Amazon makes it easy to buy the wrong version of your favorite book
Anyone can publish text that’s in the public domain, meaning there are plenty of bizarrely formatted versions of classic novels out there.
Amazon conflates the reviews for multiple editions of a title, making it difficult to tell what you’re actually buying.
One customer’s story of getting a bizarrely-formatted version of “Pride and Prejudice” led me to track down the copy’s origins — and publish my own edition of a classic book using Amazon’s tools.
Danielle Kurtzleben wanted a copy of “Pride and Prejudice,” so she went on Amazon and clicked on one of the first links that came up in the search results. When the book arrived in her mailbox, there was a surprise.
First of all, it was huge — the size of a children’s coloring book, not like a typical paperback novel. Things only got…
So, I saw How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World back in February. It was really good and I wanted to write about it, but I also didn’t want to stumble into any spoilers. Makes this relatively simple task even harder because we’re talking about the end of a trilogy here. It’s interesting how the franchise has been so popular, but it still seems to be on the fringe instead of front and center like the MCU, Star Wars, and *insert other Disney properties here*. That’s probably a big part of the charm too. I’m getting off topic here.
Now, I watched the first two movies leading up to the third. I didn’t have time to watch any episodes, but I have seen many in the past. All of this might have contributed to me tearing up at the end. I kind of did the same with Kung Fu Panda, but this sense of finality really stuck with me throughout the day. It was really a beautiful send off to the franchise. Every character that we’ve seen grow throughout the series got time to shine and show a little more growth . . . Well, not the twins. I was actually surprised how active the twins were this time. Not a bad thing, but an unexpected treat. Heck, I can’t really think of anything I didn’t like about this movie. Visuals were great. Villain was deliciously evil, but not to the point where I wanted the bastard to win. The character’s challenges were agonizing at times since they really played up Hiccup’s inner conflict. A lot romance for some audiences. Lots of action and new dragons for others. Seriously, I really think this one hit all of the marks you would want to hit with a movie aimed at children that needs to keep adults interested. Also, a finale.
There was something the local reviewer said that irked me too. It was a complaint that it was a cursory goodbye. Now, I can’t tell what he meant by this. At first, I thought it was that the ending was too kind and positive. That it was a mild, mellow ending, which isn’t a bad thing. You don’t have to unleash destruction on a franchise in the final installment. I know many in society don’t like the ‘happily ever after’ thing (even though this isn’t a perfect one of those), but it does happen. One could even say that seeing a positive ending to a franchise is good because it can give people hope that it’s possible in reality. That being said, he could have also been saying that the series was ended too soon. He might not have watched the TV series, but I do understand how one would like to see this series continue. It was never overpowering and would be a lot of fun whenever it showed up with a new installment. You didn’t get sick of it either. It never seemed to get dull, which is why many might think this is too early a finish. I can see that. Though, I also worry about things going on for so long that you have to do a mercy kill.
That’s what I had to say about How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. Hard to do without spoilers, but I tried. I recommend you check it out for yourselves and see what I mean.
Yes, it was exciting. But I also had some concerns. Even though my publisher had arranged everything, I hardly expected anyone to show up:
It was on a Saturday at 1 pm, when most people would either be home getting ready for lunch or at a children’s costume party (it’s the middle of the Greek Carnival).
Even the publisher’s PR guy, the one who had arranged the presentation, had told me beforehand he would not be showing up, as he had to be elsewhere (presumably at a bigger author’s event).
My author friends had warned me that Ianos hosts four such events every single weekend, so it was unlikely…
First, I look seltzer with ice. Soda in general, but I really love having a cup of flavored seltzer with ice. I don’t know why it tastes so good and I guzzle it down in a state of yummy bliss. Okay, I just had to say this since it’s what I’m drinking now. It’s Polar Strawberry Lemondae flavored. Trying not to blast through the Starfruit Lemonade flavor since I only have one box of those. Hmmm, I guess I wasn’t quite down with the topic this time.
Guess I don’t really have much to report since this week was going back to work/school after Winter Break. It was mostly getting back into the schedule, which wasn’t as easy as I thought. Not because of anything happening at school. The temperature dropped into the 20’s on Monday and that’s when my itching came back. Yeah, I’ve definitely got an ‘allergy’ that’s connected to temperature. I thought it was stress, but I think it was mostly my body temp going up. This meant I was taking Benadryl at night and just conking out without much of a fight. Not the best type of sleep. I also did the ‘genius’ manuever of taking half a dose of Benadryl in the morning when I woke up itchy. Trying to stay awake for the first half of the day was a struggle and I felt rather embarrassed. Hopefully that’s done since I took a 24-hour antihistamine today and I’ve been fine. Think I finally found a solution and I only really need it when it’s in the mid-30’s and lower.
You can tell this is going to be a rather lame and odd post. The truth is that I didn’t get to do any writing beyond two blog posts. Part of it was the allergy and another part was that I was just tired. I also got hooked on this:
At the writing of this post, I’ve only finished through episode 6 because I binged the first 4 last Sunday afternoon. Then, I would only watch episodes when I was comfortable and had no distractions. It’s got more drama and angst than I expected, but the action, comedy, and characters are great. The story is pretty good too. Makes me want to hunt down the graphic novel. I have realized that it isn’t the easiest series to explain because it involves time travel, superheroes, vigilantism, sibling rivalry, speaking to the dead, talking chimpanzees, donuts, and the end of the world. I’d give it a few episodes to see if you really like it. There were a few that felt rather slow, but I enjoyed getting to know the characters enough to ignore that. Not sure why, but Klaus became my favorite. I think I just needed to laugh and he had some pretty funny scenes in the beginning. Then, an event happened and he became amazingly, realisticly human.
Now, this weekend is going to be a little laidback and then busy. I’m going to finish chapter 5 of War of Nytefall: Eradication today (edit: already seeing issues here), but probably won’t be able to tackle chapter 6 until next weekend. The reason is because I’m taking my son to an autism friendly showing of ‘Aladdin’ on Broadway. It’ll be his first Broadway show and my second because I’m not big into theater. ‘Aladdin’ appeals to me because it’s a story that I like and grew up with. My son liked the movie and is excited. That’s the big event for the weekend and maybe the month.
It’s another 6.5 weeks before I get another break, so I’ll probably be preparing more blog posts for April and May. Still hoping to release War of Nytefall: Rivalry in April, but I’m juggling a lot. I really need to write those blurbs and I’m aiming to have those ready for a public showing next Sunday. The cover art is coming along and the editing is done to the best of my ability. Had one person look it over and added all their edits, so fingers are crossed here. Life has just been so busy and I know many have told me to not even try to release a book, but I need that last piece of normalcy. To do this is a sign that I can continue writing even if it’s at a slower pace. I took extra time editing this book to make sure I’m not letting the stress cause trouble. Book 4 might be a little tougher since I’m writing that when I’m still a little off, but it’s helping me recover. The slower pace is a benefit here because I only write when I feel mentally ready. Some day, I’ll master all the balancing, but I’m getting there. I’ve already decided that the summer is going to be primarily preparing blog posts and tinkering with another Ichabod Brooks collection, which might take more than a year to put together.
For a week where I didn’t do much, I sure had a lot to say. What are the goals?
Drink more yummy seltzer.
ALADDIN!
Work hard and sleep harder.
Finish chapter 5 of War of Nytefall: Eradication.
Do at least 6 April blog posts.
Write more next weekend.
Finish watching ‘Umbrella Academy’.
Biking.
Finally:
Still looking for War of Nytefall: Rivalry blog tour volunteers. Also, feel free to suggest blog post topics if there’s something you want me to write about. It might take a while, but I always apprecitate requests from the audience when it comes to my blog.
Hints and clues
Scattered about the pages
To create a network
That spans the void
Connecting heroes
Who may never cross paths
Weaving a tapestry
Of the finest mental silk
The author can muster
*
Must one read all?
To fully grasp each tale
Or can they stand alone
Joined by whimsy
And a shared world
That grows with every volume
Blossoming into a web
That can snare the mind
Of all who entire
Don Massenzio This edition of my author interview series features Anna Chiapetta. It’s always interesting to see what questions each author selects for their interview. It definitely gives us insight into what makes them tick. Now, without further delay, please … Continue reading →
From your comments, it’s obvious that you most of you hate Gutenberg. Some, however, were on the fence. And a few have actually used it and seemed to enjoy it.
There are some advantages to Gutenberg. We will have more control over the layout in native WordPress. We currently have a lot of control with builder themes and plugins, but with Gutenberg, we have a high level of control without needing a third-party product. We will need fewer plugins. Some of the features that we normally use plugins for are built into Gutenberg.
Whatever your feelings about it, we seem to be stuck with it. So, I thought I’d give you a quick description of how it works, with the help of Aspen Grove Studios. Just bookmark this post and come back to it if you wish to give Gutenberg a spin (or WordPress forces it upon us).
As usual, here is your warning that this story has cursing, sex (not graphic), innuendo, and violence. It’s my Rated-R action adventure called Derailing Bedlam. This is the fourth outing (third official) for Cassidy and Lloyd, so feel free to click on one of the two covers to see how it started. Each one is 99 cents!
In Crossing Bedlamand Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower, I had the heroes go on traveling adventures. This meant deciding on locations, events for those locations, and how long they stayed in each place. There’s a lot of organization here that I never really talked about in previous posts. So, I thought I would give a step-by-step for planning out a journey. This is going to get a little odd at times because I’m going to try for the steps involved in an Earth story and a Windemere story at the same time. This way you get to see the overlap:
Decide on the overall story and why the journey is happening. This doesn’t mean that you know the end, but you know the reason for traveling.
Get a rough idea of how many stops you want for the overall story. You can always add and subtract later. Personally, I try to aim high and whittle things down as I move along.
Fantasy: This is when you start plotting your path by listing either the real names or placeholder names of each stop. You can add marks here for traveling sections as well, but this is optional. There’s no need to write descriptions just yet.
Earth: Same as #3, but you need to look at a map here. For Bedlam, I chose the beginning and ending States (For example, New York and California for the first book.) then did a Google driving route. I would list the other States that appeared along there as well as any that are close enough to make detours.
Here is where you can start writing descriptions of the stops and see if anything comes to mind for a location-based adventure. Maybe there’s a brief delay that will take a chapter or two to settle. It helps to treat these like short stories in order to flush out the details.
Fantasy: Choose how long the characters will be at the stop. Much of what you do here will be decided upon either with the outlining stage or just writing. With fantasy, you can leave a lot more up to your whims than Earth. So, this is probably where I’m going to end the Windemere side.
Earth: Choose your cities and towns that you want to use. Many people stick to the capitals and larger urban centers. I prefer to have some of those and throw in some smaller towns for fun. You never know what you will come across when you see a curious name on a map and look more into it. Most of the stops in Crossing Bedlam and Chasing Bedlam came from this wandering eye curiosity.
Research the stops in an Earth-based story. It doesn’t have to be extensive, but get an idea of the culture and history of each location. This can tell you what your heroes might run into. Agriculture, major corporations, and landmarks can come in handy as well. The deeper you go, the more real the location will be. It also means you can avoid locals complaining about your bad depiction.
Design a challenge at each location that connects to your research. Unlike fantasy, you really should stick to what’s already there. Don’t add a mountain to a place that doesn’t have one just because you want a climbing adventure. There are plenty of things to use and you really should look for more unique facts to cling to. For example, I used Thomasville, Georgia in Chasing Bedlam because it had a connection to roses and I wanted to have a beautiful city among the destruction. The localized adventure was about slave traders, but this gave me an interesting setting.
If it helps, print out a map and mark it up as you move along. This way, you maintain an idea of distance and progress. For fantasy, you can even make your own map to achieve this step.
