Kyle Michel Sullivan's Blog: https://www.myirishnovel.com/, page 155
April 13, 2018
Man...am I picky...
By watching these BBC and ITV murder mysteries, I'm finding that I really do not like stupid murders. Meaning, when it's finally explained, it makes no sense. Or the explanation is, "I didn't mean to do it." Revealed by a person who's never once acted like they could be at fault.
One that really got to me was In The Dark. A detective inspector is pregnant by one of two fellow cops, and no repercussions for her. No disciplinary hearing. Nothing. Okay...maybe it's different in England; I can get past that. But then one of those cops is killed...and it's done in a way that, even from the beginning, I'm thinking, "Are you kidding me?"
The set-up -- he's at a bus shelter on a lonely road and a car smashes into it. First of all, the car's not going that fast. Second of all, the shelter would have taken the brunt of the impact. He'd have been hurt, but killed? Stretching things. Then it turns out it was deliberate? How could the killer know he'd die from this? It's far more likely that he'd survive. Didn't even begin to buy it.
Now I just finished the first two seasons of Shetland, and while I liked its characters and atmosphere and scenery, again, there was a murder set-up in the last episode that wouldn't necessarily kill the victim -- a car crash. Off a cliff, sure, so it's possible he'd have died, even though it's only about 40 feet down to the bottom, but it's a new car with seat belts and airbags and people have walked away from worse wrecks. If he'd been killed and put in the car and the killer hope it would look like a wreck, that I could believe, but not just him being run off the road.
That sort of nonsense bothers me. Agatha Christie could get convoluted in her murder setups, but they made sense in the end. Same for Earl Stanley Gardner. Now it's all about twists and turns and sleight of hand explanations...and maybe I'm too picky but I like the end to be believable.
I think I did that with The Vanishing of Owen Taylor. Lots of twists and turns, but Jake's not a detective or a cop; he's just a guy trying to get to the bottom of his uncle's disappearance...so he makes mistakes and wrong assumptions and does some stupid things before he finally figures it out. At least, I hope I succeeded in making it believable.
Who knows...maybe I'm not as clever as I think.
One that really got to me was In The Dark. A detective inspector is pregnant by one of two fellow cops, and no repercussions for her. No disciplinary hearing. Nothing. Okay...maybe it's different in England; I can get past that. But then one of those cops is killed...and it's done in a way that, even from the beginning, I'm thinking, "Are you kidding me?"
The set-up -- he's at a bus shelter on a lonely road and a car smashes into it. First of all, the car's not going that fast. Second of all, the shelter would have taken the brunt of the impact. He'd have been hurt, but killed? Stretching things. Then it turns out it was deliberate? How could the killer know he'd die from this? It's far more likely that he'd survive. Didn't even begin to buy it.
Now I just finished the first two seasons of Shetland, and while I liked its characters and atmosphere and scenery, again, there was a murder set-up in the last episode that wouldn't necessarily kill the victim -- a car crash. Off a cliff, sure, so it's possible he'd have died, even though it's only about 40 feet down to the bottom, but it's a new car with seat belts and airbags and people have walked away from worse wrecks. If he'd been killed and put in the car and the killer hope it would look like a wreck, that I could believe, but not just him being run off the road.
That sort of nonsense bothers me. Agatha Christie could get convoluted in her murder setups, but they made sense in the end. Same for Earl Stanley Gardner. Now it's all about twists and turns and sleight of hand explanations...and maybe I'm too picky but I like the end to be believable.
I think I did that with The Vanishing of Owen Taylor. Lots of twists and turns, but Jake's not a detective or a cop; he's just a guy trying to get to the bottom of his uncle's disappearance...so he makes mistakes and wrong assumptions and does some stupid things before he finally figures it out. At least, I hope I succeeded in making it believable.
Who knows...maybe I'm not as clever as I think.
April 12, 2018
David Martin starting the road...
...To becoming a hardcover book. Nice size. A bit pricy but with a fine cover. Everything nice and neat, inside. 88 pages long, 75 of them story and illustrations. I finished it up on my laptop, getting around the issues I had by shifting it to a DOC file from DOCX. I'm waiting to hear back with a PDF proof, then I'll get a hardcover...and then I'll start sending notices out to libraries to see if they want it. See if this gives the book a new lease on life...
I'm headed for a quick scout of a possible job in Connecticut, on Sunday, to meet with the people on Monday morning. Of course, this is the perfect time for me to get a cold...or virus, if I've got what a coworker got from her daughter. I'm fighting the beast with tea and soup and Tylenol and hoping to bring it down to nothing by Sunday...but so far the best I've been able to do is keep it at bay.
Tomorrow's Friday the 13th...and I's just superstitious enough to dread it. I can see me getting worse with this cold, and I've got a shipment that I'm trying to get out for a client that is just begging for something to go wrong. But can't do anything about it except call in sick, and that's not an option, right now.
I'm waiting for new copies of A65 to come in. It's all set to be sold through Kindle, Nook and a host of other ebook formats, and I have a promotion starting with Book Daily to get it better known. One can only hope, since I haven't the resources of Random House behind me to get it into book stores and advertised in media everywhere. Gotta rely on word of mouth.
So far reaction is good...
I'm headed for a quick scout of a possible job in Connecticut, on Sunday, to meet with the people on Monday morning. Of course, this is the perfect time for me to get a cold...or virus, if I've got what a coworker got from her daughter. I'm fighting the beast with tea and soup and Tylenol and hoping to bring it down to nothing by Sunday...but so far the best I've been able to do is keep it at bay.
Tomorrow's Friday the 13th...and I's just superstitious enough to dread it. I can see me getting worse with this cold, and I've got a shipment that I'm trying to get out for a client that is just begging for something to go wrong. But can't do anything about it except call in sick, and that's not an option, right now.
I'm waiting for new copies of A65 to come in. It's all set to be sold through Kindle, Nook and a host of other ebook formats, and I have a promotion starting with Book Daily to get it better known. One can only hope, since I haven't the resources of Random House behind me to get it into book stores and advertised in media everywhere. Gotta rely on word of mouth.
So far reaction is good...
April 11, 2018
Musing...
I wonder if it's possible in today's world to show a man who's known to be vile and evil and depraved as someone who's truly sympathetic? I'm talking about a monster on the level of John Wayne Gacy or Ted Bundy, who raped and murdered innocent people, over and over and over. And I don't mean trying to understand why they did what they did -- I don't think that's possible or even, really, necessary -- but to know what they've done and to see that's not all to them.
I'm thinking of someone like Andrew Jackson, who as president set up the mass murder of Native Americans on a level that would make Mao, Hitler and Pol Pot green with envy. Or missionaries in the 17th and 18th centuries who forced native populations around the world to submit to their version of God or die, horribly. Same for the Inquisition in Spain. Could a man participating in the forced conversion of Jews to Christianity under torture be seen as someone who goes home and pets his dog and loves his wife and kids, just like the guy who runs the local gas station?
I did something a bit like that with Curt in How To Rape A Straight Guy...but he was busy justifying himself because I think, deep down, he had an idea what he was doing was wrong and destructive. That's probably why the last chapter gets people so worked up; I can't tell you how many readers have let me know they were shocked at how they felt sorry for Curt...or sympathic for him, at the end.
I also did it a little with Alan, in Bobby Carapisi, but I think I also showed he was lying about a lot of his actions or, at least, exaggerating his part in them, to make himself feel like he had some kind of effect on the world...when in truth, he had none. All he had was a sort of bluster that fooled no one...and at the end Eric has no choice but to feel sorry for him. Pity him. Even after the little shit nearly ruined his life.
Thing is, I don't care to know why someone like Hitler did what he did. He's not really an anomaly, considering that at the same time Stalin was killing millions of his own people and Mao was rising up to commit just as great of atrocities, as did the Japanese in China and Korea and Turks in Armenia. And a thousand years before that was the hideousness of the Crusades and Vlad the Impaler.
So I wonder if I could write a book where the lead character is just like you or me...but has this quirk of abject cruelty in him that flares up, now and then, for no more reason than he or she might have eaten strawberry jam on their toast instead of orange marmalade? And have you still feel for them, at the end?
And now I'm wondering why the hell I'm wondering that.
I'm thinking of someone like Andrew Jackson, who as president set up the mass murder of Native Americans on a level that would make Mao, Hitler and Pol Pot green with envy. Or missionaries in the 17th and 18th centuries who forced native populations around the world to submit to their version of God or die, horribly. Same for the Inquisition in Spain. Could a man participating in the forced conversion of Jews to Christianity under torture be seen as someone who goes home and pets his dog and loves his wife and kids, just like the guy who runs the local gas station?
I did something a bit like that with Curt in How To Rape A Straight Guy...but he was busy justifying himself because I think, deep down, he had an idea what he was doing was wrong and destructive. That's probably why the last chapter gets people so worked up; I can't tell you how many readers have let me know they were shocked at how they felt sorry for Curt...or sympathic for him, at the end.
I also did it a little with Alan, in Bobby Carapisi, but I think I also showed he was lying about a lot of his actions or, at least, exaggerating his part in them, to make himself feel like he had some kind of effect on the world...when in truth, he had none. All he had was a sort of bluster that fooled no one...and at the end Eric has no choice but to feel sorry for him. Pity him. Even after the little shit nearly ruined his life.
Thing is, I don't care to know why someone like Hitler did what he did. He's not really an anomaly, considering that at the same time Stalin was killing millions of his own people and Mao was rising up to commit just as great of atrocities, as did the Japanese in China and Korea and Turks in Armenia. And a thousand years before that was the hideousness of the Crusades and Vlad the Impaler.
So I wonder if I could write a book where the lead character is just like you or me...but has this quirk of abject cruelty in him that flares up, now and then, for no more reason than he or she might have eaten strawberry jam on their toast instead of orange marmalade? And have you still feel for them, at the end?
And now I'm wondering why the hell I'm wondering that.
April 10, 2018
Always good to ask...
I got an email back from Smashwords in response to me querying them about the epub problem...and it turns out the fix was quite simple. Epub doesn't like you to use capital letters when setting up bookmarks for hyperlinks. So I went through, redid all the bookmarks in lower case letters, relinked them...and it went through. Zing. I had no idea this was a requirement. Oh, well...The Alice '65 is now available in every ebook format there is, and that's what counts.
I tried a few more fixes for that dead flash drive -- plugging it into a couple of PCs at work, and it almost fired up, again, then found a data recovery service and sent it off to them for evaluation. In Florida. I'll find out in a week to 10 days if they can do anything...but if it's dead, it's dead and that is that. Dammit.
I may stop at Office Max en route home, tomorrow, and buy a memory card to back up all my thumb drives. I already do a lot of overlapping when it comes to saving things, but now I'm totally paranoid and want a couple of different ways to protect myself and my data.
On another good note, I got my LCCN back from the Library of Congress, so tomorrow I'll get David Martin set up with Ingram...and then I can shift focus to P/S. All I have left to do is the layout of the cover, which I've already got half done.
I was lucky and found a lot of images for P/S on an old thumb drive from 2010 as well as the one from 2012, and I still have the CDRs and zip disks I stored things on prior to the drives. They may be needed.
Sometimes it pays to be a packrat...
I tried a few more fixes for that dead flash drive -- plugging it into a couple of PCs at work, and it almost fired up, again, then found a data recovery service and sent it off to them for evaluation. In Florida. I'll find out in a week to 10 days if they can do anything...but if it's dead, it's dead and that is that. Dammit.
I may stop at Office Max en route home, tomorrow, and buy a memory card to back up all my thumb drives. I already do a lot of overlapping when it comes to saving things, but now I'm totally paranoid and want a couple of different ways to protect myself and my data.
On another good note, I got my LCCN back from the Library of Congress, so tomorrow I'll get David Martin set up with Ingram...and then I can shift focus to P/S. All I have left to do is the layout of the cover, which I've already got half done.
I was lucky and found a lot of images for P/S on an old thumb drive from 2010 as well as the one from 2012, and I still have the CDRs and zip disks I stored things on prior to the drives. They may be needed.
Sometimes it pays to be a packrat...
April 9, 2018
The devil's in my laptop...
I've decided the only reason I could possibly be having the issues I'm having with my laptop and technology, lately, is because the devil has inhabited my MacBook Pro and is having his fun with me. I set A65 up on Smashwords, but I got an error email saying it failed the epub check because of an undefined error. I tried a dozen different tests and checks to make sure the file I was sending was clean and good...and it's still sending me an error message.
Apparently, the only way I can get around that is called a nuclear option -- meaning remove ALL formatting and start from scratch with the basic text. The story has italics in spots all the way through it, and those will be gone. Same for spacing and indentations and hyperlinks between the table of contents and chapter titles. If I don't do this, it won't be made available to B&N or Apple iBooks.
What's crazy is, I downloaded a copy of the epub version of the story into my iBooks library, and I can read it fine. So I've sent them an email stating this to see if it can make any difference and included the message it keeps sending...and we'll see how it goes. If that's a no-go, I'm faced with hours of reconstructing the formatting on the book.
This interrupted me getting back into Place of Safety. I was digging through the files I had, transferring old files onto my laptop to use, and found I've got the beginnings of a step outline for books 2 and 3...from 2011. Damn, I've been too long away from this book. At least I know who the characters are, again -- like Everett, a gay man who works in the advertising department of a grocery chain in Houston and is in the closet, but who turns out to be a solid friend to Brendan. He's the one who's going to lead me into some very dark spaces.
Then there's Jeremy Landau, a Jewish kid who's making his name in the oil biz by focusing on China and the not-so-secret negotiations between Beijing and London over the fate of Hong Kong when the lease is up in 1997. His father's a doctor and he helps Brendan at an important point when he needs medical care but can't get it because he's illegal.
There's still a lot to do on this book...but I'm past the 50% point in what I've laid out. All I need to do is buckle down and get the rest of it filled in. The Houston part is still the iffiest, right now, but that will change. I know what it needs; just need to work out how to write it.
That's the hardest and most fun and irritating part...
Apparently, the only way I can get around that is called a nuclear option -- meaning remove ALL formatting and start from scratch with the basic text. The story has italics in spots all the way through it, and those will be gone. Same for spacing and indentations and hyperlinks between the table of contents and chapter titles. If I don't do this, it won't be made available to B&N or Apple iBooks.
What's crazy is, I downloaded a copy of the epub version of the story into my iBooks library, and I can read it fine. So I've sent them an email stating this to see if it can make any difference and included the message it keeps sending...and we'll see how it goes. If that's a no-go, I'm faced with hours of reconstructing the formatting on the book.
This interrupted me getting back into Place of Safety. I was digging through the files I had, transferring old files onto my laptop to use, and found I've got the beginnings of a step outline for books 2 and 3...from 2011. Damn, I've been too long away from this book. At least I know who the characters are, again -- like Everett, a gay man who works in the advertising department of a grocery chain in Houston and is in the closet, but who turns out to be a solid friend to Brendan. He's the one who's going to lead me into some very dark spaces.
Then there's Jeremy Landau, a Jewish kid who's making his name in the oil biz by focusing on China and the not-so-secret negotiations between Beijing and London over the fate of Hong Kong when the lease is up in 1997. His father's a doctor and he helps Brendan at an important point when he needs medical care but can't get it because he's illegal.
There's still a lot to do on this book...but I'm past the 50% point in what I've laid out. All I need to do is buckle down and get the rest of it filled in. The Houston part is still the iffiest, right now, but that will change. I know what it needs; just need to work out how to write it.
That's the hardest and most fun and irritating part...
April 8, 2018
Weird day....
It started off when I woke myself from a nice dream. I was in a waiting area for like a plane or train or maybe prepping for a crowd scene in a movie, sitting across from Russell Tovey, and it was so tight the only space for our legs was between each other's -- sort of a left, right, right, left situation -- when we were called and he looked to his right -- and I woke myself up by biting the side of my tongue. Dunno what it means in Freudian terms; just know it hurt like shit, and I had to be careful the rest of the day and keep rinsing my mouth because if I don't I'll get a sore. I'm prone to those.Anyway, it set the day off wrong, so after more than an hour of emails and facebook and news and sorting through crap and dusting and rearranging shit to try and handle myself, I decided to issue David Martin in a hardback. Not sure why I settled on that, but I got to work and have it pretty much ready.
It'll be 6x9 inches with a glossy cover pasted over boards in a slim volume...1/2 inch thick. It didn't take a lot of reworking, but I made it appear a lot better than the paperback. Its sales have died so maybe this will help them. I also submitted it to the Library of Congress for a Preassigned Control Number, and this time I'm waiting till I hear back from them before I add anything to the copyright page.
But as a hardcover, it would work well for libraries, and since they won't take paperbacks as small as the one I issued, I can start hitting them to see if they'd buy a copy. Thing is, it's $16.99 for an 88 page book...but it will look very classy.
That did set me right, again, so I watched a BBC Mystery called Shetland, set on the Shetland Islands north of Scotland, and liked it. What's interesting is, the voices for Place of Safety began whispering in my ear, during it...this time with an aspect of one character's life that I really don't want to go near. But for me to do this right, I'll have to...and have to figure out a way of making it work without painting the character as sick and diseased.
Thing is, it's been so long since I dug into that phase of the story, I don't even remember the character's name...and it creeps me out when someone I think I know comes up and starts telling me secret things when I haven't figured out who he is, yet. I need to revisit my character list...or maybe even see if I have one. I can't say for sure. But what it boils down to is...yes, I do hear voices...so don't fuck with me.
Unless you're Russell Tovey.
April 7, 2018
I have no idea what I did...
I worked on A65's paperback cover, today, prepping it for when it's time to be released. I'm using the same layout but with some slightly different placement. Anyway, in the middle of this, I went looking for an image I knew I had...and discovered one of my thumb drives is dead. Completely. I plug it into the USB port and it does nothing. It's like the damned thing's not there.
Well...freakout time, because it has at least a hundred file folders on it, with images and details and information -- exactly what, I don't know, completely. I probably have half of the files double-backed up on other thumb drives, but there are a lot I don't have. And I cannot get it to work in order to find out...so I have no idea how much I've lost.
I spent hours digging through possibilities on the internet, including downloading a couple of programs that swore they could handle the issue, only to get nothing...though I did find people tend to have a poor opinion of PNY thumb drives. Too many are either poorly made or poorly designed, causing connectivity issues similar to mine. And I'm fairly certain it's a connection problem because when I tried the drive out on my old Mac Book, the little green light flashed on then went off.
Jiggling it did no good, nor did cleaning it or trying to compress the mouth of the thing. I plug it in and get absolutely nothing. Won't even work on my Mac Mini. And I know it's not the ports, because my other drives work fine on them. So I'm trying one last thing -- plugging it into my PC at the office. If that doesn't work, I'm screwed. I guess I could check around to see if someone knows how to get around this issue, but since it's not a programming or motherboard thing I don't know who to go to.
I guess I could ask around. What'll make this especially interesting is, there are images on there I just don't want people to see. Things meant solely for me...like a fairly graphic Yaoi illustrated story I found interesting about a man sexually assaulted by vines and trees who, when they're done with him, shrugs it off and walks away...and some other artwork by Mentaiko, whose human figures are caught between the cartoonish form of Yaoi and the best rendition of body forms and skin tones I've ever seen.
And just to be clear -- yes, I can be very weird and warped, at times...
Well...freakout time, because it has at least a hundred file folders on it, with images and details and information -- exactly what, I don't know, completely. I probably have half of the files double-backed up on other thumb drives, but there are a lot I don't have. And I cannot get it to work in order to find out...so I have no idea how much I've lost.
I spent hours digging through possibilities on the internet, including downloading a couple of programs that swore they could handle the issue, only to get nothing...though I did find people tend to have a poor opinion of PNY thumb drives. Too many are either poorly made or poorly designed, causing connectivity issues similar to mine. And I'm fairly certain it's a connection problem because when I tried the drive out on my old Mac Book, the little green light flashed on then went off.
Jiggling it did no good, nor did cleaning it or trying to compress the mouth of the thing. I plug it in and get absolutely nothing. Won't even work on my Mac Mini. And I know it's not the ports, because my other drives work fine on them. So I'm trying one last thing -- plugging it into my PC at the office. If that doesn't work, I'm screwed. I guess I could check around to see if someone knows how to get around this issue, but since it's not a programming or motherboard thing I don't know who to go to.
I guess I could ask around. What'll make this especially interesting is, there are images on there I just don't want people to see. Things meant solely for me...like a fairly graphic Yaoi illustrated story I found interesting about a man sexually assaulted by vines and trees who, when they're done with him, shrugs it off and walks away...and some other artwork by Mentaiko, whose human figures are caught between the cartoonish form of Yaoi and the best rendition of body forms and skin tones I've ever seen.
And just to be clear -- yes, I can be very weird and warped, at times...
April 6, 2018
You do what you have to do...
Well...initial response to A65 is interesting. I've had over 200 people download a free edition of the ebook. I got a nice blurb in the Funds for Writers newsletter, which actually got someone to contact me asking when the ebook would be available in Nook. I decided the hell with it and set the ebook up on
Smashwords
. That'll make it available for that format soon. Not sure what this means for
Kindle
, but right now I don't give a shit. Amazon's fucking me around on the hardcover -- they're back to first offering it through that 3rd party dealer -- so if they want to make an issue out of it, screw 'em.
I read through a bit more of the book, checking for mistakes...and stopped. I had to. I was close to convincing myself I'd done a crap job with it and should pull the book and never be allowed to write, again. Me being hyper-critical of every sentence not worded perfectly. It's ludicrous...but I think most writers are like that. Hell, even Steven King went back and reworked The Stand several times, not necessarily for the better. I read it when it first came out and it went on and on, even then, before he added God knows how many pages and changed the timing.
But then, he's Steven King and he can do that. Writers like me, it just makes us look indecisive and lacking in confidence...which we are. At least, I am. So I've frozen my inclination to rework the story, yet again, into stasis till I get word back from the LoC that everything's okay. If it IS okay...I'm publishing the paperback as is and doing no more rewrites, at all. If it isn't and I have to reissue the hardcover...well, I'll see what I can do to control myself.
Haven't had much luck in that aspect of my life, yet.
I read through a bit more of the book, checking for mistakes...and stopped. I had to. I was close to convincing myself I'd done a crap job with it and should pull the book and never be allowed to write, again. Me being hyper-critical of every sentence not worded perfectly. It's ludicrous...but I think most writers are like that. Hell, even Steven King went back and reworked The Stand several times, not necessarily for the better. I read it when it first came out and it went on and on, even then, before he added God knows how many pages and changed the timing.
But then, he's Steven King and he can do that. Writers like me, it just makes us look indecisive and lacking in confidence...which we are. At least, I am. So I've frozen my inclination to rework the story, yet again, into stasis till I get word back from the LoC that everything's okay. If it IS okay...I'm publishing the paperback as is and doing no more rewrites, at all. If it isn't and I have to reissue the hardcover...well, I'll see what I can do to control myself.
Haven't had much luck in that aspect of my life, yet.
April 5, 2018
It's now official...
I ordered a hardcover copy of A65 from Amazon before all my issues with them came to a head, and I got it today...and I'm sending it straight to the Library of Congress to see if they will accept it into their CiP system. What's interesting is, once Amazon got around to including that particular sale in their numbering system, it bumped the 3rd party seller off the main page and now the first window up to offer a hardcover is straight from Amazon. Not sure why it works like that, but it's reality. I'm still pissed, however.
I've also set A65 up as a free ebook download through Sunday, and that's boosted it to #54 in Romantic comedy and #80 in Contemporary Fiction. This is a screen shot mainly to prove it to myself. If anyone wants to grab it, go here. I think you have to be a member of Kindle Unlimited or something, but it's there and ready to be read.
I've also got a Facebook friend in Denmark who's got health issues and reads a lot of M/M stuff, and who's bought a copy of the ebook. She posted all of her library on Facebook, and here's one of the images. I love how my book pops out at you. She's read everything else of mine; I guess she can handle a straight rom-com, of a sort.
Anyway, I've done as much as I can, right now. I'm gleaning back through my own ebook copy to check, once more, for typos and finding none, so far...just places I wish I'd rewritten, once more. But I can't go through this, again...not on the level I've been doing; I find myself becoming hyper critical and that is not good. No.
The book is done...and that's good...because what's done is done...
I've also set A65 up as a free ebook download through Sunday, and that's boosted it to #54 in Romantic comedy and #80 in Contemporary Fiction. This is a screen shot mainly to prove it to myself. If anyone wants to grab it, go here. I think you have to be a member of Kindle Unlimited or something, but it's there and ready to be read.
I've also got a Facebook friend in Denmark who's got health issues and reads a lot of M/M stuff, and who's bought a copy of the ebook. She posted all of her library on Facebook, and here's one of the images. I love how my book pops out at you. She's read everything else of mine; I guess she can handle a straight rom-com, of a sort.Anyway, I've done as much as I can, right now. I'm gleaning back through my own ebook copy to check, once more, for typos and finding none, so far...just places I wish I'd rewritten, once more. But I can't go through this, again...not on the level I've been doing; I find myself becoming hyper critical and that is not good. No.
The book is done...and that's good...because what's done is done...
April 4, 2018
Different directions...
I got my hardcover copy of The Alice '65, today, and it looked fine. All that angst over getting the color out and finally giving in and submitting the pdf with the ICC Color Profiles still there...and it turned out great. So fine, I ain't worrying about it, anymore. It's gonna go like it goes...as the river flows...and all that crap.
I'm going to try something new, here, and offer the hardcover of A65 via ebay, direct from me. I've ordered some copies of it to have on hand and will have it available as of April 15th. If enough people bite, I'll keep it up. If not, I'll have copies to use for publicity and promotion.
I'm about ready to let go of the book. Just a few more items need to be handled -- like sending it to the LoC and getting their response, and shipping signed copies off to the people who helped me by editing and commenting on the story. When all of that happens, then I can relax and accept the book's done. I suppose I could get the paperback ready, completely, including the cover, even though I'm going to wait to issue it till I hear back from the Library of Congress on their notations.
Oh, and set it up on Smashwords. Right. Better make a list, because this will be a full weekend.
I also need to check out my Mastercard; I think I've maxed it doing this, but the friggin' website won't let me in to check. It wants me to reset my password because it doesn't recognize me and it's doing it in a way that doesn't seem right...so I'll call tomorrow and find out what's up. Not interested in dealing with someone from India who responds to your issues with a scripted phrase. Had enough of that with Amazon.
I also picked up my tax return forms...and that's not going to be fun. I'm tempted to let them send me a bill and then refuse to pay it, I'm still so angry over what the Republicans and Czar Snowflake have pulled with their tax rewrite. I've got to pay 20% of my piddly income while Amazon pays nothing.
It's enough to turn you into an anarchist...
I'm going to try something new, here, and offer the hardcover of A65 via ebay, direct from me. I've ordered some copies of it to have on hand and will have it available as of April 15th. If enough people bite, I'll keep it up. If not, I'll have copies to use for publicity and promotion.
I'm about ready to let go of the book. Just a few more items need to be handled -- like sending it to the LoC and getting their response, and shipping signed copies off to the people who helped me by editing and commenting on the story. When all of that happens, then I can relax and accept the book's done. I suppose I could get the paperback ready, completely, including the cover, even though I'm going to wait to issue it till I hear back from the Library of Congress on their notations.
Oh, and set it up on Smashwords. Right. Better make a list, because this will be a full weekend.
I also need to check out my Mastercard; I think I've maxed it doing this, but the friggin' website won't let me in to check. It wants me to reset my password because it doesn't recognize me and it's doing it in a way that doesn't seem right...so I'll call tomorrow and find out what's up. Not interested in dealing with someone from India who responds to your issues with a scripted phrase. Had enough of that with Amazon.
I also picked up my tax return forms...and that's not going to be fun. I'm tempted to let them send me a bill and then refuse to pay it, I'm still so angry over what the Republicans and Czar Snowflake have pulled with their tax rewrite. I've got to pay 20% of my piddly income while Amazon pays nothing.
It's enough to turn you into an anarchist...
