R.J. Blain's Blog, page 65

This again? Books, Readers, Piracy, and Theft.

The drama of the week is flavored in book theft, and I, like so many authors, are stepping up to talk about it. In a way, I feel like Cardeth and Zero. The ‘city’ of the literary world is smoking around us authors, and the rioters are…

… people who like what we do?

Look, I like reading as much as the next person, and because I’m an author, I can’t afford to buy many books. I cherry pick the books I want to have. I buy them. I respect others who are in my same situation, and if I can’t afford to have it, I live without it.

Suck it up, precious little snowflake. There are a lot of ways you can get books for free without paying a cent and still respecting the authors who wrote them. Let me teach you how.

Go to Amazon. Click on the genre you like. Go to ‘Top 100 Free.’ Buy all the fucking books. Come back every day. There will be new books there, because many books are only free for up to five days every three months.

Want more than those top 100 free books? Go to search. Pick a keyword you like. Sort by pricing “Low to High.” Buy all the free books. There are thousands of them there.

Don’t return the books because you believe you’re a precious little snowflake who deserves to have everything without paying it. Feel that way? Come to my house and clean it. I’m not going to pay you. I’m not going to give you a free pizza or beer for your work and effort, either.

Don’t like that? Got offended?

That’s exactly what you’re asking me to do when you steal my books. You’re expecting me to go hungry while you benefit from my hard work.

Here’s some other ways you can get free books:

Become a book reviewer. You not only get the book for free you get it in advance. You will be expected to review the book honestly.
Go to free book sites (NON PIRATED) that are promoting giveaways. Freebooksy is a good example of one of these sites.
Create a Netgalley account, review books.

Don’t be a thief. Taking a book for free is theft, no different from me walking into your home and taking your television because I want to watch something and don’t have a television of my own. Oh, don’t like that, do you?

That’s theft, and that’s what you’re doing to authors.

I give most of my titles away several times a year, so you don’t have to steal from me to enjoy my books.

 

Teas of the Day Plus Bonus Random Rambles

I like tea. I really like tea. I’m going to have to just go out on a limb and state I’m an addict. I’m not a snob–I don’t care how people have their tea, so long as they enjoy what they’re drinking. I like talking about tea, too.

Today, I’m going to showcase (with pictures!) four of the teas I’m drinking today. I make them in 16 oz iced tea batches. One is therapeutic in nature. It helps with my allergies and sinuses, even when iced. The others are pure bliss.

I’ll start off with the one I’m currently drinking, which also happens to be my therapy tea. It’s called ‘Organic Cold 911‘ and is produced by David’s Tea. Actually, all four teas I’m showcasing are by David’s Tea. Cold 911 is available in a kosher blend as well as the organic blend.

It’s made with peppermint, apple, and juniper berries, as well as eucalyptus and orange. This one has no calories or sugar when steeped, which is perfect for my ‘abandon sugar addiction’ bandwagon!

I really like this tea, but it’s really strong, so by the time I’m done my 16 oz of iced tea, I’m kinda done with it for the day. This is definitely a once per day tea for me unless I’m really sick… then I’ll have it hot, if you please.

Next up is Forever Nuts. Like Cold 911, this is a tisane. (Herbal.)

This is what I fondly refer to as “Nutty Apple Pie” tea. This is one of my absolute favorites, and I could probably drink four or five 16 oz servings on ice a day, easy. This one is going to bankrupt me, I’m certain of it.

This one is as simple as it is delicious. It’s made of apple, almonds, cinnamon, beetroot, and my absolute favorite ‘artificial flavoring.’

I like my teas pure, but I like taste better… and if they put cyanide in this puppy, I’d probably drink it happily. Give me more!

Yeah, I know. I’m being lame, but I really DO love this tea that much. If I ever develop a nut allergy, it will a painful time in my life. Very painful. Much pain.

The next tea on my list is a proper tea, and it gets me out of bed in the morning. It’s called Pura Vida, and it tastes like a Pina Colada. I shit you not, this tea tastes like a non-alcoholic Pina Colada. It’s my go-to morning tea. It’s a green tea (ignore the fact I put it in a pink tin. I like the color pink, okay? If you don’t like pink things, more pink things for me.

Pura Vida is a kosher tea. However, unlike many of David’s Tea products, it contains sulfites. So, if sulfites are one of your allergies, beware.

This lovely tea is made with pineapple, green tea, apple, coconut, mango, chamomile, and natural ingredients. Not quite as yummy as artificial ingredients, but hey, can’t have perfection in this tea… or can you?

I got a bit artsy-fartsy with the picture on this one, but I wanted you to se all the glorious bits of everything in this tea, from the cut green leaves to the strips of coconut, the curled dried apples, and the chunks of pineapple.

This tea smells as fantastic as it looks, and it tastes even better. I really can’t sing the praises of this one enough.

Last on my list, but certainly not least, is Mango Madness. I love mango, yo. If you want to lure me into a white van and kidnap me and hold me hostage in your basement so you can force me to write novels for you, I’m pretty sure all you’d have to do is hold out a mango tied to a stick. I’d probably just follow the mango, drooling like a zombie with a serious case of brain cravings. I mean, it’s mango. I freaking love mango.

Mango has such happy memories for me. When I was in school, I had a friend named Elizabeth. Liz was one of my very first real friends. She was this absolutely lovely Asian girl, and she was truly one of the sweetest people I ever met.

One day, she invited me over to her house. I had no idea Liz’s family was seriously rich until my mom dropped me off at her place. Her parents liked me (boy, did I have them fooled…) so I got constantly invited over. I loved it, Liz loved it, and we had a great time. Liz and I were attached at the hip right up until we went away from college. Her parents introduced me to mango. It was my first time having it, and it was one of those fruits my family simply couldn’t afford.

Whenever I visited, they made a point of having a mango or other interesting fruits around. They were those type of people. They understood the little things.

I miss Liz, and I hope she has had a happy life–we lost touch, and I wasn’t able to find her again over the years… but I think about her whenever I have anything dealing with mango, and they’re happy memories.

Mango is happiness.

Mango Madness is a full leaf white tea. (See that gorgeous full leaf in the picture? DO YOU SEE IT?!) It’s made with apples, white tea, orange peel, pineapple, mango, orange slices, tangerine, safflower petals, strawberry, marigold blossoms, and my favorite ‘flavoring.’

Let’s face it. Like peach, mango is a really difficult flavor to hit at in a tea. Mango doesn’t really dry well, it loses a bunch of its flavor. So, to mimic mango, you need mango… and you need a lot of other things that taste kinda like mango when put together.

That’s what this is. It’s mango with mango flavoring so you can taste the mango. It’s also white tea, which is my favorite type of tea.

These are the drinks that fuel my writing, and they are delicious.

You Don’t Have to Steal My Books to Read Them

I’m friends with a lot of really amazing authors. Some of them are bestsellers, some of them are just plain popular without having made the bestseller list, and some of them are like me, somewhere near the middle of the pack.

Many of us share one thing in common: we’re plagued by book thieves. These are people who buy a book, read it, and return it once they’re done reading. Sometimes, they download the file, grab the mobi from their device, and then return it as ‘an accidental’ purchase. Sometimes, they give a different reason.

Some of these book thieves have gotten really bold. Some of them leave reviews complaining they loved the book but they had to buy it. This happened to one of my friends. To add insult to injury, it was a 1* review, where the reviewer praised the book and went on to bitch about the price tag.

The cost of the book was $2.99.

I have had this happen to me. Amazon limits how often a reader can return books. So, when the latest culprit started to buy and return, I watched my stats. Sure enough, right around the time the return limitation expired, a new one of my titles would be returned.

I recently ran a large free book promotion for Beneath a Blood Moon. I gave the book away. A lot of people took advantage of this, too. Which is fantastic.

I want people to be able to read my books. That’s why I give them away. First, it introduces people to my titles. Some people decide to read more of them. That’s fantastic. I’m grateful.

Then there are the book thieves, who discover my book after the promotion. They buy the book, then they return the book. It makes me really angry. Why?

I give my books away frequently. Most of my titles are put up for free at least once every three months. I encourage people to approach me about ARCs for reviews. I want people to read.

I don’t want to be stolen from, however. I give my books away for free, and I encourage Amazon’s KU library, because $9.99 a month for a huge collection of books is really reasonable, and I’m paid quite well for it.

My promotion for Beneath a Blood Moon has caused a storm of returns. There isn’t a problem with the book file. I’ve asked those who recently got it to make certain. Amazon hasn’t contacted me about major problems, either. (There were two typos that were immediately corrected.)

Here are my stats for May 2016, to show the surge of returns:

I gave away almost 3,000 copies of Beneath a Blood Moon. I’ve ‘sold’ 62 copies, 9 of which were returned. One of the returns was part of the return spree by the suspected singular reader. (You can see the titles that were affected in the Units Refunded column.)

It started when I gave Inquisitor and Winter Wolf away last month, and has carried over to this month. It’s pretty annoying, really.

If you’re someone who buys books and returns them so you can keep reading, would you work at a fast food joint for free? Would you go to your cushy office job and work for free? Try it sometime. You probably won’t like it.

Those books are my career. When you steal from me, you’re taking directly from paying my bills, putting food on the table, and so on. I give away books to introduce people to my writing. It’s a calculated risk, and it’s something I do because I want people to be able to read.

Don’t steal from me. You wouldn’t like it if I came into your home, rummaged through your fridge, and took your food. You wouldn’t like it if I wandered in, grabbed your kid’s shoes, and made off with them. How about your computer? Or your television? How about your collection of DVDs/Blu-Rays?

That’s basically what you’re doing when you take a book someone is selling it, read it, and refund it because you’re a cheap thief.

Just because I give books away free sometimes doesn’t mean I’m an all access pass.

(P.S.: If you’re going to steal my shit, at least leave me a glowing review telling people why you loved my book. Maybe then, at least, the write-off isn’t as heartbreaking. Or, better yet, have the basic common decency to wait for when the book is free and I’m giving it to you because I want you to read.)

Write What You Like. Read What You Like, Too…

(c) Jo Naylor (Creative Commons License – Flickr)

/RantOn

I started writing this post over two months ago. When I started it, I noticed a trend in social media conversations. I don’t remember which book had caused the latest fuss–probably Twilight or Fifty Shades–but it was the same old shit, different day.

I have an opinion, it’s a very blunt one, and I’m going to share it. I’ve been sitting on this for so long because I didn’t want to offend people. Well, fuck it. I’m going to go ahead. If I offend you… well, think it through, because if you’re in the group that’s going to be offended by this, there might be an issue, and it might not be with me.

Here’s the brief summary of the situation: A bunch of egotistical elitist assholes were judging some new readers (some of these were teenagers) about their choice of books. They were judging these people because they didn’t enjoy ‘proper’ literature. These were new readers who loved a book others didn’t approve of.

I have a few words to say to those who have ostracized others for loving a book.

Fuck you, sir or madam.

Did that wake you up? Offend you? Make you stop and go ‘what the actual fuck?’ I hope so, because I have exactly one goal here: I want people to realize how incredibly stupid and horrible it is to judge someone for a book they love to read. I want people to realize how incredibly repulsive it is for someone to mock another person for loving a book.

I’m an author. Books are my lifeblood. I love to read, I love to write. I hate some books, but I never, ever hate someone for loving a book. If someone hates my books, that’s okay. My books are not for everyone.

What do I do now when someone says they hate my books? I ask them what they love. If I know a book in that genre / writing style, I suggest they read that one, because they might enjoy it.

I have something to say for those new readers who have been laughed at, scorned, or criticized for enjoying a book, be it Twilight, Fifty Shades, the Hunger Games, or the Complete Works of Shakespeare:

Keep loving that book.

Fuck those who can’t accept you have a mind of your own. Fuck those who can’t accept that book resonated with you. Fuck those who can’t appreciate the fact you love a book they don’t approve of.

I’m a bit opinionated about this. I don’t like Fifty Shades–that’s evident in my commentary during my unfinished Play by Play. I actually don’t mind Twilight, although there are some things that make me go whaaatttt?!

Here’s the deal: It doesn’t matter what I think about any book. If you like it, that is a great thing. You’re reading.

I’ve had a difficult time keeping my temper in check when I see people ratting at the fans of a book. Go ahead, beat down the book all you want. But, when someone says they love a book you hate… shut your fucking mouth and let them love that book. Don’t berate them for loving a book.

Don’t turn these people off on loving books. Think that through really, really carefully. I hear it all the time. These elitist asses want people to read good ‘literature’ and mock those who read genre fiction or ‘bad’ books.

Gateway books are novels that teach someone the love of reading. When you mock their love of a book, you’re not helping anyone. You’re just proving you’re an insufferable asshole. Go ahead, say how much you dislike the book. That’s more than okay. But, don’t mock the person who loves the book. There’s a big difference there–and it’s a very hurtful one.

You don’t have to understand why someone loves a book. They just do. When you mock someone for loving a book, all you’re doing is telling them their interests and love are worthless.

That’s a pretty repulsive act in my book. Why?

Because I truly love books, and other readers are my people. I’ll defend someone’s right to love a ‘bad’ book until my dying breath. To them, that isn’t a bad book. It’s a beloved one, and they deserve to be treated better than being mocked for loving a book.

/RantOff

Old Authors, New Worlds…

I was reading a review recently on goodreads, and I was intrigued by its content. The reviewer was hoping for a whole new world in the new series. (Sorry, Balancing the Scales is in the Witch & Wolf world. It does introduce a new species of supernatural in the same way Pack Justice did, but it is still in the same comfortable alternate Earth the rest of the books take place in.)

It made me think.

To date, I’ve created three independent worlds. Technically, four, but one crosses over with one world… I’ll explain below. Since I’m going to go to the effort of writing out all the books I’ve written (and am planning to write in the near future), I’m going to put the books in chronological order for you.

Finally, right?! So, bear with me.

World #1: High Fantasy (Arasanor)

Series: Requiem for the Rift King & Related Works

In chronological order:

Rider of the Sun Horse (Standalone)
Storm Without End (Requiem #1)
The Eye of God (Fall of Erelith #1)
Storm Surge (Requiem #2)
Royal Slaves (Fall of Erelith #2)
The Tides of War (Requiem #3)
Genocide (Fall of Erelith #3)
Requiem for the Rift King (Requiem #4)

You might be looking at this in a state of what the actual fuck?! Yes, The Fall of Erelith is the same world as Requiem for the Rift King. Yes, the stories happen at almost the exact same time. Yes, if you look carefully, you can identify how the two continents interact with each other and how the events from one half of the world affect the other half of the world.

Yes, it’s complicated, which is why I’ve very much kept The Eye of God as it’s own thing without drawing much attention to the relation of these two series. Yes, I’ll probably write Royal Slaves before I release the Tides of War, but it’s dependent on a lot of factors.

No, don’t panic. You do not need to read both series if you find the Fall of Erelith series too brutal. It is a brutal story. Of all the characters I’ve ever written, the Fall of Erelith ones face the hardest challenges–but they stand to gain the greatest rewards.

They aren’t just fighting for their lives, but for their freedom, for justice, and for a lot of things we take for granted that has been taken from so many in that world under the tyrant reign of Erelith’s Emperor.

There will be more standalones and short series in this world, although I won’t be working on them for a while.

World #2: The Witch & Wolf World (Alternative History Earth.)

Series: Witch & Wolf, Nature of the Beast, Balancing the Scales, Standalones…

In chronological order:

Tales of the Winter Wolf
Winter Wolf (W&W #1)
Inquisitor (W&W #2)
Pack Justice / Dual Nature (Nature of the Beast)
Blood Diamond (W&W #3)
Beneath a Blood Moon (Standalone)
Case Files of Karma Johnson (Some stories will be during the series in later anthologies)
Karma / License to Kill (Balancing the Scales)
Silver Bullet (W&W 4)
Shadowed Flame (Because of Chapter 2. Hahahahaha… err..)
Wolf Hunt (New Series, Follow up to Witch & Wolf main series, Coming after Silver Bullet)

Some important notes: Nature of the Beast and Balancing the Scales are side stories within the world, but they don’t involve characters from the main W&W series. In Beneath a Blood Moon, you’ll recognize characters and references from Tales of the Winter Wolf, Winter Wolf, and Blood Diamond. People commented that this makes Beneath a Blood Moon not quite as standalone as they liked.

I know some folks aren’t going to like this, but here’s the deal: When characters have the power to change the world, and someone interesting comes along, they’ll show up. Wolves are curious beasts, and where trouble goes, they follow. Their lives and jobs involve keeping the supernatural world monitored and under control.

Then, you might ask, why didn’t they show up in Nature of the Beast? Simple. The supernatural world is, at that point, recovering from the plague. Packs are fragmented, broken, and rebuilding. There are bigger fish to fry than a lawyer with a cat for a guardian angel.

You might ask the same of Karma & Shadowed Flame, but once again, there are bigger fish for them to fry, and the players in Karma (especially) are capable of changing the world entirely fine on their own. In Shadowed Flame, while you can’t see any of the consequences of Silver Bullet, they’re present in the absence of these characters.

World #3: Alternate Earth, Cross-overed with Witch & Wolf Universe

The Witch & Wolf world was never meant to be infinite. It ends–at least, on Earth. I got tired of Earth one day, and decided the planet had to go. So, off it went in a blaze of glory.

The Fenerec, their witches, and many of the supernatural become a grand experiment on space survival. One day, their story might continue, but they become the pioneers of Terrans exploring space when Earth goes to hell in a handbasket.

The stories in this world are not about the Fenerec. No, they’re about the humans left behind, what became of Earth’s magic when they left, and what happens to Earth.

Project Zeta (buh bye, Earth!)
Zero
Evolulite

No, I won’t tell you how these science fiction stories connect. That would ruin my fun.

World #4: Alternate Earth, Sci-Fi Edition

Series: Dae Portals (Trillian Anderson)

The Dawn of Dae (DP #1)
Unawakened (DP #2)
Chameleon and the Hound DP #3)

This is the most traditional form of series I’ve ever done. The books are released in chronological order, and there probably won’t be many (if any) side novels. There are a lot of stories about Alexa and Rob, though. So, that’s something, right?

I will say this much about this series: I love Alexa. I love how she changes, develops, grows, falls on her face, makes mistakes, adapts, adapts some more, falls prey to her own demons, and changes the world, all without any real magic of her own.

The covers of the Dae Portals novels were specifically chokes for a reason, reflecting Alexa’s changes and state of mind during the series. In the Dawn of Dae, she learns to stand on her own, but Rob’s there every step of the way, making sure she can stand back up when she falls down.

In Unawakened, she believes she stands in Rob’s shadow and wants to be his equal. This cover shows her back… but it’s not because she’s actually in his shadow.

It’s because she’s guarding his back as much as he’s guarding hers. I saw the picture when browsing stock images, and thought it was perfect for their relationship.

In the next four covers, you’ll notice Alexa is standing on her own. Her appearances change drastically. Why?

You’ll find out, eventually.

World #5: Coming Soon.

Happy Book Birthday, Karma & Shadowed Flame!

It’s my birthday today, and for some reason, I thought it’d be a great idea to release not one, but two books today. Yeah, I’m crazy. Happy book birthday, Karma & Shadowed Flame! Both books are available for $3.99 over at Amazon. If you want an epub version, please email me with a copy of your receipt to blain . rj @ gmail . com (remove the spaces!)

About Karma…

Karma Johnson has spent her entire adult life working to become a member of FBI’s Child Abduction Rapid Deployment team. She’s earned her transfer to CARD, but when she’s caught up in the kidnapping of an infant from a festival, she learns what it’s like to be the victim. Pretending she’s a teen keeps her alive while trying to get herself and the baby to safety.

But the kidnapping only scratches at the surface of a far more nefarious scheme, one that will test Karma’s skills, her patience, her sanity, and her beliefs.

About Shadowed Flame…

Matia Evans has it all, except for one thing: she can’t see color. With an adopted family who loves her, a company she helps her father run, and more prospects than she knows what to do with, she’s in no place to complain that her world is limited to shades of gray, black, and white.

Her inability to perceive color isn’t the only strange thing about her: all souls have shadows, and she can see them. Unfortunately, there are humans who are worse than monsters. Worse, there are real monsters in the world, and they view humans as prey or as mates.

If Matia doesn’t want to become a victim, a pawn, or a trophy bride of the supernatural, she must use every bit of her strength and cunning. Her freedom and survival depend on embracing the darkest parts of her soul, but if she does, she risks becoming the newest—and most dangerous—monster of all.

In other news, Beneath a Blood Moon is on free promotion today. Come grab your copy now!

This is how I party. There are also a few other titles free today, so hit one of the links and grab them if you don’t already have them! Happy birthday to everybody!

Finally, the facebook party beings at 12 EST / 9 PST, and will run until 9 pm EST / 6 pm PST. Come along at any time during the day, participate in games and discussions, and get a chance to win a prize or ten!

The Dusty Recesses of a Broken Mind

It is 11:38 PM (Monday, May 9) as I begin to write this. I can’t remember the last time I took a full day off–I think it was two weeks ago. I knew I’d be in for the long haul, then. A week from now, I’ll be releasing two new books to the wilds. Releasing one is difficult enough.

Two might break me–more than I’m already broken, that is.

I’m late with my coloring book pages. I’m sorry, I really am. They need to wait until Karma and Shadowed Flame are finished. I wanted to be done sooner, but I needed to fix things. I needed to work on the pictures a bit more so I’m happier with them. I need to add background elements to some.

I need time to do it–time not burdened with an upcoming release.

I’m sorry. They’ll be coming sometime during the week following my birthday.

It is now 11:38 AM on Tuesday, May 10. The fact I somehow managed to log back in to complete this blog post twelve hours (exactly) amuses me. I fell asleep between sentences. I’m actually impressed I managed to move the laptop somewhere safe before I passed out.

Welcome to my life.

The first thing I want to discuss in my rambling is the image above. While most of you are aware of four of the titles, two of them are new! License to Kill continues Karma’s story, and I’m hoping I’ll be able to write it later this year. I’ve already started the creative thinking process about the book, but I’m not ready to write it yet.

The Case Files of Karma Johnson cover are short stories and novellas about Karma and Jake. Like Tales of the Winter Wolf, the Case Files will follow both characters. Unlike Tales of the Winter Wolf, there is no set order of when the stories appear, so it’s more of a ‘proper’ anthology, unlike with Tales, which is really a novel broken into many shorter episodes.

I have no idea when I’ll release the first Case Files volume. My minimum word count for any short story collection is generally 30,000 words (a little less than a third of a standard novel) but I’m hoping for more than that in each one. In any case, they’ll be fun. I’ve already written the first story. Many of the stories in the Case Files were inspired from backstory I created when writing the main series, so I really recommend you read Balancing the Scales before diving into the Case Files. That said, if you don’t mind Karma’s motivations and general behavior being ‘spoiled’ before you read Karma, then it’s not a big issue if you read the Case Files first.

Later volumes of the Case Files will have side stories that happen during the series, too. I am really writing these stories because I enjoy pursuing the little things I can’t in standard novel format.

And now it’s back to work with me–lots to do, little time to do it in. As a reminder, don’t forget to check out the facebook event for the book releases. I’m giving away a lot of really cool prizes.

And sign up for my newsletter, too. There will be two short stories in the newsletter announcing the book releases.

Karma’s New (Tentative) Release Date

Sometimes, life just happens. It happens to me, it happens to my editor, and sometimes, it happens to both of us at the same time. Karma’s tentative release date for next week is confirmed to be blown sky high into smoldering little bits of wreckage. I’m sorry.

I’d rather wait and release a better, cleaner book–and so would my editor. We’re sorry. Really.

But, in this storm cloud is a silver lining. My editor and I bumped heads together (yes, it does kinda hurt, not recommended) and talked dates, looked at where we’re at in both Karma and Shadowed Flame, and have set a new release date: May 16, 2016.

That’s right. We’re going to try to release both books on the same day. Since we’re putting in all the effort for the super duper release day party for Shadowed Flame, Karma’s going to sneak it, meekly say hello, and act like I do in most social situations–terrified of exposure to other people.

I love this book so much, and I want it to be the best it can be–and rushing it through editing isn’t the answer. We’re both going to try to make sure it releases on the 16th, but we both have a lot to do on both books.

I wish I was posting a confirmation of release next week, but the stars didn’t align, and I’m choosing to delay rather than release a crappy, error-filled book. (Oh, there will be errors. I’m sure of it. There are always errors, hiding in the pages of a book… but I want to remove as many of them as possible and tell a good story.)

If anything changes (again) I’ll let you know. As a side note, since I’ll be releasing two books on the same day, the newsletter will contain two short stories.

State of the Blain Address: April 2016 Edition

Unsurprisingly, things have been pretty busy! Originally, I was going to release Karma on the 26th, but I’m fairly confident in stating that’s not going to happen. I’ve been busy hammering out Shadowed Flame, which has a hard May 16 deadline. I hate missing deadlines, but I’d rather push it back a bit and release a better book.

Sorry.

So, while Karma is being delayed, I have a few fun announcements regarding the May 16th release party happening on facebook. (Seriously. Come say hi, even if you’re not a big facebook user. There are a lot of awesome prizes I’m giving away.

One of those prizes is a complete autographed set of Grace Draven books. An autographed copy of Tiffany Roberts’s Make Me Burn will also be available. I’m really looking forward to the party, to say the least. I really love autographed books. Books are already magical, but having a book I know was, at some point, handled directly by its author makes them even more special. Yeah, I might have a bit of a problem. That’s okay though, right? I mean, we’re talking about books here.

In other news, the immigration process moves forward at a snail’s pace. At least this time, it wasn’t us slowing things down. Lawyers took their sweet time replying to some questions we had. We’re down to filling out a few fields before they double check everything and send the next wave to the government. So, yay! Maybe the end is actually in sight. Maybe.

It does make me worry for the actual move, though.

On to the next subject: Taxes. Tax season didn’t kill me this year, people! It’s amazing! We got a refund. When husband lost his job last year, it shifted us to a lower tax bracket. In Quebec, the tax bracket differences are brutal. For the first time in forever, we didn’t pay over 50% in taxes! It’s amazing! The refund will help undo a lot of the damage from the sewage flood, which is a huge relief. It won’t clear out everything, but it’ll probably save us $150 in interest a month… which is a big deal.

Hmm. Beyond that, there isn’t a whole lot new and exciting. One of my early birthday presents to myself arrived–an autographed copy of Lois McMaster Bujold’s The Curse of Chalion! It’s a gorgeous book, and it has a home beside my first edition All the Weyrs of Pern on my shelf. (Which has a home next to my pair of Flynns and my three Tom Clancys.)

Yeah, I have a bit of a book problem. I’m okay with this.

I’ve made really good progress on my coloring book; the first set of pages was already sent to contributors, and I’ll be updating the coloring book every Friday with new pages. I’m going a bit slower than I anticipated, but this is thanks to being busy doing other things.

Part of the reason I’m so busy is a good one–for my sanity, that is. I’ve been trying to spend at least 2-3 hours a day playing games of various sorts. I want to make sure I play something for at least an hour a day. Unplugging is good. All work and no play makes me cranky.

I can’t think of anything new on the horizon, so until next time, friends!

Discounting Accomplishments

I have a confession. I have a bad habit, although I often take advantage of it. I am a master of discounting my accomplishments and achievements. I often don’t even realize I do it.

I’ve been doing this to myself all day today. I track my progress–or lack thereof–and I beat myself up when I fail to reach my goals.

I was in progress of beating myself up over how little I’ve gotten done. I wasn’t feeling good earlier in the day, so I slept for a while. I’ve been cleaning a lot, and while the accomplishment of sorting through most of my novels is sitting right next to me, I have been hammering at myself for failing to do all the work associated with preparing a home for sale and an international move and writing all the words!

I’m an idiot. Yep.

I have a habit of checking on my word counts for the day, and I was doing my totals for today, and in the midst of beating myself for not getting anything done, I realized I had already surprassed my 2,000 word minimum for the day. I also cleaned, moved books, and otherwise did things other than writing.

In short, I was so obsessed with beating myself up without having actually verified I screwed up. I just assumed I was a fuck up, so I deserved to berate myself for not doing my basic job.

Except I did. I am my own worst enemy.

So, next time you start beating yourself for not being productive, take a look at what you have done. Sometimes, the truth will surprise you.