A.J. Lauer's Blog, page 24

Six Word Saturday

Getting ready for June.. Without distractions?
My super-crazy-busy part of my job is from the end of May through the beginning of August. So if you can believe it, I'm already in full swing getting ready for summer. This week I tried really hard to remove distractions in order to concentrate fully on my summer preparations, and did a pretty good job. I got a couple of important things done which makes me feel much better. Still lots to do, but headway was made!

One Grain More

Just stopping by quick to post this gem of a video that my friend Amanda shared, from Fooducate. Funny how many familiar products are in here.. Also, Xanthan gum does *not* get rid of baking soda taste! haha.. Actually if you put too much in, the taste of Xanthan gum is quite unpleasant. Worse than the baking soda, I think. Enjoy!

Six Word Saturday

Welcomed a new decadewithout angst.
This week I turned 30. And.. didn't feel as freaked out about it as everyone seems to think I should have been. They say that your 20s are crazy, all over the place, figuring things out, and they definitely were that. But then your 30s, they say, are when everything fits into place, you figure out who you are and what you're about, and life really gets fun without the angst of the 20s.  My last month in my 20s was a little rough (right up to the flat tire at 9:30pm the night before my birthday), but I rather feel like it has tempered me a bit. On last bit of flame to strengthen me as I head into my new decade. 
Welcome, 30. How's about we chill out for a bit?

Bean Fosters

Bean Fosters, the aforementioned local book/coffee shop, posted this picture on their FB page today with the caption, "Just rotated our new arrivals table! It now includes Armageddon: Pick Your Plot, a "choose your own adventure" concerning the apocalypse by a local author - it's provided much entertainment..."

They seemed a little hesitant when I called about selling our book (which I totally understand b/c I was just some random person haha) but I was so happy when I met the owner Truett because he's so nice and was super supportive. Am looking forward to spending more time at Bean Fosters. They are just far enough off campus to be a good hiding spot, and have the best hot cocoa in town! Mmmm...

Six Word Saturday

Indy author publicity -mistakes, learning, winning.
Now that we have the book published, we've started doing more 'publicity' and figuring out our (my) branding. Yes, I know people say we should have started that before we actually published.. But this is one of those hindsight things :)
Have spent a bunch of time getting the book and our author pages (me, Dan) up on Goodreads, and this week I contacted a small local bookstore about carrying some copies. They didn't sound too optimistic, but offered to start with three and see how we do! It seems that previous attempts with local authors involved prices that were prohibitively high, so they were pleased at our low price and at our nostalgia factor. Hopefully it works out!

Guest Post!

**streeeeetttttcccchhhhhh**
G'mornin' everyone! I have a guest post up over at the Blogging from A-Z site today (permalink). It's about how we came to write the book, and how A-Z played a bit of a part in that.

For those bloggers out there I highly encourage you to check them out. A-Z is a load of fun and a great way to meet other cool blogging types! For my buddies I met through A-Z last year - hi :) Are you participating this spring?

Six Word Saturday

Prairie Home Companion - pause, listen, laugh.

Armageddon Release!

It's heeeeeere! Our book has been officially released!

I am so excited to announce the release of Armageddon: Pick Your Plot.
You can find it on Amazon or CreateSpace, and I encourage you to follow our Facebook page for updates and fun tidbits about the book :)

Many, many thanks to everyone who has been so supportive through this process - my friend Ben for his editing awesome'ness, Alison and Chris for their *ahem* technical expertise and patience, and to my fabulous co-author and design guru Dan for dragging me into this. I would choose all of you to be on my Zombie Apocalypse team, any time!

One more day!

One more day till the release of Armageddon!

 If you only had one day left on Earth, how would you spend it?

3 days!

3 days until the release of our book!

We now have a Facebook page that you can follow to get updates and info. Please stop by and like us :)