Category: Thoughts

Where the Steam Empire Chronicles is going next…

Where the Steam Empire Chronicles is going from here! Plus a sneak peek at Roma Aeronautica.


Hi all, Happy Sunday!

I figured I’d briefly share my overall plan for where I’m taking the series next. You see, as a writer, I’m a tad bit obsessive when it comes to planning (but not as a teacher, I’m horrible at planning there!). So what are my plans and goals for the S.E.C. after the release of Copper Centurion

Tactical Layout of the H.M.A.S. Scioparto
Tactical Layout of the H.M.A.S. Scioparto

First, I’m going to have two short stories put out this year. Roma Aeronautica, will be released August 1st most likely, and Antioch Burns, the second one, will be out in December most likely (still a flexible time period). Why two novellas you ask? Honestly, I was tired and I wanted to feel the success of finishing things without having to pound away at another novel for a bit. Don’t worry fans, you’ll still get your Iron Tribune. I’m not giving up! Spring is just an incredibly hectic time for teachers, and it can really show in my writing and sanity. So I’ve discovered that writing during this time is the hardest for me. Strangely enough, writing during the summer is not that difficult for me!

My personal goal with writing and self-publishing is to eventually be able to do this exclusively. Obviously I’d need to see where I am personally and professionally, as a full time job is really nice income wise, and I’d have to be able to make up what I’m losing by giving up the full time job, but it’s nice to have a goal. Secondary to that, I’d like to at least be able to not work summers, which I get off as a teacher, because of the income from the novels. I feel as though that would be a great start and allow me more time with my friends and family.

Oh, and I’d love to visit the places I talk about in my novels. Perhaps I can even figure out how to set up a tour or something similar so I can go with fans! (Just a thought! – would anyone actually be interested?)

As an extra fun bit, enjoy this tidbit from Roma Aeronautica below!

“I know that my ancestry can be a mark against my family’s honor. But I implore you to give me a chance to prove myself. I will pass whatever tests you require, just for that chance.” He bowed low, then thanked them.
“All right, all right, let’s vote already,” Astoragas said impatiently. “I vote no. Can’t have little Cassi brats infiltrating the airfleet. First one, then more!”
“No,” Garus Miletosinos said, hardly looking up from his paperwork.
“Yes,” Quintus Heratus said forcefully, smiling warmly at the boy.
The room was silent for a moment as the small group of bureaucrats waited for the last two votes. By tradition, the chief judge voiced his opinion last, so it could be said he was not influencing any of the others.
“Vorentius?” Amelius turned to his right and prodded the sleeping judge with his foot.
“Who? What? Vote? Yes… of… of course!” Vorentius Ilsotus said with a flourish before closing his eyes and beginning to snore again. Sighing, Amelius realized it was once again up to him to be the deciding vote.

Ciao!

Top Five Places to visit in Portland, Part 2

Part Two of our Top Five places to visit in Portland – Doughnuts and Sushi!


maple bar with bacon from Voodoo Donuts I've b...

Alright, time for Part 2! These are our top two places to visit in Portland are coming up!
#2 – Voodoo Doughnuts – This is a Portland staple! With lines stretching out the door, and open 24/7, the incredible variety of donuts in the bright pink box will satisfy anyone’s cravings. We got six of the most amazing doughnuts. My personal favorite was the Maple-Bacon one featured on the front page of their website. Bacon + Maple doughnut = delicious. Be prepared for a wait, or go early in the morning. I would suspect that late at night is actually a tougher time to get them, as the after-clubbing crowd is hungry for a post-party snack.
#1 – Bamboo Sushi – Our number one spot belongs to the first sustainable-harvest full service sushi restaurant in America. This restaurant not only believes in being ecologically responsible, but also in serving high quality, locally sourced food. THeir sushi is amazing. We ordered three rolls between the two of us.
And then ordered another one, the special – a Friday the 13th roll – because it was that amazing. I seriously was exceptionally impressed by the food, decor, people, everything. If you’ve got the time while in Portland or the nearby areas, definitely check these guys out.
Where else would you recommend we go in Portland when we return someday?

Top Five Places to Visit in Portland


So in commemoration of our trip to Portland, the significant other demanded that we create a Top 5 destinations in Portland. These are places we went to that were amazing. Please know we didn’t have time to visit amazing natural things, which we would love to, but there simply wasn’t time, so here is a crash course in things to do in Portland when you have less than two days there. Alternatively, when you have a conference to go to and thus only have the equivalent of a day and a half spread out over a few days free. Here goes!

#5 – Deschutes Brewery – This local brewery is actually originally from Bend, Oregon. They serve amazing locally sourced food and craft beers. If you’re from the Northwest U.S., you’ve probably seen their beers on the shelf. If you’re from the East Coast like myself, you thoroughly enjoyed yourself drinking and eating the best burger I think I’ve ever had. Great service, plus a wonderful room. I’ll try to add photographs to this later for you to see the inside of the restaurant.

#4 – Buffalo Exchange – You know the song Thrift Shop, by Macklemore, where he talks about going to the Thrift Store (No really!) Well, Buffalo Exchange is the clothing thrift shop you wish was near you. Not only can you sell back your old clothing, but you can buy some really good-quality used clothing. No digging through ancient ties, Buffalo sports vintage, hard-to-find, classic and modern styles. The significant other had a field day and was quite upset at me when I drug her out (30 minutes later!) They also have locations in most other major metropolitan areas around the country.

 

#3 – Powell’s Books – I’m a writer. I’m also a reader. Powell’s Books is like taking the Library of Congress and putting it out for sale. The link actually links to my book because they have it. And you know that if they sell independent and self-published books, then they have a huge selection. Powell’s boasts that it is the largest independent book store on earth. And it probably is, taking up an entire city block and then some. We spent an hour in there, and I only saw probably 1/3 of the rooms and floors available. If you’re looking for something rare or hard to find, they probably have it. If you don’t have a local bookstore (independent) check them out online, they offer a flat shipping rate for 1-1000 books!

 

Whoa, this post is pretty long already. I’ll break it up! Be on the look out for part two tomorrow!

 

 

 

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!


Happy Holidays and best wishes for the new year to you, our loyal readers, family, and friends, enjoy this time of love and happiness. See you next year!

Ciao

– Daniel

Why I did my holiday shopping with Barnes & Noble this year

A post on why I did my holiday book shopping at Barnes and Noble instead of Amazon.


Guess what? We survived!

Survived what? Black Friday and the busiest shopping weekend of the year! Cyber Monday and more deals that my inbox can tackle in one go! I, too, was one of those insane people going out and about on Thanksgiving night (Although I swore I wouldn’t) mainly because the S.O. and I needed to get rid of our cabin fever at 9 pm on Thanksgiving. Then on Friday it was off to the mall, and what did I learn?
That I couldn’t wait to run home and shop online at a book store.

You see, none of the THREE malls in our area has a book store, and the nearest one to my immediate location is about 15 miles away. The simple reason I am telling you is that it’s getting harder to buy books in person (at least where I am). Fewer places nowadays have a quality selection. This makes me both sad and annoyed. I like physical books. Given a choice, I will always choose the paperback over the ebook copy, if only because it’s easier on my eyes.

So in the end, I ended up online at B&N.com – for a variety of reasons – and I could not have been happier with the experience. When I was in college, Amazon was king for me – time, effort, that handy-dandy free shipping over $25 dollar thing, and ta da, three or four books delivered to your door in a snap!

So why the change?

1.) I have a B&N membership card – Yes, I spent the $25 for the card, but I get free 1-3 day shipping online, and 10% off OR MORE in store. So, I placed two seperate orders this weekend (yes, yes, I know, not good organization on my part) but I paid $0 in shipping. I would have spent about $15 for the 1-3 day option, instead getting it free. B&N even has the free slower shipping option that draws so many people to Amazon, so the two companies are again equal there.

But what about Amazon Prime? You ask, isn’t that just like the B&N Membership? Yes and no. You might get free shipping online, which I do too, but I can also go into a physical store and return my product if I don’t like it, or buy other things at discounted prices if I do. Double Whammy.

2.) Returns – I like being able to go into a store and return something. I like my money being back on my card now. Or I can mail it back. Two choices means two ways to keep me happy.

3.) Tradition and Jobs – Okay, some people may not consider this a reason, but I do. Buying a book at a store means that the store has to hire employees, the employees circulate their paycheck through the system, and thus the economy continues to run. Does amazon have employees? Yes, but yet again not at a store in my community, where the money will circulate locally.

Just a side note: Many people will probably say that Amazon has a better selection of everything, this may be true, but I was looking for books and book-related things in particular!

So now some end points. Yes, I know that I could do even better by purchasing from an independent book store. And I do/have! By the way all, please check out Malaprops, my favorite independent book store (located in Asheville, N.C., so far from me, but still with great stuff online!) Another point is that we all need to take some time to buy local – I know that I went out on Small Business Saturday to look for some specific items I needed at local stores, but this can’t be the only time during the year that we do this.

So what do you all think? Amazon or B&N? Or another site?

(P.S. – I’m not an employee, sponsored by, receiving anything from, or in cahoots with B&N, I just wanted to share my own, personal opinion. I do have a book for sale on B&N and Amazon, but it’s not connected to this in anyway. Thanks!)

Top Ten Gifts for the Book Lover, Continued.

My top five holiday gifts of the season, including some you may not be thinking of!


Hi all, so here’s the last bit of my top ten gifts for the book lover, #1-5

#5 – An audiobook of his/her favorite novel. Trust me, there’s nothing better than being able to listen to your favorite story while being stuck in traffic. It really can make the time fly. My personal favorite audiobook, Ender’s Game, is an excellent book for those of you with middle age children in the car. Zap the phones and let them listen and watch for a change.

#4 – An eReader – Kindle, Nook, Kobo, or iPad. – Please note, I’m not telling you to actually go out and buy one right now. It’s better if you ask the gift recipient two things. 1. Do they already have one? (If so, don’t get them another) and 2.) What would they do if they got one? Are they going to use it primarily to read? Play games? Do work at home? Etc. Different versions tend to be better for different things. Nook and Kobo are a bit cheaper and focus more on just reading with fewer apps, but better ‘book-reading’ software. Kindle and iPad tend to be better all around machines, even able to run some competitors programs on their hardware, but you also pay a premium for it, especially if you want things like 3G and such. So think about short and long term cost.

#3 – Brass Legionnaire of course! I had to rep my own book, but in all seriousness, buying my novel or another self-published novel would really be a boon to someone else’s pocketbook this season, like my friend Hazel West and her novel On a Foreign FieldAnd the best part is there is something out there for everyone! So take a look this holiday season!

#2 – A super special edition of their favorite book – Many authors have some sort of special edition version of their novel. If you book lover is really interested, look it up. A good alternative – find a book poster or blown up version of the cover and get it framed.

#1 – My number one gift isn’t really something you can wrap or tie with a bow. In a way, it’s something that I personally always enjoy during this very hectic holiday season.

The number one gift is the gift of alone time. Many book readers enjoy being able to sit back, relax, and crack open their favorite novel (Old or new). It’s hard to do this during a very crazy holiday season with family, friends, etc all over the place. So if there is a free moment, or your book lover wants to hide in the bedroom for a while just unwinding, let him/her. Or go even further, set aside a whole day where you have no prior engagements, jobs, cleaning/cooking duties and just enjoy the spirit of the season.

Or when in doubt, make brownies. Everyone loves brownies.

Happy Holidays everyone! Be on the lookout for a surprise holiday sale coming this weekend!

My top ten gifts for the book lover in your life, #10-6

This is Part One of my list of top ten things to buy for your book lover this holiday season. Enjoy!


Hi all,

Are you one of these crazy, yet also very patient, people?

The holidays are right around the corner, as are the huge sales of Black Friday. With that in mind, here are my top ten gifts for the person(s) in your life who love to read.

#10 World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War– This novel by Max Brooks is one of my favorites. It reads like a non-fiction documentary that you know (or hope) is simply fiction. Plus, you’ll want to read the book before the upcoming movie turns the actual piece of literature on its head.
#9 Dies the Fire– If you like the show Revolution, you’ll love the book Dies the Fire. Only exception – people who want the lights to come back on. It won’t be happening. Neither, it appears, will guns. Who thinks it’s still a good idea to make fun of the kid learning to fence now?

#8 Small Gods– Wit, sarcasm, and a slightly slow true believer holding the fate of an entire religion in his hands, what’s not to love? This book answers the question – if no one believes, do the gods still exist? Pratchett is a master, so go buy it!

#7 Some good mood music – Nothing gets me into a novel faster than some nice, calm, relaxing music. That, or a huge bottle of soda. But for real, classical music has been shown to do lots of great things, such as rising your intellect and making you understand words like Concerto. This one even claims it is The Most Relaxing Classical Music in the Universe, and you can’t argue with that!

$6 – A good journal – Why a journal? Because I firmly believe that people who are great readers have the ability to become great writers. I have one. It’s not called a journal, it’s called an idea book. Personally, Barnes and Noble has way better ones, especially in store. Check out this page if you don’t believe me.
Well that is it for right now. I’ll be posting the next chunk on Tuesday! Happy short week!

Is Amazon Select Right for You?

I return to take a closer look at Amazon’s KDP Select service and discuss whether or not you think it’s right for you.


Hi all,
Sorry for the long absence, but my life has been absolutely crazy the last couple of weeks. Moving houses, preparing for school, doing grad school work, setting up new house, first week of school, etc. Anyways, I back with my hopefully-weekly-blog-posting. This week I’d like to talk about Amazon Select. For those of you who don’t know, Amazon Select is a service run through Amazon’s KDP Digital publishing platform. Essentially, the gist is that if you sign up for this service, you have the ability to offer your novel(s) at no cost for five days. It also places your book in a ‘lending library’ where people can borrow your novel and read it. The more people who borrow your novels, the more money you get. Amazon has established a fund this month of $600,000 to pay KDP Select members.

Sounds pretty good, right? I mean people pay to borrow your book. There’s some math involved (See below) but the gist is that the more borrows your book gets, the more money you make.

For example, if the monthly fund amount is $500,000, the total qualified borrows of all participating KDP titles is 100,000, and your book was borrowed 1,500 times, you will earn 1.5% (1,500/100,000 = 1.5%), or $7,500 for that month.

So what’s the catch? Several in fact. First, your novel must be exclusive on Amazon KDP for 90 days. Three months of not being able to sell it digitally on any other site. Now you’re still free to sell it physically – i.e. paperback wise – through other sites, but lets be real here. If you write eBooks and you are not a multi-thousand copy seller, you probably aren’t selling more than perhaps a dozen hardcovers a month, give or take. You’re limited by the five free days, and with Amazon adjusting their rankings to eliminate free ‘purchases’ so that they won’t count towards the sales ranking, I’m not sure how effective this is. Sure, your book is free, but it isn’t boosting your ratings and isn’t really getting you much. If you’re using it as a loss-leader for a series, it would make more sense, but perhaps not so for a person like myself with just one book.

Of course, I’m not exactly selling tons of novels through Barnes and Noble or Smashwords and sell the majority if my books through Amazon. So I could try it out, and may be tempted to if I ever write a short story companion to Brass Legionnaire. That could be a great way to bring in new readers with the style of short fiction that is so popular right now.

So to sum up, Select is something that I’m not considering using now. I may consider doing it down the road with a companion novel to drive up interest in my Steam Empire Chronicles, but until then, I’ll stick to the sidelines. I’d be interested to see if B&N rolls out something similar to compete, perhaps offering a more impressive rate amount or additional free days.

That’s all folks, time to get back to writing Copper Centurion. I leave you with a lovely quote by your favorite rabble-rousing assassin, spy, and rebel, Corbus.

“Have it your way, Brittenburgian,” Julius’ eyebrows rose. “Ah yes, see I placed your accent. I have a special place in my heart for that corrupt, disgusting, pestilent city.” Corbus sneered wickedly. He socked the legionnaire again, and the man collapsed back to the ground.

“Send a message to the Duke, we’ve got a prisoner.”

Ciao!

Writing and Life Goals for the Future, and how to Achieve them!

July Goals and a personal challenge: Also a chance to be a beta reader for Copper Centurion!


Hi all,

So I know it has been a while since I last posted, but I have excuses…er… I mean reasons! I swear!.

First, for those of you who live on the Eastern Seaboard of the USA, you know what terrible storms we’ve been having. We lost power here for about 5 days, and just got it back on the 4th of July. I also just went through the whole house-buying process and am now the proud owner of my own home.

So yes, it’s been a busy week. But I’m looking towards the future now, and it excites me. Why? Many reasons.

First, Now that I’ve got a steady job and a place to call my own, I can focus on finishing up the other loose ends that I’m still dealing with. Namely, my education. I’m on track to graduate with a Masters in December. Of course, I have to make it till then! Second, I just finished up my first full month of being a published author, and it was awesome! I sold over fifty books this month. I know many people will probably think that’s lame or sad, but the way I see it, it is a small stepping stone to something bigger. I got a lot of reviews and they were all really good! So that’s something else to cheer about.

What do I have going on besides that? Why, Copper Centurion of course! Due to the power outages and such, I’ve been behind. I’m also going on vacation next week, so I’m behind there as well. Grr. But I’m sticking with my goal of completing Copper Centurion by the end of this month. Did I mention I also have to complete a huge chunk of Grad school work by then as well before I go on a long vacation again?! Yea… Looks like I’ll be living on the computer until then!

Goals: At least two thousand words for the book per day.

And at least one paper/assignment for school per day.

oh, AND one blog post per week.

Eek!

How will I achieve these goals?

1.) Patience and Perseverance – I’m going to literally make myself sit and type away every day.

2.) I know what distracts me. So I’m turning off the internet – as possible. I’m actually in an online masters program, so that’s not always a possibility. However, I’ve learned a cool trick where you get rid of all your bookmarks by using a different browser than the one you normally use. I used to spend hours of time reading the Washington Post online, but after I removed the bookmark from my toolbar, I’ve stopped!

3.) Accountability – First off, I’m academically accountable, but secondly, I’m also accountable to my beta readers, who I’ve already lined up for early August. If I have to move it, then it makes me look bad (and lazy!).

Now, I hope to keep you updated on the progress of these goals, but first I must give you the starting points.

Right now, I’ve completed 17000/80000 words (that’s the end goal amount for book two)

School wise, I’ve finished 4/20 assignments.

Now, time to get to work! If you’ve got any tips or tricks to finishing up the work quicker, or eliminating distractions, let me know! Also, if you’re interested in being a beta reader for Copper Centurion, send me an email through the contact page above.

How to respond to Reviews (positive or negative)

Brass Legionnaire gets a Five-Star Review, and how to deal with Reviews as an Author.


I’ve heard it been said before that self-published authors are a picky lot.

Who, us?

Actually, I agree. One of the downsides of being a writer/publisher is that you become so connected with your book that is is like a child. You are the one who put in love and effort and pushed it to grow and mature. You also scrapped up the funds to get it edited, revised, and probably some nice cover art or formatting along the way.

And heaven forbid someone dis your child. It’s like that annoying parent at the soccer game who is yelling at your kid because they just aren’t quite as fast as theirs, as good as theirs, or as big as theirs. Or perhaps, they’re making snide comments because your child is better, and they are jealous.

Either way – child or book – we get insulted. If you have to hop through a million hoops with a publisher – editor, cover art, everything else more outside of your direct control – You might not feel as protective about your novel.

Today, I’m exceptionally excited because Brass Legionnaire got a five star review from a reader. Now what should I do as the writer? I could go several routes. Since it is a positive review, I’m probably more likely to respond in a positive way. The review also included some constructive feedback – something the reader would like to see more of in Copper Centurion (ie book two).

I’m not going to respond on the posting because that’s not my place to respond. Could I? Yes, but I won’t (not because I don’t want to) but because I feel as though I don’t need to be such a micromanager.

But I’ll tell you what I will do. I’ll listen to the constructive criticism. The reviewer thought I should have more camaraderie between the troops. And you know what? I should!

Any author should be able to look at reviews with an objective eye. The key thing is to take a deep breathe and back off. Not everyone will find your novel their piece of cake. That’s a fact of life. There will always be someone out there who will be spiteful or angry or mad over small things. You can’t control that. What you can do is avoid petty fights and maintain your reputation as an author. If you become known as an author who takes feedback and criticism (with a grain of salt) with grace and a willingness to at least THINK about it, then you become someone who people want to work with or talk with or learn from.

So long story short, keep the reviewer’s wishes in mind, but the story is yours in the end. If they point our typos or errors or problems with formatting or editing, get it fixed! If its a story content thing, make sure you have beta readers.

No one likes a prickly porcupine, so don’t be one!