A moment of panic

For some reason, I thought I had a Kobo promotion set to start today.  But I hadn't lowered the price on Amazon.  I was afraid of getting the infamous "nastygram" for having a lower price elsewhere.

Luckily, I had the date wrong.  Crisis averted.

But that just goes to show how scatterbrained I've been ever since the kboards dumpster fire.  I know I shouldn't let it affect me like this, but it was a part of my life for over four years.  I tried to help the others there as best I could.  I offered blurb advice and cover advice.  I even made covers for people.  I was utterly dependable in the Make it Free thread.  I was always congratulating and encouraging others.  I really tried to be an asset to the community.  A positive force for good, you know?

And now it's over.

In other news, I just put all my books on the library service Bibliotheca.  I haven't received the confirmation from D2D yet, so I don't even know if they're live on that site yet.  But they'll be available there sooner or later.  My income expectations for the Bib are low, but maybe it'll put a little change in my pocket.  Can't hurt, right?

Summer surrenders its hold

Then the cold dry wind comes, and the swirl of the brittle corpses of leaves, and the skeletal black branches silhouetted against an angry gray sky, and the sex-crazed deer trying their best to suicide-ambush unwary drivers, and the frenzy of gauche commercialism in expectations of holiday sales that often disappoint, and the gloom and melancholy resulting from too little sunlight on the skin, and the discomfort of obnoxious relatives in too-close proximity, and the scratchy irritation of clothes that are meant to be more warm than comfortable, and the ache of feet that never stop being cold, and noses that run, and eyes that water, and knuckles that chap and bleed, and the mocking sun that is paradoxically too bright yet without warmth, and the rich aroma of hot chocolate that soothes for a moment before being quickly subsumed by the oppressive norms of the season, and the calendar--that hale tormenter!--chiding us at every interaction that there's more yet to come.

But seeing loved ones on holidays, reveling in the joyful faces of laughing children and the kindly faces of caring elders, makes it all worth it.

The majesty of Dune

I've been meaning to re-read Frank Herbert's Dune for a while.  I haven't, though, and I know why.  It's because I'm afraid I won't like it as much as I did when I read it all those years ago.  And I don't want to ruin those fond memories.

Having said that, I'm starting to think that my worries are unfounded.  I've been skimming through some quotes from the book, and the language is just as powerful and majestic as ever.

Here are a few quotes from the masterpiece of science fiction:

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

What do you despise? By this are you truly known.

There is no escape—we pay for the violence of our ancestors.

Try looking into that place where you dare not look! You'll find me there, staring out at you!

Greatness is a transitory experience. It is never consistent. It depends in part upon the myth-making imagination of humankind. The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in. He must reflect what is projected upon him. And he must have a strong sense of the sardonic. This is what uncouples him from belief in his own pretensions. The sardonic is all that permits him to move within himself. Without this quality, even occasional greatness will destroy a man.

Proper teaching is recognized with ease. You can know it without fail because it awakens within you that sensation which tells you this is something you have always known.

The willow submits to the wind and prospers until one day it is many willows - a wall against the wind.

If only I had twelve grand to spare

Then I could get a 20 mm rifle from Anzio.

http://www.anzioironworks.com/MAG-FED-20MM-RIFLE.htm

From the photos, it looks like they do gorgeous work.  And that video with the silencer!  lol  I'll admit that putting a silencer on a 20 mm cannon is not something I would have thought practical.  But American ingenuity always finds new ways to surprise me, it seems.  Major props to Anzio.

The downside to a 20 mm rifle is the paperwork involved.  If I recall correctly, these things are classified as "Destructive Devices," which means extra bureaucracy involved and long wait times.  But if you've got the money to spend on something like this, you can probably afford the patience, too.

Fun fact: Once upon a time, way back in the 1950s, Americans could order 20 mm Solothurns through the mail.  No forms to fill out, no background checks, no nothing.  Just simple mail order like any other product.  You could even pay C.O.D.

That all changed, of course, when the laws changed.  But there was a time when the only limit to your personal arsenal was your wallet.

So how was your week?

These past few days have been a blitz.  There's been a dumpster fire at kboards, in case you haven't heard.  I've been a member there for over four years.  I had over 2500 posts.  And I've spent the past couple of days manually redacting every single comment.  It took many hours and cramped my wrists, but I got it done.

Naturally, I haven't done any writing or revising or anything else I should have been doing instead of trying to manage this crisis.  :(

On the plus side, this situation prompted Timothy Ellis to create a new forum as a replacement, and other than a few technical hiccups, it's going swimmingly.  I'm very optimistic about Writer Sanctum.

I've also joined K'Sennia's forum, the Indieauthorhaven.  Thanks for starting it, K'Sennia!

Now I need to get my head back in the "professional author" game.  I'm still pretty frazzled, so it might take a few days for my brain to settle down, but I'm going to try to plow ahead anyway.

In the meantime, Mr. Wilson is still available for free at My Book Cave, so if you haven't picked up a copy yet, you've got about a week left to do so.

Let's hope this coming week is a lot more boring than the previous one.

Tanyard's Law of Pills

Whenever the instructions on a pill bottle tell you to take two pills per dose, it is inevitable that you will eventually end up with just a single pill left in the bottle.

Magnet promo: one week in

So I'm a week into this My Book Cave magnet promo newsletter builder thing.  I've had 71 downloads of Mr. Wilson so far.  I have no idea if that's good, bad, or average.  This is my first time doing this, and I have no clue what to expect.

No newsletter sign-ups yet.  That's kind of disappointing.  But again, maybe that's typical.  No idea.

Anyway, the story's still available for free at the link for those who want it.  All it requires is an email address.

https://mybookcave.com/g/58bced60/

And you might as well check out the other books, too, while you're there.  All the offerings are free, so there's nothing to lose.