LESSONS II: The Drabble List

First off, I want to wish everybody Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  You guys have made this month my best one ever as far as eBook sales go.  I can never thank you enough for that.

Second, LESSONS II: ANOTHER MORBID DRABBLE COLLECTION is pretty much finished.  Just waiting for the cover to be done, and then I plan to release it in January.

As I did with the first one, I’m going to list the names and order of the drabbles that’ll appear in LESSONS II.  Sort of like when a band releases their track list before the album’s out.  I can’t wait to release the book and I hope you all enjoy it as much as the first one, if not more!

The Drabbles:

DRASTIC

FOOLISH

HEARTLESS

ANOTHER LESSON

GUEST

HAMMERED

HOMEWORK

SLACKING

CUDDLE

DINNER

DENTAL WORK

WAITING

PEANUTS

DUI

END

INTERVENTION

PHOBIA

PRESENT

RATS

DOLL

PUNISHMENT

REJECTED

FORTUNE TELLER

CHEATER

WARNING

SOLUTION

VIOLATED

SLEEP TIGHT

MOTHER’S DAY

PLAYMATE

Thank You

I feel like I can never thank you guys enough for your overwhelming support of my writing.  This has definitely been a high point for me.  2 years ago I was wondering if something was going to give.  I kept getting rejections for my short stories and I wasn't sure if I'd ever get something out there in print.  I love writing, and the truth is I would write even if I didn't have anybody reading my stuff.  It's a passion.  It's something I've done since I was a little kid.  That's something you can't give up, no matter how rough it is out there or how much you think you're not going to make it.

I never would've thought that I'd self-publish again... only this time correctly.

When I first started this year. I was selling a couple copies here and there each month.  Nothing big, but I was certainly happy!  And then when I put out LESSONS AND OTHER MORBID DRABBLES... well... things just took off!

Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine that I'd be this close to selling my 100th copy of a single book in such a short amount of time, but it's getting there.

Long story short (too late, I know!), I need to thank everybody for their love and support.  To the readers... you make this worth it in the end.  And when I hear that somebody got some sort of enjoyment out of something I created, it makes my day.

I also need to thank my fellow author friends who have been there for me and have helped me along on this new journey.  Without their support and encouragment, I don't think I would be where I am right now with my writing.

Thank you for taking the time to read my work.  I hope you were able to enjoy yourself while you did, and I hope I'll be able to keep entertaining you for many, many years to come.

Coming Soon to Amazon... My short story, CANARY

So, I've made the decision to upload my short story, CANARY to Amazon this morning.  I've had it on Smashwords for the past few months, and it seems to be the one that gets the most downloads/reviews.  I figure it can't hurt to add another title to my bio.  Plus, I understand that not everybody uses Smashwords.  Not doing this because I'm hoping to sell a crazy amount.  It's just another way to get my work out there.

Of course, the story will remain on Smashwords for free.  I wished Amazon would allow you to go lower than 99 cents for the price.  I'm afraid people may think 99 cents is a bit steep to charge for a single story, but then again I have seen people sell their short stories and do fine.

You can read it for FREE on Smashwords by clicking here.  Or, you can wait until it's on Amazon and buy it for 99 cents.  Either way is fine by me.



Description for CANARY:

Willie had a nice job at the bookstore, until he's called in to tell on a co-worker who's been stealing. Willie can’t stand the punk-kid who’s been doing so, but he refuses to give a name and as a result, loses his job. CANARY is a story about how something so minor and trivial that happened when you were little can ultimately change the way you carry on in your adult life, whether it's in a good way or not.

Reviews, ahoy!

Imagine my surprise when I woke up and found out that Red Adept Reviews had a review out for LESSONS AND OTHER MORBID DRABBLES.  Also, imagine my surprise when I saw the rating:

4.5 stars.

Yowza!

You can't imagine how happy I am!  Lynn from Red Adept doesn't play when it comes to reviews.  She's a professional, and isn't afraid to tell it like it is.  If your work sucks... you're gonna hear it, and she won't sugar-coat it any (although, she would come up with something a helluva lot better than "this sucks.").

But when you get a good review from her, then you know you've earned it and did something right.

I couldn't be happier.  And I'm glad that the review came before I release LESSONS II.  It made me want to go back and re-tweak a few things.  That's always the sign of a great and helpful review.  And I plan to take some of that advice before I finally decide to publish the book.

Not only that, but fellow author, Amanda Hocking gave me an excellent review.  She bought LESSONS after reading the review from Red Adept.

I came this close to fainting.

So... safe to say I'm having a pretty fantastic day.  Since the review has gone up, I'm experiencing some of the best rankings ever, and this is one of my best days of sales since my Kindleboard Book of the Day--and I didn't have to pay for it this time!

It's just nice to know that you're doing something right.  I've been getting a lot of great feedback from new readers today.  Exciting stuff!

Now, let's hope that LESSONS II is a hit as well!

To read the review from Red Adept, click here.  She's also fun to follow when it comes to reviews.

LESSONS II: Finished

I mentioned finishing the 30 drabbles for LESSONS II this week.  Over the weekend, I figured out the order of the drabbles and I pieced it all together.  Now, I'm just waiting on cover art.  It'll be awesome to finally have a professional cover, especially since now I know that the first LESSONS is doing so well.

Really excited about this.  I'm really tempted to put it out before January, but I'm forcing myself to stick with it.  I can't think of a better way to start the new year than to have a book that's done and ready.  Not that I'm not expecting to not have anything else out for 2011, but it'll still be a nice feeling.

I'm excited and nervous, just like when I put out LESSONS.  I wasn't sure if people would like it.  I was wrong.

I'm hoping that I'm wrong again.  :)

30 Drabbles... Finished!

That's right.  I finished Drabble #30 yesterday for LESSONS II: ANOTHER MORBID DRABBLE COLLECTION.  Thought it would've taken me a bit longer to get there, and I wasn't sure if I had enough in me for 30.

I love it when I'm wrong... well, some of the time, anyway.

I'm pretty psyched.  Now, I have to piece it all together and figure out that order.  After that, comes the artwork for the cover.

I'm not sure when I'll put this out.  Maybe I'll wait until early January, so I'll have something out there already for 2011... but I don't know if I'll be able to wait that long!  Not only that, but with the holidays coming up, I'm not sure how well it'll sell.  Maybe it's best to wait until after Christmas.  Still deciding, but I'm really anxious to get it out there, so who knows?