Tuesday, November 26, 2013

It's time again to give thanks...

I'm going to devote the next few days to my family, giving thanks for all the blessings we receive on a daily basis. Though I'm sure I'll sneak in a few minutes on my outlines and notes ;-)

I want to thank you, dear Reader, for your support as well. When you leave a kind note (or even a critique!) on a writer's blog, you engage him/her and make them better writers. Talking to my readers helps me understand what I'm doing well and where I'm dropping the ball.

I want to thank those who take a chance on a new writer and buy my books. I know every buck counts these days. All you have to go by are my blogs/tweets and a short blurb on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords or Goodreads. And there are lots of other writers vying for your attention.

I want to thank those vendors I've mentioned for providing the chance for someone with no agent or experience to get exposure to millions of readers around the world. I know they get a portion of the sales but it's a fair portion in my estimation.

I want to thank my day job company for employing a 'mature' worker and treating me as well as any of the young whipper-snappers there. I am truly blessed to work with some exceptional people.

So, before I get maudlin, I'll finish this and say I thank God for all the blessings of my life. My wife, daughters, granddaughters and the rest of the family.

I  hope your Thanksgiving is blessed and happy.

Be cool.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Support is essential...

In the past few months, I've had an incredible amount of support from members of  the Season Short Story Group, Twitter Mates I've found online, family and friends. It's been amazing.

When I released 'Arlo and Jake: Galactic Boot Camp' last month, I was pretty skeptical that my SciFi series was going to go anywhere. Sales of Book #1, 'Arlo and Jake Enlist' have been slow, to be generous. 'Genome' seems a distant forgotten cousin.

I know, I know. I'm not a known author. I don't have a hit on Amazon or Barnes and Noble to put me up in the ranks. My books are not about vampires, werewolves, dragons or the seemingly infinite varieties of fantasy sex. And my writing is still at the 'getting better' stage.

Really, I haven't expected my works to gain instant worldwide recognition and push me to fame and fortune. I'm a pretty pragmatic guy, overall. I do this because I enjoy it.

But I was honestly getting pretty down. Like all of you writers, I work a day job and write as much as possible every night and on weekends. Lately, it seems like a lot of blood, sweat and tears for very little return.

In spite of all this, my support group continues to urge me on, to push me and encourage me. Without them I probably would have lost steam long ago and went back to dreaming about raising pigs with my brother in Colorado to support me in my old age. (Inside joke. Larry's place was originally a pig farm. He hates pigs. ;-)

So I want to thank everyone for all the simple 'good job' and 'keep plugging' tweets, emails and comments. Each time I get one of these little pep pills, it puts things back into perspective and gives me an adrenalin boost. It keeps me going, trying to get better and smarter.

So. I lift a glass of Rodeo Red in all your directions and say, "Thanks".

I mean it. Thank you.