Barbara G. Tarn's Blog, page 153
May 5, 2013
Sunday Surprise
… and it’s Art Sunday! Because I’ve been doodling and playing with the characters of Star Minds while writing the prequels/snippets, so please check the DeviantART gallery! 
I have added Mya and Maela before the story, which means Mya wears the GP bodysuit and not the black uniform of the other drawing and Maela is still fully Human. Their story happen almost at the same time, so I will probably publish them bundled together – when I write them, that is! 
More also in the Portraits gallery… but not posting it here, not this time! Now next time I get to work with paper and pencil, I really should start on SKYBAND13… I don’t have anymore pics in the portraits folders at the moment, so it would be good timing! But then I still have to draw some Star Minds secondary characters… except I probably never will because I’m so bad at drawing technology.
I should do Tyro and C’ell’andy – Tyro is bald, and I love drawing hair and eyes. No hair, not fun. And C’ell’andy is a cyborg, I’d never be able to draw the technological centaur, not even when he has more human (but still prosthetic) legs… I was bad enough with Maela! 
Now I shall go back to writing, finishing M’aera S’iva’s story so I can move to the two above and Gaurishankar… One last little thing – sort of related because 1) it’s a graphic novel (which goes well with Art Sunday) and 2) it’s set in 1982 (which goes well with Star Minds, since Kol-ian, Chantal and Daniele leave Earth in November 1982): I found Waltz with Bashir at the newsagent yesterday (Italian version, but I’m linking to the English one so you’ll know what I’m talking about). I didn’t watch the animated movie when it came out, but I decided to give a chance to this booklet. The art is not my favorite, but I had to read it because it’s my first into graphic journalism.
Well, I liked the tone and the feel, and I felt sorry for the young soldiers shooting without even knowing why and becoming so traumatized they completely forgot what happened. I’m impressed by the will of the writer-director to try to remember the massacre. And when I think that Beirut isn’t too far from Rome, where I was living blissfully unaware of what was going on (never watched the news, never will, everything I know comes from earsay or specific searches)… Wow.
Now I’d love to add a little sentence about it in Shooting Star (after all Kol-ian is in Europe at the time and his sensors see way beyond what we could), but I can’t add every little single event of 1982. Kol-ian is against war and he’s concentrating on Earth’s music – he is aware we are warmongering pawns of the Saurians, but he tries not to dwell on that. So no, no mention of this – I believe Ari Folmin and David Polonski did a great job already!
Have a wonderful Sunday!
May 3, 2013
Random Friday
First I’d like to announce I signed up for the Hop Against Homophobia and Transfobia again. With both English pen-names since B.G. Hope doesn’t have a blog but she’ll have a new title out by then. So that’s why you see the symbol in the sidebar – will stay there until the end of the month. Hope to see you there. I don’t know yet what I will post, but there will certainly be a giveaway.
To keep the randomness going, here are 10 things never to say to a single. I’ve had most of them said to me and I never liked it. I’m might look single, but I’m married to Mr Writing and I’m doing fine, thank you. And I’m not young anymore, which means I probably got to this point by choice. I’ve stopped looking for Prince Charming once I figured out that fairy tales are just that – tales, fiction and if you go to their roots and read the originals they’re not even kid-friendly for the most part.
Which goes well with Moira Allen’s article on relationships with books! I also tended to finish what I started, but lately, since my TBR pile never goes down, sometimes I drop the ball. I have one book on my Kindle I couldn’t go past chatper 2. And I’ve struggled through friends’ books (and then didn’t review them because I didn’t like them, hehe), but usually I usually buy the “right” books and read them in full. The only times I can leave them unfinished it’s when I am gifted with books or if I’m trying to go through some classic – for example I don’t like south-American authors, and when I was gifted a hardback from a famous Latin-American author, I never went past chapter 1.
I read the first issue of Fiction River! This anthology was a great read. Glad Dean Wesley Smith and Kris Rusch went back to editing and publishing!
5 stars to: “The grasshopper and my Aunts”, “Here, Kitty Kitty”, Shadow side.
4 stars to: “Life between dreams”, “That lost riddle”, “Barbarians”.
3 stars to: “Finally family”, “Sisters”, “Dog Boy Remembers”.
2 stars to: “True Calling”, “A taste of joie de vivre”, “The witch’s house”
If you like short stories, don’t miss it!
I also read a non-fiction book about selling on Kindle. Making a Killing on Kindle (Without Blogging, Facebook and Twitter). I blog but not to market my books, I have one FB profile and I don’t Tweet. My other pen-name has only a static web-page and she sells more than me – on Amazon, which is the aim of this book. Still I read this book – yes, I liked it, but… This is good for Authors, not Writers. His way takes 18 hours to implement sales – 18 hours PER BOOK, so for a prolific writer like me, well, I’d rather be off writing the next story. Something I learned – I’ll be more careful with keywords and categories with my next books. He explains how to put HTML in the book description on Amazon and has some tips on book blurbs – but I will definitely NOT check my Amazon sales rank every day like he suggests. But if you have only one or two “babies” out, or if you want to tame the Mighty Zon, or you’re a KDP Select author, give this book a try. It concentrates on the Kindle ecosystem (although there is a comparison with B&N at some point) and has advice on pricing, ranking, SEO writing, reviews, book blurbs and all that useful stuff. I will not apply it to the 40+ books that are already out, though, but I’ll keep it in mind for the next releases.
Last geeky bit of the week. On Facebook I was reminded of an anniversary – and wonder too “where is my flying car?”:
Now I should find the time to re-watch all three movies, hehe! But I’d rather watch “V” (the original TV series) first, as it helps with the Star Minds Snippets (although I have already written about Kol-ian and S’lyss on Earth – but I can always add some meat to the story after I rewatch that! )… If I didn’t have so much reading to do, I could spend more time in front of the TV, sigh! But I’m a writer, albeit a very visual one, so I better be off reading than watching movies (although my main inspiration comes from movies and comics and I always have a virtual cast in mind when I write, hehe)!
Have a wonderful weekend!
May 1, 2013
Writer Wednesday
First, April summary: thanks to old and new visitors, I’ve broken my previous record of visits. Welcome if you’re new, thank you if you’ve been following for a while. April sales: interesting! Zero on Amazon (unusual) and Kobo (usual) and XinXii (still have to see a sale there, LOL!), a couple on DriveThru, one on Smashwords and 7 on Apple via D2D – and I’ve been with them only a couple of weeks.
Now, I have no idea if and when I’ll see the money, but I’m very glad I can see a sale the day it’s made. My collegue bought 2 more books on the i-bookstore and I immediately saw the sale. The previous 2 he’d bought when I sent them to Apple via Smashwords took 2 months to show on my dashboard. So I’m very happy with this service at the moment!
I’ve used the Kindle Comic Creator and done a mobi file of Fleur de Lys – it’s now available on Amazon as well as DriveThruComics (where there’s only the PDF available).
To end the Star Minds month I was a guest on Zach Sweets’s blog with the genesis of the story. And he kindly included some pictures – the banner and the meeting of Kol-ian and M’aera S’iva as shown in my DeviantART gallery! As for writing, I have completed 3 Snippets and working on the fourth – or maybe the fifth: M’aera S’iva’s story (or better his point of view on the whole thing). This is actually my third attempt at drawing Kol-ian’s first love, but the first didn’t make it to colors at all (the second is in the above gallery, if you’d like to click on the link).
Interesting writers links of the week: Kris Rusch on experiments – which is what all indie authors should do. And more words of wisdom from Neil Gaiman as well about this brand new world of publishing. I know I’m one of the few pioneers from Italy, and I’m both terrified and exalted to be on this road. Sometimes it’s very lonely – not knowing who to ask how to apply the great teachings of Americans such as Kris Rusch and Dean Wesley Smith to Italy’s laws. Sigh.
Does that mean I need nurturing? Nope. Sometimes I only need to spend a few hours with Cristina (who in return helped me draw the wings of M’aera S’iva in this very drawing) to feel less lonely in my journey. Do you need nurturing with Self-publishing? I don’t think so. Especially after you read J.W.Manus post on the topic.
An interesting discussion on frontmatter and endmatter in e-books. I’ve also used Joe Konrath’s version of putting the blurb at the beginning, but only with Death of Queen Amazonia so far.
And speaking of Joe Konrath, here’s his reply to Patterson’s campaign (that looks totally useless to me, but then, I’m not American and I don’t get to vote on that, LOL!). That’s another NYTbestseller behaving like Scott Turow – just because they make money doesn’t mean everybody else does. I guess they feel threatened by us small fish, hehe. We can grow teeth, like sharks, and eat them alive! 
One last link by Colleen Doran – if you wonder why I took off all my pics from Facebook, it’s because I had heard something about FB policies about photos… And she has found out that the UK has passed Orphan Works Bill. Just take off your pictures that you share online, it’s obviously safer… (My author page has only my book covers that are available everywhere the books are sold anyway – my private profile is almost pictureless, and I don’t use Instagram, hehe)
Have a wonderful week!
April 28, 2013
Sunday Surprise
Last month I did a writers wisdom post or writers on writing or words of wisdom (used to be called WoW Saturdays for those who’ve been following this blog for a long time) again. I guess it can become a monthly feature – albeit unexpected. Maybe in May it won’t be at the end of the month. Gotta keep ya on your toes, righ? I’ll keep sharing more of those… I still have plenty on file! So, for your Sunday, here are some wise writers’ quotes!
Most writers only begin doing what they do because they don’t know any other way to live, and most like the solitude. Many – perhaps sadly – greatly prefer the world in their head to the one they are forced to live in the rest of the time, so are relieved when they are able to shut the door on the rotten old real world and immerse themselves in the other one they have made for themselves.
- David Baboulene
The myth of Book as Event, put as clearly as I can. Myth: All books need to be events, need to be something special.
Hogwash, of course. All books must be written as well as the author can write the book, but just because the author spent blood and sweat on the book, or the author wrote it in twenty days, doesn’t make the book either special or not special. And it certainly doesn’t make it an event.
Hard and fast rule about writing:
THE PROCESS AND EXPERIENCE OF THE AUTHOR IN THE WRITING OF THE BOOK HAS NOTHING AT ALL TO DO WITH THE FINAL QUALITY OF THE BOOK.
- Dean Wesley Smith
“I try to leave out the parts that people skip.”
- Elmore Leonard
(p.s. so do I. Mostly because I do skip a lot when I read other people’s stuff. Unless they write like me, that is. Barb)
“If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
- Toni Morrison
“The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say.”
- Anaïs Nin
Basically I agree with the view that writing novels is an unhealthy type of work. When we set off to write a novel, when we use writing to create a story, like it or not a kind of toxin that lies deep down in all humanity rises to the surface. All writers have to come face-to-face with this toxin and, aware of the danger involved, discover a way to deal with it…
- Haruki Murakami
April 26, 2013
Random Friday
Mighty Jo awarded me again. I’m copy-pasting what this is all about:
willowdot21 AKA Shaun has started a new award, and here is what Shaun had to say.
“This is an award for everyone who is part of the “Word Press Family” I start this award on the basis that the WordPress family has taken me in, and showed me love and a caring side only WordPress can. The way people take a second to be nice, to answer a question and not make things a competition amazes me here. I know I have been given many awards, but I wanted to leave my own legacy on here by creating my own award, as many have done before. This represents “Family” we never meet, but are there for us as family. It is my honour to start this award”
Rules:Display the award logo on your blog.
Link back to the person who nominated you.
Nominate 10 others you see as having an impact on your WordPress experience and family.
Let your 10 Family members know you have awarded them.
That is it. Just please pick 10 people that have taken you as a friend, and spread the love.
I really like this award, as I love WordPress! Yes, it really feels like a family, so let’s see if I can find 10 other WordPressers to pass this on…
I don’t know about your side of the world, but here the weather is crazy and my health is going up and down like a yo-yo (raise hands whoever knows what a yo-yo is – I guess my younger readers will have no idea, LOL!). I want to sleep but I sleep badly. Mood swings follow the weather – hot and then cold and then hot and then cold. And it’s probably not even an approaching menopause, but a crazy tyroid, which apparently affects 30% of women. Especially women who were alive in 1986, IMHO. Why? Chernobil. Did you really think the radiations would stop at Russia’s borders? No way. The whole of Europe got it. And it’s starting to show.
That’s the sci-fi writer speaking – well, that’s what Kol-ian tells Daniele and Chantal when they come back to Earth in 2002. Those lucky two left in 1982, so they’d probably die if they breathed the air we have now! Anyhow, I think there’s some truth to the above statement – even if I used it in my fiction. And then we had another nuclear disaster in 2011. So we’re all fucked up – and don’t seem to be able to stop. Like Agent Smith said during the last year of the 20th century, “Human beings are a disease.” And we haven’t learned anything since. I might have skipped Earth’s Day, but it’s because I don’t believe in those silly “days” – we should respect each other and our planet every single day, not only on specific dates. Sigh.
Spent yesterday (Italian holiday) trying that Kindle Comic Creator – interesting. It makes better mobi files, but with SKYBAND I should probably try the panel-by-panel reading, except it seems to put the page and then the single panels. And the parts in prose it can’t detect, so unless I put some kind of frame around them, they’d still be unreadable.
Anyway, I now have a decent mobi file of Fleur de Lys 1, so I might upload that to KDP during the weekend. When I’m not writing Shooting Star (brand new beginning, by the way, and it’s going ways I never expected. I even get to explore S’lyss’s private life as Governor of Gaia! ) or revising the body switch that will go out to editors on Monday, that is! Have a wonderful weekend and more guests coming in May!
April 24, 2013
Writer Wednesday
From Writing World newsletter – how authors lose sales to unsavvy use of social networks. Check what should be present on your blog, Facebook profile, Twitter or whatnot – yeah, those buy-links for impulse buys. I do add them with new releases. And if you want to know where to find my books, go to the find my stuff page, the Silvery Earth Chronology or the Star Minds page – or to the B.G. Hope website! Yeah, you can’t miss me if you don’t want to!
If you’re a writer and want to do a workshop on writing for YA, please check the silent auction for David Farland. Again it will help to pay his son’s medical expenses and I think Dave is a great teacher. I’m not interested in writing in that genre, but if it’s your thing, please give it a try!
I’ll keep giving links before the writerly updates, so: Joe Konrath on fair use – I’m with him on the subject of piracy. That’s why I’m against DRM (although some titles on Kobo still have it for a glitch in Writing Life dashboard – eventually I’ll write again to the support team and ask them how can I get rid of it on all titles).
Dean Wesley Smith still killing the sacred cows of publishing – those myths everybody believes in. Everybody who is trying to break into traditional publishing, that is. I started writing in my own limbo, and had no idea that those things existed until I started writing in English and researching for publication, LOL! Anywah, that’s why I’m a fast writer – I was never told I wasn’t supposed to write that fast!
Got my first sale through D2D and uploaded a few more books there! I will slowly give up Smashwords distribution, as it hasn’t brought in much money – most of my earnings were from Smashwords itself, not the distribution channels. I would like to have a few more titles up and a few more data before I do a post on the two distributors, though… I’ve found on Writing World also Kbuuk, but they distribute only to Amazon, Kobo and B&N (and I go direct to the first 2), so I guess I’ll stick to D2D – and Amazon, Kobo, Smashwords, XinXii and DriveThru!
I’ve spent the weekend uploading and writing those Snippets and coloring those drawings of Star Minds. Full gallery on DeviantART, I will post here only Lin-sun and Ker-ris’s wedding (Snippet “The Heir”). And I’ve written “Lost Son” and started on “Shooting Star” – that prologue will definitely be changed as I “recycled” some of those sentences in Technological Angel. But that’s fine, I still have a lot to tell about Kol-ian’s arrival on Earth. Especially now that I know how Uwe-yuri (Ker-ris’s father) got there, LOL!
I also re-read the whole thing and revised a few things on the first two Snippets – hence the decision to wait until I read it all to continue the writing. It has taken me so long to write, I had forgotten some details, so I had to adjust even The Heir and Lost Son. Not to mention rewrite Shooting Star‘s beginning from scratch. I can continue now that I’m fully immersed in that universe again and talk about Kol-ian’s stay on Earth.
Then I’ll move back in time – to when Kol-ian left Marc’harid, heartbroken, and when Gaurishankar became a were-panther and Mya joined the Galaxy Police. Also Maela before the birth of Dadina and then M’aera S’iva’s story. And then I don’t know. Might dedicate a snippet to the bad guys of Book 3, but it might be too much (well, the Sadistic Author will be happy, the readers… probably not so much! ).
I also found out that Amazon has put a free Kindle Comic Creator – Mobipocket doesn’t really work for comics, so I downloaded this new thingy and will do some attempts during the next “short” weeks (April 25 and May 1 are national holidays in Italy, so I’m off DayJob, hehe) while continuing to move the Silvery Earth titles from Smashwords distribution to D2D. Gee, when am I supposed to write with all that publishing business going on?! Sigh. Glad it’s short stories that write themselves in a couple of days (although they need revisions for continuity afterward)!
Back to writing… and uploading… Have a great week!
April 21, 2013
Sunday Surprise
… and it’s another guest! Don’t worry, I’ve almost run out of them… Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Jill Sanders who gracefully answered all my writerly questions!
1. Where do you live and write from?I currently live in East Texas and usually write from anyplace in my home that isn’t under construction at the time.
2. When did you start writing?
I started wanting to write young adult or romance books when I was a teenager. I actually wrote a “novel” with my twin sister and best friend. Then, in High School I had a few teachers that encouraged me to write descriptive stories. I fell in love.
I started writing the Pride Series shortly after my mother died, when I started having vivid dreams. Taking my husbands advice, I started writing them down.
3. What genre(s) do you write?
Contemporary Romance with some suspense and excitement.
4. Where do you find your inspiration? Do you put yourself in your stories?
I’ve always been a story teller in my head. Now, I just write them down and entertain others.
5. Do you have a specific writing routine?
No, just sit down when the story calls me.
6. Out liner or improviser? Fast or slow writer?
Both, I’m great at improvising an outline and outlining my improvised writings. Fast, I’m a speed reader and typer.
7. Tell us about your latest bookDiscovering Pride tells the story of spit-fire Lacey Jordan. Lacey has a knack for knowing things before they happen. She helps run her families restaurant and has always had her life laid out, until she bumps into the new town doctor, Aaron Stevens. Aaron has just moved in to town to take over his Grandfather’s medical practice after coming out of a terrible relationship. All he wants to do is work on turning the old house he has just purchased into a place he can call home. But, he can’t stop thinking about the fairy creature he bumped into while swimming In his pond.
8. Indie publishing or traditional publishing – and why?
Indie for now. I would, as all writers, loved to get published.
9. Any other projects in the pipeline?
Yes, I have the last two books in this series.
Returning Pride Release date – July 2013
Returning Pride is the story of Iian Jordan. After losing his hearing at eighteen in a boating accident that claimed his father’s life, he wrote off trying to have a real relationship. Especially, with the one woman he’s had his eyes on since grade school. Communicating is hard enough while trying to run your own restaurant, but now the one woman he has a hard time speaking in front of has just walked back into his life. Allison Adams has been away from her home town for over two years. Living in LA helped jump start her art career, but now, coming home was supposed to be a sweet break. But, upon arriving, her life is consumed with her mother’s illness. With the help of her town and her one and only love, she might just have returned home for something more.
Lasting Pride Release date – Early 2014
Lasting Pride is the story of Ric Derby and Detective Roberta Stanton. When one of Ric’s art galleries is broken into and his assistant is brutally killed, he must work side by side with the police to find the millions in art that has gone missing. What he didn’t expect is that the petite brunette with the bedroom eyes is the best detective in Portland. But then, when Ric starts getting threats and someone has even tried to kill him, Roberta takes matters into her own hands. Moving him down the coast to his friends in the small town of Pride, is her idea of witness protection. But, then she learns a lesson that years on her own had never prepared her for. How to trust someone with not only your life, but your heart.
10. What is your goal as a writer and what are you doing to achieve it?I would love to finish this four part series by later next year, then I have a dozen or so more books in various stages of completion. My dream is to be able to make writing a full time career and maybe have it actually pay the bills.
Website: http://www.prideseries.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/prideseries
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pride-Series/292914987485995
Amazon Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Finding-Pride-Series-ebook/dp/B009LQKHIO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357826085&sr=8-1&keywords=finding+pride
http://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Pride-Series-ebook/dp/B00B1TLLIY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1359611190&sr=8-2&keywords=discovering+pride
Whoot! Best of luck to you, Jill! There you have it, folks… Go check her books! Have a great Sunday!
