Writing

Too Long Between Publications

Writing

by Richard Flores IV on 2022-05-17 0 Comments

I am starting to feel like a broken record on this blog, but each time I feel genuine in my words. But sometimes a little something comes up that really hits you. Something that sticks in your mind and puts some thing in perspective.

In just a few short weeks, the 10th anniversary of the release of my first novel, Dissolution of Peace will come to pass. I realized this when I was on Facebook’s Memories section and saw that I debuted the Broken Trust trailer eight years ago. That was my third novel. And in eight years, I’ve managed to publish one more novel.

It isn’t just novels, my short story publications have been pretty sporadic as well. And though I have one as recently as 2020, it is coming up on 18 months since that one came out. And the blog hasn’t had a new post in a year. And the odd thing is, none of it feels that long ago.

I have excuses, some of which are valid. My father did pass away in March of 2021. I’ve had a lot going on with my day job. And Factor Four Magazine did relaunch in 2022. But at the end of the day, I just haven’t been on top of my writing like I used to be. And the results are showing through as a publication gap.

And while I was pretty hard on myself about it yesterday, when I came to discover the dates, I am taking a little different look at it a day later. Today I find myself thinking about the things I have done rather than the things I have not done. It has given me a different perspective.

I did bring back a magazine I was very passionate about. I am providing a venue for other writers to sell their high quality flash fiction. I am have always been extremely saddened by having to close Factor Four Magazine, and so relaunching it has been a very crowning achievement coming out of a depression filled 2020 and 2021.

I’ve also taken charge of my time and maximized two passions I enjoy. The first is writing, the second is live streaming over on Twitch. As a result, I finished the first draft of the third book in the Serenity Saga trilogy, and I am now well over 56,000 words into my first fantasy novel. The publishing process is slower than I’d like, but I am making progress nearly every day. And with any luck I can continue to use my Writing with Richard streams to advance through the first round edits, and get these books to beta readers soon. I do need to find a new editor for line edits/copy edits, so let me know if you know someone.

I’ve also continued to shop around six short stories, three of which I wrote in the last two years. And sometimes, when you’re already down on yourself, the rejection cycle can be really hard. But I am also on the other side of this, and I understand that not all stories are rejected because they are bad. And sometimes it just takes time to find the right place for a story.

I think the next step for me is to just keep plugging away. Devote the time I need to make things happen. But also recognize my need to do other things in my life besides work, write, and stream. I need to spend time with the family, read, enjoy TV, movies, and watch hockey. It has to be okay to to do other things and to keep life enjoyable. Because even too much of the things I do enjoy can lead to burn out.

I intend to continue on my writing path, and while I can’t say when the next novels will come out just yet. I can say that I am confident a new one is on the horizon. And what may be next is to include edits and blog posts in my Writing with Richard streams.

I can’t promise what my blog posting schedule will look like. Or even how regular it will be. But what I can say is that I just have to keep trying. And that the schedule has to be mine, and not something that is either too ambitious or being done because I feel I owe it to someone.

And to the new and old fans that have been sticking it out, waiting patiently for something new, and still being happy to support what is already released, I have to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I appreciate your support always.

Stop on by on Twitch one of these days, I’d love to say hello and share in the writing conversation with you all.

The Dreaded Block

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by Richard Flores IV on 2021-08-05 1 Comment

As many of you know I have been doing writing streams over on Twitch for the fast few months with a focus on accomplishing small amounts of writing each day. It has been very successful with regard to ensuring I take time each day to write, but also in socially interacting with fellow writers and fans. Overall it has been a great experience.

I have been working on the third book in The Serenity Saga since we started the Writing with Richard segment on Twitch. We finished last Friday, and it was an emotional experience for me. And while it is only the first draft it marks a major milestone is my fifth novel, and the third (and dare I say last) novel of the series. I’ve spend a lot of time living life with these characters. All around it was fitting to finish it on stream since it was the streaming that inspired me to finally start writing again.

But then came the next concern. What do I write next? What do I do for Writing with Richard now? How will I create more content that is both engaging and gets me to write. Though I have other novel ideas in play, I wanted to focus a bit more on my short form stuff. After all short form is what got me my first publication and inspired me to get my first novel out there.

Monday rolled around and there was a bit of a freak out. My file full of story ideas in nowhere to be found. I jot ideas down in my phone as they hit me, and then add them to a document on my computer with story ideas. And when I went to access that repository I couldn’t find it. They have apparently been lost.

We filled the time on Monday fairly well by discussing cover art and what will come next in getting the novel ready for publication. I’d even looked up some writing prompts to inspire us for Tuesday’s session. On Tuesday I got one of those ideas ready, found the character that was perfect for it, and put together a great flash fiction story that I hope will make it to the pages of the a publication soon.

But Wednesday came along and that was where it all went to shit. It started off alright. I have had the idea of a world in my head. A climate change world that would fit well with a prompt I had found. And I knew I’ve wanted to write this story for some time. But as we got on stream and got ready for the writing session I realized that I didn’t have a character. I needed one in order to make the story work, obviously, but as a character driven writer it felt as though it was all forced. And that was when it hit. The Dreaded Block. Writer’s block.

Nothing I put down felt right. I wrote and deleted and wrote and deleted. It all just felt wrong, forced, and all around trash. It sent me spiraling down from there and I wound up ending the streaming early. I spend my dinner and my evening feeling as though I’d failed, was not good at what I did, and not cut out to be a writer or a streamer.

This isn’t the first time I’ve hit a block in my writing, I think every writer does a number of times. But it was the first time I had in front of other people. It was the first time I felt like I had failed not just myself but others. Of course, all of that is in my own head. But it was tough.

It did leave me reflecting on writing in general and what to do about my block. I took some of my own advice in previous posts and took a step back. I realized that my block was coming from two places. First, I was trying to force myself to write something I wasn’t ready to write. Next, I was feeling a bit frantic over the fact that I’d lost so many story ideas. When you factor that all in with being “on stage” at the time, it all added up to a block.

So as today came around, I thought I’d take the chance to break down the block by instead focusing on writing about what had happened. Writing this blog post, which is being written live on stream, has helped to get the words flowing on stream again.

The pressure I felt to write something was entirely self pressure. The idea that I have to write a few short stories is also entirely self driven. So I realize that I should instead write what I want to write. Which, right now, is another novel length (maybe) idea. So I may bring my focus to that. But today I wanted to write this blog post, so that is what I did.

Writer’s Block isn’t always so easy to break down and I recognize that. I may well find myself stuck again tomorrow or next week. But it helps to have some idea of the cause so that you can root out what you need to do and get back to it. And I am still glad to have these streaming sessions where I can connect with so many people. It was good to spend the first part or today’s session just chatting before diving into this blog.

Sometimes the Dreaded Block just needs time to sink away. Other times you can push it down. But what I want you all to know is that it is normal. It happens to us all. You can get past it.

Separation of Passions

by Richard Flores IV on 2021-01-22 0 Comments

Last weekend I started to explore a new passion of mine. I know it seems like odd timing given my post about setting goals and sticking to them. But I do have a logic around this choice. But it has brought up some questions about separation of the arts we partake in.

Let me start with the… well the start. I have begun streaming on Twitch. You can find me there streaming games I like to play. In the post I referenced above, I mentioned that video games are something I have to set time aside for. So, to me, streaming games offered only a little more time commitment while also allowing me to build up some type of social community.

I have talked about the community that KailelleXD has built on his streaming community in Twitch. I realized it was something I wanted to do, and I realized that I could offer something unique with my perspective and my passions. And I even thought maybe I could mix some writing related streams into the mix.

But there in lies the question, and the topic of this post. Should my Streaming aliases by separate from my writing and publishing? Should I have a separate Twitch social media platforms from my writing platforms? What are the advantages to separate and what are the advantages to linked?

Right now I am keeping them together. I had two Twitters when I ran Factor Four Magazine and it was tough to manage two of them. I also am not sure if I want to set up another Facebook page, as they are terrible at presenting information to followers anyway (unless you pay). And finally, the idea of a second YouTube for highlights seems silly.

Starting with the YouTube, I honestly don’t use it much for writing so that could easily become a streaming showcase. But I do eventually want to go back to doing readings, vlogs, and Q&A sessions. All things I intend to do on Twitch, eventually, for a live audience. I have seen artists using Twitch to showcase the art process, and I wonder if writing can’t cross into that realm.

Writing is less visual than the visual arts… obviously. But couldn’t there be a chance to do something fun with readings and other interactions. My thought is like convention panels, but virtual, and one time. If 2020 showed us anything, there is an opportunity to do things virtually.

Twitter on the other hand has been very writing and publishing focused. So I have been almost feeling like I am crossing a line by posing Twitch content. The other side of this argument with myself says it is my Twitter and I can do whatever I want on it. And obviously there is an opportunity to build an audience that may cross over with each other. I certainly have noticed a videogame fandom and Science Fiction fandom overlap.

This website and the blog have always been writing focused, and I am not sure that I will dive too deep into the streaming world on here other than to briefly mention it. But I am not sure I want to create another website for myself that is around streaming. Besides the Twitch site capture about all I need from a streaming site.

Facebook, well they are useless for promoting the artist and content creator anyway, so that’s not a real concern. But there is a new factor to consider. Discord. Discord is really popular in the streaming world and I see a huge value in the writing world to create writers groups within it. I thought about creating a discord for Factor Four Magazine before I closed it.

The final factor is that so many people within the Twitch community stream behind aliases. I have one too. This is a lot for the same reasons as writers use a pen name. I don’t write under a pen name, and so if I combine the social presence it will be easy to determine who I am in real life.

However, the way I see it, since I am already out there in this community what would be the difference. And my Twitch alias is something I’ve used for years. In the end if someone wanted to know who I was, they’d find out.

Overall, I don’t have an answer yet. But I feel like I need to get to an idea very soon. If you have any input, thoughts, or ideas please let me know because I want to know what you think.

Breaking the Habits

Writing

by Richard Flores IV on 2021-01-15 1 Comment

You can probably search the internet and find plenty articles about the good habits that a writer needs to have. You can probably even find some blockbuster (writer’s block busting that is) ideas to get you writing in ways you never thought possible. Maybe you even found this post in one of those searches.

But what happens when you have habits that are interfering with your ability to start new habits? In this case, the habit of writing regularly. As they say, “Old habits die hard.” But why is that? What makes us stick to our old ways over the new? Even if we enjoy the new, we tend to fall back into the past way of doing things.

I’ve read articles that say a lack of passion or a lack of dedication are to blame for this. They’ll tell you that if you want something you need to be dedicated, and if you’re not achieving it you must not be dedicated enough. Your passions are misplaced.

BULLSHIT!

These people make you feel as though you’re not good enough. You must not really be the writer you thought you were. Worse of all, they offer little more advice than to pull yourself up and get it done. And after a number of years of feeling in a slump with my writing I realize there is little truth to the idea that I lack passion or dedication to the desire to write and be a writer.

So I thought I would take a moment to offer my perspective and how I am working to get myself back on track and break down my old habits. Will it work for you? I promise nothing.

First, identify what it is you wish to achieve. This may sound simple, but don’t make it about a large goal. Make it about a simple solution. Rather than, I want to write 10 novels this year. Think, I want to write X minutes a day. You may think, I want to market myself more. But instead think, I will dedicate one hour twice a week to self promotion.

Next is recognition that you’re not achieving what you want to accomplish. Time gets away from us all and it can be very hard to recognize your missing opportunities to improve. Don’t confuse this with procrastination, which is actively putting things off. When you say I want to write X minutes a day, it can be easy and the end of the night to not even realize you didn’t accomplish the goal. You didn’t intend to miss out, you didn’t even notice, but it still keeps happening. The problem is, one day turns to one week, turns to one month, and next you know, nothing you hoped for was done.

Now that you know what you want, and you recognize you are not achieving it, take a look at what it is that is keeping you from doing it. What takes up your time and keeps you from that goal? Identify the pitfalls, but also recognize what you have no control over. Don’t expect to change things you can’t change. You won’ t ever be successful if you do that. But what you can look at is your other obligations, and see if there is a balance. You can even find some you’d rather not do anymore and work towards elimination of those roadblocks.

Now for that difficult part, the breaking of the habits. What are things you do that take up time that you could be working on your goal of writing? What are some mental habits you have that prevent you from getting started? What isn’t needed in your day? Be realistic with yourself. Don’t say you’ll make the kids eat PB sandwiches for dinner every day so you don’t have to waste time cooking. But instead evaluate other areas you use your time. Especially those where you lose track of time.

There is no magic trick for making bad habits go away, and there is no way to magically get rid of those things you’re doing instead of your goal. But once you see what you’re doing rather than getting your dreams done, you can tell where to start. Humans are species of comfort and habits make us feel comforted. It may not be daily habit, but a response habit to a stimuli.

I spend most of the last quarter of 2020 looking at this and trying to determine why I wasn’t writing. My goal was to write more. But that was too grand. Some days words just won’t come out. Other times the day just gets away from me. So I broke it down further. I just want to write more. Still not well defined. So I broke it down to, I want to dedicate time to writing.

I recognized why I wasn’t achieving that goal despite wanting to do it. First, I was depressed, and feeling a bit disgraced, from the closure of Factor Four Magazine so I retreated, subconsciously, away from writing and reading Science Fiction. But also, I was filling my time with scrolling Facebook, again and again and again. Seeing nothing new, but still doing it. I realized that was because of the lack of social connections I was feeling. And finally, I filled my time with video games, something I enjoyed. That was all in addition to my obligations to work, feed my family, help run the home, and getting my kids to their respective events.

I realized that if I dedicated 2 hours, between when I get off work until when I need to start cooking, to writing projects, I could accomplish more writing. But I worried about those days my wife wasn’t at work I’d rather spend the time with her. She has a preference to gaming. So I scaled my goal back a bit more. On the days she was working, I’d dedicate the 2 hours to writing. On her days off, I could use the time to game. I also didn’t want to eliminate gaming from my routine on any day because I enjoy it. So after dinner, on any day, is dedicated to free time until 9 pm. This allows me the time to game, or scroll Facebook.

At 9 PM it is time to wind down for bed. And so I dedicate the last two hours of my day to reading a book. One, I recognized I wasn’t reading enough to be happy. Two, I know how well writing and reading go hand in hand. And three, it allowed me the chance unwind in a way that is conducive to better sleep in comparison to checking my phone.

By putting this into a schedule I created some definition around my day. By piggybacking off of a required schedule (my work day) it was easy to transition from one into the next. And my wife calls me on her way home from work, giving me the perfect stopping point to begin working on cooking dinner. It creates the definition I needed to get started. And I already find myself running over from time to time.

Now the trick is not to fall into old habits. I caught myself scrolling Facebook during reading time just the other day. And it wasn’t until I was going to bed that I realized I never started the next book on my “to read” list. Don’t beat yourself up, recognize the need to fix it and try again the next day.

I have this weird idea that everything needs to start on a Sunday or Monday. So when I’d mess up on Monday, I’d think. I’ll just start it next week. Well, then I’d never get it done. This is another reason why I went with my wife’s schedule to start. She works a rotating schedule, so it didn’t have to by Monday to start.

I am still working hard to break the old habits. Today work ran late and I thought about skipping out on writing. Instead I realized I could write this blog post and still accomplish the need to work on writing related stuff. But I just as nearly said I didn’t have time and chose to walk away. It took the conscious effort to work out a solution. Dinner became chicken strips and fries, so I could throw them in the oven and finish this post up.

I hope this process helps you some along your path to achieve your goals. And I hope that it works for me. What are some of the tips and tricks you use to stay on point with your goals? Share them in the blog comments. I want to hear them!

Writing Updates!

Writing

by Richard Flores IV on 2020-07-03 0 Comments

I am hoping once a month to provide you all with some writing updates about things I am working on currently. This week the focus has been on submitting some stale manuscripts and starting up my writing again.

For those that don’t know. I choose to self publish my novels, with my short stories going out to various markets. This is a personal choice, and one I have discussed in past blogs. That isn’t to say I wouldn’t love to find a novel publisher and/or agent some day, but I am content with it being what it is.

Submissions

I have four short stories ready for publication right now. They are all flash fiction stories.

The first is a 633 word story called “Corporate America”. It was rejected once this week, but is already at another publication for reivew.

The second is a 1030 word story called “Diana’s Homework”. It too was rejected already this week and is off to another market.

The third is a 849 word story called “Possession of a Controlled Intelligence”. It is currently out at a market.

The fourth is a 878 word story called “Recruiter”. It is currently out at market.

So in my first week back to publishing I have 4 stories out to market with 6 total submissions, 2 rejections and 4 pending responses.

That already puts my count way ahead of all of 2019, because I didn’t submit anything that year.

In the first part of August I will give all the updates for my first month of submitting!

I thought when I got going on writing again, I’d focus on short story. Something in that 3 to 5k range. But as it would have it, I decided to jump right into a novel project that I’d started some time ago.

I am working on the third book in the Serenity Saga. I must admit I think I have been a little hesitant to write this one because it represents an end. I’ve always planned the series to be three books long, even when I wrote the original rough manuscript ages ago. I hate endings. And I love these characters. So I think I have just been stalling for the inevitable.

But I put over 5,000 words down in two days and I plan to write more over the long holiday weekend. This puts the word count right now at just short of 13,000 words as I type this blog post. (I do plan to get more in there between now and when this publishes).

It is good to be in the minds of Janice, Mike, Christina, and Francesca again. And I am already enjoying laying out the journey in front of them. I am a pantser, I can’t stand to plot, but with a three book series there has always been some plan in play.

It is a little baffling to me to think that their whole story started with a rough manuscript written in 2005-2006. This was before I ever took the idea of being a writer past putting this story down. It wasn’t until 2011, when I had a short story published, that I kicked the dust off that draft and essentially rewrote the novel.

And in October 2012, Dissolution of Peace was released. I can’t believe 8 years has passed since Captain Serenity’s story was brought out to the public.

The sequel, Illusion of Victory, didn’t come until 2017, three years ago this month. And for the first time, as I finished the sequel, I already knew the title of the third book. Revelation of Secrets.

I can’t wait to share this story with all of you. I can’t make any promise of a release date yet, way too early for that. I’ve been asked if this book will really be the last we see of these characters. I don’t know that for sure, but what I do know is that this book fully intends to wrap up the story line.

I will keep you all updated on my writing. Undoubtedly, as the mood strikes me, I will put together a few more short stories. I have a few ideas running around in my head. Some additional novel ideas as well, but those will wait for Revelation of Secrets to be written.

I hope you have a happy 4th of July. Be safe.

New Year, New Me… in June

by Richard Flores IV on 2020-06-27 0 Comments

I think we all know by now that 2020 is just all types of fucked up. So I don’t see any reason just to hit the reset button on a number of things both personally and a professionally. It is time to pull out of this deep dive and get back on course. And no better time than now.

The year started off bad for me. Closing Factor Four Magazine was pretty hard on me. I was already in a creative slump with my personal writing, but when I lost the magazine it was kind of an end game for me. And that decision was made at the very end of 2019. Not the best way to close out a year and start another one.

The depression was real, but I made myself a couple of promises entering into 2020. Some plans to keep the depression at bay and to refocus myself and my life. The end goal was to return to my own creative spirit.

The first was that I’d run a 5K by the end of the year. I’d start my None to Run program in April with a hopes to be ready by summer for my first 5k. It is a 12 week program so I planned to be ready by the end of June.

The second was to make an effort to stay connected with my best friend by seeing her at least once per month. We used to work together and I saw her 5 days a week. When I changed jobs in 2017, that stopped and it wasn’t easy for me. I have a phobia of messaging people out of the blue, let alone inviting them out. I worry I seem clingy, needy, overreaching, and maybe even a pest. I never think that people think as high of me as I do of them. And I figured if I committed to one outing a month with her, I’d start to break down some of those walls. My job offers very little social interaction now, and I need the interaction despite my inability to break the ice.

Well, as we all know, COVID is a son-of-a-bitch. Working from home, everything is closed, and the general fear of the unknown all came slamming at us all early in the year. My wife is an essential worker and has to go to work every day. I used to work one day a week at home, and five days a week seemed great. No commute, even though I just bought a new car for a more comfortable commute, seemed like ideal.

But as weeks went by it becomes obvious the impact it has on you to be at home all the time. I worked in my home’s “media room” and after awhile, working in there meant I didn’t was to be there after work hours. Which meant I didn’t want to do some of my favorite things like gaming and watching movies.

Of course, there was no way I was able to see my friend once a month and that goal was shot. It was a real bummer for me and kind of made me feel like I had nowhere to turn anymore.

My son’s hockey team was making a playoff run and that was canceled. I lost the interaction with my fellow hockey moms, which was a fun source of social interaction while enjoying my son’s hockey.

I was able to start my None to Run program early, but around week 9 my knee was injured and that put it on pause to heal. And I still really haven’t picked it back up yet. The lost momentum is more to blame than any injury now.

*One of my first weeks on the None to Run program*

In general life just seemed to be on pause.

I did decided to start a long needed home project. To take one of the really large rooms and create an office. Where once was my son’s really large bedroom and a tiny utility room, would now be a place for me to work that was separate from the other areas of the house. My wife and I decided it was a good use of the time and stimulus money. Plus we needed to fix some unsafe electrical work.

My Son’s Room Before
The Small Utility Room that I wanted to make an office.
“Heal the World” seems fitting to find this under the floors in a COVID project.

That project was longer, harder, and more costly than I expected. It drained my savings (which is a new source of stress) and took a lot of hard work. We added Ethernet and coax to the entire house and made the electrical safe again. It took two months to complete, though it felt like ages.

The New Office
The New Office!
My Son’s Room After.

But this week I was finally able to work in the new office space and it has me suddenly inspired. It feels like a space to create, build, and relax. And despite working in it all day, I am quick to switch from the work laptop to mine at the end of the day and start creating.

Add that, my middle son, who is quickly becoming a very avid reader, has started to read my books as well. And talking books with him has been enjoyable. This combination has lead to a sort of “ah-ha” moment.

So this week I fired up my personal laptop for the first time in months. It took ages to power on and update. But once it was ready I needed to get the creative juices flowing. And I knew where to start.

I was right here at this website. I needed to bring the old blog over to the website for a more seamless experience. And I needed a website I could update easily. And so I’ve spent my week working on this website and I’ve decided I need to make some other promises to myself.

Ultimately I need to hold myself accountable, but I also hope that by sharing the journey with my friends, family, and supporters you can help me.

Here is what I need to do:

Get physical. Run again. Both my job and my hobbies are sedentary, and I need to change that.
- Starting Monday I will go back to my three day a week regiment working to get myself back up to Week 9 conditioning for None to Run.
- I will commit two days a week to injury prevention training.
- I will find a strength training regiment that works for me.
- I will get at least a Virtual 5k in this year.
- I will find other group physical activities that I enjoy.
Read again. I need to read, I love to read, but somehow I never make time.
- I’ve set a low goal of 8 books for the rest of the year.
- My website as a currently reading section on the left, watch it to be sure I am reading like I should.
- Rather than spending hours scrolling my phone, I’ll set aside a minimum of an hour most days to read before bed.
Write again. Oh how this one seems to be obvious, but also the most difficult.
- I am going to get back into my once a week blog habit. When I blog regularly, I always wanted to write more.
- I will go into the short stories folder of my remote drive, and get them submitted to places. Sure, I’d love to be paid for them but more importantly I just want to get them out there. Move on from them.
- Set to work writing the third book in The Serenity Saga. It is overdue and needs to be brought to life.
- Remain active on Twitter so I can stay connected with my writer audience and they can hold me to my progress on these goals.
Work out some ways to be more social despite trying to remain safe and healthy.
- I have to work out a way to communicate with my friends and push aside the feeling that I am being bothersome.
- Undoubtedly some of my friends will be reading this. Their support will be helpful in bridging the gap when I am too scared to do so.
- Maybe a once a month video call with a few of my friends isn’t too much to ask after all. Maybe I can figure that out someway.
This one is the least measurable and probably the hardest one to obtain. But I really want to return to publishing in some form.
- I don’t know what that looks like.
- I should allow myself to continue to think of ideas.
- Valid ideas should be fleshed out to see if they are possible. If they aren’t move on, if they are explore it.

So there you have it. It is a new year, new me… in June. I hope you’ll subscribe/follow this blog. Follow along on Twitter. And most of all, I hope you find your own ways to maintain your mental health during this unusual time. Please share you comments, thoughts, experiences, and tips below. I’d love to learn from you!

Where have you been?

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by Richard Flores IV on 2014-08-24 0 Comments

I know I have been a really bad host lately. I keep inviting people to the party, but then I never show up. I’ve been less than active on this blog and not very active on social media either. So what has been going on?

Well, I’ve been a bit down about things. I have not felt very validated as an author and have been in one of those self induced moods where I hide from the world. But, I’ve come back out from my cave, and I didn’t see my shadow. So I think that means I am able to break down this barrier and start working on what I enjoy. And to start, I put out this blog post.

So what have I been up to?

DetCon1

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Well, lets start with the biggest of things that kept me away. And that is DetCon1. Most of you know how excited I was about being part of the participants for this great convention. And it was really a good time. I got to meet some great people, break down my fear of reading in public, and even got a few great compliments.

One of the things that was so cool was I got to meet, and for just a little bit, talk with John Picacio. He is one of my all time favorite artists and we talked for brief moment before he was off to do more Guest of Honor stuff. But, he happened to know who I was. We’ve interacted a few times on Twitter, and I guess he seemed to remember me from there. I also attended some of his panels, including one where he broke down how he did “Girl with Microphone”, which is one of my favorite art pieces (bottom left of the picture below is my print copy which I won at the art show!).

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I also spoke to Neil Clarke of Clarkesworld at some length after one of his panels (the day before we sat on a panel together). Clarkesworld, and Neil, have been a great inspiration to my work on Plasma Frequency. And Neil was very much aware of my publication and I was so pleased to know that. He also shared some great insight with me into his own experience in the business and I was quite surprised by things I learned from him. Needless to say, it made me feel as if Plasma Frequency was doing some good in the Science Fiction short market world and I can’t wait to push forward.

Photo by Al Bogdan

I also had a panelist on my first panel tell me that I had a “Stephen King vibe” to me. I took that to be a compliment and he seemed genuinely surprised that I had not hear this before. Perhaps that means that I am good on these panels and can be invited back for more. I don’t believe I have signed up for WorldCon in Spokane, so I better do that now.

I had a big fear of reading in public. I am not the best out-loud reader and I notice if more and more as I get older. I stubble over words when I read out-loud to the kids. So I was really worried. I did have a reading, but it was late and not many people showed up. I went last, and many people walked out during my reading. I don’t know if that was from boredom or from it being close to the end of the panel. I hope it was the later.

Plasma Frequency

Oh, this magazine of mine. It is always on the list of things that keep me from writing, but that is a good thing. We are starting year 3 with the publication of Issue 13 on September 5th. We are making some changes to the publication this year. And just like last year we are letting our readers choose half the stories we publish in the Year 2 Anthology. You can vote on those here: LINK.

We really need the support of our readers if we hope to continue. So we are also asking for your ideas and thoughts in our survey that is just before the story voting. We are also asking you to pick the cover artist for the anthology. So if you have read Plasma Frequency at all, please go complete the survey.

A Day Job

So I got one of those again. Which is good because I was out of a good paying job for sometime. But I have one that pays pretty good now. I am still in physical security. The job is boring, has lots of down time, and the hours really suck. But, I did finally get a laptop this last week. So I can now make use of the down time. Can’t do much about the bad hours right now. It is just hard on family time, especially once the kids are back in school. But, I will make use of the downtime to get things done that need to get done.

A new cover for Volition Agent

So, I finally decided I needed to do something about the cover for Volition Agent. The original cover wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t enticing buyers either. So I had Rebecca Treadway at ATRTink redo the cover. What do you think? I think it is awesome while still using the model and photographer that worked so hard to get me the first cover. Also, you can now get Volition Agent on Kindle for just 99 cents. So go pick up a copy here: LINK

Family Time

So I touched on this when I mentioned the new job. It has meant that when I am off work, I am spending time with the family. This is because I know that time won’t be around when all three kids are in school on my days off and I don’t see them. Especially since I work 18 of my 40 hours on Saturday and Sunday. So I have been spending the time with them exploring Washington state, our new home state.

My Health

My health hasn’t been so good as of late. I am thinking my gallbladder is acting up. I was in a lot of pain off and on while at DetCon1 and lost 10 pounds in the week I was gone. Which is odd, considering you don’t typically lose weight on a vacation. I can’t see a doctor until 2015, unless something changes and I can get insurance before then. That is a long story. But I have to have them run a whole series of tests on me, because I am also dealing with some other issues health wise. All in all I need to make sure I take care of myself.

Feelings of Failing

I touched on this at the start of this blog. I can’t help but feel as though I am failing at doing what I love. Writing is so much fun to me, but I am just not getting the attention of readers. I recently discovered that none of my books have even broke even. And that is a bit of a sad fact of being a self-published author. And when you feel like you are failing is can be difficult to motivate yourself to write. So while I have a whole list above of valid reasons that kept me from writing. This funk is the real reason. The rest are just excuses.

So what is coming next?

Well, finally adding a laptop to the equation should help me get back into the swing of things. I will be able to get more writing and Plasma Frequency business done when I am away from home. And that is a huge plus. It also means I will be able to finally start putting words down on the sequel to Dissolution of Peace, which is starting to be on pace to be a lot longer of a novel than the original is. I am still trying to think of a good series title for this series. Any ideas from my readers?

I am trying to keep my chin up. DetCon1 was a huge boost to that. I think once the kids are back in school, and before the Washington rain hits, I’ll take this laptop out to one of the great state parks here and use nature as my inspiration to start putting the letters on the page again. In the meantime, I think this blog post is a good re-connection with the writing world and I’m ready to get things rolling again.

DetCon1 is Coming Fast!

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by Richard Flores IV on 2014-07-01 0 Comments

If you follow me on on Facebook and Twitter, you no doubt have heard me mention DetCon1. You may have even gathered that I am pretty excited about this. And, it is just over two weeks away!

What is DetCon1?

The simple answer is the DetCon1 is the North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFiC). But for those, like I used to be, who are not sure what that means, let me clarify. WorldCon, to me, is the grand daddy of all Science Fiction conventions. Well, when WorldCon is going to be outside North America (this year it is in London), there is also a NASFiC.

This year, DetCon1 is being held in Detroit at the Marriott Renaissance Center from July 17-20th. If you have not thought about going, it is not too late. I strongly encourage any author, publisher, or fan of Science Fiction to attend.

Why should I go?

Last year I finally made it to my first convention. I went to Lone Star Con 3, last year’s WorldCon. I figured I’d go big or go home. And let me tell you, I was not disappointed. I walked away with a wealth of knowledge for my writing, my business, and my reading list. It was an entire weekend of fun and it cost me almost nothing. A small membership fee (way less than $100), hotel and a flight. But the things I learned made it all worth it.

Anyway, I made up my mind that I was going to go to every WorldCon I could attend. There are two reasons this is a good idea. First, it makes me get away once a year. Second, WorldCon always moves around. Thus making it a great way to see new places. I really loved San Antonio, and I would never have thought to go there if it wasn’t for the WorldCon.

Well, as I mentioned above, this year it is in London. And my move to Washington made it just financially impossible to go. But even if you are going to London this year, you should also go to Detroit. The conventions are at different times, just so those that can attend both have that ability.

But here is why you should go:

Panels: DetCon1 will have four days full of panels. What are panels? A group, typically 2-6 people, discuss a assigned topic for about an hour. The topics at DetCon1 are very vast. They range from Literary to Scientific, Music and Art, and on and on. You get to hear experts, novices, publishers, artists, doctors, and other qualified individuals discuss these topics and offer their advice. Sometimes, if time permits, you even get to ask a few questions. And many panelists are willing to talk to you after the panel, if their schedule permits.

I went to so many panels at WorldCon. And one thing I knew I wanted to do was to speak on a panel. Why? Well, like this blog, I like to help people, and I do that with my ideas and thoughts. Panels are a great way for me to share those. And, I applied to be a panelist at DetCon1 and they said yes! (more on that soon).

Workshops: Where panels are more of a one way communication, a lot like a lecture, workshops are more of a two way street. You work with others to develop a certain skill or item. There are a number of these and they vary in type and style. While you learn a ton of stuff from panels, you practice a lot in Workshops. These are often intense periods since time is limited. But I love the fast learning method.

Film Festival: I wish I had known about these earlier when I was at Lone Star Con, because I missed some good ones. Film Festivals show short films made by talented folks. The one I attended showed ten different short films in about an hour and half. They were amazing! This is a great way to take a break from the hustle of the convention and see some excellent media art.

Art Show: I could have gone broke at the Lone Star Con art show. And Detroit has some awesome artists. The Artist guest of honor is one of my favorites, John Picacio. My hope is to get a chance to meet him and maybe (finances permitting) pick up something of his. But even if you can only look, I can assure you you will fall in love with the art at the convention.

Kids Programs: This year I am going alone. But last year I went with my whole family and the Kids programming was a life saver for my young kids. DetCon1’s programming appears to be the same way. Kids can only take so much adult stuff before they go nuts. Kids programming is built just for them and includes a number of crafts.

Dealers: Merchants of as much variety as you can imagine come to the convention to show and sell their stuff. Of course you won’t leave without a book or two, but there are also shirts, comics, patches, jewelry, and other great things to buy. I don’t know what dealers will be at DetCon1, but my wallet is already opening.

Also, I discovered some great writers by browsing the Dealer room. The books are excellent and I wound up grabbing a few new names because that was the point. To experience something new.

So much more: Exhibits, Parties, Masquerade, Gaming, and so much more. DetCon1 is certain to have some great exhibits to check out. I missed the Masquerade at Lone Star, so I hope to attend this one (but I have a busy schedule already). I also missed out on a lot of parties last time. I didn’t find out about them until late Saturday. So I hope that I can attend a lot more this time.

So you see, there are more than enough reasons to to go to DetCon1. You can register online for the full four days for just $75 for adults, $25 for kids (4 and under are free!). So if you can get to Detroit, you see the value is there. Not sure if you want to register online, you can do so at the door too. They also have one day memberships that vary in price based on the day. So please, go check it out!

I almost forgot the biggest reason you all should go!

I’ll be there. I applied to be a participant this year, and was so honored when the programming staff selected me as one of their participants. I am even more honored by how many panels they have have assigned me to. So it would be great if a few of my fans, and fans of Plasma Frequency could come out and see me.

Please note, the below list of panels is not final. Although the programming staff say it is “done” (their quotes, not mine), these things are always subject to change. You’ll want to check the program when you check in.

Of course when I am not on a panel I will be attending them, and also I will be around looking at all there is to see.

So here is where they have me scheduled (*again subject to change so check the final program).

THURSDAY (17th)

The Very First Thing: Story Titles

Description: How do writers choose story titles? What makes a good title? Who gets to decide what the title will be? And which comes first, the story or the title?

My thoughts: I am lousy at titles, and I have had to adapt to that failing. So I hope to get a chance to discuss how I break down my title block and finally put a title on my stories.

Time: 7pm in the Nicolet A Room*

FRIDAY (18th)

Iron Author Detroit – Late Night Edition

Description: Watch four authors compete for the title of Iron Author Detroit! Witness their efforts at turning the Mystery Ingredient Word into an SF/F short story in five minutes or less. Judge the resulting tales through the magic of the Audience Applause-O-Meter. Who will reign supreme?

My thoughts: I am the Moderator or Emcee for this one. I am excited about this one too. I love short fiction, which is why I publish them. So, getting to see four authors write a story in five minutes or less… oh man this is going to be great.

Time: 10pm in the Nicolet B Room*

SATURDAY (19th)

What am I Looking For?

Description: Agents and editors talk about the sorts of projects that interest them individually and answer general publishing questions.

My Thoughts: I am so honored and so excited for this panel. Obviously I will be representing Plasma Frequency on this panel. But,as of right now the other panelists are Diana Pho of Tor books, Kate Baker and Neil Clarke of Clarkesworld, and Sam Morgan who is an Agent. Now, Clarkesworld has always been a publication I have admired and has been what I aspired for by opening Plasma Frequency. So to sit on a panel with Neil Clarke and Kate Baker. Man, I really hope they are there and that aspect doesn’t change. However, I am also excited to represent the semi-pro market on this panel. This is a good one to attend if you’ve wanted to know what it is we are publishing and why.

Time: 1pm in the Mackinac East room*

+/- a Shirt: Starting a Business

Description: How to lose your shirt (or maybe get rich) in starting a business.

My Thoughts: This one wasn’t on my initial itinerary, but I am glad they added me. Plasma Spyglass, my company, is my second business. So I am excited to talk about what I learned from my first failure, and what I know from Plasma Spyglass to be successful.

Time: 3:00pm in the Ambassador Salon 1*

Reading: Flores/Haynes/O’Riordan

Description: Richard Flores IV, Michael Haynes, and Daniel O’Riordan read from their work.

My Thoughts: Of all the items on my list, this one I am the most nervous about. I don’t know which novel I will read from, but I am leaning towards my most recent one, Broken Trust. Readings are a great way to hear a book in the author’s voice. That was how I discovered the Split Worlds Series by Emma Newman.

Time: 6pm in the Joliet A room*

SUNDAY (20th)

Hobbies as Research

Description: The best way to write about something is by attempting to do it. But the problem with doing this is that it can be easy to let the research take over the story. How do we balance the story with the fun factoids and tidbits we learn while doing things we plan to incorporate into our novels? How does doing it ourselves lend authenticity and credibility to the story?

My Thoughts: This is a subject about balance. Obviously research is a big part of writing. But knowing what parts to share and what to leave out is a difficult thing. This will be a great knowledge builder for new and experienced writers.

Time: 11:00am in the Mackinac East room*

*Remember these are the times and rooms as they are scheduled today. DetCon1 can change these, so please check your programs. And please come see me.

I Call BullSh*t: Social Media Marketing is Easy

by Richard Flores IV on 2014-04-08 1 Comment

I’ve decided to start a new regular post call “I Call Bullshit”. In these articles I will take common themes, rules, myths, and legends about writing and publishing, and I will call out the bullshit behind all of them. Call me the Mythbuster of the writing world. Unless that violates some copyright, then just call me Richard.

Anyway, one of my favorite sayings is, “I call bullshit.” Why? It has so much more of a punch than, “I don’t think that is true. ”

This time around I tackle the myth that Social Media marketing is easy. You wouldn’t believe how much I heard this starting out as a business owner, and now as a writer. And on the surface it sounds easy.

Here are some of the things I have heard:

All you have to do is post a lot and people will follow you and buy your products.

Once you have followers, the word will get out about your projects.

If you write engaging articles, people will continue to read your blog.

Getting followers is easy.

Well, I call bullshit.

I am not a social media expert, and I think anyone who claims to be an expert better have some concrete evidence to this title. But, I have used social media for my old security business. And I currently use if for my writing, and for Plasma Frequency. I am constantly on social media, not just for business but for personal use too.

First, simply posting doesn’t attract followers. You have to post things that either engage your audience or entertains them. And you have to get them to like it enough to share (or ReTweet or ReBlog) it to their followers. And it has to be good enough that their followers than choose to follow you. This can be excellent articles, a hilarious Tweet, information that your audience might enjoy, or anything like that.

Again, that sounds easy, but it isn’t. Lets look at my author account on Twitter. I’ve been on Twitter for going on three years. Not a long time, but I have almost 4,000 tweets in that time. Or, roughly four tweets a day. That doesn’t sound like a lot and compared to others, I am a novice. But, even still I can only think of maybe twenty tweets that actually gained mass popularity and directly resulted in adding one or two follower. I know of only three tweets that directly brought on 10 or more followers.

Now, my blog on the other hand does tend to attract more followers with each post. I usually get one follower for every three to four posts I make. But, I have had some posts, such as my self publish one, that brought on a ton of followers. And my articles on writing tend to draw more attention that my promotional posts (I’m getting to that).

I haven’t had a a follower of Facebook is ages. Facebook is becoming the vast wasteland of social media marketing. And I will get to that soon.

Now, posts resulting in purchases…. I hate to tell you this. But I can not account a single sale on any product to Social Media posts. Not one. For one reason it is hard to measure that. I am sure people see my book is out and go buy it. But my guess is most of those people were going to buy it anyway because they know me, or know my work. They just needed the reminder it was out now. But, how many people have read this blog and decided they wanted to buy my book? There is no way to really know that.

I will say, as a big time consumer of books, I have never seen a promotional post by an author I didn’t know and decided to buy it. My promotional post I mean “Here is my book link. Please go buy it.” Followed by a link. Any why not? Well that is a lot like a hard sale. Imagine walking into the car dealership, which is already a hard sell location, and the first think the salesman said to you was, “Here is a car, please buy it.” You probably would leave. And I doubt you would buy the car, you know nothing about it.

The same is true in social media. You need to get people to buy your books because they like what you have to say. That means they like what you post on your blog, the Tweets you post, the Facebook things you share. And then, only every now and then, you give them a reminder that you have a book out. Or you integrate reminders through out your posts. I often reference my books and my magazine in posts. But not in a “Buy me now” way, but in an example or a causal reference. Like product placement on TV.

And that takes a lot of work. I go back through my blog posts to add these links you see. I have to constantly update my website and blog to show relevant books. And even still those only result on a few clicks.

Promotional posts are not outlawed. There are several promotional rules out there. Some say the one-in-three rule, or the one-in-five rule. I personally use the one-in-ten rule. That is that one in ten of my tweets or Facebook posts are promotional. Now, that doesn’t mean that I count my tweets. It is a general rule of thumb.

Lets say you are lucky to have a vast amount of followers. I certainly don’t. But maybe you are lucky. You may actually be unlucky. Here is why:

Facebook has stacked the deck against authors, especially broke ones. It is a game of percentages. Not all those people will see your posts. Not even half of them will. Not even a quarter of them, unless of course you pay for that. Promote your post and it will pop up everywhere and to everyone, even people not following you. But it comes at a price. Of my last few posts on my Author Page, only 2.5% to 8% of my followers saw the posts I made. On Plasma Frequency’s page it was a bit better, 9% to 41%. Note, the 41% was on those posts that were shared by others (like when an new issue releases and all the authors share).

So here lies the problem with Facebook: Getting Followers, and getting those followers to see what you post. The solution, and the only one I know of, is to pay Facebook.

But I am a small press that doesn’t make a profit. My books are not making a profit yet either. I am unemployed, trying to make a living off of writing. I don’t have “extra” money to pitch into a Facebook campaign. And even if I did, a little research will show you that there are plenty of people who didn’t get much for their money. And what would I have to pay to get all my posts seen all the time? My wallet just started crying at the thought of it.

You may be thinking Twitter is the way to go. Sorry, to tell you that simply being free has not solved the problem. Getting followers can be easy. Follow a shit-load of people and so many will follow you back. Then, I know people who go back and unfollow all the people who don’ follow back… I call bullshit on that too, but that is another topic.

Anyway, I see people with 5k followers and following 5k people. I follow 400 people on my account. When I go on Facebook, I can go back for an entire day and read all the post from a day. Maybe it would take an hour, or two tops. Go on Twitter, I can read Tweets for four hours, and only get about 3 hours down my timeline. There are so many people out there shouting on Twitter that things get lost. Some of my favorite Tweeters are constantly missed by me. I find myself skimming over my timeline and bypassing any tweet with a link in it. Anything that sounds like “buy me”.

And that got me thinking. If I am doing that with 400 people, what is the person who follows me with 5k other people they are following. I can guarantee they are not reading Tweets by a small time author with sarcastic humor. So while Facebook will tell you that they are not showing your posts to everyone. Twitter is showing it to everyone, but I contend that just as few are actually reading what you Tweet.

And, WordPress tells me how many views I get on each article I write. None of them add up to all of the followers I have. In fact of the last ten posts, the readers number worked out to about 25%, on average, of my follower count. And that is just the ones that clicked the link. Not that actually read the article.

And if that is the case, simply having followers does not mean they are hearing about your projects.

Write engaging articles, Tweets and posts, and people will read what you write. Well, what the hell is engaging? You can answer that for yourself, but not for other people. It sounds easy. Just write about writing. Sorry, but every independent author and writer out there is putting out self help articles on their blog.

So what makes yours stand out from the crowd? Your personality. Certainly the fact that this feature has “bullshit” in it will mean some readers won’t read it. But, it is also giving this article a bit of my own style. Regular readers know that I tend to have a rambling, sarcastic, and sometime crass humor in the topics I write about. Every single one of my blogs oozes with my opinion, and that gives it my own flair. You can get my information anywhere, but my opinions and humor you can only find from me.

All that still doesn’t mean new followers. They have to find your blog, Twitter, or Facebook before they even decide if they want to read what you say. And while WordPress does well to attract new people to my articles, the rest is up to me. It isn’t easy. And, I can write one really good article, but not everyone is going to read it.

Finally, getting followers is easy. Three years I have been fighting my way up to getting good quality followers. And you see, that is the real trick here folks. Getting followers is easy. You can get thousands of egg avatar followers on Twitter, but those bots aren’t reading shit you write. You can use programs to gain more followers, or be part of “Team Follow Back” and get thousands of followers quickly. But they are not reading what you say, and that defeats the entire point of everything you’ve been working for. Why write at two thousand word blog, such as this one, if no one reads it? Why keep tweeting away when no one is reading them? That is not an effective social media marketing strategy. That is a scam of trying to make yourself look popular in the hopes that you might get more followers based on your perceived popularity. It won’t work.

There is only one way to get quality followers on any social media platform. Time. Develop a strategy and stick with it. Modify it as you find out what works, and keep plugging away. I certainly get more hits to my blog now than I did three years ago. My interactions on Twitter have gone up. But it takes a lot of hard work. Why do think major companies hire social media team members to manage their pages? Because it takes a full time marketing team to really work on it. And let’s face it you are only doing it part time around all the other jobs of being a writer, publisher, and/or editor.

To say social media marketing is easy is complete bullshit. Like all marketing, it takes time, strategy, know how, and hard work. It also takes the added step of being social and being yourself. There is nothing easy about it.

WorldCon Upcoming and Other News

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by Richard Flores IV on 2013-08-26 0 Comments

Last week I didn’t do my normal blog post, the one from the Monday before was very emotionally draining and I needed a break. I wasn’t surprised that post got little attention, even from my friends, but there is still something about laying it all out there that drains you. The good news is I am feeling much better. I wrote more on my work in progress, got a very good review on Dissolution of Peace (see below) and have been working hard to get ready for WorldCon.

WorldCon!

For those that don’t know about WorldCon, it is the World Science Fiction Convention. It is held annually and also is the host for the Hugo Awards. I’ve been trying to go to one for three years now. When I first learned about WorldCon, I tried to go to Renovation, but at the last minute I had to cancel. That was a shame because it was only about a four hour drive from my house. Chicago was just not going to happen, the cost was too much. But finally this year I get to go. Lone Star Con 3, in San Antonio looks like a ton of fun. But I made several mistakes that I will have to plan for next year (though I don’t think I will get to London, I hope to get to the North American Science Fiction Convention (takes place when WorldCon is not in North America).

First, I had no idea about the panels. That is to say, I knew that there were discussion panels to see. What I didn’t know was that I could ask to be on them. Second, I delayed to long to get back to them about a signing. Third, I couldn’t get a Dealer’s Table for Plasma Frequency. But, I think this actually works out better. I get to experience the convention, learn all there is to learn about it, and hopefully next year I will know better where I can help out.

I am beyond excited. I’ve got some business cards to hand out for the magazine, and I have some postcards to hand out during the event. The postcards are for my book and they are announcing a way to get both my books free. I’ll explain that more soon.

Whether you are a fan of my books, fan of Plasma Frequency, or a writer/artist looking to talk to me in person about getting your work in Plasma Frequency; I hope you will seek me out. I’d love to meet with writers, artists, and other professionals in the industry. If you see me there, please feel free to say Hello! If I have a moment I would be happy to talk to you. Also, I understand that you can leave a message for me on the Voodoo message board.

While I was not able to get involved in any of the panels as a panelist. I fully plan to attend a lot of convention activities. Below is a list of some of the activities I plan to attend. Of course, I may have to cancel some of these depending on what else I discover. But maybe I will see some of you at these. (Sorry if I butchered any of the panel names, I wrote them from my memory).

Thursday:

4pm Self Promotion

5pm Opening Ceremonies

9pm Best Practices for Booksellers

Friday:

4pm The Romance of Military SF

5pm How Magazines are Changing in a Digital World

8pm How to build a Book Campain

Saturday:

11am How to Write a Short Story

12pm Planning a Starship

2pm LSC3 Film Festival

4pm The shift for Print to Electronic

5pm Writing Combat

Sunday:

10am Mars and/or Bust

11am Should SF consider the Furture

1pm Crowdfunding

2pm Real Animals in a Fantasy World

5pm Extend your book into Social Media

8pm Hugo Awards

Monday:

10am Writing outside Genre

12pm Armed Society is a Polite Society

3pm Closing Ceremonies

The rest of the time I will be either moving around the convention to see the exhibits or out sightseeing in San Antonio. I plan to spend some time at the Riverwalk, the Tower of the Americas and the Alamo. When I get back, I plan to write a blog post all about my experiences there. I’ll also be on my Twitter and Facebook with updates of where I am and what I am seeing. I also will have an article in Issue 8 of Plasma Frequency all about the trip.

Get My Books Free!

Design by Mister Signs

In honor of my first WorldCon and because I can’t think of a better way to get the attention of a ton of Science Fiction readers, I have made Dissolution of Peace and Volition Agent free for Kindle from August 29th to September 2nd. Five full days to celebrate my books and WorldCon. I would really like to see my book make some “Top Seller” lists on Amazon. My readers did wonders with Dissolution of Peace on its first free day. So please spread the word that these books are going to be free on Amazon. The more people who know the better! Thank you!

New Dissolution of Peace Review!

Bookworm Babblings reviewed Dissolution of Peace today! They were very excited about this book and said some excellent things. It really brightened my mood. Please go give it a read, and leave a comment if you’d like.

Hope to see some of you at WorldCon! See you next week for my post about the trip!