Barbara G. Tarn's Blog, page 106
August 7, 2015
Random Friday
Still offline, so leaving you with some writers on writing, words of wisdom, whatever you want to call them! Have a great weekend!
It always amuses me when the status quo preaches about how the gatekeepers of New York, in their valiant efforts to curtail the so-called Tsunami of Crap, boast how they’re responsible for safeguarding literature and culture and are solely responsible for bringing books to the masses.
The opposite is the truth. The Big 5 are censors. For decades, their paper book distribution oligopoly limited what was available to readers. Their “curation”, which they’ve touted as a feature, has actually been a gigantic bug. A censorship bug, which prevented readers from deciding for themselves what’s worthy and what isn’t.
It’s so liberating, so intoxicating, to be able to write the kind of book I want to, without being subjected to the whims of the gatekeepers. Imagine if the Internet only allowed certain websites to be published based on what a select handful of people deemed appropriate. We’d have a far smaller, much less interesting World Wide Web.
Yet, even with the number of websites surpassing 1 billion, we can all still find worthy URLs that interest us.
Self-publishing doesn’t lead to a Tsunami of Crap. It leads to freedom, more choices, better prices, and the opportunity for more writers and readers to indulge in their whims and passions.
It takes a certain personality type to persevere through the solitude and negative feedback. I often say I’m a writing junkie, but more accurately, I’m a storytelling junkie. I consume and create story in equal measures. Take my stories away, I’ll wither and die.
Most people have a real life that writing gets in the way of. I have a writing life that real events interrupt. Most writers who have committed a novel or two find the writing life not to their taste.
Solitude and making things up is not for everyone.
Nor should it be.
And here’s the best news of all: I don’t have to be a bestseller to make comfortable money. In the past, if I had wanted to stay home and write books full-time, I had to hope I could sell my books to thousands of people. Now, I can make good money selling to hundreds. And hundreds of people is do-able. It might take some time to get there—I put my first story up on Amazon in 2009, so I’m into year 5 here—but it can be done.
We will never stop taking risks.
And we keep writing and putting up new work. And that’s the most important of everything.
We do our best to keep up with everything new coming into publishing, but we don’t chase every fad. And we don’t write to market. We write what we love.
And it seems to work just fine in the long run.
We have fun. We make a lot of money. That’s also fun.
And we do our best to help others find their own road, even if it is different from what we are doing. Every writer is different. And thankfully these days, there is no one path.
– Dean Wesley Smith
You don’t have to be perfect. Just perfect for yourself. You can achieve this personal perfection by having your own yardstick of what success means to you. But the important thing is that the yardstick have notches that take into account successes that are big as well as small. Think that writer who sold several thousand copies on Kindle is successful? Great. But if your own pdf has been downloaded 67 times, that is no small feat either. Imagine, at least 67 people in the world have thought your words worth paying their hard-earned cash for. And at least 67 people in the world have benefited in some way from your creation. To me, that sounds good.
Technique alone is never enough. You have to have passion. Technique alone is just an embroidered potholder.
– Raymond Chandler
August 5, 2015
Writer Wednesday
I’m offline, so I’m leaving this for you. In 20 days I’ll be 50, I thought I’d share some wisdom with you. Based lousely on this blog post.
50 things I know at 50 (that I didn’t know at 25)
1. There are no “speshul snowflakes”. We’re all the same but different.
2. What you sow, you reap – don’t to to others what you don’t want done to you.
3. Nobody should tell you how to live your life. Just do it – follow your heart.
4. Don’t try to fulfill someone else’s dream. Dream your own and dream big.
5. Be your special self, always. Changing to please others won’t help – neither you nor them.
6. Don’t bother about what other people think about you. What makes you think they’re thinking about you anyway?
7. Don’t be too hot-headed. Count to ten or wait until the morning after before calling or hitting “send”.
8. Friends will be friends forever. Real friends are not fleeting online presences. But the can be on the other side of the world and still be friends. Even if you never met in person.
9. We meet whomever we’re supposed to meet in this life – whether it’s a lesson or just a passing blessing.
10. You are complete. Don’t look for someone to complete you.
11. Don’t let the world drain you. Spend time with those who love and understand you.
12. Speak for yourself. Not for everybody else.
13. Be original. Be yourself. Mastering everything is a certain way not to succeed in anything.
14. Love yourself – body and mind. If you think you’re ugly, the world will see you as ugly. Think of yourself of beautiful and healthy instead.
15. Life is colorful – try not to be color-blind!
16. Only you can take care of yourself.
17. Life is under no obligation to give you what you expect.
18. Don’t try to change the world, or it will change you.
19. Don’t try to fit in at all costs – who is trying to fit in with you? Nobody? Exactly.
20. Be yourself. And remember – you’re great!
21. Happiness is… little things, really. Stop trying to look at the big picture and concentrate on the details.
22. Daydreaming is all right. Follow your heart.
23. You don’t have to give in to peers pressure. Seriously.
24. Nobody should force you to get married, get pregnant, have sex, do things that you don’t feel like doing but you think you must do because everybody else says so.
25. You are who you are, not what you have. And your material possessions won’t follow you anyway in your next life…
26. If you don’t love yourself, nobody else will. Be your own fan.
27. Don’t forget to tell yourself how great you are. If you don’t, nobody else will.
28. Oh, and, by the way, if you’re a woman – there’s no Happily Ever After. Fairy tales are just that – tales!
29. Stop looking for a non-existent Prince Charming right now – love is something else!
30. Passions burn out. Hormones go to sleep. You will settle! :)
31. Focus your attention on what you want and it will reflect in the outside world. If you think that the world is an ugly, dangerous, unfair disgusting place, that’s what you’ll see. If you believe that the world is a magical and beautiful place full of love, sharing, kindness and beauty, it will be for you.
32. Reprogram yourself to be what you want to be, not what society expects you to be. You can be beautiful and healthy by simply knowing that you are. Don’t think you are, know you are.
33. What you focus on has a powerful effect on how you perceive the world and you are perceived by others. If you wallow in self-pity, you’ll be seen as a whiny person.
34. Just be happy – happiness is… little things, really, and I’ve already said that – and your happiness will come through and attract similar-minded people.
35. Friends will be friends, but when money is involved, they become frenemies and sometimes real foes. Put it all in writing – verba volant, scripta manent!
36. You are unique and you should find your own solutions to your problems – or allow your soul to find them for you. No need to listen to confusing advice from other people, what worked for them might now work for you.
37. Like is change, so your body will change, you mindset will change and there’s nothing wrong about it. Those physical sicknesses are sometimes created by your soul preparing you a big surprise.
38. Accept life’s surprises and don’t try to keep the balance at all costs. In this duality world there’s no balance and everything is constantly in movement.
39. Don’t fight it, and you’ll feel much better. Just let go.
40. Forgive and forget. Life is too short to live it with grudges and hatred. Move on.
41. Don’t live in fear. You will lose your material possessions, so no need to cling to them. You will lose your life eventually, so no need to hide in a cocoon for fear of losing it.
42. We are all different, so fearing the difference means you’ll never be able to enjoy life.
43. There is no status quo. Learn to follow your own way and choose your goals wisely. You might have to adjust and experiment, and you will certainly fall, but just get back on your feet and keep going.
44. Find your light in the night and follow it – try not to stray too much from your chosen path.
45. You have your own beauty and it’s unique to you. In the words of someone who is much more famous than me and has 15million fans, treasure your own beauty.
46. Pay it forward. Whatever you learn, share it – but don’t preach. Some people don’t want to hear it. If they ask, answer, if not, mind your own business! :)
47. Don’t worry, be happy. And being alone is fine, really.
48. There is no one-size-fits-all way of live. Carve your own.
49. Define your idea of success and stick to it – not to whatever everybody else says about success.
50.And don’t forget to say thank you. for the good and the bad.
Now I’m going to add my signature to an introvert’s open letter to extroverts. Feel free to ignore me for the time being! :D
August 2, 2015
July 31, 2015
Random Friday
Um… some attempt at digital painting… I still suck… And those covers probably won’t sell, but well… I’ll change them when I have some money! ;) Yes, DayJob pays the bills, but still… I still don’t want to spend too much on single short stories or novellas. I’d rather pay artists for collections or novels.
Now I’m off for a week. You’ll have some silliness to keep you company, don’t worry. Or maybe some wisdom, depends on the point of view! ;)
I’ll be translating Kilig the Sword and trying to read some more – I have two novels to beta-read and I’d like to read something for pleasure for a change. And I’m with Dear Nephew, so I guess some Auntie Duty is due! :D If I still find myself iddle or the Muses strike, I might write some more… a story I’ve sent to a magazine that can have a sequel…
I’ll let you know when I’m back online! Have a great weekend and enjoy your summer!
July 29, 2015
Writer Wednesday
This week I’m trying to wrap up the vampire stories. Two shorts and a novel. More research and one last check of the final draft of Rajveer the Vampire, but it’s really the last books I’m reading for this novel.
I found useful info in the Invasions of India that I will keep handy for writing one of the next books, but totally gave up on History of the Moguls, since they seem to mix everything (Tamerlane with Babur, Akbar with Alauddin Khalji) – unless one reads it just for fun. But the history is really messed up.
I found many more books on the subject, but I’m not going to check them now. I’m also reading Vikram and the Vampire – I’m sure the English translation is not exactly as the original, but well… it’s also giving me nice insights on the country! :)
After this vampire week, I’m trying to stay offline for 10 days – but I’ll bring a notebook, just in case! ;) As soon as I come back, I’ll upload another ex-B.G.Hope title with new cover, then I’ll start publishing some Star Minds Interregnum stories. I know, I’m supposed to say this on the publisher’s page, but…
It doesn’t have any followers yet. I finished working on the single books pages – adding maps, characters interviews, whatever I could, so please go have a look. No, I’m not asking to tell me what you think, but if you like what you see, subscribe to the newsletter. I don’t post there as often as I do here, and only about new titles! ;)
If you’re an author and would like to be featured on my blog, drop me a line. Author and characters interviews are available. With a change of interviewer for characters. Brenda is probably not the best person, so Samantha is taking over the character interviews. See them bickering here, and answer Samantha’s questions if you dare! ;)
Gentle reminder – it’s the last week at 20%off on DriveThruFiction and DriveThruComics. On DTF the ebooks have all kinds of files (PDF, mobi and e-pub) and there are even bundles discounted available (Books of the Immortals and Chronicles of the Varian Empire). On DTC… S.K.Y.B.A.N.D. has only PDFs (and a POD version for the Omnibus).
July 26, 2015
Sunday Surprise
Covers rebranding! So, uploading the first novella by former pen name with new cover. Here is the comparison between the two.
It was the first title with another pen name I uploaded way back in 2011 – the original short story, that is. The following year I put up the expanded version with the new cover (cover picture by Mary R. Vogt @ Morguefile).
This year I reformatted it and changed the pen name and the cover… And lowered the price. Only 2,99$ now.
I will do the same for most of that pen-name titles (the body switches have the same cover, but then they had better cover and were “best sellers”, while these other titles sold nothing or only a couple of copies).
I’ll be working on more covers this weekend, to save on some expenses. I have a couple of Star Minds Interregnum covers to work on, plus the cover of a novella I sent to Writers of the Future. Experiments with digital painting, still trying to learn that damn Photoshop! ;)
Have a great Sunday! :D
July 24, 2015
Random Friday
Still working on the publisher’s page. Still writing new shorts – and redrafting them because the betas are just so awesome that I can’t ignore their suggestions (mostly because they point out something that already looked so-so to me). Still coming up with new ideas and improvements to what is already written and… in spite of the mushy brain and the awful heat, I guess I shouldn’t complain.
I even had time for a pencil portrait or two, while I brainstormed with myself what was next. Will send off a story tomorrow, and then work on two more. When I’m happy with those other two, I’ll go back to Rajveer for another pass and adjustments. Things I need to add in after I took out other stuff.
I’ll be re-uploading a former-pen-name title with the new cover this weekend. Stay tuned. This gal has a very personal style and she’s doing wonders. Pity her comic is still only in Italian (and probably French). See if you can tell her covers from mine on the Italian titles! ;)
Have a great weekend!
July 22, 2015
Writer Wednesday
Since I shared some of my research when I wrote the historical novel (still in that drawer, by the way), I thought I’d do the same this time. Mostly because I found conflicting stuff! ;)
In the History of the Mogul dynasty in India : from its foundation by Tamerlane, in the year 1399, to the accession of Aurengzebe, in the year 1657 (try to find the PDF version since the TXT is unreadable) I’ve skimmed over Akbar’s chapter and I’ve seen where someone thought something came from.
Chittorgarh. Wikipedia informs us that it had 3 “jahuar” (the self-immolation of royal ladies in case of siege). The most famous being the story of Rani Padmini (siege by the Sultan of Delhi in AD1303), the last being by Emperor Akbar. In the aforementioned book, they’re mixed. Like I said, I only skimmed (while trying to make the text-only version readable) the above book, but it was kind of funny to see two stories set one century and a half apart mixed together. I’ll have to go back and read the PDF! ;)
I also gave up trying to read the mobi versions of any 19th century text dealing with history or other stuff I might need for research. The software really can’t figure out what is written and nobody checks what comes out of it. And if there are notes under the page, the mobi file is impossible to read. So, back to PDF for scanned old paper books! :)
Anyhow, from now on, I’ll stick to the suggestions of good ol’ Bram (Stoker, who else?). When criticized because he didn’t go to Transylvania to write Dracula, he said,
Trees are trees, mountains are generally mountains, no matter what country you find them and one description may be made to answer for all this reinforcing the old adage among novelists: Never let the facts stand in the way of a good story.
Before I show off the covers for the former-B.G.Hope-titles, another post on book cover twins. That’s why I prefer to hire artists to do my covers. Here’s more reusable cover art for your historical novels – except mine is (will be) historical fantasy, so… commissioned cover(s) again! ;)
The secret art of reaching “the End” – just in case you still have procrastination problems! :) Or rewriting problems. Or “I want to make this perfect” problems. Finish what you write and move on! :D And don’t waste time fighting the wrong war.
Have a great week!
