Today you’re on your own but I’m sure tomorrow I will have plenty to say. I’ll be signing books at Southern Bound Books in Biloxi and then attending the Marilyn Manson concert afterwards. Happy Halloween everyone!
The ultimate holiday experience, lost in a crowd of raving fans while Manson sings this… it will be epic.
Thank you Daily News for featuring me in your fantastic new column!
Have I said how much I love our local papers? Today I found out that I was just featured in the Northwest Florida Daily News Showcase in an excellent new column by Lauren Delgado called First Draft. I’ll either scan it or find a link to the column online soon and share.
Thank you Daily News for taking such an interest in locally produced literature :D
October is Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month and today a beautiful story unfolded about one dog who has been living in a nightmare and how he has been saved.
Today my daughter went to look at a property to possibly purchase. There were some abandoned buildings on the land, and as my daughter and the realtor were looking things over, a skinny dog came out of one of the buildings, whimpering.
He came right up to her crying. The little hair he had left on his back was teeming with fleas. He was starved and limping. He looked up at her with big brown eyes, desperately begging for help. The buildings weren’t the only thing abandoned on this property—the owner had left his dog as well.
She scooped him up and drove him to , also Niceville Animal Clinic, for help. The poor dog needed everything. Vaccinations, heart worm, flea and tick treatment—a grooming. She didn’t have money to pay for everything at the moment, but the Niceville Animal Clinic didn’t let that stop this canine from getting help. Each of them chipped in to help cover the costs, greatly reducing the final bill.
Tonight, this abandoned dog has hope. He is back at my daughter’s apartment while his owner is sought. If in 10 days he hasn’t been claimed, he is hers. For now this little beagle has a full stomach, relief from the fleas that covered him and a safe place.
Alone is scary, but for this dog, the nightmare is finally over.
This month the Horror Writers Association has been participating in the Alone Is Scary campaign to support the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ (ASPCA) Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month.
In Biloxi, Mississippi
This Halloween I will be in Biloxi doing a book signing at Southern Bound Books from 1-4 p.m. before attending the Marilyn Manson Halloween show.
Yes, this will be a Halloween to remember…
I’m hard at work again at my desk putting the final touches to my November release called Karmic Circle. This will be released as an ebook and as a square paperback like Pirantulas! and The Braid.
I have to get it all done ahead of schedule because Halloween I will be doing a book signing in Biloxi and then attending a Marilyn Manson concert. Work, work, work and then play :)
Here’s the cover release—
For indie authors and artists, these are the best of times and the worst of times.
On one hand, technology has thrown the doors open to creation and authors no longer need to submit their literary offerings to the slush alters of publishing, praying for a meager blessing. Anyone can now publish anything from music, manuscripts and movies as often as they wish.
On the other hand, independent authors and artists are now responsible for every aspect of their creation from start to finish to include editing, nuts and bolts creation, graphic arts, layout, production and marketing.
Today’s creators must be multi-faceted beings with interesting, professional content, stage presence and staying power. They have to learn to do it all themselves or find professionals they can trust to do it for them. With half of all indie authors earning less than $500 a year, it’s best to DIY. This is not a get rich quick game, but when has being a creative soul ever been about earning the big bucks?
Regardless, it’s always nice to be a little less of a starving artist, and here are some facets of being an indie we should all keep polished so your creativity has a chance to shine.
Keep your product professional. Beg, borrow, barter, marry or kidnap people with a good eye that can catch your mistakes. It’s hard to see the flaws in our work because the vision in our head of what it’s supposed to be varnishes over what our creation really is.
It’s important to have thick skin as a creative soul. A critique isn’t an attack, it is wise advice we should heed to make our work better. You don’t have to listen, but it is wise to consider it. Kidnap an editor and treat all your friends to pizza if they can go over your work for you. Putting out substandard work pegs you as a noob, and that reputation may be hard to shake later.
“Overnight success” rarely happens overnight. When I held the first printed copy of End of Mae in my hands, it was as if I’d birthed another child. I couldn’t have been more proud. I took a walk afterwards, and in my mind I wondered if somehow I seemed different. I was a different creature now, after all. I was published. After a year, I realized no really cares, and there are a lot of us published authors out there.
Somewhere during that first year I had a realization that this was no quick game. I had been listening to a show about an author that was being billed as an overnight success, but when I looked up her book I was surprised to find it was three years old, and her fifth book total. She’s been grinding away for nearly ten years. That taught me that being an artist is a long-term investment. There will always be the one hit wonders, but if you are here to stay, arm yourself with patience.
Learn to be friendly or fade away. Very few, if any of us, can find success as a recluse. If you want to have your work reach more eyes than your immediate family, you must learn to connect with people. Cooperation is one of the best tools an indie creator has.
At our recent book signing, Robin Wiesneth and I cross shared our fan base, doubling it for both of us. We had two beautiful venues (Thank you Artful Things and Cafe Bienville!) that we brought new people into and we benefitted from being introduced to their regular patrons. It was win-win for us all.
Creative people should never be in competition with each other. We need to form beneficial symbiotic relationships to build each other up. By doing so, we can get a hand up ourselves. I’m lucky to have some fantastic people on my publishing team that includes Amy Eye for editing and formatting, Kyra Starr for cover design and graphic art and Mr. Smith who is my in-house beta listener. I value all their input.
Visual artists need words, artists of poetry and prose benefit from illustrations. Everyone needs music. Learn to get out and network and you will find that you have created a safety net to keep you from eating dirt when you fall. Sometimes that network can be a nice trampoline as well to give you a boost.
Learn to wear many, many hats. To make it today you have to be able to diversify. No one cares about your work more than you. You have to learn to be your own manager, promoter, assistant, graphic artist, formatter, publicist… or find people you trust who can do these things for you affordably. Flexibility is a key component of success and the more aspects of media you can master the better your chances.
Above, signing End of Mae back in 2012. Below, from left, author Katie Kahn, Diego, me and illustrator/author Robin Wiesneth.
Yesterday’s book signings went so well I wondered why I haven’t been doing more of them.
I looked it up and found that one of the last author signings I have done was June 15, 2012. Then I saw the photo, which I remember hating. Maybe that’s why I stopped doing them.
At this week’s weigh-in I was at 153.8 and only 18.8 pounds away from my final target.
A friend yesterday was asking me about how I feel about losing the weight. In a word, fantastic. I have been buried inside myself, stifled, and the real me is coming back to the surface.
I’ve also noticed a pattern with my weight loss. Mid-month I get discouraged, tired and I plateau out. Then, if I can hang on, I get a boost and drop a whole bunch of pounds at once. Possibly it’s a hormonal or a natural rhythm thing. Whatever it is, I know if I just stick with what I’ve been doing, I will reach my goal.
What I’m doing is avoiding sugar and sweeteners. I’m drinking 310 Nutrition Meal Replacement shakes for breakfast and lunch, since they are such an easy way to stay sugar free with no hunger and lots of energy. I take cinnamon supplements twice a day and glucosamine chondroitin at night to protect my joints from my intensifying work outs. I work out most mornings for an hour. I work out in my bathroom to music, basically just marching in place for an hour and then I plank for one minute.
If I seem like a broken record, I apologize. I used to think I was stuck with the extra weight, that it was just my age and the natural progression of things. To be who I wanted to be—fit and energetic—was an impossible dream.
Today, I feel like the years are dropping off of me with every pound and I know it’s possible. I want everyone I care about to experience the same thing, and if there’s anything I can do to help, I will.
I may actually make my goal of being in the 140 range by Halloween at this rate, but just barely. My focus, however, is on this final set of pounds.I have a brand-new, gorgeous dress for my daughter’s upcoming wedding, but it’s in a size 6. It was sent to us by mistake, and at the time I wore a size 16. I never dreamed I would ever one day wear it. The other day I tried it on as a joke, and it fit. It was too tight… but it fit and zipped. By her wedding, Dec. 5, I plan to be wearing that dress.
As you can see from my before and after photo, it’s possible. It’s possible, sooner than you think.
One person will win this gift basket stuffed with goodies tomorrow…
Did I happen to mention that I will be signing books with Robin Wiesneth today, all day, and that we’d love to see you there? I’m pretty sure I have… but just in case…
The first signing will be at Artful Things, 1087 E John Sims Pkwy, Niceville, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The second signing will be at Cafe Bienville, 314 Bayshore Dr, Niceville, from 1-4 p.m.
Just a few of the books that will be available today.
We will have some goodies to give away at both signings, and we will be randomly drawing for someone to win a nice gift basket full of books, sweets, writing and art supplies and a mini speaker for your phone, among other things.
The drawing will be at 3:30 p.m. at Cafe Bienville. To enter, sign up with your email address. Cafe Bienville has also generously offered a fresh brewed cup of their delicious coffee to anyone who walks in with one of our books signed from 1-4 p.m.
Yesterday I had a gripe session on Facebook about our need for sleep. I hate sleep. We spend so much time snoozing that could be spent on other, worthier pursuits.
The supporters and detractors for sleep were divided. What’s your take—are you a sleep hater or do you relish your time asleep?
We all know we need to sleep, but are you happy or annoyed by the fact? Here’s an interesting graphic Jim S. shared with me about sleep and how some of our greatest minds take it.
This is the fifth year that I’ll be again contributing a story to Christmas Lites, an anthology that raises funds to help the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The cover was designed by Wesley Souza. The book should be available by Cyber Monday.
This year there is something extra special—two other Panhandle writers will be included. Rachel Reese and William Gent are both talented wordsmiths that I have had the pleasure of hearing read many times.
I’m very excited to see our Panhandle area so well represented :)
