Progress report

I've broken the 30,000-word mark in this first draft.  I'm on page six of my twelve-page outline.  I'm pleased with my progress and the word-count rate.  I add a lot of words during revision, and my goal for this book is a word count that is close to 100k, so I'm right on track.

I've taken very few notes so far.  Usually, I take notes during the writing of the first draft, and then I go back over those notes when doing the second draft.  Very little in the way of additions or modifications has occurred to me this time, though.  That's good, I think.  It means I'm getting better at outlining.  It also means the second draft should take less time to write.

The past week has seen increased action at Barnes & Noble.  After the Bookbub and prior to this last week, I was getting downloads of Clouds of Venus in the 1-4 range per day.  This past week, though, that rate jumped up to 20-40 per day.  I'm very pleased with this development.  Getting traction there will mean I'll have momentum on three retailers instead of just two.  Thanks for your support, Barnes & Noble readers.  :D

I still need to re-write my outlines for books 5-8 of the series, but I've got a pretty good idea of how I want the plot lines and character arcs to wrap up.  If I pull it off, it'll be awesome.  Let's hope I can pull it off.

That's all for now.  Thanks for reading, folks, and thanks for supporting my work.  :)

Health update

Good news for a change.  My neck no longer hurts.  I'm going to assume it was a pulled muscle or tendon or something.  It might have happened while I was sleeping and turned over in bed.  That would explain why I can't pin down when or how it happened.  Anyway, it seems to be over now, so that's good.

I've altered my diet and exercise routine slightly.  As a result, I'm digesting food better than I have in a long time, and I've gone two weeks without a headache.  This is a wonderful trend.  Let's hope it holds.

On the negative side, I accidentally stabbed my eyeball with the edge of my contact lens while trying to put it in.  So I'm stuck with glasses for a couple of days while the cornea heals.  Not the first time this has happened.  It's a minor nuisance, though, not a big deal.  By Saturday, I'll be back to normal.

I've also been battling some sort of itchy outbreak over the past several days.  Some auto-immune response or other, I guess.  It's getting better, though.  I've been taking diphenhydramine (generic version of Benadryl), and that seems to help a little.

I'm actually feeling optimistic about my health for once.  Let's hope this summer proves less sickly than the last one.  :)

Free books!

Clouds of Venus is in a group promotion called Sci-fi Fantastic.  All books are FREE.  The promotion is hosted by StoryOrigin.  Check it out:

Direct link:  https://storyoriginapp.com/to/oExWb4DN

Update

I've been splitting my efforts recently.  I've been working on book 4 of Wheel of Fire, but I also had some ideas for another story, so I've been jotting those down to see if I'm actually on to something.  And I might be.  On to something, that is.  Or not.  My computer is littered with story ideas, most of which will never come to fruition.

Exploring those ideas is necessary, though.  It helps keep my brain fresh.  And no one wants a spoiled brain.

Also, it looks like spring is finally here to stay.  Good riddance to winter.  I do a little bird-watching from time to time, and it's nice to be able to do it outside.

Late April really is a great time of the year.

Ah, the holly

I love the smell of holly flowers in the spring.  It might just be my second favorite flower aroma after Gardenia.  The holly tree here is currently in bloom, and the pollen-collecting buggers are all over it, and it's great to just stand there next to it, breathe deeply, and let the constant drone from the buzzing of insectoid wings lull you into a happy spring trance.

In The Lord of the Rings, the fellowship passes through what used to be the land of Hollin.  The road is lined with ancient holly trees.  Whenever I look at a holly tree, it always reminds me of that scene from my favorite novel.

My neck still hurts, but not as much, so I think I'm getting better rather than worse.  I'm calling it a win.

I'm nearly done with the third page of my outline, so I'm about a quarter of the way done with the draft, I guess.  Rough estimate, of course.  I've been stuck on the same scene for a couple of days, though, and it's driving me nuts.

Starting on the 23rd, and running for about a month, I'll be doing a group promo via StoryOrigin.  I've never used StoryOrigin before, so I don't know what to expect.  But it's free, so there's no downside as far as I'm concerned.

That's all for now.  Thanks for reading, and thanks for supporting my work.  :)

Progress Report

Well, the last several days have not been fun.  First, there was this whole brouhaha with Google Play.  Then I pulled a muscle in my neck.  Then, a couple of days ago, I had a migraine.  I've written very little in the month of April.  The work in progress currently stands at about 17,000 words.

I hope my body settles down over the coming days.  I hope I can move around more and get back to something approaching regular exercise.

On the plus side, I bought a new knife recently, and I like it a lot.  It's a Kershaw--my very first Kershaw--and it replaces a no-name knock-off folder I bought years ago that was on the verge of falling apart.  This is the one I bought.  It feels solid and robust in my hand--it's built like a tank, frankly--and I think it'll last me many years.  My first impressions of Kershaw are very positive.

As for the current book, I'm on page three of my twelve-page outline.

I'm still getting followers and recommendation notices when I log into Bookbub.  It feels really great, especially the recs, because that means the person who downloaded Clouds of Venus actually read it and enjoyed it enough to say so on the internet.

That's all for now.  Thanks for reading, folks, and thanks for supporting my work.

My neck hurts

I think it's a pulled muscle.  At least, I hope that's what it is, because the alternatives are far worse.  I'll assume a pulled muscle until I have reason to think otherwise.

This latest injury has given me a slight drinking problem.  By "drinking problem," I don't mean alcohol.  I mean I sometimes end up with stuff running down my chin.  That's what happens when your neck doesn't work the way it should, because those neck muscles affect the mouth muscles.

On the plus side... well, let's be honest.  There's no plus side.

Progress on the book has slowed to a crawl for several reasons.  I'll try to do better.

Progress has stalled

I've been unproductive lately.  This latest move by Google--and the decisions I've been forced to make--have distracted me, and it's hard to get back in the writing mindset.  It's always something, you know?  The world can't just tick right along in a regular fashion.  It always has to make things exciting.  I don't like exciting.  Like any good hobbit, I like peace and quiet and good tilled earth.

Strange how excitement has a way of finding me nonetheless.  Y'all wouldn't believe some of the things that have happened to me over the course of my life.  I can scarcely believe them myself.

My goals over the next week or so are as follows:

Once I'm sure my books are down from Google Play, I'll attempt to re-publish them to that platform via Draft2Digital.

Assuming I can get my books back on GP via D2D, I'll change the sidebar links to reflect the new locations.  I'll add the new links to my Bookbub Partner dashboard.  I'll add the new links to my StoryOrigin universal book link.

I'll take a look at the other platforms that PublishDrive distributes to and consider making my books available there.  It's a bunch of stores I've never heard of, including some in China, so my expectations for sales at those places is zero.  Anything above zero would be a bonus.  But not all those stores accept English-language books, and at least one only takes children's books, so I'll need to do some homework first.

So there we are.  Nothing ever comes easy.  I'm just doing the best I can.

And now I need to get back to the Wheel of Fire, because there's a war on in that galaxy, and the characters are sort of lost without my explicit direction.

I'm taking my books down from Google Play

I received a notice from PublishDrive recently.  Apparently, Google now requires PD's authors to also have a Google Publisher's account.  I have no interest in that for a variety of reasons, so I've taken my books down.  Or, at least, I've told PD to withdraw them, so it should happen in a matter of hours.

Once I'm sure they're down, I'll put them back up at Google Play via Draft2Digital.  I've already contacted D2D about it, and they told me that Google hasn't made any such demands to them as of yet.

I don't blame PublishDrive for this.  They had little choice in the matter.  This is all Google's fault.

Once the books are live on Google Play again--assuming, of course, that everything goes off without a hitch--then I'll update the links on the sidebar.

First hummingbird

Saw the first hummingbird of the season today.  :D

If you don't have a hummingbird feeder, then you don't know what you're missing.  Those things are fun to watch.  My advice would be to get the kind that has a place for the birds to sit while they drink.

And if you see a praying mantis on a hummingbird feeder, get rid of it.  (The bug, not the feeder.)  Mantises are cool insects, but they also stalk and kill hummingbirds.  Not kidding.