Keith D. Jones's Blog, page 10

News: Discount Pricing at Barnes and Noble

It may have taken long enough that I had actually started to worry I had done something wrong, but all three paperbacks are finally available at Barnes & Noble again. Even better, The Faire Folk of Gideon and The Etymology of Fire are both on sale. I had nothing to do with this. My guess is that B&M is trying to undercut Amazon's price. Fortunately, I'll still get my dollar and change regardless of whatever B&M charges. Wonder how long it will last.

Journal: Spoken Versus Written Rhythm

The best part of my little test of LibreOffice last week was that wasn't even close to what I had planned on writing about. I had actually had something on my mind. Sure, just one of those things that probably wouldn't interest anyone other than my own little self but that's hardly the point. I had actually had something I thought I could ramble on about, which doesn't happen as often as I might like. It's that whole dilemma I refuse to stop going on about.

I want updates on my website. Stagnation is death and all of that. Sure, I've got no reason to believe that anybody is paying attention to the website; therefore, it don't matter none if it's updated. Hardly the point. Stagnation is death, as already stated at the beginning of this paragraph.

However, I don't want updates just for the sake of updating. That's even worse than stagnation. Boring people out of their minds with the shear triviality of the updates. Good way to drive people away even faster than a stagnated site. [...]

Journal: Testing LibreOffice

Trying out LibreOffice for the first time so this may not be the most spirited or interesting journal entry that I've ever posted, which is a good way to start these things off, by the way. Don't worry. Nothing to read here. Move along.

Or, stick around. Hear the tale of how I discovered LibreOffice. Got to love that name. Wasn't planned, I understand. Just sort-of happened, but I'm not going to tell you the story of LibreOffice.

I've been using OpenOffice.org for those people who haven't been keeping track. Just didn't want to spend the bucks on the latest and greats version of Microsoft Office. I've been quite vocally of the opinion that Microsoft Office really kind-of peaked with Office 97. It's all been downhill since then what with one improvement and modification after another. Simply can't leave well enough alone. I limped along with Office 97 for years and years and years. Refused to upgrade. Couldn't stand what they had done to the place.

News: All Three Revised Proofs Approved

All three books were revised and submitted to Createspace. The new proofs arrived in the mail this past week. They looked good so I clicked approve. Thought I was going to be charged a revision fee but that hasn't happened yet. Keep checking Barnes & Noble's website but the books are still only available for the Nook eBook reader there. I'm really hoping this is just one of those dissemination of updated information things. They are available at Amazon so I remain hopefully that I didn't screw things up too badly.

The revisions were minor. Fixed a couple of typos, which remains one of those can't win things. Find and fix a typo or two. Finally release the revised version. Two days later find more typos. Well, one new typo anyway, but it is on the very first page of The Magic Flute. Failed to capitalize the first word in a sentence. Managed to resist the urge to hit myself repeatedly in the face with the book.

Journal: Cheating the Ending

I don't like travelogue. Those long descriptive passages in books that may or may not be there to add character development. Sometimes, they exist purely to be cool or to show the hardships that the cast and crew must overcome. I don't know. Some people like travelogue to pieces. Nothing wrong with that. It is purely a personal bias against travelogue on my part. I just hate it. I hate travelogue with an unnatural passion that defies all logic and reason, and I just have to learn to live with that.

I also can't stand overly obvious or exposed plot mechanics. The form and design of the work shouldn't be so close to the surface that the bones actually stick through the skin. Sure, a story is very likely going to have an introduction, development section, rising action, crisis and conclusion, and I don't have a problem with any of that. While these are not in fact required elements, chances are very likely that any odd story is going to include them. Things should feel like natural developments. The plot points should feel like they occur because of the characters or events on the ground. They should not feel external or injected onto the cast and crew of marry pranksters that we have learned so well.

If I can pinch the first quarter to third of the pages of a book between thumb and finger and notice that the first big development or whatnot has just occurred, that's an obvious plot mechanism. If I can divide the book in half and something really big or important has just happened that may or may not change everything or results in an increase of excitement or tension, then that is also an obvious application of plot mechanics. Also, if I'm reading along and can tell from way off that there is going to be a big revelation or event or whatnot and it happens exactly when I predicted it would happen, that is once again exposed plot mechanics.

News: Short Stories Available in ePub Format

A whole bunch of my short stories are now available on my website in ePub format. I forgot to convert T'gin Whitemane. Looks like I only have that one saved in HTML format. Not even an old word document. I'll get around to converting it.

I had been thinking about making ePub versions available for some time but hadn't really wanted to go through all of the bother of first creating Adobe InDesign files. They are only short stories, after all. I knew there was an OpenOffice extension that could do the ePub conversion without the need for the InDesign step but had never bothered to look into it before. So, I have finally installed the Write2ePub OpenOffice extension. It works great for my short story files. Still needed to do a lot of extra work in Sigil once the files were converted, but I didn't mind. I'm actually glad I did it. The Write2ePub extension formats ePub files differently than InDesign so I was able to learn a lot about ePub formatting by comparing the two approaches. Turns out to be really simple, and I had been intimidated by the format for no good reason. It really is just XHTML and CSS2. Downright disappointing. I am now in the process of once again revising the formatting of my three novels. Don't know when I'll get around to actually posting it. Probably post the iBook version last because of the extra hassle involved. We shall see.

Journal: The Gideon Rush

Surprisingly enough, I'm not going to make a habit of this. I'm actually kind-of shocked that I've written so many journal entries in a row. Well, not exactly in a row, but you know what I mean. Didn't know I had enough on my mind that I could pound so much into my poor defenseless little computer keyboard. It's good exercise, I think. Dusting off of cobwebs. Giving me a bit of a notion of how much I can write in about an hour without too much forethought or planning. I mean, sure, I knew there were a whole bunch of topics I wanted to go over, but I really didn't know how it was going to all turn out. I mean, seriously, I thought I was going to get one journal entry out of the whole mess. I was not expecting to still be writing random sentences more than a week after I started.

So, ignoring the Shakespeare project for the moment, which I really do not want to go into in any more detail than I already have because it simply can't be that hard for people to figure out what I'm doing and beat me to it especially given the rate at which I'm working on it. Stupid day job. Also, I guess I've needed the time to realize that the story is far more involved than I was hoping to get away with. I need to really think about what I'm up against. I need to plan. I need to think. I need to take the proceedings far more seriously than I was hoping to get away with. What can I say? I just like the clash of ideas that I've strung together, and I really, really want the adaptation to work.

I really don't want to comment on the fact that it is an adaptation and not something wholly original. I mean, fuck it. I don't want to just rehash. I don't want to remake. I don't want to just go with something that's been done before from a lack of any good ideas of my own. This is the kind-of thought that does still worry me about my chosen project. Sure, I'm only doing it because I'm worried about what can be sustained. I'm worried about what I can continue without becoming overly invested in the project, which I've basically failed at, I guess. I mean, just look at me. I'm already insane over the project. I'm already obsessed with the style and format of the proceedings.

Journal: Adapting Shakespeare

Now, I just have to remember where I left off last week. Sure, no problem. I'm all over that. Just got to take a quick look at what I wrote last week and carry on. Which would work if I was actually continuing the same thought as last week. In theory, it would work. Never can tell what will happen when time is let slide between typing jags. The problem, this time, is that I left off at a natural transition. I was done with that point. At least, I was as happy as I was going to get with it and prepared to let the point rest. Wait, no. I went off on a wild tangent. Sigh, I really should bother to look back over what I wrote last week. Okay, forget whatever I may or may not have said last week. I'm not going to bother looking it over and neither should you. We are carrying on to the next random topic I had rattling around in my brain and thought deserved some kind of airing.

I want to get some more writing done, and I don't mean the kind of dregs and random whatnot I have an unfortunate tendency to unleash in this here random assortment of unwanted things space. I'm talking about organized thoughts and stories. I want to write something. Continuation of The Faire Folk of Gideon would be nice. I'm not done with Drake. I mean, sure, I know I would be more-or-less content if the damn thing just died a slow and painful death right where it is. What can I do but fuck it up, right? It has an ending. Hardly a perfect ending but it rests in a place where it could stay.

The problem with The Faire Folk of Gideon is that I've now got expectations about it. Simply not the same balls-to-the-wall free-for-all that it was when I started. Anything goes, motherfucker. Not so much anymore. I'm worried it's developed a really bad case of gravitas or something, and I'm scared to death that the next step will seem like too much of a shallow adventure story. I mean, really, the next step is more-or-less a shallow adventure story, but I'm not prepared to just completely and utterly wing-it.

News: Mass-market Paperback Editions

All three of my books are finally available in mass-market paperback editions from Lulu.com, which is something I never actually bothered to get around to before because the mass-market editions are more expensive than the trade paperback editions. This just makes me mad. The mass-market editions are smaller. Look, they are smaller. I don't understand why they are more expensive. Guess whatever arcane magic is done to create print-on-demand books simply doesn't care about page size. Only cares about the sheer number of pages. Therefore, the mass-market editions are more expensive. Live with it. Sigh.

Journal: The Marrow out of Life

Now, let's see if I can remember where I left off yesterday. I know there were several things that had been rattling around in my brain, and I made a stab at writing them down on Friday. Quickly discovered that it would take hours and make for a really long entry and that I should most definitely quit while I was ahead. I picked up the thread yesterday only to discover that things were once again slowly drifting around. Went with the notion that I could spread this across the entire long weekend. Try not to spend too long scribbling things down. Not out of any sense that I shouldn't spend as much time as needed. Really just more to do with not burning through whatever strength and motivation I had discovered to work on this all in one go. Could I make it last by limiting the daily? Could I come back to it and make something of it? Was this a good jumping off point? All in the interests of actually getting some work done. The creative stuff going again. Music and stories and shit.

Anyway, as I'm sure I've said way too many times of late, I've been trying to focus on sustainability. Sure, it's great to have grand plans and huge ideas and reaching for the stars and all of that, but you've also got to have a little perspective. Maybe, I'm just getting old. Where the perspective comes in. Understanding that grand ideas are great but you still have to implement them. It's a trick. Finding the balance. Great ideas that can be continued from day to day and week to year. Understand that there are external forces like the need for sleep. The unendurable necessity of a day job to help pay the bills. Random stresses and people's desperate need to include you in their drama.

I remember in my long lost youth that the mind tended to drift more. Filled with fancy ideas and wild notions. Not a care outside of whatever non-sense was filling my head. Even when the world at large was piss and shit and whatnot. Even when concerns and confusion were raining down around the ears. Head still full of wild notions. My coping mechanisms, I guess. Well, I've noticed that the more the world builds up and the years pile on that these annoying little things have been filling up more of the nooks and crannies. I've actually caught myself thinking about how I used to just stand around waiting for the buss and have the wildest thoughts, ideas and notions, but how those thoughts and ideas had become much more focused around the random crap of the day. It just piles up and piles up, and before you know it, all you're thinking about is all the random crap that's piled up.