Money, money, money, money, money!

So, I received a message from Amazon in the last week letting me know that they were sending me money. Yay! Happy dance. I didn’t realize until that moment how lazy I was with checking on my babies. I wasn’t notified of selling ebooks. (Yes, I know it’s my job to keep track of that, but I believe I mentioned lazy in the above line.) Mind you, it wasn’t a huge check- enough for the hubby & I to hit the nice fastfood place in town- but it was all mine.

So, they brought in a little money. Great! That was just for the Kindle. What about the nook and ibooks? Should I pony up the money to make them available there as well? I have family with a nook. I have several friends with ipads. I’ve found a place that will hook me up with those platforms, but at 9x what I just got paid. My tax man pointed out this writing thing of mine is a failing business. (btw: thanks for that little ray of sunshine!).

For those of you trying to make a go as either a *gasp* self-published author, or even just as self-employed, what makes it an easy decision? I LOVE writing, and this it what I want to do with my life when I grow up. However, those of you who do write know what a soul sucking industry this is. (For those who don’t know, it’s like credit. You can’t get it until you have it.) No one think I’m giving up here. I’m too stupid or stubborn to do that! lol

But how do you know when something is “right” for your business?

From the mouth of a babe.

Yesterday I was in the other room while my boys were watching Shinedown’s acoustic performance in KC. One of them comes in to me & wants me to rewind the DVD. (So cute!) I go back to where Brent, the lead singer, is talking about his drug addiction & recovery. Mom, what are drugs? So, I explained what they are & why they are bad. He then asked why we liked Shinedown if he does drugs? I replayed Brent talking about getting clean for his son. I explained that it is very hard to quit drugs. My little one remembered one of the earlier songs they’d played was Heroes. He points out that Brent must be a hero then. I agreed because of his fame he probably was for some people who wanted to get clean. In all 7 year old wisdom, he told me he thought that was pretty cool.
Now start the show again & turn it up, Mom! — Rock on, Peanut!

Suck it up!

Okay, I’ve completed the manuscript that I was informed I should have submitted to a writing contest last year. Yeah, hate to admit said person was correct- that submission didn’t make the big cuts. So, I’m getting back on the horse Monday & mailing out “Spellcast” to Harlequin. Yikes & squee all at the same time.

It’s like watching a horror movie when a writer sends off a submission. You hope it ends well, and then sit for the next 2 hours squeezing your eyes shut because you really don’t want to find that axe murderer of a thin envelope in your mailbox. And the gluttons for punishment that we are, we do it over and over again until that horror movie turns into a Disney-happy ending.

To all of you who’ve been pulling me up by my bootstraps for the last few months: Thank you & I love all you nutty little fruitcakes! XO

Kindle Lending Library

For those of you with Kindles: check me out! My books are not only available to buy on the Kindle- yeah, that was sooooo a plug, but you & all your friends can check it out in the lending library for FREE! Yes, you’re reading that correctly.

So, tell all your friends to check out either Born on a Blood Moon, or Guardians on their Kindle. I can’t promise the autographs like with an honest to goodness hard copy novel, so come up with something else & I’ll gladly sign that. LOL But no body parts, ’cause that would just be weird.

Feel free to let me know how it works. Peace out for now.

Travel safe!

I’m so excited! I’m shipping off two of each of my books to Afghanistan to the troops. One of the ladies that used to work for me, her mother is with a group sending a care package to our troops whose library is apparently falling apart at the spines. Paperback books just don’t stand up to repeated and repeated readings.

I hope they enjoy them & at least get to escape from where they really are for a little while. If only in their minds. Hopefully, someone will get to bring it home with him/her safe & in one piece. That would be the coolest compliment!

Never forget!

Everyone of my parents’ generation can recall where they were when Kennedy was murdered. I can remember in the days following 9/11/01 hearing that this will be this generation’s version in the where were you when? game.

I disagree. My grandmother was 90+ years old that day. And today my children are learning about it as they watch their mother weep during the History channel’s marathon. They weren’t even born that awful morning. Yet they are now learning of the terrible men that tried to bring this country to its knees. Proving that this is something that crossed every generation living (and now passed).

I had friends ask why I had my picture taken with a random NY fireman when I was in the city in June. I’m one of those people who think those men and women are heroes- every, single day. So, if any of you know a NY fireman, policeman, or first responder… Heck, for that matter someone from any city with that title… thank them. Same goes for our soldiers.

God bless them all, and bring out figting men and women home soon.

Never forget!!!

What to do, what to do?

So, I discovered today that a coworker does voice work, and wondered if I’d ever considered doing a book on CD with my books. Hmmm… I’d had several people ask me when the books came out if I had also released them on CD. Of course, at that point I hadn’t. Other than to mention that NO ONE would want to listen to me talk for several hours. Yeesh!

Now, I wonder how that would do. Yeah, I know a couple of people who I work with that have long commutes & listen to books on CD during the drive. But how many would purchase one like the Blood Moon books? So, here leads my conundrum. I’ll happily use and abuse those of you out there who might be reading this: How many of you listen to books on CD?

Here we go again

Last night I attended a friend’s band’s show, and ran into the girlfriend of a man the hubby works with. After the requisite “hey, what’s up?”, she asked if I had any new books. I laughed & told her about the NY news. She then asked if there was any updates on the Blood Moon series. Apparently, it’s true that we’re sent angels to nudge us in the right direction.

So, for those of you who were unaware of the romances that I’ve written, and have been waiting for more on Kiara and her merry bunch (Yes darlings, that was sarcasm!) I will be pulling out and dusting off the very thin rough draft of the third in this series. Shortly, I’ll be dusting off my Self-pub 101 notes. Stay tuned to see what kinds of terrible things I can throw at my favorite female warrior.

I’ve also added now menus that will direct you to the sites where you can purchase my novels. Yay, technology!

Hard to kick…

Okay, maybe it’s just the full moon that’s starting to fade or maybe it’s just harder to kick these things as we get older,  but I’m finding this latest rejection a bummer to get past.  I don’t even want to look at anything I’ve started, and forget about trying to find another agent/editor to send my stuff out to.

Normally, the rebound is my requisite 24 hours. Always! Maybe my muse is still curled up somewhere licking her wounds and snarling at every stinking mention of some other jerk who got published. Do you realize how many movies, books, etc. there are out there about people getting published?

For instance, we watched the remake of Arthur this weekend. Yup, the girlfriend got published of course, later you find out he bought the company to make it happen. In the real world, this would NEVER happen. Seriously?

Worse yet was listening to someone talk about Brittney Spears & the books she’s written. Are you freaking kidding me?!? If I weren’t so in love with the boots I’m wearing, I think I’d have hurled on them. In what alternate reality is it possible that someone known for the amount of drama & shorn hair she can show is a published author, when I know a crap ton of people with amazing stories to tell who can’t get the time of day from the industry insiders?

Wow, that just lurched into the realm of bitchy. Guess my muse is munching more chocolate than her blood sugar can handle. My apologies for the rant. Though my question to all of you is: how long to you chase your “dreams” before wondering WTF you’re doing?

Of course, if you’re stalking your “dream,” you really need to find a new hobby. I hear knitting is pleasant. 🙂

New endeavor(?)

So, in the throes of my pity party, I’ve thought about everything from innundating every paranormal agent in the world to working on the next installment in the Blood Moon series to quitting all together. However, I’ve had such nice feedback from friends- Jay, yours was the BEST!!!! Luv you!

The wheels were pinning fiercely as a result of the overdose on caffeine & chocolate. I got thinking about the Blood Moon characters, and how cool would it be to see them in print. Graphic novels are a pretty hot commodity now, and I got to pondering how well my peeps would translate into such a media.

I talked to a friend whose husband is an artist, but he wasn’t really comfortable working in illustrations. I totally get that- ask me to write chick lit. Yeesh! But he has a friend who might be interested, so I need to screw up the courage to contact him. Hopefully he works cheap. LOL Not kidding.

Cross your fingers all you wonderful people out there, and my minions may be seeing Kiara for reals in the future. Heehee That makes me giggle inside.