Nicholas Ponticello's Blog, page 5
October 8, 2023
A Martian Murder Mystery
Do you have a few bucks to spare to help me self-publish my Martian murder mystery? If you chip in $20 to my Kickstarter campaign, you’ll get a Kindle copy once it is published. Murder on Mars! What could be better?
October 2, 2023
Murder can happen on Mars, too.
THE SECRET ORDER OF THE SCEPTER & GAVEL
A Martian Murder Mystery
Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for supporting the publication of my next book, The Secret Order of the Scepter & Gavel! With your help, we’ve already raised 34% of our fundraising goal in the first four days of the campaign. Your pledges make all the difference!
If you would still like to support this project, please go to my Kickstarter page now and contribute any amount. It could be as little as $1. Every pledge makes a difference, and Kickstarter often highlights campaigns with numerous backers, so just adding a dollar to the campaign has an outsized impact.
Your pledges will go toward the cost of editing and marketing the book. Just a reminder that if you pledge $20, you will get a Kindle copy of the book emailed to you when the book releases in June 2024. There are other great perks at other tiers as well.
If you have any questions about the campaign, please let me know. Thank you again for joining me in the pursuit of this project.
In Gratitude,
Nick
P.S. If you are a reviewer and would like an advanced reader copy of the book to review on your blog or website, just let me know!
September 10, 2023
May 21, 2023
How to Love Yourself
Dear Ponti, How do you stop yourself from giving so freely? I’ve been told that I love to love, both platonic and romantic. I love to bring others …
How to Love Yourself
May 13, 2023
My Friends Broke Up! Which Friend Do I Keep?
Dear Ponti,
I have two friends who’ve broken up. One told me terrible things about the other, but I don’t know how to address that with the second friend. If I believe the person who told me, it might put them in danger to discuss it, but I have known the other one longer and don’t want to assume it’s true and stop being friends with them. Any advice?
– Torn
Dear Torn,
Whenever a couple breaks up, questions of loyalty surface. Do you try to maintain your friendships with both people? Do you remain loyal to the friend you’ve known the longest? Do you take the side of the friend who has been the most wronged?
Years ago, a friend-couple I knew announced they were getting a divorce. Let’s call them Fiona and Sean. I worked with Sean and eventually came to be friends with both him and his…
View original post 627 more words
May 6, 2023
Fast-Forwarding Through Life
Dear Ponti,
As the decades of my life pass, I have found that time seems to be speeding up and wonder if somehow I can slow it down to how it was in the second decade of my life. Any words of wisdom?
– Fast-Forwarding Through Life
Dear Fast-Forwarding,
In my early twenties I was living in a dingy apartment in Los Angeles, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, giving tours at Warner Bros. Studio because I didn’t know what else to do for money, writing books because I wanted to someday be a published author, and coaching cross-country at a small prep school in Pasadena because it helped pay the bills. In some ways, I was your quintessential college graduate circa 2008, hobbling together odd jobs amidst a global recession in order to make a living.
I was also struggling with obsessive compulsive…
View original post 662 more words
May 1, 2023
Vote for my cover!
Hi Everyone!
I’m excited to tell you that my book has been nominated for the “Cover of the Month” contest on AllAuthor.com. This will help me a lot if I could see some votes coming in, so please remember to vote my book. Click on the link below!
April 29, 2023
Summoning the Ghost Agent
Dear Ponti,
Is there such a thing as a “dream agent?”
– Writer with a Dream
Portrait of a boy sitting on top of books and reading.Dear Writer with a Dream,
I have a friend who is in the querying trenches right now, and she wrote me recently to express her frustration with the querying process. She had gotten her hopes up after an agent requested her manuscript with the promise to get back to her shortly. Of course, wait times being what they are in the publishing industry, “shortly” could mean anything. The agent asked her to check back if she didn’t hear anything, so my friend patiently waited a few weeks before following up.
My friend was anxious for a response since she had put so much of herself into her most recent manuscript and she wanted to know if this agent would recognize the book’s potential…
View original post 505 more words
April 22, 2023
To Tell or Not to Tell
Dear Ponti,
My elderly mom is dying of cancer, and she doesn’t want me to tell the family. Right now only my brother and one of my children who lives with her knows, but I have two other sisters and two other children that would want to know. What should I do?
– To Tell or Not to Tell
Dear To Tell or Not to Tell,
Almost exactly one year ago, my father had a stroke. I didn’t learn about it until a month after the fact. My family kept it from me.
My relationship with my family has been strained for many years, and we don’t speak often, but the one thing I have asked my parents and two adult brothers to do above all else is let me know if any serious health concerns arise. I’ve promised to do the same. Seems like a reasonable request, right? If…
View original post 900 more words
April 15, 2023
The Giving Tree was a Dupe
Dear Ponti,
I feel like I’m surrounded by people who are struggling and I’m struggling too. I love to help others but I’ve got nothing left. I feel guilty putting myself first, particularly before family, even when I really need to. How can I justify it to myself and others?
– Struggling
Dear Struggling,
In my mid-twenties, I started teaching for a private school in Los Angeles. The demands from students, parents, and coworkers were immense. Yet, I took pride in making myself constantly available to anybody who needed me. I would coach after school for no pay; I would chaperone dances on the weekends; I would travel on class trips. I was young and single, and I thought I would have endless amounts of energy for the rest of my life. During that phase of my life I often described myself as a fruit tree that was producing fruit…
View original post 690 more words
