It's been four months since I posted an entry to my blog.
Shame on me.
Since then, I've been on two vacations (including one without kids), the kids have started back to school, the youngest is mostly potty-trained, and I haven't made one iota of progress towards the book being published.
Yes, you read that right. Not one iota. To be honest, it has probably only crossed my mind about four times. That fills me with shame and regret. I need to get busy. If I don't get it done soon, I'll probably just give up on it, which isn't really what anyone wants.
So, what do I need to do to make it happen?
Well, first off, I need to finish writing it. I want there to be 13 stories in it. I have 12. I've looked through some of my past stuff to see if there's anything I could "polish off" and fill out the list, but none of them seem to fit correctly. Which means I need to write another story. To do that, I need three things: an idea, inspiration, and motivation.
I have plenty of ideas, but none are currently inspiring my muse, which seems to also have gone on holiday for a while. Hopefully s/he will return soon. The last part of the equation usually sparks up when the inspiration strikes, so...
What happens after I finish writing it? I need to have it edited. Self-editing can only take you so far, because you know what you intended to say, and often will read it that way when reviewing it. So, I need to find someone to edit it for me. My wife and editor has dozens of projects on her books for her art career, and I don't want her to get sidetracked from them. I also don't want to pay someone to edit them when I'll probably not recover the fees in sales. (I'm realistic about how many I'll actually sell.) We have ideas here, but don't need to worry about them until I'm ready to explore them.
Say I get it edited, then what?
Then I have to get a cover designed. Even though it will only be an e-book, I still need a cover for it. Covers are usually the first impression a potential reader has when deciding to try the book or not. Also, several sites will not put them on their featured pages without cover art. I'm not much of an artist. My wife, who is an amazing artist, also has her own projects (as I mentioned before). Assuming a time constraint in getting the cover designed, my best bet would be to develop a "temporary" cover art until a much better one could be put in it's place (the nice thing about e-publishing is that the product can be updated to change out plain cover art with better stuff, "also by this artist" pages with updated ones, etc.). that would allow me to publish it shortly after finishing the writing/editing phase without having to "push" or "rush" my wife to do a better cover on my timeline. I know she hates deadline type work and would then grow to hate the project if I did it that way versus allowing her to do it on her own timeline.
So, that being said, I will start carrying around an idea book and pencil more often (it'll also be easier since we're closing in on the time of year when I have my jacket with me when I'm out) in hopes of getting those key materials needed to getting the thirteenth story written for this collection. Maybe I'll even force myself to write even when I don't feel inspired. It's usually the advice famous artists/writers give to aspiring artists/writers. Even if I throw most of it away, I might find one gem in the bunch.
What about future stories/books, you ask?
Well, those will almost certainly happen if I can get this one story written. I have several ideas (that don't fit with this collection I think) percolating in the back of my mind. Several involve splitting up larger story ideas I've had into smaller stories that build on each other for one larger tale when put together as a whole, but each of which could be a small story in itself. Plus there's the "new takes on classic horror stories" of vampires, werewolves, zombies, etc. that I'd like to include in the same book, but none of which are beyond the early idea stages yet.
Now, on to the fun stuff:
The Sharks only have one game in Colorado this upcoming regular season, so I bought better-than-normal tickets and got second row seats across from the Avs bench for the game this year with Candice. Then right after I buy them, the school announces that the fourth grade concert (which is usually MUCH later in the school year) will be that very same night. Gabe loathes going to those events DURING and AFTER they've happened, but generally HAS to go to them because everyone else is. Since we know how he's felt about all of them in the past, we plan to divert his attention that night. We're going to give him the Blu-Ray of Captain America: Winter Soldier and let him watch it for the first time that night. Should make everyone happy.
Also, this year, Candice will be playing Fantasy Hockey with me. I'm excited that she'll be participating in a hobby I find fun. Right now I have 5 teams in the league, all of whom I know, and most of whom are mostly new to fantasy hockey. We need an even number, so I need at least one more, and preferably three more. It should be interesting seeing her root even more for some players as the season unfolds!
Megi is mostly over her feat of the potty, and is essentially potty trained. She also started preschool two days a week. Donna started kindergarten this year. My goodness where has the time gone?
We spent the money we had saved up for a new bed on getting the house painted to satisfy the HOA. It needed it anyway, but I was hoping for another year or two before we were forced to do it. Now, we're saving up for it again.
Halloween is just around the corner, and this year we have a crying angel statue to add to the cemetery. Here in a couple of weeks, we'll take the kids to get their costumes and put up the cemetery fencing, then the week of Halloween, I'll set up the rest of the stuff. Hopefully, we get a good deal on November 1st for something good to add to next year's exhibit.
Megi has figured out pedaling the tri-cycle, but still has a few issues with it, but at least we don't have to push her for the most part any more. Donna, is getting really good at riding her bike, but needs a larger one. We'll probably get that and then start on the no training wheels thing. Gabe, as always has already outgrown his bike, but until he starts learning to use his hand-brakes, we're holding off as long as possible before getting him his first adult sized bike.
I also learned about the Elio around the 4th of July weekend and made a deposit on one. I got my number in line the other day, and I should get the 5,751st Elio to roll off the assembly line next year this time.
I know I'm leaving out a bunch of stuff since I missed so many months, but thanks for reading anyway!
Showing posts with label author. Show all posts
Showing posts with label author. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Monday, May 19, 2014
Lucky 13
I was looking through my completed stories and saw that I have 12 that are ready for editing. For a short story book with dark stories, it seems more appropriate to have 13 in the book, so I need to get cracking and write another story (and get them edited) so I can get it published.
In other news, Candice has been suffering from a mystery illness for over a month now. The doctor now thinks it is her gall bladder and/or an ulcer. She goes in tomorrow morning for an ultrasound for the gall bladder, and sometime later this week or next for a throat scope to find out about the ulcer (and esophageal cancer possibilities). Either way, we probably can't start and "hard" treatments until we return from vacation mid-June time-frame. Of course, we are both fighting off a head cold right now, too.
I just started the sprinklers and cut the grass for the first time this year, so spring/summer has officially begun now.
Also, I need to take out the "missile" (luggage container that we mount on the roof of the Santa Fe for vacations) and rinse it out since it got a lot of mud, etc. in it in the rain storms last year before we were able to get it inside out of the elements. We also need to start working on a "To Do" for getting ready for our vacation. (I'm pretty sure Candice just rolled her eyes as she read that.)
Anyway, that's all I have for right now, thanks for reading!
In other news, Candice has been suffering from a mystery illness for over a month now. The doctor now thinks it is her gall bladder and/or an ulcer. She goes in tomorrow morning for an ultrasound for the gall bladder, and sometime later this week or next for a throat scope to find out about the ulcer (and esophageal cancer possibilities). Either way, we probably can't start and "hard" treatments until we return from vacation mid-June time-frame. Of course, we are both fighting off a head cold right now, too.
I just started the sprinklers and cut the grass for the first time this year, so spring/summer has officially begun now.
Also, I need to take out the "missile" (luggage container that we mount on the roof of the Santa Fe for vacations) and rinse it out since it got a lot of mud, etc. in it in the rain storms last year before we were able to get it inside out of the elements. We also need to start working on a "To Do" for getting ready for our vacation. (I'm pretty sure Candice just rolled her eyes as she read that.)
Anyway, that's all I have for right now, thanks for reading!
Friday, March 21, 2014
New Approaches
First, if you haven't read my post on how to best support your favorite independent author, do so now. Then go support them as best you can. I'll wait.
OK, thanks. They'll appreciate it (BTW, the advice will also work for new/lesser known authors with mainstream publishers, too.
So what's happening in the writing world of T. Allan Bishop lately? Well, the muse story stepped back and hasn't cried out for more to be written lately, so I have it set slightly aside. The zombie story has reshaped itself, and I've written several sections for it over the past week. It looks now like it'll be formed mostly of "newspaper articles," "police report" excerpts, "medical and lab report" excerpts, personal letters, etc. I don't know if that will be just one section that talks about the outbreak and part II might change POV to be first or third person yet or not. the story hasn't revealed details from that far ahead yet. I do know that some of the personal notes will be from at least one zombie. I know that this isn't the first time an approach like this has been used (Stephen King's Carrie comes to mind), but it's a new approach for me.
The Josef Mengele vampire story has been popping into my head a little lately, too. So, it might just turn out that I start juggling stories based on which one is yelling at me the loudest that day.
I got tired of having to constantly reboot my phone, have apps stop responding, the previously awesome battery life suddenly being non-existent, and the phone not even give me the option to answer it. I was planning on buying it later this summer when I hoped a sale would be happening (though it was going to be painful waiting that long when it was basically a paper weight). When I did a search for rumored sales of the phone I had decided I wanted, I found that it was $130 cheaper from Amazon than from Verizon, so I went ahead and got it and will be putting the money I was going to be setting aside for it to the credit card bill to pay for it. We'll keep the Amazon route in mind when we go to upgrade Candice's phone eventually, too. If it saves us $$, why not?
I got the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. The primary reason was because I have large clumsy fingers and figured (correctly) that it would be easier for me to type, etc on it. The secondary reasons was that it has handwriting recognition and I figured that could help me as a writer, and that it has good battery life. It turns out the handwriting recognition is AMAZING (but slow). It recognized my handwriting even when I wrote in my crappiest form and EVEN when I wrote in cursive. I have to write a little slower to get the handwriting recognition to work and convert to typed text, but I'll be able to use it when waiting in waiting rooms, or lying in bed and getting inspired, etc. So, as a writer, this is the first time that writing using technology has excited me instead of simply handwriting on paper with a pencil, this is another new approach for me to writing. Granted, when I really get in the groove, I will still probably use a pad and pencil for now, but eventually this might be the way I go. (This phone will also allow me to change the battery if/when this one starts to die, too).
That's all I have for this post. Thanks for reading.
OK, thanks. They'll appreciate it (BTW, the advice will also work for new/lesser known authors with mainstream publishers, too.
So what's happening in the writing world of T. Allan Bishop lately? Well, the muse story stepped back and hasn't cried out for more to be written lately, so I have it set slightly aside. The zombie story has reshaped itself, and I've written several sections for it over the past week. It looks now like it'll be formed mostly of "newspaper articles," "police report" excerpts, "medical and lab report" excerpts, personal letters, etc. I don't know if that will be just one section that talks about the outbreak and part II might change POV to be first or third person yet or not. the story hasn't revealed details from that far ahead yet. I do know that some of the personal notes will be from at least one zombie. I know that this isn't the first time an approach like this has been used (Stephen King's Carrie comes to mind), but it's a new approach for me.
The Josef Mengele vampire story has been popping into my head a little lately, too. So, it might just turn out that I start juggling stories based on which one is yelling at me the loudest that day.
I got tired of having to constantly reboot my phone, have apps stop responding, the previously awesome battery life suddenly being non-existent, and the phone not even give me the option to answer it. I was planning on buying it later this summer when I hoped a sale would be happening (though it was going to be painful waiting that long when it was basically a paper weight). When I did a search for rumored sales of the phone I had decided I wanted, I found that it was $130 cheaper from Amazon than from Verizon, so I went ahead and got it and will be putting the money I was going to be setting aside for it to the credit card bill to pay for it. We'll keep the Amazon route in mind when we go to upgrade Candice's phone eventually, too. If it saves us $$, why not?
I got the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. The primary reason was because I have large clumsy fingers and figured (correctly) that it would be easier for me to type, etc on it. The secondary reasons was that it has handwriting recognition and I figured that could help me as a writer, and that it has good battery life. It turns out the handwriting recognition is AMAZING (but slow). It recognized my handwriting even when I wrote in my crappiest form and EVEN when I wrote in cursive. I have to write a little slower to get the handwriting recognition to work and convert to typed text, but I'll be able to use it when waiting in waiting rooms, or lying in bed and getting inspired, etc. So, as a writer, this is the first time that writing using technology has excited me instead of simply handwriting on paper with a pencil, this is another new approach for me to writing. Granted, when I really get in the groove, I will still probably use a pad and pencil for now, but eventually this might be the way I go. (This phone will also allow me to change the battery if/when this one starts to die, too).
That's all I have for this post. Thanks for reading.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
How To Best Support Your Favorite Independent Author (or Artist)
Independent authors are changing the way the publishing world works. You'll often find their books published for much less than mainstream publishing books electronically for e-readers like the Kindle, Nook, iPad, tablets, etc. Some even release a book for free in hopes that people will like it and will purchase their other books.
When you discover one of these authors, there are some things you can do to make them more successful. This has already happened to some, who have been picked up by larger publishers for better distribution. Here's a small list that isn't all-inclusive:
1. The obvious: Buy their books.
2. The next obvious: Tell your friends and family.
3. The not-so-obvious: Write a review of their book. This is perhaps the most important thing you can do, because it will reach so many more people and surveys have shown that at twice as many of "first time" book purchases for a new author are based more on reviews than by recommendations from friends or family.
4. Corollary to #3: Review the book on other sites where you can. This includes other venues where it can be bought as well as sites like Goodreads and Shelfari.
5: Important corollary to numbers 3 and 4: Do not write a review that will make the book sound better than it really is. Write an HONEST review of it. If it is 4 stars, don't give it 5 just because you've liked their other works or know them and want them to be more successful. Write it honestly and include enough details to help someone else decide if they, too, might like to read it (but not so much you reveal the story).
6. If they have a web page, share it on social media for them.
7. If they have a social media presence, follow them. But it isn't enough to just follow them. You also need to share, click like, +1, etc. their posts. Facebook for instance, inhibits small businesses and independent authors and artists from being seen by their core audience and followers with their algorithm to show "what is important" by only selecting random posts from a site you've clicked "like" on. The more posts from that page gets shared and/or liked, the more of their posts that will show to people that have already clicked "like" on their page (and the more likely they can then click "like" or "share").
8. Corollary to #7: go to their page just in case you didn't get to see some of their posts.
9. Encourage them. Post something to their page letting them know you anxiously await their next book, but don't be too pushy. Artists and Authors like encouragement, but not so much pressure to complete something.
10. Repeat.
That's all for this week's blog. Thanks for reading.
Connect with Me
When you discover one of these authors, there are some things you can do to make them more successful. This has already happened to some, who have been picked up by larger publishers for better distribution. Here's a small list that isn't all-inclusive:
1. The obvious: Buy their books.
2. The next obvious: Tell your friends and family.
3. The not-so-obvious: Write a review of their book. This is perhaps the most important thing you can do, because it will reach so many more people and surveys have shown that at twice as many of "first time" book purchases for a new author are based more on reviews than by recommendations from friends or family.
4. Corollary to #3: Review the book on other sites where you can. This includes other venues where it can be bought as well as sites like Goodreads and Shelfari.
5: Important corollary to numbers 3 and 4: Do not write a review that will make the book sound better than it really is. Write an HONEST review of it. If it is 4 stars, don't give it 5 just because you've liked their other works or know them and want them to be more successful. Write it honestly and include enough details to help someone else decide if they, too, might like to read it (but not so much you reveal the story).
6. If they have a web page, share it on social media for them.
7. If they have a social media presence, follow them. But it isn't enough to just follow them. You also need to share, click like, +1, etc. their posts. Facebook for instance, inhibits small businesses and independent authors and artists from being seen by their core audience and followers with their algorithm to show "what is important" by only selecting random posts from a site you've clicked "like" on. The more posts from that page gets shared and/or liked, the more of their posts that will show to people that have already clicked "like" on their page (and the more likely they can then click "like" or "share").
8. Corollary to #7: go to their page just in case you didn't get to see some of their posts.
9. Encourage them. Post something to their page letting them know you anxiously await their next book, but don't be too pushy. Artists and Authors like encouragement, but not so much pressure to complete something.
10. Repeat.
That's all for this week's blog. Thanks for reading.
Connect with Me
Follow me on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/TAllanBishop
Follow me on Twitter:
@TAllanBishop
Follow my blog: http://anblicksanamorphosis.blogspot.com/
I’m also on Tumblr: http://tallanbishop.tumblr.com/
Favorite me at Smashwords:
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/TAllanBishop
Find me on Google +: http://plus.google.com/+TimBishopTAllanBishop
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Fonts Can Be A Hassle
Since Forbidden Knowledge has Macedonian, Chinese, and Arabic Text in it, I searched for a way to get them to all show up without having to mess with a whole lot of fonts that might not be in some handheld readers. I found that Arial Unicode MS was available on most. But after reading some more, I'm finding that many of them don't support displaying the extra characters needed to show those languages. Which of course means that I will have to change the story some if I plan to publish it in At The Turn Of Midnight (the tentative title of book number two). I'm torn between rewriting the parts to just mention the various languages used on the book cover, or making a picture that I include that shows them similarly to how I show them in the text of the story. Feedback would be appreciated. Would the pictures (there would be two, slightly different) distract from the story or enhance it? One would look similar to the one I've included on a few other blog posts and also include here below:
The muse story has grown some more, and parts of the beginning have been re-written to fit the way the story seems to be headed.
Also, in my self-editing phase, I've written about 300 more words to Cat's Eye View, which is about how a cat sees the world it lives in. I've also made some changes to The Journey, which is a sort of surreal story of a man's journey through the cosmos. Tomorrow I hope to either write some more towards one of my ongoing short stories I'm working on, or to do some more editing on the stories from Dark Stories For A Restless Night.
That's all for this blog. Thanks for reading, and come back soon. I plan to write a blog on how you can best help support your favorite independent author (hint: it's a lot more than just buying their books)
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Pricing For Dark Stories For A Restless Night
I was reading The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success from Smashwords today since the words weren't flowing when I had a chance to write, and it looks like my pricing might be wrong. In it, it discusses sales at various price ranges. $.01-$.99 had a sales ratio of 5.9x, $1-$1.99 was 3.2x, $2-$2.99 was 6.22x, $6-$6.99 was 2.2x, and $10+ was 1x. For some reason, in two different years of doing the analysis, having a sale price between a dollar and $1.99 was kind of a black hole for sales. With that in mind, I plan to now price it at $0.99. That should get it out to quite a bit more readers.
On another writing note, I did write more for the muse story the other night, though I think the second section that I wrote belongs at the beginning. It's also shaping up to be a frightening story for artist types. We'll see if my muse strikes some more later this week.
That's all I have for this entry, thanks for reading!
On another writing note, I did write more for the muse story the other night, though I think the second section that I wrote belongs at the beginning. It's also shaping up to be a frightening story for artist types. We'll see if my muse strikes some more later this week.
That's all I have for this entry, thanks for reading!
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Writing Update 19 Feb 14
First, some exciting news on the writing front: I'm up to ten pages in Forbidden Knowledge (not including the title page) now, with a total of almost two thousand words, and the story seems like it still has a lot more to tell me. I'm excited to find out how it'll end. Since I finally started listening to Forbidden Knowledge and writing down the story as it relates itself to me, I haven't put much thought (if any) into the other stories.
I think the name for the second short story collection will be At The Turn Of Midnight, and Forbidden Knowledge will be the first story I plan to put into it. Once I finish writing it (the short story, not the collection), though, I really need to focus my energy on editing and cover design for Dark Stories For A Restless Night. If I don't, I'll probably never actually publish it, so I'll need to crack the whip on myself.
In other news, Donna burned her hand pretty badly a week ago. When I first got home and found out about it, the blister was about a half inch by a quarter inch, so I found some second skin and put it on it. But about 4 hours later, the blister had grown in size to where it was now larger than the patch I'd put on it. So, we took her to the doctor the next morning and had her treated. Yesterday, it finally popped, so we took her back. It's healing up pretty nicely, but I doubt she'll want to mess with the oven anytime soon as a result of the burn.
I'm now bandage free after my altercation with the knife I was using to cut apart ribs last week. It still hurts occasionally and is still pretty sensitive to direct pressure, but it is healing up nicely.
Gabe had a weird bout with something Friday at school where he was laying on the playground and his eyes were twitching. When he got up, he walked a few steps and then dropped to his knees momentarily. They called home to tell Candice that they were going to keep a closer eye on him. Later, he was (seemingly) unable to track what he was looking at on the computer, so they called home again and we went to pick him up. He was quite upset that he missed the Valentine's Day party, but we'd rather be safe than sorry. We took him to the doctor, and she concluded that it was probably one of three things, either a mild virus, a seizure, or heart problems. We're going to make an appointment for an EKG here soon to eliminate the last option. The other two aren't nearly as worrisome for now. If it was a virus, it's likely out of his system. If it was a seizure, it's likely just a one time thing, as he's never had them before and hasn't shown any other signs of having more.
Also recently, Megi and Candice have both hurt themselves, so, if we can stop having unexpected medical expenses, that'd be great.
I got a decent amount of painting done on the door nameplates over the past few days. Hopefully, I'll get them done soon and get them fully assembled so I can hang them up and actually have another woodworking project I set out to do completed.
Yesterday, Megi managed to somehow knock her door off of two of it's hinges, stripping out the screws and all. Mind you, she's only two and a half years old. We're not sure how she managed it, but in the process of repairing it, I discovered that it had happened before. It was holding up halfway decently, so I'm still not sure how she managed to do it. BUT, in looking at the previous handiwork (along with lots of other repair work the previous owners did to the house), I'm surprised the previous owners made money at being in the contracting business, because he SUCKED at basic home repair stuff. In this case, he used a drywall screw anchor to "fix" the door screws. In other instances, he also used screws that were a quarter of an inch wide (not deep - wide) for hanging pictures on the wall. There's lots more, but I really don't know how the man made money. Then again, maybe he did stuff just good enough that no one realized he was crappy, and he moved because it was getting about time that things might start to fail, so he needed to leave before his reputation would affect his business.
Anyway, that's all I have for this blog. Thanks for reading.
Monday, February 10, 2014
More Forbidden Knowledge
So, I cut my finger open yesterday. I was cutting ribs apart to freeze and glanced away for a second while talking and that was all it took. The knife was extremely sharp, and it didn't start bleeding for a while despite being pretty deep. The cleanness of the cut (by that I mean how narrow a cut, not actual cleanliness - I was cutting raw pork ribs after all) allowed me to not need stitches, but rather a benzine glue type substance and steri-strips. Then they put this annoying tube gauze over my finger that I was to leave on for 24 hours (I'm taking it off after I finish typing this since it has been on for around 29 hours how (though, it'd probably be easier to type without it on since it only hurts when I completely straighten out the finger or bump the sore part which is right around the last knuckle on my non-dominant hand's index finger - putting pressure anywhere else is fine).
When I got to Urgent Care, they informed me it'd be two to three hours, so I sent Candice home while I waited so the kids could be put down for their nap, etc. While waiting for so long, I came up with the brilliant idea to <gasp> write. So, I walked down the way to the (literally) corner drug store and bought a new pad and some new mechanical pencils, went back and started writing.
I wrote the first sentence of what is to be Forbidden Knowledge, and it promptly yelled at me that I had written something completely wrong. So I turned the page and started over. by the way, the wrong sentence read "Nathaniel woke from the repeated rapping at his door." It now reads "Nathaniel Scribner opened the doors of the library to the complete disarray inside."
That's all you get for now, but suffice it to say that I now see why the story told me I'd screwed up because it's a much better story the way it is heading now. Did I mention that I now have 5 typed pages? Woo Hoo for me (and the story).
Well, momentum is going for it, but hopefully it doesn't get derailed. I have a tendency not to write when I'm around people I want to be around, which usually means I don't write at home unless they are all busy doing other things and then I might take the time to write.
I have no idea how much more the story has to revel to me and my pencil, but it's fairly exciting to see the words as I write them.
On a related note, my "new" laptop that I salvaged a few weeks back started dying. It was taking me about two hours of getting it to boot/repair startup/etc for every 15 minutes of use. So, I broke down and got a new one. I managed to get a decent one for about $400, but it's a Windows 8 machine. I figured out how to get it to (mostly) behave like a Windows 7 machine, so I can bear to use it. Now I just need to get a new copy of Office (and not that 365 crap - I need to be able to use it when I don't have internet access, too - plus I don't want to have to keep paying for it every month).
Anyway, that's all I have for this post, thanks for reading!
When I got to Urgent Care, they informed me it'd be two to three hours, so I sent Candice home while I waited so the kids could be put down for their nap, etc. While waiting for so long, I came up with the brilliant idea to <gasp> write. So, I walked down the way to the (literally) corner drug store and bought a new pad and some new mechanical pencils, went back and started writing.
I wrote the first sentence of what is to be Forbidden Knowledge, and it promptly yelled at me that I had written something completely wrong. So I turned the page and started over. by the way, the wrong sentence read "Nathaniel woke from the repeated rapping at his door." It now reads "Nathaniel Scribner opened the doors of the library to the complete disarray inside."
That's all you get for now, but suffice it to say that I now see why the story told me I'd screwed up because it's a much better story the way it is heading now. Did I mention that I now have 5 typed pages? Woo Hoo for me (and the story).
Well, momentum is going for it, but hopefully it doesn't get derailed. I have a tendency not to write when I'm around people I want to be around, which usually means I don't write at home unless they are all busy doing other things and then I might take the time to write.
I have no idea how much more the story has to revel to me and my pencil, but it's fairly exciting to see the words as I write them.
On a related note, my "new" laptop that I salvaged a few weeks back started dying. It was taking me about two hours of getting it to boot/repair startup/etc for every 15 minutes of use. So, I broke down and got a new one. I managed to get a decent one for about $400, but it's a Windows 8 machine. I figured out how to get it to (mostly) behave like a Windows 7 machine, so I can bear to use it. Now I just need to get a new copy of Office (and not that 365 crap - I need to be able to use it when I don't have internet access, too - plus I don't want to have to keep paying for it every month).
Anyway, that's all I have for this post, thanks for reading!
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Forbidden Knowledge
I almost wrote last night. In fact, I
wanted to write last night. But the kids
(or more specifically Megi) insisted I play with them, so I spent quality time
with the kids, which is way more important than progressing on my quest to be a
writer.
Yet
again, the story pulling me towards it is Forbidden Knowledge, so I think I’ll
have to give it some attention soon to keep it from sulking off to a corner of
my mind and dying a lonely death. The
zombie story hasn’t been pulling that strongly lately (or if it has, its
screams have been getting drowned out by the much louder ones from Forbidden
Knowledge. The cover of the book in the
story looks a lot like this in my mind (though the writing shouldn't be nearly as neat):
What I’m curious about, is how the book is dangerous,
exactly. Because the story hasn’t given
my conscious mind a clue yet about how it will be dangerous, which is perhaps
why I’m hearing it call me more than other stories lately.
A friend at work recently gave me a PS2 for our kids (along with
a bunch of games) and a desktop computer.
We hooked the PS2 up this past weekend and got it kind of working (the
controllers seem to have a mind of their own).
We ordered some new games (Katamari Damacy, and a bunch of 80’s classics
so that the kids can start with them and move into the better graphics of
slightly more modern games) and a couple of new controllers. We’ll dole out the games as they behave, and
also will have a new method to try and mold proper behaviors. I’ll probably hook the desktop up this
weekend, and get it connected to the network.
We’ll use it for the kids to do schoolwork until we can’t use it
anymore.
Also with the PS2 bundle was a bunch of “duplicate” games. Not exact duplicates, but previous year
editions of sports games such as Madden Football, etc. We’ll try to sell the older versions, keep
the newest one of each type, and use the money from that to buy new, different
games.
That’s all I have for this entry, thanks for reading!
Friday, January 24, 2014
Writing Update 24 Jan 2014
I have two stories vying for attention at the moment
to be in the next book, which I tentatively plan to call At The Turn Of Midnight.
The Forbidden
Knowledge story keeps popping into my head for some reason. Maybe I should take that as a sign. The latest way it popped into my head was via the main character’s name: Nathaniel Scribner, which seems to fit a
librarian character from the mid-1800s in my mind for some reason. Maybe this weekend I’ll see if this story is
serious about wanting to be written, or if it’s just taunting me with trying to
stay in my mind for some reason.
Of course, at the same time, the untitled zombie
story keeps popping into my mind, though not as intrusively as Forbidden Knowledge. It doesn’t want to be forgotten either (as I
wrote at the end of Vivarium),
but definitely has spoken to me about changing its format from simply a “first
person zombie story” to something more.
I also plan to sit and edit some. My method for self-editing takes two
forms. First, I read each sentence one
at a time in reverse order (since I’m already familiar with the story, this is
the best way to see if each sentence works alone). Then, I’ll just read through and make sure
that no story/plot/character flaws stand out to me.
I need to set a deadline for editing and cover art for
Dark Stories For A Restless Night so
that I’m at least forced into trying to meet it. I’ll have to ponder just when that might need
to be. I imagine it’ll take at least a
good month or two to get both done. And
maybe a month after that to get everything set to pull the trigger on
publishing. Which means I should
probably pick a date about three months before I plan to publish. Whenever that is. Maybe right at the start of summer for the
available online dates? Feedback would
be appreciated.
I’m toying with the idea of using an actual photo
for the cover art, or a “sketch” of the photo.
I’ve found some decent photo to sketch sites. This one does just grayscale: http://www.dumpr.net/sketch.php,
while this one does color sketches: http://www134.lunapic.com/editor/?action=color-sketch. I think our concept is going to be a table
set up for a garage sale or antique store with items related to each story on
it. This stems from the story Mary’s Painting in the book where she
buys a painting from an antique store that leads to the story line. I’m not sure what item would be there from
each story yet, but I like the idea. I
just don’t know which might prove to be better - a sketch of “live” photo.
There
are eight stories in Dark Stories For A
Restless Night. Some stories lend themselves easily to what the item or
items on the table could be, while others aren’t so easily. Here’s a listing of the stories included in
the book:
Mary's Painting - A woman buys more than she expects when
she purchases a painting on a whim
Sins of the Father - A priest defends the mission he presides
over
The Fall - A young boy awakens after a bad accident
while playing
Darkness - A group sets out on a rescue mission in
the Mexican jungles and finds themselves at peril
Cat's Eye View - Find out why cats behave the way they do
The Viewing - Witness the last days of life on a
distant planet
The Journey - A man travels exestentially through the
cosmos
Un-Separation - A man's unhappy and unexpected reunion
with his wife
That’s all the news directly related to my writing
projects. There has been some that
affects my ability to write. This past
week saw me lose my laptop. It also saw
me figure out a way to salvage a laptop from two unusable laptops. I took the hard drive from my most recent
laptop that won’t even power up any more and put it in the older laptop that
wouldn’t boot up completely and system restore couldn’t fix. I was able to get system restore to reset the
newer hard drive’s software to work in the new laptop, but also had to
reinstall any software that I use regularly like Microsoft Office. Fortunately, I still had one more install
available for my last Office purchase.
That is all of the writing related news. For those of you that are interested in other
stuff, feel free to read on.
In the past few weeks, everyone in the house has
gotten sick in some way or another. Gabe
and Candice have both gotten strep.
Grandma has some mystery illness but hasn’t gone to the doctor about it
yet. Donna and Megi got a stomach bug
that saw them both throwing up. Poor
Megi was throwing up for the first time and was terrified. And I had an intestinal bug the other night. I’m hoping that the girls and I don’t catch
the strep that is making its way through our family.
That’s all I have for this entry. Thanks for reading!
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Vivarium
Well, yesterday, my laptop overheated. I let it cool down and started it up again so I could shut it down properly. After that, it wouldn't even entertain the though of turning on again. This is very frustrating, because the budget doesn't have any room to get a new laptop or have a major repair of this one. I have a friend who is going to look at it and let me know just how bad it is. Hopefully, he can get it where it'll at least start again and all I'll have to pay for is a fan and give him some Guinness beer for his time and effort (assuming it's not a major job). In the mean time, however, I have to share Candice's computer with her and find other things to do with my time. Maybe this is a sign I should actually get to my "second job" of being an author.
Also, last night, we finally set up the vivarium we've had for nearly a year now that was just collecting dust. Today, we went and got frogs for it. Since they're nocturnal creatures, we decided to name them after night related gods. We've named them Morpheus, Nyx, and Apollo. Morpheus is the god of dreams. Nyx is the goddess of night. And Apollo rides across the sky in a chariot when morning arises. They are all green tree frogs for us to get the hang of it. At $5 each, it's not so bad if we fail with them as it would be if they were the red eye tree frogs that run about $50 each.
Eventually, we'll have the other kind (or something cooler). We'll probably not stop there, either, but we will probably slow down on new pet acquisitions for a while, if for no other reason than the budget won't allow for it.
Candice hasn't been motivated to create lately, so hopefully the new creatures might inspire her a bit.
That, or they'll keep us up all night barking and we'll both lose all creative drive from sleep deprivation.
Here's some pictures of the froggies:
And the vivarium (the first two are from just before we finished setting it up):
To be honest, we haven't done a single thing towards editing or cover design in over a week and a half. Don't worry, though, we will still have the book out this year one way or another, and it should be available in the store you get your e-books from. I have a page or so written on the zombie story, and it is starting to morph into being told multiple different ways within the story itself. I think there will be excerpts from several different writing sources (scientific documents, personal correspondence, news stories, etc) that when combined in the right order, will tell the basic story. Don't worry, part of it is still indeed first person point of view from at least one of the zombies. I'm not sure how it will all play out yet, though. And to be sure, that's the way I prefer it. If I know where the story will lead before I get there, I will lose interest in it and not actually write it.
Anyway, that's all I have for this blog post at this time. Have a nice day and thanks for reading!
Also, last night, we finally set up the vivarium we've had for nearly a year now that was just collecting dust. Today, we went and got frogs for it. Since they're nocturnal creatures, we decided to name them after night related gods. We've named them Morpheus, Nyx, and Apollo. Morpheus is the god of dreams. Nyx is the goddess of night. And Apollo rides across the sky in a chariot when morning arises. They are all green tree frogs for us to get the hang of it. At $5 each, it's not so bad if we fail with them as it would be if they were the red eye tree frogs that run about $50 each.
Eventually, we'll have the other kind (or something cooler). We'll probably not stop there, either, but we will probably slow down on new pet acquisitions for a while, if for no other reason than the budget won't allow for it.
Candice hasn't been motivated to create lately, so hopefully the new creatures might inspire her a bit.
That, or they'll keep us up all night barking and we'll both lose all creative drive from sleep deprivation.
Here's some pictures of the froggies:
Nyx (The small one)
Morpheus (Adventurous)
Apollo (Shy)
And the vivarium (the first two are from just before we finished setting it up):
To be honest, we haven't done a single thing towards editing or cover design in over a week and a half. Don't worry, though, we will still have the book out this year one way or another, and it should be available in the store you get your e-books from. I have a page or so written on the zombie story, and it is starting to morph into being told multiple different ways within the story itself. I think there will be excerpts from several different writing sources (scientific documents, personal correspondence, news stories, etc) that when combined in the right order, will tell the basic story. Don't worry, part of it is still indeed first person point of view from at least one of the zombies. I'm not sure how it will all play out yet, though. And to be sure, that's the way I prefer it. If I know where the story will lead before I get there, I will lose interest in it and not actually write it.
Anyway, that's all I have for this blog post at this time. Have a nice day and thanks for reading!
Monday, January 13, 2014
Coincidence, A sign, or Just Annoying?
The story I'm currently working on is a first person zombie tale. It begins with the first death scene from Darkness, though there is no need to read Darkness before it. It will stand alone. the connection is just a nice tie-in between stories, where the villain from one story is also the cause of the situation in the other story. There are a few clues in Darkness, but not reading one or the other wouldn't leave you feeling like you missed something. (Darkness will be in my upcoming book Dark Stories For A Restless Night.)
The story doesn't have a title yet, not even a working one. It's still in early writing phase. For most of my stories, I have at most a vague idea of what is going to happen, if that, and I let the words for the story as they flow off my pencil.
That being said, though, I jotted down an idea back in October when Candice and I were listening to The Shining in anticipation of the new Doctor Sleep book by Stephen King. It simply read "Not all books should be opened. Not all knowledge should be gained." It was inspired by a quick blurb when Jack found the scrapbook in the basement of the Overlook and something told him not to open the book because not all books should be opened.
After that, I proceeded to write a few paragraphs from that, and even got a general idea of where it might go. I never typed it up, and came across the idea a month later, but not the start of the story that I'd written, so I started it again. Suffice it to say, none of those ever got typed up even as a place marker to start writing the story. In the past week, I've come across the idea again, as well as each of the handwritten pages that start the story. It's very odd that they would keep popping in front of me at different times.
It makes me wonder if it's a sign that I should be working on that story, if it's just coincidence, or if it's just annoying. Anyway, I've typed them up and at least saved them so that I can work on them later. Here's the first few paragraphs, let me know what you think of the opening:
Preface
Not all books should be opened. Not all knowledge should be gained. I know this now, but I’d have considered those words blasphemous for a librarian to utter even a year ago.
Back then, I ravenously fed on all knowledge and reading. I cherished any ancient text that my hungry brain could come across. To me, there was no concept even of forbidden knowledge.
But now I know better. Now I know that some knowledge should be forbidden.
That's the preface and likely the tag lines for the story. I'm not sure if I'll switch over to writing more on it now, or if I'll wait, or if I'll split time between the two.
If I keep coming across "signs" to write more on the "Forbidden Knowledge" project, I might have to finally take notice that I'm meant to work on it before my first person zombie story (even though it is finally starting to come to the surface).
As for the zombie story, the preface (as I mentioned earlier) appears in a slightly different form in Darkness. Then, when I start telling the story, it's in the form of a letter from the main character. I'm thinking about including pictures of the scrawl along with the typed text to show just how unreadable it is, since it is being written by someone with very little control over their muscles. What I don't know is if that is just a quick blurb of a story that'll be followed by a separate, bigger zombie story, or if it'll lead to a bigger story within the one I'm already writing.
Other projects waiting in the writing wing include my vampire story where Josef Mengele is the vampire and retells history from that aspect. Since Josef is the main character in it, I have to find a way to make him more sympathetic, while at the same time still a horrendously horrible person from history. I also have a werewolf story brewing in my head too, so that it appears like a big portion of the second book might be my takes on some classic horror genres.
Either way, it all seems to be coming together as long as I can keep motivated.
On a different front, here are some season and half-season premier dates we're looking forward to in the near future:
Face Off - 14 Jan 2014
Walking Dead - 9 Feb 2014
Whose Line Is It Anyway? - 21 Mar 2014
That's all I have for this entry. Thanks for reading.
The story doesn't have a title yet, not even a working one. It's still in early writing phase. For most of my stories, I have at most a vague idea of what is going to happen, if that, and I let the words for the story as they flow off my pencil.
That being said, though, I jotted down an idea back in October when Candice and I were listening to The Shining in anticipation of the new Doctor Sleep book by Stephen King. It simply read "Not all books should be opened. Not all knowledge should be gained." It was inspired by a quick blurb when Jack found the scrapbook in the basement of the Overlook and something told him not to open the book because not all books should be opened.
After that, I proceeded to write a few paragraphs from that, and even got a general idea of where it might go. I never typed it up, and came across the idea a month later, but not the start of the story that I'd written, so I started it again. Suffice it to say, none of those ever got typed up even as a place marker to start writing the story. In the past week, I've come across the idea again, as well as each of the handwritten pages that start the story. It's very odd that they would keep popping in front of me at different times.
It makes me wonder if it's a sign that I should be working on that story, if it's just coincidence, or if it's just annoying. Anyway, I've typed them up and at least saved them so that I can work on them later. Here's the first few paragraphs, let me know what you think of the opening:
Preface
Not all books should be opened. Not all knowledge should be gained. I know this now, but I’d have considered those words blasphemous for a librarian to utter even a year ago.
Back then, I ravenously fed on all knowledge and reading. I cherished any ancient text that my hungry brain could come across. To me, there was no concept even of forbidden knowledge.
But now I know better. Now I know that some knowledge should be forbidden.
That's the preface and likely the tag lines for the story. I'm not sure if I'll switch over to writing more on it now, or if I'll wait, or if I'll split time between the two.
If I keep coming across "signs" to write more on the "Forbidden Knowledge" project, I might have to finally take notice that I'm meant to work on it before my first person zombie story (even though it is finally starting to come to the surface).
As for the zombie story, the preface (as I mentioned earlier) appears in a slightly different form in Darkness. Then, when I start telling the story, it's in the form of a letter from the main character. I'm thinking about including pictures of the scrawl along with the typed text to show just how unreadable it is, since it is being written by someone with very little control over their muscles. What I don't know is if that is just a quick blurb of a story that'll be followed by a separate, bigger zombie story, or if it'll lead to a bigger story within the one I'm already writing.
Other projects waiting in the writing wing include my vampire story where Josef Mengele is the vampire and retells history from that aspect. Since Josef is the main character in it, I have to find a way to make him more sympathetic, while at the same time still a horrendously horrible person from history. I also have a werewolf story brewing in my head too, so that it appears like a big portion of the second book might be my takes on some classic horror genres.
Either way, it all seems to be coming together as long as I can keep motivated.
On a different front, here are some season and half-season premier dates we're looking forward to in the near future:
Face Off - 14 Jan 2014
Walking Dead - 9 Feb 2014
Whose Line Is It Anyway? - 21 Mar 2014
Game of Thrones - 6 Apr 2014
That's all I have for this entry. Thanks for reading.
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Close To Completion
Today, I finished handwriting the last of the latest short story I was working on for the book coming out this year some time. It was five pages and my thumb joint jot a cramp near the end, but it was worth it. I still have to type it up and polish it up some, but it ended itself pretty well. I haven't decided yet whether to attempt to write the companion story for this story before putting out this book or have it be the first story I write for the next book. It'll probably depend on how well the writing attempt goes before I make the decision.
For now, my biggest decision will be what to title the first book of short stories. I originally had one thing in mind, then another. Now, I'm leaning towards Dark Stories For A Restless Night. I might think of something more awe-inspiring later.
For now, the book consists of the following stories (And a quick blurb about each):
Mary's Painting - A woman buys more than she expects when she purchases a painting on a whim
Sins of the Father - A priest defends the mission he presides over
The Fall - A young boy awakens after a bad accident while playing
Darkness - A group sets out on a rescue mission in the Mexican jungles and finds themselves at peril
Cat's Eye View - Find out why cats behave the way they do
The Viewing - Witness the last days of life on a distant planet
The Journey - A man travels exestentially through the cosmos
Un-Separation - A man's unhappy and unexpected reunion with his wife
That's all I have for this entry, thanks for reading.
For now, my biggest decision will be what to title the first book of short stories. I originally had one thing in mind, then another. Now, I'm leaning towards Dark Stories For A Restless Night. I might think of something more awe-inspiring later.
For now, the book consists of the following stories (And a quick blurb about each):
Mary's Painting - A woman buys more than she expects when she purchases a painting on a whim
Sins of the Father - A priest defends the mission he presides over
The Fall - A young boy awakens after a bad accident while playing
Darkness - A group sets out on a rescue mission in the Mexican jungles and finds themselves at peril
Cat's Eye View - Find out why cats behave the way they do
The Viewing - Witness the last days of life on a distant planet
The Journey - A man travels exestentially through the cosmos
Un-Separation - A man's unhappy and unexpected reunion with his wife
That's all I have for this entry, thanks for reading.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Connections
Today I created my author page on Facebook (It already has 74 likes in around 5 hours! Thanks), so I have most of the social media outlets covered in case anyone actually reads my book and decides to "follow" me. Here's the list of ways to follow or connect with me so far. Let me know if there's any other ones I've missed that are mainstream enough to be considered (i.e. not MySpace):
Connect with Me
Connect with Me
Follow me on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/TAllanBishop
Follow me on Twitter:
@TAllanBishop
Follow my blog: http://anblicksanamorphosis.blogspot.com/
I’m also on Tumblr: http://tallanbishop.tumblr.com/
Favorite me at Smashwords (This will be the publisher for all the sites other than Kindle):
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/TAllanBishop
Find me on Google +: http://plus.google.com/+TimBishopTAllanBishop
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Putting more squiggly lines on the paper
Well, I worked Mid Shifts (overnights, 3rd shifts, etc. for those of you not familiar with the term) for two nights at the end of this week, and hoped that it would result in writing some of my story. Instead what I found was that Mid Shifts are not at all conducive to writing. They are not conducive to any creative thought, unless it's the ones that keep you awake when you're TRYING to go to sleep instead of trying to stay awake. Well, aside from that, I did get a few hundred more words written towards Darkness.
I hope to write some more towards it later today or tonight. Either way, I did at least make progress towards finishing it.
On the non-writing front, we got the curtain rod and curtains for Megi's room today when we went out for a flag pole. I'll likely hang them this week some time, which will leave paint touch-up, painting doors (both closet and main bedroom door, carpet cleanup, and moving in the dressers which we will likely sand and re-stain after the weather turns warmer (April time frame). I'm not sure what the next actual project is for getting the house the way we want it, but I suspect it'll become the master bedroom.
Anyway, that's all I have for this blog, thanks for reading.
I hope to write some more towards it later today or tonight. Either way, I did at least make progress towards finishing it.
On the non-writing front, we got the curtain rod and curtains for Megi's room today when we went out for a flag pole. I'll likely hang them this week some time, which will leave paint touch-up, painting doors (both closet and main bedroom door, carpet cleanup, and moving in the dressers which we will likely sand and re-stain after the weather turns warmer (April time frame). I'm not sure what the next actual project is for getting the house the way we want it, but I suspect it'll become the master bedroom.
Anyway, that's all I have for this blog, thanks for reading.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Christmas Day So Far In The Bishop Household 12/25/2013
The day started at three o'clock in the morning. Gabe actually woke up around twelve thirty, but we managed to hold him off for another two and a half hours. The morning proceeded for about a half hour for Donna and Gabe to see what Santa brought them (and for Mom and Dad, too). We then convinced them to take some of their stuff upstairs to their room to play with while we tried to get just a tad bit more sleep. We then got up at seven for Megi to see what she got and for the immediate family to open presents from each other (and from family that would not be in attendance later today). She handled it much better than I expected. I expected her to be so overwhelmed that she'd shut down, but instead, she, though overwhelmed, took it mostly in stride and really got into the unwrapping part. She was not at all pleased with the "quality" job that toy manufacturers do at securing the toys in the packaging. Neither am I.
Then mom made French toast for everyone for breakfast, which was quite good. We finished watching A Christmas Carol that we tried to watch last night (until dinnertime interrupted the movie temporarily and then Grandma commandeered the television to watch ID). Then the kids played for a while as Candice and I cleaned and made preparations for the meal later today when the extended family arrives. And now Grandma is making more finger foods and nick-knack foods that no one wants just because.
Candice was totally in the Christmas mood this year (for the first time in a while) right up until Grandma started adding to the menu last minute and taking over the space in the kitchen we needed to prep for the meal (along with monopolizing her time that we needed, too, because her "it won't interfere" line was total crap. It turned into "do all this for me.") Now Candice is completely out of the mood and dreading the rest of the day. Grandma is completely oblivious to this fact. And now, instead of having too many leftovers for the fridge, we're almost certainly going to have too many leftovers for the fridge, plus a bunch of other stuff that no one wants to eat, and it'll sit around until we throw it away in a week and a half.
I was dumb yesterday. I wrote over a thousand words towards my story Darkness, and then forgot to email a copy home. It was mostly just rewriting myself back to the point where I was a few months ago, though it feels much better to me now. There are two less characters and I have a better feel for how the story will progress. The first death in the second party has occurred and they're trying to figure out the best approach for the immediate future. Logically, they should turn back and take the body to town, but they're farther away from the town than they are to their destination, and with an unknown predator that they can't be sure where it is, they are essentially stuck until they can decide. They find that the backpack with the satellite phone is also missing, so calling for help is out of the question. They're going to decide that there is probably another satellite phone at the campsite they're heading towards, which will push them forward and into the climax of the story.
In a few minutes, I'm going to put the sweet potatoes in the oven, since we're planning on having everyone eat dinner around three in the afternoon. After that, I guess we need to start boiling the mashed potatoes (I've already peeled and diced them) and make the stuffing. Then it's get dressed for the big event and enjoy the afternoon.
Then mom made French toast for everyone for breakfast, which was quite good. We finished watching A Christmas Carol that we tried to watch last night (until dinnertime interrupted the movie temporarily and then Grandma commandeered the television to watch ID). Then the kids played for a while as Candice and I cleaned and made preparations for the meal later today when the extended family arrives. And now Grandma is making more finger foods and nick-knack foods that no one wants just because.
Candice was totally in the Christmas mood this year (for the first time in a while) right up until Grandma started adding to the menu last minute and taking over the space in the kitchen we needed to prep for the meal (along with monopolizing her time that we needed, too, because her "it won't interfere" line was total crap. It turned into "do all this for me.") Now Candice is completely out of the mood and dreading the rest of the day. Grandma is completely oblivious to this fact. And now, instead of having too many leftovers for the fridge, we're almost certainly going to have too many leftovers for the fridge, plus a bunch of other stuff that no one wants to eat, and it'll sit around until we throw it away in a week and a half.
I was dumb yesterday. I wrote over a thousand words towards my story Darkness, and then forgot to email a copy home. It was mostly just rewriting myself back to the point where I was a few months ago, though it feels much better to me now. There are two less characters and I have a better feel for how the story will progress. The first death in the second party has occurred and they're trying to figure out the best approach for the immediate future. Logically, they should turn back and take the body to town, but they're farther away from the town than they are to their destination, and with an unknown predator that they can't be sure where it is, they are essentially stuck until they can decide. They find that the backpack with the satellite phone is also missing, so calling for help is out of the question. They're going to decide that there is probably another satellite phone at the campsite they're heading towards, which will push them forward and into the climax of the story.
In a few minutes, I'm going to put the sweet potatoes in the oven, since we're planning on having everyone eat dinner around three in the afternoon. After that, I guess we need to start boiling the mashed potatoes (I've already peeled and diced them) and make the stuffing. Then it's get dressed for the big event and enjoy the afternoon.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Venialia
Today's obscure word of the day is venialia. It means minor sins or offences. I might need to find a way to work that word into a story, I find it to be a neat word.
So, as you may have noticed previously in my blogs, I prefer to write all my stories by hand first. I have a logical reason for that. If I'm typing on a computer, I tend to make immediate corrections, and edit, and edit, and edit as I go along. This slows down the creative flow, and often causes me to lose focus on what I'm actually writing. As a result, the first time I get my story typed up, it's actually my second draft. I find that the edits and corrections are more suited to the story after the segment is already written, and therefore does not detract from it as much as not getting the segment properly written would do. It also helps me attempt to keep up with my creative mind. Granted, neither method of input comes close to keeping up with my mind. Some stories I write the entire story before typing anything up, others I will write a few pages at a time before typing it up. Either way, the only personal writing I do directly to computer are items like this (my blog posts, Facebook statuses, etc). I've also tried to have a portable recorder of some type to dictate, but that doesn't work for anything except ideas. I don't "see" what I've dictated, and have a tendency to lose focus if I'm trying to orally state a story. Also, if I'm orally stating a story, I have to be in the mindset with a story in mind already to tell it, otherwise, my creativity completely drains out (often for days at a time).
My wife will hear me when I start typing something long, because I have a strong typing method when I type fast. When I'm typing something short, the keystrokes tend to be softer. When it's longer, though, my speed and intensity increases, which sounds harsher on the keystrokes. It's especially noticeable with the space bar on most keyboards, probably a result of how the space bar takes input and is much larger with more hollow area underneath it for a sort of echo sound. She often thinks I'm typing up a response to someone being an idiot online, because until recently, I haven't been doing much writing (also, as noted above, I tend to hand write most stories first).
Lately though, I've been using http://750words.com to try and keep momentum going. It's a sort of challenge to use it for my intended purpose of story writing, but I use it as follows: I type up my "second draft" of my stories there before cutting and pasting them into the Microsoft Word document the words will eventually call home while they wait to be published. I also type up my blog posts there before copying them to my blog site. I have noticed that I need to copy it on the same day I type it, because once it goes into the archive, if I "export it" it no longer has carriage returns, etc. to mark paragraphs, so I either need my hand written version to use as a guideline, or I need to figure out where they are on my own. It's a real pain to do after the fact sometimes (unless there's lots of dialog, in which case it isn't quite so hard).
I've made some changes to my blog site recently. I've put a picture behind the blog title. Currently, it is Michael Konrad Hirt's A vanitas still life with a candle, an inkwell, a quill pen, a skull and books. I might change it up from time to time. Also on the side is recent books I've finished reading (which usually, though not always, means unabridged audiobook). I also have struggled to figure out how to get my blog posts to automatically post to my other social media sites, then I found "If This Then That" (http://IFTTT.com) where you can set up a "recipe" that, in this case, says "Anytime there is a new blog posted, create a post on <Facebook> or <Twitter> or <Tumblr>" (I had to set up three recipes for it. It seems to be working so far, so I no longer need to post a link, or copy the text and paste it anymore to accomplish the same task as I used to do. In theory, every blog post I make will be linkd from each of those sites (and any others that I join in the future).
That's all I have for this blog post. Thanks for reading.
So, as you may have noticed previously in my blogs, I prefer to write all my stories by hand first. I have a logical reason for that. If I'm typing on a computer, I tend to make immediate corrections, and edit, and edit, and edit as I go along. This slows down the creative flow, and often causes me to lose focus on what I'm actually writing. As a result, the first time I get my story typed up, it's actually my second draft. I find that the edits and corrections are more suited to the story after the segment is already written, and therefore does not detract from it as much as not getting the segment properly written would do. It also helps me attempt to keep up with my creative mind. Granted, neither method of input comes close to keeping up with my mind. Some stories I write the entire story before typing anything up, others I will write a few pages at a time before typing it up. Either way, the only personal writing I do directly to computer are items like this (my blog posts, Facebook statuses, etc). I've also tried to have a portable recorder of some type to dictate, but that doesn't work for anything except ideas. I don't "see" what I've dictated, and have a tendency to lose focus if I'm trying to orally state a story. Also, if I'm orally stating a story, I have to be in the mindset with a story in mind already to tell it, otherwise, my creativity completely drains out (often for days at a time).
My wife will hear me when I start typing something long, because I have a strong typing method when I type fast. When I'm typing something short, the keystrokes tend to be softer. When it's longer, though, my speed and intensity increases, which sounds harsher on the keystrokes. It's especially noticeable with the space bar on most keyboards, probably a result of how the space bar takes input and is much larger with more hollow area underneath it for a sort of echo sound. She often thinks I'm typing up a response to someone being an idiot online, because until recently, I haven't been doing much writing (also, as noted above, I tend to hand write most stories first).
Lately though, I've been using http://750words.com to try and keep momentum going. It's a sort of challenge to use it for my intended purpose of story writing, but I use it as follows: I type up my "second draft" of my stories there before cutting and pasting them into the Microsoft Word document the words will eventually call home while they wait to be published. I also type up my blog posts there before copying them to my blog site. I have noticed that I need to copy it on the same day I type it, because once it goes into the archive, if I "export it" it no longer has carriage returns, etc. to mark paragraphs, so I either need my hand written version to use as a guideline, or I need to figure out where they are on my own. It's a real pain to do after the fact sometimes (unless there's lots of dialog, in which case it isn't quite so hard).
I've made some changes to my blog site recently. I've put a picture behind the blog title. Currently, it is Michael Konrad Hirt's A vanitas still life with a candle, an inkwell, a quill pen, a skull and books. I might change it up from time to time. Also on the side is recent books I've finished reading (which usually, though not always, means unabridged audiobook). I also have struggled to figure out how to get my blog posts to automatically post to my other social media sites, then I found "If This Then That" (http://IFTTT.com) where you can set up a "recipe" that, in this case, says "Anytime there is a new blog posted, create a post on <Facebook> or <Twitter> or <Tumblr>" (I had to set up three recipes for it. It seems to be working so far, so I no longer need to post a link, or copy the text and paste it anymore to accomplish the same task as I used to do. In theory, every blog post I make will be linkd from each of those sites (and any others that I join in the future).
That's all I have for this blog post. Thanks for reading.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Today's Writing Update 12/19
Yesterday, I re-started writing Darkness by throwing out 9/10 of it and starting over. I think the new beginning is much better and flows smoother. I saved some from the 'middle' just to see if it'll still fit. It probably will, but will also probably be re-written, too. Darkness is also the starting point for my zombie story too. A few paragraphs in the second section will be the opening part of the zombie story. I think it's a neat idea that the same scene starts two different horror genre stories. Now, I just have to write them, If I finish Darkness before I publish my still untitled compilation book, I think it'll be included and will also be the title of the compilation (though I still want something to do with Mary's Painting to be the book cover picture (darkness lays a role in it and most of the other stories as they're all related to dark topics). If the book gets above 20,000 words, the book will be $2.99. If it's less but still more than 15,000 I'll price it at $1.99, any less will be $0.99. Those seem to be the accepted guidelines from what I can tell for self-publishing electronically. I also think I need to edit Cat's Eye View and Un-Separation to refine them before publishing them in it. They're still rough around the edges, and I'd hate to put out something I felt was not finished. My goal is to get it published some time next calendar year.
Yesterday, I also discovered that I was grandfathered in to 750words.com with a free membership. I had stopped using it because I joined less than a week after what was supposed to be the cutoff without knowing there was going to be a cutoff. Before my 30 day trial was to be over, I stopped using it because I didn't think I could afford it (though it doesn't cost much of anything). On a whim after Candice asked if the words I was typing for Darkness last night were for my "500 words", I went back to the website and found out that they'd moved the date to a week or so after I had joined. So, I'll try using the site again to keep my writing momentum going.
I added a Goodreads widget to the side of my blog, but from what I can tell, I have to update the code myself to get the books in it to change. I marked a couple more books as finished today and it still showed the old list until I copied and pasted the new code in. If anyone knows how to modify it to be dynamically updated, let me know!
We're all ready for Christmas (though we still haven't mailed out stuff to my family back east - we'll do that tomorrow most likely). The only shopping we still have left to do is to buy a few more groceries for the Christmas meal, and some boxes for the aforementioned stuff that needs shipped.
That's about all for this blog entry. Thanks for reading.
Yesterday, I also discovered that I was grandfathered in to 750words.com with a free membership. I had stopped using it because I joined less than a week after what was supposed to be the cutoff without knowing there was going to be a cutoff. Before my 30 day trial was to be over, I stopped using it because I didn't think I could afford it (though it doesn't cost much of anything). On a whim after Candice asked if the words I was typing for Darkness last night were for my "500 words", I went back to the website and found out that they'd moved the date to a week or so after I had joined. So, I'll try using the site again to keep my writing momentum going.
I added a Goodreads widget to the side of my blog, but from what I can tell, I have to update the code myself to get the books in it to change. I marked a couple more books as finished today and it still showed the old list until I copied and pasted the new code in. If anyone knows how to modify it to be dynamically updated, let me know!
We're all ready for Christmas (though we still haven't mailed out stuff to my family back east - we'll do that tomorrow most likely). The only shopping we still have left to do is to buy a few more groceries for the Christmas meal, and some boxes for the aforementioned stuff that needs shipped.
That's about all for this blog entry. Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Getting on the Publishing Trail
When I originally started writing, I never intended to have it published. I was writing for me, to release emotions, since I didn't (and if I'm honest with myself I still don't) know how to deal with most emotions. Then, I felt brave enough to let a few friends read a couple of my stories. That was a pretty big breakthrough for me. But still, I never really had any desire to sell any of my stuff.
Then I married an artist. And she started selling some of her stuff (Granted, she produces much more than she lists and the sales aren't burning any barns. Yet.), and this crazy notion got into my head that maybe I should sell some of my art, too. Then came the "now what" phase. I didn't have enough for a full book, and wasn't producing anything except a multitude of ideas (many of which I forget by the time I can write them down - or I lose the slip of paper I write them on), so I kept pushing it off.
Then I found that I can publish on my own through Amazon for the Kindle for free, so I started thinking of the basic concept I'd publish with. Since the vast majority of my stories and story ideas are all short or ultra short, I should focus on short story compilation books. I don't concentrate on any single genre, so maybe I should split the stories into categories and concentrate on a compilation story for each genre. Horror, Science Fiction, Mystery, Drama (basic fiction that doesn't fit into the other three genres). I then set about doling out stories to each book and had a pretty good idea of what goes where.
But still, I didn't do any work on anything new.
Then I found out about Smashwords, which will publish to just about every other electronic book medium except Amazon and also for free. So, I could have my books for sale for the Kindle, and also for Nook, Apple Itunes, and a couple dozen other places. Then I started reading in forums about pricing books and approximate number of words for each pricing scheme and I realized that I could put six of my stories that are already completed in the same short compilation novel and price it at about $0.99 or $1.99. If I get good results, I'm pretty sure that will get me motivated to start putting my pencil to paper again (yes, I do all my first drafts the old fashioned way).
So, I'm putting the following stories in a short compilation book for less than a dollar: Mary's Painting, Sins of the Father, The Fall, Cat's Eye View, The Viewing, and The Journey. The only thing they have in common is that they're all darker stories. I still need a title for the compilation, but as soon as I get that and artwork to design the cover with, I plan to publish straight away. Who knows, if I get another story finished before then, I might include it also.
Then I married an artist. And she started selling some of her stuff (Granted, she produces much more than she lists and the sales aren't burning any barns. Yet.), and this crazy notion got into my head that maybe I should sell some of my art, too. Then came the "now what" phase. I didn't have enough for a full book, and wasn't producing anything except a multitude of ideas (many of which I forget by the time I can write them down - or I lose the slip of paper I write them on), so I kept pushing it off.
Then I found that I can publish on my own through Amazon for the Kindle for free, so I started thinking of the basic concept I'd publish with. Since the vast majority of my stories and story ideas are all short or ultra short, I should focus on short story compilation books. I don't concentrate on any single genre, so maybe I should split the stories into categories and concentrate on a compilation story for each genre. Horror, Science Fiction, Mystery, Drama (basic fiction that doesn't fit into the other three genres). I then set about doling out stories to each book and had a pretty good idea of what goes where.
But still, I didn't do any work on anything new.
Then I found out about Smashwords, which will publish to just about every other electronic book medium except Amazon and also for free. So, I could have my books for sale for the Kindle, and also for Nook, Apple Itunes, and a couple dozen other places. Then I started reading in forums about pricing books and approximate number of words for each pricing scheme and I realized that I could put six of my stories that are already completed in the same short compilation novel and price it at about $0.99 or $1.99. If I get good results, I'm pretty sure that will get me motivated to start putting my pencil to paper again (yes, I do all my first drafts the old fashioned way).
So, I'm putting the following stories in a short compilation book for less than a dollar: Mary's Painting, Sins of the Father, The Fall, Cat's Eye View, The Viewing, and The Journey. The only thing they have in common is that they're all darker stories. I still need a title for the compilation, but as soon as I get that and artwork to design the cover with, I plan to publish straight away. Who knows, if I get another story finished before then, I might include it also.
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