Cidney Swanson's Blog, page 8
January 31, 2012
January 31, 2012 A Day Off Plus ARC Giveaway!
I'm taking a day off from blog touring, so I thought I'd instead direct your attention to a very fine blogger. Her review of Unfurl can be read there. And let's throw in a giveaway while we're at it. ;D
January 31, 2012 A Day Off
I'm taking a day off from blog touring, so I thought I'd instead direct your attention to a very fine blogger. Her review of Unfurl can be read there. And let's throw in a giveaway while we're at it. ;D
January 26, 2012
Update UNFURL Tour Stops
I promised to update the Blog Tour stops, and it only took me a week. :P Seriously, touring is exhausting. Fun, but exhausting. Not even virtual exhaustion, which would make sense, but actual exhaustion. Which kind of doesn't make sense. Looking for a place to win your own free kindle set of the RIPPLE TRILOGY? There are over a dozen opportunities below, including a few that still have live giveaways as of the time of this post.Also, BTW, RIPPLER is FREE TODAY ONLY at http://amzn.to/rippled Happy Thursday!
Here are the upcoming tour stops, for those of you looking for new chances to win the Ripple Trilogy for kindle, or if you just want to check out some interviews and guest posts!
Jan. 22 Lisa Nowak Interview with Samantha Ruiz + giveaway
Jan. 24 Laura Elliott Excerpt from UNFURL +giveaway
Jan 25 The Writer's Voice Guest Post by Cidney +giveaway
Jan 26 Bryna Butler Guest Post by Sam's step-mom, Sylvia (Tips for your Groundhog's Eve Party)
Jan 25-27 Great Minds Think Aloud Guest Post by Cidney: the inspiration for the Ripple Trilogy + giveaway
Jan 28 Thoughts of a Reelfoot Hoodrat Guest Post + giveaway
Jan 30 Escape the Tower Interview + giveaway
Feb. 1, 2012 http://theliteratipress.blogspot.com/ Interview + giveaway
Feb 2 Refracted Light Reviews Review? Interview? Stop by to see! + giveaway
Feb 3 The Warrior Series Blogspot Guest Post + giveawayFeb 4 Cheri Schmidt Guest Post + giveawayFeb 6 Obsessed Reader Interview + giveawayFeb 9 Paranormal Indie FeatureFeb 10 Hardcover Feedback Guest Post +giveawayFeb 11 Supagirl Book Reviews Stay Tuned! + giveawayFeb 12 Paranormal Indie InterviewFeb 13http://amdase.blogspot.com/ Stay Tuned! + giveawayFeb 14 Right Here-for one last ARC giveaway of UNFURL on the last day of the Tour!
January 22, 2012
What Reading Gives Me as a Writer
First I was a lover of words. Then a lover of books (because books are word-holders!) Then a lover of writing (because I could make more word-holders--an unending supply!)
For me, the reading came first. It doesn't always come first anymore, but I can't imagine being a writer apart from being a reader. Reading gives me so much more than just a story. I learned grammar from reading. (It was out of fashion during my decades in California public schools.) Which means that I learned how to construct sentences correctly, and how to know when I'm breaking the rules for effect. (See how I began my sentence? And see how I abused that poor comma?) During times when I've had "grader of papers" in my job description, I always felt like I could peg the readers and non-readers by how well they constructed their sentences. So, if you want to write better sentences: read more.
In the years when I get through a hundred books, there are usually six or seven that really stand out. Last year I only read around fifty. (Sixty?) Three stood out. I pay attention to the ones that really stand out because they are the ones that teach me about story-crafting. I go back through them with post-it flags and mark the sections that do certain things well. I study these things. How did that writer keep me turning pages even though it was waaaaaaaay past my bedtime? How did that writer make me laugh? Cry? Throw the book across the room? (Less tempting with a Kindle, I'll admit.)
Reading makes me love my job. My job is writing stories. I love thinking of Tolkien and Lewis saying to one another that there weren't enough of the kinds of stories they loved to read, and that they had better get busy writing the kind of stories they wanted to read. I think others have said it more recently in a "write the story you want to read" kind of prescriptive way. In any case, when I read a stunningly good book, it makes me want to tell a good tale. It makes me willing to spend the hours (long) to do the work (impossible-seeming) of making books to hold words that enchant and delight and sometimes, maybe, wear down the hard edges that life gives you.
What has reading given to you, lately? Tell me in the Rafflecopter below. One of you will win a set of my books in Kindle version!
For me, the reading came first. It doesn't always come first anymore, but I can't imagine being a writer apart from being a reader. Reading gives me so much more than just a story. I learned grammar from reading. (It was out of fashion during my decades in California public schools.) Which means that I learned how to construct sentences correctly, and how to know when I'm breaking the rules for effect. (See how I began my sentence? And see how I abused that poor comma?) During times when I've had "grader of papers" in my job description, I always felt like I could peg the readers and non-readers by how well they constructed their sentences. So, if you want to write better sentences: read more.
In the years when I get through a hundred books, there are usually six or seven that really stand out. Last year I only read around fifty. (Sixty?) Three stood out. I pay attention to the ones that really stand out because they are the ones that teach me about story-crafting. I go back through them with post-it flags and mark the sections that do certain things well. I study these things. How did that writer keep me turning pages even though it was waaaaaaaay past my bedtime? How did that writer make me laugh? Cry? Throw the book across the room? (Less tempting with a Kindle, I'll admit.)
Reading makes me love my job. My job is writing stories. I love thinking of Tolkien and Lewis saying to one another that there weren't enough of the kinds of stories they loved to read, and that they had better get busy writing the kind of stories they wanted to read. I think others have said it more recently in a "write the story you want to read" kind of prescriptive way. In any case, when I read a stunningly good book, it makes me want to tell a good tale. It makes me willing to spend the hours (long) to do the work (impossible-seeming) of making books to hold words that enchant and delight and sometimes, maybe, wear down the hard edges that life gives you.
What has reading given to you, lately? Tell me in the Rafflecopter below. One of you will win a set of my books in Kindle version!
January 19, 2012
Guest Visit! The Fab Cheri Lasota!
I am very excited to bring two of my author buddies onboard today. Laura Elliott and I first met through SCBWI, and I'm getting to know Cheri (who is also a downhill ski racer--oh, yeah, baby!) thanks to Laura! The two are going to share some thoughts about where the e-book market is heading. At the bottom of the interview, you'll find an excerpt from Cheri's novel, ARTEMIS RISING. Enjoy!
Ladies, take it away!
Laura asks :Cheri, where do you think enhanced books are headed next? [Music? Videos? Scratch n' Sniff? Hee-hee!]
Cheri says : Ebooks will eventually be fully immersive. Even the writers will be writing TO the medium and planning the interactivity into the writing itself. Remember those old choose-your-own-adventure books when you were a kid? Well, interactive ebooks will be those books on steroids. Just imagine reading a choose-your-own-adventure book on an e-reader? That'd be a double whammy! I'd buy one. =) I think we have a lot of what we need already to make immersive books actually, but over time and especially with this latest version of epub, adding interactive elements to our ebooks will become easier and easier (with less glitches and less complicated coding). I'm looking forward to diving in and trying everything.
Laura asks :If you had a crystal ball, what do you think publishing will look like five years from now?
Cheri says: Ebooks, e-readers, tablets. Paper will be niche. And frankly, rather boring. If you leave ebooks out of your marketing plans, you might as well kiss your writing career goodbye. Learn as much as you can about these new technologies now, before it grows too late. This is the dawn of the era of the Author. Embracing the possibilities of the indie life and not giving in to fear of failure is a surefire way to making your own dreams come true for the first time in literary history. There has been no better time to be an author than right now, in this moment. Go for it!
Laura asks :What one thing would you recommend Indie Authors do to make their ebooks more reader friendly/set them apart?
Cheri says: Don't be too scared or lazy to do your own ebook design. Not everyone can make sense of HTML. I understand that. But for years I was too afraid to learn it. It was a completely different language and I didn't have a lot of time. But oh! I'm so glad I got over that. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. It takes me a long time to understand such things. But I kept at it, because I wanted to learn for my own gratification. Key to success? Practice in a dummy file until you get it right. And check out the tutorials at www.Lynda.com to really learn a program or language well.
Laura asks: What's the newest hot feature in enhanced books?
Cheri says: I've been reading up on the new Epub 3 specification set down by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), and for me, the most exciting thing is the addition of JQuery scripting to epub files. Honestly, I'm still in the middle of a crash course on JQuery, Epub 3, HTML5, and Flash, but the fact that I used all of those in a sentence pertaining to ebooks is really the most thrilling news of all. Across the board, almost everything was "upgraded" in Epub 3. This new specification is going to blow the lid on what ebooks can handle in the near future. You'll soon see more interactive children's books, amazing bonus content for novels, and complex audio/video options for nonfiction and textbooks than ever before. Yowza! I can't wait to get started. In fact, if I wasn't writing this answer, I'd be studying the Epub 3 specification right now. =)
Laura asks: What book would you recommend reading for people interested in learning more about coding ebooks/enhanced books?
Cheri says: I can tell you what I used to earn my ebook design spurs:• InDesign CS5.5 (It's like CS5 but blinged out for epub creation. Very cool features.)• Anne-Marie Concepcion's Lynda.com Tutorial "InDesign CS5.5 to EPUB Kindle and iPad"• Elizabeth Castro's Epub: Straight to the Point (I learned a great deal of coding/design bling from this book.)• TextWrangler, Dreamweaver, Notepad++ (All excellent text editors. FYI: You canNOT create an enhanced ebook without knowing basic HTML).• Sigil (This is a specialized text editor created for easily opening epub files and making changes without screwing anything up. Anne-Marie's tutorial explains its fantastic features.)
An excerpt of Cheri's novel, Artemis Rising (Here the main character, Arethusa, is watching the boy she loves fight in the bullring.)
On cue, thesad call of the trumpeter sounded, announcing the start of the bullfight. Thefirst cavaleiro marched his white Lusitano stallion out onto the pristine fieldof sand. He wore white pants with shiny black knee boots and a scarlet coatfiligreed with gold embroidery.
As thecavaleiro displayed dressage techniques with his plumed and ribboned horse, Paimade his way through the stands to his seat. The condessa glared at him, butshe dared not say a word with the Brancos so near.
Pai nodded toConde Branco and his wife and then turned to Arethusa.
"Have faith."With an imperceptible smile, he whispered.
She ached toquestion him, but the first bull was set loose at that moment. His greatmuscles writhed under his hide as he strutted in the dust and his loud snortsresounded through the whole arena. His thick horns looked like great antennaeseeking out the perpetrator of his anger. He soon found his prey as he eyed theprancing Lusitano and rider at the opposite side of the ring. He charged andcharged, yet failed to catch the skilled cavaleiro every time.
Arethusa wason edge, as much for the fight before her as for the fight to come when Tristanwould be pitted against a bull like this one, except face-to-face and on foot.It was said the forcados faced death every time they stepped into the Praça deTouros. But today wasn't about nameless men from legends and small talk invillage shops. It would be Tristan Vazante walking into this arena. He hadgreat skill, but this was his first official bullfight. Success was neverguaranteed, even for the most experienced fighter.
The cavaleirofaced the bull without fear. He raised the banderilla, a slender spear wrappedin bright tinsel. A moment of silence and expectation followed. Then the bullcharged. The Lusitano leapt toward the bull, sand flying behind his hooves.Closer and closer—it was impossible for them not to collide—the cavaleiro andhis horse twisted away. He plunged the banderilla into the bull's shoulder, andthe crowd erupted in applause.
Again andagain, the cavaleiro and bull charged at one another. Each time the rider wasvictorious. The cavaleiro bowed to the crowd and the bull was ushered from thearena by a herd of cows, their bell-collars jangling from their thick necks.
The nextcompetitor, a handsome matador dressed in a mint green coat with fuchsiastockings, strutted out onto the field. He would be the first to fight Pai'senormous prize bull. The matador held the banderillas and cape at his side,bowed to the crowd, and the battle commenced. Pai's bull charged the moment heburst from the pen, but the matador stood his ground. He spread the fuchsia andsaffron cape before him and arched his hips in time to distract the bull fromhis aim. Out from behind the brilliant cape, a banderilla shot backward andstruck the bull. The crowd erupted in approval. The young matador's dignifiedair and graceful footwork won the crowd's heart. When he strode from the field,many of the society girls threw their bouquets at his feet.
Pai's bullremained in the ring, the banderillas draping from his bleeding back, hisbreathing heavy, his anger intense.
Arethusaleaned forward. Eight men stood behind the arena wall. The music died away andthe trumpet heralded the entrance of the forcados. At the same instant, theeight men vaulted over the wall and lined up inside the ring opposite the bull.The beast stood eyeing them, his breath heavy with exertion.
She spottedTristan at the front of the line of men. He stood rigid, his feet planted firm.The only movement was the shifting of the green cap in his hands. He gazed upinto the stands, and it seemed to Arethusa that he looked right at her. Shestood, feeling embarrassed, but knowing he would see her. The green cap wentstill. He bowed low to her. Or does he bow to Isabel? He put the cap on and marched in thedirection of the bull, his lithe body made graceful by the gait of his longstride.
Arethusa couldn'tsit. She watched Tristan's slow, measured paces down the center of the arena,the line of forcados following. Does he march to his death?
The bullstared down their approach, as if daring the forcados to try him. Tristan didnot falter but moved ever forward. The bull snorted and stomped his hoofagainst the sand. Tristan led the men closer. The bull charged. Tristan rushedforward. But at the last second, Tristan stepped too far to the left. His bodyslammed against the bull's head, one of the horns goring his belly.
The arena fellsilent. Then Tristan cried out. Arethusa clutched her throat as everyone in thecrowd stood.
"No," Paiwhispered.
She heardIsabel scream as the crowd erupted into a cacophony of noise. The shouts of theother forcados struggling with the bull drowned out Tristan's agonies as heclutched the bull's horns. One of them grabbed the beast's tail, distractingthe bull long enough for two other forcados to lift Tristan off the bull'shead. The crowd erupted into cries and shouts as one of the men carried Tristanoff the field.
Pai touchedher arm. "He failed for you, Arethusa. But I didn't ask him to do this."
For a moment,she stared up at him, feeling emotions she could not name. Then he let her go.She pushed past the people in her row: a wealthy family with five children, anold man with a pipe, two businessmen—all staring down at the bull, allmotionless with shock.
Ladies, take it away!
Laura asks :Cheri, where do you think enhanced books are headed next? [Music? Videos? Scratch n' Sniff? Hee-hee!]
Cheri says : Ebooks will eventually be fully immersive. Even the writers will be writing TO the medium and planning the interactivity into the writing itself. Remember those old choose-your-own-adventure books when you were a kid? Well, interactive ebooks will be those books on steroids. Just imagine reading a choose-your-own-adventure book on an e-reader? That'd be a double whammy! I'd buy one. =) I think we have a lot of what we need already to make immersive books actually, but over time and especially with this latest version of epub, adding interactive elements to our ebooks will become easier and easier (with less glitches and less complicated coding). I'm looking forward to diving in and trying everything.
Laura asks :If you had a crystal ball, what do you think publishing will look like five years from now?
Cheri says: Ebooks, e-readers, tablets. Paper will be niche. And frankly, rather boring. If you leave ebooks out of your marketing plans, you might as well kiss your writing career goodbye. Learn as much as you can about these new technologies now, before it grows too late. This is the dawn of the era of the Author. Embracing the possibilities of the indie life and not giving in to fear of failure is a surefire way to making your own dreams come true for the first time in literary history. There has been no better time to be an author than right now, in this moment. Go for it!
Laura asks :What one thing would you recommend Indie Authors do to make their ebooks more reader friendly/set them apart?
Cheri says: Don't be too scared or lazy to do your own ebook design. Not everyone can make sense of HTML. I understand that. But for years I was too afraid to learn it. It was a completely different language and I didn't have a lot of time. But oh! I'm so glad I got over that. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. It takes me a long time to understand such things. But I kept at it, because I wanted to learn for my own gratification. Key to success? Practice in a dummy file until you get it right. And check out the tutorials at www.Lynda.com to really learn a program or language well.
Laura asks: What's the newest hot feature in enhanced books?
Cheri says: I've been reading up on the new Epub 3 specification set down by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), and for me, the most exciting thing is the addition of JQuery scripting to epub files. Honestly, I'm still in the middle of a crash course on JQuery, Epub 3, HTML5, and Flash, but the fact that I used all of those in a sentence pertaining to ebooks is really the most thrilling news of all. Across the board, almost everything was "upgraded" in Epub 3. This new specification is going to blow the lid on what ebooks can handle in the near future. You'll soon see more interactive children's books, amazing bonus content for novels, and complex audio/video options for nonfiction and textbooks than ever before. Yowza! I can't wait to get started. In fact, if I wasn't writing this answer, I'd be studying the Epub 3 specification right now. =)
Laura asks: What book would you recommend reading for people interested in learning more about coding ebooks/enhanced books?
Cheri says: I can tell you what I used to earn my ebook design spurs:• InDesign CS5.5 (It's like CS5 but blinged out for epub creation. Very cool features.)• Anne-Marie Concepcion's Lynda.com Tutorial "InDesign CS5.5 to EPUB Kindle and iPad"• Elizabeth Castro's Epub: Straight to the Point (I learned a great deal of coding/design bling from this book.)• TextWrangler, Dreamweaver, Notepad++ (All excellent text editors. FYI: You canNOT create an enhanced ebook without knowing basic HTML).• Sigil (This is a specialized text editor created for easily opening epub files and making changes without screwing anything up. Anne-Marie's tutorial explains its fantastic features.)
An excerpt of Cheri's novel, Artemis Rising (Here the main character, Arethusa, is watching the boy she loves fight in the bullring.)
On cue, thesad call of the trumpeter sounded, announcing the start of the bullfight. Thefirst cavaleiro marched his white Lusitano stallion out onto the pristine fieldof sand. He wore white pants with shiny black knee boots and a scarlet coatfiligreed with gold embroidery.
As thecavaleiro displayed dressage techniques with his plumed and ribboned horse, Paimade his way through the stands to his seat. The condessa glared at him, butshe dared not say a word with the Brancos so near.
Pai nodded toConde Branco and his wife and then turned to Arethusa.
"Have faith."With an imperceptible smile, he whispered.
She ached toquestion him, but the first bull was set loose at that moment. His greatmuscles writhed under his hide as he strutted in the dust and his loud snortsresounded through the whole arena. His thick horns looked like great antennaeseeking out the perpetrator of his anger. He soon found his prey as he eyed theprancing Lusitano and rider at the opposite side of the ring. He charged andcharged, yet failed to catch the skilled cavaleiro every time.
Arethusa wason edge, as much for the fight before her as for the fight to come when Tristanwould be pitted against a bull like this one, except face-to-face and on foot.It was said the forcados faced death every time they stepped into the Praça deTouros. But today wasn't about nameless men from legends and small talk invillage shops. It would be Tristan Vazante walking into this arena. He hadgreat skill, but this was his first official bullfight. Success was neverguaranteed, even for the most experienced fighter.
The cavaleirofaced the bull without fear. He raised the banderilla, a slender spear wrappedin bright tinsel. A moment of silence and expectation followed. Then the bullcharged. The Lusitano leapt toward the bull, sand flying behind his hooves.Closer and closer—it was impossible for them not to collide—the cavaleiro andhis horse twisted away. He plunged the banderilla into the bull's shoulder, andthe crowd erupted in applause.
Again andagain, the cavaleiro and bull charged at one another. Each time the rider wasvictorious. The cavaleiro bowed to the crowd and the bull was ushered from thearena by a herd of cows, their bell-collars jangling from their thick necks.
The nextcompetitor, a handsome matador dressed in a mint green coat with fuchsiastockings, strutted out onto the field. He would be the first to fight Pai'senormous prize bull. The matador held the banderillas and cape at his side,bowed to the crowd, and the battle commenced. Pai's bull charged the moment heburst from the pen, but the matador stood his ground. He spread the fuchsia andsaffron cape before him and arched his hips in time to distract the bull fromhis aim. Out from behind the brilliant cape, a banderilla shot backward andstruck the bull. The crowd erupted in approval. The young matador's dignifiedair and graceful footwork won the crowd's heart. When he strode from the field,many of the society girls threw their bouquets at his feet.
Pai's bullremained in the ring, the banderillas draping from his bleeding back, hisbreathing heavy, his anger intense.
Arethusaleaned forward. Eight men stood behind the arena wall. The music died away andthe trumpet heralded the entrance of the forcados. At the same instant, theeight men vaulted over the wall and lined up inside the ring opposite the bull.The beast stood eyeing them, his breath heavy with exertion.
She spottedTristan at the front of the line of men. He stood rigid, his feet planted firm.The only movement was the shifting of the green cap in his hands. He gazed upinto the stands, and it seemed to Arethusa that he looked right at her. Shestood, feeling embarrassed, but knowing he would see her. The green cap wentstill. He bowed low to her. Or does he bow to Isabel? He put the cap on and marched in thedirection of the bull, his lithe body made graceful by the gait of his longstride.
Arethusa couldn'tsit. She watched Tristan's slow, measured paces down the center of the arena,the line of forcados following. Does he march to his death?
The bullstared down their approach, as if daring the forcados to try him. Tristan didnot falter but moved ever forward. The bull snorted and stomped his hoofagainst the sand. Tristan led the men closer. The bull charged. Tristan rushedforward. But at the last second, Tristan stepped too far to the left. His bodyslammed against the bull's head, one of the horns goring his belly.
The arena fellsilent. Then Tristan cried out. Arethusa clutched her throat as everyone in thecrowd stood.
"No," Paiwhispered.
She heardIsabel scream as the crowd erupted into a cacophony of noise. The shouts of theother forcados struggling with the bull drowned out Tristan's agonies as heclutched the bull's horns. One of them grabbed the beast's tail, distractingthe bull long enough for two other forcados to lift Tristan off the bull'shead. The crowd erupted into cries and shouts as one of the men carried Tristanoff the field.
Pai touchedher arm. "He failed for you, Arethusa. But I didn't ask him to do this."
For a moment,she stared up at him, feeling emotions she could not name. Then he let her go.She pushed past the people in her row: a wealthy family with five children, anold man with a pipe, two businessmen—all staring down at the bull, allmotionless with shock.
January 18, 2012
Blog Tour & Giveaway Updates
There are several giveaways of some-to-all of my books happening right now. See how happy this makes me? (Okay, maybe it's the hanging at Starb's with friends that made me happy . . .)At Amy's site, I discuss my nerdliness. Giveaway of trilogy (ends tomorrow-with excellent odds!!!) Over at Fisher's, it is Why YA? And a trilogy giveaway (ends tomorrow-with good odds!) You should also check out Pamela's site for another trilogy giveaway and her reviews and a post by me! (ends in 4 days--cool site altogether for non-book reviews!) And Suzy really needs you to stop by, as her giveaway is so fresh there aren't any entries yet! (ends in a weekish) Finally, definitely go see Anna who interviews Sam! How cool! You'll want to check it out. (With trilogy giveaway.)
I'm thrilled to still have some listings in breakdown categories on Amazon's Top 100 Books (Contemporary Fantasy is one! Coolio!) Thanks for helping me sell 400 copies this past week. It's been amazing and slightly unreal.
Well, what are you waiting for? Go enter some giveaways! Or, if you already own everything, tell a friend!
Hugs,
Cidney
January 14, 2012
Milestones
I bought a dresser today.I know, I know: big deal. But here's the thing. It kind of was a big deal. When my husband and I first married, we were both grad students and dirt poor. I brought a bedroom set into the marriage, and that was our only furniture for years. We made bookshelves from cinder blocks and pieces of 1x8 planks of wood because, really, bookshelves weren't optional for us. We shuddered at the expense, which could have bought us a week's worth of Mac-n-Cheese and hot dogs and Cheerios.
Before too long, we bought a "do it yourself" wooden table with a drawer which was big enough for both of us to use as a study desk if we sat kitty-corner. Then came a long stretch of no furniture until we had our first kid. Friends lent us a changing table and a crib, we were given a rocking chair, and my husband took a woodcraft class to make a futon couch for us. (I sewed the futon cushion. Yes, you can do that.) Why the futon couch? Well, now that we had a kid, people wanted to see us our kid. Oh, and we bought a chair at St Vinnie's for $6 so I'd have somewhere to feed the kid. I guess our family members got tired of not having anywhere to sit, because we acquired assorted hand-me-down furniture from them.
But there was one thing we always found spare change for. Bookshelves.
We built our first (non cinder-block) pair between kid one and kid two. Rubbed it down with beeswax and used heater-vent sheeting for cool looking doors. Sweeeeeet, we thought. Then a couple more moves and we needed another bookshelf. And then another. And another couple. And then two more. The ratio of bookshelves to any other single piece of furniture in our home is really astounding. And we still don't have enough.
See? Here's proof: my writing desk as bookshelf.
So, today, after spending yesterday evening with some truly delightful writer buddies in Portland, I went to Ikea to buy myself some NEW furniture that wasn't for shelving books. I'm just ridiculously happy with my new dresser. (Sorry, no pics--bedroom is even more of a disaster than my desk!)
I know a dresser's not much, but I used WRITER INCOME to buy it! I've been working (writing) without a paycheck for twenty-five loooooong months. (Actually, I made about 12$ a month during the summer, and I just got my October royalty check of $43.)
November was maybe double that. But December was another creature altogether, peeps. I made over $600 from book sales! This month I don't know what I'll end up with, but I think it's around $1000 so far.I wanted to celebrate, to mark the moment. I know bookshelves would seem like an ideal way to do that, and it was tempting!!! But the thought of buying myself a dresser felt so utterly frivolous, and after a bleak twenty-five months sans paycheck, I was ready to rock me some frivolity.What's your fave piece of furniture? Does it have a story? Tell me for a chance to win your choice of one of my e-books!
Before too long, we bought a "do it yourself" wooden table with a drawer which was big enough for both of us to use as a study desk if we sat kitty-corner. Then came a long stretch of no furniture until we had our first kid. Friends lent us a changing table and a crib, we were given a rocking chair, and my husband took a woodcraft class to make a futon couch for us. (I sewed the futon cushion. Yes, you can do that.) Why the futon couch? Well, now that we had a kid, people wanted to see us our kid. Oh, and we bought a chair at St Vinnie's for $6 so I'd have somewhere to feed the kid. I guess our family members got tired of not having anywhere to sit, because we acquired assorted hand-me-down furniture from them.
But there was one thing we always found spare change for. Bookshelves.
We built our first (non cinder-block) pair between kid one and kid two. Rubbed it down with beeswax and used heater-vent sheeting for cool looking doors. Sweeeeeet, we thought. Then a couple more moves and we needed another bookshelf. And then another. And another couple. And then two more. The ratio of bookshelves to any other single piece of furniture in our home is really astounding. And we still don't have enough.
See? Here's proof: my writing desk as bookshelf.
So, today, after spending yesterday evening with some truly delightful writer buddies in Portland, I went to Ikea to buy myself some NEW furniture that wasn't for shelving books. I'm just ridiculously happy with my new dresser. (Sorry, no pics--bedroom is even more of a disaster than my desk!)I know a dresser's not much, but I used WRITER INCOME to buy it! I've been working (writing) without a paycheck for twenty-five loooooong months. (Actually, I made about 12$ a month during the summer, and I just got my October royalty check of $43.)
November was maybe double that. But December was another creature altogether, peeps. I made over $600 from book sales! This month I don't know what I'll end up with, but I think it's around $1000 so far.I wanted to celebrate, to mark the moment. I know bookshelves would seem like an ideal way to do that, and it was tempting!!! But the thought of buying myself a dresser felt so utterly frivolous, and after a bleak twenty-five months sans paycheck, I was ready to rock me some frivolity.What's your fave piece of furniture? Does it have a story? Tell me for a chance to win your choice of one of my e-books!
January 13, 2012
Books For Which I'm Grateful
I've been thinking about my beginnings as a writer, and I realized I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Louisa May Alcott. Her book, LITTLE WOMEN, was the first novel-length work I ever read to myself. I was eight and seriously too young to catch everything that was going on. I even managed to miss that one of the main characters had died, and I had a huge argument on the bus one day with a friend who knew The Truth.
But there were things that sunk in deeply and nourished me for years. Jo's love for books told me it was okay to love them as deeply as I did. Her sister's comparative indifference to the printed word told me most of the people in my life would likely not feel the book-fever. And her love of writing? I've mentioned elsewhere that as an eight year old, I actually (sort of) believed LMA had based the character on me.
There have been many books since for which I'm grateful, and I think I'll mention a couple this upcoming week as I post reminders about my blog tour.
Blog Tour? Did SOMEONE say Blog Tour?
*raises hand*
Please come visit me at Tee's site or at Larissa's site for, respectively, a guest post and an interview. Both sites feature giveaways, too! Woot!
Have a great weekend,
Cidney
But there were things that sunk in deeply and nourished me for years. Jo's love for books told me it was okay to love them as deeply as I did. Her sister's comparative indifference to the printed word told me most of the people in my life would likely not feel the book-fever. And her love of writing? I've mentioned elsewhere that as an eight year old, I actually (sort of) believed LMA had based the character on me.
There have been many books since for which I'm grateful, and I think I'll mention a couple this upcoming week as I post reminders about my blog tour.
Blog Tour? Did SOMEONE say Blog Tour?
*raises hand*
Please come visit me at Tee's site or at Larissa's site for, respectively, a guest post and an interview. Both sites feature giveaways, too! Woot!
Have a great weekend,
Cidney
January 11, 2012
January 11 BLOG TOUR STOPS
Hey Reader Kinfolk,
Here are today's opportunities to register for giveaways connected with the Official Unfurl Blog Tour :
Enter to win a signed ARC of Unfurl here on my blog. (ends 2 days)
Enter to win an e-copy of Chameleon here on Heather's blog. (ends 13 days)
Also, I have a guest post over here at Emily's blog about history and fiction.
And lastly, thanks A TON to those of you who helped spread the word about my free day on Amazon. I had 5400 downloads in 24 hours. That's a lot of Rippler!
Hugs,
Cidney
Here are today's opportunities to register for giveaways connected with the Official Unfurl Blog Tour :
Enter to win a signed ARC of Unfurl here on my blog. (ends 2 days)
Enter to win an e-copy of Chameleon here on Heather's blog. (ends 13 days)
Also, I have a guest post over here at Emily's blog about history and fiction.
And lastly, thanks A TON to those of you who helped spread the word about my free day on Amazon. I had 5400 downloads in 24 hours. That's a lot of Rippler!
Hugs,
Cidney
January 10, 2012
It's here! The official beginning of the Official Unfurl ...
It's here! The official beginning of the Official Unfurl Blog Tour!
And I'm kicking it off with a BIG BANG! Today, from 12:01AM 'til midnight tonight, RIPPLER will be free at Amazon.com. Yes, that's right--FREE! Please spread the word! 'Cause when it's over at 11:59PST tonight, it's over. So head over to amzn.to/rippled and for goodness' sake, tweet to your BFFs about this one.
But Wait! There's more!
For the next 36 days, I'll be hopping all over the blog-o-sphere giving interviews, doing guest posts, receiving reviews of Unfurl and giving away over a hundred kindle-copies of my books! Yes, you read that correctly. Thanks to my new best friend Rafflecopter, (see my commercial break below) most of the host sites are doing giveaways of the trilogy. Every day. Yeah. It's big and I can't wait.
Since some of you would probably looooooove to win a free kindle set of the whole trilogy, here is a list of where I will be and what day I'll be there. Sites who opted out of the trilogy giveaway are usually giving away something else, so don't despair if you don't see a Rafflecopter. Just read the post/interview/whatever carefully to see what they are giving away!
Day One: January 10, 2012 My Blog! Rippler Freebie Day! Send friends here: amzn.to/rippled
Day Two: January 11, 2012 Double-Whammy! http://www.maybeteenauthor.blogspot.com/ and http://supagurlbooks.blogspot.com/
Day Three: January 12, 2012 http://tgayer.wordpress.com
Day Four: January 13, 2012 http://teacherwritebookaholicohmy.blogspot.com/
Day Five: January 14, 2012 http://amyjonesyaff.blogspot.com/
Day Six: January 15, 2012 http://fisheramelie.com/blog/
Day Seven: January 16, 2012 http://busymomswholovetoread.blogspot.com/
Day Eight: January 17, 2012 http://suzyturner.blogspot.com/
Day Nine: January 18, 2012 http://diamondinroughcoal.blogspot.com
Day Ten: January 19, 2012 http://www.cherilasota.com/
Day Eleven: January 20, 2012 http://www.angelacarlie.blogspot.com/
Day Twelve: January 21, 2012 http://borneanbookworm.blogspot.com
Day Thirteen: January 22, 2012 lisanowak.wordpress.com
Day Fourteen: January 23, 2012 [Had to bow out--this could be your blog here!]
Day Fifteen: January 24, 2012 http://laurasmagicday.wordpress.com/
Day Sixteen: January 25, 2012 Available!
Day Seventeen: January 26, 2012 http://brynabutler.wordpress.com
Day Eighteen: January 27, 2012 http://www.greatmindsthinkaloud.proboards.com/
Day Nineteen: January 28, 2012 http://thoughtsofareelfoothoodrat.blogspot.com/
Day Twenty: January 29-31, 2012 Available!
February: Check back. My fingers are tired. ;-)
*Commercial Break* If you are a blogger who gives things away, and if you haven't tried Rafflecopter yet, you should. The sites above are using it to do the trilogy giveaways I referenced. So, here. Try it. And maybe you'll win a cool iPad or Fire onto which you can download, oh, say, a copy of my book(s) that you won on one of the above sites!
It's time for me to get some sleep so I can check my download numbers all day write tomorrow. And, in case you didn't already pick up on this: I really hope you win something fabulous!
xoxo
Cidney
