First a big thanks for Sally Ember, L. Marie, and M.T. McGuire for hosting me on Wednesday. The one for Sally was a joint post with Nicholas Rossis too, so click on these links for a look. Those were a lot of fun and hit on a day where I was feeling like a garbage truck ran me over. Feeling better now . . . at least physically.
Mentally is another story since this was a chaotic week. Repeatedly hitting the ground running every morning, feeling sick one day, snow day after that, and just all around stress. Some personal issues are looming, which I’m not going to go into here. Yet it still plays into the fact that I end the week exhausted and depressed. So I guess I’m still teetering over a blue place that I can slip into with ease. Bad sales, crazy rankings, arguing people, negativity, uncertainty of next book release, feeling like a failure, not knowing who to trust, blah, blah, blah. It’s taking a toll on me that I’m trying hard not to let seep into my writing.
As far as the writing goes, I about 4.5 chapters done. I’ll finish that other one over the weekend if I’m lucky. Kind of left some characters falling over a waterfall and I think I repeated a joke of ‘it’s always a damn waterfall!’ Though I think I want to make it a running gag. I still feel anxious when I get into writing and it takes a bit of unbroken time to get into the flow. The action and banter parts are still natural, but I find myself second guessing the serious parts. Doubt is not an author’s friend. On the plus side, the alpha reader on ‘The Mercenary Prince’ is enjoying it. So I’m hoping to get through another 4-5 chapters this week. A lot of them are 4 sections instead of 3, so I’ll probably hit the low end of the scale.
I’m getting a new author photo tomorrow, so fingers crossed that it comes out good. I don’t smile in pictures. As a few friends have mentioned, I lack the ability to smile on command. Either I’m genuinely happy or I’m trying not to look like a serial killer, mope, or asleep. Still aiming for the black and white to counter the face. Thank you to my best friend for the nice clothes too. Connected to this, I can’t do any other advertising sign ups because I want to use the new pic. Not that anything I’ve done for the last 2 months seem to be working. I get attention, but not many sales and I’m nearly pulling my hair out at this point. Really need that next book to be released, but even that won’t do much because of it being a long series.
That brings me to my other project, which I might start writing during my son’s April Break. Only at night, but it’s a short story/novella at about 30-70 pages. A friend pointed me toward a site where I can find a cover artist, so this project could turn up on Amazon in July. Depends on the other releases. This is the fantasy adventure pulp fiction thing and the title is:
Ichabod Jones & the City of Beasts
(Apparently someone made a comic with this character name in 2011. I wrote the name down in 2006, but that’s just a coincidence that I can’t prove since I don’t date my notes. So this project might take longer or die since the name was a big piece of it. I need something equally catchy that sticks in the mind. Ichabod Jones simply popped out while I was goofing off. Maybe I just need to change the first name.)
I came up with the name years ago and I’ve had this guy repeatedly transform in roles and stories. It’s a catchy name to me, so I think he’ll work here. Just repeated adventures and the reader can go in any order. I’ll be looking over my Conan novel to see how the structure and length went. Still, we’ll see what happens. As long as the next book goes live on time, I can jump on this early. Though I might do it anyway even if I’m stuck in a holding pattern.
So the goals of the week?
- Write more of Book 10.
- Stop checking numbers every hour because I’m only hurting myself.
- New author photo and use it on any new promo sites I find.
- Hype week posts in advance. Considering doing another Twubs chat, but I’ll post about that to see if there’s interest.
- Put clocks back an hour. Curse the practice.
- Biking as usual.
- Outlining future books and reading if I find myself unable to work on the book.
- Other stuff.
Been a while, but always feel free to ask a question that will end up as a future post. Click Here!
Legends of Windemere 
I like the name Ichabod Jones & the City of Beasts. What is the site of covers? I could use one myself.
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99 Designs. Interesting concept. You pay $300 for the basic one and get people who submit a cover. Then you pick the winner who gets the money. I haven’t used it yet, so I don’t know about consistent quality.
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Thanks
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Every year I’m tempted to move to either Arizona or Hawaii. I really want to keep my hour. 🙂
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Me too. Especially with a kid that doesn’t understand the concept.
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Love the Ichabod title! So now you’ll travel backwards in time by one hour? That would confuse the daylights out of me – no pun intended.
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I think I got it wrong in the post. Probably supposed to put the clocks forward, right? I hate DST. Glad you like the title. Kind of nervous stepping into it, but I think I’m all jitters lately.
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DST sounds strange – how do you train yourself to wake up or go to sleep at different times? Jitters really suck the life out of life – I get them too sometimes, and then I can’t do anything properly – except jitter. At least the sods don’t stay forever, so they just have to be ridden out. I reckon it’s going to be a great book – I need to be kicked quite hard for my epic reading pile, because I’m keen to read yours on my kindle.
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Train? It’s just change the clocks and suffer until the body adjusts. Usually a day or two of getting used to it. Currently 8 AM here and I’m the only one awake.
I’m hoping it’s just pre-release jitters, but the usually shenanigans are going on with that. This is why I’m not locking down a release date. The downside is that I have nothing to do Hype with to build attention. Fingers crossed that everything falls into place though.
I’m the same with my reading pile. Keeps growing and I read so slow. Doing more writing than reading probably doesn’t help.
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Hi Charles! Thought I’d drop by and see how life’s treating you and was sad to see you’ve been ill. Hope everything goes well with your promotion and I’m sure the new photo will be great … we are still on real time … I think it changes over next week or week after … as usual it’ll take me by surprise. I do have the clock in my room still on DST from last year. In bocca al lupo for your new release and big hugs. Bastet
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Thanks. Fingers are crossed about the promotion. Though judging from the comment above you, my day is not going to go well. Hope everything is going well with you.
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Sorry I didn’t get right back to you Charles … in the meantime i see your new portrait in your avatar! Cool! Well I did read that comment and to tell the truth didn’t understand half of what the lady was talking about … but I’ve got my fingers crossed. Here all is pretty good … writing more poetry and esp haiku than when we met … though I wrote a lot of that back then too … learning new Japanese poetry forms and enjoying the experience. I’ve still not published … but one never knows 😉 when I do I’ll send you a copy of the book(let) …
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No problem. Things have been chaotic since August when my wife got a full-time job that involves travel. So I’m handling much more of the house stuff while trying to keep the writing ‘career’ going.
Very cool that you’re learning some new forms. Even if you don’t publish a book, you have a big blog following. Sometimes that’s even better because you have more interaction.
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True about the interaction … though you know how blogging goes … most people do “likes” but who’s complaining 🙂 I’m sorry things have gotten chaotic, but on the other hand congrats to your wife on her job … it really is easier to write if you don’t have to go off to a job …
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True. Though the 5-year-old makes sure I can’t spend a full day writing. At least when he’s home. School days definitely help until he gets home and then I have to cook dinner. I really need to take a mental health day at some point.
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Erm, so it’s a fan fiction? I’m asking because there’s already a comic with that name, by Russell Nohelty. You’re aware of that, right? It’s called “Ichabod Jones: Monster Hunter” and is about a psychopath that escapes from an asylum & becomes a monster hunter during the Apocalypse.
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Well fuck. I had no idea this thing existed. I’ve had the name on paper prior to 2011 when this comic came out, but I don’t date my notes. The stories are entirely different though. This guy isn’t a monster hunter and is in a fantasy world. Looks different too. Still I probably have to scrap the idea until I come up with another catchy name. So much for things going easy.
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Sorry dude, but it’s better you heard it from a friend, right?
Seriously though, what are the chances of Ichabod being a common name??
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It’s unique, but many people know it because of the Sleepy Hollow legend. Ichabod isn’t even the problem, but the combination is what I have to change. The guy can still be Ichabod, but with a different last name.
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I know, what are they chances…
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Probably more common than I realize since the Sleepy Hollow TV show is popular. Have to put up another poll in a few minutes too. Letting the audience choose a new author photo.
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Ooh, cool!
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Cursing DST today too. Ummmm 10 books, wowowow awesome (just in case you needed to know that!)
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Thanks. Though only 6 have been published. Getting them out is another thing entirely.
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Oh I see. Thanks for explaining. I understand about the process of getting it out there being ummm not so easy, shall we say. I have a manuscript and right now it’s in editing / figuring out self-publishing / time is flying by / DST doesn’t help!
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Book 7 is in editing and cover art stages. I actually have the entire series outlined, which takes a lot of the edge off. Just have to rewrite those as I come to them since the books tend to change as I get to the writing stage. What part of self-publishing are you trying to figure out?
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Excellent with your outlines. Well, do you recommend hardcopy AND ebook or … and if yes to hardcopy is it through CreateSpace? Thanks in advance for any tips!
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I’ve had no look with hardcopies, but it never hurts to have the option through Createspace. You can use them for giveaways and if you do a signing. I promote more eBook stuff though. As far as Createspace itself, it isn’t bad, but you get a similar pricing issue that comes with a vanity press. Maybe slightly better.
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Thank you Charles for your honest feedback here. I appreciate it!
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You’re welcome. Again, it doesn’t hurt to have it there as an option. You might have better luck than me.
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Instead of Daylight Savings Time it should be Lose An Hour of Sleep Time. Everyone says, “go to bed early.” Well, not likely when you know you won’t sleep anyway, and you can’t fool the internal clock.
Good luck with your goals, especially #2. Not only is it masochistic, but it takes precious time away from more important things like writing. A few minutes every hour adds up quickly 😉
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Doesn’t even take a few minutes, honestly. I will try to minimize it though. Two more items are on the list as of now. Need a new surname for Ichabod Jones since the combo has been taken. Then I have to choose 1 of the 3 photos I have to be the new author photo. Might do a post later with a poll and the photo.
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A poll is a great idea.
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Did one, but more suggests came in. Might have to do another tomorrow with the winner and the new ones. Ichabod Knight vs Ichabod Simms vs Ichabod Brooks.
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Glad to have you on the blog! I hope you’re feeling better.
How exciting about your Ichabod Jones & the City of Beasts!!! Let us know when you want to do a cover reveal.
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Won’t be for a while since it’ll be a summer release. Also I need a new character name.
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“Stop checking numbers every hour because I’m only hurting myself.” Boy, oh boy. I’m guilty of the opposite. I don’t check my numbers enough. My wife asked me recently, “How’s your blog doing?” I drew a blank. No clue until I checked and got back to her. I ought to stay in more! lol
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I never check my blog numbers unless someone asks. I figure I have enough of a headache with the book numbers. All I do for the blog is look at that little line thingy at the top.
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If the numbers are up, I guess they’re headed in the right direction.
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Good point. At least I have something.
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