Barbara G. Tarn's Blog, page 144

Writer Wednesday

And I managed to upload a new title, but since I did it yesterday afternoon, the only live link at the moment are Kindle and Smashwords. Stay tuned for more e-retailers. This is the second “excerpt” from Star Minds Snippets that will come out in full next month. So, after Mind Control, here’s Women, with a cover by excellent Silvano Beltramo.

This focuses on Mya and Maela – for the two people who read Star Minds, that is (or at least have been following this blog since last December, when I interviewed all the main characters). Since both stories start almost at the same time, and both deal with female protagonists, I thought I’d bundle them together!

I uploaded the bundle to Smashwords, Kindle, Kobo and Draft2Digital as usual, in spite of the Kobo/WHSmith/D2D controversy. At this time BoI-Prequels is unavailabe on Kobo, since it’s a free title I’ve sent through D2D. It seems it’s affecting only the Kobo UK store – and D2D-distributed titles.

For more on this story, here’s a good summary. Or you can check the discussion I started on Goodreads (thanks Mr Rodent for jumping in! It does indeed sound like the Paypal/Smashwords controversy…). D2D sent an update that they still don’t know when the titles they distribute will be back, and KWL said it’s working for us (I posted their email on the GR discussion). Here’s also David Gaughran’s – our man in the UK – analysis of the mishap/abuse/whatever you want to call it. I see the Kobo Italian store only – and the D2D title is “not found”.

Life is hard for indies! Especially when loved ones don’t support – or at least understand – your writing career. I’m with Michelle, here. I don’t have anyone who really supports my writing by cheering or asking me how it’s going, except for my cover artist Cristina Fabris (and I’m talking of offline acquaintaces here, not online friends). Sure, a couple are trying to follow in my footsteps, but they don’t really bother asking me how I’m doing. But I’ll keep going – just watch me! And, like the other Utah-based writer David Farland says – never give up!

And if you’re still worried about standards, check Kris Rusch’s post on the topic… Like my Jedi Twin says – more often than not, you don’t need a traditional publisher. Just do it yourself, especially if you’re young and tech-savvy. And if you need a history of traditional publishing, check Dean’s Killing the sacred cows of publishing post. And please be careful of scammers, like David Gaughran again points out – Author Solutions has reached the UK…

On the writing side, well, I’ve been working on a few shorts for a little longer before sending them off to betas. Hopefully next week I’ll start on Assassins, since Mighty Editor Katy also sent back the revision of BoI-Air, so I better check it ASAP and work on the new POD and ebook version next week! I alternate the writing with coloring SKYBAND 13, so hopefully by the weekend I’ll only have to put the balloons and lettering, whoot!

That’s all for the week! Have fun! And if you’re a writer – just write! Apply butt in chair and write! Happy week!

Happiness is…

Sunday Surprise

And it’s one more Wyrd Worlds author! And as you will see, he’s not from Europe! Told ya we’re not all Europeans in this anthology! His is the funniest story of the anthology. I think he’s the reincarnation of Douglas Adams (who was British, but his soul passed to an American – no, wait, that’s not possible, okay, it’s Douglas Adams’s twin!) – ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Ubiquitous Bubba!

Where do you live and write from?

Due to a lapse in security, I entered the world as an infant in a land known as Texas. Since then, I’ve lived in a number of other worlds. For a time, I lurked in the woods in the Pacific Northwest. I’m not saying I’m solely responsible for the resurgence of Bigfoot sightings, but I’ve been tagged by naturalists more than once. When I heard a team from National Geographic was on their way, I caught a bus heading east and settled in the U.S. Midwest. My hair got bored and left one night.

Over the next several years, I traveled extensively around the United States. In the course of my work, I wandered near and far. I finally caught up to my hair one day in a diner in Los Angeles. After an awkward silence, it apologized for not leaving a note. I asked if it wanted to hang out for a while, but it said that it had to go. It had a gig as a Chihuahua’s toupee.

I try to write wherever I am because it is much easier than writing where I am not. If I’m not there, the story has a tendency to wander off and annoy the neighbors.

When did you start writing?

I started writing short stories in school. From my earliest memories, I created stories. During recess in my elementary school years, I would wander around the playground, inventing characters and playing out their stories. Needless to say, I was beaten up frequently by my classmates. At home, I would wander through the yard, turning trees, dogs, bikes, and fences into characters. By the time I entered high school, I could disguise my imagination in a more socially acceptable manner. I wrote several short stories that enjoyed a very short life. In college, I explored various forms of writing. More than once, my teachers found some of my stories rather alarming. I’m not sure, but I think some may have used the phrase, “That boy just ain’t right.”

Several years later, I decided that I wanted to try my hand at writing a full length novel. I didn’t have any aspirations of publishing my work, but I wanted to see if I could stick with it and finish it. I started one story and trashed it a few months later. There was another story banging on the walls of my subconscious mind. I started again and wrote the opening pages of what would eventually be my first book. I worked on it in a haphazard manner over a period of several years. Eventually, the story reached critical mass and forced me to finish it.

What genre(s) do you write?

I thought that I wrote science fiction adventure stories. I found some fantasy elements creeping into my writing. Some friends read it and said that it was funny. They enjoyed the humor as much or more than the sci-fi/fantasy/adventure elements. I didn’t set out to write comedy, but it wormed its way into my brain in spite of my best intentions. Sometimes, in the midst of trying to get a particular action sequence right, I’ll insert some humorous elements to keep myself amused. Over time I realized that my work is more rooted in humor than in pure science fiction/fantasy.

Where do you find your inspiration? Do you put yourself in your stories?

I suffer from a psychological (and somewhat desperate) need for entertainment. From my early childhood, I’ve daydreamed out of a desire to fulfill this craving. I’ll watch movies, read books, play games, and waste time seeking entertainment. I write the stories I want to read in order to satisfy this compulsion.

I’ve lived my entire life creating characters. I played board games by myself, taking on a different persona for each player character. Household objects have personalities and conversations of their own. Heroes, villains, monsters, and martyrs confront, scheme and outwit each other on a daily basis. Instead of putting myself into one character in the story, I’ve found a part of myself in every single character. It’s not done intentionally, but I can see it in retrospect.

Do you have a specific writing routine?

I have a few different routines. I use the “Shut up and Write!” routine when I’m irritated that I’ve fallen behind my overly ambitious goals and I need to get busy. This is effective for a while, but it lacks the staying power of some of the other routines. I can only bully myself into writing for short periods of time. After that, I realize that I don’t have anyone else forcing me to listen to myself, so I distract myself and sneak away.

The “I’m on a Roll!” routine is great for writing in long stretches. When I’m in this mode, the pages seem to fly by and I struggle to keep up with the words. Unfortunately, this mode burns out after a while and I need some downtime in order to recuperate.

The “Submit to Batch Mode” routine is one of the more unorthodox methods I’ve used. This mode is very useful when I’m not entirely sure where the story should go next. I’ll file it away with all of the various story lines, characters, plot points, and ideas. I will relax and think about something else. In the meantime, my subconscious mind is slaving away working through the mess I’ve given it. I never know how long this process will take. It might be a few hours or even a few weeks. At some point, however, I know that my subconscious mind will sound an alarm when it is finished. The completed portion of the story will be uploaded into my conscious mind where I’ll see it for the first time. In many cases, this version is typed out verbatim the way it was delivered by my sub-consciousness. It doesn’t really leave me a choice. In some cases, this has ended up taking the story in a completely unexpected direction. It’s quite thrilling. I feel like I’m getting to read the story for the first time as I write it.

Outliner or improviser? Fast or slow writer?

I don’t outline, but I do start with several pages of random notes. These will consist of characters, plot points, ideas, and story lines. From these, I’ll start with a single story line and then add more. If an idea suddenly takes me, I may drop an existing story line and run with the new one for a while. In time, I’ll work on integrating them. I usually have a long term idea for where I want a story line to go, but I improvise the journey. In the process, characters sometimes end up changing their arc, expanding their role in ways I hadn’t planned.

I’m a hideously slow writer. Due to my extremely disorganized approach to writing, I take far too long to write. I can sit and agonize over a word or a phrase for hours. I know I should leave it and move on, but it tasks me. It tasks me and I will have it. (Obligatory Khan quote…) Sometimes, I get so frustrated with my own lack of progress, I just set it aside and do something else. That usually ends with entering my “Shut up and Write” mode in an attempt to kick start the process.

Tell us about your latest book

Reality Challenged features a bizarre cast of characters spread across the multiverse. Not all universes are the same. Some are stranger than others. The entire multiverse, however, may be in danger. A young, teenage psionic girl named Psychann may be the key to finding the legendary Prime Universe. Unfortunately, her rare ability to trade objects between universes has made her a target for those who would use her as a tool for their own ends. If they can hack their way into the Prime Universe, they could use it to control (or destroy) the rest of the multiverse. Worst of all, someone may have already done so.

She’ll need some help. Fortunately, she’s not alone. She’ll befriend a mercenary, a four ton alien who recites poetry, a paranoid revolutionary, a phase shifting mute, a xenophobic homicidal (and extremely vain) bat, coffee drinkers, a universe traveling rock band, a man who is no longer a mammal, and other characters who are little stranger. There are dungeon explorers, a newly knighted dragon, a horse with a serious attitude problem, a girl with way too many heads, wizards, telepaths, a talking yak, a rhyming flying warthog, a philosopher genius, monsters, pirates, sentient gas, and a mysterious race known only as, “Them.”

Not all of these universes are the same. Some allow faster than light travel. Others incorporate magic into their natural laws. Some use imagination to create their reality. A few of the others are rather odd. Some universes are easier to leave than others. Some of them just may be a trap.

Psychann has her work cut out for her. It might help if she could get all of her friends to stay in the same universe.

Indie publishing or traditional publishing – and why?

I write for my own enjoyment. I write the stories I want to read. I recognize that my style of writing is not for everyone and may not be well suited to traditional publishers. For this reason, I’ve chosen to publish my work myself. This allows me the ultimate artistic freedom and enables me to tell the stories in my own voice.

Any other projects in the pipeline?

Yes! I’m working on the follow up to Reality Challenged. The second book, Blithering Genius, continues the original story lines and adds a number of new characters. In this book, some characters will meet their doppelganger counterparts. More importantly, however, they will all face a problem with Time. Oh, and there are spiders, too.

That’s not all. There’s also a problem with hair. Specifically, there’s a character with some bad hair. Okay, he has evil hair. That would be bad enough for most people, but this hair is a parasite who is also an evil genius. Unfortunately, it is hosted on the head of a simpleton.

There are also psionic fish (who debate theories of Time), collapsing universes, a mysterious entity known as, the Mistress, and Them.

What is your goal as a writer and what are you doing to achieve it?

I want to introduce the characters running around in my head to other people’s heads. Let them spill Cheetos, lose the remote, and crank up the stereo in other people’s minds for a while. I want to tell these stories in my own way, sharing them with those who might enjoy them. I don’t have sales goals or download targets that would quantify success. Instead, I’m thrilled whenever I hear a reader tell me they enjoyed a story. For myself, I can’t wait to find out what these characters are going to do next.

Ubiquitous Bubba’s blog, Goodreads and Smashwords (includes Smashwords Interviews, in case you didn’t have enough). I also write for my own enjoyment and everything else he said in that answer. Except I don’t have his sense of humor yet. But I’m working on it!

Random Friday

And it’s Art Friday, since my procrastination techniques brought me to do a few more covers for stories I still have to write – but then, that might push me to actually write them, so that’s not bad. It’s bad in that I didn’t start coloring SKYBAND #13, that’s what the procrastination was for, LOL!

Anyhow, you can see the new (and old, actually, since some of these are already out there, but I thought I’d upload a bigger and more visible version) covers in my DeviantART gallery. I’m very happy with the princely or kingly couples of the southern kingdoms, especially the last one. Reference was from these two photos, I don’t know for the life of me where I got them from, but I assume they’re out of copyright.

So this will be the cover of More Tales of the Southern Kingdoms – out next year. This year I hope to publish Male Lovers of Silvery Earth and I have done two covers – same but different. Since this short anthology will cover centuries of Silvery Earth history (with short stories and novellas not related to each other), I thought to put 4 drawings (out of 6 stories). Now I need help to choose the frame!

Which one looks better to you? Left or right? Let me know in the comments, thank you! Three stories will be reprint (in fact two cover images were already used – albeit one in B&W), the other three are currently with betas, so I can send them to the editor ASAP. 5 are love stories (hence the flames might be a good thing?), one is drama (Lords of War – available in TSK2).

Oh, and these will get new covers as well – only one cover image, and then a second, thumbnail, on the back cover of the upcoming new POD version… So even if I reuse the frames of TSK2 it won’t be a problem…

That’s all for today! Have a great weekend!

Writer Wednesday

Final thoughts on the Goodreads Giveaway. 762 people requested it – people who had never heard of me (coincidentally, that’s also my bus number – the one that should take me to work or back home when it doesn’t forget to show up at the bus stop). 359 people added it to their Want-to-read shelf, so they weren’t just entering any giveaway available in the hope of winning. Also, that didn’t bring visitors to this blog, so it’s really just Goodreads users who entered the giveaway (some of my friends might have entered it through the link on Facebook, but I think most of the requesters were unknown to me) to win a book.

What I can say is – even if I will earn only one fan now, it brought my book to the attention of Goodreads users. I checked the book stats that went back to April 2013: it was added once in May, once in July (I think it’s Mr Rodent who even left a review), once in August, once in September, then went on the “Want-to-read” shelf of 100+ people on the first day of the giveaway, 70 on the second and 185 on the third. Now those people might never end up buying it, but they saw it, and know about Silvery Earth now.

That Want-to-read shelf is for the paperback edition that I added for the Giveaway (since, as I mentioned, it’s only for printed books, and it didn’t allow me to set it up until there were only the “e-book” and “Kindle edition” in their database). So I better hurry and do the CreateSpace edition and match it to the Kindle edition, so if some of those people look for the actual book, they can find it on Amazon (although since Amazon bought Goodreads, a lot of people are pissed)! And especially if the winner is American, sending direct from CreateSpace will be cheaper for me!

That’s a good marketing tool, that really shows your title on Goodreads since they list it on their giveaway list with no effort on your part. There are obviously readers who keep a look on those lists, so if you have print copies and want to reach new people, set up a Goodreads Giveaway! I don’t know if and how it will affect actual sales yet, but it’s good exposure, it’s free (well, it will cost you the mailing expenses for the winner if you don’t use CreateSpace – that was about 20euros for me, international mailing fees are very high, but you can select only your home country if you wish) and not time-consuming at all. No need to tweet, facebook, whatnot, just enter your title in a GR Giveaway and they will introduce you to hundreds of people who would have never heard of you otherwise…

While I was at it, I even re-read BoI-Air – after 2 years. Boy, it felt weird! Now I’m sending it out to an editor with minor adjustments (it was edited by a British editor, unlike my following books) and so the new POD edition will be updated – and so will the e-book version while I’m at it. Hopefully there isn’t so much to do on the other BoI as well! It’s little things, really (word choices, punctuation), but I understand why some writers get stuck in rewriting hell for years!

No, I’m not stuck in the Book-as-event myth. I did celebrate when I published BoI – Air and ordered those 25 copies (3 more left, yay!) done with Lulu, but I didn’t repeat the expense for the other books that came later. Those minor adjustments I plan are like proofreading (and the typo-imps are real b… – they show up years after you polished your book and hired a proofreader… they always find a way to get into your book!), and I won’t do it for all my books.

But I like reading my own books from time to time, since I write what I want to read and I have fun doing it! And since I write all year round and pretty fast, I never did NaNoWriMo and I’m not keeping anything in the drawer just because I wrote it too fast. I’m leaving there the stories that have no plot and make no sense because they were experiments at the time, but that’s all!

I’ve written a few shorts for a couple of anthologies I plan on publishing within the next six months (one brand new and three more “recycled”) and then I want to complete the second Amazons book for this year. Next year I plan on writing all the Amazon stories, the next generation of Star Minds and then who knows. I like to improvise – not just rewrite (translate/recycle) old stuff! And maybe one of those shorts might end up in Wyrd Worlds 2… Stay tuned!

Now, back to writing… have a great week!

Happiness is…

Sunday Surprise

And it’s another fellow Wyrd Worlds author! I know, it looks that we all come from Europe – but we don’t! It’s really an international bunch! Stay tuned for more… In the meantime, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Emma Faragher!

Where do you live and write from?

I live in Sheffield where I go to uni but I spend holidays with my family in Surrey. I write more from Surrey because I’m on holiday when I’m there!

When did you start writing?

I started writing when I was a child when I wrote bedtime stories for family friends. I started my first novel when I was 16 and finished it when I was 18. I started The House shortly afterwards.

What genre(s) do you write?

I write fantasy. My first novel was an epic fantasy but my current work is futuristic urban fantasy. I like building worlds in my writing and integrating magic into otherwise normal situations.

Where do you find your inspiration? Do you put yourself in your stories?

I try to avoid putting myself in my stories. It doesn’t feel like I have a lot of control over my books. The story is in my head and my job is just to put it down on paper. I can’t change things just because I don’t like them which makes character deaths very difficult when I realize what happens! I do quite a bit of research and use personal experiences to add depth to my writing. I try to experience as much as possible and love the outdoors.

Do you have a specific writing routine?

No, I have quite a lot of university work to do which always has to come first but I write whenever I can. Some parts are easier to write than others and I might go a month and only write 5000 words then do the same in a couple of days.

Outliner or improviser? Fast or slow writer?

I do a bit of both. The plot evolves as I write it but I know what is going to happen through the whole series. As I said my writing speed varies hugely depending on the part of the book I’m writing. I write actions scenes much faster than anything else.

Tell us about your latest book

My latest released work is called ‘The House’. It’s about Trix, a 22-year-old shapeshifter living in 23rd Century Devon. When shifters start to go missing Trix is left responsible for finding them. Between losing her mentor and haywire magic it’s not going to be easy and there seems to be more going on than they first thought. There is more at stake than just a few shifters, it could be the biggest disaster the supernatural community has seen since the witch hunts.

Link (US): http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C1C8JLM

Link (UK): https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00C1C8JLM

The book is also available through smashwords for other formats.

Indie publishing or traditional publishing – and why?

Indie publishing. I couldn’t cope with the rejection from traditional publishing and since friends had asked to read the novel I decided to go with indie publishing.

Any other projects in the pipeline?

I’m currently working on book 2 of the Trix SinClara series called ‘The Solstice”. It follows on from The House and I’m hoping to have it out early next year.

What is your goal as a writer and what are you doing to achieve it?

My aim is to keep writing. I’d love to be successful one day but I’m not looking for fame or fortune. I love to write and I’d keep writing even if I couldn’t publish!

Where to find Emma: Goodreads, author blog and Google+.

Random Friday

So, because I couldn’t stare at screens for long, I spent the past two weeks mostly reading (except on the first night of the keratitis, when I had to finish re-watching Jodhaa Akbar, haha). I finished what I had started on Kindle after a couple of days I could barely keep my eyes open, and then it was the turn of a dead-tree book on my TBR pile – actually, the latest I bought, but since I start from the smaller, it jumped the line, haha.

So, now I know why I didn’t read much before the indie revolution! I bought that Danielle Steele book at a remainder last August because I was curious about her – since she’s a beststeller, I wanted to know how she writes. And it’s not for me. Bummer. Although I could have probably told you that before buying the book, but I don’t like to criticize what I don’t know!

Mind you, she can write. She’s a pro. She’s a bestseller. But her stories are just not for me. I found them boring, repetitive and with too many descriptions (you know, those settings other writers keep requesting to me…). I wasn’t too taken by her characters – but I guess it’s because I’m not really into mainstream fiction or romance.

Oh, and the telling! Telling telling telling… what happened to “show don’t tell”? Those rules don’t apply anymore? Or they don’t apply to bestsellers? So a young author starting now will never feel ready, since s/he keeps being told “don’t do this, don’t do that”… by editors (or other wannabe writers)! I’m sooo happy I grew up before the internet and in a country where creative writing is still not something taught at universities (but only at private courses)! Or I’d be like the writer friend of this writer, who is stuck in non-submission hell (that’s a now hell for writers) because of the conflicting rules she finds around…

And Mrs Steele even uses the omniscient narrator, which was a nice surprise, since I read everywhere that it’s a no-no – maybe only in genre fiction? – and I should never ever use it because of the “no head-hopping” rule. Now, I’m getting used to third person limited and like it very much, but I still think that one day I might go back to that omniscient narrator that  graced my prose for 30+ years – before creative writing courses and critique groups!

So, this is not really a review, more a ramble on writing – which is supposed to happen on Wednesdays, sorry, I even added a writerly link. But writers must also read a lot, even if my new review policy means I won’t review my readings anymore, so sometimes when reading I’ll be a writer again (I still read like a reader, not like a writer, but obviously I’m more conscious of styles and stuff now). I write what I want to read – and Mrs Steele is not what I want to read. Not my cup of tea – but I’m sure millions of her fans enjoy her every book!

I’m very happy with this brand new world of publishing, where I can find things more of my tastes that might never become bestsellers, but flow better IMHO. True, it’s not easy to wade through the slush pile, but I think one can always find little gems among the shit that is out there. And give another author like me, struggling to get through, five minutes of happiness.

On a random final note, while I was nursing my eye, I received the calendars I did on Lulu. So you can have your Keanu or Hrithik calendar for 2014 as well, if you feel so inclined! Have a great weekend!

Writer Wednesday

Looky look, even WordPress wished me a happy anniversary! Ain’t they sweet? That’s why I still love them and stick to them!

In spite of the keratitis, I managed to go through the document and found a few typos, a couple of wandering commas, some missing words and some extra words – if more escaped, blame it on my sore eye. Sorry for the false announcement last Wednesday, but I kinda retracted it in the same paragraph – with the sore eye, I didn’t see I had mentioned a new title out in the first part.
Anyway, Amazon Sisters is out! Check it on Smashwords, Amazon, Kobo, Barnes&Noble, DriveThruFiction and even XinXii – and Apple who still lags behind (got the link this morning before this went live, phew!). A special thanks to The Rodent for his input on this one – he deserves a free copy, doesn’t he? It’s coming your way, Mr Rodent, don’t worry… Thanks for being my guinea pig with a Kobo e-reader!
And then we have the Giveaway winners for this blog! Coupons have been emailed to whoever entered… As for Goodreads, I just received the e-mail that it’s closed and who the winner is. More on this next week.
September is over and since I can’t read on screen, I’ll skip the writerly links this week as well. My sales went up to 6 units (from 1 in August) for Ciaran&Harith – 4 on Kindle, 1 on Kindle UK and 1 on Kobo UK. England, I’m taking you by storm, LOL! I guess my humor is more for the British than the Americans… Or is it because of Ciaran? He’s not British, he’s Irish! And I know India is a former British colony, but they’ve been independent since 1947 (correct me if I’m wrong, I can’t google it at this time – sore eye still on)!
Just kidding, it took Johnny&Marian a couple of months before it started selling, and I sold it both on Amazon.com and Amazon UK for almost a year – 3 or 4 copies a month, so it’s still my bestseller!
I managed to finish the inking of SKYBAND – but now the rest of the job is with Photoshop, so I don’t know when I’ll be able to do it. The eye feels better, but apparently these things take time. And I could toy with the screen light, but I’d rather just wait.
This has pushed back all my publishing schedule, unfortunately, so the complete Star Minds Snippets will come out in November. But you’ll have another taste or two this month. Stay tuned!
Apparently you can’t have a YouTube account without being on Google+, so I don’t have any book trailers anymore – until I open another account. My sore eye didn’t allow  me to see what I was doing and I joined Google+, unifying my Gmail and Youtube account. I managed to get out of it, but lost the YouTube channel – unless I join Google+, then I can reactivate all the videos (book trailers).
Suggestions? Is Vimeo all right?  Maybe I should just open another YouTube account without my Gmail (I have 6 working e-mail addies anyway) and see what happens… although I don’t like YouTube policies, so… sigh!
Not that the book trailers brought in sales, but they look great on book pages (available only with certain retailers, such as Smashwords or DriveThru)… I’d need a premium membership to upload directly to WordPress, so I’d skip that expense for now. And I took off the videos from Goodreads and Amazon Author Central as well…
More work to do – wouldn’t I be better off writing instead! Have a great week!
 

Happiness is…