuan and Pantagruel. It's actually a series or collection of stories written by a French Renaissance author, Francois Rabelais. It's about two giants who go on a number of different adventures and there is a lot of satirical humor in these stories. I finally have it on my kindle and I'm excited about reading it! I must say that I even bought some music years ago, songs inspired by Villon and also Rabelais. I love music from the Renaissance and the middle ages. I also ran across some of Sir Isaac Newton's religious writings, specifically is his writings on the prophecies of Daniel - one of my favorite Bible books and I am currently reading The Last King's Amulet by Chris Northern, which is an excellent fantasy story. I'll definitely be getting the sequel to that book!

I think that as a fantasy writer it is important to read the early masters of the craft. Tolkien and Lewis, Howard,* etc. However, there are fantasy writers who came before them and to reach back and read and to become inspired by their works I feel can add depth and to my own work. I would like to add Milton to this list as well but technically he was not a fantasy writer but authors that I admire respected his work.

*Edited Moorcock out. I have never read Moorcock's work and after having read what he thinks of Tolkien and Lewis - who are masterful writers in my opinion, I felt that to include him in this post with such men would be an insult to their work and to them.

New Book In Between the Series. . .

2012-01-27T21:48:00.000-08:00

We'll see what happens. . .

I've discussed the whole Amazon Select program before on other forums and I'm still doubtful about it. The long term effects it may have on authors is what I'm thinking about. However, I have mentioned a few times that I was thinking of writing a new book and putting it in the program to see what happens. So I've been working hard on that all week. This new book is called Fairy Tales and Fables. I'm curious to see what will happen with this new title I've put in the Select program. However, my Secret Doorway Tales books will not be going in the program. If things go well with this new title, I'll keep it in the program and perhaps add some short stories later on in the year to the program. I banged out the book cover as well. Take a look (up above). I'm rather proud of it. I like it. It's now available for purchase on Amazon. If you are a Prime Amazon member, it's free.

Now, back to The Lady Moons. . .

Blog Changes

2012-01-22T14:29:00.000-08:00

Blog change update:

I know a little while ago I mentioned that i would be making design changes to this blog. That is still in the works but I won;t be making those changes until April, when I go on vacation. By then I'll actually have some time to make changes.

Progress Report: Rough Draft Done!

2012-01-20T11:47:00.000-08:00

I've just finished the rough draft of The Lady Moons. This story was a little tougher to write than the previous three books. It deals with themes of gray areas, as we are apt to say these days. It isn't quite the straight forward adventure story like the last three.

There is Right, there is Wrong and then there are those areas where you have to use your own conscience about what to do in a "gray" situation. In this particular story, there are things that are good, things we like and recognize as nice and pleasant and then there are other things that we don't like - but they may be just as necessary in life. Some things may at first seem bad but aren't, and then we all know of something that seems good at first but turns out to be anything but. Children encounter this as well and they have to come to terms with it, just like adults.

How do you explain these things to children? I know it isn't easy and I don't have children of my own which makes dealing with these kinds of themes especially tricky. The main character, Anne, must navigate a few of these gray areas, all the while navigating her way through the 'perilous realm', as Tolkien might call it, though he may look askance at my so-called perilous realm and wonder what's with all of these Tinkerbell fairies!

In any case, the first draft is done.All that needs finishing is the sample chapter for the next book in the series and then editing. Lots of editing.

Science Fiction Or Fantasy?

2012-01-14T23:21:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of stories that I want to tell. One of them has been brewing in the back of my mind for some years now. I've always thought of it as a science fiction story but the more I think on it, I have to change how I think about the genre it will be categorized in. It really is going to be a work of fantasy with science fiction elements.

Why? Let me explain. Science fiction deals strictly with the natural world, or that is what my current understanding of the genre tells me. Fantasy, on the other hand, deals with myth and the supernatural, be they ghosts, demons, gods, or God - and here is my point: this next trilogy I plan to write most certainly deals with God. He, like the God I worship, is not bound by natural laws and He exists outside of time and space. Although the story will deal primarily with politics, war, social themes, intrigues and rising technology it also deals with prophets, religion and God. There will be no magic, vampires, elves, fairies, zombies, werewolves or the like in this story. Still, that three letter word changes the genre.

Another thing I have noticed is that many fans of fantasy have increasingly become militant about wanting their fantasy to be realistic/historical or set in a more natural world. It is as if they are trying to strip fantasy of the supernatural. According to the popular belief today as I understand it, magical systems are supposed to be explained as if one is dealing in scientific endeavor. Many of these people don't like and don't want to see talking trolls or animals in certain works or any fairy tale elements of any kind. Personally, I'm offended by this. Fantasy, myth and fairy tale will always be entertwined. There is no way to separate the three and to try to do so in some misguided attempt to bring the rational to what is necessarily the irrational, the dream, the myth is silly. If these kinds of things integral to fantasy bother a person, then perhaps they should stick to science fiction. Fantasy by its very definition is supernatural storytelling. It deals directly and engages the creatures and beings that inhabit the supernatural world.

I don't have an issue with rigid, science-like standards for magical systems, if that's what the author has chosen to write about in the story. But ultimately for me scientific laws in fantasy don't make much sense since magic does not follow natural law. That's why it is magic. If it does follow scientific laws, it is no longer magic but mere technology and if things in a fantasy world are explained away through science, it is not fantasy.

Therefore, a book that deals with a supernatural being, no matter how many other science fiction elements are in the story is a work of fantasy. I think I'm finally fine with that. After all, even though I love both, I have always preferred fantasy.

Making Changes

2012-01-11T10:45:00.000-08:00

Guess what folks?

It looks like Blogger has finally broken me down! I'm going to be making some changes to my template, finally, after all of these years of blogging. They are slowly pushing those of us on Blogger to update our templates and I see that the time has finally come for me. What will the new face look like? Hopefully the same or very similar. We'll see. But I won't be posting anything here until next week. if you want to catch updates you can see me on Facebook!

See you later!

Blog Interview

2012-01-09T10:35:00.000-08:00

I have a new blog interview up at http://kindle-author.blogspot.com/2012/01/kindle-author-interview-v-jeffrey.html!

Go check it out! It was a lot of fun!

City Life Is Published!

2012-01-02T17:42:00.000-08:00

I have a new poetry book up as of today. It's called City Life. You can grab a free copy over at Scribd right now! I'll be unrolling it at other venues later this week. But you can get it first at Scribd!

New poetry Book on the way and The Lady Moons Giveaway!

2012-01-01T15:41:00.000-08:00

Well, it's a new year and I will be getting started on writing The Lady Moons this coming week. I've also made a change in my publishing plans in regards to my newest poetry collection - City Life. I won't be entering it in the contest after all. This makes me sad but if my book is selected as a winner it won't be published until 2013. I won't hear back from them until the summer of this year. That's a lot of time!

As a self publisher, I don't want to wait that long. It's too long a time to have someone holding on to my manuscript. So I've decided to publish it myself. City Life should be published in two weeks and it will be free. Except on Amazon where it will be $0.99.

I've also made a change on the novella The Green Door. It will no longer be free. It will be $0.99. However, for those of you who read this blog, I will be doing a giveaway for 10 people the first week it is published. After that it will be $1.49! Stay tuned for more details on the giveaway! Have a great day, after all, it's a new year!

New Blog Interview

2011-12-29T12:35:00.000-08:00

I have a new blog interview up at Hydra Publications! In fact, I have two new blog interviews. The other one is up over at 1000 + Books To Read! Check them out!

New Poetry Coming Soon!

2011-12-27T21:06:00.000-08:00

I'll be getting started on the fourth book in my series this coming weekend. Right now I've been working on my third poetry collection, titled City Life. So far I have seven poems finished and in rough form. I plant to shape them up and throw a few of them up on Scribd next week. You can go there and download.read them and comment on them if you like. Lots of things are coming and I'm really excited!

It's a great time to be a writer. Truly a great time!

Poetry Contest

2011-12-26T08:46:00.000-08:00

Even though I've been relaxing, getting other things done and reading for pleasure now that my latest book is out, every now and then I've been working on some poetry. I've also worked on an outline for at least two fables - I've got another idea for another short book of fables and one day I'll combine them into a bigger book of fables, but more on that some other time.

So far, I've written five poems. The theme of this next poetry book will be about living in the city. So far the working title is City Life. That title may or may not change. I've been thinking about submitting it to Omnidawn Publishing poetry contest. I've submitted work to them before. The only thing is that I no longer have the patience to wait so long on other publishers but I may decide to submit it anyway. It's tempting.

Since I was a youngun' I've entered into poetry contests, some worthwhile, some not, and here I go again. Once the manuscript is finished, we'll see. . .

The Hobbit Trailer/Poster

2011-12-21T21:05:00.000-08:00

No, I certainly didn't write this book (although I wish I had) but here is a long awaited poster for this phenomenal looking film for the excellent book! You'll have to excuse me but I'm a fan of Tolkien, if you haven't already guessed.

You can see the first trailer for The Hobbit here.

The Hobbit will be in theaters December 2012.

Good night.

More books to check out!

2011-12-18T13:00:00.000-08:00

I've been reading a lot of good books and found some authors I will read again in the future. Here's the current list:

The Hounds of Nemhain

Desert of Souls

As always, happy reading!

Face Book Author Page

2011-12-17T16:01:00.000-08:00

I have a new Facebook author page! Check it out and feel free to post there as well. I'll be posting news updates about my books, other books I'm reading and news and brief thoughts about books and fantasy and sci-fi related films and TV shows that I want to recommend. Join me on Facebook!

See you there!

More books and outline update

2011-12-11T13:09:00.000-08:00

I've got some new books that I'll be posting about that I've read recently and want to share with you, indie books of course!

On the writing front, I have finished half of the outline for The Lady Moons. I think I'll begin writing the actual story after next weekend.

Update: I have a sample chapter up over at Short Story Symposium. Over there you can check out The Pumpkin Princess and many other great novellas and short short stories by other indie authors! Check it out!

Step it up!

2011-12-10T10:44:00.000-08:00

The new Lending Library from Amazon has everyone up in arms (authors and publishers anyway). Many indie authors are jumping ship! Even Mark Coker has weighed in on the subject and he isn't happy. I like his site; he's done a lot for indie authors. Smashwords is a good place for indies and all my books are there and I plan to keep them there but he and other distributor/retailers need to step up their game. iBooks and Barnes and Noble have done little to help promote indie authors but many whine about Amazon who has done a lot for indie authors. The most egregious whiners are certain local bookstore owners, all who have snubbed indies, and by that I mean self-published authors. There was a big blow up on Facebook about this last week!

Instead of getting upset, Amazon's competitors really need to bring their A- game. There are a lot of things that need to be improved on iBooks and B&N, Kobo and Smashwords. Seriously. I plan to promote my books on the other retailers in the near future because I do not like putting all eggs in one basket nor do I like monopolies and Amazon could very well become one in the future. But this would be the fault of its competitors who won't step up to the plate and improve their own services.

Amazon's Lending Library

2011-12-08T13:38:00.000-08:00

Amazon, early this morning, has just unveiled (or, rather opened up) their exclusive Lending Library for indie authors. Of course the message boards I belong to are all abuzz with the news! It's the only thing we authors are really talking about today. Many are discussing the pros and cons of this service as Amazon will require an author to leave the book that they choose to opt in to the program on the Amazon site, exclusively. You won't be able to sell it elsewhere for 3 months. Some of the things that come with the lending library is free promotion from Amazon-something many of us indie authors who are brand new to publishing are always on the lookout for.

Many people are weighing in and have some good things to say as to why it is or why it is not a good thing for indie authors.

For me, I've decided to take a wait and see approach. Currently I'm writing a series and I do not think opting in the program will help my series. After all, I get sales from both Amazon and B&N. I'm not interested in alienating readers at other venues.

I am seriously thinking about submitting my stand alone novel I'll be writing and publishing next year to see what happens. After all, you can't be so cautious that you never take chances. How do you know what will work unless you try? I suppose each author has to make decisions that will benefit him/her in the end and that's going to look different depending on each author's needs and desires.

Interesting times in publishing!

PS: I've noticed the guys over on TWiT are talking about it - and they don't seem too eager about the LL idea. Hmmm.

Jung

2011-12-06T11:05:00.000-08:00

I've bought and read quite a few books the past few months and I plan to list them in an upcoming post. I must say, those that say that indie books are bad aren't looking hard enough. These horrible books some complain about I haven't encountered. The books I've read a really good. That will be in an upcoming post!

Reading folk tales and legends is fun research. I even decided to dig out my copy of The Portable Jung paperback for more inspiration. I've found that Carl Jung has written fascinating work that is insightful into unconscious motivations for what people do and respectful of ancient stories and folktales and the importance they play in human life. Interesting stuff!

What makes me stop reading a book

2011-12-02T20:20:00.000-08:00

I was on one of my favorite forums, again, reading info and gleaning what I could and I ran across a thread asking authors a question: what's a turn off in another author's book? I didn't answer the thread but I read through it and after seeing the various answers, I suppose that I'm more lenient than some people are when it comes to what is acceptable and what isn't. I can put up with typos and errors as long as they aren't on every single page of the book and if the story is good I can overlook such things unless they are absolutely outrageous mistakes.

However, there are two things that I find unforgivable - terrible covers and despicable characters. The covers for my own books with the exception of The Winter Wolves (a beautiful cover done by Claudia McKinney) aren't what you would call top notch work, but I think they are decently designed. I can and will overlook covers done in PowerPoint if they are designed decently and the writing looks good. The story is ultimately what is important.

Once I get to the story, there is one unforgivable sin that an author can commit and earn my undying disdain - loathsome characters. I cannot stand a story full of unpleasant, despicable unsympathetic characters who never redeem themselves. If I'm going to read a book and spend time in that "world" then I need to be able to sympathise with a character in the story. I need to understand and identify in some way with his POV or relate to him in some way. Don't get it twisted! I don't need a book full of big, fluffy bunnies but you've got to give me something to work with! A protagonist who is vicious or brutish, awful in every way, and a cast of characters who are hateful or bad with no redeemable qualities whatsoever is a book that I will set aside and I will NEVER pick up any other book from that author again.

To be honest, it's been many years since I've read a book like this and I've seen far more films with this issue than books. Luckily, the vast majority of authors out there don't write stories completely devoid of sympathetic characters. There is always at least one character that has some human qualities that I can latch on to so there's a good chance that I will go through life and rarely have to deal with a book full of characters that make me want to strangle them and the author who wrote it!

Research

2011-11-30T12:24:00.001-08:00

Well, I've got another big break now that I've just finished a new book. I love that feeling of just beginning a book and just finishing the book. Each time I feel that something important is taking place.

I went to the library this past weekend and I checked out a number of books on various African, Russian and Finnish folklore. So I'm doing a bit of research for my next two books in the Secret Doorway Tales series. Some form of the Aziza - African pygmy-like fairies, some form of the ogress Baba-yaga of Russian folklore and the legend of Sadko will show themselves as influences in the next two books. In fact, the Aziza in the form of Zi, the little black male sprite in the series has already shown up in the stories. Dragons will also make an appearance. I love dragons! Also, something of the Wild Hunt of western European folklore will make an appearance too. I've got many things planned and it's exciting just thinking about it!

The fifth book will incorporate the Peer Gynt legend in some small way. In fact, the title will be called The Mountain King. There will be a mountain hall and trolls involved! I even have the title for the sixth and last book but I won't reveal it right now.

The most difficult part will be incorporating the importance of dreams into this next book since the two fairies who rule the twin moons deal in dreams. I'll work it out!

PS: The Winter Wolves is now available for purchase on Amazon.com!

The Winter Wolves: Please Stand By For Technical Difficulties

2011-11-29T10:34:00.001-08:00

Well the new novella is finished and I decided to rush and get it published on Saturday night.

Big mistake! I made a number of silly errors that I am now trying to sort out with Amazon and Barnes and Noble! I feel so stupid but that's what I get for being in a big rush. I don't mean that the book isn't edited properly and ready for publishing - it most certainly is but I'm having technical difficulties with B&N and the Big A. It's one of those things that can happen when you try to take care of business when you're half a sleep. Good job, Vicky, good job. :(

In any case, it will be ready by December. However, it can be purchased on Smashwords right now.

PS: The Winter Wolves is now available on Barnes and Noble.com!

Progress so far. . .

2011-11-26T21:26:00.000-08:00

The Winter Wolves.

Finished!

The Winter Wolves - Sample Chapters out now!

2011-11-19T16:58:00.000-08:00

I know it's been quite some time since I've posted. I've been busy finishing up my newest soon to be released novella, The Winter Wolves! I have two sample chapters up over at Scribd that you can download for free right now, so go on over there and get your free samples!

The full novella will be out around the beginning of December. I'm thinking the first week of December, so look for it then! Below is a sample of the first chapter of The Winter Wolves. If you want to read a little further, you get the two sample chapters on Scribd.

The Winter Wolves

By V.A. Jeffrey

Winter came early in the year. It was nearly the middle of December and stormy winter weather was everywhere from the Atlantic shore to the Pacific shore. As swift as a spinning dervish the snow storms came and lay a suffocating cloak of ice upon the small city where Anne Greene lived.. The ice storm had encased everything: utility poles, houses, cars and trees. Being that the city received snow and ice perhaps only once every three years, whenever it was dressed in full winter garb the city shut down. Which meant that school was out! A delight to all children everywhere and none of them more delighted than Anne. She gazed out of her bedroom window, wondering what her friends were doing; whether she should build another snowman and how many maple candies she could make – and eat, before mama said enough was enough!

Maple candies were something mama had learned to make when she was a girl. You gathered a big pan of snow or ice, poured a dollop of maple syrup on top of the snow and let it sit for a while outside in the cold or in the freezer until it became hard. Then you just popped them in your mouth! Anne could smell the savory scent of beef broth simmering in the big pot in the kitchen. It was early morning and dad was out shoveling snow from the driveway again. Anne hopped from her chair and flew downstairs. She suddenly remembered that a special package had arrived for her before dinner and it was high time she found out what it was! She went rummaging around in the coat closet, throwing out all and sundry that didn’t look like a new package.

“Anne? I can hear you in the closet. What are you doing?”

“Looking for something!”

“The package is in the kitchen!” Mama said. Anne stuffed everything haphazardly back into the closet and bounded into the kitchen.

“Where is it, mama?”

“Right here on the counter. It's from grandma Barbara.”

“Goody!” She cried with glee. A long, brown box sat on the counter near the refrigerator. She glanced at the label, trying to guess where it came from.

“Your grandma is in Scotland right now.”

“Scotland.”

“It's near England and Ireland. Here, I'll open the box for you.”

“But I want to open it!” Anne protested.

“Alright.” Mama said patiently. Anne tried ripping the thick tape off but the box was held fast by it. Try as she might, she could not get it open.

“OK. You can open it.” Anne pouted. Mama gave her an expectant look, raising a brow.

“Can you please open it for me, mama?” Mama wiped flour from her hands on a towel and with a pairing knife, cut at the tape slowly, opening the box. Anne eagerly took the box and pulled out her new gift. It was a royal blue cloak made of velvet with tiny silver stars stitched into the bottom hem and it had a plush, fur trim, also of midnight blue with a fur trimmed hood! The inside was light blue dyed wool. It was so beautiful! Anne had never owned a cloak before and especially one so wonderful as this! Mama exclaimed in wonder and delight and she helped her put it on. Anne twirled and swirled this way and that. She felt like a royal princess!

“When can I wear it? Can I wear it to school?”

“Well I suppose. . .”

“Please, mama? I want to wear it to school!” She said excitedly, flouncing around the kitchen.

“You can wear it to school then. After all, it's cold outside and that looks like a very warm cloak. I just wonder though, sweetie. I don't want it to get soiled or dirty.”

“Oh, I won't mess it up!”

“Now remember, you'll need to thank grandma when she calls next time.”

“I will!” Anne tried on her hood, running her hands along the soft fur. Mama laughed.

“If you plan to wear it to school, then I want you to put it away in the coat closet. You can either wear it today or you can wear it when you go back to school.” Anne screwed up her face in a frown. She didn't much care for those choices but mama didn't leave her much room to negotiate and she did want to show it off at school. She skipped from the kitchen and down the hall. Grandma Barbara knew her favorite color! I wonder where grandma will go next? What will she send next? Anne reluctantly took her cloak off and laid it carefully on an occasional table by the coat closet. She went to the living room and gazed outside. It had begun to snow lightly again. More snow. She thought. The trees looked like white spires, heavy with ice and snow. She heard the front door open and in blew a giant snowman! Or, rather, it was just dad.

“Well! Old Man Winter really laid a number on the whole country this month!” He said, wiping fat snow flakes from his face. The walk was partially clear but as it had begun snowing again, dad gave up the fight for the day in frustration.

“Got anything planned today, little one?”

“I'm going to make another snowman.”

“Another one! Soon we'll gave an army of them out there. Did you find your gift?”

“Yes! I love it!” She said. Dad winked. He looked quite comical and dramatic Anne thought, all covered in bright white crusts of snow framing his dark brown face.

“One of your friends is coming to visit.” He said, pointing towards the window. There, waving and bundled up in her pink snowsuit and scarf was Emma. Yay! Anne ran to the door, pulling Emma inside. They hugged each other, both chanting: “School is out! School is out!”

“I hear company!” Mama called from the kitchen.

“It's Emma! Can she stay for dinner?”

“Of course!” Both Anne and Emma melted into a gale of giggles and then ran upstairs to play. If only Tanya could be here, but she lived across the river, clear across town. At least they would see her at school. That is, if school ever opened again.

All that day Anne and Emma made snowmen, ate maple candies, collected frozen pine cones and made snow angels as big, fat snowflakes fell lightly in their hair and on their cheeks. They simply did as children will do; play and bask in the fun and beauty of winter. After all, they would go inside when their hands became too cold and when it became too dark to see. But deep in her mind Anne knew that behind the wonder and sparkle, the dark hand of an evil winter was rising.

(End of Sample chapter!)

PS: it must be noted that the editing process is not finished on the book so if you see typos and errors please understand that these will be corrected before the full length book is published!

Blog interview!

2011-11-11T10:40:00.000-08:00

I have a new blog interview up over at Cyndia Rios-Myers's blog. You can find it here. This interview was a lot of fun, as I'm finding all of them are. I love doing interviews - and thanks Cyndia for the opportunity! I appreciate it very much!

Innovative bookcover, bookcover of the future!

2011-11-10T20:20:00.000-08:00

I was on one of my favorite forums today and ran into this. It's called the book cover of the future. You can find it and more about it on the GalleyCat site. Wow! One of these days I'm going to figure out how to do this! I want a book cover like this. Anyway, feel free to check the book out when it drops. I'm sure it's going to be a great book.

I love innovation sometimes. It can be a wonderful and exciting thing.

Sample chapters

2011-11-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

I've changed a few things around when it comes to showing drafts. As it turns out Scribd has a moratorium on new submissions to their store so I've decided to drop them as a vendor for sales but I will still post to Scribd when I have a good draft out that I want to share. Be aware that I will only post a few chapters of my novellas and novels on Scribd from here on out. No more entire drafts for free. I will still post short stories for free there and elsewhere, whenever I get around to writing another one. Of course, there will be links here where you can download them as a .pdf to your ereader.

My sample draft will probably be available for download in a couple of weeks. That's what I'm shooting for anyway.

The Hobbit films: news

2011-10-29T18:20:00.000-07:00

I've been keeping track (haphazardly) of the new Hobbit films coming out. The first one will be released, so far as I know, at the end of next year. The first one will be called The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and the second one, which will be released in 2013, will be called The Hobbit: There And Back Again.

One of the best internet hubs for LOTR and tH news in my opinion is theonering.net. It takes me back! I remember fondly when I used to visit lordoftherings.net every other day when those films were just coming out. What a fine time! They had so much wonderful information about the films and the film scores. In fact, I will be posting news about the scores here when I get more information.

As you may know if you've read my profile, I am a huge fan of Tolkien's work. He is one of my favorite authors and Peter Jackson and his crew have done a stellar job of bringing the LOTR films to visual life and I have absolute confidence in his ability to bring The Hobbit to screen while remaining true to the spirit of the story. I've found a wonderful documentary through theonering.net with Stephen Fry and Peter Jackson talking about Tolkien's work. In fact, the entire segment is excellent as Fry discusses some of his favorite great writers they were. The other part of the segment finds him discussing James Joyce and Shakespeare - and regardless of what some have to say I have no doubts that Shakespeare wrote the plays attributed to him.

A year is a long time to wait. I remember when I first heard that The Fellowship of the Ring was being filmed. I could not believe it. All of my film dreams came true when those films came out. At least I still have my LOTR audio book, narrated by Rob Inglis. I find myself listening to it whenever I need literary inspiration from Tolkien. Or just whenever I want to sit on my couch on a rainy day and drink hot tea and listen to a good story. By the way here is a written interview of Rob Inglis talking about his work narrating The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. A delightful read!

The Winter Wolves first draft is finished!

2011-10-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

Well, after I have unveiled my new book cover for my next book I have more good news! I have just finished my first draft of The Winter Wolves! I'm also currently working on a sample chapter for the next book in the series - The Lady Moons. After that, once again the REAL work begins - revising, proofreading and editing.

Finishing that first draft is always good times. I love it. And now I deserve a martini. . .

New book cover art work!

2011-10-27T11:20:00.000-07:00

Here is the new book cover for the third book I'll be releasing in a few weeks! The art work was done by Claudia McKinney of Phatpuppy Art. Doesn't it look beautiful? I can't wait to publish, not just for the story (Which I think is my best yet) but so I can show off my new book cover. I had thought of again doing it myself and it would have looked nice but this is on another level!

I'm thinking of having her do all my book covers for this series.

Linking titles in a series

2011-10-26T20:16:00.000-07:00

I've noticed today that sales are picking up a tiny bit of The Pumpkin Princess. Not so with The Green Door though. I was on the Kindleboards a few days ago and a poster mentioned that he planned on linking all the books in his series together so that readers could easily find all of the books. Like adding an extra page at the end of one of his books.

I thought this was a great idea as it might not be immediately obvious that it's part of a series. When the third books comes out I will certainly put the titles of the first two books on the info page after the end so that readers know that this is a series.

I have to admit that I've been working my butt off with marketing tPP. I didn't work so hard at marketing when the first book came out. I just hope people like tPP. I really enjoyed writing it. Tomorrow I have a real treat for readers of the blog (if there are any, lol). I hired a great artist to do the artwork for my third book The Winter Wolves and I plan to post the cover tomorrow on this blog! I love it and I'm so excited!

What Scares V.A. Jeffrey

2011-10-24T18:54:00.000-07:00

I have a new interview up over at toddrwrite.com and it's called What Scares V.A. Jeffrey. This is a series about what scares authors - those that participated in the discussion. There are quite a few great interviews by various authors there and you will also find information on their latest books. Great interview project for the month of October. This was a lot of fun and you may find some new great reads as well!

Check it out! Scares V.A. Jeffrey

Books I'm reading

2011-10-22T11:49:00.000-07:00

In the midst of all of this writing I'm still reading. A lot. Often it's a new book (or an old one) I haven't heard about and i see them and hear about them on a forum I saw, a podcast, browsing through Amazon's site or from a blog that catches my eye and I've found a lot of great reads out there by doing this. There are some who think that all indie books are trash. This is a bald-faced lie. As far as I'm concerned, the reason why they find trash ( and that's if they are being honest) they don't know what they're doing.

I haven't found this lie to be the case at all and here are some of the books I've read or plan to read in the near future. Some of these are indie and some trad. They aren't all of the books I've read so far but these are my favorites. You might want to check them out; you might like them too if you haven't already read them:

The Pale Queen's Courtyard by Marcin Wrona (fantasy)

The Riders of the Sidhe (fantasy)

The Black God's War by Moses Siregar III (fantasy - there is both a novella and a full length novel with this title by the same author!)

The Worker Prince by Brian Thomas Schmidt (science fiction)

White Foxes, Full Moon by Niko Silvester (fantasy)

The Ugly Princess by Oksana Vasilenko (fairy tale, children's)

Changes by Jim Butcher

Agartha's Castaway (Science fiction, YA)

These are books I plan to read before the year's end:

Children of Hurin by J.R.R. Tolkien

Golden Feathers Falling by Marcin Wrona

Red by Melissa Yuan-Innes

Last chance for a free copy of my book!

2011-10-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

Just a last day reminder - after October 20th The Pumpkin Princess will be $0.99 everywhere! Pick up your free copy today at these locations:

Smashwords

Feedbooks

Scribd

And don't forget book one in the series, The Green Door, which is always free at each of those locations!

Some ebooks simply cost too much!

2011-10-16T11:25:00.001-07:00

One thing I've been thinking about for a long time in relation to ebooks is price.

Price, I think, matters a great deal when buying an ebook. The large publishers have really gotten out of control when it comes to prices. As a reader I've always felt a little irritated when having to buy mass market paperbacks for nearly $9.00 (yes they are nearly that much now) but when I first bought my Kindle this past summer and started buying George R.R. Martin's Songs of Ice and Fire series I received a shock to my system. They were all $9.99!

Ebooks for $9.99 seem to be the norm from the bigger publishers. I didn't much like that at all, as I see it as quite expensive for a book that isn't a purely physical product requiring wood, ink, printing presses and many people to create said product. But being that Martin is such a great storyteller in my eyes, and he's well known, I paid it and enjoyed the books.

Then his latest book in the series came out.

It was $14.99. I'm thinking: Hot Damn! For real? I'm sorry but that's a rip off! Of course I bought it although I nearly had a stroke while doing it, because I'm not going to ignore the next book in such a great series, but I made a decision after that purchase right then and there: no more ebooks will I purchase beyond $9.99! Even at $9.99, the writer will have to prove to me that he/she is a master storyteller.

Personally, (and this is just my opinion, nothing scientific) I think that an ebook novel shouldn't be more than $6.99 and that's at the upper end of the price range. I think $0.99 is reasonable for short stories and novelettes and novellas, especially if you are an unknown author and $1.99 - $2.99 is reasonable for a novel. Omnibus novel editions can cost $9.99 - $14.99. After all, you are getting a group of novels together. I think well known authors can get away with higher price points on a single work.

But really, charging readers more than $8.99 for an ebook is outright greed! That's just how I feel about it.

New Author Interview

2011-10-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

I have a new interview up over at the Enchanted blog. I talk about how I ended up coming up with the idea for my short story Dust and Bones. I think you'll find it interesting! I hope you enjoy it and you can pick up a free copy of the short story on Smashwords or Scribd from the links provided there!

Thanks Rachel!

Remember, The Pumpkin Princess will be free until October 20th! After that, it will be $0.99! Pick up your free copy now!

Getting started on the third book

2011-10-12T12:53:00.000-07:00

Well, having nothing to do right now besides some marketing efforts on my latest book, I've started writing the third book. I hope people like the one I just released. I'm so proud of it and I think it's even better than the first one.

Here's the thing - this third book is going to be a bit darker than the first two. In fact, I wonder what people will think because The Pumpkin Princess is darker than The Green Door. I hope no one gets offended or upset. When I say dark, I don't mean "Clive Barker" dark, only that the heroine has more challenges to face and more is at stake. When I get to the fourth book things will get a little lighter.

Anyway, I've made it to chapter 5 already. Sometimes, the best way to pass the time is to just get started writing your next book. If I've learned how to do anything right in all of this, it's keeping busy with more writing. Downloads of my latest book seem to be going well.

If you still want a copy of The Pumpkin Princess pick up your copy now at Smashwords, Scribd or Feedbooks! The Pumpkin Princess will be $0.99 everywhere after October 20th!

Looking for an artist/illustrator for next book cover

2011-10-09T15:24:00.000-07:00

The second book of my Secret Doorway Tales series is out and out of my hair. It's always so much work when you are ready to publish a book and then the days afterwards spent marketing the book are always interesting, if a bit stressful.

So now that I'm finished with that I'm looking forward to writing the next book and I already have an outline finished and a tentative publication date: some time in December! What I need to do now is look for an artist because I've been wanting illustrations for the book covers on my the next four books. That is going to cost a pretty penny and then tracking an artists down and getting them to contact you is another issue. Creative people can be flaky (and I'm not pointing fingers here because I have that problem myself and it was especially true when I was young, lol). I think I should begin the search process right now.

Then there's the issue of whether they even want to do work for you. We self published authors have a stigma attached to our work and we have to jump through a lot of hoops just to get people to take our work seriously and even then, we don't get much respect. Some artists will only do work for best selling authors and I can understand that but it makes my job a little harder when trying to find an artist I like who might be interested in doing some work for me.

I've been looking at art on DeviantArt.com and all I can say is Wow! There's so much beautiful work there. Just beautiful. Well, I guess I better get back to work!

The Pumpkin Princess Is Published!

2011-10-05T21:56:00.000-07:00

The Pumpkin Princess is finally live and available for free download! It will be available on Amazon.com in a few days. You can find it on Smashwords, Scribd and Feedbooks right now!

The Pumpkin Princess, the second book in my Secret Doorway Tales series will be free until October 20th! so if you want a free download of this book, pick it up now! Don't wait too late. After October 20th, it will be available on Amazon, Smashwords and Scribd for $0.99!

Hanvon: E-Ink E-Reader with COLOR!!

2011-10-04T17:40:00.001-07:00

Can I get E-Ink in color please?

You know, I was thinking about Kindles today and about the new Kindle Fire that will be coming out this fall and it got me wondering - what about creating a non-back lit tablet or ereader with color E-Ink technology? it seems that many only think in terms of E-Ink vs LCD but I don't see why color can't be added to E-Ink technology.

And then after doing some 'net surfing I found out that a Chinese company has done just that! The photo of the device is at the top. In fact they unveiled their ereader at this year's CES (goes to show you how little I've been paying attention to modern technology! I used to keep up with this stuff back when I was podcasting! Shame, shame!) Here's an article about the device at PCMAG.com and here is the company website with the device (in black or white) front and center.

It also comes with a stylus which is a plus in my book. They also have different versions with different features, much like the Kindles do. I think it looks very nice. Now if I could figure out where to buy it. They say that they have no plans to sell it in the US but who knows? I think there's demand for it here and if they are willing to increase profits and business they may very well change their minds on that. I for one will be keeping an eye out for this device.

I think I want this instead of the Amazon Kindle Fire.

The Pumpkin Princess Book Cover

2011-10-03T15:46:00.001-07:00

I'm coming along on my progress with the second book in the series and I have finally finished my book cover. I had picked out the illustration about three months ago at Dreamstine. They have a tremendous selection great stock photos and illustrations there. Actually, they don't have a lot of illustrations but they do have a lot of beautiful photos. The one illustration that I chose below was by a content creator named Duccio - which I will definitely be crediting in my book because it's such a great illustration, yet a simple one. For the third book in the series I'm thinking of hiring a artist for traditional artwork but I know that will cost a pretty penny! There are a few (with fabulous work) I already have in mind. Whether they would be interested, and the cost, are the real issues. But more on that later.

Here is the book cover with the final type design:

Graphic design training really cuts down on expenses, I'll you that! I'm really excited about it and I just love it! In fact, I think it looks even better than the book cover for The Green Door. of course I may have to make some nitpick changes but it's pretty much done. All I have to do now is finish editing and then proofread the story one more time and we're ready to go!

Hoarding

2011-10-02T19:38:00.000-07:00

I'm in the middle of cooking dinner but I was just thinking about something and it has to do with materialism as it relates to ebooks. This may seem off the wall - and if it does then I guess it's just off the wall - but I read quite often about people who collect, literally, hundreds of books, simply just collecting them because they are free. I wonder at people like this. Why? Often they even admit that they don't read most of the books they download onto their ereader.

I have no interest in downloading material that I don't immediately want nor do I want to download books just because they are free. To me this smacks of hoarding and people who hoard things often have psychological issues. At least it seems that way in my opinion. You ought to see some of the people that get kicked out of my apartment building. Hoarding is not normal behavior. After all, why collect stuff you don't value?

I mention this because I find it very strange. I can see downloading 15 -20 books. But hundreds? Come on, son! Hundreds of books just because they are free? I guess people will do whatever they want but it seems a big waste of time and ereader space. My books are free but I would find it odd if people are just downloading them *only* for that reason. I have to be honest, I have yet to download a free ebook. The books that catch my interest, indie and trad cost money. I have nothing against free ebooks at all it's just that the books I want to read do not happen to be free. They range anywhere from $0.99 to $14.99 (shakes fist at George R. R. Martin's publisher) and I buy them because I've done a bit of footwork to ensure I'm getting a quality read. Why download something just because it's free, I ask again? Especially if what you are collecting is trash? Yes, trash is in the eye of the beholder. I realize that and, no, I'm not some book snob who thinks only some people should be allowed to publish. After all, there are those out there that feel my work isn't so good (of course I disagree), but there are ways of sifting through stuff that you may not like.

The real issue for me is materialism versus simplicity. Others can do what they like, but you certainly won't catch me downloading ebooks just because I can. The book has to have a story that really catches my interest and I don't download more books until I'm finished with the one or two books I've just downloaded. It's so easy to collect so many things that you just have stuff everywhere cluttering up your life. I'm busy trying to keep my life simple, not add more clutter. That also goes for digital stuff!

PS I want to make it clear that I'm not talking about collectors, who value the things they collect. I enjoy collecting certain kinds of stamps (my favorite being the Edgar Allen Poe The Raven series. I don't think collecting and hoarding are the same thing.

Cleaning up my place

2011-10-01T00:53:00.001-07:00

I've been cleaning up my apartment today. Starting tonight I'm on a 1 week vacation from my job and I'm looking forward to that vacation. I even went on a late night run to Dairy Queen.

Thing is, I've been dropping things and bumping things around, stuff falling down, crashing. Seriously. I live in an apartment with thin walls and I'm almost sure that the lady next door thinks I'm a nutball! :)

What does this have to do with writing? Nothing, except to say that I do have other things going on in my life besides writing books.

Price points and things are tripping along. . .

2011-09-30T10:44:00.000-07:00

So my latest story is coming along. I've already even bought the photo for the cover. I've got three more revisions and a book cover design before it's ready but I'm shooting for a release in two weeks.

This book is definitely a novella, not a novelette. I've even got the sample chapter written for the third book in the series! I won't reveal the title though. You'll just have to wait and find out once the second book is released. The Pumpkin Princess will be free for two weeks and then I will set the price at $0.99. Now, I will upload it to Scribd and Feedbooks if you want it for free for those two weeks. All other places I will upload it to, the price will be $0.99.

So that's the plan at this point. Look for the third book in the series some time in December!

My first Author Interview

2011-09-27T11:29:00.000-07:00

I've been doing a few interviews last week and here is one that I did for the tumblr page of an indie E-Zine. The interviewer is an editor at the collaborative indie e-zine The Open End, or T.O.E. for short. They also publish books through tiny toe press, their imprint. You can subscribe online to their magazine. The interviewer was Michael Davidson. You can read my interview here!

It was a lot of fun to do and I have another one from a different blogger coming up in the future. Read and enjoy!

Moscato and other things. . .

2011-09-25T16:10:00.001-07:00

In between spending time with my mom this morning, lunching and drinking some Moscato (delicious) and writing and reading the Kindleboards I was thinking that we really need to have an association of authors and readers that support ereaders. In the past there have been small noises made about creating an annual convention for Kindle owners, Kindle authors and such but not much more than that. The discussions peter out.

I would love to organize an event like that but I have no idea how to do that. I suppose I could try but how to do that remains a problem. I think it would be a wonderful thing, though.

Or maybe not. I think perhaps I'll just go to the next world fantasy convention and forget about it.

Life in flux

2011-09-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

I have so many thing going on right now. Life is in flux when it comes to the writing projects. Still plugging away at my book. It will probably be finished in a couple of weeks. It's definitely longer than the first one, but it's coming along nicely, if more slowly.

I've had some family illness that I had to attend to last weekend and this week and I was sick myself yesterday so it's cut into my writing time but sometimes life is like that. It interjects and what can you do but just deal with it? In any case, things so far have turned out for the better. Times like this remind me that even when things become hectic you should always find time to write and when I have plenty of time I shouldn't be lazy about getting as much writing done as possible.

Getting stuff done with all day cooking

2011-09-21T07:01:00.000-07:00

Cooking? Yeah, well, that's another one of my passions. I love to cook and eat.

How I cook is becoming more and more important. I used to hold big dinner parties which took up incredible amounts of time and even though I loved doing it, it became too time consuming and tiresome. Now that I am doing an incredible amount of writing I have very little time for dinner parties and even regular daily cooking can be difficult. So, to avoid falling into the trap of fast food eating, I've decided to incorporate "all day" cooking - basically cooking a meals on one day that will last for the next 3-4 days at a time. I first heard about this from Stephanie Ravenscraft on GSPN a few years ago. Brilliant idea!

I've already done it for this week. I've been eating on lima bean soup with ham and oxtails all week. It's delicious and leaves plenty of time for me to get other things done like writing, cleaning the house and laundry. Especially after I come home from my regular job. It's nice to not have to cook something from scratch!

This doesn't mean that I'll stop giving dinner parties or cooking lavish meals but I can make time for them on special occasions now and perhaps not feel so tuckered out! It's nice to get a lot of work done. It feels good!

New micro fiction!

2011-09-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

Inspired by my old writings as a teenager, Grimm's Fairy Tales and JK Rowling's The Tale of the Three Brothers, I wrote my own fables, three of them. It's my latest story. It's now available on Smashwords, Scribd, Amazon and Feedbooks. I also have other titles available on Obooko and getfreebooks.com

Acceptance of the changes in publishing

2011-09-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of talk about the self publishing revolution that is radically changing the publishing worl. In case yoiua re wondering where I stand, I am firmly on the side of mavericks like Konrath and Stackpole.

For years I tried to get a traditional deal. I went the same route all writers go. I have the rejection slips to prove it. There were times when I became so depressed over it that I stopped writing for a few years. But I woud always get up, dust myself off and get back on the merry-go- round.

Except this time, last May I was surfing the internet looking for information on rewriting and I came across by accident that writers no longer had to get a trad deal to publish their work, nor did they have to go through a vanity press. They could self publish straight to Amazon and other venues, big and small. I was estatic over this! You mean to tell me that I don't have to sit and beg and wait for years and years for the minute chance that I may get a publishing deal? Seriously? I accepted the change in a snap. I didn't wait, I didn't feel the need for a trad deal for validation and I didn't feel invested in the old way of doing things and I've been writing for many years now. I accepted the change instantly and the first thing I did was get out old manuscripts, rework and proofread them, figured out how I could publish my work and where I needed to get started!

Some writers need someone else's approval to publish their own work. They require validation. I won't knock them. It's too easy. I have confidence in my work. It ain't perfect but I like it. I just don't need other people's approval.

Micro book of fables

2011-09-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I've nearly finished a micro book of fables I've been working on for a few days. One I wrote when I was in high school. It was such a delight to find. It's called The Cowboy and the Pebbles. I dug it out of an old chest. The other two I wrote this week, inspired by that first one, Grimm's fairy tales, which I've been thinking on quite a bit because of my book series and by J.K.Rowling's fable The Tale of the Three Brothers.

All I need to do now is finish the book cover.

A small goldmine of ideas

2011-09-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

Well I went rummaging around for some of my old stories and not only did I find my old short story but I found a whole bunch of poems and short fiction pieces that I wrote. I was over the moon! I wrote these things back in high school and some of them were graded works.

I used to take creative writing classes all throughout my primary school years. Some of them are what you'd expect from a young person but a few pieces were truly inspired. I know that in the near future I will be re-dusting and revise the best pieces for publication.

I think that I should also state that I just finished The Pumpkin Princess first draft! I'll be posting updates over the course of the month but the first major step is done. Expect The Pumpkin Princess to come out in October.

Rehabilitating old stories

2011-09-11T00:59:00.000-07:00

I was reading one of my favorite writer's forums today and ran across a thread about old stories.

It got me thinking about some of the stories I wrote back in high school. There are two stories I still remember vivdly, short stories. One was called 1929 and the protaganist's name was Orl. Odd name, but anyway, you can pretty much guess what it was about. This wasn't a science fiction or fantasy story, if I remember it correctly.

Then there was a story about a man who was a wine connoisseur - an arrogant one who is invited to a dinner which turns out to be a frightening affair for him. I had kept those stories around for many years but it's been so long now that I wonder if I still have the copies. When I have some time I plan to go digging around for those stories.

Why? I want to rehabilitate them. I think that I can make them better. Much better. People seemed to like them back then, especially my T.A.G. teachers. I wonder if people will like them now?

It will be a long time before I make a decision about exactly how to rewrite them because I'm in the middle of so many other writing projects. We'll see. . .

Cannibalizing previous work

2011-09-09T09:02:00.000-07:00

When you've been writing for a long time you come to the realization that some of the stuff you wrote when you were young was just awful. Pure crap!

I've written two novels in the past. The first one is something that I was proud of way back in the day that I now would not allow to see the light of day. The second one is ok, but isn't on par with the kind of work I'm doing now - not to say the stories I write now are perfect but they are certainly better than my first two novels.

Another thing that many writers do is cannibalize their work, which is exactly what I've been doing with both of these works. The novels themselves are not something I want to publish, but many turns of phrase and the ideas presented in them are wonderful. I plan to use them in future works. In fact, I have already begun cannibalizing them for my current stories. Stories like that, while not publishable, are a goldmine of ideas and well written sentences and interesting turns of phrase. It's like getting ready to cook a meal and turning to the cupboards and the refrigerator and finding them full of good things to use. It's a wonderful feeling and they enhance the stories that use them.

It also let's you know that all that hard work you put into a novel that isn't publishable after all counted for something useful.

Dust and Bones (short story) is published!

2011-09-06T21:20:00.000-07:00

I just published my newest short story Dust and Bones tonight. I'll be putting the links up tomorrow but I will put the Smashwords link up in this post. I thought that I wouldn't be able to get this done until the weekend, but as it is, I'm finished editing the story - now - and saw no reason to wait. After all, I have a lot of stories to write. I'm proud of it, I love the story and I hope people enjoy it. It's free, as well as all of my work at this point. You can download it here.

Now it's time to work on my second book in my Secret Doorway Tales series - The Pumpkin Princess.

I'm so excited!

PS. To find my work for free click on the "Published work at Smashwords" link or the My Scribd Page link in the side column.

Calling Card

2011-09-05T18:34:00.000-07:00

I've been doing some work on a business card/calling card today (and listening to the Cover to Cover podcast). I had a really wonderful one I created over a decade ago when I was studying graphic design, but I like this one even more. The only thing missing is a pair of glasses.

Unfortunately, this is the second go 'round with this design. I created one almost just like it this morning and when I tried to open it back up this evening to continue my work, it wouldn't open properly. Illustrator trashed everything but the brown face and the eyes! I'm not sure what on earth happened there, but this time I made a copy for the web. I hope that helps. Anyway, I wanted to post this screen shot of my calling card. I like it and I plan to hand them out at conventions. I just need to figure out when the next science fiction/fantasy or general writer's convention will be held.

It will be my first time at a convention like this.

Draft of Dust and Bones up on Scribd!

2011-09-04T21:33:00.001-07:00

Well, once again I have something new to put up on Scribd. It's always so exciting to post a new story. I just love it. Dust and Bones is almost ready for publication. So I'll be putting up a draft on Scribd in a few minutes. Please be aware that when I post on Scribd first, the draft you see is not the final draft. It's very close but not the final one. I have three more edits to do before i will consider it finished and ready for true publication but when something is almost ready I like to give people a taste. After all, If you are anything like me, you are very impatient. When you've decided you wanted something, you wanted it yesterday!

That's how I am anyway. I don't like to wait. I finished the book cover and I'm rather proud of it, if I do say so myself. I'll also put a link in the sidebar to it. Here's the link to it. Enjoy!

And once I'm done uploading it I'm going to go on a night snack run and get a burger and a slurpee

Writers need to learn the business

2011-09-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

One blog that I take time to read on a regular basis is Katheryn Kristine Rusch's blog - her Business Rusch posts in particular. These posts center on inside news and changes happening within the publishing industry. If you are a writer beginning, midlist or even well established, it is a must read and must subscribe to blog, IMO.

The latest post deals with the inability of many writers to see themselves as deserving respect and to be treated like adults with something important to add to publishing process. Writers, like many women, are afraid to speak up for themselves, she says, afraid to ask for what they need or want. This head-in-the-sand approach to a writing career worked when traditional publishing houses were able to take care of the business end of things from beginning to end. This is no longer true. A writer/author has to also be a business person if they expect to make a living from their work. We have no choice. Unless we're talking about Nora Roberts, Jean Auel or Stephen King (and I'm sure as rich and established as these authors are they probably already know quite a bit about the business side of things) it is imperative that we wear the art hat and the business hat or we may lose our way in this business.

Some authors have already done this. Take a look at guys like Michael Stackpole or Rusch or romance authors in general. They understand business. Authors who don't make this transition and refuse to try will be taken advantage of which can lead to despair. I'm very glad I stumbled on to blogs like Rusch, Wesley Dean Smith's blog and Stormwolf. The information about how to think like a business person is invaluable!

Finishing up the short

2011-08-31T10:52:00.000-07:00

The first draft of Dust and Bones will be finished by tonight, I'm glad to say. It may even be shorter than Night Terrors. At the same time this week I've been working on the book cover for it and that's just about finished. In fact I'm farther along on that than I am on the actual story.

I still have a number of edits/re-edits to do on the story. If everything goes as planned it should be ready for publication by next weekend. Of course, I'll have one of the drafts up on Scribd by next week some time.

For some reason I was excited about writing this story and I'm still happy with how it's turning out but my excitement for it has waned, even though it's been brewing in my mind for a few years now. All my excitement is going into The Pumpkin Princess. I haven't started writing the story yet and I can't wait to get started! First things first, though!

What's next on the list. . . .

2011-08-28T18:32:00.001-07:00

I'm sure that anyone reading this blog is tired of me talking about The Green Door but I have one more thing to post about it before I move on - The Green Door is now available on Amazon.com for $0.99!

Now, on to other things. I have already started my second short story, Dust and Bones. The title is tentative. It may end up just being called Bones. I don't know yet. What's interesting, and I think I wrote about this before, is that The Pumpkin Princess, which will be the second book in my Secret Doorway Tales series, actually started out as a short story idea. It became The Green Door as I thought more about what I wanted to happen in the story and then it became a series.

My process in creative writing has always been to come up with an idea, write a basic outline and then write from beginning to end. Sometimes I'll write an ending first but usually my brain works in a linear fashion when I'm writing. I have little bits of ideas and fragments I'll add in along the way.

But Dust and Bones is the first story that has come to me in fragments and impressions. Dust and Bones is being written now and I'm actually starting from the middle and working backwards and forwards to the end. One day I'll write from the middle (a game that is being played for money) and go towards the end and the next day I'll start near the middle and go to the beginning. I have never written my stories this way before and I am surprised by this new process.

So, I'm spinning this new story and I'm thinking that the first draft will be done near the end of the week. I'm hoping to have Dust and Bones completely finished and ready for publication by the week after next. Designing the book cover for this short story will be interesting, if not downright troublesome. I downloaded a free vector image for the cover and it took an entire day to be able to port it into my old version of Illustrator - Illustrator 9. I had to download a free trial of Illustrator CS5, open it in that version, save it for an older version then open it in my copy. It was a headache, all for this illustration and I don't even know if it will work out in the end. We'll see.

The good thing I got out of that farce was a free Illustrator like program that looks powerful - Inkscape! I downloaded it in hopes that it would open the vector image. it didn't until I opened it and re-saved it in a trial copy of Illustrator but I'm glad I have it. I plan to play around with it this week.

After that, I'll get started working on The Pumpkin Princess.

The Green Door is available for free download!

2011-08-27T16:01:00.000-07:00

The Green Door, part of the Secret Doorway Tales series, is finally LIVE! I know I've been posting info about its progress for some time now. People are probably sick of reading about it. Well, it's finished and I am taking a well deserved rest before I get started on my next writing project, short story called, tentatively, Dust and Bones.

The Green Door can be downloaded on Amazon (well you'll have to wait until Sunday night for that) for $0.99. I haven't figured out how to make my work free on Amazon yet.

It is available as a free download at Smashwords and also on Scribd.

About Scribd - I uploaded a revised, finalized version of the story today so it may look slightly different than what I had there this past week. I only made very minor changes though (grammar, copyright info). The story is still the same.

It's so nice to look at what you've created and "see good for all your hard work" as King Solomon once said. And now I think I'll go and get an ice cold soda and relax myself.

The Green Door

2011-08-23T22:24:00.000-07:00

The Green Door, the first in the Secret Doorway Tales series is nearly ready for publication. It will be formatted and published to Amazon and Smashwords by then. I'm uploading an "in progress" version to Scribd tomorrow. By Sunday you'll find the necessary links to this ebook to the right. Sorry about the disarray but I'm scatterbrained. I have a million things going right now but I just can't wait to release this book!

Be aware that since the Scribd version isn't the final draft, that there may be very minor changes between this version and the one you'll find on Amazon and Smashwords this weekend.

I love the concept of previewing future work. Both Jim Butcher and George R.R. Martin do this and so I have taken up the practice with my new book series.

This is my first book series and I'm excited. Hopefully you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. And it is free!

Almost done!

2011-08-21T21:02:00.000-07:00

Holy of holies!! I have finished The Green Door!

Actually, I have two more run-throughs this week (I promised myself I'd do this. I want to make sure it is truly ready for live action by next weekend) but all I really have to do now is work on the book cover, which I will start tomorrow. The heavy lifting, however, is done!

It's exciting because this is my first novelette - or my first something-bigger-than-a short-story-or-short-poetry- collection that I will publish. It's the first in a trilogy. After The Green Door I'll be writing another short story. Then it's on to the next in the trilogy, The Pumpkin Princess.

Side note: When I first started writing The Green Door, I assumed it would be a novella. As it turns out, it's a novelette. Perhaps the next two will have a large enough word count to be counted as novellas. We'll see.

What is interesting about the evolution of this trilogy is that I have always wanted to write a story about a pumpkin princess. My little niece inspired this story. In fact, the story has been brewing in my mind for a number of years now but only as a short story. It never occurred to me to make it the middle part of a trilogy. It's fascinating how an idea can brew and change in your mind over the years. The Green Door really is the first part of The Pumpkin Princess but I found it necessary to introduce readers to my little protagonist first, hence, The Green Door.

Hopefully if things go well, The Green Door will be out of the gate by next Sunday.

Finished and almost finished

2011-08-18T10:30:00.000-07:00

My new poetry book, Half Light is available on Amazon now. You can find it there for $0.99 or you can download it from Smashwords for free. it is also available on Scribd.

In other news, I just finished my second draft of The Green Door. I'll be doing three more drafts/re-writes over the weekend and the beginning of next week. The plan is that by the week after next The Green Door will be live and ready for people to download and read. Next weekend I'll be working on the cover. I may post a few thumbnails of it as a work in progress. The Green Door is part of a series (my very first series ever! Yay!!) I'm thinking, specifically that this will be a trilogy. In fact, this will be my first young adult novel/novella. E-publishing has made writing so much more exciting again!

New Poetry Book Up!

2011-08-10T21:01:00.000-07:00

I just finished my second book of poetry, Half Light and it's up on Smashwords and Scribd. I'll be uploading it on Amazon tomorrow and of course, it's free. Feel free to download on the ereader of your choice and enjoy.

My first draft of The Green Door is now done and Friday I will start with the rewrites. I'm hoping I'll be able to get it uploaded and live by the end of this month. We'll see.

Writing and reading blogs

2011-07-24T20:09:00.000-07:00

I've been keeping up with The Business Rusch blog, reading and writing everyday. My short story I'm currently working on is turning into a novella which years ago I had always thought it would be. I'm thinking I'll pair it down quite a bit before I come up with the finished product. I fully expect to be finished with this short story/novella (I don't know which just yet) by next weekend.

I've had to reformat some of the work I've already published and one of my books finally made it through to Smashwords premium catalog (yay me!) Also I've been listening to the Adventures in Scifi Publishing podcast, specifically Michael Stackpole and Kristine Katherine Rusch episodes - good stuff and very important for authors who are serious about starting or maintaining a viable writing career in these rough changing times in publishing.

Publishing is a lot of work and besides writng I can understand why some writers only want to write. I only want to write but i know that I don;'t have that luxury and never will. If I want to get anywhere I have to do things myself and I've known this and applied it to other areas of my life. So why not writing?

In any case, I'm getting more and more excited as i get to the finish line with this current story. I'm thinking that it might be a short series. It's original title was called The Pumpkin Princess and I might still use that title for the next on in the series - if I make it a series. See how crazy it is when stories morph and change over time? I have a number of projects that have done this. I have two nevels I've written that are unpublishable that are going to be gutted and reused in other upcoming stories. Fun, fun, fun!!

Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing

2011-07-18T11:32:00.001-07:00

I came across this great and informative website for science fiction and fantasy writers and readers. It's Adventures in Sci-Fi Publishing. I came across it last week and I've been listening to their podcast show all weekend long. it's a treasure trove of the ins and outs of the publishing industry especially as it relates to the genre of fantasy and science fiction - my two favorite genres. I've been learning a lot from this show about the changing face of the publishing industry and what it takes to get published. Great stuff! Any one interested in getting their work published this show is a must!

I feel like I've been missing out on so much! I've just started getting into e-publishing my own work. I wish I hadn't taken so long to put out creative work in the past. I'd have a stack of books to offer readers by now! I wish I had been writing everyday since high school, I wish, I wish, I wish. . . .

Oh well. Back to writing.

Repurposed

2011-07-15T11:32:00.000-07:00

So far my second short story is coming along. I've been a little more disciplined in my writing this year. I'm still thinking of buying a book about fairy lore for this particular story as I'm going to need it now. I could do my research from my computer but it's nice to have a book. I'm planning to buy one next week on payday.

Then there's the third one that I intend to write which is a shortened version of a failed novel I was writing. This is actually my second novel (unfinished). My first novel I intend to raid as well and use it as fodder for future work, poetry and prose. writing is like gardening in my opinion. Whatever you write, even if it can't be used in the way you originally intended, it can be re-purposed to fertilize future writing projects.

Second Person Point of View

2011-07-11T13:53:00.000-07:00

I have so many things coming in the future as far as writing projects. I'm still busy working on a second short story, I've finished the first paragraph of my second novel (the first one that will actually be published because my first one isn't publishable) and another poetry collection.

But I've always wanted to write a short story using the second person narrative. Back when I was in school I often took TAG creative writing classes and attended summer writing camps at local colleges and this became a fascination of mine. I actually did write a short short many years ago using SPPV but I lost it.

My mind is boiling and foaming with ideas about another short story using this viewpoint. It's so exciting when you first come up with an interesting idea. Not that this is something new, it's certainly been done before but have I tried it in any way that readers would be interested in reading yet? Not yet. If there are any readers to this blog have you written any stories using this point of view and if so was it difficult or easy? What was the plot about? Character? Did you find it enjoyable?

I gotta Kindle!

2011-07-08T12:23:00.000-07:00

Bought a kindle this morning! I'm ready for some downloadin' fun this weekend! I bought the graphite colored one. I was tempted to get a Kobo which was a little cheaper but I already did the research for the Kindle and decided on that before I got to the store.

Apple lost out for me because they require too much! I have an ipod touch and there is no normal hard drive on it. it's a flash drive. I have no love for flash drives. I like to drag and drop things from one place to another. no special software, no requirements for this or that, just drag and drop. The Kindle allows me that freedom. Can't wait to use it!

IndieAuthorRockstar.com

2011-07-06T11:00:00.001-07:00

A website I came across on a forum looks very promising as a vibrant and supportive community for authors and readers. That site is called Indie Author Rockstar. how it works is this, quoted directly from the site:

"Every month, our community selects one indie author to highlight and promote. During an author’s ‘rockstar’ month, we all try to do something to support that author and help turn him or her into a star. It goes a little something like this …
Any author can choose just one of his or her self-published fictional works to participate with (no erotica, please). There’s no limit on the number of authors who can participate, but each author can only submit one book at a time. Books can and will be rejected at the discretion of the admins for the site, especially books with covers that aren’t up to a relatively professional standard.
On the first of each month, five books are chosen at random. Those five books join the runner-up from the previous month, and those six books ‘audition’ to become the next month’s rock star. Everyone in the community will have one month to read or sample those six books. At the end of the month, only the authors who have submitted a book to the site will vote privately (one vote per author) to select the featured author–the rockstar–for the following month."

Remember though, you have to do your part by reading these books as well. Independent publishing is this weird, buzzing chaotic thing that is finding its place in the world and it's a great thing to be part of in any way you can as an artists or creative today. Great ideas like this one can help independent and young authors get in on the ground floor of getting their work out there, marketing and publishing and networking. it's a wonderful opportunity and one of many valuable ones out there for indie authors and it's a valuable resource in helping readers to source out the kind of stories they want to read. Like with trad publishing, there's good stuff and not so good stuff in indie publishing. Sites like these can help readers find the good stuff - and as you well know, it's all subjective. What's bad to someone else may be good to another. Indie Author Rockstar can help readers find what they want.

Any Comments?

2011-07-06T10:42:00.000-07:00

Looks like the comments section has come back. For now. HTML is so tricky for me now. it used to be pretty easy to code in HTML years ago. Now they make everything so simple that when you need to take a look under the hood you don't recognize things anymore!

Anyway, I uploaded a couple more things to HitReCord.org. Still working on The Green Door, and a nice stock photo as well for the cover. Both of my books that are currently available are free to read. If you have any comments or questions about them, plot, characters, form, themes, whatever leave me a comment or an email!

Contact/comment info

2011-07-05T11:01:00.000-07:00

Currently comments on this blog are disabled. I did it long ago when I first threw up this blog and now I'm trying to figure out how to enable them. You see this blog has the old html template not the new easy build-a-bear templates blogger gives us these days so if you've ever wondered where the comment box is please be patient as I get things slowly up and running properly. In the meantime, I've put my email over in the right column if you want to contact me.

First new poem

2011-07-04T20:18:00.000-07:00

Well, here I am again thinking about a new poetry collection. It makes me laugh to think how long it takes me to write poetry that I think is halfway decent. My first collection was about 15 years in the making. I'll surely be an old woman when the next collection, edited and culled appropriately, comes out! lol!

Anyway, I've been busy pooping out new poetry for a couple of weeks. I'm a primitive (no literary training, I just write what I feel, so yeah, my stuff is rather rough.) You've seen it here first, folks (all two of you that visit this blog.) Keep in mind it's still a work in progress. It was inspired by many things, the most important being one of my favorite poets and one of my favorite poems by him - Walter De La Mare's I Met At Eve.

A Forest Deep

I wandered through a forest deep

of many muted shades of green

in misty mountains under webs of trees

silent as forgotten dream.

In a foggy clearing a port lay

twinkling lights rest near river's edge

old barges drift in from the bay

under the morning's gray ledge

Beyond the river the geese soar

webs of firs climb the hilly steep

fog rolls across the forest floor

shadows of shadows cover the mountain keep

I wandered through a forest deep

of many muted shades of green

in misty mountains under webs of trees

silent as forgotten dream.

New short story just published

2011-07-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

I just published my first short story on Smashwords. It's called Night Terrors.

Now any who have read this blog for any length of time may have remembered that I once posted it here for free to read a few years back. But it's been edited and revamped, improved upon since then and definitely since I first wrote it back in 2000. I definitely think it's a much better story now. Now normally on this blog I will promote my work on Amazon.com and soon the link under the Featured Work to the right on this blog, will change, but Amazon.com takes a while to publish so for the time being, here it is at Smashwords.

I hope $0.99 won't break your budget. I plan to publish another short story in a few months and that one will be free. I'll give you a little hint now; It's called The Green Door. It's a working title.

Also my poetry book, When The Sky Is Gray which you can find on Smashwords and Amazon.com is also free.

What to read this summer. . .

2011-07-03T23:31:00.000-07:00

I'm listening to a new podcast I've picked up from iTunes (Beyond The Wall) and I'm thinking of buying George R.R. Marin's books and reading them over the summer. It's 11:30 at night right before the 4th of July.

I really am addicted to the internet. it's sad. :)

But seriously, I might break with tradition and read Martin's books this summer (and I need to catch up on my Jim Butcher as well). You see I usually read Dune every summer. I might skip Dune this year though. We'll see. The real reason I'm still up right now is because I've just uploaded a short story to Smashwords and It's about #700 in the queue so I've got a couple of hours before it's completely uploaded. So I might take a gander to the roof of my apartment and watch fireworks - or something.

Bad Form(mat)!

2011-07-01T22:21:00.001-07:00

I want to apologize to any readers out there that uploaded the crappily (is that a word?) formatted version of my poetry book. I'm new at Smashwords and had no idea how badly formatted it was!

Anyway. it looks like I've finally gotten the hang of things when it comes to formatting. In any case I hope that you find some happiness in reading the work even if it looks like a 5 year old formatted it!

Getting around the gatekeepers

2011-06-29T10:34:00.000-07:00

I was thinking on writing, music and the publishing world in general and how it, like the music business, is going through sea change. Not every indie author is going to get rich like Amanda Hocking but to know that at least someone out there is going to be able to have access to your work is rewarding. Is making money a goal for me? Sure. And I wouldn't mins making a few dollars here and there from my work. I also don't mind giving stuff away for free. But writing only to make money is a poor reason to write. Thinking you will be the next Amanda hocking is unrealistic. You have to love what you do. I love writing and always have. On Smashwords 16 people have already downloaded my poetry book! I'm just tickled that they took the time to check out my work! Whether they like it or not is another thing, but at least someone somewhere is reading it which is what I've wanted for so many years but was denied this. 10 years ago I couldn't get even one podunk literary newsletter to accept even one poetry submission. Things are changing and for the better for us outsiders.

The gatekeepers are still there and that's fine. I don't have anything against traditional publishing, but those of us on the outside have other options for exposure and making a living and getting our names out there. We don't have to beg at the gates anymore.

So Much Work. . .

2011-06-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

So far things are looking a bit primitive but that will change over the course of the year. I was using this blog as a space to preview my work and will continue to to do that soon. I'll have links to my music podcasts and other non-fiction work as well in the near future. Like the Isley Brother's song; I've got so much work to do!

I'm getting there! :)

Short Story On The Way

2011-06-27T15:47:00.000-07:00

My poetry ebook is now live and I'm now planning to release the first in a series of short stories. You can view it and buy it by following this link.

First Book Published On Amazon.com Kindle!

2011-06-24T21:06:00.000-07:00

I finally got my first book published on Amazon.com for the Kindle! I'm so excited! anyone can get a few free pages or buy the book for $0.99 by clicking this link! I think it's good and I'm proud of the work I've done! I even took the picture myself (from a beach trip a few years back) and made the cover art myself. Graphic design school sure comes in handy!

If anyone is interested in purchasing it, tell me what you think of my work! I'll be working on getting a small collection of short stories published next. In fact, one is already finished - I wrote it long ago but made huge revisions, a second one started off as a novel that I will be turning into a short story and I'm currently working on another one. Exciting stuff. if I could give them away for free I would but Amazon won't let me do that and a company like Amazon can give me the exposure I can't get in just any place. I'm so excited!

New Book Coming

2011-06-18T19:09:00.001-07:00

So my poetry book is coming along. I'm planning to release it on Amazon.com this weekend. I'll post a link and info when it's up and ready.

My first book

2011-06-12T21:47:00.001-07:00

I'll be using this blog far more in the future to bring attention to my work that I plan to publish on the Amazon Kindle. The first book will be my small collection of poetry.