Carrie Bailey Allen's Blog, page 5

Reaching #5 in Science Fiction for Genetic Engineering on Amazon (Woohoo!!)

We just couldn't have a novel about post apocalyptic New Zealand
and genetically engineered animals without three horned sheep.I took my first novel off  Smashwords last week so that I could enroll it for five free days through Amazon.

I didn't even check the downloads for three days. My expectations were to reach a few more potential readers. I didn't even mention it on my Twitter account.

And then I saw the numbers.

It took me about five minutes to process that I was seeing total copi...

5 Things Painting Teaches Me About Writing

I've been painting since I was young. Very young. At one point, my teachers rearranged my schedule to include more art, because it seemed that I might find success as a professional. But, growing up in a rural town on the Oregon coast, I balked at the idea of moving to a major city to pursue "art."

But, I still paint although these days I do spend much more time writing. And each creative effort informs the other.

Here's a few insights I have that apply to both writing and painting as a process...

3 Safe Steps to Acting Like an Author

I remember the first time I noticed the back flap of a book jacket as a kid forced to do a little summer
reading. I saw the author's black and white photo. Read the blurb and immediately took another book off the shelf and another to study the faces of total strangers.

I don't recall who they were or anything about them, but I do remember the distinct impression that they were not like me. I would never be a writer. My English teachers seemed to make sure I knew that with every swipe of their...

Everything I Know About Being a Minimalist

As suggested by Twitter user @j0vFeet1 aka. Mark William Walker, I'm going explain two different
Gandhi's meager possessionsways I use minimalism as a philosophy to improve my life by clarifying my goals, building positive relationships and increasing efficiency in my writing.

Minimalism is basically having less, doing less and being less.

No wonder it runs contrary to everything we think will make us successful, but then people who practice minimalism claim it does. Curious, isn't it...

The Modern Nomadic Life

Vardo [n]. Traditional horse drawn cart used
by British Romani.From the Romani to the Sami to the Plains Indians of the United States to the Irish pavees, nomadic people are an inseparable feature in Western culture. Whether or not they're forced into settlement.

And that scares people.

It should.

Because, after ten thousand years of agriculture, some people still don't want to settle, grow a crop or live in a city. And that's just wrong, isn't it?

We live in a time and an era when mental di...

5 Requests for Writing American Indians In Fiction

Me teaching English in Chile on Halloween (2008). I had
a bit of trouble convincing people I was the American
teacher... I'm in green with the hat by the way.I don't talk about my indian blood a lot, because being part indian is complicated.
Ever since I started working, I've been mistaken for a Latina in various less than hilarious ways, which are still so shocking I don't know where to start.
Por ejemplo...People practiced their Spanish at me when I was waitressing as a teenager. At friends' h...

Wasn't Proud of Indie Pride :(

#IndiePrideDay blew up Twitter a few days ago...
Remember this meme?
The guilt of not feeling the pride when I should feel pride still lingers like the taste of cucumber sandwiches with too much pepper... yeah, I'm serious.

I admit that my cover of my recent book isn't fantastic. I made it myself and it leaves a lot to be desired. But, me? I couldn't tweet with the #IndiePrideDay hashtag, because of... the covers. Covers matter. Don't judge a book by its cover is great advice, but so is turn the...

A Glimpse Into My INCREDIBLE Book Sales

Some of the statistics about self publishing book sales and the 95% of traditionally published authors who can't live on their writing alone aren't encouraging.

That is... if you expect to get rich writing your stories.

Reality is that you have to earn money to support your writing. At first, I tried freelance writing and earned enough to avoid 9 to 5 work days, but I had no energy for writing the fiction that inspired me to start. So, I went to graduate school and took part time jobs. Continue...

5 Reasons the World Needs MORE Writers

Navigating the murky seas of jealous friends has to be the hardest part of being a writer. I don't make
my income from my writing. I am not famous. I'm not by any means a great writer. I just finish things and somewhere, somehow find the courage to share it with other people.

It's not my success that certain people envy. It's my audacity and the joy I feel doing something that I LOVE. And do love it. I want to climb the highest mountain and shout it into the cosmos.

I love writi...

The Good Poets, The Bad Poets and Reflections From Beyond the Firmament

Scheme of Things (1475)The good poets who are mysterious and mystical dent the universe for a moment of viewing and
invite everyone. They achieve their objective by addressing the unseen forces that propel our lives forward and sideways and work through us. These poets cannot rely on the conventions of language, because they cannot be translated. The universe has no language. It's awesome raw power exists whether we can think of anything to say about it or not. The good poets thought of somet...