Letters of the Dead: Now Available at B&N--Also, Samples!

Letters of the Dead is now available for sale at B&N.  I have started the upload process for Amazon/Kindle, and it should take around 12 hours for it to be available there.

But for the meantime, I have some samples available too, in different formats--epub, mobi, PDF, RTF, and HTML.  You will have to sideload the epub or mobi onto your device.  The PDF, though, isn't intended for reading on an ereader since I never found out how to make them work well with it.  Also, I'm not sure how to get the Open or Download Screen to pop open when clicking mobi or epub on the site, so you'll have to right click those for now.

Phew!  I tackle other site updates and Smashwords tomorrow.

Letters of the Dead Update

I started the process going on self-publishing LOTD. I've uploaded it B&N only so far, but I will work on other versions soon. It will take a day or so for the ebook to be available for sale on B&N. Next, I'll work on the Amazon/Kindle version.  After that, I'll work on a Smashwords version.

I'm just tickled that it's finally come this far.  It's finally ready.  It's finally going to be up.  This one had never left my mind, always whispering to be finished, but it gave me many problems since its origin in 2006.  Only by the grace of God have I managed to complete it today.

Anyway, I'll keep you all updated on its availability for sale and when downloadable samples are ready.


Note:  Original cover art images by digitalart (background; skull and crossbones) and Simon Howden (letter, quill, and ink pot). Cover by Jodi Ralston.

Updates and Good News

The first good news is that Letters of the Dead is finally ready for publishing.  As I try not to do business work on Sunday, I'll have to do one very-very-very last look through and fix on Monday and start publishing it to B&N.  After that, I'll start on the Kindle version.  And eventually (after I do a test run on The One Who Sees), I'll try it at Smashwords.  I'm exhausted but happy.

The second bit of good news is that my webpage is getting a new look.  It's only skeleton right now, but my main goal for rushing it into place is to have a landing spot for my ebooks (in the author's notes).  That landing spot will be the fiction page.  I still have a lot of work to do, but here it is so far http://www.chiaroscurohouse.com/index.html.

I'm pleased with my progress so far.  Especially considering I was good for nothing until Friday, and even then, not good for much, coughing my head off.  But that's a good sign.  When a cold moves into my lungs, that tells me it is almost beat.  It's the last place it stops by before my body gets over it entirely.  Today, my cough is far rarer, which is why I got most of my work done today.  I did a lot of ebook work yesterday, and more today along with webpage work.  And coming up soon, starting Wednesday I'll be on summer break at work so I can work on the site and catch up on all the things I've been neglecting this last couple months (such as emails, sorry!).

Anyway, I do intend to take a little break after I get LOTD on the two main sites.  Then I'll start on the sequel story to The One Who Sees.  Then after that I want to work on LOTD's sequel, Eyes of the Gods. I also hope to work on a Secret Project during all this.  But a break first.  Phew!

No More Goal Dates for Me

I think I need to quit making goal plans with goal dates.  Why?  Because the very next day, I start breaking it.  It reminds me of Romans 7:8-11.  That the contrariness of knowing the Law makes you know what sin is and makes it that much easier for sin to come in.

Every time I set a date, very soon I find distractions and excuses that set me behind.  Well, no more.  Instead, I'll just work on my writing every day of the week but Sunday, and it will get done when it is done.

Context is Queen

On a writing forum I visit, there is a discussion about eliminating certain words from a manuscript.  But that reminds me of a discussion about grammar tricks, such as when to use who/whom, and inevitably someone suggests its best not to use tricks but to understand objects, subjects, and such to understand when to use which word.

I think the same must be done for eliminating "overused" words.  You put the word there, and unless it was a pure error, it had a function.  Understand the function of the word to make sure the replacement word has the exact same function and weight and still fits voice.  Also pay attention to what happens if you revise the sentence into something else entirely, for you still have to understand the function the sentence was playing.  In this case, if you intend a different function for the sentence, make sure it fits in the broader picture of paragraph, scene, voice, etc.

Basically, if content is king, I say context is queen.  Make sure you pay attention to her too.

A Thought on Goodness and Writing

I was reading a discussion today on a writing forum, and it made me think.  Some people believe the only good work is one published by a traditional publisher.  So then, by this definition, what was the work before the publisher said "yes"?  Neutral?  Moderate?  Okay?  Bad?  Or was it possible it was good before and good after?

I'm not saying this to discount the worth of traditional publishers--they have their worth or they wouldn't be around--but to inspire confidence in writers that they can produce good works on their own too, no matter what they end up doing with them after they write "The End."

Update 2012

Sorry, I haven't been on the blog much--or online much in the last few months--but I do have plans for this blog yet.  While I haven't read many business books in a while, I am doing a lot research for my novels.  I'm thinking of Research Thursday posts in the future and eventually a return to the Weird Wednesday business-type posts.  Until then . . .