I've been busy. We moved. Had a baby. Started a homestead. Got covid a few times. Had another baby. Got burned out. Sometimes there's only so much of you to go round and followed by covid madness, it was too much. I gave up. For real. I gave up my social media and figuratively, literally, … Continue reading How to Restart Your Writing
WRITING
How not to query (for new writers)
Are you aware of my journey to hybrid-dom? No? Well, let me tell you, it involves being both an indie published author, with all of the crazy DIY stuff that involves and it also means I'm aiming to get traditionally published by a publishing house. Most publishing houses don't accept unsolicited manuscripts though (for those … Continue reading How not to query (for new writers)
New Review Policies on Amazon
When you're a debut indie author like myself, you celebrate the little, mini victories, like getting that 9th review on Amazon (See down yonder at the bottom of this post), but recently there has been a lot bruhaha in the indie world revolving around Amazon's.new hard line policies with regard to reviews provided in exchange … Continue reading New Review Policies on Amazon
How To: Create a Free Book Trailer
Once upon a time, a twitter user (twitterer? twit? tweeter? Obviously I am not twitter conversant) lamented about not having the means to be able to create a book trailer. Here's my response: as long as you have access to a movie making program (like Windows movie maker which came standard with my Windows 8.1 … Continue reading How To: Create a Free Book Trailer
Goodreads for the win!
I had the pleasure of receiving a glowing review from a winner of the Goodreads giveaway I did not so long ago. Thank you, Goodreads. Once again, you've proven yourself an underutilized and underappreciated tool for authors. I stand corrected. It's doesn't get any better for an author than to know that some person, entirely unknown … Continue reading Goodreads for the win!
Van Helsing reimagined
I was trying to think how to describe my Van Helsing Sr. character (the grandfather of the original Van Helsing from Bram Stoker's Dracula). He's a Prussian ex-patriate who has left the fatherland due to Napoleon taking over Europe. He was originally employed by the Prussian government to hunt vampires and investigate paranormal activity, but … Continue reading Van Helsing reimagined
The Problem with Vampires
I should preface this by saying that it's my problem with vampires. The vampire narrative is well-known to most of Western society. An evil vampire, born of (narrative of choice), goes around killing or turning other men into vampires. These other vampires must kill other people in order to survive themselves. They burn in the … Continue reading The Problem with Vampires
Small (BIG) Victories
Being an author is hard work, especially if you are self-published and a busy mom to boot. Not that I am complaining. But when it pays off and I start to see tangible rewards for all my work, when small victories start to happen (like ratings on Goodreads and making my first non-gas-money royalties) it is so encouraging. … Continue reading Small (BIG) Victories
What now?
That's the question every self-published author asks themselves once they've published.... and no one knows they've published beyond their minuscule circle of friends. Or relatively few people know about it anyway. This is exactly why people attach themselves to publishing houses and break out in hives trying to find an agent, why those of a … Continue reading What now?
The Human Soul in Science Fiction and Fantasy
Hard science. Soft science. Speculative fic. Steampunk fic. Fantasy. Cyberpunk fic. There are more than enough genres to go around when it comes to fiction that starts imagining new worlds. But a common thread runs through them all. Humanity. Even in the event that aliens are involved, or dragons, or zombies, there is nevertheless a … Continue reading The Human Soul in Science Fiction and Fantasy
Page Zaplendam, Author 