Teachers

I've had a lot of teachers in my 17 1/2 years of school. There are only four that have made a direct and wonderful impact on my life.

The first one was my 1st & 2nd grade teacher Miss Whelan. She made school fun. I loved to come to her class and learn. She is probably the one that got me on the path to writing.

The next one was my 8th grade science teacher Mr. Collins. I had to move to Michigan for the 2nd half of 8th grade to live with my Aunt & Uncle, so I was only in his class for 6 months, but they were important 6 months. Those months were the most confusing months of my life, but I loved his class. Science was never my thing, but I never dreaded going to his class. I had fun and enjoyed my time with him. He was also very nice to me, which was something I needed since I was in a new school in a whole new state. Especially because of why I had to move. My two younger cousins both had him as a science teacher and he is still at the middle school. He continues to ask after me & my cousins & was very proud to hear I am now a published author.

The next one was my Legends & Literature teacher my senior year of high school. Mr. Ridder was such a fun teacher. He dressed up & made the class so exciting to go to each day (as if reading Tolkien, Rowling, & Lewis wasn't exciting enough). He was the teacher that made me want to be a teacher. That didn't work out, but I do still feel excited about sharing knowledge with people, which is partly why I want to write.

The last one is probably the one that the most impact on my life: Dr. Marc O'Reilly. I went into college as an Education Major and took Intro to Poli Sci my first semester. Within a month or so, I had decided I wanted to be a Poli Sci major. All because of Dr. O'Reilly. Talk to anyone that's been at that school and they'll probably mention how people make fun of him & how tough his classes are. I had him almost every semester (sometimes for multiple classes in a semester) and I loved every minute. I just regret not trying harder. I wish I could have been a better student for him. He was such a good teacher and I miss being in his classes.

I like to learn. I wasn't a fan of school, but I liked learning. Ok, I liked learning about history, politics, & English. I wish everyone could have had teachers like these four. They made class fun and interesting.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to all.

I am still busy writing. I finished another chapter for my royalty guide. There's still a lot to do, but I'm hoping in the next couple of weeks to get a big chunk done. I need to have it done by the end of January so I can do the editing in February.

How time flies. I swear it was just July a week ago.

Ignoring Responsibilities

I get distracted easily. It's what I'm good at. That and procrastinating.

I should be working on my non-fiction book, instead I've begun writing Book #3 in my trilogy. idk. just a bit here and there, nothing too great yet, but I'm having fun with it. There's a lot of anxiety and stress in the book. Characters are depressed, confused, and just generally not having fun. The books are by no means happy, but the last book takes on a new form of sad. Until the end. I hope. I don't know. To be honest, I'm still not quite sure how this trilogy will end.

Oh well.

I actually only have like a page left to write in the first chapter of my non-fiction book. I've almost covered all of the royal families. I'm so close, but now I'm in the territory of families that don't have a lot of info out there, so it's gotten difficult. Chapter 2 will suck though. How to explain disposed families? ugh, I'm not looking forward to it. Also, the Palace chapter makes me wonder why I included it. Seriously, it's so boring. I hate it.

I had hoped to have the first draft done by November. Obviously not. So now I've got to have it done by the end of December. The release date is February 22nd, so I need all of my editing and everything done by then.

It's a lot of work.

I'm still hoping to get some more money so I can afford to purchase a few photos for my book. Please take a look at my indiegogo campaign and spread the word! There's only 8 days left. Any amount you can spare will be greatly appreciated! There are perks (like if you donate $15, you'll get an ebook copy of the book, as well as other little things. $25 gets you a paperback copy & an ebook copy). So please, check it out!

Other Things

I've been meaning to post these for a while.

 The Gluten-Free Mac and Cheese I eat. We use Annie's Mac & Cheese and then add some Velveeta. My mom always makes it, though some day I'll have to do it myself.

This is my creation. I was watching Nadia G's Bitchin' Kitchen and she had some roasted tomatoes with her Filet Mignon. I've never been a tomato person, but for some reason I decided I had to try it. We picked up a thing of cherry tomatoes to use. I cut the tomatoes in half then use garlic powder, thyme powder, oregano, salt, pepper, and olive oil. The amount you use is up to you! It turned out pretty good here. The second time we did it, I added Chili Salt and I used the last of our Rosemary Oil (which of course now we can't find it anymore). It was perfect. I just love it. It's really good on chicken, beef, or even turkey!

I've changed the layout and made a new header. Not my best photoshop work, but I don't quite care. I'm just super excited for the new Hobbit movie!

Help me raise money please!

I reached 50,000 words for NaNoWriMo on the 16th. I'm not quite finished with the first draft, but I'm no longer focused on it, which is nice.

Now I am trying to work on my non-fiction book about royalty, If You're a Princess, Where's Your Crown? I've still got a lot to do, but it's coming together. I'm behind, but that's ok. I pushed the publish date to February 22nd, so I've got the time.

I did start an Indiegogo Campaign to help raise money so that I can purchase photos for my book. You can see it HERE. I can put all the information in my book, but the thing that really help this book come together and look awesome and be awesome is PHOTOS. I do not have anywhere near enough money to even purchase one photo, let alone a dozen. Any money I get will help make this book be the best it can be! So please, if you have some money to spare, help a girl out!

Back to writing.

Have I Mentioned I Write?

So today I got a stack of books from the library. They're all royalty books. Although now that I have them, I realizing I need so much more. Yikes.

I was going to go through the books and get the info I need. However, I'm supposed to be reading/editing one of Danielle's books. I was supposed to do that last weekend but somehow it was Friday and then it was Tuesday and I don't know what happened to my weekend. All I know is I'm a terrible friend.

NaNoWrimo starts tonight and I'm ready for that. But I've got this book to edit and my book to write and OH MY GOD WHEN DID OCTOBER END? I swear just yesterday I had two more weeks in October.

Basically, this is a post where I complain about my procrastination and then cry bitterly about everything I've put on my plate.

Ah, life.

Always writing

I have finished Short stories #1, 2, 3, & 8. I'm halfway through 4. Still got a few to do, but I'll get around to it next month.

Right now, my main focus is my non-fiction book, If You're a Princess, Where's Your Crown? It's about royalty. I've been worried about getting enough pictures for the book and it continues to be a problem, but I'm trying not to freak out too much right now. It won't be published until January at the earliest, so I just need to calm down.

I found out today I will not be working in November, so that really sucks. I need new brake pads for my back brakes, plus I need to be able to afford my cell phone bill & gas. At this rate, if I don't buy anything and just pay my cell phone bill, I'll be able to pay Oct & November, & then I'll be poor. So, at the very least, as long as I can keep selling things on ebay, I should make it through December before I go broke.

I need to find someway to sell books. A $10 paycheck can go a long way.

Hitting a Goal

I set a goal of writing 2,000 words for short story #1 yesterday and I made it...and then some! I ended the day with writing about 2,473 words. I still have about 3,500 to hit the word count goal for the story, but I do have a lot of story to tell, so I think I will definitely hit it!

I still have eight other stories to write, so there's still quite a bit to do. I hope to have at least 5 of the stories done by the end of October.

Here we go.

Websites suck

For some reason, the one side section of my blog about selling 50 books by January 1st, won't update. I can get in and change things, but it won't save.

I'm getting angry.

Gluten Free Pizza

I eat gluten-free (mostly). I developed an allergic reaction to Seaweed in the summer of 2010, not long after I came home from college. I got sicker later that year and we realized a lot of my symptoms can be explained by a gluten-intolerance. So I went gluten-free. I cheat more than I should, but usually if I take my medicine I do ok. I'm trying to be better about not cheating, but there are some things I just love too much. I think over time I'll get much better about it, especially as more GF options come out.

Pillsbury recently came out with pre-made Cookie Dough, Pizza Dough, and Pie Dough. We bought all three. We really like the cookie dough, but my mom wasn't happy with the pie dough. That's fine, because I don't really eat pie. Today I tried the pizza dough.

So I made these mini pizzas. I am one of those people that like to have my three meals and then snack throughout the day, especially when I'm at work. I sit at a computer all day for work and for some reason that makes me hungry.

Mini pizzas are perfect for me. It'll give me a little something to snack on in the afternoon. They're not perfect, but they are, in fact, delicious. It's just tomato sauce, mozzarella shredded cheese, a little sprinkling of garlic powder, and mini pepperoni.

I ate two this afternoon, while watching the Texas V. Oklahoma game. Yeah Longhorns! I put salt and a little bit of red pepper flakes on my pizzas. They were really good. The crust was just crispy enough, but still soft on the inside. Everything was just delicious. I'll have to put more cheese on it next time and maybe a little bit more garlic powder, but otherwise it was great.

Finding gluten-free bread products I like is hard. I'm super picky to begin with and there just aren't a lot of options for GF right now. I used to eat a lot of sandwiches, but I haven't had luck finding a white bread I like. So finding a good pizza crust is awesome. Hopefully as time goes on, there will be more and better options out there.

I'm still looking for a good GF bagel.

My Mother Said

I've been listening to Anneke van Giersbergen's new album Drive almost non-stop for the past few days. It is amazing. Her albums just keep getting better and better. Now if only The Storm would release new music. But I changed the header to lyrics from the song My Mother Said. It's not my favorite on the album, but I do love it.

I'm still writing, slowly. I'm just under 4,000 words on the first short story. There's still a lot to write, but I'm getting there.

Hopefully I'll be on a project next month and will be able to earn a decent paycheck. The Birthday Massacre and Emilie Autumn are going to be touring in November. I'd love to be able to go, but I don't think I'll be able to afford it.

The end of the year is always the hardest because I can never seem to find a job for the fall/winter. If I could find a better way to sell books, I'd be a lot better off. I do what I can. Hopefully things will get better soon.

Writing Spree

Well, I finished the first draft of The Immortals! It's sitting pretty at 68,554 words. I'm like 70% happy with it. I do look forward to working on a new draft, but I'm trying not to think about it right now.

I am doing my best to focus on the short stories for FSoA. I wrote the first draft of story #2 today. It turned out pretty well, I think. It needs a bit of meat, but overall I don't think it will need too much work. We'll see how I feel in a couple of weeks.

Tomorrow, September 24th, the 5 days of FSoA being free on Kindle begins. Since I sold 151 copies the first time, I'm really hoping to sell more than that this time. Hopefully with my presence on Goodreads & Facebook, I'll be able to get people to buy it.

We'll see.

Book Review: Project Death: Resurrection by Danielle Thamasa

Now, it's no secret that Danielle and I are best friends. That being said, I tried to be as neutral as I could when I reviewed her book. This is the review I posted on Goodreads with some elaboration.

I should begin by saying I had the added benefit of getting to help with some editing on the first few chapters. Being a friend of the author, I've been aware of the general storyline for a while.

Resurrection is a good book. It's a unique premise in several ways, especially a story about Resurrectors. You can find stories or plots about the Angel of Death, but you never hear the other side of it. Having a decent plot, particularly one that is unique, is a great stepping stone. I've found that the characters can be so-so in terms of development if they have a good plot. But if the plot and character development is lacking, than the book usually isn't good. Luckily, Resurrection had a really interesting plot that kept me reading, even when the characters bugged me.

The growth and change of the lead character Tamesis is interesting, although at some points jumpy and almost out of place, particularly towards the end of the book. She is a somewhat cliched character. A girl who has always felt out of place and has special powers, and finally she finds where she belongs. I am often the first person to roll my eyes at the special snowflake character, but I actually enjoyed, for the most part, Tamesis. She is special, but for a legit reason.

While the character of Thanos is predictable in most ways, I can honestly say I did not expect his secret at the end! I had wondered and wondered through the whole book, but that was not the conclusion I had come to. A good twist, I think.

My main problem with the book is that the character development of many of the supporting characters falls really flat. That can be attributed to two things: one, the POV is done in first person so you're only getting Tamesis' view of the world. and two, the obvious choice of the writing being a little underdone. That is often seen, however, in books with several supporting characters. The main characters are done well enough that it's a bit frustrating to see many of the other characters fall by the wayside. Just something to keep in mind for the future books.

Overall, I did enjoy the book and I'm quite looking forward to the next one! I definitely recommend this book!

Licensed again

My Substitute Teaching License came in this week, so now I just have to wait for the school to need me. Hopefully the first time I go in will be for a bunch of lovely kids, since it'll be my first day subbing. With my luck, I'll end up with a bunch of kids who can smell fear.

I am slowly raising awareness of my book. I'm more active on goodreads and when I can, I talk about my book on other sites. Next week, I will be having a free ebook week through Kindle to celebrate the 3-month anniversary of the release.

Heidelberg finally sent out their Summer Bulletin and there on page 29, under 2010 was my blurb about releasing my book! So cool to see it in print.

I've finally got past the long chapter 9 and am writing chapter 10 for the Immortals. This chapter should go fairly quickly and then the Epilogue won't be long. Once the first draft is done, I'm going to start really focusing on my short stories for FSoA. If I can get a good chunk done by late October, I'll submit a thing to the Winter Bulletin about releasing my second novel.

Any press is good press.

Meanwhile, the weather is so back and forth here that I tend to wake up with headaches. It sucks the big one. I'm so tired of the weather.

Version 21 of Within Demise

I've finally gotten around to finishing the new look for the blog. Eventually I'll do a new layout, but for now I like how things are set up.

I'm still working on The Immortals, slowly. I've been reading a lot lately. I read Divergent by Veronica Roth. It wasn't a bad book, but not exceptional. A decent story with ok characters. Some of the plot is a bit eh at times. I'm not a fan of the special snowflake syndrome, but Roth handles it decently for most of the book. Sometimes it really sticks out and makes you roll your eyes, but luckily that is few and far between. I am looking forward to reading the second book.

I started reading The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones the other day. Having seen the movie, all I can say is that the changes made were sometimes good and sometimes bad. There are parts of the book I prefer to the movie, but only barely. The writing is so sugary. Cassandra Clare makes the mistake of using food to describe skin tones. Who the hell has maple colored skin? No one, CC, no one. She also uses metaphors way too much and the ones she uses are so overdone. The main character, Clary, is an ok character. A lot of the supporting characters are cliches, and even Clary is a lot of the time. The clumsy, yet super special girl trope is far overdone. I think if CC reeled it back a bit, Clary would be a much better character, but constantly having it harped on that Clary is so special, but she's so average and clumsy just makes me roll my eyes. It's cliche and overdone. It's not a terrible book, like I was expecting, but it definitely could have used a heavy hand in editing to make it less cliche and it could have been a good book worthy of praise. Of course, none of that even touches how terrible of a person CC has turned out to be, but that's another story.

I went to Columbus earlier this week to see Kamelot, Delain, & Eklipse. The concert was amazing. I had such a good time. And I got to meet the singer for Delain after the show! This is Delain's first tour in the US, so it was really nice to be able to see them finally.

Still trying to figure out ways to get my book out there. One of my brother's friends has bought a copy and has been getting his friends to buy copies as well. I'm just waiting on the money and then we'll see how many I've sold so far. It's tough to get my name out there. I don't have a built in readership and I just can't convince people to buy it.

I'm doing what I can though. Maybe it'll turn around soon.

The World's End

Saw the World's End today. Marvelous movie. I'm a big fan of Simon Pegg & Nick Frost. This movie was great. It had some throwbacks to the previous two films (Shaun of the Dead & Hot Fuzz), but nothing that I thought was too over the top. The cast was top. I had a lot of fun watching it. Can't wait to have it on DVD!

I bought season 1 of Haven today. It was only $13.50 and I couldn't resist. Gotta love getting 50% off at Barnes & Noble.

Tomorrow I'm going to see The Mortal Instruments with a friend. I'm not expecting much. I've got 0 respect for Cassandra Clare, but I like enough of the cast that I want to see the movie. The reviews have me jumping with glee, but we'll see if it is as bad as they say.

Meanwhile, I continue with watching CSI.

Something should go here

I'm busy busy busy with The Immortals. I'm getting quite a lot done and am generally happy with how it's going. Obviously it'll need a fair bit of editing, but I think I should be done with the first draft either within the next week or sometime in early September.

I've found three people who will do reviews for me. They've got the book, so now it's just a waiting game. I know FSoA is not the best written book you'll see this year, but I think it's decent. I'm really hoping these reviews will help get my book out there and hopefully will convince even just a few people to buy it.

I'm pushing off the short stories for FSoA because I'm just drawing a blank. I have 10 stories that I want to write (to start with), but I'm just too stuck on the Immortals. So I'm going to do the short stories for NaNo this year. Then I'll edit them and hopefully have them out for ebooks in early 2014. Then I'll go back to the Immortals and finish up and begin the second book.

I'd like to have the Immortals published through a company, but if I can't get anyone to do it, I'll just self-publish later in 2014.

And of course I do still want to write my royalty book.

One thing at a time though.

Meanwhile I finished season 2 of CSI: Miami and I'm waiting on disc one of Season 1 to come to me. Until then, I'm back on my Spartacus rewatch. I did Gods of the Arena and I just started Blood and Sand.

I think I'm going to do a Spartacus header for the blog next. I just gotta decide what I want to do. I'm lying, I'm going to do a Floor Jansen/Revamp header. Just gotta figure out the lyrics for this song.

I've been selling stuff on ebay and although at first I was worried, things are coming together nicely. I need to take more pictures and list more things. I'm lazy about that. I'll get around to it this week.

I've finally knocked out my headache so tomorrow I'm going to dye my hair black. Bye bye blue/green tips and hello normalcy.

On Friday I'll be seeing The World's End and then saturday I'm going to see The Mortal Instruments with a friend. TWE has gotten loads of great reviews (which I expected) and TMI has gotten loads of bad reviews (which I expected). I'll judge for myself this weekend.

edited to add: this is apparently my 100th post.

woo

Buying my novel

I've added a new option. On the sidebar, you can purchase, through paypal, my book. You can simply order a copy at $10, plus shipping, or you can order a signed copy with no personalization (meaning just my signature) at $12 plus shipping, or you can order a signed copy with personalization (meaning I will sign it to you) at $15 plus shipping.

I'm slowly, lamely, working on the short stories to go with Farther Side of Away. My plan at this point is when it's finished, it'll be available, for free, for Kindle, Nook, etc. There won't, at the outset, be any paperback copies available. If it's popular enough, I may make it available in paperback eventually.

I'm also still writing my next book, The Immortals. I'm liking how it's shaping up so far. It needs a lot of work though.

School starts Wednesday and I'll be back to trying to be a substitute teacher. In the meantime, I write.

Heinlein

My dad loved my book and then suggested I read Heinlein's Job: A Comedy of Justice as the topics of my book and Job are similar. I've only gotten a few pages in and so far it's...weird. I should preface this by saying I've never read Heinlein before. I actually read fiction a lot less these days because of my degree. I've been wrapped up in politics and history for the last seven years that fiction has fallen by the wayside. I read the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin in the past year and that's about it for fiction (as well as Project Death: Resurrection by Danielle Thamasa). Oh and how could I forget I've read Beautiful Creatures, Beautiful Darkness, and Beautiful Chaos. I still need to read the last book.

I tend to spend most of my time online and writing, so I don't do a lot of reading. I read books 2-5 of ASoIaF at work during my breaks. When I'm not working, I don't read as much. I know it's bad, but I just don't have the drive to read. I'd rather write.

I co-run a royalty blog on tumblr called Royal Watcher and that takes up a lot of my time. I tend to focus on the posts that involve lots of picture finding and research. I plan on writing a guide to royalty book sometime, but it's a lot of work. Writing fiction is so much easier. Plus all of the sourcing reminds me of writing papers in college and I get these awful flashbacks and have panic attacks. Last thing I want is to be sued or anything for copyright infringement, etc. So it's a slow process.

So reading is pretty far down on my list. As I said, I've never read Heinlein before. I don't know if the rest of his books read like Job, but if they do, it is such an interesting way of writing. Basically, everyone should read at least one Heinlein book.

And mine. You should definitely read my book.

40,000 Words

So I reached my word count goal for Camp Nano! I am 40,000 words into my first draft of The Immortals. Now I am putting it aside and I will begin writing my short stories for Farther Side of Away. I've got 4 stories I know I want to write. I'd like to get at least 8, but I'd prefer 10. So we'll see.

I've been applying to some jobs in the area and hopefully I'll get one of them. I could use the money. There's two Kamelot concerts I want to go to in August, plus Paramore in November. And plenty of movies and albums coming out I want to buy.

My book is finally available in Nook, Ibook, Sony Reader, and other formats on Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/339792

I need to figure out new ways of marketing my book. If I sell a couple of more copies of the paperback, I'll get my first check from createspace. And boy that would be nice.

Camp Nano July

I'm halfway through my newest book, The Immortals. TI is the first book in The Lonely Mountain trilogy. It's also my most hated book of the three. I hate it and I don't want to write it anymore. But I need to finish this. I've got seven days to write like 17,000 words. Don't think I'll make it, but I can certainly get a big chunk of this book done.

Next month I plan on putting TI aside so I can begin writing my short stories for Farther Side of Away. There's still a lot of stories I want to write from that world and I plan on doing it. With any luck, I could have that out in early 2014. But we'll see.

I've got to find a job for the next few months. I need a paycheck since DRC is done for a while.

My book is finally out on Smashwords, so you can buy it for PDF, Nook, Ibook, Sony Reader, etc etc. So it's as out there as it's ever going to be.

I'm still here

So I've been off work for the last week and I'm bored as fuck.

Last weekend my bff came down and we went to King's Island and we went to a couple of cemeteries to look for good headstones for cover photos. I had a great time and it was good to see her.

Oh so I saw Pacific Rim the other day and it was sooooo good! The Jaegers were awesome and so were the Kaiju.

I just loved it.

Tomorrow will mark 1 months since I published my book! That's pretty cool that its been out for a month now. Hopefully sometime next month it'll get picked up in some bookstores and maybe that will help with selling copies.

I should find out next week if I'm on this last project. I really hope so, I could use another paycheck. Time to start looking for something for the rest of the year. Blah.

I've started writing the first book in my trilogy. It's coming along ok. It's going to need a lot of work, which is fine since I'm not planning on publishing it anytime soon.

My bff Danielle has released her first novel! http://www.amazon.com/Project-Death-Resurrection-Volume-1/dp/1483917916/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374173237&sr=8-1&keywords=Danielle+Thamasa Go check it out!

All that we can do is just survive

My dad and I went to see Rush last night at Riverbend. Our seats kind of sucked (we couldn't see Neil or the string ensemble at all), but otherwise we were pretty close. I had a great time and enjoyed the concert a lot. They played their B setlist, which was nice because it has the Pass on it (one of my favorite songs) and I saw their A setlist in Columbus last year. It worked out nicely.

The downside was that I didn't get to bed until around midnight. Oddly, I wasn't too tired during work, but I am feeling it right now. As I write this, my eyelids are trying to forcefully shut themselves.

Work continues to be decent. A crappy question, but lovely people. I saw my TL from my last project and told her I finally published my book. She was quite happy to hear it. A couple of other people at work now know about my book.

This week, until the 5th, you can get it for free on Kindle. So far, 85 copies have been downloaded, just from the US store. The Japan, Italy, and India stores have sold one copy each. That's pretty crazy to know my book is being read as far away as Japan and India! Hopefully most of these people will enjoy it and spread the word.

Meanwhile, I've started writing book one of my trilogy. I haven't gotten a lot of writing done because of work, but hopefully tomorrow I can get some done. Since it's the 4th, I don't have to work, which is nice. But I'll be back at work on Friday. With any luck, we'll finish this project tuesday or wednesday and then I'll have a week or so before my final project of the summer.

Availability

My book is available on amazon.com, amazon.uk, amazon.de, barnesandnoble.com, and hpb.com in paperback.

It's available in all (or most) of the Amazon kindle stores.

Starting July 1st through July 5th, you can get my book for free on kindle.

I've already sold two signed copies, and I've given my parents a signed copy. Not bad.

Back to Work

So I had been enjoying my break when I got a letter from work saying I'm due back on Monday for a new project. I can't complain because I'll be getting a paycheck and y'all know a paycheck is nice.

Unfortunately this will bite into Camp NaNo. I am planning on starting my trilogy for Camp NaNo and I am really excited to be able to finally write it. I've got it planned out for the most part, so hopefully I will be able to at least do some of it.

I am also hoping to start writing my royalty book soon. I've got the chapters planned out, I just need to start writing it.

So much to do, so little time.

I've sold three copies of my book! So exciting!!!

One Copy Sold

I sold my first paperback copy of my book today!! If I sell 10 copies, I will consider that a huge success! I like to think that by the end of the year, if I really get the word out, I could sell maybe 50 copies? That's my goal!

Only 49 to go!

Farther Side of Away

This is it!

My first novel, Farther Side of Away, is now available to buy! Currently, you can buy it through CreateSpace.com's estore for $12.03. It will be available on Amazon.com, Amazon.uk, and Amazon.de within 1-2 weeks. And in a month to two months, it could be seen in bookstores and libraries!

The cover photo was taken by my darling friend Danielle Thamasa! Who will soon also be a published author!

The book will be available on Kindle in a day or so. And that is international! I am really looking forward to seeing if anyone buys my book, lol.

And there it is, I am now a published author!

And to celebrate, I finally changed the header and design. The header is the cover photo from my book. A very lovely photo, I think!

They Call Me The Working (Wo)Man

I worked overtime from Wednesday through Saturday. Yeah, I went in on my day off. One of the two days off I get a week. I went into work to make some money. It actually wasn't that bad.

It just severely cut into the time I had to edit.

I finished the second round of editing on Friday so now I'm just skimming through to check a few things and then sometime soon I will publish my book!

Getting close!

Working again

I went back to work on monday. It's not so bad, but still the cute guys allude me. They're always in other rooms!

I bought a couple of new shelves from Target and put them together yesterday. So I've got some organization in my room. After this project is over, I'll set about to going through my boxes and clearing out some space.

I dyed the ends of my hair blue, although they're a bit more teal, but I like it.

I'll have to make a new header this weekend. Right now, I'm trying to edit. I'm on chapter 18 of 31 (page 175 of 322). I haven't made much of a dent in the past few days so I'd like to get through chapter 19 before bed.

We'll see.

New Design

This ended up brighter than I wanted, so it won't last long. But they're quotes from Farther Side of Away. I'm about halfway through editing. So hopefully soon I'll be able to publish.

Do Something Amazing

So I'm editing my book and I'm putting it into the template. I did the dedication, the acknowledgements and then the about the author. I hope the about section comes across as funny, but we'll see.

I think I'm going to go back through this site and edit/delete some of the entries in the off chance that people actually start reading my blog. Some of this stuff has just been embarrassing.

I'm giving myself a deadline of May 31st to have the editing done. 31 chapters to edit in just what, 11, 12 days? yikes.

But I need to finish this. I need to publish it. Because if I don't do it now, I'll just toss it away and never get to it.

New book idea

I've had this zombie book idea for a while, but it was just going to be one book called The Lonely Mountain. And then it became a trilogy.

There's so much of the story to tell that I've decided to split it into three books. For now, they're called The Immortals, The King Under the Mountain, and The Once & Future Queen.

I also have a novella idea called Barnabas the First. Although I might turn that into just a collection of short stories because I'd also like to have a story solely for another character.

The zombies don't actually come into play until the second book. I might throw them in at the end of the first book. we'll see.

I won't start really working on this until after FSOA is done. So hopefully I can start The Immortals for Camp Nano in July.

Moving On

So my third project is now done. We finished before lunch yesterday and I am so glad. This last project was a little bit awful. It wasn't one we expected to have, so it was thrown on us at the last minute. I am very glad for the paycheck though.

I got paid yesterday and will be looking forward to having that money. I am going to go to Ikea next week and see if I can find some of the shelving I want. I need stuff for the walls so I can get a lot of this stuff off the floor to make room for other stuff.

Now that work is over, I can get back to the final edit of Farther Side of Away. I need to finish it. I was hoping to have it done by now but work got in the way. I've got like 10 people who are interested, so I think I may sell a few books. Fingers crossed.

I bought a few things this week. I got the next volume of Are You Being Served, as well as the movie, Ripper Street, Season 1 of Mr. Ed (for my mom), Delain's album Interlude (love it), and Volbeat's new album Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies (love it much more than their last one).

I also bought a Gizmo bobblehead.

I couldn't resist. Gizmo is just so cute.

Today I'm going to see Star Trek Into Darkness. I can't wait!

I saw Iron Man last weekend with my friends and it was so nice to see them and the movie was great. I miss my friends.

Speaking of friends, I can't wait to go to Marion. We're going to see Iron Man 3 again (for both of us) and the new Fast & Furious. I still need to watch 5. Hopefully I can have my book done by then.

Work, work, work

I feel like I spend all of my time working, which isn't true.

Last week I started a new project, which ends probably tomorrow and then right away we start another new project. My scoring center wasn't even supposed to have these projects, but some other center got behind and since we're awesome we got them. I don't mind so much since it's a good paycheck, but I do like having some time off. Oh well.

I should be done the 16th or 17th and then I get a break until June 3rd. In the meantime, I'm going to visit my friend up above Columbus for Memorial Day weekend. My birthday is the wednesday after that, so I'll be doing stuff with my lovely bff and then I'll be doing stuff with my family.

I finally got my paycheck today (and we got out of work a couple of hours early) so I'm happy about that. The appointment for my car is on saturday, but Midas says it'll be like $300 to fix the tension on just the front two brakes. How is that so freaking expensive? There goes a big chunk of my paycheck, plus paying my phone bill and buying food and gas. And I still owe my brother almost $200 for the Rush tickets.

It is any wonder I can't afford to pay my student loans?

But, that's life. make money and watch it disappear.

New Theme

Welcome to version 18 of my blog.

Everybody Wants You (Dead) is one of my favorite songs from The Agonist's newest album Prisoners.

Also Alissa White-Gluz is my hero.

Enjoy!

Day 10

Today is day 10 of Camp NaNoWriMo.

I've gotten through the first 11 chapters. I've also cut down some of the future chapters, so now there's only 30 in total, so I only have 19 more to get through!

I go back to work on Monday and I'm trying to figure out how I can edit during my breaks. If I take my laptop, I'd have to leave the computer room every time I want to edit and that really isn't possible. (Confidentiality of the work is a huge issue, so we're not allowed to have electronics in the room near our work.)

Ideally I'd like to print out a chapter or two to take to work with me, but our printer ink is so hard to find and so expensive I don't want to waste my parents ink and I leave for work around 7am and the library isn't open at the time.

So it doesn't look like I'll be able to work on my stuff during work :( There's one reason to get an ipad or tablet or something.

Can you edit/write papers on a kindle fire or on a nook? probably not.

Not that it matters. I won't get my first paycheck until at least the 26th (then I have to mail it in to my bank so I won't have my money until like the 30th or first of may) and my first project ends on the 29th.

I can't wait to have money again. There's so much I need. I need bookshelves/some sort of shelving, frames, possibly a new dresser, a new desk. Plus concert tickets and of course I need to go visit my dear friend in Green Camp.

Alright, time to get back to editing.

Camp NaNoWriMo

April is Camp NaNoWriMo!

It's a bit different from NaNoWriMo in November, but still pretty similar.

I'm using this month to edit my book. My goal is 10,000 words since I'm only editing. If I average about 4,000 words a day I can hit my mark before the April 26th deadline for my alma mater's winter bulletin. By the time the bulletin comes out my book will have been self-published. I'd just at least liked to have finish editing it by then.

I'm going a bit slow, but yesterday I was sick and then I spent most of the day reading Beautiful Creatures, which is a really good book! I haven't sat down and read an entire book in a day in a long time.

So, now on to writing!

Instagram and twitter

I have an instagram now: http://instagram.com/signycullen and a twitter: http://twitter.com/signycullen

I don't tweet much (mostly because I tend to forget I have it) and I'm still getting used to instagram.

Ah, social media

A new episode of Spartacus is on tonight and the last episode of Neverwhere was today.

Chapter 2 is done

I may have mentioned I tend to watch Spartacus (the tv series on Starz) while writing the first few chapters. The first chapter takes place in the Roman Republic and the second chapter takes place in Jerusalem during the crucifixion of Jesus. In these chapters, I use the same type of speech that they use on Spartacus.

For example- Ilithyia: First you tie my hands and then you seize my fucking tongue?
Lucretia: I would not have it flapping about absent direction.

And this is an example from chapter 2- Eva flicked her hand dismissively and pursed her lips at Lehi. “Close mouth or find tongue absent. I seek not your approval. I know of what I do and I know of my path. I do not need,” Eva looked Lehi up and down in disapproval and smirked, “your words upon my ear. Cease speaking and return to beloved wife. There is much to do.”

Mine is a bit lacking as compared to the show, but I think I make my point in the differences of speech.

So my rewrite of chapter 2 is done and so now I can return to editing the rest of the book. I've got many chapters to go. 

Onwards

I'm rewriting chapter 2 now. It deals with the crucifixation of Jesus.

I'm pretty sure when my parents read this book, they'll be upset to some degree. The book deals heavily with the topics of letting God down (not doing Godly things with your life, if you will) and the wrath of God. I invision quite a many Christians will be unhappy with my book.

The point is actually not to make a religious statement, but rather this: do not let others decide your path in life. Make choices for yourself, not because someone told you to do it this way or that something will happen in the future, so you should lead yourself to that.

Anyways, I hope my book will make that clear.

I'd like to get it done and published by April 26th so that I could put a thing about it in my alma mater's summer bulletin. they release a bulletin twice a year and in it they update on alumni's successes (as well as marriages, deaths, and births), if you submit about it. I'd like to be able to tell my fellow alumni about my book in hopes someone will buy it!

So we'll see.

I've got a pretty crap migraine, so I haven't done much work. Plus my friends that are helping me edit are also busy with their own lives (and books) so it takes a while for me to get their opinions.

So yeah, we'll see.

Finished Rewrite

After watching all of Spartacus: War of the Damned (the episodes that have aired so far), most of Spartacus: Blood and Sands, and most of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, I finally finished rewriting the first chapter of Farther Side of Away.

It took a while because I kept getting distracted. The show influenced me to put in more swear words, lol. You know I find it weird, I have such a difficulty in writing swear words, romantic scenes, and sex scenes, but I'm cool with watching Spartacus. I just find myself, as I'm writing, rolling my eyes and going "THIS SOUNDS DUMB. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

But it's there. I've sent it to my friends who have been helping me edit and hopefully they like what I've changed. Originally, the big reveal scene for Adam & Eve was in chapter one, but one of my online friends who is helping me edit suggested leaving the reveal for a later chapter (which is actually a good idea). So I rewrote the first chapter. Hopefully it's much better now!

So yeah, that's what I've been up to. That and making dinner for the family.

Last night I made a Dutch dish called Slavink, which is minced meat wrapped in bacon. Usually it's done with half beef & half pork, but my family is not a big pork fan, so I just used beef. It turned out really good. I still need to work on getting the bacon cooked more, but it was delicious.

So I'm 3 for 4 (one night we just had soup so I don't think it counts). Tomorrow we're having a full chicken, which will be fun to make.

Edit: oh and this is my 100th post! Funny how the blog has changed over the years.

I want this

I want the dress and coat so bad. It's just gorgeous!

Man I need a good paying job.

Getting organized

So recently my parents and I switched rooms. They are now down in the basement and I'm now in the master bedroom. Sounds great, but it's a tight fit for me. I don't even have all of my things in my room, that's how little space I have. I'm mostly waiting to have money so I can buy new shelving so I can get stuff up and out of the way. I need to go through my boxes and actually get rid of the things I don't want/need. But there's always that voice in the back of my head telling me that I might need it one day! I wish that voice would get lost. I finally got my schedule for my first project for work. The bad news is that I don't go back to work until April 15th. I had been hoping to get on the 6-week project that starts on March 24th, but I guess I was too far down the list. Maybe next year. The good news is I'm working the day shift, so I'll be getting a really nice paycheck. Of course the downside to working 8 hours a day (plus the hour of driving), is that means less time to work on my writing. I've just begun the first edits of my book Farther Side of Away. I'm still working on a summary. Condensing an idea to just a few sentences has never been easy for me. I once wrote a really stellar summary for FSOA, but I didn't save it. I'm still kicking myself for that. I've also started rewriting the first couple of chapters. An online friend that is helping me edit, suggested not giving the big reveal of Adam & Eve in the first chapter. So I'm rewriting it and I'm going to leave the reveal for the second or third chapter. It depends on how much I'm able to add. I started writing a new book, The Lonely Mountain, which has zombies in it. I'm not very far into it, mostly because I've gotten caught up with the editing of FSOA. I'd like to have FSOA done by April so I can self-publish it. We'll see. This week is my mom's 58th birthday and my present to her is cooking dinner every night this week. So that's going to keep me busy (I'm cooking a full chicken on thursday). The weather is crap here, which makes me feel like crap. I find it hard to write lately. I just haven't been as inspired to write and I keep getting distracted by other things. I need an office. Somewhere I can shut the door and just write. As of now, my desk is my room, which is where my cats are. No luck at shutting the door on the world. But I make do. You've got to start somewhere.