R.D. Vallier's Blog, page 3

Giveaway Drawing

Illustration for the Worldwide Giveaway :)

Please Check Yes [ ] or No [ ]

I feel like a third-grader asking, but, can we be friends?
I’m late to Facebook, but hopeful we can connect better this way. I promise to hold to old-school manners and not discuss religion or politics, whine, or go off on diatribes. I will, however, occasionally post updates, giveaways, and teasers. I’ll probably also post things I find beautiful, along with cute owl pictures like this one, because everyone has weaknesses.


Here's a link to my currently friendless Facebook Page heheh :)

Oh! My worldwide giveaway ends in about 4 days!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Darkshine


by R.D. Vallier

Giveaway ends April 10, 2017.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Darkshine 2. Dark Ember.

Done. *sob*
98,500 words, approximately 400 pages.
(Granted that will probably change with the editing process and beta readers since I've yet to not have to address "problems.")

But for now I will take my small accomplishment. :) I just wish I knew what to do with myself!

Updates

Nothing quite like a concussion to knock you out of your game for a week. (Please excuse the bad pun. I couldn't resist.) Fortunately, it isn't too serious. Unfortunately, I'll probably miss my March goal of getting Dark Ember to new eyes. Oh well.

But holy smokes!! Darkshine has been added by almost 2,000 unique users on Goodreads! I remember, when I first listed the book, telling my husband "it would be so awesome if I could get 200 adds." Now there's an extra zero. :) Thank you! I'll do an Amazon giveaway when I hit the mark, and again for every 1000. I dunno what the heck I'd do if I ever hit 5 digits.

Speaking of giveaways, my world wide giveaway for a signed and illustrated paperback ends on April 10th! Click here to enter

I figured out my website/blog issue. I need to be able to sit at the library for a few hours for a constant internet connection, so it won't get done in the immediate future. There's nothing terribly important on my current blog, so I will probably sacrifice a lot of it because, honestly, I'd rather spend my time getting this book series completed.

And on that note, it looks like Dark Ember's cover will be shot in June. Yay!! Getting there! :)

Met a Snag.

I want to post new illustrations for the upcoming giveaway, as well as our yurt build. But I have a problem. I lost my web page builder in the computer crash, which held my blog and photos. My Goodreads blog is not an RSS feed of my web page; I copy the HTML directly. Right now, the only things I can figure out are:

(a.) a ton of work, transferring from GR to new Web Page, created through a new program.
(b.) Losing everything. (or at least all the photos on GR, and text + photos on web page.)

I hate my web designer and my web page, anyway. If anyone has any recommendations, I'd love to hear them.

Ugh. I'll figure something out, but I am SO CLOSE to finishing Book 2 that I don't want to deal with it. We are going to do a crazed Yurt-Build for the next four days, then my husband is going to watch our toddler for four days so I can hole up and crank out the rest of the book. Then an edit. A mellow. Another edit. My husband reads it. If he hates it it gets trashed and I'll figure something else out. If he enjoys it then it goes through edit #3, then to early Betas. Edit #4. Later Betas, Edit #5. Mellow. Reread. Edit #6. Maybe another outside/edit #7. Get cover completed. Publish.

I can't wait because I'm itching to get the last book rolling, too. I'm ready to move ON, but Orin is being a total asshat and causing a bunch of rewrites. Whatever, dude. I got your number now.

Up & Running. Darkshine series update

My computer died, but thanks to Best-Husband-Ever, I have a new laptop. It's weird having something that works again, and works great!

I wanted to get Dark Ember (Darkshine Book 2) out in April, but it looks like a summer release at this point. I generally take a year to write and edit ~90K words, but I've learned a toddler and building a house slows things down. I also want to redo 3 chapters near the end (I've cut 7 chapters thus far ... hopefully a good decision.) I'm bummed I am not hitting my original goal, but I'm still managing to get my tired butt up and write from 3:30am to 8:15am, all but 8 days a month, and I've learned to type with my thumb in the phone while chasing my son during the day. So I think I'm still doing okay, and trying to not beat myself up too much.

I have a four novel series I have written but wanted to spruce up after I finished Dark Ember. But now? I think I am going to shelf it, at least for awhile. I've already started writing the third/final Darkshine book, and I think I'm going to power through and aim to get the trilogy done in 2018. (It is unlike me to write ahead like that, another thing that slowed Dark Ember down. Alas.)

Anyway, that's my life at the moment. Now to get back to getting this new computer set up. :)

PS: My Worldwide Giveaway is still going! Good luck!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Darkshine


by R.D. Vallier

Giveaway ends April 10, 2017.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Indie B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree

Yippee! Darkshine was awarded a B.R.A.G Medallion. :) Not only is that cool, as is. It means I get a shiny! I do love shinies.


Writers: I suggest checking them out. If you're selected, they work hard to promote your work. You also get a report card of sorts from their pool of readers, whether you are given a medallion or not, so you can see where your strengths and weaknesses are. It's really great.


The worldwide giveaway starts tomorrow. One book, signed and illustrated. If a USA resident wins it, I will launch another worldwide one.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Darkshine


by R.D. Vallier

Giveaway ends April 10, 2017.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Sale, Worldwide Giveaway

I'm running a mini $0.99 sale for Darkshine. It will be running for a few days on Amazon

I'll also be hosting a worldwide giveaway. One book, signed and illustrated. It doesn't end until April 10th, because, really, I can only afford to do this about once a year. Once the giveaway is approved, it can be entered HERE

Mini Homestead Tour

I figured I’d give a small tour of the off-grid homestead, as it stands right now. It is far, far from completed. Please excuse the mess (*blush*).

To the right is the current main living area, which will eventually become just the kitchen and dining. It is bare bones at ~350 sqft, but I am in love with it. To the left is what we started building before the freaky cold snaps came. It will eventually be the atrium/indoor greenhouse, which also connects to the (eventual) bathroom. Right now only the shower is complete. There are no walls on it, just window framing and some plastic to prevent wind. All the windows were free, so we did a funky layout to fit. The main house is straw/cob/lime with a rough stone foundation. The roof is live. The solar panels are only up there temporarily. I won’t bore you with why. The bathroom/shower/rear of the atrium is constructed from rammed earth tires, like an earthship.

Here’s the hearth and dining area. The window beside the hearth has a reading bench, not shown. Hearth is made from stone and cob (a mix of clay soil, sand, and straw) the floor is stone and rammed earth with about a million layers of linseed oil. We got a free mineral permit and plucked all the rocks off the mountain. Clay was free from our homesite. Sand was free from the landfill. All we paid for was the linseed oil and mortar and bale. Maybe $150? We got the wood stove for $50 on craigslist. And since people are usually curious: the main house cost us around $4K total, but that includes the garden, fruit trees, and our “experiments.” (AKA: Fuck-ups)

Here’s a floor close up. I love spirals, and collecting rocks sucked, so we ended up with this design:

It doesn’t show the rammed earth floor well, so here is a close up (I love the hairline cracks and sealed them in):

I cut all the rafters and posts from our 10 acres (my husband did most of the other heavy labor). We did a reciprocating roof. Here is what the ceiling looks like, although it needs more plaster work, cleanup, and paint. That cardboard section will become a skylight next year.

Here’s how the rafters look joining the walls (the house is oval shaped):

Two of the walls aren’t finished because we’re going to knock doorways and hallways in them soon. This sort of shows what the wall build looks like. Straw, a layer of cob, lime.

Here is my very messy and very incomplete kitchen. We will be adding a top cabinet, an island, and a pantry (and I can’t wait!!). Right now I’m mostly cooking on the wood stove. I’m undecided if I want the final cookstove/oven to be wood or propane. We’re waiting until spring for the fridge since outside temps are working fine at the moment with a cooler. The cabinets are painted a dark purple, but you can’t really tell in these pics.

I wanted a window to go to the greenhouse to transfer future produce straight to the sink. The door is a dutch door we made for $5. They’re our major air-leaks, but we’ll hopefully get that taken care of soon.

We were going to add a small loft above the door, but now we aren’t sure. We don’t have any building plans; we just wing it as we go. (Our area requires no building permits, so, yes, everything is legal!)

And that’s about it. Thanks for stopping by. :) Any questions, feel free to ask. I can be slow to respond, but I get there eventually.

Homestead Progress, Giveaway, General Updates

Darkshine is on a Kindle Countdown Deal for $0.99 until the end of the year.

I hope everyone who celebrates Christmas had a wonderful holiday, surrounded with those who accept you exactly as you are.

My husband and I once experienced an Ohio winter where we couldn’t afford heat (or food for that matter). We swore we’d one day build a house where, if we couldn’t heat it, we wouldn’t freeze. Ten years later I believe we’ve achieved that. The cold snap brought us down to -7F, but even after 20 hours of no heating, the house wouldn’t dip below 54 degrees. That photo shows our thermometer. The outdoor temperature reads 27F, but the inside is 107F!!! It ended up maxing out at 109, but I’m determined to get the house to 120 at some point because ... well, just because. I probably have some control issues due to our past, but my husband is a good sport about it. The fact I wear significantly less clothing in the heat doesn’t hurt.

The weather makes our property beautiful, though:


Even the outhouse. Hahah.

My current Goodreads Giveaway
for Canada and the USA ends in 1 day. Two paperbacks, both signed and illustrated. I’m taking a break from colored illustrations this round, thanks to illness and a stupid stomach infection, and being homebound due to weather.



Despite everything, I’m getting writing in every morning, from 3:30am to 8:15am. The propane is disconnected from the office, so I’ve been sitting in our car in the pasture. Not sure what the neighbors are thinking. But I am THRILLED that I have a book in my hands. It still needs a lot of help, but it’s so nice to see it as a real story, instead of a pile of brain vomit. My husband gave me the best gift ever this year. Coupons! One for a 12 hours where he’ll take the kid and I can write, write, write. And another for a full 24 hours, complete with hotel room. I LOVE binge writing, and will save it for my favorite spot: the slicing and dicing. I’m on the sadistic scale as storytellers go. I love creating to destroy. Words, chapters, characters. Slice ‘em, dice ‘em, kill ‘em and grill ‘em. Fortunately, it all stays on the page. ;)



Hopefully I’ll get the rest of the trip pics up, soon...