I've noticed lately, that everyone wants to be anonymous. No one uses their real name anymore, or their real picture, and it's not just because they fear some internet creepshow showing up on their doorstep;  it's for one of two reasons. 1. People like being douchebags, and 2. people are chickenshits.

The internet makes it easy to write pretty much anything without any backlash, and I believe it has turned our society into a bunch of assholes. When we were kids we said everything that came into our heads, and someone: our parents, grandparents, older siblings etc, would smack our mouths and shame us for saying something rude or mean or inappropriate and that's how we learned to sensor ourselves. That's how we learned to get along, to be nice, to control our feelings, and  to think before we talk. But now, there is no one there to sensor us when we are too stupid to sensor ourselves and the result is a bunch of little pricks spouting off about everything with zero consequences. Read the comment section of pretty much any internet article and you will see the lowest of the low of our society. That lack of thought and control has trickled into face to face conversation and now people are just plain rude all the time.

Anonymous is also a means of chickening out. There are bloggers who are actively trying to get published, have 3 or more books written, talk about their journey to find an agent etc. etc. and yet they are completely anonymous. No name no city, no picture no personal profile. No way whatsoever to find out who this person is. I don't get it. The #1 reason to blog is to build a platform but you don't want anyone to know who you are? I always think people who go anonymous are little scaredy cats and my respect for them drops just a  little bit. If you don't believe in what you are writing/producing/thinking enough to put your name and face on it then why should anyone else? If you are so scared to take credit for what you have written then you must think it isn't very good. If you thought you had created the next best thing in literature you would be telling everyone you wrote it, but if you had a few hundred pages of crap on paper you might not want anyone to know it was yours. I get it. It's scary. But success doesn't come to those who hide behind their anonymous internet IP address.

Anonymous has it's place, I'm sure it must even though I can't think of a good example right now. But my personal opinion is that it cripples people. Step out into the light and take your hits and disses. Learn from it and grow into someone better. A better person, a better writer, a better painter, a better comic etc. Stand by your words and actions, don't throw shit into the wind and then hide from the shitstorm like a coward.

So yes, Friday's chapter is really late, but it is now up. I was camping for the last week, and I intended to post the chapter early on Thursday before I left, but then I forgot/ran out of time and it didn't happen. So, it's late but at least you won't have very long to wait until chapter 28 goes up too.

The plot thickens in this chapter. The major turn in the book has finally been introduced and Astral's big moral dilemma is coming up. Don't worry it's not cliche, nor is it something you've ever seen before. Well maybe you have. I can't be certain since I have not read every other book in the world, but it's nothing like anything I have ever read before and I have read a lot of books. How is everyone liking my stream of consciousness post today...? heehee, I think I got a bit too much sun.

I will do a Wednesday rant post tomorrow on schedule, although it's really more of an observation than a rant, but regardless, I am back posting as usual tomorrow. Have a great week everyone and happy reading.

 Chapter 26 already it's hard to believe. Have I been at this for 6 months already? Yikes. It's scary how fast time goes by. Life is crazy busy right now with back to school plans, a night job, a toddler, summer vacations, a looming book publication etc. etc. I need a few extra hours in each day to get some new writing done. I've been thinking a lot about books 2 and 3 lately. 2 is pretty much wrapped up in my head but I'm still sorting out plot and characters for book 3. It's always churning in there, but I need real time to sit down and write it. 5 or 6 uninterrupted hours everyday would be great but that is seriously never going to happen. Then I think I may go away on one of those writer's retreats and sit in a cabin in the woods with nothing to do but write all day for a week... but the chances of that happening are slim to none.

I'm not sure how I will manage to get book 2 out just yet, but I'm working on it. I don't want to be like Robert Jordan and drop dead before my series is finished because I take 10 years between books. Book 2 will be quite a bit shorter than book 1 so that will help and I've improved my first draft time dramatically since I wrote AMARANTHINE so it's not impossible to get a first draft done up by the end of the year. Here's hoping.

Have a great weekend everybody and see you all on Monday.

I just recently updated and re-wrote my quick pitch since I will need a good one for my e-book and you wouldn't believe how hard it is to write a book jacket synopsis when your book doesn't fall into plot norms.  Most books follow a standard plot that can be summed up in 1 or 2 short sentences called a logline. If someone asks what your book is about you can tell them in a single breath. It goes something like this: Molly, a skydive loving control freak, has to win the cross country race of a lifetime and collect the prize money before the bank forfeits on her family's 400 year old farm.  It has a brief introduction of the main character, a dilemma or choice that she must make and consequences if she fails. Not so hard right?

Well, not all books are set up this way. If you have been reading AMARANTHINE you'll know by now this formula doesn't work for me. The first half of the book is dominated by character development, and the choice she has to make doesn't appear until about the midway mark. And if I talk about the choice she has to make it's a huge spoiler that pretty much gives away the ending.  So what's a girl to do? Well this girl tore her hair out and put it off for about 5 years but, meh, that's just me.

But I can't avoid it any longer. I need that book jacket synopsis. I sat down this morning and finally figured something out. It's not perfect, and I may tweak it a bit still, but I think I managed to portray the characters, indicate the main dilemma of the first part of the book, which is Astral's awaking love of Davn, and also hint at the scary ending where her life is seriously in danger.  It's the best version I've come up with till now anyway, so at least there is progress.

Now I just have to memorize the 10 or so lines I came up with, so the next time someone asks me what my book is about I can tell them instead of saying what I usually say which is: "duuuh, it's about a girl in 1885, and stuff happens."

Aaah, it's Monday. I spent a little time this weekend promoting my site, posting my new cover everywhere I could think of and I saw a nice little spike in views. Still not at 500 yet so get sharing!  The next step I am working on is getting e-published and getting my little piggy to market. I have to go back and do a bit of editing because when I posted this week's chapter I noticed a small continuity problem in my timeline....how embarrassing, but after that I can send it off to the publishers and get it formatted and ready for distribution.

I know it's not traditionally published, it's just self published, a rather snarky person pointed that out to me the other day, but I'm ok with that. With the amount of energy I could spend trying to find an agent I can write a whole other book. I'd rather do it for myself than wait around with it sitting in a drawer hoping for someone else to pay it any attention. Traditional publishing is fine and all if you have something that they want, but if you have something a little outside the norm, or something that doesn't follow all the rules, then you're screwed. Thankfully there is an alternative to the big publishing houses, and I am using it. Success comes in many shapes and sizes, and I can't get hung up on the fact that I'm not following the old fashioned path. Maybe in the future it will happen, but for now I am just happy with my book being out in the world.

So after a month of back and forth back and forth and some seriously not at all what I had in mind illustrations, it's finally done! I love it. I know she has a bit more makeup on than 1885 would have but you'd be surprised how few pictures there are of beautiful blond young women on the internet...ahem. Ones that were suitable for a book cover anyway. We had to photoshop the eye colour and the cloak and add the spooky trees and the stars into the background and cut her off at the shoulder because her clothes were too modern as well, but all in all I love it. Her face fits perfectly with what I envision when I think of Astral. Beautiful, haunted, and longing for something lost. La sigh*.

Thanks so much to Stephanie at pageweaving cover designs. Let me know what you think of our girl in the comments.