Snazzified!

Check out the new blog banner!

Until I actually feel the need for a full-blown website, this blog will continue to be the center of my writing universe. To that end, I thought it would be helpful to post a “release schedule”, of sorts. As you can see, I’m on target for 2 releases in 2011 so far. That’s pretty aggressive, so we’ll see about that.

I’m sure I could pay someone to make a much better banner (I just used the caveman tools I have on hand), but then my kids would need to survive on Ramen Noodles for the next few months… I think it’s best they discover that interesting journey on their own during their college years.

Do I have any end of year updates? Not much:

* The first book in the “Antaran Legacy” world is *this close* to a proof copy (imagine me holding my fingers close together, like I was about to squeeze your head from afar).

* I’m planning on working with a publicist in 2011 as I just cannot do it all on my own. I’ve called in enough favors from my talented, patient, super-awesome friends / family.

* December sales on the Kindle store kicked so much ass, I cannot even tell you. Well… um… I will be telling you in just a few days as I continue to share this journey with y’all.

* I just signed a book for Wil Wheaton, my inspiration to dive headfirst off the “self publishing cliff”. A friend of mine has the chance to corner him and hand it over. I feel like a general sending my troops into battle… I hope she survives!

Well, I think that’s all for now. Have a safe and happy new year.

2011… shouldn’t we be driving home from our parties in our rocket-cars?

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I’m finally above the beans

I hope everyone had a great holiday season. I certainly did! The kids are beyond the “where’s the next present?” phase and have moved on to “I would have preferred this or that” phase. What’s that phase? It’s that rude child reaction to a present they deem unworthy of their valuable play time. Who knows what’s going on inside their active little brains.

Anyway, the day after X-Mas is my new personal black friday. Eden sold 13 copies on the Kindle store! That beats a personal record and Eden is now above the beans when you search for it on Amazon.com:

Not that there’s anything wrong with the beans, but when we started in September, Eden was on page 7. Then, we slowly climbed the search pages @Amazon and remained right below those damn beans for a little over a month (not that I’m looking every day… ahem). I feel a small victory over surpassing these apparently best-selling beans!

I did speak with a publicist last week and I hope to talk with a few more. I cannot afford even the smallest of contracts, but hopefully there’s a freelancer out there who would be willing to take a chance on me. The search continues…

LULU Coupon! If you were still waiting on the hardcover, head over to my Lulu store and enter this code at checkout for 25% off (good thru 1/5/2011):  WINTER

If I’m in your neighborhood, I’ll gladly sign it for ya!

That’s all for now. It’s snowing here. Blarg.

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I was on my way from Tampa when…

This was the first time I’ve been in danger of missing the holidays with my family. Well, “danger” is such a relative term. I suppose travel is more iffy in the winter, especially to the northeast. A good friend missed his flight home to London and is working a jury-rigged itinerary to get to Poland for X-Mas. Bah, I’m babbling.

Tampa is nice in December. It was 70 and sunny today! I’ll be making my way south, it’s just a matter of “when.” Shit, babbling again. I need sleep…

You see, there’s a funny little fact they don’t tell you after you barely survive cancer: you never stop fighting it. What I initially thought was my yearly bout with mono has gone on for too long. I’m convinced my thyroid just needs a higher daily dose. I see that doctor in March and he will likely make my pill bigger. Until then, it’s shots of 5-hour energy drinks to pull me through the rough spots. Haven’t had too much time to write, but I’m one solid night away from a proof copy of For Duty… I’m just unsure when that night will actually happen.

Okay, maybe 2 nights…

Yeah, I’m back to my original title idea. When in doubt, always go with your gut. I may yet change my mind, but the cover is almost done (can’t wait to share). Axel has once again done some fantastic work.

Work continues on Babylon, and I think I finally hit my groove with it over the last few plane rides. I do want to get a graphic up on this blog to outline the different worlds I’m writing for, as I don’t ever want it to become confusing… for me. Maybe next week.

Eden sales have exceeded my expectations on the Kindle store and I will most certainly blog about my sales to date on Jan. 1. I think it’ll be interesting to count it all up and share with y’all. I have so many great marketing/publicity ideas, I just don’t have the time or energy to execute. Bah, writing another book is a form of marketing all on its own. I’ll just keep doing that for now.

I did stumble across this in my travels. A top-10 post apoc novel list for 2010 with Eden as #6? It looks “fishy” with all the google ads and such. There’s no info about the site itself, which makes me believe it’s just some advertising crossroad. Strange, but interesting! I certainly had no hand in it…

Well, I’m off for home! I hope everyone finds their way to their destinations (near or far) this holiday season.

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