Victoria Zigler's Blog: Zigler News, page 146

Furkid Friday: a very degu birthday (FD)

Hi humans, rodenty types, and anyone else reading this.

This is Jacob the degu.

My degu brothers and I had one of those birthday things two days ago.

The humans got us a new house for our birthday, since we'd eaten the other one. Well, we hadn't completely eaten it, but we'd eaten enough of it that it didn't keep us as warm and protected as it should on cold nights any more.

Anyway... They were nice and let us have the new one the day before our birthday.

Then they got out the flashy thing and took a couple of photos of us playing in our cage, so you could see us and our new house around our third birthday. So, here are the photos:



We also got extra nibbles on our actual birthday. There are always extra nibbles when we celebrate birthdays around here... It's our favourite thing about those things you humans call birthdays!

Our favourite nibbles are nuts, Cheerios, and dried pasta. We're also quite partial to a treat that's officially for chinchillas, but is fine for us to have, which is a sort of low sugar rodent cookie.

OK, I'm making myself hungry here, so I'm off to find some nibbles... If my brother, Jasper, hasn't eaten them all...

Squeak soon,
Jacob

Degu buddies turn 3

Today is the 3rd birthday of my degus, Jacob, Jasper, Jenks, and Joshua.

I'm not sure how they got to be three years old already. But I never can get my head around how fast time seems to fly, and how the years seem to zoom by, and wonder how we got to a certain day quite often... I haven't figured out how to slow the world down yet.

Well, I did recently come up with a potential idea involving a very large - but friendly, of course - space creature and an extremely long and thick rope. Unfortunately, not only could I find neither a big enough rope, nor a large and friendly enough space creature, but I also couldn't figure out how to get said space creature to hear my request over the rest of the planet's noise, and the various radio signals that are likely bouncing about all over the place in space. So, I was forced to abandon that plan... For the time being, at least.

Anyway... Back to the degus...

However it happened, their third birthday is here. So...

Happy 3rd birthday, degu buddies!

#Writing Wednesday - March 9th 2016

In case you missed the post... Or need a reminder...

The eBook versions of some of my books are on sale until March 12th 2016 as part of Smashwords Read An eBook Week 2016.

To see which ones, and grab the links and coupon codes, go to this post. As I say in the post I just linked to... Smashwords offers such a variety of formats that if you can read this post, you can read the eBooks. Alternatively, you can grab the format that works best for your eReader of choice.

Thanks to Kevin and Chris - as well as some of their blog followers - for helping me to spread the word! :)

Also...

Don't forget: plenty of other authors have their books enrolled too, so it might be worth checking out the Read An eBook Week specials. You never know... You might just find your new favourite author!

***

As a writer, will I ever become famous? That's the big question, isn't it? Well, unfortunately, the answer is probably not. This is why I always say you should write because you love to write, and not for the hope of fame and fortune. I mean, if you get those things... Great! But don't count on them. You have to accept that you are 100% responsible for making your writing dreams come true, but also be aware that there are a lot of others trying to do the same, so you can't count on being a best-seller.

However, if you want to increase your chances of getting noticed and becoming famous, here are the 7 things writers need to create great content, 7 ways to nail your author SEO, and some tips on how to make an eBook marketing campaign. They aren't guaranteed to result in enough sales to make you rich and famous - unfortunately. But it doesn't hurt to try, right?

Author interviews can help too, so here's a post on the art and craft of author interviews to help you make the most of your interview experience... Whether you're the one being interviewed, or the one doing the interview.

Famous or not, this is the journey of a writer.

Also, here are some guidelines as to the average wordcounts you need for your genre, and you may want to be aware of these 10 publishing trends.

For the record, I happen to agree with these 4 reasons why you should never base your characters off of real people as a general rule. Although, I can understand why it would be tempting to do so... Especially with people you hate and want to put in situations where you can get revenge. I also would like to point out that there are acceptions to this rule... Just as there are acceptions to most rules when it comes to writing.

Finally... While positive reviews are always what you want to get for your books, you need to accept that mean reviews are a fact of life, and that no book is going to be loved by everyone. So, if you get some bad reviews, here's how to get over them.

Of Mother's Day, dinosaurs, Kool-Aid, dentists, and the weather (FD)

It was Mother's Day here in the UK yesterday.

So... Belated Happy Mother's Day to my Mam!

Also to Kelly's Mom, though I'm focussing on sending the wishes to my Mam, because we tend to focus on my Mam when it's Mother's Day here (usually in March, but sometimes in April) and Kelly's Mom when it's Mother's Day in the US and Canada (in May). This is because my Mam lives in the UK, and Kelly's Mom lives in Canada.

Anyway, I did wish my Mam a Happy Mother's Day on the phone and on Facebook yesterday, and also sent her a gift. But I figured I'd say it on my blog today too. And now I have.

***

These dinosaurs showed up for me at the end of January:


Iggy sent them to me when the Kool-Aid he sent me for Christmas didn't show up. It sucks, since Kool-Aid is really tricky to get hold of over here; so are many things you can get easily in the US and Canada, especially if they're food items. But it's totally not Iggy's fault it didn't show up... Stupid mailmen either lost it or stole it, I reckon. OK, most likely lost it, since stealing mail is a big no-no. However, sometimes I wonder. All I know for sure though is that Iggy sent it, but I didn't get it. I had a cheque from my Grandma go missing too. That one I know just got lost, since it had my name on it so couldn't be cashed by anyone else. Grandma had to send a replacement so we could have our Christmas money from her. If I'm really lucky, the Kool-Aid will still show up at some random point in the future. I'm not holding my breath though.

Anyway, I've named the dinosaurs Rex and Sarah. I'm sure you can easily figure out which is which. Not the most unique names, perhaps, but I like them, and that's what matters.

I've already said it to him, but... Thanks Iggy!

***

We've had some nasty storms again. Still no snow though. At least, none worth mentioning... I don't count attempts at snowing where it's no longer snow by the time it hits the ground. So, it looks like I'm got getting any snow worth mentioning this time around. Oh well, better luck next year.

Well, I did get this cool snowflake card from Rita...


Which had an extra snowflake inside...


...But that's a different kind of snow. ;)

Thanks though, Rita... It's a cool card! :)

Also, I used it to try out taking photos with TapTapSee, which is an app visually impaired people can use to take photos and have it tell them what the photos contain. I've had it on my iPhone since I got the phone, but never really played with it until now... It's really cool.

Anyway... As I was saying...

We have had some nice spells between storms. Like the days Kelly took these photos of the ocean from our windows...


...And yesterday morning when, as I said on Facebook, it was nice enough that I was "sat in a shaft of sunlight coming in at just the right angle to beam on me as I sit at my computer, while enjoying the breeze coming in through the open window from the ocean, and listening to the sounds of the ocean itself, the sea birds, and neighbours - many with young children and/or dogs - who are out enjoying themselves on the beach, with the odd interuption of the swish of a car going by." (Something I like to do whenever the weather is nice enough to have the window open... Especially since I got my new comfy computer chair, and we changed the computer room around in early February, so that I'm more comfortable when sat at my computer, and my computer is closer to the window, while Kelly's is further away from it).

Like I said though, most of the past few months we've had plenty of bad storms, where the ocean has been so rough that the roaring of the waves is the only thing you can hear over the howling wind and lashing rain, and things look more like this...


.... Or worse...

One storm that hit at the end of January, for example, while not as bad as predicted, was bad enough that I had to cancel an appointment I had with my dentist just to be on the safe side. Luckily, the appointment wasn't urgent... Just that another filling had come out, leaving me with a hole in one of my teeth. Besides, it wasn't bothering me, so I decided to just leave it be at the time, and to try again to get it sorted out at the end of February, when the weather would hopefully be better. Except I never got around to making a new appointment, and was so tired from my trip to Wales that I probably wouldn't have been up for being pulled about by a dentist anyway. I still haven't gotten around to making an appointment... I should sort that out...

Anyway... Yes... For those of you who missed me mentioning it on Facebook, and didn't get told directly... I went for a visit to Wales near the end of February. That was the "away for almost a week" I mentioned on Wednesday. I'll tell you about that another day though. In fact, I've got a couple of posts planned in which to tell you about it. Oh, and... For the record... It rained almost the entire time I was there. But, hey, of course it did... It's Wales! ;)

#Smashwords Read An EBook Week 2016 - #eBook #Sale!

To celebrate Smashwords read an eBook week 2016, some of my books are on sale from March 6th to March 12th 2016.

The three books that are available of my "Zeena Dragon Fae" series are 75% off. That's Zeena And The Dryad, Zeena And The Gryphon, and Zeena And The Mermaid, all at just $1.25 each for one week only. That's all three books for less than the normal price of one of them!

To take advantage of the offer, simply go to their Smashwords pages - which I've made easy for you by linking them here; you only need to click on their titles - then just add them to your cart, and enter coupon code RAE75 at checkout (yes, it's the same coupon code for all three, and you can use it for all three at once; simply put it in the coupon code box for each book, and click the "apply coupon" button).

Also, Degu's Day Out, Vinnie The Vegetarian Zombie, and Waves Of Broken Dreams And Other Poems, are on sale too. They're all just 99 cents for one week only!

As mentioned above... To take advantage of the offer, simply go to their Smashwords pages - which I've made easy for you by linking them here; you only need to click on their titles - then just add them to your cart, and enter coupon code RAE50 at checkout this time (yes, it's the same coupon code for all three, and you can use it for all three at once; simply put it in the coupon code box for each book, and click the "apply coupon" button).

NOTE: The coupons are exclusive to Smashwords. However, since Smashwords offers their books in multiple formats, and I take advantage of this option by allowing them to make my books available in all the formats they offer, this won't be a problem for you, since they'll have a format that works for whatever eReader you prefer to use. In fact, since they offer computer friendly formats too, if you can read this post, you can read the books.

Furkid Friday: a question for readers

Hi humans, rodents, and anyone of any other species reading this.

This is the entire rodent gang here with a question for you all.

What do you want to hear more about in our posts?

For example: is there something about any - or all - of us you want to know more about? Or, would you like to hear our thoughts on a particular subject?

Please tell us below... You might just get to see a blog post answering your question in the near future.

Squeak soon,
Baggins, Bilbo, Jacob, Jasper, Jenks, Joshua, Skye, and Star

#Writing Wednesday - March 2nd 2016

I'm still working on the fourth Zeena book. I'm not as far along with it as I'd hoped to be by this time, partially due to the fact I was away for almost a week towards the end of February, and didn't really do any work on it while I was away, but also partially because progress on it is slow in general. If you didn't notice I was away, that's OK... You weren't meant to. I'd set up some blog posts before I left, so while I was gone posts continued to appear on my blog on the days I usually would have posted, which meant I only had to catch up with comments when I got back. Well, those, and what felt like a mountain of e-mails.

Anyway...

If you're working on a book of your own right now - especially if you're currently in the re-writing or editing phases of your work - you should check out these 6 grammar mistakes even smart people make, so you can try to avoid making them yourself.

Also, which version of English do you think you should use in your book? Personally, I think you should use the version that's most familiar to you. In other words, if you're British, use British English. It's British English I use as a rule, though the odd bit of American English or Canadian English may slip in there from time to time, since I've spent so much of my life talking to people from all three places that the lines are slightly blurred for me. There are parts where I know for certain x is British English but y would be American English (where x is the word or phrase used in the UK, and y is the alternative used in the US that has the same meaning). But sometimes I'm not even certain which is which, and where the difference is a regional one, or based entirely on the fact there's often more than one way to say something.

If you want more writing tips, you could always check out this creative writing course. It's free, and seems to be worth checking out; I haven't done it myself yet, but others seem pleased with it, and I plan to check it out in the near future.

***

Are you a children's author too? If so, are some of your books available as paperbacks? If they are, would you be willing to donate some of your books to a charity for special needs children? If the answer to all three of those questions is yes, you should check out the article I just linked to, and send some books to Angie. Or, if you can't send your books to Angie for any reason, you could see if there are similar organizations near where you live, which you can send to instead. After all, encouraging any child to read is a good thing, don't you think?

Speaking of reading... Here's a simple, yet important, writing tip for you: reading is not optional if you're a writer. This is why I spend most of the time I don't use for writing devouring books by other authors, and why a large number of the books I read are aimed at children (though I do read books in quite a variety of genres, and for any age group).

TV talk and movie mutterings - February 2016

Time for another post full of new to me movies and TV shows!

As with the similar posts from the past couple of months, I've not written very detailed reviews, but instead just given my opinion of the movie or TV show in question, so I've included links to where you can find out more about the movie or TV show, if you want to... Just click on the title of it, and you'll go right there.

So...

Sharkzilla (movie):
This was a pretty good movie, though could have been even better with a little work. I mean, I was more worried about whether the special diving suits would keep working than about the monster... If you're going to make a scary monster movie, at least try to make me afraid of the creature. Just saying!

That Darn Cat (movie):
This is a sort of old movie by movie standards... It's almost 20 years old. But I don't remember ever having seen it before. Anyway, it was an "OK" sort of movie, with a few entertaining scenes, but I didn't think it was that great, even though it's basically a mystery centered around a cat, so you'd think I'd have enjoyed it.

Big Hero 6 (movie):
This was by far my favourite movie from this month. It wasn't blow my mind amazing, but it was entertaining, I became interested in both the storyline and the characters quickly, and stayed interested until the movie was over; the sign of a good movie. I'd been looking forward to seeing this one for a while, so I'm glad it was worth the wait.

Tomorrowland: A World Beyond (movie):
This one was a bit disappointing. From what I'd heard about it, it sounded amazing, but it wasn't. I loved the message behind the movie, and the ending was fantastic, but the first half of the movie wasn't much good; the plot in the first half moved way too slowly, and was a little confusing. I think I was about 45 minutes in to the movie when it started to pick up enough that I was beginning to enjoy it, and it was only about the last half an hour of the movie that I thought was really good. So, yeah... I liked it. But I certainly didn't love it.

Agent Carter (TV show):
In case you can't tell from the details linked to above, this show is more or less "Marvel's Agents Of Shield" set just after WWII instead of in the present day; one of the main characters is even Iron Man's father. Anyway, it's pretty good, though not as good as the original version.

I also watched a couple of nature documentaries that I'm not sure on the names of. One was about giant squids, one was about sharks, and the other one was about elephants.

Zeena is still answering questions... But not for much longer

Zeena the faerie dragon - from my "Zeena Dragon Fae" series - is still answering your questions right now on the Smashwords Authors group over on Goodreads.

But she won't be doing so for much longer, since we're almost out of days in February.

Click here to follow the discussion, if you haven't been doing so already.

Have a question for Zeena, but aren't a member of the group, or aren't on Goodreads at all? No problem! Just post your question on this post... Zeena will answer you anyway, since she's a nice faerie dragon.

So, ask away.

Go on... You know you want to!

But hurry, because February is almost over, so you're almost out of time.

Furkid Friday - February 26th 2016 (FD)

Hi humans, rodent types, and anyone else reading this.

This is Jasper the degu.

Know what one of my most favourite things in the world is?

NIBBLES!

I love eating nibbles, love the smells in the air when the humans make their nibbles, and love watching those TV shows where some humans show you how to make different kinds of nibbles.

You know what's a shame though?

Degus have to stick to strict diets, and there's an awful lot of stuff I'm not allowed to eat; no matter how good it looks and smells. I especially have to watch my sugar intake.

And, you know what?

There aren't any TV shows that talk about recipes for nibbles that are OK for degus to eat. At least, none that I've ever seen or heard of.

There are some recipes for degu friendly nibbles on this internet thingy though. Like these ones.

Mmm... They sure sound tasty... Don't you think?

Squeak soon,
Jasper