Barbara G. Tarn's Blog, page 207

Saturday ramblings

OK, here we are again. I don't have many links today, in spite of the two weeks gone by, so I might just add some rants to fill this post!

Self-published authors lounge Mary Miniatt on merchandising! Will have to explore further my Zazzle store as at the moment it has only Happiness is… cards. Maybe I should add something with the novels covers? Worth thinking – except the other 4 aren't ready yet!

Same blog, different contributor, Joleene Naylor shows how to add a "handwritten" signature to your blog. THAT would be interesting too… but when can I find the time to do it, sigh?

A great article on fiction writers and learned helplessness, for those of you out there who don't like to do-it-yourself: you have the "scientific" explanation of your reactions to indie authors. And after you've discovered your "sickness", check all the interesting posts by Dean Wesley Smith in his various series. I will be heading to his October workshops to learn how to do those damn blurbs, pitches, etc.

For a hoax gone viral, check Writers Beware! That was a cool thing to do to one of those vanity publishers!

Joe Konrath supports First Book: read all in his post on how to register or donate to this program that bring books to low-income neighborhoods.

Michelle Davidson Argyle had an excellent post on why self-publish and is also wondering where are all the bloggers gone – which is something I'm wondering too. You won't see me on Twitter, but I'm active on Facebook – although she also points out the Facebook scam, which made me change my NewsFeed settings because supposedly it showed news of the people with which I interact the most, but instead showed me random news even of people I NEVER interacted with. Bummer. Facebook should stop upgrading without warning, changing setting AND deciding which friends news I should see. End anti-Facebook rant.

I'll rant more on spammers and the like next week!

Have a great weekend!

Love-story with… dance

As a child I did ballet dancing. I loved the tutu and the graceful positions, but around 10 or 12 I stopped going. Luckily, as I wasn't able to do the splits at 10 when I was much shorter than now, imagine a 1,79m (5'10") ballet dancer! No way, that wasn't my purpose in life for obvious physical reasons.

But I still love music and shaking to the rhythm, know what I mean? In the 1980s I did those disco moves and dance steps. Now I wish I were Shakira. And my love for dance has widened: I like not only watching ballet, but also ethnic dances.

Natives (America First Nations), Hawaiian, Indian (yeah, from India, see how easy it is to confuse them? And they don't even look alike! ), heck, even Japanese, as long as it's people moving to a catchy song or music. I love Bollywood for its dance numbers! Check this mix of India and USA from KANK which is set on the East Coast anyway (in the Indian community) – pity Shah Rukh doesn't dance in this movie at all.

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I still tend to shake and improvise dance steps when I'm home alone with music on – if I'm not drawing, of course. I wish there were more dancing celebrations. We could dance this world away (whatever this expression means)!

Author spotlight: Krista D.Ball

OK, I slightly changed the format from last week. Because my reviews are always so short, I thought I'd to review+interview in the same post. So, the second author of this Authors Month series is Krista D.Ball. Here are the reviews of her books:

The Amazing Transformation of Wicca Dog

Lovely and original take on werewolves (from someone who isn't really a werewolves lover)

Flying Kite, Crashing Ship

Funny time travel story, good contrast between past and future – I kind of like Miss Amanda Grey as much as Sally!

I love this author's humor, also found in her short story about the Wicca Dog.

Harvest Moon

A great story of First Nations, more serious than the previous two, but still with that subtle humor so endearing in this author. I loved the depiction of tribal life and ancient magic – and the "punishment".

Just a personal note (fantasy graphic novel reader speaking here): Bearclaw is also Cutter's father in Elfquest, which means that I visualized him first as the little wood elf with brown beard in the World of Two Moons, but then I adjusted to an American Indian (Wind in His Hair? )!

All of them get 5 stars, in spite of the fact they're TOO SHORT! I wanted more!

I recommend them all, and will have to check more (longer?) titles from this very witty lady… Who was also kind enough to answer my usual nosy questions!

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Krista D.Ball!

B: Where do you live and write from? Tell us a little about yourself.

KDB: I current live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I've been living here for thirteen years now. I'm originally from Newfoundland and hope that I'll retire there…and hopefully soon! I have a B.A. in British history and have a keen interest in the history of ordinary people throughout history and prehistory. I love knowing how people lived.

B: When did you first become interested in becoming a writer? What was the deciding moment for you?

KDB: I never really had the lightbulb moment that so many authors talk about. I just slide into it and, before I realized it, I decided that I liked the writing gig.

I didn't start to seriously write until I turned 30. At that point, I made the decision to either stop talking and dreaming, or start doing. And, here we are.

B: Where do you find your inspiration?  Do you put yourself in your stories? (I sometimes do… ;-p)

KDB: Everything inspires me. I observe the world around me and store those moments away for later use. I read and watch a lot of historical books and shows, so my head is filled with a significant amount of useless information that I can regurgitate at a moment's notice. This comes in handy both in writing and on trivia night.

I sometimes put myself in the story, especially when I'm trying to figure out how to execute a plot point or make a final decision on a scene. I think about what I would do and compare my decision-making choices with that of the character's. Sometimes, that contrast is enough to help me make my decision.

B: What do you love most (and then least) about what you do?

KDB: I love being able to use my personal talent to support myself. I know how lucky I am to have that opportunity. So few people get this chance.

Every job has moments of low energy and low attention span. Right now, I'm on vacation from writing. I finished a draft and have taken a week off. I'll start back up again on the weekend. But, for now, I needed a break. That's why I'm not a huge supporter of the "write every day" movement. Sure, it's a great thing to do when you are first starting out and only writing a couple hundred words a day. However, when you are writing a thousand or two, editing, marketing, answering emails, blogging, dealing with submissions/acceptance/rejections, reading contracts…some days, you just want to forget that you are a writer and just go bake a cake.

B: When and where do you write? Do you have a specific routine?

KDB: I do the bulk of  my writing and editing on Tuesdays and Fridays, my writing days. However, I do also write whenever I have a bit of time and am in the mood, so sometimes Monday and Thursday nights, and occasionally on weekends.

B: Do you have any other project on the pipeline?

KDB: I have a science fiction novel, Road to Hell, coming out Nov 4th with MuseItUp Publishing. This one is darker, which my novels generally are. I just finished the major draft of a children's historical fantasy, and I have an epic fantasy novel out on submissions.

B: Did you query agents/publishers before publishing? If yes, for how long?

KDB: Both Flying Kite and Harvest Moon are too short for the notice of an agent or print publishers. So, I opted to go through an epublisher, where length is less of a concern.

B: What was your overall experience with publishing so far?

KDB: I only have one self-published title, a short story call "The Amazing Transformation of Wicca Dog." I use that title for a lot of promotions and for people to have an inexpensive taste of my writing. Over the coming months or years, I might do a few more like that. I do have an urban fantasy novella (it's really a rural fantasy, but that's not a genre apparently!) that I am currently writing to self-publish.

However, the majority of my work will be through publishers. Right now, I'm staying with small press for a whole host of reasons and am working without an agent. I've never tried to get an agent, as I've not desired one for my current works. Will that change? I think it depends upon the project. I base my business decisions on what is best for each project that I've written. Some should be self-published, some should be small press, some should be magazines…and perhaps some will be for the more mainstream commercial publishers and readers. Either way, I never rule anything out.

B: Anything else you'd like to add?

KDB: Just leave a mention of my website

Well, of course! Such a smart writer must be promoted at her best! You'll hear more from her in July, when she'll be blog/book touring. In the meantime here are all the places where you can stalk follow Krista (whom I met through Six Sentence Sunday, by the way): Website, Facebook , and she's even on Twitter!

I'll be looking forward to more of her works (and more Six Sentences snippets? )

 

Wednesday prompt and more Torino Comics treasures

I didn't post this yesterday because it would immediately give out the only truth among the lies of the blog award. Anyway, it's my latest treasure (also belonging to the aforementioned unicorn collection that includes also 4 stuffed unicorns): it's hand made, with a wooden cover painted my favorite color and grayish paper inside, stitched by hand.

It became a sketchbook (because it doesn't have lines inside) AND Axelle's journal, so when I got back home, I worked on modifying chapter 8 of SKYBAND to fit it in. That's 2 pages changed out of 22 for the most prose/poetry filled chapter of the graphic novel. The sketches I did are from the last chapter, though… can you tell Axelle and Killius are my favorite characters (I WISH I was as cute as I draw myself, haha! )? What, you hadn't recognized the models as the author and her muse? My my, with such a good artwork, how could you not?

Now, to the daily prompts: what rare talent do I have that most people don't know about? Mmm. It's a secret, haha! OK, most people don't know I'm Italian and speak 3 languages fluently and without accents. Most people don't know I'm a writer AND an artist (hence the definition of  "author"). I can read lips when I watch movies, which I used to do a lot when I was watching dubbed flicks – and discovered I was the only one when my friend Renee visited, and she couldn't do it, so I had to translate the dubbing for her. Luckily it was a quite silent movie!

And my profession if I didn't need money (hey, that's 2 prompts, so what?) would be author and artisan. I'm not very good yet, but I love to do stuff with my hands. But I'll tell you everything about my beads jewelry and other artisan things in another post…

Comics weekend

I'm back from another edition of Torino Comics where an old friend of mine said he is interested in issuing my comics and graphic novels for the i-Pad. I won't say more until I see the contract, but apparently the i-Pad with its color screen is the only e-reader good for comics and graphic novels at the moment. So now I wonder if I should save to buy and i-Pad or but that Kindle and wait for the i-Pad to lower its price. Sigh.

Again I met new artists and old friends: Maurizio Manzieri was off duty, but he showed me is latest works on his… i-Pad! The Photoshop Wizard wasn't the only artist with one of those… I guess being also an artist I should… Aaaw, we'll see! I chatted with Stefano Frassetti who did this neat little drawing for me (because I put the sheet back up, mostly, as it had half fallen under his eyes).

I couldn't buy his comic, but I've added it to my FB favorites and found he as an English website as well, so you might want to check him out.

Don Rosa was guest of honor and I helped the interpreter who was also called Barbara. I also signed up for a drawing at 11am on Saturday, I was #68 and got it around 4 or 5pm. Here it is, but it's not for me, hence I cut off the dedication because it's a surprise for a friend (and the gray marks stand for blue marker.

Now back to last week and catching up; the awesome Joleene Naylor has given me another award for this blog. Ain't it cool? Rules:

1) display the award in a post (see end of the rules

2) list five things about myself, and four must be bold-faced lies. I'm not the best of liars, but I'll do what I can to squeeze a stranger than fiction truth in the midst

3) must pass on this awesomely, prestigious award to 5 deserving bloggers

So, which of these things is the one and only truth, and which are the lies:

1) my dream/goal is to write in every conceivable genre, including poetry, using dozens of pen-names.

2) I'm addicted to anything trendy, either drink, drug or the latest gadjet, AND a fashionista, of course.

3) my house is also known as The House of the Unicorn for my awesome collection of the mythical animal in all forms, shapes and sizes (puzzles, plates, statuettes, stickers, stationery, pens…).

4) I am so fond of furry animals my house is full of them.

5) I'll marry Keanu Reeves as the world falls down (with the David Bowie song and Labyrinth video playing in the background, of course!)

Now, to pass on this awesome award to five wonderful bloggers:

1) the Great Hema and her witty posts @ Wading through words

2) the Wonderful Janna and her inspiring posts @ Janna T Writes

3) the Amazing Melissa and her lovely stories @ The Undeveloped Story

4) the Happily Happy Seph and his House of Happy @, well, House of Happy, of course! (maybe he can squeeze it at the letter M when he reaches it! )

5) the Mighty Biker Mickey and his daily posts @ The Prodigal Scribe

Display with pride! Jumping kitten and all!

Happiness is…

Six Sentence Sunday

Welcome back, Sunday visitors, and double thanks to comments – really appreciated! Continuing my showing the main characters through somebody else's eyes, here is Keiko, the villain with reasons, seen through the eyes of childhood friend Kumar – who hasn't really met her or seen her in 16 years.

________________

"Keiko?" he called. "Why don't you show yourself?"

Her white face with almond eyes appeared like a full moon, attached to a white neck and cleavage she didn't have when she was with the Orphans. Her long black hair and black dress made the rest of her body disappear into the darkness.

Her red lips slowly curved into a smile.

"You haven't changed much," she said.

___________________________

Air is now out both as e-book and in print. Here's the blurb (long version) which should answer also some questions about last week's scene (Indira's wedding night with Kumar):

Everyone is looking for love: Winged Jesminder, Sarita (who fantasizes about her prince), Princess Indira, even runaway Takeshi who hopes to find love in the country of his childhood – everyone except Kumar the adventurer, who has spent fifteen years trying to numb his feelings into nothingness. But when he saves Princess Indira, who not only falls in love with him, but corners him into marriage, he sets in motion his dark past and tries to flee – only to encounter again the childhood friend who has turned to darkness and will stop at nothing to get him back.

On the run both from his royal consort and his friend turned powerful High Priestess of the blood-loving Sect, he meets Takeshi, Sarita, Winged Jesminder and a series of others, all seriously concerned by his dangerous lack of feelings, until the Immortals intervene, forcing him to confront his demons, his past, and the woman who loves him more than life.

Now hop off to the official blog for more Six Sentence goodies! Have a great Sunday!

Saturday rants

Today I'm off to Torino Comics again (already a year has passed since last edition?!), so I'm not able to give you any links. I'll catch up next week. So I'll use this post today to ramble – and introduce you to the team that made Air a dream come true. Missing is The Editor because she lives in Wales, but here you have The Map Maker, The Cover Artist and The Author!

Federico, Cristina & Barb

Now I'd like to talk about that first sale (of Jessamine) on Smashwords which will be featured in a Happiness is... Checking my Smashwords Dashboard when Someone (you know who you are, I bought your books now, they're on the TBR pile) got Air, I noticed a "refund to buyer" on that very first sale. I asked Mark Coker what was going on, and he pointed me to the following Site Update.

March 22, 2011 – Scamsters.  Back in February, we observed a large number of very large orders that occurred over a period of a few days.  A single customer purchased a single copy of over 2,000 books across a series of large purchases.  Given the unusual size of the orders, we contacted the customer, and they claimed it was a legit order.  Yet something didn't smell right.  Finally, we received further evidence it was a scam order.  Today we reversed the orders and pulled the books from the scamster's account.  If you're one of the hundreds of Smashwords authors or publishers affected, you'll see one or more purchases reversed within your Sales and Payments account, for sales that were originally reported February 18-February 21.  Why someone would go to so much trouble to steal so many books, we don't know.  There are certainly easier methods of amassing a large collection of ebooks (Read an Ebook week comes to mind, or illegal pirate torrent sites).  Ebooks are not easily resellable, though we have seen some of that happening recently, as reported below in my January 31st update where books previously distributed for free were stolen by scamsters and sold online at Amazon.  How can you protect yourself?  Do vanity searches on Google for your book titles and your author name.  Set up a Google alert (www.google.com/alerts) on your name and book title, so you're alerted whenever your book appears anywhere on the Internet.  One site, called They Stole My Book, allows authors to post notices of their stolen books.  While it's disturbing to any author that their book is accessed by a scamster, it's important to keep in mind that these criminals never would have purchased your book to begin with, and their attempts to sell stolen books are usually thwarted quickly by the transparency enabled by the Internet.  Don't allow such criminals deter your publishing efforts.  Karma will catch up with them.

In the meantime, not aware I was one of those authors, I uploaded Jessamine on Kindle (although it appears at a higher price of the one I set), so I don't know if it was "stolen" or not. So please, if you see it anywhere at a higher price  than 99c, let me know with a link so I can add it to They Stole My Book list. The official links for Jessamine are Smashwords (and its distribution channels), Kindle and Lulu for print.

Now if someone can explain to me why my e-books on Amazon US have these prices?

Is it because I don't own a Kindle? I uploaded them priced 0.99 and 4.99 (like on Smashwords), is it just me because I'm in Italy?

The Amazon UK prices look right, though…

Wonders never cease…

Love-story with… Japan

When I jotted down a list of love stories, Japan was still doing fine. In the aftermath of last March events, I guess it's time to share my love for a country so different in culture and language from Europe, that it's still on my list of countries to visit ASAP.

the prince from the stars Actarus AKA Daisuke

It all started in 1978 with the anime invasion of Europe. Grendizer's pilot was my first love, baptized Actarus both in Italy and France (his real name being Daisuke, like I learned some 20 years later), and I followed any anime that would show up on Italian TVs and Antenne 2 (French national TV that could be seen in Rome up to 2005). Some I saw in both languages (including Grendizer, and I preferred the French dubbing to the Italian one, he was cooler! ), most in Italian. The last series I saw in the late 1980s were Cat's eyes and Saint Seya.

To this add the TV series (spoof or Star Wars) Message from space: galactic battle, where I was in love with Ayato (or Hayato? That's how they wrote him on the Italian DVD… and that's why I wrote it with an 'h' in Air… I spelled it right in the late 1970 and not now? Ah, these foreign languages… ahem, whatever!). Doesn't look bad today either, now that I've seen And, wow, he's now working with my muse… ahem! Sorry. Let me get back to Japan.

the manga version of my first love doesn't look this cool!

Then there was the manga invasion. Today I concentrate on a few authors (Ikegami, Hojo, Katsura and Miura), but I've read many, from Dragonball to shonen ai and shojo manga. I know a little more about the country today through (pen) friends and studies, but I still need to see the real deal. I really hope to visit one day, even if I know I'll be Lost in translation…

I had two Japanese pen pals, one is long lost, the other is Masayo I have already mentioned. And may I say my Muse is playing a half-blood Japanese (which isn't hard for someone of Chino-Hawaiian origins… ) in the Hollywood version of a Japanese historical event? (And he's working with "Ayato", yay! ). His Japanese co-stars were safely in Budapest when the earthquake and tsunami hit, but they must be very worried for their families…

Let's hope the world dismantles ALL nuclear plants and starts using cleaner energy, more eco-friendly, such as winds or the sun…

Author Interview: Antonia Tiranth

I've reviewed her book, and she's been kind enough to answer my questions BEFORE reading the review… ladies and gentlemen, my informal chat with Antonia Tiranth!

B: Where do you live and write from? Tell us a little about yourself.

AT: I live and write from Baltimore, MD.  I have my BS in science with a minor in psyc but I ended up working in a Rheumatology lab as a research technician (Fancy name for lab tech) for about 7 years.  Middle of last year, I completely switched fields and started working as a medical biller and now have my CPC coding certificate.  That's what I do during the day, but by night I become editor and writer.  I also love reading, my cats and dragons.  Yes, dragons are real says I.

B: I know, I see them everywhere too (and love them more than cats… ahem, cat lovers, don't kill me, please!) When did you first become interested in becoming a writer? What was the deciding moment for you?

AT: I've always wanted to be a writer.  I can't remember a time when I didn't want to write.  Even in elementary school I was writing short stories and even some plays.

B: Where do you find your inspiration?  Do you put yourself in your stories? (I sometimes do… ;-p)

AT: I find my inspiration in anything and everything.  From a single line in a song to a picture, nothing is safe from my muse.  I don't so much put myself in the story as live it with the characters.

B: Aaaw, another common point! What do you love most (and then least) about what you do?

AT: Depends which job you are talking about!  LOL  But when it comes to writing, I love what I call The Bingo Moment the most.  The Bingo Moment is that time when you realize how everything comes together.   How that little tidbit your write three months ago fits into the big picture.  As for what I love the least…synopsis writing!  Its a pain!

B: When and where do you write? Do you have a specific routine?

AT: I usually write at night with a cat on my lap.  Cheetos are my food of choice and whatever music I've come across that fits the story sets the remainder of the mood.

B: Do you have any other project on the pipeline?

AT: The next story in The Dragon Wars is brewing.  As well as the next in my Rikashi series, which is available from Lyrical.  Of course, there's also other stories about Cody and his elf brother Larien that is also available at Muse It Up.  Not to mention several others I have brewing with my writing buddy and close friend, Delilah K. Stephans.

B: Did you query agents/publishers before publishing? If yes, for how long?

AT: I've never actually sent in a query.  I just go for broke and send them the whole sha-bang.

B: Oooh, a rule-breaker! What was your overall experience with publishing so far?

AT: My overall experience with publishing has been great.  Both Muse and Lyrical have been wonderful and encouraging.

B: I seem to understand you're also an editor at Museit Up… do you take on new clients as a freelancer?

AT: I haven't put myself out there as a freelancer but I am certainly open to the option.

B: Anything else you want to say (where to find you, other dreams or hobbies, anything, really!)?

AT: I think the only thing I have left to say is, never stop trying and don't let anyone tell you that you accomplish a goal.  If you dream to be a published author, then get out there and start submitting stories.  If you get a rejection letter, don't sit in the corner and decide you'll never try again.  Take a look at that letter, see what is said, what you need to improve and work on that.  The only one who can stop you from achieving your dreams is yourself.

I also think writers' worst enemies are other writers or themselves… you can find this wonderful author here:

Website www.antoniatiranth.com

Blog www.antoniatiranth.blogspot.com

Facebook www.facebook.com/tiranth