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Happy New Year! I hope you had a great holiday season and are approaching this new year with energy, enthusiasm, and appreciation!
Now, to the update!
- Weight – I weighed in at 268 this week. I gained 3 pounds over the holidays. I didn’t want to gain anything, but three pounds isn’t the end of the world. I set a goal for this year to hit 215 by my birthday, June 14. That’s 43 pounds in 26 weeks, or just over 1.6 pounds per week. That’s a very realistic goal, particularly since I’m going to front load it with a short term goal of 15 lbs this month. We’re leaving for vacation Jan 28, and I want to look good for our destination!
- Non Fiction – I took some time off over the holidays, but now it’s back to work! Maintaining and growing social media, starting a newsletter and building a mailing list, and posting here regularly are all high priorities. I haven’t set any metrics yet for followers and such. Right now, I want to establish the routine, and build a reservoir of material for new readers to read through. Once I have a solid presence, then I’ll start working to build up!
- Fiction – Like I said, I took some time off for the holidays. I sat on the couch and watched TV with my wife, and then watched some football with the cats. I may have scared them a time or too, yelling at the screen. But now it’s time to get back into the harness and start putting words on paper. The weekly short story group started yesterday, and I plan on posting a story to the group every Friday, even while I’m on vacation. We’ll see how that goes! As for novel(s), it’s time to start working on those as well. The paranormal romance still sits at roughly 24k, and I want to have it completed by Jan 28. Then I’ll dive back into Calder Sharpe’s world and see what he’s been up to!
- Ukulele – One of my goals for the new year is to learn a new song each week and record at least one per month. This week, I’m concentrating on finishing “Hallelujah” and next week, The Rose (Bette Midler.) Other songs on my short list include “California Dreaming,” “All of Me,” “After the Goldrush,” “Over the Rainbow/Wonderful World,”and “Does your Chewing Gum Lose its Flavor (on the Bedpost Overnight?)” If there’s any song you think I should add to the list, let me know!
- What I’m Reading – Since I had time, I finished several books. First, “The Debare Snake Launcher” by Joelle Presby. This is her first solo novel and it is a good one even though it isn’t what I expected. I thought this would be more of a hard SF novel dealing with the construction of the first space elevator. Instead, it turned out to be more of a character study of the family given the contract to oversee construction of a support launcher to put supplies into orbit to build the elevator. We get to watch as the family fights deadlines, supply and construction issues, a volcano, and each other to complete construction of the launcher. Next up was Thief of Aether, by Bree Moore, book 2 of her “Shadowed Minds” series. Like the first book, this is another page turned as Lee is increasingly tangled in schemes and crossed loyalties as she tries desperately to find her way free of the magic that is killing her. Be warned, the book ends on a cliffhanger and we’ll all have to wait for book three to find out how it gets resolved. But it will be worth the wait! And right now, I’m reading Graphite and Turbulence, book two of Jami Fairleigh’s “Elemental Artist” series. It picks up immediatel after the conclusion of “Oil and Dust” as Matthew, a young Artist with the ability to alter things in the real world with his paintings continues his search to find his birth family.
- Audio books – The reviews are in (all two of them) and, based on thier feedback, I will be releasing an audio version of “The Name of the Moon” on Amazon to go along with the story. I have a few edits left to make on the audio, then I have to figure out how to post an audio to Amazon, get everything set up, and then it goes live. My goal is for it to go live before we go on vacation, but we’ll see.
And that’s it for this update!
Have a great week!
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It’s been an interesting year.
Today is Dec 31, 2022 and for me, it’s a day to look backwards to see where I’m coming from and where I’ve been. I assess the things that worked, the things that didn’t, and use that to lay out my goals and resolutions for the coming year.
2022, was a year of beginnings for me. For the first time, I started treating writing seriously,as something more than “Oh, that’s something I’d like to try. Following some great advice I got at the tail end of 2021, I wrote and sold a story. Since then, I’ve tried a few more, but nothing else has sold.
And that’s okay; I’m still learning this author gig.
I stepped outside of my comfort zone, and did some things differently. Lissa and I went to several conventions this year, and instead of focusing on having fun, I began to emphasize learning more about the job and craft of writing fiction. That journey culminated in 20Books Vegas, where I met some amazing people and learned exactly how much I need to learn to make this a success.
I recorded an audio version of my story and sent it out to a fe volunteers who listened and gave me some very encouraging feedback. I’m incorporating their suggestions in the final edit, and will post it on Amazon soon.
For the coming year, I’m setting several ambitious goals for myself, and I’ll share those tomorrow.
There are plenty of regrets and lots of things I wish I’d done differently, but the only thing I can do about those is learn, and do better moving forward.
And that’s what tomorrow’s post will be about!
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First of all, do you like the new digs? If you’re reading this via the link on Facebook, awesome! Welcome to my website. I plan on moving more and more of my posts over here. I’ll post links on Facebook back to here, but I prefer doing mjost of my longer posts fropm here.
There’s a couple of reasons for that. First, this is going to be my home on the web. Facebook is fine for short posts, sharing memes, and interacting with folks, but my posts tend to run longer than Facebook readers typically like. Most Facebookers are looking for 20-30 second interactions that they can like and then scroll along. When I write one of these updates, or post a review, I like to take a bit of time and space, and that simply works better here.
Second, I have a much greater degree f control over how my posts look. I can add inline images, host a video, link to a book or somebody else’s page, and all without worrying about Facebook throttling the post because I’ve triggered one of the algorythmically generated and unidentifiable landmines.
Which brings up the third reason, Facebook tends to be somewhat arbitrary in applying their standards and I’m putting too muich effort into these posts to allow them to just disappear becaue a bot doesn’t like a particular word choice I make.
Of course, as I post more here, I’ll be tweaking things to make them work better, and look better. I’ll be doing some other things, like building a mailing list, creating a newsletter, and stuff like that along the way, so keep your eyes opened!
Now, to the update!
- Weight – I weighed in at 265 this week for a loss of 3 more pounds. That’s a total of nine pounds lost. We leave for vacation in under 6 weeks and I’ve got a ways to go yet. Onward!
- Non Fiction – Everything is still on track. I’m hitting my goals and making my deadlines and interacting on social media. Growth is very slow, but it will come with time and persistance!
- Fiction – Horrible week. Truly horrible. And it’s all my fault, of course. I just had to write a post on maintaining a routine. Yep, things happened and my routine took a huge hit. Monday, I had family things to deal with, Tuesday and Thursday I lost to illness, Wednesday, I guess I’ll blame on illness as well. Friday, I got some writing done, but my word count really suffered for the week. But a once established, a routine has it’s own momentum and the only way to really lose that is to sit back and let it happen. So I wrote on the weekend and made up for some lost time, and I’ll be right back at it tonight at 9pm.
- Ukulele – I’m working on Hallelujah still. Such a powerful song about love and loss! I’m trying to meld a strumming pattern with fingerpicking, and singing at the same time. If I can nail this, it should be awesome!
- What I’m Reading – I finished Cedar Sanderson’s short story collection, “Crow Moon” this week and it is amazing! My full review will post tomorrow, and I’ve submitted an Amazon review as well. The short version is simple. Buy It! Each story is like an artist’s sketch; there’s enough detail to protray the story and to evoke an emotional response, but it invites you to supply details from your own imagination and emotions from your own experiences until it almost feels like you are collaborating with the writer in crafting the story. I’ve started “The Debare Snake Launcher” by Joelle Presby. Presby spins a tale of old and new cultures coming into conflict as the world’s first space elevator is being built in Africa.
- I mentioned before that I was working on an audio version of my short story. I finished the raw recording and did a basic edit last weekend and it has gone out to my alpha listeners. Based on their feedback, I will either continue to pursue recording my own stories, (and maybe do some recordings for other writers) or retire from voice work, never to be heard from again. (No pressure, alphas. Just my career. That’s all!)
And that’s it for this update! Remember, tomorrow is a full review of Crow Moon, then Wednesday will be my weekly craft post, then Friday, writer’s choice. WHo knows?
Have a great week!
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]]>Edited by William Allen Webb and Chris Kennedy, Titans Rising is a manifesto combined with a how-to book on writing and publishing. I am not exaggerating when I say it may be the most important book on how to succeed in today’s everchanging climate. Independent presses are springing up everywhere. Amazon has crashed the gates of traditional publishing and the few major houses left standing are reeling, trying desperately to hold onto control of the market. And failing. It’s a real-life Game of Thrones and the Big 4 are playing the role of Ned Stark, clinging to the past even as their heads are on the chopping block. Want a different analogy? Okay. The Big 4 are the dinosaurs; Amazon is the comet that wipes them out, and the Independent Presses are the small squeaky mammals who improvise, adapt, and take over the world. (Hmmm. Small Squeaky Mammals. Could be the name of a publishing company. Or a bad punk band.) However you want to look at it, publishing is changing and the pace of the change is accelerating. Just last month, Brandon Sanderson turned the publishing world on its head when he announced a Kickstarter to publish the four novels he wrote during the travel restricted period of the shut downs. Titans Rising shows you what you need to do to build your audience in the most credible way possible: 19 highly successful writers and publishers, from small press, indy and traditional, share their stories on how they achieved success. Not only that, but they share the mistakes they made along the way, and the resources they found that helped them get passed those mistakes It is said that a mart man learns from his mistake. Well, I think a smarter man learns from somebody else’s mistakes, and the generosity of the Titans in this book makes it possible to do just that. In fact, the resources listed alone are worth the price of the book. There are a lot of scams out there; the Titans are helping new writers and publishers to avoid some of them. One of the things I plan on doing on my second read through is to compile a list of those resources. I’ll post that list here once I do. The book is a fast read, but one I’ll come back to time and again because there’s so much good information, and just as importantly, encouragement. The Titans talk about the hard parts as well as the good parts. Seeing your stories told and being shared is awesome, but the process to get to that point is hard work and plenty of it. There will be setbacks; there will be failure and rejection. But they’ve been there, and weathered it, showing you that you can as well. Like I said at the top, I just finished the book, and it got me so fired up that even though this site is nowhere near finished, I had to write this first post, just to get the ball rolling. The closing of the book takes the advice from the Titans and turns them into Action Steps. I’m taking action. One of the points of emphasis is the absolute importance of building a marketing network, including social media, blogs, writer groups, and so on. This site you are on right now is my start at doing just that. I’ll be adding a Facebook author page, developing my Amazon page, setting up a Twitter feed, and all the other parts that go along with it. If you’re reading this close to its publish date, then congratulations; you’re here from the beginning. Welcome aboard, and I hope you enjoy the trip. I plan on being a Titan. Notice I didn’t say I want to be a Titan. Wanting, aspiring, hoping, these are all passive expressions. There’s no action implied. I’m planning and executing the plan. That’s the first step.
Not only is the paint not dry on this site, I haven’t even finished building the foundations and I’m already writing a review! That’s how important Titans Rising is.Brandon Sanderson’s Kickstarter
He raised $42 million dollars in a month. As is pointed out in Titans Rising, that’s 10x more than one of the biggest SF publishers brings in over an entire year. Sanderson has paid attention to the market, and has learned the lessons provided in Titans Rising. Build and audience, and they will support you.How to Succeed in Publishing
Moving Forward
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