It's the 21st of February - again. Which means......
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{pretend you hear a drumroll, okay?}
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IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!
For those of you keeping track, I'm (still) over 10 and under 100, and plan to stay that way for the foreseeable future.
Another Post on Free (pirated) Downloads
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Okay, so here goes.
You can't download Arclight for free.
This isn't some plea against online piracy; it's a simple fact. You cannot download Arclight for free. You cannot download Arclight for profit. You cannot download Arclight for a bushel of bananas meant to pay-off the monkeys at my keyboard.
You can't download Arclight period.
Arclight is still in processing. It has no cover. It doesn't exist as an ARC (advanced reader copy) yet. It doesn't exist as an e-book. It doesn't exist as a PDF. It exists on my hard-drive, and that of my editor, and if you find a way to snatch it out of the aether in the space between either of those two locations, then the FTC would likely want some unhappy words with you for hacking. (I don't know if that's true or not, btw.)
My point is -- dear person who keeps Googling "Arclight book download free" -- it ain't gonna happen, okay?
Repeat after me:
You can't download Arclight.
You can't download Arclight.
You can't download Arclight.
And if you could, you certainly wouldn't find the means to do it on my blog. (Seriously, think about the absurdity of that assumption for a minute.)
The book isn't in its final form, which means it hasn't been copyedited or formatted or any of that other stuff that has to happen before "a book" is "A BOOK!!!"
(I should also add: No, I won't send you a copy in Word, even if you're really, really nice about how you ask. I'll err on the side of flattery for the request, but still -- no.)
I will, however, leave you with this. It's part of the poem Darkness, by Lord Byron (1816), and something I'd love to have at the front of Arclight when it's finished (which it's not...).
You can't download Arclight for free.
This isn't some plea against online piracy; it's a simple fact. You cannot download Arclight for free. You cannot download Arclight for profit. You cannot download Arclight for a bushel of bananas meant to pay-off the monkeys at my keyboard.
You can't download Arclight period.
Arclight is still in processing. It has no cover. It doesn't exist as an ARC (advanced reader copy) yet. It doesn't exist as an e-book. It doesn't exist as a PDF. It exists on my hard-drive, and that of my editor, and if you find a way to snatch it out of the aether in the space between either of those two locations, then the FTC would likely want some unhappy words with you for hacking. (I don't know if that's true or not, btw.)
My point is -- dear person who keeps Googling "Arclight book download free" -- it ain't gonna happen, okay?
Repeat after me:
You can't download Arclight.
You can't download Arclight.
You can't download Arclight.
And if you could, you certainly wouldn't find the means to do it on my blog. (Seriously, think about the absurdity of that assumption for a minute.)
The book isn't in its final form, which means it hasn't been copyedited or formatted or any of that other stuff that has to happen before "a book" is "A BOOK!!!"
(I should also add: No, I won't send you a copy in Word, even if you're really, really nice about how you ask. I'll err on the side of flattery for the request, but still -- no.)
I will, however, leave you with this. It's part of the poem Darkness, by Lord Byron (1816), and something I'd love to have at the front of Arclight when it's finished (which it's not...).
Morn came and went--and came, and brought no day,
And men forgot their passions in the dread
Of this their desolation; and all hearts
Were chill'd into a selfish prayer for light:
And they did live by watchfires--and the thrones,
The palaces of crowned kings--the huts,
The habitations of all things which dwell,
Were burnt for beacons; cities were consumed,
And men were gathered round their blazing homes
To look once more into each other's face;
Happy were those who dwelt within the eye
Of the volcanos, and their mountain-torch:
A fearful hope was all the world contain'd;
Forests were set on fire--but hour by hour
They fell and faded--and the crackling trunks
Extinguish'd with a crash--and all was black.
And men forgot their passions in the dread
Of this their desolation; and all hearts
Were chill'd into a selfish prayer for light:
And they did live by watchfires--and the thrones,
The palaces of crowned kings--the huts,
The habitations of all things which dwell,
Were burnt for beacons; cities were consumed,
And men were gathered round their blazing homes
To look once more into each other's face;
Happy were those who dwelt within the eye
Of the volcanos, and their mountain-torch:
A fearful hope was all the world contain'd;
Forests were set on fire--but hour by hour
They fell and faded--and the crackling trunks
Extinguish'd with a crash--and all was black.
Writing's Like...
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
It seems that writing a novel is one of those things that a ton of people want to do, or even attempt, or at the very least have an interest in that's high enough to make them ask questions when they find out someone in the room is being published. One of the most common questions is "What's it like to write a whole book?"
I've found the perfect answer. Look at this picture - THIS is what it's like to write a novel.
You have all these ideas buzzing around in your head. Characters, plots, sub-plots, chapters, scenes, back story, etc. And they don't look like much to anyone who isn't in your head. They're just pieces of shiny glass.
But in your head, they're the image on the screen. You, as a writer, can see the final picture. You know how all those little pieces line up and dovetail.
Sadly, it's at this point that most who attempt to write something stop. They assume the image in their head is what the reader is seeing, without realizing that something's missing. They don't know there's a disconnect, and also sadly, far too many of them get upset when the people who are looking at those shiny bits of glass don't see anything other than a jumbled mess.
They're forgetting the light. That's the trick. You have to weave that current through all those ideas until the image starts to form and their readers can see it taking shape. The characters have to blend with the scenery, and must fit inside the setting without gaps on the sides to spoil the illusion.
As a storyteller, it's your job to take those mundane bits and make them shine.
I've found the perfect answer. Look at this picture - THIS is what it's like to write a novel.
You have all these ideas buzzing around in your head. Characters, plots, sub-plots, chapters, scenes, back story, etc. And they don't look like much to anyone who isn't in your head. They're just pieces of shiny glass.
But in your head, they're the image on the screen. You, as a writer, can see the final picture. You know how all those little pieces line up and dovetail.
Sadly, it's at this point that most who attempt to write something stop. They assume the image in their head is what the reader is seeing, without realizing that something's missing. They don't know there's a disconnect, and also sadly, far too many of them get upset when the people who are looking at those shiny bits of glass don't see anything other than a jumbled mess.
They're forgetting the light. That's the trick. You have to weave that current through all those ideas until the image starts to form and their readers can see it taking shape. The characters have to blend with the scenery, and must fit inside the setting without gaps on the sides to spoil the illusion.
As a storyteller, it's your job to take those mundane bits and make them shine.
Random Numbers
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
This is my blog traffic on a normal day:
If, on a given day, I put up a new post, that yields a slightly higher number:
However, add a link from QueryShark into the mix on the day I announce a sale, and this happens:
| Day | Date | Page Loads |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 30th January 2012 | 71 |
| Sunday | 29th January 2012 | 48 |
| Saturday | 28th January 2012 | 50 |
| Friday | 27th January 2012 | 44 |
| Thursday | 26th January 2012 | 42 |
| Wednesday | 25th January 2012 | 37 |
| Tuesday | 24th January 2012 | 42 |
If, on a given day, I put up a new post, that yields a slightly higher number:
| Day | Date | Page Loads |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | 4th January 2012 | 115 |
However, add a link from QueryShark into the mix on the day I announce a sale, and this happens:
| Day | Date | Page Loads |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | 31st January 2012 | 2,038 |
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