Belated Happy Easter (to those that celebrate it) and if you don't, I hope you had a great weekend as well. Keeping this post short and sweet or quick and dirty, depends on your preference.I only had 2 works released for the month of March:1) Ghost Town, episode 6 (Bloodline) - this is the final installment for this particular serial fiction. Amazon: http://amzn.to/14IQllN2) Another installment on my secret ebook experiment project.I've eased up on the short stories because I needed to go full throttle on the novels.I'm predicting that the next couple of months are really going to be a grind in terms of putting all the 2013 writing goals into motion. Currently, I'm still on schedule to getting specific works out this year that I told myself would have to be done. I've jotted down a rough daily schedule with minimum word counts needed to stay on course. So we'll see how that pans out. Let's do this!!!
Well, well, well. It's that time again to check in and look back on what's been accomplished this past month. My original goal was at least 4 works by end of month. I only have 3 releases this month. 2 of them you know and the other one is for my other "experiment" which I mentioned on my January post. Being sick for about a week and a half really took its toll on not only the productivity and workload but also on getting back on the saddle. Eating healthy doesn't help much when you live in a densely populated metropolis. Damn you germs! Curses! Releases for the month of February:Ghost Town: Episode 5 - I thought I was going to be able to wrap the series up with this episode but it seemed like too much to cram into that one book so onwards with Episode 6 where I will attempt to conclude the story. Amazon USAmazon UKAmazon CA Flipside, bizarre tales of the fantastic: TRANSIT - just another one of those weird short stories, the more I wrote of it, the stranger it became. Seems like an ongoing theme with some of my WIPs so I figured I'd give them a home with the Flipside series of stories. Amazon USAmazon UKAmazon CASmashwordsMy secret experimental ebook was the third work I released this month. Approximate words written this month: 27,000. I wrote some late last night for the next Flipside book so that number is probably closer to 30k.
For March I should (at the very least) the following completed:
Episode 6 of Ghost Town. Another installment of my ebook experiment. Another short story, and maybe finish the last few chapters of a novel.
That about sums it up on the writing front.
Other stuff I worked on, in no order of importance. - Changed up the books page on this website, easier links to ebook shops.
- Bought another couple of domains for some new niche sites.
- General web maintenance on the handful of sites I already run. (It's a lot of behind-the-scenes work - ad spaces, affiliates, restructuring, etc.)
- Added another 200 or so Twitter buddies. Chatting w/ some cool & interesting folks in between work.
That's all i could think of for now. The caffeine effect is wearing off. I better wrap this post up before I do something stupid like delete the entire post by accident. It has happened before. Now, let's see how much we can get done for March, shall we?
Hello readers and stragglers.
So I've decided I was just going to do an end of the month blog post. Not due to laziness but because it just doesn't make sense to blog about writing when I could just be...writing. There will be times when there's actually something I can chat about in which case I'll post it up and share it with you.
First things first.
January 2013 Releases:
Ghost Town ep. 3 - Bad Signal (serial fic, YA, paranormal, occult)
Ghost Town ep. 4 - Cursed Earth
Sid Valentine story #3 - True North (myth, legends, folk tales, urban dark fantasy)
A Strange Occurrence on Keystone Drive (short story, weird fic, Lovecraftian)
*First uploads of new & improved Sid Valentine story # 1 and # 2 on Amazon marketplace featuring new covers.
(If you want to count that as new for Amazon, then technically it is. I've had it in Smashwords distribution for awhile now)
Other work involved:
I reformatted, rewrote, and corrected inconsistencies on Sid Valentine 1 & 2 and reissued them.
Redesigned book covers for Sid Valentine Universe. Something that allows me to ship it out faster since I do all the designing too. The old covers are still posted up in some retailers
Tweaked description and tags on all of the books. A lot of them are still showing up in the wrong categories but I have to give the shops time to adjust that. Some milestones:
13k words written on the first week of 2013. I've pretty much kept this pace steady for the entire month. Usually averaging at about 10.5k (at the very least) to 14k (at the most) per week.
5k tweets, 1200+ followers, good conversations. Increase of ~400 new twitter buddies. Might be small potatoes to many but Twitter happens to be my favorite social media hangout so I'm happy with the stats.
Increase in book sales. =) Can't give an accurate % figure yet since other digital marketplaces are slow to report and there is a lag but strictly based on Amazon, it's an 8.3% increase (so far).
Edit: Based on Smashwords numbers from various marketplaces, the increase in sales this month is actually 9.7%
February plans:
- Finish up up Ghost Town series with episode 5, unless episode 6 is needed.
- More short stories.
- Continue work on another serial fiction I've already started under a different name and different genre. Don't ask me what it is because I won't tell you. It's just something I've been toying with. i can probably put out another 2 segments for it this month.
- Plan out what I'll do with Ghost Town. Season 2 maybe? I have side stories in mind for the first season that might be an interesting addition.
- Website tweaks, specifically the Books Section.
Where to get the ebooks:
Let's see, what else have I been up to...
Lots of reading, catching up on my Netflix queue, running & maintaining websites (it puts money in the account, I don't have anything against money), hanging out with my family, cooking and eating healthier. You know, life. It's a short one. Might as well pack in as much as you can while you're able to. =) What about you? What have you been up to?
 The time has come for another book release. This time it's for episode 1 of my YA Paranormal Mystery Serial - GHOST TOWN. Amazon: http://amzn.to/UG7Kmr***Update as of 1/15I had to unpublish the first 3 episodes from Smashwords. I didn't realize that serial works went against their TOS. So I'll republish it there once the series is complete. Meanwhile, I'm in the process of making it available here as an epub and pdf, pending on how smoothly the transition goes. I still have to iron out some details. I'll announce it as soon as it's ready. Synopsis:Driftwood looks like your average small town. Friendly locals. Fresh air. Beautiful scenery. Except for the ghosts. They're everywhere. For some reason the town has a large concentration of paranormal activity and hauntings. No one knows for sure why that is. It's just always been that way. Most of the locals have learned to live with it. The Carters are no exception. Joe Carter comes from a family of paranormal investigators. He's learned the tricks of the trade from his folks but nothing can prepare him for what he's about to discover. Follow Joe as he uncovers and deciphers the clues left for him by those who came before. ** The big "Lightbulb" moment. It's more like several little ideas rolled up into one. - I've had a couple of YA stories jotted down for future projects (this isn't one of them).
- I've always enjoyed the format of short fiction as well as those half-hour anthology series (Outer Limits, Night Gallery, Amazing Stories, Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents
- I'm up for a good challenge
- I don't stick with a particular genre.
The real challenge is sticking with the schedule. The release date for each episode is biweekly or maybe even sooner if the writing goes well. The exciting part (and equally nerve-wracking part) is I don't know where the story is leading to exactly. I only have a rough idea of how each episode will play out. Right this moment, I have my notebook in front of me with an episode outline complete with possible cliffhangers. The way it looks right now, this might be a 5 episode deal but we'll see how that pans out. The only way to get this done is to write fast and furious. Hammer the words out, rewrite, check for details so that the story remains cohesive and ship it. If I obsess about every little detail, it's never going to get out. Will I release this into a full volume - yes, but I'll cross that bridge once the darn thing is built. =)
Let's cut right to the chase. Here's the sneak peek of the cover for my forthcoming serialized fiction - Ghost Town.
The first episode should be released very soon, if all goes as planned within the week. I haven't decided yet if it will be a weekly or bi-weekly release but it'll be between those time frames. The way it's looking, it might end up being 5 to 6 episode total but we shall see. These things have a way of expanding beyond the original concept and taking on a life of its own.
I'll post the synopsis during the release date. For now, enjoy the eye candy.
I'll discuss the cover design process in another post but there's one thing I wanted to introduce to this particular series which is a logo/stamp which is on the upper left corner. I've been a fan of pulp art for some time now but lately I've been really using them for inspiration not only for stories but also for the images associated with it. The stamp has Z2R (for zerotorockstar) and an old-school toy robot image. For my next post I'll upload a larger image so you can see the details.
Website updates
Like the new digs? I figured it's time for a new look. I pared down to the bare essentials to eliminate distractions. I haven't done much blogging the past year but I have done quite a bit of fiction writing. For the next year the goal is to ship out more of it.
First release of 2012 is a short story - clocking at a bit over 9k words. Did the cover design to this one as usual. This one's called Primer. Available in Amazon and Smashwords for a whopping $1.50 Synopsis:Five years ago, the monsters arrived and decimated the village. Everyone perished...except the children. The young band of survivors have had to fend for themselves ever since, keeping a close eye on the nearby forest where the monsters have receded until the time is right. But children grow up and become adults - and that's when the monsters come out of hiding. Around here, birthdays are feared, not celebrated. ***If you're into survivalist, zombie, apocalyptic type fiction - you're definitely going to want to give this one a read.More to come shortly. Site changes: Rearranged this place a bit. There's no way I can keep up with the other sections. You can still sign up for the newsletter for occasional updates. But I wanted to really eliminate the unnecessary and tidy up the place even more in accordance with my current goals. There's still some minor tweaking to do esp. in the books section but as it stands I think it'll stay this way for a bit.
Yours truly,
Your friendly neighborhood letter-puncher
Some useless info on 2012 - It's the Year of the Dragon. Also a leap year.
2012
My goal: To outperform last year. Will be turning it up a few notches. Keep it simple and streamlined. That goes for everything I do. I have a more solid grasp on what works and what doesn't so I'm gonna take that and run with it.
Have a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.
***
2011 in review
Many projects started, some dwindled, some took off.
One of which is my other site ApocalypseHub.com - the little hobby site I basically started out for myself has surprised me quite a bit in terms of performance this year. Nowhere near the level I envision it to be but it's definitely picked up some steam.
On writing - I wrote more than I did the year before which was the goal. Not all my word goals were met due to rigors of my classes but I figured it was an even trade. This year I doubled my sales with minimal effort.
On studies - It was a lot of hard work, late nights, and stress but it's worth it. I'm holding steady at honors level.
Other - Spent more time with family, which is a biggie.
I've intentionally eased up on any interweb stuff. Besides managing Apocalypse Hub and very minor updates on this site. If you're gonna find me anywhere, I'm still on Twitter (I do enjoy keeping up with some old friends & acquaintances there) - but I'm not there as much. It's done nothing but good actually. Not so much abandon but to take a step back and focus on the things I wanted to get done. So it's safe to say I'll be taking a step back even more in some aspects.
Dear friends / readers / wanderers:
I hope you have everything you need.
Happy Holidays
 Here I come to save the day!
No NaNoWriMo for me this year. I feel like the kid that skipped on prom night - lots of excitement for the annual novel writing madness, and me? Just can't do it.
I was a Nano participant a couple of years back and I got up to the midpoint and just couldn't go anymore. But I've written significantly more since then.
This time around I'm skipping it because:
1) I've got a lot of studying to do for my current coursework.
2) I have a book and a couple of other things I'd like to get out by the end of 2011.
3) I have a handful of sites to run.
Writing schedule:
I'm winging it baby. Anytime, anywhere.
Currently inspired by:
The Black Angels (music)
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (music)
Vintage Posters (art)
Survivalism (topic, reading, movement)
Death Note and The Filth (comic books)
Geeking out on:
Matte Painting (art & technique)
The Big Bang Theory (TV show)
On Halloween:
Not enough trick or treaters.
Horror movie marathons never get old.
Ghost story? I have a few paranormal experiences. You know the cold chill that paranormal investigators talk about? Yeah, that shit is real. Also shadow figures. And those otherworldly entities do drain the power out of electronic devices. That's all I have to say about that. It still gives me the creeps.
 I have a few moments to spare and have been thinking about this since this morning so I thought I'd jot it down real quick and share.
What tabs do you have open most frequently?
I'm asking because it really says a lot about where your focus is at that very moment.
Does it align with your daily goals or is it just a mish-mash of different pages that interest you?
When you click that browser open, which tabs do you leave open longer than the others?
Maybe you're one of those rare breeds that can actually just leave one tab open at a time. I'm not.
I've been consciously keeping tabs on my tabs for about a month now and for the last week I've had these 3 open almost all of the time: one to make lists, one to take notes, and one to keep time.
More specifically:
Teuxdeux - the most simple to-do list ever. Anything you don't finish automatically rolls over to the next day. I take care of web-based tasks in the order that I can knock them out the fastest.
Evernote - I can't say enough good things about this. I just wrote an entire novella on it.
Eggtimer (yes it's an actual site name) - My default is 1 hour of writing. If I feel up to it I just add another hour or two. You'd be surprised how much more you write when you have a timer silently chasing your ass in the background.
Honorary mentions:
Spotify - it's technically not an open a tab, but a desktop application. Gotta keep that music flowing, helps me focus.
Hootsuite - When I take my breaks in between, I pop in here to chat. I can broadcast simultaneously to Facebook if I want to. When it's time to get back to writing I click it close or else it takes over everything.So be aware of how you spend your time, what's keeping your attention, and how that fits in your goals of the day, or goals for the week, or whatever.
P.S. I purposely did not put the hyperlink on the sites mentioned because then you would've clicked on it and not finished reading, a quick Google search is all it takes to track them down. =)
P.P.S. In case you were wondering what's up with the picture of a panda with a gun....nothing behind it really. I think it's funny. And it's a panda...with a gun! Come on. It's a wee bit funny.
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