Changing formats

I have loved blogger as long as I've been blogging, but I have to move on. I'm receiving so much spam on here I'm fed up. My new blog is here: My new blog.

Goodbye blogger, it's been a good ride...

What the hell day is it?

It's Wednesday, right? I've been busy, so I haven't blogged for a few days. Okay, that is not the entire truth. I've been lazy too. And tired. And I just haven't wanted to do much of anything. But let's catch you up on some things...

Hmm, still working on Dissected hoping to publish by July. Working on some revisions and formatting, then will get it edited. My Indiegogo campaign is still going. Click here to find out about the project, the book, or to watch the trailer.

I've got some interest from over seas for the rights for Never Eighteen. Brazil and Spain have contacted me. It would be really cool, but you never know how those things are going to go.

I've not written. Not a single young adult word in weeks. This is not good. I've been focusing on Dissected, side projects, and life stuff, and I've put the writing on the back burner. I've cleared some things off my plate though so I should be getting back to it this week. Still working on the fairy tale retelling.

I signed up for the SCBWI Western Washington conference. Pretty excited about it. There are some interesting topics this year.

That's about it I think. Other than that been busy with my kids and their soccer, music, drivers ed. I've been kickboxing, and napping quite a bit. (my doctor told me I had to listen to my body, my body quite frequently revolts and tells me to slow down)

What's up with you this week? Do you have any short term or long term writing goals?

"Image courtesy of thaikrit/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net"

Artistic Fundraising Campaigns: A Good Cause?

This topic was brought up on a friends Facebook page the other day and there were some interesting comments. There are a few of these fund raising websites out there now, the first I'd heard of was Kickstarter, there's Indiegogo, Crowdfunder, and Gofundme. They're not just for artistic causes, they can pretty much be used for anything, but since I'm a writer, mostly what I've seen them for are the arts.

I think I've mentioned here on my blog that I recently started my own Indiegogo campaign to fund my Indie publishing project, Dissected. I've kept my requests to my own social network pages, here on my blog, one email to my closest family and friends, and I did send one email out to a handful of book bloggers who have been my biggest supporters. I told them if they cannot contribute and if they feel comfortable spreading the word (not everyone is comfortable asking others for money, and I totally get that, hell, I had to talk myself into doing the campaign at all), I would appreciate it. I'm not asking for much either. I really doesn't take that much to Indie publish a book, but it takes a little. Ya know? In a nutshell, I've tried to be as tactful as possible.

Apparently a lot of my friends have been bombarded lately with a lot of these requests. Personally, I have only received one invite to an "event" on Facebook from another writer, and received a direct message on facebook from an old friend from high school for a cd release (it's how I decided to try indiegogo). I felt these were appropriate ways to do this. For the event, I could either join or decline. I could remove it from my facebook. No biggee. For the friend, we've known each other for 20ish *cough* years, we're both in the arts (he's an actor and film maker as well) so I was happy to help and spread the word for him, but I suppose if people posted their own things to my page without asking, or I continued to be bombarded in my inboxes, I might start getting a bad vibe from these types of fund raising sites.

As a whole, I think, if used tactfully, this is a great way for people to raise money for anything they might need it for, from anyone willing to help.

On the thread on Facebook I spoke about at the beginning, it was brought up that people should be giving their money to more worthy causes, cancer research or feeding the hungry and such. Well, here's my take on it. I give to my local children's hospital every year. Just because I give my old high school friend $25, doesn't mean I'm not going to still give to them. I don't think people would choose between the two. If you have to choose, follow your heart.

Just because you're my friend, even if you're my best friend, doesn't mean I EXPECT you to contribute to my campaign. And I'm not going to be mad if you don't. There are more worthy places to spend your money if you have the extra money to spend at all.  And there are people out there who make it a point to support the arts.

So, what is your take on the fund raising websites that have popped up? Good? Bad? Tacky? Awesome?

Donate image courtesy of Stuart Miles/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Email image courtesy of Patchareeya99/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Monkey Madness Monday: Crazy

Do you ever feel like you're so completely out of your mind that you need to check yourself into a psych ward? Probably not, huh? I don't know, I've already reached rock bottom once, and I feel myself sinking again. It's not a fun place to be.

How do I swim to the surface again before the vortex sucks me down again? Here's what I'm going to do. Refocus. This last weekend I came to some conclusions, I need some time and space. I need to not spread myself so thin that it makes me crazy. I need to get some projects completed I need to focus on me. So...

I skipped an author event. Granted, after inviting me they left me off the list, so wouldn't have had my book there to sell, but it gave me the opportunity to skip out on it, which was awesome. I stayed home, I wrote, caught up on some cleaning and laundry which I hadn't done all week because I'd been so down in the dumps.

On Saturday I did the same thing.  I also went on an errand for some new kitchen towels, throwing out the old ones, and a visit to my parents.

Sunday I skipped one of my kids soccer games, which I rarely do. It was a beautiful day, so I threw in a two mile walk. I finished up the laundry, finished up the cleaning, and put together one of the five pieces of furniture that have been sitting in my garage for a few months.

Sunday was the first day in two weeks I woke up without a headache.

I also had to make some very difficult but necessary decisions. It's not easy to do and  we wonder if we're making mistakes, but sometimes, it's just the right thing for the time.

For the time being I'm going to say no. I'm going to skip things when I need to. I'm going to let my body rest when it tells me to. I'm going to finish some projects. I'm going to take my time and not set unreasonable deadlines for myself. I'm going to focus on getting my mind, heart, body and soul in order so I can propel upward and accomplish the things I want to in life before taking on any more serious commitments.

It's what's right for me.

At least for now...

F³A: Jaded

I think that's what I've become. Jaded. Jaded about the publishing industry. I know I shouldn't bitch this much, but when you keep hearing about reviews and awards and contests and book deals yadda yadda yadda, for some of us, at times it becomes too much. Especially those of us whose experience was perhaps less than ideal. I mean, don't get me wrong, I had some great experiences too. I met some AWESOME writers and made some AMAZING connections. I received OUTSTANDING reviews from INCREDIBLE readers, bloggers, reviewers, etc. It's the process, the lack of backing that has made me jaded.

Am I whining? Um, yeah, I suppose so. Am I jealous? Um, yeah I guess. Am I exhausted, tired, and frustrated? Definitely. That's why I want to go it alone. I want to try my hand at it myself and see if I get the same results or better. If I can do it myself and get the same results, why throw myself into the lion's den, ya know?

And I know I'm probably pissing some non published writers off right now, thinking I should be happy I was published. Don't get me wrong. I am, that is a HUGE accomplishment and it's not my intention to piss you off. I'm just speaking from my mind, my heart, and my soul. This is my experience. Not everyone's will be the same. Losing an agent mid-year and not having that support really sucked. It closes a lot of options.

I know this is something I need to get over, right now I just don't know how. Maybe putting this book out will help, will give me some of the peace I'm looking for you know, because I don't like feeling this way. It's painful and ugly and not someone I like to be.

Anyway, I think I'll stop ranting and give you my Friday Scribbles now.

Next in the Pandora Lineup:

Netflix of the Week: Submarine awesome quirky coming of age movie.

Book of the Week: Fellow 2k12er Katy Longshore's follow up to Gilt, Tarnish, came out this week, check it out.

Quote of the Week: "I find that it's nice to work with somebody and spin off on someone else's feelings. You get a little jaded by yourself." ~ Herb Alpert