Konn Lavery's Blog: Posts from konnlavery.com, page 23

Kristine Raymond, Historical Western Author

For August, we welcome historical western author Kristine Raymond who has written a range of novels including historical western, cozy mystery, romance, and non-fiction. She also hosts her own podcast called Word Play where authors get together to talk about reading and writing.

Kristine Raymond has written in a range of genres and juggles many tasks (like the podcast), let’s see what insights she can offer us by welcoming her to the blog!

Kristine Raymond, thank you for joining us. Can you give us a brief intro about yourself?

Hi Konn.  Thanks so much for inviting me on your blog today.

I never had aspirations of becoming an author, but in 2013, when a friend shared her experiences with self-publishing, I thought, I’ve never written a book.  Maybe I should give it a go.  Sixteen books and a million ideas later – okay, maybe not a million, but, definitely, more than a few – there’s no end in sight.

I currently reside in Kentucky with my husband of 27 – or, is it 28? – years and our menagerie of furry and feathered critters. The feathered members joined us this past April as tiny chicken and guinea fluffballs, and I’m patiently awaiting that first, freshly-laid egg.

Your Cozy Mystery novel Finn-agled: A Finn’s Finds Mystery, came out in July 2019. What made you want to write mystery?

I’ve always been a fan of suspense and had sorta burned myself out writing romance – I mean, all those happily-ever-afters were getting on my nerves.  Figuring some blood, guts, and crime were what I needed to cleanse my creative palate, I sat down to write a thriller.  My character, Finn Bartusiak, had different ideas. 

From the opening line of Chapter One, Finn’s quirkiness and humor took hold, and a cozy mystery was born.  By Chapter Two, I knew it would be the first of many (the writing gods, willing).  That thriller idea is still floating around in my gray matter, too.

Do you start writing a story with a genre in mind, or does the story decide?

Usually, I know the genre when I begin writing, though as evidenced by my previous answer, it’s not unheard of for the story to hijack my plans.  I think that’s why I’m a pantser instead of a plotter.  My thoughts are all over the place when I write, and if I tried to keep to a script or outline, my creative energy would be stifled.

Tell us about your non-fiction ‘write words’ A Year in the Life of an Indie Author Kindle Edition, why did you take a turn into non-fiction?

Ah, ‘write words’ came to me on a whim, much as writing, in general, did.  I knew nothing about self-publishing when I began this journey and wanted to document what I’d learned over the course of my first year.  The book’s not intended as a how-to, though.  It’s more of an honest, sometimes humorous, account of my experiences those first twelve months. 

It’s funny to read it now because I’ve learned so much since then (and continue to learn).  Recently, a friend suggested I write a follow-up.  Maybe at my ten-year mark.

How did you get into recording podcasts?

In my never-ending quest to promote other authors and their works – I’m much better at that than I am promoting myself – I woke up one morning and thought PODCAST.

In a vein similar to writing, I went into my new endeavor blind, knowing nothing about podcasting or recording or even if authors would want to be on the show.  I shouldn’t have worried.  Coming up on its second anniversary, Word Play with Kristine Raymond picked up a sponsor this year – Creative Edge Publicity – and is going strong.  I adore chatting with my guests and hearing about their books, hobbies, and lives, and if the calendar filling up for 2021 is any indication, I think they enjoy it, too.

What’s next for your writing career?

Remember those million ideas I mentioned earlier? Lol.  More accurately, I have twenty-two titles written down for books I want to ‘write next’.  The one I’m currently working on is the sequel to Finn-agled titled Finn-icky Eaters.  No release date yet – my writing has been sidetracked over the past few months with home projects and gardening and chickens and, oh, did I mention the new Beagle puppies?

Any advice you’d like to share with aspiring authors?

Don’t worry about not knowing what you’re doing.  If you wait until you’re ready, you’ll never start.  It’s okay to make mistakes as long as you learn from them, and each book will (or should) be better than the last.

Soak up as much information as you can from other authors, but always trust your gut.  Remember – you’re the only one who can write your story.

Thank you, Konn, for having me.  It’s been fun!

Let’s thank Kristine Raymond for joining us again to the blog!

You can find her latest work on their website, amazon, and the various links below:

WebsitePodcastBooks on AmazonFacebookTwitterInstagramPinterest





Finn-agled Synopsis

A secret message hidden inside of an antique wooden box, an unidentified dead body, and a mother determined to marry her off to the high school crush whom she hasn’t seen since…well…high school.  There’s no doubt about it; Finn Bartusiak’s life in the seaside town of Port New is about to get interesting.

Coming into possession of a 19th-century, bronze and mahogany writing box under somewhat suspicious circumstances, Finn’s accidental discovery of a coded note leads her and Spencer Dane, bestselling novelist and love of her life (though he doesn’t know it yet), on a quest to unravel the mystery behind the jumble of letters.  But they’re not the only ones interested in the cryptic message.  There’s a con man on their trail, and he’ll stop at nothing, including murder, to claim the ‘treasure’ for himself.  

Buy link – https://books2read.com/finnagled

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Sink or Swim

The business side of writing is a whole other ball game. Talk to anyone about it who has a book published. We don’t all enjoy it, and those that do – curse you. For many others and I, the real joy is in writing, but we do need to market our work. Often, we’re trying to convince people to buy our books through a good book cover, reviews, and a gripping blurb. All of this is presuming you want to make a buck off your writing. 2020 sure flipped a lot of strategies upside down. I, for one, was always playing door-to-door salesman at bookstores and conventions. Signing books with no social gatherings is pretty tricky. It looks like it is time to adapt. Sink or swim as the saying goes.

Welcome to Another Edition of Unprocessed Thoughts

One big realization I’ve made through 2020 is the strategies I’ve used for selling and marketing books were flawed. The ebook side of selling was practically flat unless I met someone in person, and they wanted an ebook version. I’ve ignored the ebook world for years, putting my focus on physical copies and the blog, which has worked well. But both are pretty time consuming and truthfully impossible to make a living from it.

There’s plenty of advice out there on strategizing a new ebook release or promoting series, and marketing the author version of you online. I didn’t take any of it. Even my ebooks themselves lacked critical components at the beginning and end of the books to make them marketing tools. The public speaking events, book signings, and conventions chewed up a lot of my spare time, roping me into the real-world hustle. These also had their perks, for I’ve met many great people in and out of the industry.

Sink or Swim, You Decide!

In 2020, there is no other choice other than learning how to navigate the deep seas of the web. The exciting thing about writing is you’re always learning something new, which doesn’t just apply to the next manuscript. Over the summer, I’ve been heavily researching how to promote online. The searches have shown me how to strategically use the interior of an ebook as a tool to market your next book. There’s a lot of information out there and plenty of strategies. I’m only at the base of a large knowledge-mountain.

Thankfully, there’s been some traction and positive results with what I’ve done so far. It turns out promoting a series has a ton of benefits to supporting multiple books – duh. It also helps to make a book permanently free. In a Bookbub article, readers are looking for discounts and free books. Times aren’t easy for people in 2020, and a freebie can give them an escape from reality. So, I made Reality free, and the choice has placed the book in three of Amazon’s bestseller lists. Woohoo, thank you, everyone!

The Long Game

Anyone who has been marketing online could have shared this information with me. Chances are before 2020, and I wasn’t going to listen. I didn’t even though I read several author marketing books on the topic. I was sucked into the yearly cycle of convention seasons, hammer out the next book, and repeat the following year. It was a tight schedule, and truthfully, it was exhausting.

During the start of all the crazy in 2020, the free time let me evaluate how much I was spending for booths, travel, and food at conventions compared to some online advertising. Depending on the ads and curated promo sites you look at, the pricing is pretty comparable, and it’s a whole lot less time to invest.

Buckle up and adapt. The online marketing tactics I’ve currently put into place are on autopilot. They’re a real pain to set up, but once they are, I can get back to what’s important – writing the next book. These included email automation campaigns, reader magnets, and even Facebook ads. With reformatting the ebooks, it let me correct their validation, so they are all accepted into more distributors like Apple Books, Nook, and Scribd. I’m excited to see how these all play together over time. Then I can make minor tweaks after getting my geek on over analytics. Ugh.

Being Realistic

I don’t enjoy marketing nor selling. Thankfully, my dad was a salesman and taught me many tricks and techniques with in-person selling. It’s helped me promote books and run my own graphic design/web development business, a business. Ultimately work is still work, whether it is the day-to-day stuff or your passion for writing.

Over the years, I put my head in the dirt and avoided online marketing because I find it boring, bland, and I haven’t fully wrapped my head around it. That’s okay. It’s time to learn. It’s not like I have anywhere to go this year. Plus, the theory of online marketing is you can reach a broader range of people with less effort, meaning you can write more. That’s the goal, write more until it’s a full-time gig—time to adapt and figure out how to do just that.

The Real Thing

As great as all this online marketing is, it isn’t nearly as fulfilling as the conventions, speaking engagements, or book signings. Meeting eager readers and helping aspiring writers face to face is irreplaceable, and I look forward to the day that we can all meet in person again. This time, I may just cut back on the number of events I do. It’s all about balance, and it’s time to adapt if I want to take the writing to the next level.

Beer Note: Good Mood Brewery Season IPA

This IPA by Good Mood Brewery comes from Calgary Alberta. It’s not too hoppy, which makes drinking multiples of these pretty easy. The next thing you know, you’re down to your last one and need to savour it to finish the blog post. It’s a season IPA, so I ‘hops’ to get my hands on another pack before they run out.

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Unlocking Immortality

Two scientists working on a military-funded telekinetic project discover something far more valuable and deadly. Humanity’s limitations are learned in one dark, irreversible experiment, unraveling the most sought-after discovery: immortality.

Unlocking Immortality is August’s short story that brings readers into a cosmic horror experiment, pushing the boundaries of human invention – at what cost?

—

The key to immortality isn’t a black and white answer. If it were, humanity would have unlocked the method long ago. Anyone brave – or crazy – enough to attempt finding the key to immortality has to have a vast accumulation of knowledge in varying subjects. Or perhaps just access to the information. Each category raises unique problems. I like to ask myself some fundamental questions to get my head working in the right way:

Biology: Knowing our anatomy and how our bodies function is an important step. We’re contained in this vessel during our time of being alive. Does immortality bring the flesh with it, or do we transcend into an ethereal, or digital, state? Big question.Psychology: Our thoughts evolve. What we can comprehend as a child is nowhere near what we are capable of understanding at middle age. After, we deteriorate. Does immortality mean our minds are frozen from growth the moment the spell is cast on us? Or does our consciousness continue to evolve? Mystical terminology aside, it raises a prominent concern.The Self: The modern world tells us that we exist in the brain, as the mind. Ancient philosophy claims we live in the heart. Spiritual leaders tell us we are the soul. What are we? Are we already immortal post-death through the soul? Or are we only an accumulation of flesh and blood?

I can keep adding to the list. Ultimately, I leave that task to my colleague, Rand. He’s more interested in derailing from our project’s intention so he can question the unfathomable. We bonded on the discussion when we were both hired. It’s fun to theorize, but quite frankly, I’d rather keep my job in the laboratory. Rand is willing to take the risk thanks to the extra funds we got this year. The government was exceptionally generous with their budget. We’ve upgraded our stations, equipment, and even hired interns.

The buffer of cash sounds exciting, but it only means more pressure to complete our goal: Transcribing Neurological Pathways from Mind to Mind. Yes, it is a mouthful, but we aren’t here to sex up our proposals. We’re scientists. We discover and push the boundaries of humanity.

I generalize the project for the simple minds by saying we’re in the process of transcribing thoughts from one brain to the other without the need to speak or read. We are creating a direct communication of thoughts, feelings, and ideas. The concept birthed from the research done by Nichola Tesla. His World Power System proposed we can harness the energy trapped in the air, known as radiant energy. He proved the concept but lacked modern technology to access its full potential. We are close, and now we’re taking it one step sideways by using the radiant energy as a superhighway to transfer data. The device will convert thoughts into the universal radiant energy, transmitting it to a receiving device.

The military is highly interested in what we are doing, hence the budget increase. If we pull it off, we can genuinely take humanity to the next phase of existence. No pressure. The number of coffees and cigarettes I’ve had over the past couple of years is going to stain my teeth permanently. That will make a gal want to marry me.

Personal sacrifice aside, we’ve made progress. We transcribed several thoughts from one primate mind to another through a quantum chip adaptor installed in the back of each subject’s skull. One chimp sent the answer of a simple math problem to the other, taking a test, letting the receiving chimp answer a challenge it could not solve. The experiment was proof of telekinetic abilities.

Rand was ecstatic with our breakthrough and began hammering a bunch of algorithms into our deep learning software, saying the sending subject didn’t just transcribe a thought to the receiving specimen but entered it. I told him not to get too excited with new theories. The chimps only sent and received a number. The experiment was one test of many we need to do with these primates.

If we can strap a couple of human test subjects and run the experiment, we could toy with Rand’s theory of consciousness sending through the adaptors. The trials would be fun, and I would love nothing more than to test the adaptor on some human subjects. Unfortunately, we can’t get clearing to do so—something about moral ethics and human rights.

I leave the lab after, like the interns usually do, and went to bed as I am a bit testy from the long work hours and need sleep. I won’t be getting any as my phone rings, keeping me awake. I ignore it and roll over to the other side, hoping I won’t see the screen light up.

The phone hums – a text message.

RING RING

Damnit, there is no sleep for me. I sigh and roll over to pick up the phone, seeing the caller ID is Rand. I answer, “what?”

“Get to the laboratory fast. I’ve done it.” Rand’s voice is shaky, excited, and high pitched. He has always been the jittery type, but this is different.

“Can it wait until tomorrow?” I ask.

“No. I’ve done it.”

“Done what?”

“Accessed our unlimited potential. Matter cannot be created or destroyed, right?”

“I don’t need high school lessons, Rand, what is it?”

“Which means we cannot die. Our pieces are simply scattered with our body’s death.”

“Yes, theoretically,” I humour him.

“We’ve seen matter exist in multiple states at once. Our minds, the thoughts, can exist with and without the body.”

“What?”

“The adaptor, the chimps, the signal we saw today.”

“I told you to drop this.”

“I modified it.”

My heart stops, realizing what Rand probably did. If he muddled with that adaptor, it would set us back months. We’d be in shit. “What did you do?” I ask.

“I’ve proven consciousness doesn’t exist in our body, but only as a temporary state. It exists beyond.”

“Rand.”

“Get down here.”

Rand’s mysterious words convince me, and I put on a fresh pair of pants. My hair is a mess, and my breath probably reeks, but who cares? I’m not trying to make-out with anyone. Besides, if I have to scold Rand, the bad breath will make the down-talking more impactful.

I make it to the laboratory where Rand waits outside for me. I light up a smoke, saying, “what is this all about?”

“Finish that up. You won’t be needing it anymore anyways.”

“What did you do to the adaptor?” I ask.

“The chimp sent that number, and I ran the results through the computer to get more possible outcomes.”

“Yeah, I know. You wanted to amplify the adaptor’s signal. I told you it would scramble the receiver’s thoughts, probably causing a seizure to the subject.”

“That’s not what I meant, you’re thinking linearly. Broaden your mind.”

I specialize in quantum theory, the comment is insulting, but I brush it aside. “Elaborate?”

“I installed an electromagnetic frequency unit, letting the adaptor suck in all wavelengths from the body. Frequencies that we didn’t detect before. Frequencies of consciousness, pushing them out into the radiant energy and freeing it from the flesh.”

I stare at him blankly, thinking he is getting into some weird pseudo-science nonsense.

“I’ve unlocked the key to immortality.”

I exhale the smoke from my mouth. “Bullshit.”

“No, come see.”

I flick the cigarette to the curb, and we enter the building side by side with our key fobs, then pass the security desk where Tim should be. Tim usually guards the building at night. He must be patrolling. We take the elevator, going down a half dozen floors to the laboratory. Rand is rambling on about some of the early inventions of Nichola Tesla that harvest power and how we are all directly connected to the universal free energy. Truthfully, I find it hard to listen to and phase-out of the conversation.

“Amplifying the wavelength module of the adaptor’s signal has created a doorway for both our consciousness and subconsciousness to move freely into the ethereal space that surrounds us.”

“When was the last time you slept?” I ask.

“Sleep is irrelevant now,” Rand says as the elevator opens. He steps ahead of me. I spot blood running down the back of his neck, just below a freshly shaved patch in his skull, where a gory hole rests.

“Rand?” I don’t move, knowing something isn’t right.

“Come,” Rand says. “Don’t let your human senses deceive you.”

“Rand, did you install the adaptor on yourself?” I ask.

“I had to, who else could I try it on?” Rand continues to walk into the laboratory.

“One of the primates, you idiot!” My hand catches the closing elevator door, forcing me to follow him. The laboratory is trashed. The florescent lights dangle from the ceiling, flickering. Shattered glass is everywhere. The walls, floor, and countertops are all cracked. Something big happened here. I wonder if Tim knows.  Still, curiosity is getting the better of me. I continue following Rand. I need to know what he found.

I continue to lecture him, saying, “you jeopardized our whole operation. You could be removed from the project.”

“That doesn’t matter,” Rand says.

My eyes are glued to the hole in the back of his head, it is quite dark, making me wonder how deep he jammed that adaptor in. I say, “did you even think what the scientific community will say about you breaking moral ethics?”

Rand chuckles. “Please. We’ve been working towards such a primitive goal, humorously enough with primates, when the real prize was only a few thoughts away. The adaptor springboards our soul from this body. I’ve done it, it works!”

Rand leads me deeper into the laboratory, which becomes more unfamiliar with each step. Concrete sticks out from parts of the wall. Dirt and plants that were never here are sticking out of the cracks in the countertops. Melted metal is still burning on the floor, projected red light into the darkening hall. What happened here?

“Soul? Rand, we’ve concluded that the soul is just a combination of the body and mind. You’re tired, take some time off. We can keep this on the down-low. No one needs to know.”

“Look at this place. You can’t keep this hidden.” Rand takes a turn and enters the testing room. “Besides, I have moved beyond simple human morals,” his voice reverbs.

I turn the corner and enter the room. My eyes widen, hairs standing upright, as I stare at what lies, or has fused, to the testing station. A monstrosity of organic and human-made material. The two primates… all intertwined with the metal that was once their chairs —a gory morphic mess of matter.

“It’s breathing,” I mutter, not realizing I spoke out loud, my voice is dry.

The abomination sputters blood from an orifice on the side of its connected skulls as its single swollen, glassy, pink eye stares back at me.

“I boosted the adaptor signals a little aggressively at first.” Rand’s voice continues to reverb, unlike my own. He smirks as one-half of his face droops, did he have a stroke? “This is why I had to test the adaptor on myself. It was my only chance. You know they wouldn’t keep me here after this mess.”

I push my deep curiosity aside. Rand is sick, and the laboratory is a disaster. I must call security. I need to keep him distracted. “What happened here, Rand?” I ask as my hand slides into my pocket, ready to pull out my cellphone and get help.

“Don’t call for Tim,” Rand says, voice deepening into something demonic. His face continues to melt, including his eyes and hair. “He’s already here. We all are. The adaptor has unified energy.”

The curiosity creeps up again, and my fingers loosen on the phone as I stare at the top of Rand’s head. From the back of his skull, a black liquid-like substance channels upward to the ceiling. Torn shreds of human flesh and bone along with scraps of grey-and-black clothing – Tim – are flowing up and down into an unexplainable black space projecting from Rand’s hole; colours of the room smear out from the edges of what remains of the ceiling, continually shifting and stretching as I turn my head. The interactive colours and gory remains of Tim create Deja vu, like when a computer screen is glitching out and you try to move a window. Stillness, only moving when I move.

“The adaptor is the portal,” Rand speaks in dual voices, one low pitch, the other high. He isn’t moving. His mouth and the whole body is static, also reacting to my movement against the continuing expanding black space from his skull.

My thoughts are active, as I move my head. Yet, as I look down, my body isn’t moving with me, it too is smearing. Weightlessness lifts me from my physical form as the darkness expands in space. New thoughts enter my mind. Emotions: fear, pain, terror. Senses overrule my better judgement: stale smells, cold, voices.

“The adaptor became a part of my body,” the voices speak at once, coming from all corners of the room. “The adaptor pushed me through into the radiant energy. I am the portal. This is the key and the answer to all of our theories.”

I try running, but… I… can’t? I am still. A witness to new spaces – or memories. Tim’s perspective of walking into work. Rand on the computer. The chimps as they eat their treats. These visions are so sudden. I am absorbing them instantly, experiencing each memory simultaneously. The darkness envelopes all matter around my view. Tim’s corpse, Rand, the chimps, and all space swirl into the blackness with me, shredding apart all matter. I feel them, their thoughts, I am them as they are me.

The negative emotions and senses dissipate to a state of isness. They were only a temporary uncertainty of what lies beyond our limited human-bound minds. I understand what Rand had become and what he wanted to show me. The beauty. Our theories and questions about life after death were all wrong. There is no fault on us. We couldn’t think in any other way in our human forms.

We are now a part of the single consciousness found within radiant energy.

The unlocking of immortality.

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Automating Ourselves Out of Humanity

The work world is becoming ever-more connected with technology as almost every industry in the world has an IT contractor/department or is utilizing software to enhance their work. Tech has allowed us all to be more efficient and faster. Automating has streamlined basic tasks. Wonderful! One would think that with these powerful tools clearing up mundane and repetitive tasks, we would have more free time to spend with family and loved ones. Even crazier, maybe we wouldn’t be slaving away at the grind and could pursue more meaningful ambitions. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. Specifically, in North America, we’re all working more. Customers, clients, and consumers are all wanting more, and they are snippy about it. Why?

Automation

We could point fingers at the fearful rise of star-rating platforms, or the global market of competitors that are creating a cut-throat environment, or we could pull back further and see the more significant issue that encompasses all of this: tech. Technology is ruining our mental stability.

People’s minds are short-circuiting in the consumer-based world and the business workforce (take a look at this fascinating Harvard Business Review article), and are becoming less tolerant. Our expectations have grown out of control as we become joined with our digital world from having mini-computers in our pocket and 24-hour availability to our coworkers with texting. The bombardment of communication through multiple streams, bosses using Big Brother spy software, project management platforms, and data analytics are causing people to tense up with the uncertainty of every move they make. All this bottled up stress is making people lash out like wild animals. Sometimes people are directly aggressive or, more often than not, they act like passive aggressive jerks. This new behaviour is supercharged as we shift into the start of a new decade.

Old World

Pre-2020, we’ve seen a gradual incline in automated services through telephones and plenty of self-service devices online and in person. Then the AI and deep learning started to make an appearance in the decade of 2010. These deep learning machines are supposed to make our lives easier as with every new technological advancement. The ten-year development saw a massive change in workflow found in the business workforce and the consumer world. Capitalism found a new way to optimize and synergize!

New World

Now, post-2019, this gradual incline of convenience rapidly mutated into a sudden mandatory spike. Web optimization. Chatbots. Self-service dashboards. Auto-approval processes. Banks not holding mobile cheque deposits. Project management software. Video conferencing. Faster. Better. Now. The list of adjustments goes on. Even your boss can see that little away icon next to your avatar if you aren’t at your desk.

Automating is Now

Everyone who has been in this game over the past decade is familiar with playing ball in the new digital arena. Those that aren’t, well, they’re in for one hell of a steep learning curve. Learning makes people grumpy, especially since they did all that in high school. There’s clearly no need for personal development anymore. Automation is supposed to do all the heavy lifting for us.

Whether you like it or not, we are all now a part of the digital age. The global pandemic has forced us to sit at home and drop all the corporate culture team development, watercooler conversations, grossly overused boardroom meetings, and the endless pile of make-work projects through casual conversations. With everyone at home, that meant people could only do one thing: work. More often than not, this made people more efficient. Are people happier? That’s a tough question to answer as we experience a once-in-a-lifetime world-altering event (hopefully). Here’s the flip side to the lockdown though, every customer and consumer is at home too.

The death of the office lifestyle and the grazing mall shopper came to a swift and mighty end at the start of the global COVID-19 crisis, and everyone was online. Not everyone is tech-savvy. Some people have trouble managing computers and navigating their interfaces. Other people don’t fit into the streamlined automatic sales funnel These, among others, need to reach out to support.

Automation to the Rescue!

No one can keep up with the rainfall of emails and phone calls. Thus, the increase in mental breakdowns, depression, and anxiety attacks run rampant. How can individuals let alone companies, keep up with the massive increase in customer support? The simple answer: chatbots. They’re not a new concept either; this article from SalesForce gets into the details of chatbots from 2019. The blog shows how many companies were already looking at integrating chatbots before the pandemic. Businesses knew they needed a solution to communicate more as their futile human workers are failing to keep up the increasingly rude demand. Unfortunately, these chatbots aren’t quite there yet. Sure, a number of them have passed the famous Turing Test, but they’re still ridged and script-like. Ultimately these bots are stripping away the personalized professional touch of a human being, and people don’t like them. Clients, customers, and consumers want the human-to-human connection that is increasingly disappearing both in the corporate and consumer world. Automated processes are destroying our humanity towards each other, and we’ve decided to hop on the ride because these companies offer too many conveniences for us to give them up.

Though, it’s not like corporations did an outstanding job and making their employees happy and want to provide top-notch work and service. A lot of jobs are low pay and heavy work. Many people fall under the essential worker category and make minimum wage. If they’re so crucial, why do they make next to nothing? Or for jobs requiring post-secondary education, companies will pay you less and chalk it up to ‘adding onto your portfolio’ or ‘internship.’ These aren’t good justifications.

The system has eaten itself. People aren’t that passionate about their work, and companies are replacing them with machines. Machines don’t need an HR department either. The ever-increase of industries melding with technology is going to continue to morph into one gluttonous blob of cold, inhuman, automated nonsense. The fusion has been happening way before 2010, and now we’re living in it. The repercussions of this are brain-dead workers who are so mentally exhausted by the constant flow of data, emails, conference calls, project milestones, management systems, and the usage of fluffy business lingo, causing people to shut down. Frustrated customers want to talk to people. By the time they jump through the chatbot hoops, or the help article labyrinths, or drill into the automated phone menu, the customer is so pissed off that they treat the human being on the other side with little to no respect. Then there are many examples of mental health directly linked to our time spent on social media.

Automating Out of Here

Tech isn’t going anywhere. The new pandemic-spiced decade jolted our entanglement – not in the Jada Pinkett-Smith way – with technology years into the future. We would have gotten here eventually, just at a slower and maybe more controlled approach. We’re here now, and it’s up to us to keep our humanity as we interact less and less with people. There will come a time where every deep learning machine and AI passes the Turing test, and we might not even know if we are ever talking to a human being. If machines happen to evolve in this wishful this way, maybe they can re-teach us how to be loving and compassionate once more, and give our fellow human beings the time to listen to one another, as we want our voices heard.

Until then, remember that you are human, and the people that you finally interact with past the layers of automation, are also human.

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Online For Authors Featured Guest Interview with Author Konn Lavery

I am pleased to have been interviewed by Online for Authors regarding my writing, the Mental Damnation series, my Graphic Design & Web Development business, and what is next in my writing career.

This is the first interview this year where I’ve shared what is next on the release schedule for books. Check it out below!

Konn Lavery is a Canadian Dark Fantasy, Horror and Thriller writer known for his Mental Damnation series.

Reality: Part 1 of Mental Damnation Dream: Part 2 of Mental Damnation Purity: Part 3 of Mental Damnation Mortal: Part 4 of Mental Damnation

Mental Damnation was 14 years in the making. He started writing fantasy stories at a very young age while being home schooled. It wasn’t until graduating college that he began professionally pursuing his work with his first release, Reality. Since then he has continued to write works of fiction ranging from fantasy to horror.

Konn has formed a discipline of writing daily, first thing. We look forward to the anthology of short stories he’s compiling.

Konn also does graphic design and website development business under the title Reveal Design (www.revealdesign.ca).

You can find Konn at the When Words Collide Online Festival* Aug 14-16th See the Quick Guide for more details about his Sunday appearances (Jim Jackson Social at noon and the Bring on the Goths panel at 2pm (MST))

https://www.whenwordscollide.org/docu…

https://konnlavery.com/

*Jennifer made an error in the interview about the date of the When Words Collide Online Festival, it is Aug 14-16th, 2020 https://www.whenwordscollide.org for more details.

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Keep on Writing

We’re just over halfway done the year and what a weird one it has been. 2020 is the end of a decade (as each decade starts on the 1st). 2021 will launch us into a new era for our time. A paradigm shift, if you will. All of us wish for our lives to get back to some form of normality. We’re experiencing isolation burnout, video call exhaustion, and economic frustrations. The list goes on. The wide array of problems is just demotivating. Well, let me say, I have been no exception, but as authors, we need to keep on writing.

Welcome to Another Edition of Unprocessed Thoughts

In July 2020’s Unprocessed Thoughts, I’ll recap some of the exciting things that have been going on, and we’ll swing back into the statement to keep on writing.

July – Book Launch, Book Award, Anthology

A triple whammy for this month! First off, Mortal’s launch has been an exciting relief. The 14-year journey has been elaborated on, and the book is currently on a blog tour. Oh, and Reality: Part I of Mental Damnation is free on Kindle finally. Kobo and Google Play have been for a while. So, if you haven’t read it, enjoy the book.

Fire, Pain, & Ruin won a finalist award for the International Book Awards, and my short story Summer Giver will appear in the Prairie Gothic anthology. Next month I will be on some panels related to the short story and participating in the digital When Words Collide.

Back to Keep on Writing

Okay, that’s a quick summary of what has been going on. Now to the intro about keep on writing. 2020 is an exceptional year for our generation. Truthfully I didn’t think anything would have topped the birth of the internet, but here we are. Online and in my city, there have been plenty of examples of people going a bit crazy because of world events. Justifiably so. People react and behave differently under pressure, and we are all under pressure.

I have relaxed my militant writing habits this year. Unknowing of the pandemic at the end of 2019, I was writing a lot. The juggle of writing engagements, conventions, contract design work, and hammering out two books made me want a break for a year. Little did I know that break would become a reality, in the form of a pandemic.

Before 2020, I had been writing or revising, consistently every morning as part of a religious routine. The process works, and my writing has drastically improved over 2019. I also explored the speech to text technology for the first time. Improving the writing craft is essential as authors, which is why we need to keep on writing.

Time Away Brings Newfound Passion

I’ll admit, I haven’t been writing as much since the lockdown began here in Alberta. Once Mortal was wrapped up, I stopped everything writing that wasn’t related to the blog. Of course, I did up some of the marketing approaches and award submissions.

What did I do with this spare time? Well, I spent time reflecting, reading, and I was absorbed in a massive increase in web design/development contracts. I have also been returning to practicing speed painting daily, which has been a fun exploration back into the world of visual arts. I’ve also composed a lot of music, completing a whole album that will accompany the next book to be released.

The time away has given me new insight into the craft of writing. The parts of the day I would usually write, I’ve split into other art practices and reading, giving fresh perspectives. My interest in the blog has grown too, seen in the monthly blog posts that are more essay driven than tip-based posts.

Keep on writing. The craft evolves, and our interests shift over time. Writing is exciting because of the new, fresh, and unknown territories it throws us in. Many writers know it, and it is perfectly normal for us to take time away.

You might be wondering….

What’s Next?

The speed painting and musical interests all do tie back into the writing. They’re directly related to the next book—more on that to come. The shift in the monthly tip-based blog post into an essay style is challenging me as a writer. Quite frankly, the posts are far more interesting to write than a “Step 1, Step 2” format. These new blog posts are also giving me time to reflect on ideas and articulate them cohesively and intellectually.

So, still expect the same four main blog posts, trickled with some smaller announcements, and more writing. There is a new book in the works. Some of you may already know what it is from the hints I’ve given. It also has a few new surprises as well. So until then, enjoy the blog, enjoy the free ebook of Reality, and to my fellow authors: keep on writing.

Beer Note: Relic of the past!

I would love to try this beer as it has been sitting in my fridge for years (now it is probably expired). If you’re in Alberta, you may recognize it as part of a series that a brewery did relate to movie characters. All of the cans were recalled. Let’s say I got my hands on one beforehand. This can is relatable because of the apparent character seen in the photo. I should have just tasted the beer, but I didn’t. To this day, the can sits as a relic of all the joy that could have been had.

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Fire, Pain, & Ruin a Finalist in the International Book Awards 2020

I am pleased to announce that Fire, Pain, & Ruin: A Rutherford Manor Novel is an awarded finalist in the cross-genre section of the 2020 International Book Awards!

All winners can be found from here.

Also congratulations to Tosca Lee, Neil Chase, and Kathrin Hutson

Fellow authors Tosca Lee (who has been on the blog), Neil Chase, and Kathrin Hutson (Also on the blog) have also been awarded on the list.

Tosca Lee

Tosca Lee’s duology, The Line Between and A Single Light  were each a winner in the International Book Awards for 2020.  The Line Between won the suspense / thriller category and A Single Light won for Science Fiction.

Lee is the multi award-winning, New York Times, and CBA bestselling author of 11 novels including The Progeny, Firstborn, Iscariot, The Legend of Sheba, and The Books of Mortals series with New York Times bestselling author Ted Dekker. Her books have been translated into 17 languages and been optioned for TV and film.

Tosca received her B.A. in English from Smith College. A lifelong world adventure traveler, she lives south of Fremont, Nebraska with her husband and three of four children still at home. To learn more about Tosca, please visit ToscaLee.com.

Neil Chase

Neil Chase is an Alberta-based actor and writer. His novel Iron Dogs is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Chapters Indigo, and other platforms.

Iron Dogs Novel







Kathrin Hutson

Author Kathrin Hutson has joined us to discuss her LGBTQ Dystopian sci-fi series, Blue Helix with book 1, Sleepwater Beat. Now, the sequel Sleepwater Static, was awarded a finalist in the sci-fi category.

International Bestselling Author Kathrin Hutson has been writing Dark Fantasy, Sci-Fi, and LGBTQ Speculative Fiction since 2000. With her wildly messed-up heroes, excruciating circumstances, impossible decisions, and Happily Never Afters, she’s a firm believer in piling on the intense action, showing a little character skin, and never skimping on violent means to bloody ends. 
In addition to writing her own dark and enchanting fiction, Kathrin spends the other half of her time as a fiction ghostwriter of almost every genre, as Fiction Co-Editor for Burlington’s Mud Season Review, as Director of TopShelf Interviews for TopShelf Magazine, and is an active member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and the Horror Writers Association. 
Kathrin lives in Vermont with her husband, their young daughter, and their two dogs, Sadie and Brucewillis. 

Thank you again for Fire, Pain, & Ruin being a finalist and congratulations to all the winners!

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Natural Cosmos

The audio log of a spaceship’s crew member is discovered, recording the last session that they had while floating through space, soaking in the aftermath of an attack from the gene-editing harvesters. Now, he can only hope his dying words will offer insight and serve as a warning into what happened.

Natural Cosmos is July’s short story that brings readers into the expanding Harvesters / Scrappers sci-fi horror universe. This one is directly related to the Transmit short story from February.

Natural Cosmos

—

.

…

…..thing on?…..

….wait…

…hello?…

There we go, it’s….

…..

…

-orking now. I think. The red light is seeming to stabilize. Okay. Our ship collided wit-……

…

.

…Shit, this recorder is busted. Not to mention, there’s no telling how long my air tank is going to last. Damnit, Lorne, you’ve got yourself into a real mess this time. Look, the dashboard is shot. I can only guess the seconds from my breathing. And smart move, talking out loud here, wasting air. It’s not like time matters anymore. I’m done for.

Wait, the light is dim, it is still recording. Damn right. Apologies for these ramblings. That little red blinking dot better stay on and keep my sanity in check. I can’t believe I survived the explosion of the shuttle. If this thing is going to record, I hope that when my corpse is discovered, this audio log will make it to someone, somehow. Ideally, not in the hands of a harvester.

Well, seeing as these are my last words, to whomever, I’ve gotta tell you that floating through space gives you a lot of time to think about life, what you did, and why you ended up here. Looking at the planets, stars, and ship debris floating around, makes you realize we’re such a small spec in the larger painting. Nature’s canvas, spanning across the universe. Biology, physics, chemistry – all of it is intertwined in the cosmos. The universe that doesn’t care about our needs, as is the law of nature. To our knowledge, we were born from the planet Earth and surpassed many filters of evolution to bring us here. We’re attempting to escape our homeworld and head for the stars, away from our own created predators.

.

…

.

What am I even saying? These thoughts are probably the result of a lack of oxygen, or maybe I am reflecting on everything I should have when I had the chance. After all, I am a little spec of an evolution offshoot soaring through a vacuum. We’re not meant to be up here, and we’re not meant to modify our genes. Humanity has truly reached some fantastic feats.

Yet, here I am, gradually rotating on an angular axis, watching the aftermath of the harvesters’ attack on our escort mission. Damn organ-pickers, so persistent on making sure we don’t escape Earth. We know that they were once human. How long ago remains unclear. The Lost doesn’t have any answers. Whatever conflict that took place eradicated the old world and its history. Only the gene-freaks have any record of what went on. They kept the tech. They were genetically superior, so who could argue? We can only piece together parts of our past from excavating the Lost. At the same time, the harvesters continue to edit their genes, perfecting themselves. Their tinkering ways are what drove them so far from humanity, changing their forms and their minds, eventually seeing us like animals.

Maybe their modifications are a part of nature. There is no good or evil, according to the cosmos. It doesn’t play by any rules. Just look at that sun of ours; it shines so brightly. That is it. Let me tell you, it sure is a beauty from out here, beyond the planet’s smug. Earth isn’t anything to look at. It is just a giant grey ball of clouds. From what archives we have salvaged from the Lost, photographs and paintings portray Earth as a vibrant green and blue. I can’t even imagine what the surface must have been like.

.

…

.

I’m not sure what else to tell you, whoever you are, listening. Oh, right, I still have a duty to serve. What happened here? Shit. Well, our cruiser made sure that the EX – 7006 made it out of the solar system. I honestly didn’t think that it would. Our distraction helped them initiate the gravity engines. The harvesters won’t be able to track the ship at that speed. Pricks. Score one for humanity.

Let me back up, in case my body isn’t found by another human or even in my lifetime. The EX – 7006 is unique to our previous launches into space. The crew is on a one way trip to a new world. The brave souls on that ship are on the most vital mission of all – recreating humanity. In case this is found by harvesters, fuck you. You’re never going to know where the EX – 7006 went.

The plan is a longshot. What other options do we have? The harvesters are superior in every way. We can’t outgun them, nor can we reason with them. Our only chance of survival as a species is to get away as far as we can. That leaves the rest of us on Earth to perish unless we manage to send out more colonization ships to new worlds without being detected.

Maybe we will defy nature. My pal Alan McLeod believes we can. He told me, “we’re humans. Defying nature is what we do.” That stubborn bastard was so eager to make it onto the EX – 7006. He’s safe now, thanks to my crew, the harvesters won’t get him. I hope he is right about the human spirit. Hell, with his logic it explains the harvesters and their gene editing. Human beings who defied nature, now preying on what they once were. Let them. They’ll starve. EX – 7006 made it out. Unfortunately, some of humanity has to be sacrificed – or in biological terms, naturally selected. That’s the short version of what happened. I could go into the details of what occurred, why our captain decided to propel the shuttle straight into the harvesters’ ship, and why I seem to be the only one who survived, but what is the point? I don’t think I will be making it out of here alive. My crew members’ sacrifice is enough duty to humanity.

If you don’t mind, I’d like some silence while enjoying what is the last view I will ever see, until the recording log or air tank runs out. I’ll just stare at the great neutral cosmos, who cares not of who lives. It is both beautiful and sickening to watch. Seeing beings like the harvesters just makes me think there is nothing out there for us but death and misery. As individuals, our desires serve no purpose. As a collective, humanity has to find a way to survive, procreate, resist, as we always do.

Hold on, wait… I see something. It’s not one of ours. Definitely no asteroid. Oh shit, that’s a harve-………………………..

…..the red dot is flick-….

……this is it…

…they’re coming for me. Those pri-….

…

.

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Ghost Stories and Virtual Campfire

I am pleased to be joining the Ghost Stories and Virtual Campfire hosted by Prairie Soul Press in August. Myself and other authors will be sharing our ghost stories.

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There’s nothing like the shiver you get from a well-told ghost story. The talented authors of Prairie Gothic share their favourite ghost stories and talk about what makes a good ghost story. A must for any horror, supernatural or thriller writer!

When? Thursday, August 6, 2020 at 7 PM – 9 PM (GMT-6)

Where? Zoom

Facebook Even + Zoom Link

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Mortal on the Silver Dagger Book Tour

In celebration of Mortal, the concluding novel to the Mental Damnation series release, the book is going on a blog tour hosted by the Silver Dagger Book Tour!

This includes a giveaway sign up, interview questions, behind the scenes, excerpts from Mortal, and more! Follow the dates below:

Full Blog Tour




Mental Damnation: Mortal
Book 4



Damnation ends. The Afterlife is at war. Krista must fend for herself.
Mortal is the concluding novel of the dark fantasy series Mental Damnation. Follow Krista as she descends further into Dreadweave Pass and fulfilling the path of a warrior set by her father, reinforced by her allies. Will Krista manage to escape the land of the damned? She fights to return to Darkwing in the mortal realm, as he struggles to rescue her. Home is no safe haven either, for her people and the humans are on the brink of an all-out-war.

Add to Goodreads
Amazon * Google * Kobo







Konn Lavery is a Canadian author whose work has been recognized by Edmonton’s top five bestseller charts and by reviewers such as Readers’ Favorite, and Literary Titan.

He started writing stories at a young age while being homeschooled. After graduating from graphic design college, he began professionally pursuing his writing with his first release, Reality. He continues to write in the thriller, horror, and fantasy genres.

He balances his literary work along with his own graphic design and website development business, titled Reveal Design (www.revealdesign.ca). His visual communication skills have been transcribed into the formatting and artwork found within his publications supporting his fascination of transmedia storytelling.

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads





$20 Amazon giftcard, ebook set of Mental Damnation books 1-3 (1 winner each)

Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

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