So everyday I keep saying to myself,
"Today is the day, I'll settle in and write the next piece of "Frigid"!"
And then something happens, and, well, I don't. And I get mad at myself and the next day I say,
"Today is the day,..."
Which is a bad cycle. One I didn't break yesterday...
But today, I did! So, yay for me.
I'm hoping to keep up on it. I really do want to finish it and keep moving. I've got big plans for November, and I'd really like to have "Frigid" and episode 7 titled... "Fi..." ahaha, teaser :P... finished.
Here's to hoping I don't have a lot more tomorrows like yesterdays.
This is my place to vent and extrapolate on personal matters. I may also talk about my life as an indie writer. For strictly release information, please click "here".
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Being a Salt Witch
The other day I had a dream, that I was in training to be a salt witch. Something big (and unnameable) was coming, so we had to be prepared. We ramped up "practice" (coven getting together and trying new spells/perfecting old ones) to every night to best prepare ourselves.
I discovered a girl who had salt witch potential so naturally I invited her to join me.
"How will we get there?" she asked me.
"We fly, of course!" I exclaimed, taking off into the air.
"I can't fly!" she called after me.
"You can if you want to!" I responded joyfully. Turns out she did want to, so she came sputtering up after me.
We flew through a large network of power lines. Good thing this isn't a dream, I thought, or I'd have gotten tangled in those. (True story, many of my dream flights end with me tangled in power lines. Obviously a metaphor for how trapped I feel in life?)
We flew to a run-down looking neighborhood - an apartment on, of all things, Salt Street. Our masters/teachers/coven leaders were a man and a woman, incredibly powerful. In fact, they were so powerful that they couldn't control their powers and some time in the past had gone completely insane. To save the world from destruction, some authority in the salt witchery world erased their knowledge of their power - it could only be awakened (and thus, managed) when they were training their coven.
The female leader was Arlene, from True Blood:
and the male was SO powerful that at some point in his life he disintegrated his entire body and was actually just a floating head, trailed around by a purple cloud. He looked a little like Jambi the Genie...
... except flesh-colored.
Sadly, that's about all I remember, except that I was an exceptionally good at mastering new spells and techniques.
A Salt Witch Prodigy, if you will.
I discovered a girl who had salt witch potential so naturally I invited her to join me.
"How will we get there?" she asked me.
"We fly, of course!" I exclaimed, taking off into the air.
"I can't fly!" she called after me.
"You can if you want to!" I responded joyfully. Turns out she did want to, so she came sputtering up after me.
We flew through a large network of power lines. Good thing this isn't a dream, I thought, or I'd have gotten tangled in those. (True story, many of my dream flights end with me tangled in power lines. Obviously a metaphor for how trapped I feel in life?)
We flew to a run-down looking neighborhood - an apartment on, of all things, Salt Street. Our masters/teachers/coven leaders were a man and a woman, incredibly powerful. In fact, they were so powerful that they couldn't control their powers and some time in the past had gone completely insane. To save the world from destruction, some authority in the salt witchery world erased their knowledge of their power - it could only be awakened (and thus, managed) when they were training their coven.
The female leader was Arlene, from True Blood:
and the male was SO powerful that at some point in his life he disintegrated his entire body and was actually just a floating head, trailed around by a purple cloud. He looked a little like Jambi the Genie...
... except flesh-colored.
Sadly, that's about all I remember, except that I was an exceptionally good at mastering new spells and techniques.
A Salt Witch Prodigy, if you will.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Caring About Jimmy
One of the fun things about traveling about is that you get to try local or new foods.
Have you ever heard the little song, "Jimmy cracked corn, and I don't care!" I always thought this meant yellow corn (and maybe it does) but today it occurred to me - it might mean black peppercorns.
Two things I really enjoy are turkey and black pepper. Imagine my surprise when a lunch meat called "Cracked Black Peppercorn Turkey" showed up in the fridge. I had to know... was it any good?
I was hesitant - it looked weird. Almost dirty. But the smell of the peppercorns hit me as the bag opened and I was almost instantly sold.
I care if Jimmy cracked black peppercorns all over my turkey.
Because it's about the best durn lunch meat I've ever eaten!!
Have you ever heard the little song, "Jimmy cracked corn, and I don't care!" I always thought this meant yellow corn (and maybe it does) but today it occurred to me - it might mean black peppercorns.
Two things I really enjoy are turkey and black pepper. Imagine my surprise when a lunch meat called "Cracked Black Peppercorn Turkey" showed up in the fridge. I had to know... was it any good?
I was hesitant - it looked weird. Almost dirty. But the smell of the peppercorns hit me as the bag opened and I was almost instantly sold.
I care if Jimmy cracked black peppercorns all over my turkey.
Because it's about the best durn lunch meat I've ever eaten!!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
The Universe Really Wants Me to Get Out of Ohio
Tomorrow morning I'm leaving for South Carolina. There is the potential for work, serious work, there. I need to take the chance. So I took two weeks off of my current job, and I'm trekking down there to hang out with my dad for awhile and blaze through their help wanted ads/sites/postings/offerings.
I'm taking my computer with me, and between applying, I hope to be writing. My stepmom is also very sick, so I intend to help take care of her. (Remember when we fled down there in May? She hasn't gotten better.)
If all goes well, I'll be starting a new job that brings in more dough and eases my financial burden.
If all goes to hell, I'll be returning home, broker than I've ever been.
Some Things That Make Me Believe I Should Leave As Soon As Possible:
1. Rain. Cold, cold, wet, sleety rain. Today. Cold.
2. I ate Chinese for lunch. My fortune: "The only limits to the possibilities in your life tomorrow are the buts you use today."
3. My birthday was yesterday, but I forgot to renew my car's tags. As I was driving over to my mom's for a last minute hair cut, I remembered. I realized I forgot to renew them 3 minutes before 5pm. I got to the DMV at 5.13pm. Tuesday is the only day they are open until 6.30pm! I had $47 in my pocket (thank you birthday money). Tags cost $54.50 (ugh). They don't take plastic, only cash or check (seriously??) My bank had a branch on the corner of the block, across the street. Lucky~
4. A 9~12 hour trip, depending mostly on me, I should probably change my oil beforehand (considering it was about... 6k over the recommended last change? :( ) The oil place snuck me in and I was able to pick up my car thirty seconds before closing time.
5. Dad called, out of nowhere. He said, "She might not make it through the weekend. (long pause) I can't wait to see you tomorrow."
Alright already, I get it! Bye bye Ohio!
I'm taking my computer with me, and between applying, I hope to be writing. My stepmom is also very sick, so I intend to help take care of her. (Remember when we fled down there in May? She hasn't gotten better.)
If all goes well, I'll be starting a new job that brings in more dough and eases my financial burden.
If all goes to hell, I'll be returning home, broker than I've ever been.
Some Things That Make Me Believe I Should Leave As Soon As Possible:
1. Rain. Cold, cold, wet, sleety rain. Today. Cold.
2. I ate Chinese for lunch. My fortune: "The only limits to the possibilities in your life tomorrow are the buts you use today."
3. My birthday was yesterday, but I forgot to renew my car's tags. As I was driving over to my mom's for a last minute hair cut, I remembered. I realized I forgot to renew them 3 minutes before 5pm. I got to the DMV at 5.13pm. Tuesday is the only day they are open until 6.30pm! I had $47 in my pocket (thank you birthday money). Tags cost $54.50 (ugh). They don't take plastic, only cash or check (seriously??) My bank had a branch on the corner of the block, across the street. Lucky~
4. A 9~12 hour trip, depending mostly on me, I should probably change my oil beforehand (considering it was about... 6k over the recommended last change? :( ) The oil place snuck me in and I was able to pick up my car thirty seconds before closing time.
5. Dad called, out of nowhere. He said, "She might not make it through the weekend. (long pause) I can't wait to see you tomorrow."
Alright already, I get it! Bye bye Ohio!
Monday, September 5, 2011
It's Real!
Today is my birthday!
I absolutely love, love, love, love my birthday. It is the one day that is all for me. Just mine. For me.
Today I am27 21. Yup... 21. Just old enough to drink.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it (just like a real writer) ;)
I absolutely love, love, love, love my birthday. It is the one day that is all for me. Just mine. For me.
Today I am
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it (just like a real writer) ;)
Thursday, September 1, 2011
August 2011 Sales Update
August has been a nice time for me :) I started off red-hot, with sales almost everyday until the 14th. I attribute this in part to the late release of IH #5. People picked it up early August. So, ready to be wowed? ;)
My sales for August totaled 37... 148% of July!
Since I put my first book up for sale in February, I have sold 129 units. 28.68% of those were in August. My overall sales saw a 40.21% increase... not too shabby :)
I had no release this month and that hurt me. Normally I could expect around 8 sales around an IH release date from new readers and people on top of the series. Gonna have to suck up that loss :(
August has the new record for highest number of days with sales - 14/31 = 45.16%!! 11(!!) of those were on or before August 14th... which made the other 17 days of August VERY depressing :P Though, 8/37 sales (21.62%) were made in the other 3 dales of sales. Someone picked up the whole IH series so far on one day :)
August was a huge month for me because (ba da da daaaa!) I averaged 1.19 sales/day!!! Even though I only saw 14 days with sales, I had multiple sales per day :)
Smashwords accounted for 0% of my sales :( Barnes and Noble was a whopping 40.54% of my month's sales!!! That is huge, because if I only released (for example) for Kindle, I would have roughly half the sales I received! Amazon was 54.05% of sales, with Amazon UK 5.405% (How funny is that?)
Best-selling rank so far:
#1 - Cheat, 40
#2 - Liar, 24
#3 - Coward, 19
#4 - Thief, 17
#5 - Shackled, 15
#6 - Thug, 14
Onto conversions! Remember, I want at least 50% conversion, and I think 75% is great!
So, as follows:
Cheat - Liar; 40 - 24 (60%) July saw 51.61%, so that conversion rate has risen!
Liar - Coward; 24 - 19 (79.16%) Down from 81.25%. Still happy it's above the 75% mark.
Coward - Thief; 19 - 17 (89.47%) Down from 92.31%. It's hard to be unhappy about the drop when it's literally a difference of one sale.
Thief - Thug; 17 - 14 (82.35%) Up from 50% :). I mentioned last month "Thug" was slow on the uptake, so it's really started pulling it's weight more.
While my sales from episode to episode are something to be proud of, the overall conversion (from "Cheat" to the latest, "Thug") is 35%. The satisfied goal there is 50%, but I am above 25%, which makes me very grateful :)
Final Notes:
August was a rough month for me personally, but I am pleased with my sales results. If things... MANY things... hadn't popped up, I expect I'd be showing around 50 sales for the month! As it is, things happen and I am pleased with where I've gotten so far.
Maybe one day I will really be able to make a living at this :)
My July goals were 35/40/50 (achievable/happy/excitement). I met my achievable (YAY) and got about halfway to my happy goal :)
While the winter sales season will start to pick up, I am a bit worried about my own titles. After August 14th, I literally seemed to fall right off the face of the ebook planet. People forget my name or something? ;)
I'd like to set my goals, starting at 25% of my overall sales (129) but that is actually below 35! So, I have a lot of pessimism about September's sales (especially until I get another title available) but I want to do at least as well as last month...
So my goals are:
40 (achievable)
45 (happy)
50 (excitement)
How about you all? How are you doing? :)
My sales for August totaled 37... 148% of July!
Since I put my first book up for sale in February, I have sold 129 units. 28.68% of those were in August. My overall sales saw a 40.21% increase... not too shabby :)
I had no release this month and that hurt me. Normally I could expect around 8 sales around an IH release date from new readers and people on top of the series. Gonna have to suck up that loss :(
August has the new record for highest number of days with sales - 14/31 = 45.16%!! 11(!!) of those were on or before August 14th... which made the other 17 days of August VERY depressing :P Though, 8/37 sales (21.62%) were made in the other 3 dales of sales. Someone picked up the whole IH series so far on one day :)
August was a huge month for me because (ba da da daaaa!) I averaged 1.19 sales/day!!! Even though I only saw 14 days with sales, I had multiple sales per day :)
Smashwords accounted for 0% of my sales :( Barnes and Noble was a whopping 40.54% of my month's sales!!! That is huge, because if I only released (for example) for Kindle, I would have roughly half the sales I received! Amazon was 54.05% of sales, with Amazon UK 5.405% (How funny is that?)
Best-selling rank so far:
#1 - Cheat, 40
#2 - Liar, 24
#3 - Coward, 19
#4 - Thief, 17
#5 - Shackled, 15
#6 - Thug, 14
Onto conversions! Remember, I want at least 50% conversion, and I think 75% is great!
So, as follows:
Cheat - Liar; 40 - 24 (60%) July saw 51.61%, so that conversion rate has risen!
Liar - Coward; 24 - 19 (79.16%) Down from 81.25%. Still happy it's above the 75% mark.
Coward - Thief; 19 - 17 (89.47%) Down from 92.31%. It's hard to be unhappy about the drop when it's literally a difference of one sale.
Thief - Thug; 17 - 14 (82.35%) Up from 50% :). I mentioned last month "Thug" was slow on the uptake, so it's really started pulling it's weight more.
While my sales from episode to episode are something to be proud of, the overall conversion (from "Cheat" to the latest, "Thug") is 35%. The satisfied goal there is 50%, but I am above 25%, which makes me very grateful :)
Final Notes:
August was a rough month for me personally, but I am pleased with my sales results. If things... MANY things... hadn't popped up, I expect I'd be showing around 50 sales for the month! As it is, things happen and I am pleased with where I've gotten so far.
Maybe one day I will really be able to make a living at this :)
My July goals were 35/40/50 (achievable/happy/excitement). I met my achievable (YAY) and got about halfway to my happy goal :)
While the winter sales season will start to pick up, I am a bit worried about my own titles. After August 14th, I literally seemed to fall right off the face of the ebook planet. People forget my name or something? ;)
I'd like to set my goals, starting at 25% of my overall sales (129) but that is actually below 35! So, I have a lot of pessimism about September's sales (especially until I get another title available) but I want to do at least as well as last month...
So my goals are:
40 (achievable)
45 (happy)
50 (excitement)
How about you all? How are you doing? :)
Monday, August 29, 2011
In My Heart
I don't think I need to go into some long-winded, flowery, million-times-voiced explanation of how music affects me. I think by now, it's just something people understand - music is powerful.
When I was in high school I listened to a lot of heavy metal and hard rock, also punk a little ska and (regular?) rock. No death metal - I couldn't understand what they were screaming, so what was the point? A lot of death metal sounds suspiciously the same to me. Loved me some MudVayne, Slipknot, Coal Chamber...
One thing I notice about the music I grew up with - all in all, it just seemed hopeful. It was about where you would be, where you would go, who you loved... The beats moved and it made you smile.
I listen to four radio stations. One is a college station that plays primarily rap. One is a generic "current" rock station. The third is a special mix of the 90's, 00's and now. The last is a country station.
A year ago, I never touched that last station.
Then, I started noticing how much I hate today's music. Not at first. At first it's catchy and fun. But the lyrics start to sink in. They carry a heavy message of hopelessness, depression and anger.
Katy Perry sings about her drunk whorebaggery... and how she'll do the exact same thing next week!
One song I turn off immediately when it comes on has the lyrics, "they be treatin' you like a slave, throwin' chains all up on you" and then I click it off.
GaGa's "Edge of Glory" is the same four notes with her basically just repeating the chorus.
Over.
And over.
And over.
It's boring. It's mind-numbing. And it's the same 12 songs played in an endless shuffled loop. I need stimulation. I need NEW music.
I need hope.
So recently, I started poking at that fourth radio station. Sometimes a song here or there to break up the monotony, but more and more I find I just leave it on. This is quite startling to me, as (maybe as recently as a year ago) I would rather stab my ears out than listen to country.
Even scarier - I actually know the lyrics and sing along with a few of the songs... know a few of the artist's names... want to listen to the songs when I'm NOT trapped in a car...
I've been doing a lot of "What the hell are we gonna do"ing. Not necessarily soul-searching, but equally as important. Now, more than ever, hope plays a key role in my mood from day-to-day.
There is hope on the horizon for me. It may involve an awkward and sudden move a quarter of the way across the country, but I have a lot of support from my significant other and I'm really thinking it might be the best play.
So, about the country station:
I'm finding more and more I like the music here. Don't get me wrong - I still don't like a lot of it. But I like a lot more than I did. Country singers still get it - they still sing about hope and love and feeding your dog (?). So I want to share a very appropriate song for my situation and I hope you all enjoy it.
If, like I used to be, you can't listen to country without having a brain bleed, I'll also just post the lyrics and listening will be optional.
Two lines that really stand out for me:
Get lost and get right with my soul
and
Maybe it's the feeling or maybe it's the freedom
So please enjoy Rodney Atkins', "Take a Back Road". Be warned, it's catchy :)
Sit in that six-lane backed up traffic
Horns are honking, I've about had it
I'm looking for an exit sign
Gotta get out of here, get it all off my mind
And like a memory from your grandpa's attic
A song comes slippin' through the radio static
Changing my mood
A little George Strait 1982
And it makes me wanna take a back road
Makes me wanna take the long way home
Put a little gravel in my travel
Unwind, unravel all night long
Makes me wanna grab my honey
Tear down some two-lane country
Who knows
Get lost and get right with my soul
Makes me wanna take
Makes me wanna take a back road
I've been cooked up, tied down, 'bout forgotten
What a field looks like, full of corn and cotton
If I'm gonna hit a traffic jam,
Well it better be a tractor man
So sick and tired of this interstate system
I need a curve and wide-a-twistin'
Dusty path to nowhere
With the wind blowing through my baby's hair
Yeah, makes me wanna take a back road
Makes me wanna take the long way home
Put a little gravel in my travel
Unwind, unravel all night long
Makes me wanna grab my honey
Tear down some two-lane country
Who knows
Get lost and get right with my soul
Makes me wanna take
Makes me wanna take a back road
Some ol' back road
Maybe it's the feeling or maybe it's the freedom
Maybe it's that shady spot
Where we park the truck when the things get hot
Yeah we park the truck when the things get hot
And it makes me wanna take a back road
Makes me wanna take the long way home
Put a little gravel in my travel
Unwind, unravel all night long
Makes me wanna grab my honey
Tear down some two-lane country
Who knows
Get lost and get right with my soul
Makes me wanna take
Makes me wanna take a back road.
Some old back road, get right with my soul
Now all I gotta do is take some old back road
To the shady spot where things get hot
Way down, way down, way down some old back road
When I was in high school I listened to a lot of heavy metal and hard rock, also punk a little ska and (regular?) rock. No death metal - I couldn't understand what they were screaming, so what was the point? A lot of death metal sounds suspiciously the same to me. Loved me some MudVayne, Slipknot, Coal Chamber...
One thing I notice about the music I grew up with - all in all, it just seemed hopeful. It was about where you would be, where you would go, who you loved... The beats moved and it made you smile.
I listen to four radio stations. One is a college station that plays primarily rap. One is a generic "current" rock station. The third is a special mix of the 90's, 00's and now. The last is a country station.
A year ago, I never touched that last station.
Then, I started noticing how much I hate today's music. Not at first. At first it's catchy and fun. But the lyrics start to sink in. They carry a heavy message of hopelessness, depression and anger.
Katy Perry sings about her drunk whorebaggery... and how she'll do the exact same thing next week!
One song I turn off immediately when it comes on has the lyrics, "they be treatin' you like a slave, throwin' chains all up on you" and then I click it off.
GaGa's "Edge of Glory" is the same four notes with her basically just repeating the chorus.
Over.
And over.
And over.
It's boring. It's mind-numbing. And it's the same 12 songs played in an endless shuffled loop. I need stimulation. I need NEW music.
I need hope.
So recently, I started poking at that fourth radio station. Sometimes a song here or there to break up the monotony, but more and more I find I just leave it on. This is quite startling to me, as (maybe as recently as a year ago) I would rather stab my ears out than listen to country.
Even scarier - I actually know the lyrics and sing along with a few of the songs... know a few of the artist's names... want to listen to the songs when I'm NOT trapped in a car...
I've been doing a lot of "What the hell are we gonna do"ing. Not necessarily soul-searching, but equally as important. Now, more than ever, hope plays a key role in my mood from day-to-day.
There is hope on the horizon for me. It may involve an awkward and sudden move a quarter of the way across the country, but I have a lot of support from my significant other and I'm really thinking it might be the best play.
So, about the country station:
I'm finding more and more I like the music here. Don't get me wrong - I still don't like a lot of it. But I like a lot more than I did. Country singers still get it - they still sing about hope and love and feeding your dog (?). So I want to share a very appropriate song for my situation and I hope you all enjoy it.
If, like I used to be, you can't listen to country without having a brain bleed, I'll also just post the lyrics and listening will be optional.
Two lines that really stand out for me:
Get lost and get right with my soul
and
Maybe it's the feeling or maybe it's the freedom
So please enjoy Rodney Atkins', "Take a Back Road". Be warned, it's catchy :)
Sit in that six-lane backed up traffic
Horns are honking, I've about had it
I'm looking for an exit sign
Gotta get out of here, get it all off my mind
And like a memory from your grandpa's attic
A song comes slippin' through the radio static
Changing my mood
A little George Strait 1982
And it makes me wanna take a back road
Makes me wanna take the long way home
Put a little gravel in my travel
Unwind, unravel all night long
Makes me wanna grab my honey
Tear down some two-lane country
Who knows
Get lost and get right with my soul
Makes me wanna take
Makes me wanna take a back road
I've been cooked up, tied down, 'bout forgotten
What a field looks like, full of corn and cotton
If I'm gonna hit a traffic jam,
Well it better be a tractor man
So sick and tired of this interstate system
I need a curve and wide-a-twistin'
Dusty path to nowhere
With the wind blowing through my baby's hair
Yeah, makes me wanna take a back road
Makes me wanna take the long way home
Put a little gravel in my travel
Unwind, unravel all night long
Makes me wanna grab my honey
Tear down some two-lane country
Who knows
Get lost and get right with my soul
Makes me wanna take
Makes me wanna take a back road
Some ol' back road
Maybe it's the feeling or maybe it's the freedom
Maybe it's that shady spot
Where we park the truck when the things get hot
Yeah we park the truck when the things get hot
And it makes me wanna take a back road
Makes me wanna take the long way home
Put a little gravel in my travel
Unwind, unravel all night long
Makes me wanna grab my honey
Tear down some two-lane country
Who knows
Get lost and get right with my soul
Makes me wanna take
Makes me wanna take a back road.
Some old back road, get right with my soul
Now all I gotta do is take some old back road
To the shady spot where things get hot
Way down, way down, way down some old back road
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)