Barbara G. Tarn's Blog, page 176

Random Friday

OK, I don't know where this should actually go, so I'm randomly putting it here. I read on one of my regular monthly Italian mags about World Bank, Doing Business project. As I've been thinking of starting a publishing business, but got stuck in the process, I was very curious to see where Italy is on the list. If the US are steady at #4 and the UK dropped from 6 to 7 (the lower the number, the easier it is to start a business), Italy dropped from #83 to #87 (out of 138 countries). There is no such thing as D.B.A., which sounded so simple when I heard it from Dean last October.

Why oh why do I live in a country with such complicated business laws?! (Not to mention everything else, but I will spare you the rest) Should I look for a partner and emigrate to a more civil country to start my business?!  Gee, I'm stuck for now – paid house, steady job, either I ask that unpaid leave and try to move away for six months to a year, or I don't know what to do. Why does it have to be so complicated? Can we all go back to barter, please? I'll probably starve if the baker doesn't like my short stories, but still… looking forward to get rid of the Money God!

Other random topic: I read In My Shoes – I won this book in a giveaway, which means I might have not put it on my TBR list, but I enjoyed it nevertheless – in spite of not being the target audience. It's a fun read, the only critique I have is the use of first person but from two characters point of view, which sometimes makes it hard to understand who's talking until a few paragraphs in the chapter as both characters sound the same. It's a great body swap story, though, and I'm glad I had the chance to read it! That was the official review, but the following ramble is not really a review although the thought came out of reading that book.

Like I said, I normally don't identify myself with the characters in books or movies and in this case it was impossible, BUT it made me reminisce MY (long lost) teens, when only 2 girls wore make-up in my class. And I myself have worn make-up maybe five times in my life. I have never ever needed two hours to get ready to go anywhere (like Nicole in the book) – because I'm lazy, mostly, haha! Or I have a very strong male part or a very efficient female part, who knows. I've been the warrior woman for many years, wearing mostly jeans because I also had a scooter – then I sold it, started using buses again and skirts came back. Long, wide, comfy skirts. Warm jumpers because I'm always cold. Comfy shoes with low heels (flats hurt my back and I'm already 5'8 or 179cm, so no high heels needed). That's why I don't recognize myself in most women's behaviors. I'm one of a kind and proud of it, LOL!

Anyway, back to the book, if you'd like to read a body swap story, go check it. Now Happy Fan Girl Barb got her latest Colleen Doran and is very happy. Especially for the Kovar print because, hey, he's from my favorite graphic novel all-Colleen A Distant Soil. Now I enjoyed this other story (and Colleen's art, arf!), especially issue #3 that deals with artists/writers.

I'm beginning to thing it's Blog Award Year as the wonderful Jo Naylor passed me the Lovely Blog award – which I already had, so I'm not passing it on, haha. Well, if you really really want it, please go grab it on my behalf from Joleene's blog! Who, by the way, has the best vampire stories since Ann Rice, so if you want vampires, go check her Amarantine series!

Now, as I prepare for a Bollywood night with a friend, let me rephrase Luck by Chance (through hastily copied subtitles, hence might not be the exact quote): It's easy to be an actor in Hollywood. The Hindi film hero not only acts, but he also sings, dances, does comedy and excels at action. My brothers, it takes a lot of talent to be a hero in Bollywood. And it does indeed! So, as I introduce my friend to Kites (because

Barb's diary 1977-1978

Writer Wednesday

I shall open this post with Kris Rusch analysis of the publishing world in her excellent post about Scarcity and Abundance. I think there is abundance indeed, which is good for readers, but can be very frustrating for writers. A Goodreads author "retires" from the marketplace after four books on KDP, burned out by his marketing efforts – who can blame him? Although he was brave to put out those four titles, but then he wasn't very patient, having burned out after only eight months.

I still think we should diversify and don't let all the eggs in one basked – specifically Amazon's. Not because Amazon is Eeeviiil (like Scott Turow insists on saying rebutted again by Joe Konrath), but because the more wide-spread is the title, the better it is for the author. I haven't sold any copies of SKYBAND on Lulu in two years, and when I uploaded the PDFs to DriveThruComics, I sold one copy after a couple of months.

As for 2011 sales (and I mean actual sales, not free review copies, ebook weeks or giveaways), I had 11 on Smashwords and 18 on KDP vs. 4 all-time sales on Lulu – which, by the way, seems to have been kicked out of Amazon. Glad I didn't pay the MarketplaceReach for all my titles, although I'll probably have to make new editions on CreateSpace, sigh. Anyway, they said I should have received emails about the change, but I didn't. Oh, well, I will sort it out some other time – I don't feel the pressure to have print versions, considering I haven't sold any in the past two years. Oh, yeah, I sold 2 out of the 4 Lulu sales.

This year (two months and a half in) 8 sales on Smashwords, 7 on KDP and 1 on DriveThruComics. See how slow is the growth? I'm happy with these numbers, but I understand someone doing it in the hope of getting rich quick might be frustrated. I'm in for the long run. I'll celebrate in April when I'll get my first Smashwords payment (minimum for Paypal payments is 10$ and I closed 2011 with 9$ and change…) – one year since I started this adventure (and as the minimum for the Amazon check is 100$, who knows when I'll see that one! Maybe I should try to get into the Kindle Singles…).

So what? It's a 5 year plan. I'm not panicking yet (OK, I panicked last December, but now I'm happy again). I won't be able to quit DayJob this year nor the next, but I hope to get the first 100 fans (95 to go, yay!) by December. They might be spread throughout three pen names, but I don't care – OK, I'll be jealous if B.G.Hope sells more than Barbara G.Tarn, but that would only prove the point: no need to have marketing burn out!

I don't Tweet (under any pen name) and B.G.Hope has no official blog nor Facebook page – and she doesn't have a novel out yet. But she tackles a more popular genre – contemporary fiction probably has a wider readership than adult fantasy, so she might sell more, eventually. Time will tell.

I'll just keep writing and looking for alpha/beta readers – and if you want to know what I'm really looking for, please check this post (thanks, Stephen, for the link) and also how other writers such as Michelle take the feedback (I follow the Stephen King rule mentioned in her post). Oh, and even Blood Red Pencil has a post on beta reading.

Now there's this Meme going around, I saw it on Loralie and Viv's blogs, they haven't specifically tagged me, but said I could pick it up and pass it on. So here are the rules.

Go to page 77 of your current MS.
Go to line 7.
Copy down the next 7 lines – sentences or paragraphs – and post them as they're written. No cheating.
Tag 7 authors.

I'm posting an excerpt of CVE – The Left-handed Warrior, soon to be revised for publication (so this is the pre-editing version of p.77 from line 7 the 7 paragraphs).

They materialized on the battlefield – or the place of the carnage. The caravan of wagons was already in sight of Hurlevent, where a ship awaited them, but the attack had stopped them.

Sunray started shooting arrows, never missing his target, while Blondsun concentrated on his power. Balls of energy started hitting Humans, setting them on fire.

It didn't take long. Sunray and Blondsun went closer to check the survivors: some Genn children hidden in the luggage, two women and a boy who stared at them with green eyes filled with terror.

Blondsun rushed to his brother's cart, knowing it was too late for Silverstar. His body had already vanished, leaving Penelope alone on the seat, with her throat cut open.

Blondsun's tears choked him. Silverstar was with Ether, but Penny needed to be buried. He took her in his arms as if she was asleep. Now he knew the same fury and hatred that had pushed Kurt to seek revenge. The Emperor would pay.

***

Vario X woke up with a start. He felt a presence near his bed. He saw a shadow standing next to him, the curtains open on the darkness of the night.

Vario opened his mouth, but no sound came out. His mistress slept, unnaturally still. The silence was overwhelming.

Like they did, I won't tag anyone in particular. But if you're a writer and want to participate, leave a comment so we can check your entry! Happy writing! Oh, and… happy spring (if you're in the northern hemisphere, that is! For my Australian friends, don't worry, the heat is almost over! )

Happiness is…

Six Sentence Sunday

Continuing from last week's post – from Allan de Sayek, m/m romance set on Silvery Earth…

***

"Thank the Gods!" Allan joined his hands and looked at the painted ceiling, relieved.

"But I did punish him and will also punish you," his father continued.

"You haven't hurt him… physically, have you?" Allan worried his father could have made a eunuch out of his lover.

"No, I sold him as a slave."

***

Allan de Sayek is out on Kindle and Smashwords.

Now hop back to the Official Blog for more six sentence goodies… have a great Sunday!

Random Friday

First a random WordPress thing: I already had a flag counter (scroll down the sidebar), but now the guys at WP provide a hidden one for everyone! :- D And it even has the world map which is missing from mine (but then I'd have to delete this one and start counting again, so I'm glad to have the inbuilt WP one now!)! Just follow the instructions by the WP guys and see yours… Mine is slightly different from the "public" one on the sidebar (it's 2 years old, the WP one is brand new) - USA is first, then UK, then India and 4th Italy, which means at this time I get more visits from my (new) Indian friends than the Italians!

Now, today's topic: people I miss from the 20th century! Last weekend I did some cleaning of my paper archives about movies and their stars. Opening the folder that I started back in the 1980s, I was appalled by how many of those stars have fallen and passed away, either in this century or the last. I don't really want to make a list here, but at least 3 died in their twenties (River Phoenix, Brad Renfro, Heath Ledger). The women apparently survived better, including Juliette Lewis and Drew Barrymore who had their fair share of problems.

This goes with the memory of Tim Kelly, Slaughter's guitarist, who was included in the virtual cast of CVE3, which means I keep thinking about him every time his character shows up in the rewrite (a comic relief, by the way. Hope Tim doesn't mind). And I'm not going to dwell on the rest of the music industry (I've been missing Michael Jackson since the 1980s anyway), but you know what I mean.

And then an Italian woman commented on my trilingual reader post on FB, asking if I too loved Brunella Gasperini, which brought us to reminisce our beloved 1980s and I remembered another much missed person, Sturmtruppen creator Bonvi. So, on one side I kind of look forward to join them wherever they are, on the other side, I'm looking for other faces to inspire me – but it's not easy. I've become jaded. I do have people that I admire a lot, but I still miss the people who are gone and wish I could have met them before they passed away. So here's to meeting soon the ones that are still alive!

Now, to more pleasant topics! I watched Lagaan (yeah, busy weekend – drawing, cleaning paper folders and watching a Bollywood movie!). I recognized some faces from Jodhaa Akbar (secondary characters in both), and I'd say it's the same kind of epic historical movie, except it's the 1800s (Victorian era) instead of 1500s. And it's the story of why cricket has become India's national sport. The British officer is as bad as Jason Isaacs was in The Patriot (as far as I can remember, it's been some years, LOL!), so one day I'd love to see the British version of these stories (where the bad guys are either Yankee or Desi, rebellious and cruel with the poor British officer trying to bring peace and civilization to those savages, haha). The British Empire seen from the British Empire, please. That would be fun to compare!

Anyway, Lagaan is pure Bollywood, with dances and struggles and love and sports, so if you like any of this, brace yourself and enjoy this almost-4-hours marathon. I've listened to the soundtrack without the images, and it sounds good too!

Jumping to other topics – Wednesday I non-celebrated 24 years at DayJob. Next year I'm entitled to a prize, but I won't see it until January 2014. But maybe then I'll get that extra money to go Down Under at last! That is, if Mr Writing doesn't provide first, of course. But considering my very slow growth, I guess I'll have to rely on darn DayJob for a little longer. Sigh.

My (very intelligent) musings on Daylight Saving Time or The Things That Puzzle Me of These Times: we don't have it yet in Italy (we switch on the last Sunday of March and switch back on the last Sunday of October), but it's made me wonder for a few years now: why spend 8 months out of 12 on that Daylight Saving Time? That's probably because in Italy we call it "ora legale" (literally Legal Time vs Solar Time), so I wonder why we follow only for 4 months a year the natural sun time. Shouldn't it be the opposite (Legal or official time for 8 months and "winter" time for those shorter days of the year)? Is it just me and my awful math skills or my getting lost in translations and adaptations? And what's wrong with keeping the same time the whole year *says the traveler who knows much about jet-lag but is aware most people never leave their hometown so they don't know what it is*?

Did I mention I feel an alien on this planet and don't understand 90% of its population? There, you got your answer to the above rant!

Have a great weekend!

Writer Wednesday

Apparently Scott Turow's rant against Amazon was a faux pas rebutted by Joe Konrath & Barry Eilser (who also mention David Gaughran's excellent post on the topic and add an open letter to Mr Turow by author Suzanne White) – it's a long read, but worth it. My take on the whole paper vs.ebooks or brick-and-mortar vs online is: as a foreigner living in a non-English speaking country (albeit in a town with a few brick-and-mortar English bookstores) shopping online has become the norm. On Amazon I can find all the DVDs I want without flying to London, on Smashwords most ebooks, and those I can't find there, I find them on Amazon, where they have the print version (if the ebook is not available) shopped to my door. No more heavy bags when I come back from my travels!

As an author writing in English but living as above, through Amazon and Smashwords I can reach my readers all over the world. Eventually I might try to get my books into brick-and-mortar bookstores as well, but at the moment I'm all for the digital revolution – and I don't mean only the two e-distributors above, as I now have titles on XinXii and DriveThru as well (no sales, but I've just started with those two).

And I don't care if I'll never be able to join the Authors Guild – especially after what I've heard from them (the article criticized above is not the first I hear about). Nor am I interested in the Big Six at this time, as I'm still experimenting and having a lot of fun without bothering to wait months for a rejection because they don't know how to market my adult, character-oriented fantasy.

The Smashwords ebook week brought 2 sales with 50% off and 1 full price (99cent short) – then Smashwords crashed and all the books looked "pending for premium distribution" for 48 hours. But I also discovered BoI – Prequels had been rejected because they couldn't see the Smashwords license (which was at the end instead of the beginning, grunt!), so I also resubmitted that.

Hopefully in April I'll see my first payment from Smashwords, which means it took me one year to start seeing sales (I closed December with 9$ and change, and the minimum for PayPal payment is 10$…  It's now more than doubled in two months and a half! ), so it's a very slow growth. But still a growth.

Do we still need publishers? I don't. Because I've developed a self-confidence throughout the years. As I mentioned, I'm rewriting CVE3. One chapter I had translated it way back when (original file is from 1994), for one of my English courses in London. It had been saved on floppy disk (anyone remember those? ), then copied on CD-rom (and now added to my Dropbox folder because the CD-rom didn't work properly on Desktop and I had to open it on Laptop), so I printed it out to check it – my old song-lyrics-English was awful! But I kept also the Italian version at hand, and it wasn't much better. In 1993 I still hadn't done any creative writing courses, knew nothing of POVs, and of course it was the "old" Silvery Earth. So, major rewrite in translation, not in the plot itself (which is fine) but how it's written. I have to take out (from the whole novel, not only the translated chapter) all the head-hopping, on-the-nose dialog ("as you know, Bob…") and telling instead of showing. But it's OK, I can do it – and have the Editor check for passive voice and other grammar issues.

But then, writing is a muscle – if you don't exercise constantly, you lose tone. I've never stopped writing since that long lost summer of 1978. I have a huge unpublished backlist – most of it is and will always be unpublishable, but it was good exercise, and I'm not running out of ideas anytime soon. Between rewrites and shiny new thingies bouncing in my head, I don't know what writer's block is. Because I keep writing.

And then – finally – I put it out there and move on. I don't linger on the same story for years. One year of rewriting hell was enough for the lest of my life. I trust my creative mind to churn out the best story at the first try and my editing mind to catch plot inconsistencies and other mistakes when I reread (or type) it. Then it's off to betas and editors, one last pass, and I let go.

I think I spent too many years rereading my own stories (without changing a comma), it's time I move on – reading time is limited and the choices out there are unbelievable. I might still be my own favorite author (LOL), but I also want to discover new ones! So I'm going to end this post (rant?) first by showing you last weekend pastime (almost 3 hours) – also to break that big block of text with an image.

Hritik Roshan - new muse?

And then I'll answer the five questions found on Stephen's blog (follow his link to see where he got them from and read his answers), because hey, it's Writer Wednesday, and those are writing questions! Here we go.

1) What inspired you to be a writer?

I wanted to tell stories. All kids do. I just never stopped and started writing them down at a very early age. With (awful) drawings most of the time. Or (badly written) balloons. I still have them – scenes drawn of people talking, the first comic books and short stories… Not for public consumption, but a very solid base to build on.

2) What is love according to you?

Love is passion and losing yourself. In another world or another person, as you wish. In my case, as I couldn't find a person, I stuck to Mr. Writing.

3) What are your writings to you?

Babies. Imperfect or maimed or sweet or sad or whatever. I'm glad some of them are standing on their own now. And they'll soon be joined by many brothers and sisters. Reader, beware! A small army is coming!

4) How will you define yourself as an artist?

I'm a story teller and world creator. A writer with some (limited) drawing skills who dreams of an illustrated book for adults. Maybe in my next life!

5) What are the qualities in you which others do not have, and because of which you can write?

I'm prolific. I don't have anything better to do. Feel free to tell me "Get a life!". I will smile, nod and ignore your suggestion!

Happy writing, reading, drawing or whatever your passion is! Oh, and about the PayPal/Smashwords controversy… it's over!

Happiness is…

Six Sentence Sunday

From my newest release Allan de Sayek, a fantasy m/m romance on Silvery Earth.

***

When he awoke the sun was high and his father stood next to the bed, arms folded over his chest, wearing a frown that didn't allow much hope.

Allan pulled himself up, gathering his wits. "Father, where is Nazir? Please tell me you haven't killed him, as I am the one to blame."

Prince Ahmed's lips twitched as if he had repressed a smile. "No, I haven't killed him, Allan."

***

Allan de Sayek is out on Kindle and Smashwords.

Now hop back to the Official Blog for more six sentence goodies… have a great Sunday!

Random Friday

About random facts of life – yesterday was Women's Day, which has been celebrated in Italy, like, forever by destroying mimosa trees to offer those yellow flowers to women.  Which is something I could never stand because 1) I don't believe Women's Day should be one day out of 365; 2) my nose hates all smells, including the so-called perfume of mimosa flowers – after 10 minutes next to a little branch I get a giant migraine.

So for the past 20 years or so, March 8th has been only the birthday of the only woman I know who should actually celebrate that day – she's lucky, she gets "auguri" and wishes  even from strangers, who think they owe them because it's Women's Day, when it's actually her birthday! So, (late) Happy Birthday, Chiara!

Usually it was my boss or the company that offered mimosa to all the women on that day. Yesterday I went to have my usual cappuccino and there was the daughter of the coffee owner (she's around 6, if I remember correctly, she's slightly younger than my nephew) who offered mimosa to every woman that entered her father's shop. When she saw me put it back on the table (I hate see things go to waste, especially flowers), I had to explain to her I'm allergic to the smell. She looked aghast! Hope her dad will explain to her what it means!

You might have guessed by now I'm not really into "traditional" holidays or festivities. I see no meaning in them, especially the ones like Women's Day – but then, that's why I have the Amazons on Silvery Earth. I doubt they allow their men to have Men's Day, LOL! They (men) should be grateful they(Amazons)  stopped stopped sacrificing them (men) on the Goddess's altar every fall! Heh, talk about Men's Day! A human sacrifice,  haha! Barbarian? Well, that's my name, in case you didn't notice!

I mean, why only one day a year for such causes? Why not every day? That's why I don't celebrate these things – but try to be gracious about it, at least with poor 6-year-olds who don't know better! Yeah, you can say it, I'm a grumpy old woman (and I'm not even half a century yet), but it's the same with the "Year of…".  In the seventies there was the Year of Childhood (I think it was 1977, somewhere I still have the stickers to prove it). And then there was a song about the "Year of Love", but apparently it's still to come – after more than 30 years. (The following video is static, so you can keep reading while you listen)

Translation of the French lyrics?  "There was a year for childhood/ but it's gone, we don't talk about it anymore/The year of Woman passed/ and nothing changed/ nobody won or lost/still a program /to try to make us forget/ that everywhere on earth/ it's the year of war/ but when the year of love will come/ how much will we love each other" and on it goes – you get the idea. That was the 1970s and it's still valid today.

This year I also have two weddings to attend. Huff. Considering the high number of divorces in this very catholic country, I wonder why people still bother. Just move in together and save your money – it's a financial crisis time! I guess I got turned off weddings after Muriel's Wedding back in the 1990s – when the divorce rate wasn't this high, LOL! Which also means I won't buy a new dress for either wedding – sorry, friends, you'll see me again with the dress I wore at Cristina's wedding years ago (it's the same bunch of friends, the comic-book-lovers) – and that I bought for my brother's wedding.

So that's why I don't celebrate any of that… But I celebrate it's Friday  *yay!* and the weekend is coming! I hope to get to see almost-4-hours-long Lagaan (about Victorian… India) and get on with CVE3 – my favorite, and actually the first book about the Varian Empire I wrote so long ago (the very first version was from 1993, I'm working on the typed version of 2001 and edit as I translate because Silvery Earth changed in the meanwhile) and maybe do some pencil drawings as well (at least one. And I'm changing subject after 11 years. Yikes!).

Oh, and don't forget to take advantage of the great sales on Smashwords for the last days of e-book week! Hey, I'm even on Self-published Author's Lounge in the same post with Jo!  Have a great weekend!

Writer Wednesday

The past week has been afire with the Smashwords/Paypal controversy… you can read more articulated discussions than anything I could say on Kenra, Kris Rusch and Georgina's blogs – two quite opposite American POVs and one Aussie… Personally, I don't have anything to add. But I live in a country where the minister of finances is a banker and is limiting cash flow through laws so that everybody will have to open a bank account…so I was really hoping to start using my PayPal account when I manage to quit DayJob – no more banks, thank you!

Obviously not for this lifetime, or at least this year, though. And apparently the alternative to PayPal is WePay, but I'm probably too lazy to switch at the moment (like Loralie says in her post on Twitter followers – another reason NOT to get on Twitter, LOL)!

And then I followed Mark Coker's suggestion (because I got the "publisher" e-mail, I won't get the other users email).

Mentioned in the email is a book that represents the best $.99 you can spend anywhere – a parody on the PayPal drama titled, Two People Having Sex.  Brilliant brilliant.  Buy it.

I did and downloaded it. It's brilliant and funny as he says! It's also very short, so really, give it a shot – I love parodies when they're well done!

It's still Read an e-book week on Smashwords, so make sure to check all the deals you can find, including the BoI, TSK and Soul Stealers with 50% off. And don't forget to check the deals on Self-Published Author's Lounge – the whole week is full of them (like, five a day, so go check them – including Soul Stealers, if I submitted it right!)!

And then, after you've bought and read all those wonderful ebooks, tell your stories about books and send them to… Stories About Books! You don't have to ramble as much as I did, but please do tell your book-related stories!

What I'm trying to do with my weekly vignette Happiness Is (which, by the way, will cover only this month, so next month I'll start "recycling" old vignettes, I do have two years and a half of them anyway! ) is well summed up by Michelle – we better find our true happiness soon, live in the present and feel happier, which will increase our production etc…

One last post about agents by Dean Wesley Smith with links worth following and the separate comment of Passive Guy on the matter – if you want to hear the lawyer's POV, of course… What I like about these discussions on the internet, is that there's always the funny/parody version somewhere…

As announced, Allan de Sayek is finally out on Kindle and Smashwords! I better start working on the print edition of both this story and CVE – The Spell now…

And… uhm… I still need betas for the body switch story… please? There is no rape, bestiality or pedophilia, I swear! Although it's a swap between a married woman and a gay young man, so some controversy is bound to arise… but I don't write erotica, so don't worry!