RoxAnne Fox's Blog

The Universe is Trying to Tell Me Something

I’m sitting in some other teacher’s fourth grade class as a sub. It’s a short time I am here, the students are at recess, and I’ve come to the realization that I may never teach full time. Sure, right now I’m working full time as a sub, but that long term or permanent position is always out of reach. Most recently I lost out on a position I am highly qualified for and was told it was because the principal thought another person would be a better fit, BUT if I need a recommendation he would be happy to give me one. Not even a few hours later I hit him up on it and he says he needs more time seeing how I teach before writing one… Okay, so he has enough info on my teaching to not hire me for ONLY the rest of the year but not enough to write the recommendation he offered … hmm.

What I am learning in my district is, if you are a great, flexible substitute principals are reluctant to hire you and remove you from the much needed sub pool. This is not the first time I’ve been in a building where they LOVE me as a sub but hire outside of the sub pool for positions I can easily fulfill.

So what does this have to do with being an author? This blog is, after all, about me as an author, right? Well, I also have recently been hounded by you fans to finish Changes, or to start Cesair’s Chronicles. My author email has also been receiving messages related to the writing industry, but are some form of spam. To me, this says my books are worth while and getting noticed, even by websites associated with reading and writing.

What these events boil down to is me seeing that the universe is telling me I should write. Sure, I’m a good teacher. I’ve had parents tell me they want me teaching their children. I’ve had kids of all ages tell me I’m awesome and the best teacher they know. However, I don’t tend to fit a lot of the status quo. I don’t hold back information. I have VERY high expectations. I believe all students’ thoughts and beliefs are important and should be shared and heard, especially when they differ. And, I firmly believe science is THE most important thing in school and NOTHING in science should be held back, no matter the age. These beliefs put a wedge between me and most educators–hint to why our schools are struggling in America– because they don’t think this way. Most teachers won’t go near evolution, usually for personal reasons.

Well universe, I’m listening. More time will be devoted to writing and less on me worrying if I will ever fit into a rigid mold which is afraid to change. Personally, I’d rather fit in the erotic/romance/sci fi writer mold. ;-)

RF

Passing Judgement on Content BEFORE Finishing… Hmm?

Now, I will be the first to admit that I have not finished every book I have read but when this does happen it is usually because it is so poorly written, not because I think what is happening doesn’t make sense. As a writer, and long time reader, I know every detail to the plot is not laid out for you or spoon fed to you in a story. If they were than the story would be boring and/or predictable. So, why for the love of god would someone review a story and say they didn’t finish it because they had no idea what was going on? I am totally flabbergasted someone would let the world know how much of a moronic reader they actually are. I couldn’t believe someone passed judgment on the entirety of the story before they even had a chance to discover some of the explanation to a small portion of what was happening in the story. The real funny thing is, not a single reader to my stories knows exactly what is happening to the protagonist yet. No one will know until the END of the last book when the big reveal happens and you all are like, “Oh, well that makes EVERYTHING make sense.”

As a writer I have faith in my readers that you are intelligent people who don’t want me to hold your hand and detail every last little thing to you so there is no mystery or suspense. If you are the kind of person who needs that sort of coddling, go elsewhere. You will never, ever, ever make it past the abstract emotional parts of my stories to get to where you know what is going on. Does that seem mean? Maybe. But its better to scare away the reader who needs simple stories than to have that person read what I have to offer and complain that they don’t know what is going on.

Okay, so … that is my not so nice author rant. They may come from time to time. I believe this one comes from frustration over slow as molasses progress. But, in the writers world, “them the breaks.” …kind of like dealing with negative readers lol!

Wear vs. Were (capitalized) and my Singular Battle

Okay, so I knew this would be an issue when I decided to go against the grain and make the shortened version of werewolf wear instead of Were, but I thought you all might like an explanation and may possibly want to join me in my battle. My reason for choosing wear is mainly for readability. If you come across a sentence where a were-animal of sorts is shortened the use of the word Were doesn’t read right, your brain does not pronounce it as wear which makes the reader re-read the sentence. My second reason is just that it makes sense. No one uses the original pronunciation anyways, which did sound like were in front of the word wolf, and shortening it to wear verbally in movies and TV is common now, and that’s fine. Why, might you ask. Well, think of it this way: a werewolf, werecat, wererat, and so on, are people who are changing into that particular animal. In that sense you can say they are wearing the skin of the animal they are changing into. Thus, wear makes more sense. BOOM! I win. lol

Now, who will join me in the literary battle to change Were to wear so reading our favorite books about wears will make more sense? You know you want to

Then, Than and The End of The Sentence

Here is a quick easy tip to remember the difference between then and than, in case anyone questions my knowledge on this subject ;-)

Then: a random point in time

Than: instead of

What you do is replace then/than with a variation of the examples above and if it makes sense you are using the correct one, if not … well, than you have a problem. (Than in this case indicates a problem verses none, not a problem in that point in time.)

Below are some examples using nearly the same sentence at the end of the text dialogue but the change of then/than makes them mean something different.

“Dinnertime is at eight.”

“At eight? I guess I’ll eat my chicken then.”

“We are having hamburgers for dinner.”

“I don’t like hamburgers. I guess I’ll eat my chicken than.”

*****************

In the first example the reply is indicating when the chicken will be eaten in the second it is indicating an alternative choice. The difference between time and “instead” is clear. Hope this helps all you then/than naysayers lol. Oh, and grammar natzis, keep in mind dialogue does not follow proper grammar conventions. So, no need to harp on the lack of grammar. lol

The Block

I’ve hit it, the writer’s block. I’d love to scream, “Oh, whoa is me!” but that would get me no where and bore me to tears.  Personally, I find the block not so bad. It’s like your brain telling you a small vacation is in order. What I tend to find is the time lets me clear my mind and something even better than what I had planed sprouts up. This time I’m sure some poor reviews have hindered my flow–I should never read reviews :/–but either way my writing hiatus has begun. I think I’ll take this time to work and play a video game lol!

Hey, Negative Reviewers: Get Your Facts Straight!

So, yeah I got my first negative review on Coming Home, and I know there will be more to come–you can’t please everyone all the time, you know. However, if someone is going to leave a bad review it would be nice if it was pertinent, helpful, or not downright incorrect. So, since Amazon didn’t have pre-orders until just last week, and because I have no clue how long a sample is, I put the first four pre-edited chapters of Taken at the end. Normal right? A good deal too, huh? Well, one person thought it was one chapter of preview–first mistake–and that the preview consisted do 1/4 of the book! Okay… I double checked and it was only 14%, so that reviewers math is a it off. Even so, why would some one complain about four free chapters of a pay book? When I looked at the persons other reviews I saw they were for almost all free books, so I surmised the reviewer was mad she had to pay 2.99 for the second book, four chapters of which she already got for free. I don’t know about you, but I think the 100k+ words between the two books is completely worth the 2.99, not to mention the third book will be free as well … That is if I can get Amazon to put it up as such–that’s a battle in itself.

The person also claimed there was to much info in the book … say what!? I deliberately glossed over a ton of stuff just so I wouldn’t bog the story down. Sure there is a bit of explanation here and ther, but I couldn’t NOT explain everything :/ Of course, when I did look at the books the person reviewed they were all around 10-20k each.

So, all in all my thought are this: If you are going to negatively review a book, make sure it is a word count you are comfortable with, be detailed as to what you thought was bad in it–don’t just say it’s trash and there is too much but then say the characters are well thought out and the idea is good … that doesn’t tell me anything–and make sure the details you are giving are accurate. Seriously people, you can’t just pull numbers out of your ass and think folks will accept it. When they see how inaccurate you are it makes you look Ill informed and not credible.

On the positive side though, poor negative reviews like that tend to boost sales lol :D

If you want to read Annan’s second book and judge for yourself be my guest. Coming Home is free on all e-readers so you’ll waste nothing but time. However, keep in mind only the Amazon version has a huge preview. The only reason I added it to that version and not the others is because I publish mainly through Smashwords and they give 20% previews of books so that is what I added of Taken to the end of Coming Home on Amazon.

Any Aspiring Seattle Authors…

…here’s your chance! Below is a link to the Seattle Public Library’s e-book contest. Enter the contest and have a chance at getting your Smashwords sold book in the hands of more people! I know I’m going to enter it, as soon as Annan’s first three books are compiled into one ;-) GOOD LUCK!

http://www.spl.org/audiences/adults/seattle-writes

Adult Fiction Conventions Vs. Indie Book and Teen Book Conventions

I’m getting real tired of readers today thinking the way teen books, and e-books by the majority of indie-authors, are correct for adult reading. Seriously people, don’t assume that crap is correct and then read something actually written correctly, with correct conventions, grammar, and spelling, and think it is jacked up. Open up a print book and compare, most indie-authors are trying to write correctly but according to the way major publishing companies edit manuscripts, these e-books are all messed up, and teen books fall in a completely different set of conventional standards since young readers don’t have the ability to read more complex text yet. These indie and teen authors are flooding the market with these books and in turn are changing the way adult readers think books should be written.

Examples:

People would think this is correct – 

I heard a knock at the door so I walked to it and opened it to see my friend Kyle waiting for me.

THIS IS WRONG PEOPLE!!!

CORRECT -

There was a knock at the door, drawing my attention away from my readings. Standing up, I went to it to discover my friend Kyle waiting on the other side.

I see this too often. The top one would be fine for a teen book, like maybe 5th grade reading, but the bottom is how adult books should sound.

Here is an example of dialogue done wrong and right:

Wrong:  “No,” I shoved him back a few steps, “I’m not going with you!”

Right:  “No” —my hands hit his chest, shoving him back a few feet— “I’m not going with you!”

In that example, nearly ALL indie authors don’t know how to use the em dashes to add action to dialogue. 

People, before you leave reviews, or blog about books, be sure you know if they are written correctly or not. Don’t read tons of indie books that are not edited by CMS or teen books and then read a correctly formatted adult book and think it is jacked up. 

As an indie author, I don’t quibble too much when I read bad conventions in indie books, I get it, I used to do the same thing. If you read my early books they are poorly editing–something I’m in the process of fixing. But I won’t leave a review saying it is correct, I will leave high stars, kind remarks to the story, and add, “With some editing this would be perfect.” That is it, that way others know it is a good story, but not correctly edited. It would be nice if all e-book readers and adults who read teen books knew the difference when they read a correctly formatted adult book so that they too could leave educated reviews and suggestions for books.

Ugh… Why do I do this to myself?

Okay, so if I see a title to a book that consists of 25 words–yeah, 25–I know I shouldn’t even look at the sample because it’s going to get my back up. As an author, I try to stay positive, leave only good reviews, but sometimes… Sometimes, it’s like the author is just asking to be torn apart. I’m happy to say I didn’t do it this time. *pats on the back all around* But, why do I even do it to myself? Why do I bother to click on it when the title alone says, “I’m a huge pile of crap!”? It boggles my mind. I’ve been lucky at times, where I went in apprehensive and found a gem of a story. Its my fault though, the Bigfoot related title, and the odd image, and the fact the title alone was more words than needed, all sucked me in like an addict seeking out their due punishment. What killed me most in this “book” was this:

8===D ~~~~ ({})

…yeah, you know what that is? It’s a dick jizzing in a pussy (excuse my language) and that is what the author put as her breaking symbol between the legal stuff and the beginning of the book. You know, that thing that normally looks like this ~ or this *** she did THAT! *SMH* 

I wish I could say lesson learned, but I know that would be a lie. Some other crap looking thing is going to suck me only to make me go, WTF!? and I will skim it and then try with all my might not to leave a poor review, because I don’t need that kind of book Karma.

Oh well, I’m not a fan of pregnancy milk sharking lesbian erotica either, or elderly erotica, but I’m sure plenty of people out there likes both of those, so to each their own. 

 

Fiverr

So when looking for stuff on the inter-webs I found a site that is like those freelance bid sites I have seen before. I like this one though because the stuff starts at $5. In order to spread my name out there and help budding indie authors, or folks who want to be an author but need a bit of help, I have put up a few ‘gigs’ on fiverr. One is nuts but will be fun. I am offering to write up to 10,000 words of your idea for only $5! Now, it won’t be no fancy, epic work. This would be a first-run, no edit rough draft someone can build on. If the person likes what they get though they can edit and publish under their own pen name with just a thank you to me, no note why, just a thanks, in the acknowledgements. The other two ‘gigs’ I’m offering is conversion for publication to Smashwords or Amazon. They are both $5 each too and will be a quick way to make a buck or two lol.

Check out the short story offer below and make your won gig if you want ;-)

~Roxie

http://www.fiverr.com/roxannefox/write-a-short-story-for-you-based-on-your-interest