Couple of random things…

First, I wanted to mention getting a good review on Rebbie Reviews for The Life and Death of a Sex Doll, and I wanted to thank the reviewer for giving my book a chance. They also bought a copy of Saving Gabriel, so I’ve got my fingers crossed that it works for them too.

I probably shouldn’t, but I want to point out that despite having nothing but glowing reviews, The Life and Death of a Sex Doll still doesn’t move many units. It’s ironic in that I used the term sex doll in the story to convey a certain prejudice again artificial companions, and that people in meat space seem to be opposed to reading this because they see Sex in the title and think “porn.” *Shrug* eh, people are still hung up on sex, I guess.

Moving on, the second thing I want to mention is, Friday, I got a message from a friend on Facebook that my former roommate is now accusing me of stalking someone, and of using their image on one of my book covers. Both of these claims are false. The person he’s talking about, I haven’t looked for or lurked around. I was told to leave them alone roughly ten years ago, and shock of shocks, I did. I do still think of them and miss them sometimes, but I also regret being a bad influence on them, and I don’t long for a reunion. They have their own life to live without my crazy ass making problems for them, and I hope that they’ve since grown up happy and healthy.

I do not have any photos of this person, and all my book covers were made using stock images from Shutterstock, where I have an annual membership to buy five images before I need to pay for a renewal. I would not ever use someone’s image without their permission, and I would NEVER use this person’s image because I respect their privacy.

Around the same time that this stalker thing flared up, I also got a HUGE spike in visitors to my confessions posts. To put this in perspective, I usually get around 39-45 visitors a day here on the main blog, and 5-10 visitors on the mirror. I’m not big on the internet, as you can see. That one day surge went up to 375 on the main blog, and 75 on the mirror.

At first I thought I knew where these were coming from, but the blog I expected to be referring traffic had sent over only two visitors, and the rest, I cannot account for. There’s nothing in my search engine results to explain this spike, and nothing in referring URLs. So it’s kinda freaking me out wondering who all these people are who’ve suddenly taken an interest in viewing the worst details of my old life.

I’m not about to take those posts down, because I feel it’s important to be honest about my past, even if it risks alienating potential readers. I do not feel it’s better to pretend that I’m a good person and hide my past when it’s entirely possible that my past could one day bite me in the ass. Should there come a day when the cops change their minds about prosecuting me, or someone I knew does, I want to at least be able to say, “I never hid this, and I never stopped feeling regret for my past.” It won’t mean much to anyone else, but it’s another part of what keeps me honest and on the path of recovery. It’s my belief that the day I say “I’m a good person” will be the day I start making excuses for my actions, and that will lead to a backslide into old habits. So, best not to go there.

Lastly, I wanted to update numbers for April. As you know, I’m not doing any promotions for my stuff for April and May, so I fully expected April’s numbers to be close to nil. Actually, I sold 18 books, with 17 on Amazon, and 1 on Kobo. Amazon was surprising because I sold multiple copies of my floppiest books, and people didn’t ask for refunds on them. Kobo still isn’t doing so hot, and I won’t get any royalties from them until I hit $100. But I suppose I’ll worry about promoting Kobo more in June. For now, I’d still prefer to stay off the “buy my book” shtick.

And that’s it for now. As always, thank you for your continued support, and for putting up with my crazy ass.