Barbara G. Tarn's Blog, page 199
July 5, 2011
Why I hate the summer
Because I have low blood pressure.
Because I want to hibernate and wake up when it's cooler.
Because even if I'm always cold, I'd rather be cold in winter than suffer in the summer heat.
Because during the summer I can't eat much (which is a wonderful diet, but I don't really need one).
Because this is the year of the sloth and the summer looks even worse than the previous ones.
Sigh. Anyway, here are a few updates.
Five days and five trojans later, I managed to reinstall the printer. Hopefully the PC will remain virus-free for the rest of the summer.
My stomach is slowly settling, but I still don't feel like reading fiction, because I'm still too emotional to deal with it. Hence I'll review a non-fiction book on Friday. And I'll also postpone dealing with the Amazon pirate to when I feel better – which might mean September, but I don't care.
Writing-wise: I've jotted down all the facts for my historical novel, now I want to add the fiction. I also have a temporary ending, because I feel I'm dragging too long after the climax. So I'll probably delete a few more scenes or keep the very last two as epilogue (because they're fiction and not facts). I can't see the ending I had envisaged originally, so I guess it's not the right one for this story! 
I'm slowly coloring SKYBAND, but my stomach doesn't allow me to sit for very long at the PC (my seated position is very bad for it in every season, I'm way too tall and tend to curl up even when seated), so I don't know how long it will take me. Apologies to Dear Reader.
Oh, and it's sales galore on Smashwords, which means you can have Air with 50% discount, Fire with 25% discount and Arquon FREE – all this until the end of the month, so hurry. One thing I beg you to do is please please please leave a review! How am I supposed to improve my writing if nobody leaves feedback? I'm strong enough, if you hated it and have good reasons for it, say so! Thank you!
Also, especially for the novels, copy and paste your review on Amazon, thank you… and by the way, here's another deal for you: the first 5 reviews on Amazon, Smashwords or Lulu get the Air merchandising (because I haven't done the drawings for Fire yet… ahem, sorry!). Offer valid for reviews of both Air or Fire – send your details and link to the review and I'll post the cards and drawings to you! Thank you!
Have a great week! 
July 3, 2011
Six Sentence Sunday
Welcome back, Sunday visitors! And a special thanks to those who comment.
I'm continuing with the same book (Books of the Immortals – Fire), and pick up with the next scene featuring Falcon. Yes, he's been hit by a magic spell. Here's his awakening.
***
He looked around, slowly moving his head, and saw his elder cousin reading a manuscript nearby.
"Kyler! Where are we?" he asked with a hoarse voice.
Kyler put down the manuscript, and came to sit on the bed by his side.
"My mother's lair," he answered.In the half-darkness Falcon noticed the big black wings on his cousin's back. Of course, he didn't need to hide them if no other Human was around.
***
That's actually a signal that something is not right, as Kyler usually doesn't shows his wings, but well… you can watch the trailer here. Or you can read the first chapter for free here.
Books of the Immortals – Fire is available on Smashwords, Kindle and Lulu. Now hop back to the official blog for more Six Sentence goodies! Have a great Sunday! 
July 2, 2011
WoW Saturday
Both "writers on writing" and "words of wisdom" can be shortened with the same word. Thus, welcome to WoW Saturdays, June to September 2011. Enjoy this collection of writers quotes throughout the summer.
"The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible."
- Vladimir Nabakov
"What's the point of writing if what you write sits in a drawer forever and nobody ever sees it? Honestly, I think it's just that you want people to read what you write. It's that simple."
- Michele Mulroney
"Yes, I thought, a novel is a spot where language, movement, feeling, and thought jell for a moment, through the agency of, let's say, a particular volunteer, but it is not an object or a possession. It is an act of love."
- Jane Smiley
There is no how to it, no how do you write, no how do you live, how do you die. If there were, nothing would live in the deep and very delicate chain of life. It is the doing that makes for continuance. It is not the knowing of how the doing is done.
- William Saroyan
"It seems to me that any confusion between autobiography and fiction debases fiction."
- John Cheever
July 1, 2011
links and…
Back to Linky Links! First, I thought I'd share some links from Writers' Forum that I bought in London last May.
Guidelines for a new pulp fiction publisher, based in the UK. If you think you have something for them, send it out – doesn't have to be long, as the complete manuscripts can range from 23000 to 40000 words. Hey, it's pulp fiction, OK?
And if you're still willing to do competitions, here's a list of some (all with entry fees and cash prizes):
Aeon Award (max 8000words) closes 30 Sept.
Brighton COW Short Story Comp. closes 31 Aug, 30 Nov.
Flash 500 competition closes 30 Sept.
Writers of the Future Contest closes 1 Jul or 1 Oct – methink this is specific for sci-fi and fantasy, as it's what most writers at David Farland's forum aim for, but I might be mistaken.
Now, most of the rest might be up to two weeks old (which means ages old in Internet-Time…), but I thought I'd share them anyway.
Mickey Mills ponders about Facebook ads. I'm not sure I like ads in the first place, and certainly didn't buy anything from an ad…
Erika Marks has a guest post on getting organized which goes nicely on Victoria Strauss thoughts on internet and procrastination – the first not strictly "writer beware" post from Lady Victoria I'd like you to look at!
Blood-red Pencil on selling a book as a tea
Agent Jessica Faust on wordcount in epub world – which was actually explained better by Dean Wesley Smith, but I can't remember the link to that post. But there you have it, it's confirmed by an agent.
Books&Such on promo tips for you website AND Facebook.
Dean Wesley Smith on researching fiction. He's right. It's fiction! It drives me crazy to see people think novels are facts – novel are by definition fiction. Based on real stuff, maybe, but still a novel. That's why as soon as I finish a first draft of facts for my historical novel, I'll have to go back and add the fiction to make it more real! 
You probably heard also about Mrs Rowlings self-publishing… Dean Wesley Smith's predictions, Passive Guy's comments… and Joe Konrath, of course!
Two more links: Joe Konrath on your second storefront and Passive guy on writing for Harlequin…
Have a great weekend!
June 30, 2011
other Amazon mishaps
After reading about the theft of 3 books by Ruth Ann Nordin on Self Published Authors Lounge, I thought I'd do a search for my name on Amazon, even if I have a Google alert on both my name and my books. And here are the results. My jaw dropped. A couple even ended on my Author Central page but those paperbacks are from my Lulu shop. The guy NEVER purchased them (I know my Lulu sales), how did he put them on Lulu? I don't care if he wants to sell for over a hundred buck those books, nobody will buy them, but how could he do it without purchasing them in the first place?
First thing I did is writing to Lulu, asking them how could this happen. Then I thought telling Amazon about lower prices on the official, real page, and that those books were there without my permission. Noticing the addition to the Amazon profile, I contacted the Author Central help for those two "unautorized" paperbacks added… Amazon was the first to answer, saying sellers are free to set their price – of course, but considering how much cheaper they are on Lulu… I asked them NOT to associate my paperbacks to my Author Central profile, I don't want to have anything to do with that guy. I'll be a Kindle Author for them, and that's all.
They say that they want to keep my bibliography full, though, and if I have an issue with the seller, to report him. Should I? Am I over-reacting? Probably, but I've been sick with the heat for two days and my stomach refuses to settle. I sure hope it will go away soon. But in the meantime I'm over sensitive and only want to curl up into a ball, shut off the PC and sleep until it passes or the weather cools down. What would you do? Lulu hasn't replied so far. And I'm so sick and tired, that I'll probably just leave it as is. That guy can't make much money from me at those prices anyway… and I have titles on Amazon without paying Lulu the distribution fee…
On a happier note, read the first chapter of Fire on IndieBookList! Yes, it's FREE!
June 29, 2011
improvising
because I didn't get the Daily Prompt weekly mail, but I checked what the prompts were and couldn't find any that inspired me. So I'm using my blogger friends as inspiration for this post.
First is Mike Finn with his post blogging into silence. This is my first public blog (and the private one wasn't updated very often anyway) and therefore I can't compare. If I check the stats, I can see a growth in readership, but I'm totally at loss in guessing which posts will get comments. Like Mike, I don't have a political agenda. I'm not trying to sell anything either, although I'm chronicling my adventures in indie publishing – but hey, if you don't hit that "buy now" button, I won't hate you. You're still my very welcome reader and I'm glad you keep coming back to this blog.
And like Mike, I need to write, but I've developed a hunger to be read as well. Well, he says it all, so if you haven't checked the link yet, do it now. See, you don't even have to back up! So what's the point of this blog? I've written for myself long enough not to give up only because I don't have readers. I'll keep writing anyway. I'm like a pulp fiction author, except I don't write pulp fiction. I write fast and furious, be it a blog post or a short story or a novel. I need to pour it out. So there you have it. Welcome to my crazy blog.
Which links to Loralee's post of edit, revise or obliterate, where she wonders how your writing process works. Mine doesn't change much from blogging to writing novels. I sometimes rewrite some stories because a beta-reader pointed at a problem that puts my brain in motion and I have to change things around. Or, like for the historical novel, I find new stuff when researching and decide to use it – hence I had to rewrite entire scenes since the screenplay version for the novel, but that kind of writing is new to me. I'm usually writing off the seat of my pants and have very loose outlines for that reason. I love to improvise, but sometimes those improvisations don't make much sense, so I have to get back to them and edit.
I've learned to limit the number of rewrites, though. I might lose sight of what the story was if I tweak it too much. For Air, I had a big sheet where I put the storyline of the first (Italian) version next to the following versions on columns, and tried to stick to the first one as much as possible (considering I have added a major character in the English version who wasn't present in the original). The first draft might suck in its form, but it's probably the most genuine, so I try not to tweak it too much these days…
But then, that's what works for me. Each writer is different and has different creation patterns and a different mind – thank God for diversity!
Happy writing!
June 28, 2011
sigh
Hope your weekend was better than mine. Saturday morning i caught a virus/worm (in the form of a "malware detector" no less, how wicked is that?) that blocked my PC – my brother saved the day, BUT I still can't reinstall the printer, the driver fails to install, so I can scan, I have a fax (that I don't use) but no printer! 
The scanner works, though, so I scanned chapter 7 of SKYBAND, so I can start coloring and lettering. This week I'll be working on chapter 8 at work and the above-mentioned at home. I also went through my notes and research for the end of the historical novel (I had stopped at the death of King Richard and needed to check again the facts under King John), so I hope to write The End on draft 1 this week. Then I must leave it aside for some time and go back to it around the end of the summer – although in this case it might be hard to edit after such a long time, as I'll probably forget where I found the stuff I used in the book. Although I have a limited number of chronicles to look at… we'll see.
Still have to hop around your blogs, be patient with me, but I can't read on screen for very long, so I print out even blog posts and read them offline. I went through the Six Sentences yesterday because Sunday I couldn't print anything! But don't worry, you'll have some links on Friday anyway.
Mailman was good so I got my printed copies of Fire. It is now available on Lulu, although only in the "US edition". By the way, I took off the "European edition" of Air as well, makes more valuable the copies I have ordered! I'll feel less guilty asking for 20euros, as it's a collector's edition now!
Fire, "European" Air, and Air!
Something I found this weekend: things that happen when you choose your cover from stock photos - duplicate. Check these two books from two different authors… Sunlit Days moonlit nights and Safe with me… (I'm going to buy the second as soon as it's complete, and I see there's a new cover on the Volume1, good job, Shaina! )
Not being able to "work" meant I watched a couple of DVDs from my pile… and I picked up Dhoom 1 & 2. I can see the influence of American movies such as Point Break, Speed and Ocean's 11, but all is boiled down Indian style, with wonderful disco songs to dance to.
Did I mention in my last ramblings about Bollywood I might soon have another "movie crush"? Well, ladies, check out Hrithik Roshan in the opening titles of Dhoom 2 (gentlemen, you can watch him do the same number in the company of beautiful Aishwarya Rai in the end titles):
Arf! Pity he's married and younger than me!
Anyway, both movies are fun to watch, with your "strange couple" of cops who will be back in action next year. Abishek is the tough guy, Uday Chopra the funny one, and if they pick up another bad guy had good looking as the first two (John Abraham and Hrithik Roshan), well, I'm not going to miss Dhoom 3 next year!
Have a gread week!
June 26, 2011
Six Sentence Sunday
Hello Sunday visitors and regular readers! Hope you had a great week, busy as usual!
I'm continuing from last week, as exactly six sentences close that scene:
He slowly retreated towards his horse, wary and watchful. The magic bolt hit him without warning. There were no clouds in the clear blue sky.
He fell, struggling to stay awake. He lost his grip on the swords, tried to speak. His eyelids closed and he sank into oblivion.
***
Books of the Immortals – Fire is out for all e-readers at Smashwords and in the Kindle store – still working for that print version.
Now hop back to the official site for more six sentence goodies, and thank you for stopping by (and commenting, if you did)!
