Rusty Carl's Blog, page 31

All Done

Fini. Done. Complete.
Yep, my short story novelette novella is now complete. Not the one I released to the wider world last month, but instead one I've been working on, believe it or not, for the better part of the summer.
Now, when I say finished, I, of course, really mean I finished the first draft. Although the first draft of this is probably closer to what a second draft would have been on most of my works, since I actually plotted this one out in pretty good detail first. But it will...

Where Am I?

Alex Cavanaugh, the guy who happens to be everywhere, has recently started the Insecure Writer's Support Group. It's a group created for folks just like me, that is, folks who are a wee bit insecure about what they're doing with this whole 'writing' thing. So far, I think something like a million people have signed up. Please follow the link above to read stories from all the fragile writer's out there.

Sigh. So many writers, and I count myself among them, have this fragile confidence about wh...

Say it ain't So

I hope everyone on the internet sees this at least one time. Especially if you've seen that Captain Planet cartoon from the 90's. Wow. Hide the kids for this one though. It gets a little rough.

I hope everyone in the States had a good labor day, and didn't have to work. It did nothing but rain here, hard. I didn't do a damn thing. I can get used to that. I had intended to do lots and lots of stuff, both inside and out. Didn't happen. I'll catch up on all that this week.

I Love You George Lucas!

Star Wars. You've heard of it, right? The Interwebs are afoot with the sounds of excitement. You see, Star Wars is coming to Blue Ray.

I know, you must be thinking something along the lines of, "So?" 
I understand. I really do. However, to entice you to purchase it, Mr. Lucas has decided to add something to the movies yet again. Does anyone remember this scene from Return of the Jedi?



Well, apparently, we will get an added line of dialog as Vader tosses the beloved Emperor over the railing. If t...

Wednesday Wobblers

Sorry about that title, I'm a huge fan of alliteration.
To take a break about all the 'me' stuff this so far this week I thought I would take a minute to talk about …er… universal truths. No, wait. I mean I want to talk about me some more.
I was thinking about how blind I can be to the quality of my own writing and then it hit me - today is my birthday. I forgot all about it and there it is. I just got a whole bunch older today. 
 Where was I? Oh yes, I believe self doubt is something common...

Again with the Book Covers

Yesterday, I talked a bit about book covers and specifically about part of the process that went into making the cover for Andrew Leon's new book, The House on the Corner: First Person Edition

Today I wanted to talk a bit about my own cover, the novelette I released a couple of weeks ago had another cover that I painted, I was particularly proud of the final image I used for a pretty stupid reason. I didn't bother with using anyone for reference when I painted the guy. I just thought he ended ...

Optical illusions and Book Covers

Hey all, over the weekend, the worst kept secret on the internet was made public, Andrew Leon announced the release of The House on the Corner: First Person Edition.

And it was great for me because several months ago when I asked if anyone needed some help with covers for their books to let me know, he was the first to ask.

I know I've talked about covers some in the past, and I don't really want to go all goofy talking about them again. The goal of any cover is to make someone pick up your boo...

Weekend Goals

*Edit - for anyone interested, this has been updated to reflect who I did*


Okay. I've got lots of goals set for this weekend and I mean to achieve them. Writing stuff down like this does help me get things done. So here goes.

Finish my damned Novella: That is, finish my first draft. I've enjoyed writing this, as it's the first thing I've ever done that I actually outlined before hand. I got to tell you, it makes things way easier. If I ever go off on a tangent, I at least know what my end goal...

Old Times

I'm burned out on a lot of stuff right now. I'm feeling very much like I'm in a rut in life. I thinking of growing the hair out long again and starting a new band.

Wait. That would be a real bad idea. I just miss being a kid for some reason. Weird. I've been thumbing through the archives (i.e., Facebook) and reminiscing about my youth. So, enjoy a photo of me from 20 years ago. When I was cool, and I was the one doing the mocking. Make note young people, you'll be standing around one day...

Sales Report

I think I mentioned that I would put up sales numbers from time to time, I think a week out from the release of my novelette is long enough to share, just in case anyone is interested.

Amazon Sales - U.S. = 12
B&N Sales   -   U.S. = 2
Amazon Sales - U.K = 2
Total Sales    -          16

That's pretty not bad I think, I have this up for sale on Goodreads too, but have no idea how that thing works, or even recall choosing to put it up there. I meant to put it up on Smashwords this past weekend, but s...