I am so displeased with Microsoft at the moment. For the last couple of years, I've used their website hosting service. The price was great. I never had an issue. I get an email yesterday that they’re discontinuing the service I use, turning it into some kind of Office related mess and jacking up the price by about 600%.
They can keep their overpriced mess as far as I'm concerned. I'm leaving, of course. However, this has presented a couple of problems.
Hosting is a lot more expensive now than it was when I first set up my website. Seriously, ouch. Every company I've looked at charges about $10 a month after their introductory offers expire. That's fine and dandy if you're setting up a storefront, but my website is basically a showroom for my books. I make $0 through the site directly.
I’ve found a couple of free hosting services, but I’m not loving them. I will probably continue looking around.
I have a plan for the moment. It's a pain in the ass, but I think I can make it work. I'm taking my domain name with me by transferring to godaddy. I'm going to link it to this blog and basically turn the blog into my website. That might actually work better in at least one way.
When I first set up my website, I wanted to feed the blog into one of the pages. I wasn't able to do it. If the website moves to the blog, that won't be an issue. Everything will be all close and snuggly.
There is one other problem, however. I've been setting up my blog tour stops using the email address that goes with the website. Once I move on out of Microsoft, that inbox will be no more. That means I'm going to have to notify all the people I've been talking of the new email address and hope no wires get crossed in the process.
I'm working I'm transferring everything this week, so you might see some craziness and new pages popping up in the blog in the next week or so.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Taking Aim at the Comfort Zone
I hope you will excuse any nonsense that appears in my post today. The cold seems to be winning at the moment.
Scheduling the blog tour is going pretty well. I read about someone else's experience while setting up his blog tour. He said that about 20% replied to him. My ratio is probably slightly higher than that, so I’m happy. For the most part, the blogs that responded are the ones with the most followers. I thought that was interesting.
I sometimes have these moments of nervousness, like the most introverted part of me suddenly realizes that I've ventured slightly farther out of my comfort zone. But I'm working through it. I know that if I ever want to write novels to make a living I need to be out in the world, making sure that people can actually find the books.
A few people have actually asked for review copies, which also makes me nervous. I'm terrified of reviewers. I've never solicited reviews before a book release before, mostly because I have a fear that my work won't stand up to a certain level of scrutiny.
I've seen reviews (hopefully not by professional reviewers) that were over the top cruel. They were for authors other than me, but when I read them, I internalized them as a potential thing that could happen to me.
However, when the first request for review copy came in, I did not say ‘no thank you’. Because I am doing my best not to live like a total coward, I said yes. The book isn't quite ready for all that yet, but I've started a list of people who get pre-release copies either in preparation for an interview or a review copy. Hit me up if you want one. Bloggers get preferential treatment. : )
Scheduling the blog tour is going pretty well. I read about someone else's experience while setting up his blog tour. He said that about 20% replied to him. My ratio is probably slightly higher than that, so I’m happy. For the most part, the blogs that responded are the ones with the most followers. I thought that was interesting.
I sometimes have these moments of nervousness, like the most introverted part of me suddenly realizes that I've ventured slightly farther out of my comfort zone. But I'm working through it. I know that if I ever want to write novels to make a living I need to be out in the world, making sure that people can actually find the books.
A few people have actually asked for review copies, which also makes me nervous. I'm terrified of reviewers. I've never solicited reviews before a book release before, mostly because I have a fear that my work won't stand up to a certain level of scrutiny.
I've seen reviews (hopefully not by professional reviewers) that were over the top cruel. They were for authors other than me, but when I read them, I internalized them as a potential thing that could happen to me.
However, when the first request for review copy came in, I did not say ‘no thank you’. Because I am doing my best not to live like a total coward, I said yes. The book isn't quite ready for all that yet, but I've started a list of people who get pre-release copies either in preparation for an interview or a review copy. Hit me up if you want one. Bloggers get preferential treatment. : )
Monday, January 30, 2012
Movie: Your Highness
The weather was AMAZING when I got off work today. Sunny and relatively warm. It was kind of strange because usually by this time, we’re knee-deep in snow or trying to chisel ice off of various surfaces.
The bad news? I think I’m coming down with a cold. Ergh.
Anyway, movie.
Your Highness
Description from IMDb – “When Prince Fabious's bride is kidnapped, he goes on a quest to rescue her... accompanied by his lazy useless brother Thadeous.”
Aw, that’s not a very nice description. Thadeous is actually the main character.
Your Highness is a very interesting movie. It's kind of like The Princess Bride meets South Park (uncensored) meets um, The Labyrinth but with cgi mixed in with the puppetry. The quest takes many strange turns.
I really liked this movie, but it's a lot to take in. A lot of the humor crosses merrily over into obscene, which I find hilarious more often than not. However, the movie tries almost too hard to be offensive in parts.
Your Highness was entertaining but not exactly cinematic genius. C+
The bad news? I think I’m coming down with a cold. Ergh.
Anyway, movie.
Your Highness
Description from IMDb – “When Prince Fabious's bride is kidnapped, he goes on a quest to rescue her... accompanied by his lazy useless brother Thadeous.”
Aw, that’s not a very nice description. Thadeous is actually the main character.
Your Highness is a very interesting movie. It's kind of like The Princess Bride meets South Park (uncensored) meets um, The Labyrinth but with cgi mixed in with the puppetry. The quest takes many strange turns.
I really liked this movie, but it's a lot to take in. A lot of the humor crosses merrily over into obscene, which I find hilarious more often than not. However, the movie tries almost too hard to be offensive in parts.
Your Highness was entertaining but not exactly cinematic genius. C+
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
some book trailer talkin'
I was trying to think of something to write about today when I realized that I just slapped up the new trailer yesterday without really saying anything about it. So today, I’m doing some book trailer talk.
Creating the trailer for Lair of the White Wyrm was much easier than the Fate Binds trailer. You might remember that one had some blooming flower animation…or you might remember not depending on whether you read the blog then.
The animation for the Lair trailer consists of some moving words and also panning around a grove, which is a scene from the book. The grove picture is a composite image created from two digital photos I took at a public park during a day last summer. There used to be a skate park in the background of one of them.
Bouncing back and forth between Photoshop and Fireworks, I extracted the trees and some of the grass, nixed the skate park and other background stuff, and darkened the whole deal to night time. Then, I created a radial glow in the background. Oh, some of the trees are drawn in, mostly the ones in the back.
Also fun was the brush I found (in Photoshop?) that had a leaf-shaped tip. Awesome, right? I used that in various colors to get all the trees to blend together and also add some contrast to the image.
That’s a lot of work to end up not using the graphic. I was really glad that the trailer allowed me to do something with it.
Animating the pan around the grove was a piece of cake. In Flash, you can set a couple of locations and create a tween. I had to mess with the timing a little but overall, it was WAY easier than the blooming flowers, plus you get a peek at some scenery from the book.
The other major graphic in the trailer is the head of the wyrm. If you guessed that it is a skinned over version of the skull on the book cover, you are correct and I have awarded you an extra 5 bonus points for your attention to detail.
Skinning over the skull actually took longer than I thought it would. I figured it would be an hour, tops. I mean the shape is already there. It was probably double that by the end of it.
I’m embedding the video again so you don’t have to scroll down to yesterday’s post.
Creating the trailer for Lair of the White Wyrm was much easier than the Fate Binds trailer. You might remember that one had some blooming flower animation…or you might remember not depending on whether you read the blog then.
The animation for the Lair trailer consists of some moving words and also panning around a grove, which is a scene from the book. The grove picture is a composite image created from two digital photos I took at a public park during a day last summer. There used to be a skate park in the background of one of them.
Bouncing back and forth between Photoshop and Fireworks, I extracted the trees and some of the grass, nixed the skate park and other background stuff, and darkened the whole deal to night time. Then, I created a radial glow in the background. Oh, some of the trees are drawn in, mostly the ones in the back.
Also fun was the brush I found (in Photoshop?) that had a leaf-shaped tip. Awesome, right? I used that in various colors to get all the trees to blend together and also add some contrast to the image.
That’s a lot of work to end up not using the graphic. I was really glad that the trailer allowed me to do something with it.
Animating the pan around the grove was a piece of cake. In Flash, you can set a couple of locations and create a tween. I had to mess with the timing a little but overall, it was WAY easier than the blooming flowers, plus you get a peek at some scenery from the book.
The other major graphic in the trailer is the head of the wyrm. If you guessed that it is a skinned over version of the skull on the book cover, you are correct and I have awarded you an extra 5 bonus points for your attention to detail.
Skinning over the skull actually took longer than I thought it would. I figured it would be an hour, tops. I mean the shape is already there. It was probably double that by the end of it.
I’m embedding the video again so you don’t have to scroll down to yesterday’s post.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
lots of stuff
Hello! How are we this wonderful evening? This past weekend was very cold. I took this picture of the field behind the house to give you an idea of the fantastic dreariness. Have you even seen a place so white and desolate? This was taken at about 5pm on Sunday.
The good news is, things outside are warming up.
Earlier today I read about reactions to the Academy Award Nominations from various stars. There was a variety of reactions ranging from gratitude to, well, not as much gratitude. I wondered, how much does one’s reaction quote say about their personality? So I compiled this quick guide about what people might think when they read what you said about being nominated for the biggest award in the industry.
Gratitude personified : These are my favorites. They thank specific people by name, regardless of whether they are less famous. I would guess that these are the people who work hard and appreciate the hard work of others or at least realize that they should appreciate the hard work of the people they work with. These people win first prize for class.
Witty: Some stars said funny, witty things. Very nice. Not quite as gracious as the above but a willingness to put thought into what is said shows a certain level of intelligence and friendliness.
Academy Awards? What the heck are those?: Sigh. They try so hard to look cool. They don’t thank anyone. They don’t seem to even appreciate the fact that they were acknowledged. I would guess that these people might not be a joy to work for or with. I picture them in my head as spoiled, rich children who never had to really work for anything.
End Academy Awards talk
Guess what other excitement is here today. Go on. Guess. No, don’t look at the embedded video below. That’s cheating.
Ok, it’s a new book trailer! This one is the prerelease trailer for Lair of the White Wyrm, which is due out 2/21/12.
There will be a second version after the book is released with availability, etc.
Also sort of up is the book page.
Some of the links aren’t active yet, of course, because they don’t exist, but you can get a feel for what the finished page is going to look like. Plus there’s a synopsis. That might not be the final version.
Book Page
The good news is, things outside are warming up.
Earlier today I read about reactions to the Academy Award Nominations from various stars. There was a variety of reactions ranging from gratitude to, well, not as much gratitude. I wondered, how much does one’s reaction quote say about their personality? So I compiled this quick guide about what people might think when they read what you said about being nominated for the biggest award in the industry.
Gratitude personified : These are my favorites. They thank specific people by name, regardless of whether they are less famous. I would guess that these are the people who work hard and appreciate the hard work of others or at least realize that they should appreciate the hard work of the people they work with. These people win first prize for class.
Witty: Some stars said funny, witty things. Very nice. Not quite as gracious as the above but a willingness to put thought into what is said shows a certain level of intelligence and friendliness.
Academy Awards? What the heck are those?: Sigh. They try so hard to look cool. They don’t thank anyone. They don’t seem to even appreciate the fact that they were acknowledged. I would guess that these people might not be a joy to work for or with. I picture them in my head as spoiled, rich children who never had to really work for anything.
End Academy Awards talk
Guess what other excitement is here today. Go on. Guess. No, don’t look at the embedded video below. That’s cheating.
Ok, it’s a new book trailer! This one is the prerelease trailer for Lair of the White Wyrm, which is due out 2/21/12.
There will be a second version after the book is released with availability, etc.
Also sort of up is the book page.
Some of the links aren’t active yet, of course, because they don’t exist, but you can get a feel for what the finished page is going to look like. Plus there’s a synopsis. That might not be the final version.
Book Page
Monday, January 23, 2012
a movie and some rambling
Next is a movie starring Nicolas Cage and is about a man who can see about two minutes into the future. There is an exception to the rule. He sees a woman he hasn't met.
There’s a government agency after him because they want to use him to help prevent a nuclear disaster. He is unwilling to assist them, so they pursue him in an effort to basically force him to help.
The plot is well-paced and never boring. Special effects were cool. Nicolas Cage's hair is just as horrendous as it pretty much always is. Jessica Biel’s hair looked better than usual. She had this wavy thing going on.
Next is one of those movies that advances and reverses time but not annoyingly so. It adds a certain level of excitement, I think, because anything can happen to any character and they may or may not get a rewind. Next gets an A-.
We actually bought this movie. We went to our local Blockbuster to rent a movie and discovered they were “moving”. They were selling their DVDs and Blu-rays for like $2 so we figured we may as well try to find a movie we hadn’t seen and just buy it.
When we reached the counter, I asked the girl where they were moving to. Her answer was “online” and she truly looked like she was going to cry. I felt really bad, of course. Silly me actually thought they were actually moving like the sign out front indicated.
Husband and I are quite unhappy about the store closing. We do have Netflix, so we still have access to movies, but I liked being able to walk into a store and choose something off the shelves and watch it the same night. Call me old-fashioned, I guess.
Our economy is evolving in this strange way. Everything is moving to the internet, which causes people in retail stores to lose their jobs, which is sad and not good for the general state of things. But there’s no stopping the future.
I think as time goes on, people are going to have to depend less on companies like Blockbuster to provide jobs. They might not have a choice in the matter.
People who adapt their skills and experience to the internet-driven economy are going to fare better.
Until the terrorists learn how to take it out and drain all of our bank accounts. awww...
There’s a government agency after him because they want to use him to help prevent a nuclear disaster. He is unwilling to assist them, so they pursue him in an effort to basically force him to help.
The plot is well-paced and never boring. Special effects were cool. Nicolas Cage's hair is just as horrendous as it pretty much always is. Jessica Biel’s hair looked better than usual. She had this wavy thing going on.
Next is one of those movies that advances and reverses time but not annoyingly so. It adds a certain level of excitement, I think, because anything can happen to any character and they may or may not get a rewind. Next gets an A-.
We actually bought this movie. We went to our local Blockbuster to rent a movie and discovered they were “moving”. They were selling their DVDs and Blu-rays for like $2 so we figured we may as well try to find a movie we hadn’t seen and just buy it.
When we reached the counter, I asked the girl where they were moving to. Her answer was “online” and she truly looked like she was going to cry. I felt really bad, of course. Silly me actually thought they were actually moving like the sign out front indicated.
Husband and I are quite unhappy about the store closing. We do have Netflix, so we still have access to movies, but I liked being able to walk into a store and choose something off the shelves and watch it the same night. Call me old-fashioned, I guess.
Our economy is evolving in this strange way. Everything is moving to the internet, which causes people in retail stores to lose their jobs, which is sad and not good for the general state of things. But there’s no stopping the future.
I think as time goes on, people are going to have to depend less on companies like Blockbuster to provide jobs. They might not have a choice in the matter.
People who adapt their skills and experience to the internet-driven economy are going to fare better.
Until the terrorists learn how to take it out and drain all of our bank accounts. awww...
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
plotting and scheming
First, let's see what was accomplished last week. I finished the edit on AnnaBeth 2. It won't be the last, of course but it is finished regardless.
I received Lair back from Lady Editor and made those changes.
I updated the home page on the website with book cover and release date for Lair.
On the to do list, finish the damn Lair synopsis. I worked on that today and I think I’ve got it. There might still be revisions, but I’m 95% happy with what I’ve got.
Also on the task list is book trailer work. I hope to have the trailer and the book page (minus buy links) ready for a prerelease launch by the end of next week. We'll see how that goes. I will put the link here on the blog when that’s all ready to go.
Then I’m going to start soliciting interview spots and such for release time (book release 2/21/12). I figure if the book trailer and the page are up and running, that would add to my writer cred. I have an order in which I want to accomplish certain tasks. There is method to the madness.
I’m strongly considering releasing an excerpt before the book is available, like a preview or whatever. I'm not totally positive I want to do that, but it's an idea that currently lives in my head.
I received Lair back from Lady Editor and made those changes.
I updated the home page on the website with book cover and release date for Lair.
On the to do list, finish the damn Lair synopsis. I worked on that today and I think I’ve got it. There might still be revisions, but I’m 95% happy with what I’ve got.
Also on the task list is book trailer work. I hope to have the trailer and the book page (minus buy links) ready for a prerelease launch by the end of next week. We'll see how that goes. I will put the link here on the blog when that’s all ready to go.
Then I’m going to start soliciting interview spots and such for release time (book release 2/21/12). I figure if the book trailer and the page are up and running, that would add to my writer cred. I have an order in which I want to accomplish certain tasks. There is method to the madness.
I’m strongly considering releasing an excerpt before the book is available, like a preview or whatever. I'm not totally positive I want to do that, but it's an idea that currently lives in my head.
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