Tuesday, May 31, 2011

gratitude and movies

I have been freaking out a little since the whole free ebook on Amazon thing. I am extremely grateful to whatever person or algorithm caused my free everywhere else ebook to magically become free on Amazon.

What the Dead Fear has been downloaded over 10,300+ times in the last few days from Amazon. My mind is officially blown. If someone told me last week that I would be on any sort of bestseller list (freebie or not), I probably would have laughed and then told them to quit making fun of me.

I could never have generated that level of attention to my writing on my own, at least not that scary fast. I hope I deserved it in some kind of way. I wish I knew where to send the thank you card.

So, biggest thank you ever to Amazon and to anyone who downloaded it and is reading this right now.

I missed my usual Monday movie post yesterday, so I’m just going to do a couple quick bits on what we watched over the holiday weekend.

First up – The Mechanic, starring Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland and Tony Goldwyn who, interestingly enough, played the bad guy from the Patrick Swayze/Demi Moore Ghost movie.

Jason Statham is Arthur Bishop, a hit man who receives an assignment to kill his mentor, Harry (Sutherland). Then his mentor’s son comes around and requests that Arthur train him in the ways of the hit man. Arthur goes after the people that wanted Harry dead and Harry’s son goes with him.

The movie is short, fast-paced, and well-acted. B

Next – The Rite

Anthony Hopkins is damn brilliant. Truly. Not that anyone needs me to say that. In The Rite, he is Father Lucas Trevant, who is a priest that is skilled at exorcising demons. The main character is Michael Kovak as played by some guy name Colin O’Donoghue. He looks like that guy from CSI New York and the resemblance kind of bugged me. Here is a side-by-side. Guy on the left is from the movie. Guy on the right is from CSI NY.




Michael travels to Italy to attend an exorcism class and studies under Trevant.

The third most important character was a journalist there to observe the exorcism class for an article she was writing. Her name was Angeline and the actress was Alice Braga. She befriends Michael and they discuss the demon business.

I said I was keeping this short, didn’t I? Basically, a bunch of weird stuff starts happening. The demons pick on them and try to get Michael Kovak to turn to the dark side. The plot was slow at first. They could have cut about 20 minutes out of the first hour and the movie wouldn’t have suffered. Overall, it was good. The Rite gets a B+.
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Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Um, wtf?

Can a person laugh, cry and throw up all at the same time? I'm thinking it would be a messy affair, but that's what I am truly about to do. Somehow, some way, Amazon put What the Dead Fear up as a free download. I would have done that originally (it was 99 cents there) but they don't offer that option for the Kindle Direct Publishing, a fact that I have lemented on more than one occasion.


I don't really log on to check my sales very often because I figured out early on that doing so causes me unnecessary stress. I just keep doing what I do with the writing and the marketing. I logged on today, and my numbers were looking pretty good and I got to a line for What the Dead Fear that read 2434 copies were sold at $0. Uh, what?


So I pulled up the product page and saw this little Christmas at the end of May miracle.









Not only that, I'm on the effing best seller list. When I checked, it was number 20 in the Kindle store.

I have a Bestseller rank.

I.


have.


a.


bestseller.


rank.


It's just for the freebie, but you know what? I don't fricking care. This is so freakishly amazing for me this happened.


So how did it happen? Honestly, I have no idea. What the Dead Fear is available pretty much everywhere but Amazon (ebook stores) for free. I wrote it with the intention it would be free.


Amazon has a "Report a lower Price" link, so maybe that was somehow involved. I checked Smashwords and those download numbers didn't shoot up, but sometimes it takes a while for them to update their numbers.


I turned on the laptop to work on some editing, but I might have a difficult time focusing now.


Does this mean I can add Bestselling Author to the resume? I'm thinking, yes.
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Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Thursday, May 26, 2011

upgrading the virtual office

I'm embarking on a technology upgrade adventure. I'm spending this lovely, hopefully storm-free evening upgrading my operating system and installing some brand-spanking new and uber fancy drawing software. Wish me luck! I may need it. Step 1 is backing up all of my 5 billion files. This will probably take me a few minutes, so there won't be any real blog post today.

Until I return, please enjoy this tranquil field.






Tomorrow there will likely be an indie review, unless the software upgrade doesn't go as planned.

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Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Planning

I love to plan things…a lot. Sometimes I enjoy planning more than the actual doing.
There are many books on plotting out novels and stories, plot architecture, worksheets. I’ve read a couple. Authors seem pretty willing to share their techniques too – post-its, index cards with scenes.

But how thoroughly can a person really plan a novel?

I used some scene cards and character worksheets to plot out the remix project (current work in progress). They have been really helpful but the plan isn’t everything.

I don’t always know what I need until I’m already into the story. I realize that more as I work through it. I temporarily stray off in one direction and the story is richer for it. I guess the bottom line is, a book can be planned but only to a certain extent, at least in my experience.

There is value in both planning and spontaneity. Balance is the key.

_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

fatigue and a scribble bird.

I am so very tired. The girl had a middle school function this evening – a dance recital. I’m settling in late because of that. She did a great job. She was in a couple of group dances and then had a solo one. She didn’t tell us that she had a solo beforehand because she wanted to surprise us.

I was extra proud because while all the other girls danced to electronica dance-y pop, my daughter danced to a Three Days Grace song, ie rock. That’s my baby.

I don’t have the brain power to write up a real post today. However, I do have an illustration. I got a graphics tablet (Wacom Bamboo) a couple of weeks ago. I love it. Drawing with it is a lot more natural than mouse clicking.

This was one of the first drawings I did with the tablet, just sort of playing around with it. This is a scribble bird. Michelangelo it is not, but I think it’s cute anyway.





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Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Monday, May 23, 2011

movie: The Green Hornet

I know, I just blogged about the semi-crappy state of comic movies and now I’m going to write about how much I like this one. Kissmyasssowhat.

The Green Hornet is awesome! Seth Rogen plays Britt Reid, a spoiled rich boy whose media empire-owning father dies. He inherits everything, including the company and doesn’t really deal with responsibility very well. In fact, in the beginning, he’s kind of a bumbling moron.

Jay Chou plays Kato, a previous employee of the elder Reid. Britt initially fires him with the rest of the house staff but then calls him back because of special coffee he made. Kato is a martial arts expert and super genius.

They bond over some liquor and end up causing some trouble which somehow ends up with them wanting to fight crime. Kato does this extremely well. Britt, maybe not so much.

Cameron Diaz was in there too, playing Britt Reid’s newly hired secretary, Lenore, who puts up with a lot more nonsense than any secretary should have to.

As with most comic books, there is a super villain. In this case, it’s Christoph Waltz as Benjamin Chudnofsky. His character was just as entertaining as the others. He spends a lot of his time seizing power and fighting self-image problems.

The Green Hornet was very entertaining. It was funny and filled with a whole lot of action. My only complaint was that Britt Reid’s character was a bit too ditzy. It gets an A.
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Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Friday, May 20, 2011

remix project update

I FINALLY finished the 66 page edit that took way longer than I wanted it to. What a pain in my ass. I spent 2 1/2 weeks on that beotch.

But it's finished, and that's what matters. I have a better idea of where I am and how to get to where I want to be and that's always a good thing. The chore was definitely worthwhile.

So where are we? Hmmm...I extracted a few thousand unnecessary or wrong words, added some new hopefully necessary ones. I reeled in my wayward character and added a new one.

Oh, and there is illustration.

Remember the pencil sketch of the lizard lady? Here is the somewhat rough digital version. It will probably change before it reaches any sort of book cover, but this is what it looks like right now.

My original plan for the rest of the cover didn't work out as I'd hoped it would. I still really want to use this graphic; I just need to figure out how to go from kick ass graphic to viable book cover.

I considered just putting the graphic and the title against stark white. That would be awesome in the print edition but as an online thumbnail, it would be quite horrendous. Can we say floating head? Or I could blow up the head super huge and just lay the title over it.

Hmmmm...I'll work with it this weekend.

Word count update - 36063

I'm moseying toward the end. I'll get there sooner or later.

_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Thursday, May 19, 2011

birdies and music

My yard is becoming a bird sanctuary. First up – sparrow update.

I finally got a shot of mama bird. She’s fast like a little rocket. I got this picture of her on the neighbor’s roof. With some internet research, I identified her as a Savannah Sparrow.





The sparrows will be the last set of birds permitted to roost on the porch. They are significantly yuckier than the cardinal we had in the spruce a couple of years ago. Of course, there was only one cardinal and like five baby sparrows in a teeny tiny nest. I'm surprised they all fit in that tiny nest and haven't shoved anyone out yet.




We found a second nest in the spruce tree. These birds are mourning doves. The eggs are a pale pink.



That mama bird has been too fast for me. This is what they look like.



This next bird doesn’t actually live in my yard. I took this picture of a robin in the field behind my house.



Ok I have a totally awesome website to share. This thing makes music! Instructions are there.
http://www.inudge.net/

_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Goodbye Mad Love

I read the other day that Mad Love was canceled, which sucks because I was starting to like it. Story-wise, I think it had some trouble from the get-go.

The story started out with an over the top love at first sight romance. They were all like - I know I just saw you for the first time like five seconds ago but I'm completely in love with you. And they stayed up all night just talking and blah blah blah, please make the cutesy stop before I vomit. There wasn't even any sort of passion between them.

Honestly, the only reason I didn't change the channel was because I watch whatever the heck comes on before it and I didn't have anything else to watch.

I blame the writers. Perfection is boring and fake. It doesn't exist in real life.

Their best friends who fought all the time were more interesting and would've made better main characters. Why? Because there was conflict that would have evolved into a romantic relationship. They were witty and had this sort of playground crush dynamic going on.

The story got better with each episode. However, that doesn't really help them now that the show was canceled. I wish Mad Love had another season or two to really find its footing. Oh well...c'est la vie.

Did anyone else watch it?
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Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

comic book movies are making me sad

I think I may be losing interest in comic book movies. I never thought I would say that. Maybe the ones coming out right now just don't interest me.

I mean, Thor? I don't read many comic books, but I'm familiar with a lot of the characters due to many hours of watching cartoons. Who the eff is Thor? Did my geek cred level just take a dive? Probably.

And that Green Lantern movie? I do know who Green Lantern but that movie looks dumb, despite the presence of the beautiful Ryan Reynolds.

The more of these movies that come out, the less value I see in them. I remember the summer that Tim Burton's Batman came out. Wow, that was a huge deal. Batman was everywhere and everything. The movie was amazing - dark and creepy. The sequels? They were alright.

I know, Superman movies came before that, but I was only like a year old when the first one released. I don't remember a whole lot of that particular time period. I did grow up watching them on VHS and sometimes on TV. I thought they were awesome.

Then we had Spiderman and the X-Men, the Hulk, Ironman. I liked all of those. I even thought Catwoman (Halle Berry) was alright. I'm pretty easy to please, generally.

Now they (they as in the studio man) just crank them out willy-nilly. They don't care what it is, just slap some CGI on that bitch and ship it on out.

Great. I sound like an OLD geek.

The movies are starting to feel cheap to me. Maybe there are too many of them? Is there a lack of innovation or sincerity?

I do know that I won't see Green Lantern. I might watch Thor on DVD. The same goes for X-Men First Class as long as the reviews aren't terrible. I don't plan to shell out any money for theater tickets for them. That's for sure.

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Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Monday, May 16, 2011

movie: Jackass 3D

Ok.
So we watched Jackass 3D this weekend, which wasn't actually 3D because it was on a regular DVD on a regular television and there were no glasses involved.

What can one say about Jackass? The boys do what they do best - dumbass and sometimes disgusting stunts. There were various vehicles ramped, some snakes, a jet engine used for activities that did not include actually flying around in a jet, and a midget bar brawl among other things. There was a substantial amount of male genitalia on display - both real and plastic and also several bodily fluids.

If you appreciate Jackass for what it is, then you would probably like this movie. God help me, I do. My only complaint was that Jackass 3D reached epic proportions of disgusting. A few of the bits were downright gag-inducing. They went so very far that I question whether what they did was real. The movie was alright. C+

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Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Friday, May 13, 2011

frizzle fried day the 13th.

On Wednesday, I claimed I was taking a break. Here we are on Friday and there has been very little actual breaking. That's ok. This weekend, after I finish a few more editing pages, I will likely spend the rest of the weekend drawing. I'm looking forward to it.

I started reading By the Light of the Moon by Dean Koontz as part of my mental reset. He's a brilliant man but damn his sentences get long sometimes. I get to the end of one that looks like a paragraph and I'm like - wait, what was he talking about again?

I recently cleaned out our bookshelves and the Light of the Moon hard cover copy was just sitting there. I have no idea how long it was there or where it came from. I also found a graphic design business book that I bought and started reading last summer. My bookshelf ate it and then it vanished from my memory.

I had so many books that I didn't even know what I had. I couldn't see the forest through the dead trees.

Here's a pic of what we weeded out.




There are 44 books there.

Most of them are going to the Goodwill. I gave a couple of books to my daughter, some to my mom, and a few are going to the boss lady.

Now my shelves don't look so hoarderish. I love books but there comes a point where you have to decide what's worth keeping.

On a completely different subject, today I had this realization that if I had an ipad, I could draw on it. Actually, I knew that drawing on it was possible before. It was more like I realized how much FUN it would be to draw on an ipad. Right now, I sketch on paper, photograph or scan it in and then trace over my sketch in Fireworks.

Which is a fine system. But do you know how much more fun it would be to just draw directly on the screen? Like with a stylus?!? Holy cheez and weasels, that would be totally kick ass and less time consuming. It makes me feel sort of lame with all my mouse clicking and such.

I think I have a plan to get one. It involves cashing in some bank card points for a gift card and saving dollars for what may be an extended period of time. I wanted a Nook but the drawing on the tablet holds much appeal.

Anyway, I think I'm done rambling. Next week, I may have an illustration or two to share.

_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

brain is tired

today I have a weird doodle. This amuses me, not sure why. I think it's the eyes.







I have some editing pages to do this evening and I think I will go on break for a while, maybe through the weekend. All my sentences are all starting to look the same. Brain is tired. I may or may not blog.

_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Now we Tuesday

And now, we shall Tuesday.

If I get one more fricking weather alert on my phone, I'm going to egg the news station. I signed up for these text message alerts so that I know when there's a chance that a tornado could take out my house. Unfortunately, they take this weather alert busines really, really, psychotically over top.

A cloud appears in the sky. See the pretty cloud? Cue 8 hour long relentless barrage of alerts and warnings and lists of counties. RUN! The sky is falling!

Then, if that wasn't enough to drive me up the wall, I have the weatherbug app doing the same thing. The red light on my phone gets a workout like a mofo.

I need to unsubscribe to the texts, I know. I just haven't done it yet. That would probably be easier, faster and more effective than driving all the way downtown to egg the TV station.

Anyway, current book working schedule goes like this - day job lunch breaks - edit remix project on paper, evening – blog, then enter paper edits into the computer (probably one of my least favorite activities of all time), when I don't feel like editing - think about second edition annabeth or write a few words of annabeth second book. As always, too much to do, not enough time. Story of my life.

We have baby birds on our front porch this year. Over the winter, we accidentally broke the glass on the front porch carriage light, and before we could replace it, birdies moved in. We let them stay. I'm not really sure what kind of birds they are, probably either sparrows or finches.

Here is a pic.





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Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Monday, May 9, 2011

Another two movie day: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and The Tourist

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

This was Heath Ledger's last movie. In fact, I think he died while they were still working on it. Every time he entered a scene, I was sad that he's gone all over again. He was beautiful and brilliant and tragic and that's all I'm going to say about that.

So, the movie. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a complex story about a wager between Dr. Parnassus (Chris Plummer) and the devil.

They have a competition to see who can collect the most souls in the Imaginarium. The winner gets his sixteen year old daughter, Valentina. Parnassus travels in a side-show trailer that folds into a stage and on that stage is a mirror.

People who enter the mirror (the Imaginarium) see their dreams and are offered a choice. If they choose correctly, they receive enlightenment. If they choose incorrectly, the devil gets their soul and he collects immediately.

During the course of this competition, Heath Ledger’s character, Tony, shows up and helps them with the show while trying to deal with his own demons.

The story takes place in two types of setting. The real world is gritty and dreary. The wardrobe for the main characters is ragged gypsy, while the general public is dressed in modern attire.

The other setting is inside the surreal mirror world, where the imagination of whoever enters becomes their surroundings. One lady dreams of material things so she is surrounded by shoes and Faberge eggs. A kid sees a candy world. The visual effects are amazing.

There is actually more to the story than this. I said it was complicated, right? We have the romance between Parnassus and Valentina’s mother, the romance between Valentina and Aaron, a guy who travels with the show, etc. Trust me, we could be here all night. Way too much story. Not enough time for each component to be fully developed.

The story lags in a few places and gets confusing. I watched this with my 13 year old daughter and she kept asking me questions, some of which I couldn't answer.

The movie wasn't bad, but it was too complicated to cram into two hours of film. C+

----------------

The Tourist

We have Johnny Depp as Frank and Angelina Jolie as Elise. Elise is in love with a man name Alexander Pearce who stole money from a gangster and disappeared two years prior to the beginning of the tourist story. Both the mob and the police are after him. They follow Elise because they know he will contact her.

And he does. She receives a letter instructing her to board a specific train to Italy and to choose a man that is is his height and build and make them (as in the police and the mob) think the man is him.

She finds Frank on the train and he accompanies her to the hotel. The ruse works. The police and the mob proceed to chase Frank.

The Tourist is filmed like old movies. There aren't any slick special effects. The characters aren't super human and exceedingly agile (like many parts Jolie plays).

Visually, the movie is absolutely gorgeous. The architecture and the all-around beauty of Venice are as much a part of the story as the characters. There are more boats than cars, which was very cool.

The glamour is way over the top. Jolie is constantly dressed like she just stepped out of Mad Men, even riding in boats with high heels on. Her eye shadow was mesmerizingly perfect too.

Depp and Jolie do pretty well as a romantic couple in a timid sort of way. There isn’t really any mad passion in the movie but it worked.
Great movie A-

_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Friday, May 6, 2011

Best Selling Author: Vincent Zandri

The Business of Writing! The Art of Selling!
by Vincent Zandri

Back in 1922 a young writer who decided to move to Paris in order to pursue his muse was shocked to learn that many of the writers and artists who lived inside the famous city weren't really writers and artists at all. They were simply posseurs. Or posers.

People who sat about the cafes and pontificated upon the world of the arts, what was wrong with it, how they were going to somehow make a difference and turn everything that existed up until that moment onto its head. They would smoke and drink and drink and smoke, and talk and dress all in black and grow goatees and mustaches and they most certainly looked like writers and artists, but in the end they were a bunch of do nothing nobodies. Yet it was these same posseurs who came to hate the new eager young writer. In him they recognized something they lacked. He possessed drive. He possessed energy. He possessed ambition. And most of all, he possessed a talent that would only come to fruition from both hard work inside his writing studio and hard work selling himself as an adventurer and fearless sportsman to the general public. He was the real deal and for a long time, arguably "the most interesting man in the world." That young writer's name was Ernest Hemingway.

Just recently I attended a party hosted by a quote-"Artist"--unquote. Many artists were in attendance. Since I'm not an entirely anonymous writer and thriller author living in Albany, New York, I found myself the brunt of some backhanded jokes about my promotional "postings" for my recent bestsellers on the social networks. It was all supposed to be in good fun and I smiled and sucked it up. Ha Ha! The artists I'm referring too dress like artists. Long unwashed hair, chin beards, Salvation Army clothing. Some do yoga; some work in academia. One or two are extremely talented. A few others are talentless. They don't do gluten, and never, ever, do they utter a single non-PC word or phrase, unless of course, it's directed at someone not accepted inside their tight circle or someone they don't really like, such as a writer who not only spends his days writing but actively promoting his published work as though it were not an art necessarily, but a business.

But the truth is, writing is a business. Successfully selling your writing is an art.

My dad is going on 60 years in the commercial construction business. He is tremendously successful. He didn't get wealthy because he sat around talking about building. He didn't pretend to be a successful businessman by hanging around conferences, and country clubs, and ritzy bars buying expensive cocktails for pretty girls. He achieved success by working day and night, seven days a week. Often, he was scorned by other extended family members as being "all about his work." He was called "selfish" and "self-centered" by some of the very same people he put through school and later on, took care of financially. He wasn't so selfish then was he? I might not have followed in my dad's precise footsteps but I have learned an awful lot from him about running a business. His golden rule above all others? Work for yourself. Be your own boss, even if it means returning bottles and cans for the five cent refund for a while.

It's true, writing and the business of writing takes up a lot of time. Most of our time, that is if you are to pursue it to the best of your ability. And in my case, it can cost you dearly. I've been married twice and divorced twice. I still have difficulty maintaining a lasting relationship. I live in an apartment since I simply cannot keep up with a house. I travel often on assignment or out of pure wanderlust, because to sit in one place for too long is death for a writer. In a word, I am always working.

But the work is paying off in book sales that have quadrupled over the past year, and promise to quadruple again over the next six months. I am now lecturing to International Journalism students at the state university and in 2011 alone I will finish two new novels and write a good draft of another. I can't tell you how many articles, blogs, and digital shorts I will write but it will be a lot.

In the end, it's the work ethic that pays off. The follow-through, and finishing what you start. Just ask Ernest Hemingway. He is probably the best known of the Paris "Lost Generation." he is still a bestseller, nearly fifty years after his death. The posseurs who frequented the cafes and showed scorn for a "sell out" like Papa are long forgotten. They remain nobody. My dad, continues to run his business and works a 70 hours week at 75 years old. he is wealthy but he doesn't act like it. I also work everyday, whether I'm traveling or not. In the new era of writers having to promote themselves through social media, blogs, virtual tours, appearances, book trailers, and more, there is no end to what has to be done. Plus you have to carve out precious time to write and read. Tough to maintain a family life at the same time, yet my kids aren't complaining. They too want to be writers.

Oh, and as for those artists I mentioned before...They need to work day jobs in order to support themselves. I don't have day job. A real one, that is. I work for myself. I'm a writer.

About the Author:

Vincent Zandri is an essayist and freelance photojournalist, and the author of the recent bestsellers, The Remains, Moonlight Falls and The Innocent . His novel As Catch Can (Delacorte) was touted in two pre-publication articles by Publishers Weekly and was called “Brilliant” upon its publication by The New York Post. The Boston Herald attributed it as “The most arresting first crime novel to break into print this season.” Other novels include Godchild (Bantam/Dell) and Permanence (NPI). Translated into several languages including Japanese and the Dutch, Zandri’s novels have also been sought out by numerous major movie producers, including Heyday Productions and DreamWorks. Presently he is the author of the blogs, Dangerous Dispatches and Embedded in Africa for Russia Today TV (RT).

He also writes for other global publications, including Culture 11, Globalia and Globalspec. Zandri’s nonfiction has appeared in New York Newsday, Hudson Valley Magazine, Game and Fish Magazine and others, while his essays and short fiction have been featured in many journals including Fugue, Maryland Review and Orange Coast Magazine. He holds an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College and is a 2010 International Thriller Writer’s Awards panel judge. Zandri currently divides his time between New York and Europe. He is the drummer for the Albany-based punk band to Blisterz.


You can visit his website at www.vincentzandri.com or his blog at www.vincentzandri.blogspot.com. Connect with Vincent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/VincentZandri, on Facebook at www.facebooks.com/vincent.zandri?ref=profile and Myspace at www.myspace.com/vincentzandri.







--Thank you for visiting, Vincent! -- Lea Ryan

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Teaser Thursday!

It doesn't quite have the ring that Teaser Tuesday does, but we'll get by.

This scene is from MacDowell Sisters & AnnaBeth, which is available in print on Amazon and many ebook formats.

In this scene, AnnaBeth is exiting the MacDowell sisters house after visiting them. The previous evening she had a date with their adopted son, Justin. The book she is holding contains her family history. Also, she's a witch. I hope that's enough setup.

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Into the mass of gargantuan maples and elms and leafy plants in batches labeled with signs, I plunged with my grandmother's book in my arms. The farther I wound away from the back door on the path, the greater I felt the accomplishment. I had fulfilled Nanna's requests.

Laughter reached me again and this time a splash accompanied it. Then I heard a guy’s voice, not Justin but his friend Derek. I recognized the sound of it because we'd endured the same algebra class. If Derek was there, so was Justin. I hurried along the path to reach him. I had hoped to see him that day.

I turned a corner and found a pool unlike any other I had seen. Embedded in the garden like part of the landscape, its walls and edges were ashen gray and textured like natural rock. A five-foot waterfall poured at the far end. And swimming in the pool and scattered around the pool in chairs were all of Justin's friends from high school.

I gasped a little and halted. Most of the varsity football team, their cheerleaders, a couple of other notable faces from the Fosters Branch High alumni, these people were not my people.
There at the center of it all, lounging on his stomach on a chair with his girlfriend from high school, Rachel, applying tanning oil on his shoulders and back was Justin.

I wished my newfound energy enabled me to turn invisible.

The path led directly alongside the pool. If I went that direction, they would all see me. If I tried to cut through the thicket, Justin would hear me. Either way, I was done for. I froze like a deer in headlights.

Dark-haired Rachel, tan as Justin and sporting the teeniest bikini I'd ever seen, leaned down and whispered something into his ear. I saw him look up and give her this sexy, coy grin and irrational fury gripped me. It was irrational because I barely knew him and because we weren't even officially a couple. It was irrational because for all I knew, he'd betrayed her by kissing me.

I could have written an essay about why I shouldn't have felt that way. Yet anger sparked within me. I couldn't deny it. I couldn't act on the anger either. So I stood there, stewing and staring at them like a lunatic stalker.

Move. I told myself. I made a beeline for the other side of the pool where I would be safe from awkwardness and insecurity. I wouldn't have to explain my presence or say something I would regret if I was in a rush. People in a rush have those luxuries. It was a state of being that excused universally. No need to explain and no need for pleasantries because I am in an r-u-s-h.
I practically ran for the trees. I powered by them, head down, and was reminded of Thomas Williams who I'd seen leave Reau House executing the same posture just before my tea in the roses with the sisters.

Justin looked up. They all watched me as I passed. Their heads swiveled in unison.

My face ran hot. I could feel myself blush hard.

"AnnaBeth?" Justin called.

"In a rush!" I raised one hand in a quick wave and kept on trucking.

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When Anna inherits her grandmother's mansion, she receives more than just a house. She inherits the family secrets and, interestingly enough, her grandmother’s strange friends.

Vestra and Madeline MacDowell draw her into their circle with the promise of power and the possibility of romance with their son, Justin. But there are consequences when you ally yourself with those who practice witchcraft.

AnnaBeth will risk everything to protect the town of Fosters Branch and the people she loves.

Want to read more? Chapters 1-5 are up for free reading on Scribd.

More information and links to buy the book are on my website.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

book working on a Wednesday

Editing! That's what I'm doing this week, well, not really like an edit-edit. I needed to step back and evaluate how the story is going. I'm probably a little over half finished with the rough draft.

I always dread that first time I read what I've written. I'm afraid it will be incoherent or just utter and complete crap. This one hasn't been bad so far. I think I'm finally getting to the point that I catch at least some of my annoying writing habits while working on the rough, which may cut down on the editing time as a whole.

I need to add one more character. I also need to increase the presence of another character. She started out as a major player in the story, then ran off for a few chapters that turned out longer than I anticipated they would be. I need to reel her back in a bit.

So, I'm busy. I haven't spent as much time on the new AnnaBeth cover as I would like to. My time is just in such short supply lately. I need about 3 hours more in the day to finish what I need to.

I'd better get to it.

Here is a link to some very strange and somehow awesome old photos.

Enjoy.

_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Drag (not Queen) Racing

The rain actually let up this weekend so we went to the NHRA drag race at Lucas Oil Raceway.

I haven’t been to a drag race in forever, and it was a lot of fun. The cars were extremely loud. The raceway wasn’t crowded at all, which was nice. The spectators were well-behaved, as were my children. The girl kept talking about wanting to drag race.

Here are pictures of rocket cars.

This is the part of the track at which the races start. The two cars in the picture are getting ready to race. That red thing that says Mac Tools is actually a walkway over the track. Functional but a little scary!



Below - packing up the car and the parachute thingy that helps stop the car at the end of the race.



Say, is that a rocket engine on your hood or are you just happy to see me?



I gave the website a bit of a makeover. You might want to check it out if you haven’t been on there in a while. It has a brand spanking new banner and some Facebook ‘like’ buttons on the books (please feel free to like them even if you haven’t read them yet. I won’t tell!). I gave the fiction freebies their own page and embedded the one and only book trailer I’ve made so far. Oh, wait, am I ruining the fun of exploration?

Here is a link.

http://www.LeaRyan.com

Monday, May 2, 2011

movie: Black Swan

The movie this weekend was Black Swan, starring Natalie Portman as Nina.

Nina is a very innocent and naïve professional dancer with a bit of a self-mutilation problem. She desperately wants to play Odette in Swan Lake. She gets the part.

The artistic director thinks her White Queen dances are perfect. However, she also has to dance as Odette's evil twin, Odile the Black Swan. She has trouble with that role because it's supposed to be seductive, dark and imperfect. She struggles to find the darker part of herself. Then it begins to consume her.

Mila Kunis is Lily, a new dancer with a wild streak. She shows up late for rehearsals and seems to embody the Black Swan. She befriends Nina and tries to get her to loosen up by taking her out to drink and such.

Another dark character is Beth (Winona Ryder), the mentally unstable ballerina whom Nina replaces. Nina is fascinated by her because she is a great dancer, but also because she represents the downfall Nina knows she could suffer.

The movie itself is like an evil twin for the ballet world we see from the outside. The audience gets a clean and graceful finished production more often than not, I imagine. Backstage is significantly grittier. There are horrific foot injuries, ballerina bitchiness, and the vast amounts of stress. The movie filming is grainy and rough and captures these aspects very well.

Special effects and Portman's performance convey Nina's mental distress in vivid and original ways. Black Swan is awesome. A

_________________________
Hey, want some free reading? Check out the fiction freebie page on this very blog!
There you shall find links to two free ebooks on Smashwords and novel excerpts on Scribd.

Other places to find me:
http://www.LeaRyan.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LeaRyan1