One Last Trip to Borders

I had my last visit to Borders this evening. They had two days left in their going out of business sale. It was very sad. It was crowded, of course. When you mark anything down 80-90 percent off, that tends to draw a crowd.

The atmosphere was weird. There was tension in the air, maybe because every time you turned around someone was RIGHT behind you. There were people in front of every shelf, poring over the leftovers from previous levels of markdown.

Seeing what was left was interesting. Most of the nonfiction was gone with the exception of some outdated software and business titles and books about the operation of various models of Nikon and Canon SLR cameras. There were a LOT of books about 2012 end of the world theories and such. Apparently the literate masses aren’t overly concerned about it.

Two shelves of Manga remained. They may have overestimated demand on that one. Many romance novels remained as well.

We found zero children’s books and zero toys. In fact, the once very adorable and fun children’s section looked like this.

A woman there picked the foam decorations off the wall and took them to the counter to purchase them. Talk about depressing.

The worst part was when we went to check out. These two little shithead (that’s right I said it) eleven year old, obnoxious boy brats in front of us actually hassled the cashier about losing her job. By the time we reached her to check out, she was practically in tears. I wanted to give her a hug. And I am not a hugger of strangers or mere acquaintances.

It was truly disgusting. I understand they’re just kids, but I mean damn, they were old enough to have some kind of compassion for someone losing their job. If I ever caught my kids treating anyone like that, please believe the consequences would be significant.

Anyway, thus ends the beautiful Borders store. I hope someone else bookish moves in. Bonus points if they hire the Borders employees and put in a coffee bar.

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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

really a lot of words

I finally crossed over 50000 words in AnnaBeth2! Woo! Very exciting. The thing isn't finished of course but at 50000 words, I've crested the hill and I'm rolling on momentum. If I remember correctly, the first installment was a little over 70000 words.

If I really get moving, I can probably finish before the end of October.

I'm eager to get back to the remix project; I have to admit. That's probably a good way to feel when editing time rolls around.

I was starting to get sick of it during the last round of rewrite. That happens with everything I write after a few reads. Now I have distance and the enthusiasm I need to work on it effectively.

I like working two projects at a time. That was a good plan. Releasing the books takes longer, but there are benefits.

However, I won't put a book down in the middle of a rough draft again like I did with AnnaBeth2. That was not my best move. I don't think it will affect the finished product, but picking back up and remembering where the subplots were and who was doing what was very difficult. A novel is a complex thing. I'll probably still have to sort some parts out in the rewrite.

So future writing schedules - two works in progress at a time.

Book One rough draft to completion (no hiatus) plus 1-2 rewrites.
Stuff Book One into a virtual drawer
Book Two rough draft to completion (no hiatus) plus 1-2 rewrites.
Stuff Book Two into virtual drawer
Book One - more editing plus feedback from beta readers
Book Two - more editing plus feedback from beta readers

Two book releases in a relatively short period of time, which will depend on marketing schedules and such. Be free, my pretties!

Have I mentioned this is work?

I did take the day off to read a chunk of Bossypants, by Tina Fey. She is awesome. I have great admiration for people who can achieve insane levels of success and remain true to who they are and where they came from. If I’m ever lucky enough to reach a Janet Evanovich level writing career, I want to be like that. Still me, just with enough money to do what I love for a living and enough skill to do it well.

TTFN

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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

guest post: The Magic of Changing Your Perspective, by Jackie Lapin

For most of us, dealing with changes and events that move us out of our comfort zone instantly takes us to a place of fear and negative thinking.

It is the rare person who doesn’t emotionally invest the experience with anxiety and assign a negative value to it.

Yet the truth is that all things are neutral, they just are—until we lend our perspective to them and assign value. More importantly, every experience brings with it an opportunity for growth—for greater wisdom, for new knowledge, for redirection from the Universe, or for expansion in some way, shape or form.

The task for us as Conscious Creators is to retrain ourselves not to immediately go to that dark place, but instead to seek the light and—assign positive value to every experience. The best way to do that is to learn new perspectives, and to apply them to each situation. You can magically turn a perceived problem into a blessing by asking the right questions or applying the right filter.

Let’s expand our thinking and open up to the many new ways to look at things. By having these “tools” in your tool kit, testing the ones that work best for you, then applying them through practice many times over, you will be able to change your knee-jerk negative pattern of thinking to a welcoming and positive perspective that raises your frequency. And eventually will become your new permanent pattern of perspective.

Here are some really insightful questions that will lead you to look at your perceived challenges, problems, and issues as your next opportunities, gateways, and gifts:

• What is the joy to be found here?

• What is really great about this?

• What can I learn from this experience?

• How can I apply this in the future?

• How does this ultimately serve me?

• What is the upside to this experience?

• What is the takeaway here?

• What message is the Universe offering me?

• How can I turn this experience into something positive?

• What is the underlying truth about this experience—what is the reality

without my emotional charge?

• What is the good that can come from this?

• Who can I help with this wisdom, knowledge, and experience?

• Where is this experience directing me?

• What is the invitation here?

• What new opportunity does this open up?

• How can I grow from this?

• Where is my expansion in this?

• What is this calling me to let go?

• What burden is being lifted through this experience?

• What deep calling within me wants expression through this change—even though it may be subconscious?

You undoubtedly know that everything happens for a reason. Here’s an opportunity to look at that reason as Source does. You would not be offered this

experience if there was not purpose here for you, your life, and your spiritual growth. But the Universe gives you these experiences out of its desire to help you reach your own truth and highest good. Use these questions for a more objective view of what is in your highest good.

Illustration by Richard Crookes

Jackie Lapin tours the world teaching Practical Conscious Creation. She is the bestselling author of "The Art of Conscious Creation; How You Can Transform the World” and "Practical Conscious Creation: Daily Techniques to Manifest Your Desires." Filled with specific and imaginative practices, Practical Conscious Creation offers 70 articles with step-by-step actions to achieve greater empowerment and a more satisfying lifestyle.

To learn how to become a better, faster manifestor, secure a free chapter of “Practical Conscious Creation” or receive Jackie Lapin’s daily manifesting tips, visit http://www.jackielapin.com/.

The book is available here.

Jackie Lapin is also the founder of LifeWisdomNetwork.com, the Virtual Village that is the Marketplace, Directory and Information Resource for the fast-growing Consciousness and Transformational World .A place where mind/body/spirit entrepreneurs and self-help experts connect with their next customers and clients worldwide. Go to www.LifeWisdomNetwork.com for more information or to learn how to become a Village Member.

Discover the Tools to Make You a Better, Faster Manifestor!

movie: Season of the Witch

Ok, this is going to be quick because I feel like crapola. I seem to have come down with something that is not very fun.

Season of the Witch
Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman (Hellyboy) star as a couple of crusade knights who decide to take early retirement due to the whole cruelty of war thing. They lose their faith in the church and go awol.

The pair end up in a town that's been hit by the plague. The townspeople request the knights' assistance. They decline. They later reconsider and agree to help some town representatives escort a woman accused of being a witch who brought the plague to a holy city where she will be judged and presumably, put to death.

Season of the Witch is creepy in parts. There are some great special effects and some really gross plague makeup.

The movie was pretty good, but short. The story had great potential and it would have been nice to see just far into weird/creepy they could take it, but alas. It gets a B-.

There's a guest post on the scheduler for tomorrow. Woo! I know I said I moved them all, but I had a nonfiction author request one and I only put fiction on Journey Reader, so she'll be here instead. Was that a run-on?

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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

state park fun and stalking

I had the day off today for the holiday, so I took the children to Mounds State Park in Anderson. It was a really cool park. There are Native American ceremonial mounds there and some scenic trails. There are some pics below. But first, a story about stalking.

For some reason, I have a tendency to attract stalkers, which is rather unsettling because I am very much an introvert. I first noticed today’s stalker at the Great Mound. That’s the first one you find when you hike on the main trail. She was this nerdy sort of lady with glasses and a ponytail. She had 5 or 6 kids with her.

I noticed her because one of the children was walking around wrapped in a Strawberry Shortcake comforter, quilt thing. When I took a picture of the Great Mound to send to my husband, I caught a little corner of it in the picture. Here it is.

My two non-quilt-wearing children and I left the Great Mound to head further down the hiking trail. The lady and her kids were a bit obnoxious, so I hoped they wouldn’t follow us. They did. We took a right at a trail junction, so did she, we made a brief trip off the trail to the edge of the White River, she took her herd of younglings that way too. She followed us for quite a while.

I finally stopped my kids on the trail and told them to let the lady pass. She took her time walking up. I stood there texting my husband about the crazy lady. She did finally come up next to me and ask me if I had been to the park before. I hadn’t. That was our first trip.

She went ahead on the trail like ten feet and stopped. I swear she was waiting for us to start walking again so she could follow. She did eventually give up and she turned around and took her crowd of children back the way we’d come.

Creepiest park experience ever.

Here are some pics.

This is the left part of the circle on the Great Mound.

Toad! or frog...whatever. He crawled into a hole in the mud about 10 seconds after I took this picture.

The White River

There were tiny creeks and waterfalls everywhere. This one was next to the trail. It ran down a hillside on our right, under the trail into the river.

There were a lot of seemingly dead trees.

I like the reflections on the water in this shot.

Also interesting, there are some people who believe the mounds are haunted by blue gowned dwarves called pukwudgies. lol. Here's some info on that

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pukwudgie

Here is the link for the park website - http://moundsstatepark.org/

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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

I heart True Blood

Ok. I've been really resistant to the whole vampire culture thing. I think the Twilight craze and general vampire pop culture overkill (I make no excuses for puns) really turned me off of anything vampire related, which sucks (still not sorry) because I love Anne Rice and various other vampire related books and movies. Underworld, Blade, you probably get the picture.

Anyway, so I first heard about True Blood, I rolled my eyes and went on my merry way. I caught a few minutes of it on TV by accident a couple of times, saw fangs and changed the channel.

The husband and I recently decided to give it a shot because we're kind of out of shows right now. I have to say that I love it. A lot.

I really like the characters. They're varied enough to make things interesting. Plus they're Southern, the sexy, intelligent kind of Southern. I like most of them so much that sometimes I get a little jealous that I didn't come up with them. We're only on season 1 (DVDs from the library) but I'm sure we'll get caught up soon.

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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

book working updates

Summer is almost over already! I can feel autumn in the air and I LOVE it. Fall is great – the cooler weather, the smell of burning leaves, the food, Halloween!, my birthday.

However, there is sadness. I don’t think I’m going to get any books out this year. I just work too slowly, and I don't want to pick up the pace because doing so pretty much guarantees that I will screw something up.

I was hoping to get AnnaBeth2 out in the fall but September begins tomorrow and I don't even have the rough draft finished. If I were to have it ready in fall, I would probably need to be editing by now.

I am disappointed. I like to release things. It gives me joy.

Lack of writing time is really a huge obstacle for me. I know I've said that before. If I can ever work this gig full time, I'm going to crank 'em out like James Patterson.

Ok, maybe not THAT fast because I don't have a staff, but sure as heck faster than I can now.

But on the bright side, next year should be really exciting - probably at least two books in the first few months and at least one more novella, maybe two if I can get Juniper2 going.

I may check in with a traditional publisher or two for the remix project. You know, throw out a line, see if anyone bites. Some portion of that novel will likely appear on authonomy within the next 3-4 months, so anyone who is interested and has an authonomy account could grab a sneaky peek there. I will announce when/if it appears on that particular website.

AnnaBeth2 word count update: 46919

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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