First, I have typed through to the end of chapter 9 of Maelstrom of Fate. The page count in its current format stands at 66. The word count is 20,119.
Second, I have an announcement to make regarding the current Redshirt Contest I’m running.
There are still TWO spots available for the drawing. The spot which was awarded to Jonathon Morris in the drawing I conducted at ConNooga has been revoked. Mr. Morris is a coworker of mine and doesn’t seem to realize when to stop with the teasing (like when I am dealing with a genuine issue with the current task and not in the mood for it). The character his name was to be applied to dies too quick of a death to appease my current annoyance with Mr. Morris.
Therefore, his spot is once again available.
The final drawing will be of two names and will still be held at LibertyCon during my first Authors’ Alley appearance.
(That is such a horrible screen shot. Also, as you’ve probably noticed, one of the strings of twinkle lights has died. It is now basically an extension cord with blown bulbs.)
This is why I’m the ship’s scribe, not Viktor. Just kidding.
This has been a productive weekend, both in typing and revising on Maelstrom of Fate, and in catching up on my video readings.
The typed manuscript currently stands at 39 pages typed in the Smashwords’ submissions guidelines format, which my publisher uses. The word count is at 11,898. I am three paragraphs into chapter 6 out of 31 chapters total plus the Once Upon a Tide prologue and an epilogue.
There is still a lot of work ahead of me. I also still have the final redshirt spot to award, which will be done in the drawing at LibertyCon the last weekend of June. (In a side note: I saw on their website, when I sent in payment for my three Authors’ Alley time slots, the convention is sold out.)
I firmly believe that I will have the manuscript in a suitable form to be ready for publication by October. I only hope my publisher is able to do so at that time. I would dearly love to debut the book at Hallowcon in East Ridge, TN.
I also started writing episode 16 of The Adventures of Pigg & Woolfe, which is my current writing project during work breaks. And I’ve done a quick, preliminary sketch of the cover art for Maelstrom of Fate. One element will be a new challenge for me. I have never attempted to paint an explosion, and haven’t done a line-art (comic book style) drawing of one in decades.
Word count is currently at 2025. Once Upon a Tide is complete, and I’m three paragraphs into chapter 1. Almost completely rewrote that third paragraph; too many passive verbs in the rough draft.
Fixing to type a little more soon. I’m only getting 30-60 minutes a day to work on this, so I think that’s not bad for two days into the project.
I’ve been pulling 11 hour days on both shifts with at least half a day Fridays on day shift weeks. (My normal work week is on a 4/10s basis, Monday through Thursday.) My employer has ramped up production demands and just started requiring a full 10 hour shift on Fridays on BOTH day and night shift.
The upshot for me will be more writing time, since I do most of my writing during work breaks, but far less computer time. I will have to make the most of my screen time, so social media will probably end up being limited to mostly promotional posts.
Why, you ask? I finally started typing up and revising Maelstrom of Fate this morning. So far, I’ve gotten most of the Once Upon a Tide vignette typed; not a bad start.
I’ve also sent the balance of typed up episodes of The Adventures of Pigg & Woolfe to my main beta readers. I really want to get on it with prepping and shopping around the Steampunk serial.
I promise I’ll have the next installment of my video series, Readings from the Log of the Pirate Ship Incubus posted by next Sunday night. The head cold is almost completely out of my system now.
I fully expect to hit burnout by this time next month. Heh.
This is Smashwords‘ Ninth Annual Read an eBook Week. All of my books are available for half price until March 11. Just follow the Smashwords purchase link on the book’s pages on this site to find the coupon codes.
Also, I finally posted the third installment in my Readings from the Log of the Pirate Ship Incubus video series: Ghost Ship. This is the third and final reading from Blood Curse.
Episode 4 will be from Demon Bayou but may be delayed, as this one was. It depends on how quickly I get over this cold or whatever it is. I recorded this one at the start of this, before my voice went.
Here’s the video, and I’ve also added it to it’s respective page in the Readers’ Refugeand on the page for Blood Curse.
I’ll start by saying that, although I didn’t attend many panels nor serve on any, I did enjoy Con Nooga X. I spent the majority of my time in the Exhibitor Hall at my table. I’m glad to say the organizers did place tables along the outer walls this year. Last year nothing was placed along the wall on the last row, and many con goers didn’t realize there WERE tables on that row to browse and shop at. I will have to remember next year to request electricity for my table so I can power my laptop or recharge my phone (which I use for my card reader). I also plan to watch the website for when preregistration opens in order to (hopefully) get a more central table instead of one on the last row.
My book sales were poor. I only sold two copies of Blood Curse, not enough to cover the price I paid for my table. Seeing and hearing how book sales were at other author tables (we weren’t all on one row this year, but scattered about the room), I’m not sure if this was due to my prices (something I have very limited control over/ I am NOT self-published), the genre mix of my books, or my sales pitch. I’m thinking it was mostly due to the genre mix. Sometimes you just don’t get the right audience.
I did encounter several who seemed to like the idea behind the stories, but only two with the funds and the willingness to purchase copies. Several showed interest in the ebook versions, but I won’t know if the interest will result in any online sales until I get the royalty report for the first quarter from my publisher.
I also have gotten good feedback, both at the convention from a current reader who didn’t have the funds to get the next book in their journey through the series yet, and from a coworker who’s recently embarked on the same journey. This feedback came at a most needed time, since the poor sales at this convention and the previous convention dealt a blow to my confidence as an author.
If you follow an author and enjoy their work, PLEASE TELL THEM. It will help guarantee they continue to provide you with the stories you enjoy.
Back to the convention: the costume hunt this year was very successful. I think I took over 200 photos during the three days of the con. You can see them here, even if you don’t use FB.
I also took this little video of the cutest little Jedi I’ve ever seen.
I only attended a few panels, as I stated earlier. One was with Martin Klebba who played Marty in the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies. He talked about his work not only on the Pirates movies but as a stunt man, how he got into acting, and his dream of becoming a police officer if/when they ever do away with the height restriction.
I attended the Dark Princess Theatrepanel/show in which Lady Gwendolyne (Hope Holloway) explained how she, as an undead professional Black Widow, goes about selecting her next vict… er husband, and the order and speed with which to marry and dispose of him once he meets her standards (rich, landed, no close relatives to get nosy). During the show, her first prospective victim from the audience left once he realized this was NOT a burlesque show, and she would not be getting naked.
Another panel I attended was “This One Time at a Con.” This one got pretty raunchy, not visually mind you, but in the stories related. One of the panelists became known as “The Man Who Kicked Jayne” for drunkenly kicking Adam Baldwin in the nuts after getting snubbed by the actor in favor of a couple of hotties when seeking an autograph. There were also stories of sex, both with celebrities and in semi-public places; BDSM in the hallway at a con run by some rather conservative organizers; room party stories such as one of the panelists commonly known as “the Dude” encountering a naked chick with a supersoaker filled with booze at a party, leading to a drunken black out and coming to ad-libbing ala MST3Ksome crappy TV show next to Seth Green; encountering Dr. Rocksoff, a local entertainer at one time, back at Con Nooga 6, in full clown makeup but naked from the neck down just as he jumped into the pool… the outdoor pool… in FEBRUARY; and another story about the Dude when he had a bowling bag dispenser filled with White Russian. Before the panel could even get under weigh, however, we had to relocated to another room. We were too loud for the drag queen panel in the next conference room. About midway through the panel, we were invaded by clowns.
This was the first Con Nooga in a few years where I didn’t attend any of the room parties personally. It turned cold Saturday night, and I didn’t have a very warm version of my pirate garb on.
The one event I wanted to attend but missed was Friday night’s Radio Cultconcert. The event preceding it did not clear the stage on time. In fact, they ran at least 45 minutes over or more. (I know this because that’s how long I waited before I gave up and went home. Had to make sure I got enough rest before coming back out the next morning to man my table.)
These guys attended my first writing panel and asked some poignant questions.
The first day of Con Nooga went pretty well. I did four panels total. The first two were on writing itself, more the nuts and bolts of how to sit down and write a book. The third was an overview of horror, which I was on because of the Sam Skeen Saga, and the fourth was The Golden Age of Science Fiction. All four were a blast and pretty well attended. I got to see several friends and catch up with them, which is one of the best parts of a con. Here are some images from the show so far. Had to park on the roof of the garage.
The cosplayers are arriving.
The magnificent Billy Tackett. If you don’t know his art, check him out
The illustrious Dan Jolley, who is a gracious as he is…
Things are about to get REALLY busy.
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