Stephen Burckhardt's Blog: My Blog Ramblings, page 74

Contests, New Books, and Technology

I am still coughing my head off here but I am feeling better. Yesterday, I ran all my errands I had skipped over while I was down with the worst of this cold. By the time I got home, I was exhausted. Today, I dragged myself out of bed and have been working on updating the website, setting up a new contest, and finishing up another short story writing challenge for the next western collection by Scott Harris. Once again I will be one of the 51 friends whose work will be included in the book.The first group project, The Shot Rang Out is on sale now and after just 12 hours being live for download it has already reached #30 in the recent releases list on Amazon. Now, if I could get my solo work to take off like that I might actually make some money.A little bit of old business, I want to thank everyone who entered my Facebook Friends Grab bribe contest. My facebook friends number did go up so from that standpoint I consider it a success. I was surprised with the winner. There was one person who shared almost every post I made and had almost the same number of entries as everyone else combined. I thought there was no way they would not win the contest, I was wrong. The luck must be strong with Faye Finley Eidson. Congratulations Faye for winning the $20 electronic Amazon gift card. Thanks again for the shares!I'm also celebrating the fact that I didn't destroy my new mouse pen my mom sent to me to go with my new notebook I bought so I could write on the go. I dropped it in my cup of hot tea the other night. It's probably the first time I didn't completely ruin something electronic when I got it wet. I have gone through more computers and tablets the last year than in most of the other years of my life put together. I think my klutziness is progressing with my age. I should just be glad it's my coordination that is deteriorating and not my mind. (That went a long time ago.) Thanks for following along with my crazy attempt at creating a new career. At least I'm never boring. Stephen

I Murphy and His Laws!

I swear some days I think I should just be wrapped in bubble wrap and stood up in the corner. i was just telling my mother how much I loved the mouse pen she sent me recently. I was using it all the time and it was just perfect to go with my new little notebook I bought to carry around with me to write. Tonight I dropped in my cup of hot tea. I swear I need a keeper!I have hope that it's not gone. It was still sort of working so I took the battery out and I'm letting it dry out completely in our jar of Basmati rice before I try it again. Cross your fingers for me.. On a another note. I took this week off of my teaching job so I can focus on working on my writing. I will finish writing my short for the group project I'm a part of then I will be devoting the rest of the week to working on Into the West: Sharon Springs. I plan to start sharing bits of what I'm working on and I have another contest coming up that I will be setting up this week. I want to set up a day for blogs, a day for sharing writing bits and at least one other thing but I have't decided what that will be. My life has been so unstructured the last few years because so much has been going on and there have been so may changes but I really want to get things set up into a routine so I can manage my life better. I've been struggling to keep up with everything and sometimes things slip through the cracks. Unfortunately, it's usually exercise and/or my writing that usually gets dropped when I'm struggling to keep up with everything. That needs to stop!So think good thought for me and I hope to get things figured out here very soon.Thanks for following along my crazy journey.Stephen

So Much Going On

Once again it's been a few weeks between blogs. I went to visit friends shortly after the last one and came home with a real intention to dive into work. Then I got sick.. I came down with a horrible respiratory infection and was in bed for two weeks. I am only just now getting up and around again. Yesterday was the first day I left the house in weeks.Today I was working on getting the new computer set up for writing. It's taken me forever to get this set up. I bought a little Lenovo table with keyboard. It's small enough I can carry it around with me to write on the go but it was much harder to set up than my big laptop was. |I think tonight I finally got it set. We will see.I have news. The Shot Rang Out should be available in the near future. I'll post a publication date when I know one for sure. If you do not know about this project, I was part of a group of western writers who joined Scott Harris in a writing challenge. Scott gave us all the same 18 words and we had to use it somehow in a 500 word story. It was so much fun and there was so much interest in this endeavor that Scott has decided to issue a few more writing challenges to us. I'm working on my entry for the second one right now. I will share details of that one as soon as they are available.I have more news but I'm still coughing and really want to go back to bed so I will share more later. Have a great weekend!Stephen

Just a Quick Note . . .

Due to pricing changes in the way the print on demand company prices their paperbacks, I have decided to do away with my idea to offer a single collection book when the saga is complete. If you have noticed, the limited edition trade paperback with just part one and two included, has had a price jump from $8.99 to $11.99. My profit per book has not increased with that price jump, it's all going to the print costs. To me, the final cost is just not going to be realistic.I will continue with the plan to keep releasing them all as individual print and ebook editions. Should something change by the time I finish the saga, I can reevaluate then. But for now, there are no longer plans to release a single volume edition with all the novellas from the Into the West Saga Serial. Thanks for your support and understanding. Tomorrow is another day to write, to read, and to be happy! Happy trails!Stephen

Chilly Monday Greetings

Today is a somber day in the Burckhardt home. I'm going through a few emotions today after learning of the death of a family member. Yesterday, my mother's sister passed away. It was not a surprise as she was in her 80s and had been battling Alzheimer's for many years. We were not close. She was a stern woman who was not what I would ever characterize as "touchy-feely" but I know her passing will be difficult for many people in her family. For those relatives, I am sorry for their loss. For my mother, I am sorry she didn't have a sister who wanted a close relationship with her and that she was not even acknowledged in her sisters obituary when every other member of her family was. This is all very sad on so many levels. This family loss is, of course, distracting from my writing but now I feel like channeling some of that emotion into my work. It seems like a perfect time to write seeing as how a few of my characters were also dealing with their losses at the end of book two. Doc Pete and his wife had not thought of adopting a child until they saw Conner, who closely resembled the son they had lost. Tim Ruth had come to the meeting at the church with the idea of adopting a sister for his son Timothy. At one time, Timothy had a sister but she too was lost to the harsh realities of living in the wild west. I think everything that is going on personally with my family right now will help me write a more realistic story when dealing with these emotions of loss. I hope to have something share for a sneak peak this weekend. Keep watching the blogs for more updates and if you haven't already, sign up for the mailing list to get all the latest information on book releases, contests, and so much more. Thanks for joining me on this ride! Stephen

Happy Saturday!

I hope everyone is having a good morning. I'm finally starting to feel like I've accomplished a few things. I have the new covers and edits for part one and two all uploaded and am just waiting for approval on the final few covers. This weekend I will actually start writing part three, Into the West: Sharon Springs. I'm excited to finally get the words on the screen. The characters have been waking up more in my head and are ready to continue on with their story. We will open up back in the meeting in Sharon Springs but, like in the beginning of Into the West: A New Home, we will see the end of the previous book but from a different perspective. It will give new insight into the thoughts and motivations of other characters. Keep watching the blogs for information on sneak peaks of what I'm writing. I will post the spoilers on a section in the members only area so only those who want to read them can and no one will have to avoid reading the blogs. One sad bit of news, I'm going to stop producing the special editions until I get to the final book. The publishing site I have been using has increased their prices and it just will not be feasible to produce a combined issue with all books in the serial after every new edition to the saga. I'm considering making it available in ebook form but not in print until all the book have been written. Keep watching my social media sites for the next book trailer. It will go up before I put Into the West: Sharon Springs on sale. Thanks going on this ride with me!Stephen

Almost There . . .

I just finished reformatting and uploading Into the West: A New Home - Special Edition. As soon as this is approved and goes live again, I will have finished with all of the reedits and redesigns! Hallelujah! Que the heavenly chorus! Moving forward will be so much easier now. I have a clear plan and have learned so much the last two years. It's definitely been a learning experience for me. My plan is to release Into the West: Sharon Springs this spring or early summer at the latest and then release Into the West: Most Wanted in the fall. I would like to have book five, the last book in this serial ready for release for Christmas but I think that might be pushing it. Mostly because I haven't figured out how I want to end this saga yet. I have a general idea but it really needs some more fleshing out. I hope to have all final approvals done for the reworked books by this Friday. I may take a day or two to relax then hit it hard to write Into the West: Sharon Springs. I need a bit of a breather. Besides, I think my mind works when I step away from the stories once in a great while. In the meantime, Dianne is back at work on trying to set up audio books for me. I'll keep you posted as I know more. We will most likely post some more audio sample on the Members Only page in the saloon. It's free to be a member, just sign up here. If you would like to see teasers as I work on my next book, be sure to sign up for my mailing list. Just go to stephenburckhardt.com and fill into your information to join my Posse. Keep watching the blog posts for more information about upcoming contests and special offers. And as always, thanks for following my work! Stephen

So Much Going on . . .

Where to begin? I wrote a short story that will be part of an anthology of western authors. The title is going to be, The Shot Rang Out. Fifty-two western authors were given 18 words and they had to write a short story around them. It was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to the book coming out. P.R.'s birthday surprise was a big hit. It was hard to keep the cake hidden for two days while I made it but I pulled it off. I was actually surprised this came out as nice as it did. It is a chocolate cake with cherry jam mixed with cherry liquor between the layers. It's iced with a homemade buttercream icing and covered in fondant. P.R. and I are both huge Star Wars fans so this was a fun cake for both of us. Dianne and I have been working like mad to get all the new edits up for books one and two in the Into the West Serial Saga so I can move on to book three while she works on the audio books. We've added a 5x8 paperback version exclusively through Barnes and Noble. They should be live by the end of the week. We have a book trailer for Into the West: A New Home. It will be up on my website soon but if you go to my Facebook page you can see it now. I'm glad I cut back my teaching schedule the last two weeks. It really gave me a lot of time to devote to my books so I could get all of this sorted out. I'm already completely booked for classes the next two weeks. I guess my students missed me. I got two boxes of proof copies of Into the West: The Orphan Train. I plan to offer up a few autographed copies in contests here in the near future so be sure to watch my social media for details. I hope to have the new edits up for the Special Edition of Into the West: A New Home by the end of the week. If you are interested in this issue I suggest you buy it as soon as it goes live again. It will be going off sale as soon as book three, Into the West: Sharon Springs, is released. I think that covers most of the news right now. If there is something I forgot, I'll write another blog tomorrow. Thanks for following my work!Stephen

Such a Long Day

I'm tryin to post from my tablet. We'll see if this works. I am so dead. P.R. and I got up and went to our meeting then we headed off in different directions. P.R. came home to do a conference call while I headed out to buy things for P.R.'s birthday tomorrow. I had decided I was going to finally make a cake I had been wanting to make P.R. for a while now ... I may regret it.I took $110 out of the bank. I thought for sure the stuff I'd need to buy for the cake would only cost $40 and I could buy us a new Soda Stream while I was out. Ours broke but it still works, sort of. After going to just two stores to get most of (not all) the stuff for the cake I was already down $56 and still needed to get the groceries I needed to make it and we were out of the basics like bread, butter, and eggs. By the time I was done I was down $90 and no Soda Stream. This cake better turn out fabulous. I could have bought P.R. a cake and the Millennium Falcon Bluetooth speaker we saw online and it would have cost about the same, my back wouldn't be killing me right now, and I could have spent at least part of the day writing.But it will all be worth it if it makes P.R's birth great. And if it doesn't make P.R.'s birthday great ... well, you know ... live and learn. Stephen

We are Getting Closer to Book Three!

So, I've mentioned I recently hired an editor, Greg Wood. He has all ready reedited books one and two for me (and corrected a few habitual mistakes I make). I have gone through book one, Into the West: The Orphan Train, and uploaded it to all of the sales platforms now and redesigned all the advertising for it (not to mention the amazing trailer Dianne created you can see in this blog). Now, on to book two, Into the West: A New Home.Greg sent me his edits for book two several days ago but I haven't had a chance to look at it until today. I will be working on the edits and formatting them for all the different sales platforms and hope to have those live again here in the next few days. I'm not sure how much time I will have to work on my writing Monday and Tuesday. P.R. and I have a meeting to go to in the morning on Monday and then I have to go shopping for supplies for Tuesday. Tuesday is P.R.'s birthday. I have big plans for this birthday and they could take a while. The rest of my week will be pretty open. I have cut back the classes I'm teaching this week so I can focus more on my writing. I'm only teaching two classes a day so that will give me most of the day to write. My goal is to have at least a few chapters written by Friday. So, now for a question, do you want to see hints at the story as I write it or do you just want the whole book when it's finished? I'm up for doing either. I promise when/if I do give snippets for you to read it will not be the major scenes. It will be part of the build up or the aftermath and you will have to use your imagination to fill in the rest, until you buy the book and read it all for yourself that is.Let me know in the comments how you feel. In the meantime, why not check out my Facebook page and follow me there. Stephen