Chris M. Arnone's Blog
April 21, 2014
The Blog Tour Commences!
Today is the day, loyal fans, readers, and pogonophiles.
My book blog tour has begun in earnest. Over the next four weeks, there will be twenty spotlights, interviews, book reviews, and guest blog posts occurring for your reading pleasure.
Additionally, there's a giveaway!
Find the full post, including the giveaway details and this week's tour stops on my website.
February 28, 2014
Writing Great Women; or, Why My Protagonist is Still a Dude
I'm a white, heterosexual male. I belong to no minority groups other than being left-handed and nerdy. The latter hasn't gotten me harassed since junior high. The former only haunts me when I hold a writing utensil. (Seriously, hold a pen with your left hand. The writing will be upside-down and backwards.)
I'm also a feminist. My mother is a strong, independent woman. My wife is also a strong, independent woman. Many of my friends fall into this category as well. If you've watched me on YouTube, you've seen me speak out against racism, sexism, and in favor of LGBTQ equality on several occasions.
Then I read about sexism in the writing industry, particularly men doing a piss-poor job of writing women. I'm not here to defend them, by any means. I'm here to say that for some of us, like myself, reading about all the men screwing this up makes me try that much harder to do it right.
Continued on my official website.>
I'm also a feminist. My mother is a strong, independent woman. My wife is also a strong, independent woman. Many of my friends fall into this category as well. If you've watched me on YouTube, you've seen me speak out against racism, sexism, and in favor of LGBTQ equality on several occasions.
Then I read about sexism in the writing industry, particularly men doing a piss-poor job of writing women. I'm not here to defend them, by any means. I'm here to say that for some of us, like myself, reading about all the men screwing this up makes me try that much harder to do it right.
Continued on my official website.>
December 19, 2013
I Have a Website!
It's just a free one so far, but since my first book is now officially published, I figured it was high time I created my own website. I plan to tweak it further and upgrade it eventually, but it's better than nothing.
It's just a simple Wix site for now, but it's a start. Check it out!
My new website!
It's just a simple Wix site for now, but it's a start. Check it out!
My new website!
November 20, 2013
Adventures in Indiegogo: Day Four
Twenty-six days left in my Indiegogo for The Lost and Broken Realm. So far, the campaign has earned $485. I feel so blessed and humbled to have such wonderful friends and family who's been contributing and helping to spread the word.
But our work has only begun. We're actually behind. If you take my goal of $4000 and divide it by 30 (total days of the campaign), you'll realize I have to earn $133.33 per day. That means at the end of day four (today), the campaign needs to be at $533.33.
What's more, statistics have shown that campaigns that earn 1/3 of their target in the first quarter of the campaign are much more likely to succeed. That means I need to have $1333 in less than eight days.
So contribute to the Indiegogo as soon as you can and spread the word! Spread it by Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Google Plus, e-mail, snail mail, smoke signal, whatever. Thank you all for reading and for helping me achieve my dreams!
But our work has only begun. We're actually behind. If you take my goal of $4000 and divide it by 30 (total days of the campaign), you'll realize I have to earn $133.33 per day. That means at the end of day four (today), the campaign needs to be at $533.33.
What's more, statistics have shown that campaigns that earn 1/3 of their target in the first quarter of the campaign are much more likely to succeed. That means I need to have $1333 in less than eight days.
So contribute to the Indiegogo as soon as you can and spread the word! Spread it by Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, Google Plus, e-mail, snail mail, smoke signal, whatever. Thank you all for reading and for helping me achieve my dreams!
November 16, 2013
The Indiegogo is Live!
It's official, my Indiegogo for The Lost and Broken Realm is now live!
To check it out, see the perks, and help me self-publish, click here:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-lost-and-broken-realm-a-novel/x/1656879
What's more, this means I'm officially 30 days from the release of my book on eReaders everywhere. The print run, for obvious reasons, will take a couple weeks longer before it ships.
Check it out and thanks in advance for supporting my dreams!
To check it out, see the perks, and help me self-publish, click here:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-lost-and-broken-realm-a-novel/x/1656879
What's more, this means I'm officially 30 days from the release of my book on eReaders everywhere. The print run, for obvious reasons, will take a couple weeks longer before it ships.
Check it out and thanks in advance for supporting my dreams!
November 11, 2013
Book Cover!
I feel all official now.
Ladies and gentlemen (and the rest of you, too), I present my official cover art for The Lost and Broken Realm.
The cover design is by Cassandra Whitney, a local artist, wedding coordinator, and all-around awesome person here in Kansas City.
I'm super-excited and think the art really reflects some of the major themes of the book. More than that, it also means the IndieGogo is right around the corner!
Ladies and gentlemen (and the rest of you, too), I present my official cover art for The Lost and Broken Realm.
The cover design is by Cassandra Whitney, a local artist, wedding coordinator, and all-around awesome person here in Kansas City.
I'm super-excited and think the art really reflects some of the major themes of the book. More than that, it also means the IndieGogo is right around the corner!
NaNoWriMo Catch-Up
So, I'm behind on NaNoWriMo. Ugh.
It is day 11. By the end of day 10, the on-track word count should be 16,666. My current word count for NaNoWriMo: 12, 064.
I was doing well. I was staying ahead and writing daily, and then BlizzCon happened. For those that don't know, I'm the host of a webshow called BlizzPro Weekly for BlizzPro.com. They sent me to Anaheim for BlizzCon. I did not underestimate how much time I would have to write. I did underestimate how exhausted I would be from travel, networking, and numerous interviews. I wrote very little the last three days.
I have a plan! Be warned, there is math to follow.
Current wordcount: 12,064
Target wordcount for day 17: 28,033
Difference: 15,969
So, between now and the end of Sunday, I need to write 15,969 words. I will be attending two write-ins during that time: one on Thursday and another on Sunday. Let's assume I can knock out 3,000 words per write-in. A little more math, and here's the plan for this week.
Monday: 2,000 words
Tuesday: 2,000 words
Wednesday: 2,000 words
Thursday (write-in): 3,000 words
Friday: 2,000 words
Saturday: 2,000 words
Sunday (write-in): 3,000 words
That will give me 16,000 words on the week, putting my total at 28,064. I'll be 31 words ahead.
Daunting? A bit. Doable? Absolutely. Wish me luck!
It is day 11. By the end of day 10, the on-track word count should be 16,666. My current word count for NaNoWriMo: 12, 064.
I was doing well. I was staying ahead and writing daily, and then BlizzCon happened. For those that don't know, I'm the host of a webshow called BlizzPro Weekly for BlizzPro.com. They sent me to Anaheim for BlizzCon. I did not underestimate how much time I would have to write. I did underestimate how exhausted I would be from travel, networking, and numerous interviews. I wrote very little the last three days.
I have a plan! Be warned, there is math to follow.
Current wordcount: 12,064
Target wordcount for day 17: 28,033
Difference: 15,969
So, between now and the end of Sunday, I need to write 15,969 words. I will be attending two write-ins during that time: one on Thursday and another on Sunday. Let's assume I can knock out 3,000 words per write-in. A little more math, and here's the plan for this week.
Monday: 2,000 words
Tuesday: 2,000 words
Wednesday: 2,000 words
Thursday (write-in): 3,000 words
Friday: 2,000 words
Saturday: 2,000 words
Sunday (write-in): 3,000 words
That will give me 16,000 words on the week, putting my total at 28,064. I'll be 31 words ahead.
Daunting? A bit. Doable? Absolutely. Wish me luck!
October 31, 2013
The Book Cover and Final Edits
Writing a book takes a lot of work and a long time. I'm not sure when I started writing The Lost and Broken Realm, but it was more than two years ago. I thought I would have it published by March 2013. Then I thought it would be April, then August, then November.
Well, November is tomorrow. I'm going to see my cover for the first time this coming weekend and I'm wrapping up final edits. Once I have my cover, I plan to launch an IndieGogo that will last 30 days. Then the book will release.
It's been a long road and at times, a difficult one. It's tempting to self-publish an ebook now because it's easy. But I'm not done editing. It's tempting to skip the IndieGogo in favor of just ebook when the editing is done, but I really want a print run, paid artists, and some marketing money.
So I'm sticking to my plan and my guns. I'm almost there. Final edits, cover, IndieGogo, and I've already started writing my next book.
Well, November is tomorrow. I'm going to see my cover for the first time this coming weekend and I'm wrapping up final edits. Once I have my cover, I plan to launch an IndieGogo that will last 30 days. Then the book will release.
It's been a long road and at times, a difficult one. It's tempting to self-publish an ebook now because it's easy. But I'm not done editing. It's tempting to skip the IndieGogo in favor of just ebook when the editing is done, but I really want a print run, paid artists, and some marketing money.
So I'm sticking to my plan and my guns. I'm almost there. Final edits, cover, IndieGogo, and I've already started writing my next book.
October 28, 2013
NaNoWriMo
Last night, I attended a kick-off event for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) at The Writer's Place in Kansas City. It was a wonderful event.
I've known for a while that I need to get more involved with the writing community in Kansas City. I hang out with performers, artists, and nerds all the time. I love them, but they don't help me with my writing. Maybe it's because I don't ask. They certainly don't detract from my writing. I'm lucky to be surrounded by supportive voices in my life.
However, I need friends who are writers. I need people who, like me, have thousands of stories bursting from their minds and can't write fast enough to get them on paper. I need people to help me put words down every single day. I need people to ask those tough questions about characters, settings, and stories. I need people to push me out of my comfort zones when it comes to my writing.
Last night, I found all that and more. So I'll be hitting NaNoWriMo hard and heavy this year. Expect to see me at The Writer's Place nearly every Sunday in November. Westport Coffeehouse nearly every Thursday, for that matter.
50,000 words goes a long way toward writing a novel. I can't wait to go on this journey with my new-found writing friends.
I've known for a while that I need to get more involved with the writing community in Kansas City. I hang out with performers, artists, and nerds all the time. I love them, but they don't help me with my writing. Maybe it's because I don't ask. They certainly don't detract from my writing. I'm lucky to be surrounded by supportive voices in my life.
However, I need friends who are writers. I need people who, like me, have thousands of stories bursting from their minds and can't write fast enough to get them on paper. I need people to help me put words down every single day. I need people to ask those tough questions about characters, settings, and stories. I need people to push me out of my comfort zones when it comes to my writing.
Last night, I found all that and more. So I'll be hitting NaNoWriMo hard and heavy this year. Expect to see me at The Writer's Place nearly every Sunday in November. Westport Coffeehouse nearly every Thursday, for that matter.
50,000 words goes a long way toward writing a novel. I can't wait to go on this journey with my new-found writing friends.
April 30, 2013
Strange Timing
As a reader, I'm crazy excited right now. Joe Hill's new book, NOS4A2 came out today. I picked up my copy from Rainy Day Books (yay, local business!) last night. I'm super-excited to read it.
However, my last beta reader is supposed to get me his notes tomorrow. What does that mean?
Unless I can polish off almost 700 pages in one night, I'll have to put NOS4A2 on the shelf while I concatenate all the beta reader notes and implement changes to my upcoming book, Forgotten Things.
Damn the timing!
However, my last beta reader is supposed to get me his notes tomorrow. What does that mean?
Unless I can polish off almost 700 pages in one night, I'll have to put NOS4A2 on the shelf while I concatenate all the beta reader notes and implement changes to my upcoming book, Forgotten Things.
Damn the timing!
