Sunday, January 1, 2017
The Blank Page
The blank page is often used as a way to portray writer's block. The image of a tortured writer staring at a blank page with nothing to write has become so common that it has become cliche.
I do not find that to be the case. I find the blank page liberating. Michelangelo is once purported to have said, "Every block of stone has a statue inside of it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it." In a similar vein, I would say that every blank page has a story inside of it, and it is the task of the writer to discover it.
And therein lies the problem. Unlike blocks of stone, every blank page is the same. If offers no clue as to what lies within. Worse still, every word is a chain meant to tame the infinite, invisible beast of imagination. It gives the beast shape and scope. It gives it more clarity and definition, delineating its nature, describing both what it is and what it isn't.
How sad it is to me to think of the poor soul that looks on a blank page and sees only ... nothing. For me, the blank page is a wonderment. A miracle, even. In it, I see worlds of infinite wonder where quite literally anything is possible.
Friday, February 19, 2016
Rejected
I got word by E-mail that my submission to Topside Press was rejected. I was copied on the E-mail as a BCC, so I suspect this was a mass rejection.
This is a first for me. My first story, "Shoes," was submitted to TG Forum. They were kind enough to publish it even though publishing fiction wasn't really what their site is about. "Shoes" was on their site for many months until they did a site reorganization, at which point they removed it from their archives. I never did find out why.
Reluctant Press published me with such speed and gusto my head spun. Right up through my last contacts with them, they were polite, courteous and eager to publish me.
When I was looking to self-publish "Alien Body Suit: Under Her Skin," femur, the head honcho over at TGComics.com reached out to me when I posted in the forums there looking for an artist. The next thing I know, we're collaborating on publishing not one, but two of my stories. You all may have seem my posts here about the sequels, which will also be published there. (I hope and expect.)
While the results of my efforts at self-publishing have been mixed, falling about halfway between Reluctant Press and TGComics, they've still been a fun, profitable endeavor. I would have to call that a success.
So getting rejected by Topside Press is, I must say, kind of a downer.
:_-(
Ah, well. Back to work.
This is a first for me. My first story, "Shoes," was submitted to TG Forum. They were kind enough to publish it even though publishing fiction wasn't really what their site is about. "Shoes" was on their site for many months until they did a site reorganization, at which point they removed it from their archives. I never did find out why.
Reluctant Press published me with such speed and gusto my head spun. Right up through my last contacts with them, they were polite, courteous and eager to publish me.
When I was looking to self-publish "Alien Body Suit: Under Her Skin," femur, the head honcho over at TGComics.com reached out to me when I posted in the forums there looking for an artist. The next thing I know, we're collaborating on publishing not one, but two of my stories. You all may have seem my posts here about the sequels, which will also be published there. (I hope and expect.)
While the results of my efforts at self-publishing have been mixed, falling about halfway between Reluctant Press and TGComics, they've still been a fun, profitable endeavor. I would have to call that a success.
So getting rejected by Topside Press is, I must say, kind of a downer.
:_-(
Ah, well. Back to work.
Monday, October 12, 2015
Going Slow
New blog post! I know it's been a while, but it's been a lot less newsworthy year than last year. I'm sorry to the few fans I have for my silence.
So, what's up, you ask? Writing. The difference this year is that almost none of it is in service to one project. I've had bursts of creativity all year that lead to very productive outpourings of story content, but never on the same story, and never on any of the projects that I feel are the most important to complete. All of my ideas for more mainstream TG novels are percolating. The sequels to "Alien Body Suit: Under Her Skin" are still plotted and outlined but not started. (OK, maybe part of the first chapter of ABS:IM has been worked on, but that's it.) There's a story for a Topside Press collection that has a deadline of December 1st that is only half written.
What I have been working on are two 100+ page stories that are only getting warmed up. One starts off in a way that reads like standard TG transformation fiction but evolves into a family drama. The other has a similar hook at the beginning that's becoming an identity crisis for the main character. I've also worked on maybe a dozen other stories that are 20 - 50 pages long with a variety of themes and transformation methods.
It's very frustrating professionally to find myself wanting to play instead of doing the work that's needed to move my career forward. In terms of pages written, this might actually be my most productive year ever. In terms of projects completed, it's among my worst. The only real silver lining I can see is that if these longer works ever get put up on Amazon, the large page counts will mean more pages read and more revenue for me. I'm also hoping that a longer work at a reasonable price will result in more direct purchases. All of that will - I hope - put me closer to being financially independent as an author.
That's the real goal: to make enough per month to quit my day job. Once I'm my own boss, I'll have an extra forty hours a week to write. Writing at a rate of about a page an hour, that's about 160 pages a month. More if you figure in an extra five hours a week saved by eliminating my commute (20 extra pages a month) and that I'm likely to eat and write at the same time through my lunch (5 hours a week, 20 pages a month). That's a full length novel every three months figuring in editing and rewriting of drafts. Four novels a year. At shorter lengths, that would be two stories a month, or twenty-four stories a year. With those kinds of numbers, I might actually have a body of work I could be proud of before I'm ready to retire.
So, what's up, you ask? Writing. The difference this year is that almost none of it is in service to one project. I've had bursts of creativity all year that lead to very productive outpourings of story content, but never on the same story, and never on any of the projects that I feel are the most important to complete. All of my ideas for more mainstream TG novels are percolating. The sequels to "Alien Body Suit: Under Her Skin" are still plotted and outlined but not started. (OK, maybe part of the first chapter of ABS:IM has been worked on, but that's it.) There's a story for a Topside Press collection that has a deadline of December 1st that is only half written.
What I have been working on are two 100+ page stories that are only getting warmed up. One starts off in a way that reads like standard TG transformation fiction but evolves into a family drama. The other has a similar hook at the beginning that's becoming an identity crisis for the main character. I've also worked on maybe a dozen other stories that are 20 - 50 pages long with a variety of themes and transformation methods.
It's very frustrating professionally to find myself wanting to play instead of doing the work that's needed to move my career forward. In terms of pages written, this might actually be my most productive year ever. In terms of projects completed, it's among my worst. The only real silver lining I can see is that if these longer works ever get put up on Amazon, the large page counts will mean more pages read and more revenue for me. I'm also hoping that a longer work at a reasonable price will result in more direct purchases. All of that will - I hope - put me closer to being financially independent as an author.
That's the real goal: to make enough per month to quit my day job. Once I'm my own boss, I'll have an extra forty hours a week to write. Writing at a rate of about a page an hour, that's about 160 pages a month. More if you figure in an extra five hours a week saved by eliminating my commute (20 extra pages a month) and that I'm likely to eat and write at the same time through my lunch (5 hours a week, 20 pages a month). That's a full length novel every three months figuring in editing and rewriting of drafts. Four novels a year. At shorter lengths, that would be two stories a month, or twenty-four stories a year. With those kinds of numbers, I might actually have a body of work I could be proud of before I'm ready to retire.
Thursday, July 9, 2015
Monkey Brains
I found this article online today:
Wiring Monkey Brains Together
Looks like "Head Games" has a basis in scientific fact. :-)
Wiring Monkey Brains Together
Looks like "Head Games" has a basis in scientific fact. :-)
Monday, February 9, 2015
The Sound of Silence
As anyone that reads this blog regularly would know, I normally do a New Year's resolution for my writing plans for the coming year. We're in the first week of February and it hasn't appeared yet. That's not because I have no ideas for what I want to do this year. Instead, it's because I feel like my time to write has been squeezed down to almost nothing. I'm finding it tough to get motivated about planning to write when my time to do the work of writing has all but dried up.
That's all I have for the moment. Just wanted to let the world and those that read my writing know that I have not forgotten you.
That's all I have for the moment. Just wanted to let the world and those that read my writing know that I have not forgotten you.
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
New Story: "Stocking Stuffers"
Story Description:
A Holiday tale of transgender transformation.
Just in time for Christmas, a man gets the gift of gams after admiring the legs of a trio of women dressed as Santa’s elves. Will he be able to return the gift of these long, elegant legs, or will he be stuck with these "Stocking Stuffers" for good?
(Transgender Erotic Fiction, Approximately 38,100 words)
If you follow my Twitter feed or my blog, than you already know what I'm going to say next: this story will be available for FREE from this Friday, 11/28/14 through Tuesday 12/2/14. I'm calling this a Black Friday sale, but it's really just a way to say "Thank You" to everyone that likes my stories, or has thought of buying one but didn't want to pay the price. Now's your chance! Get the story this weekend before it reverts to the full, normal price of $5.95.
As a side note to future readers that have already read the whole story, yes, the outfit on the cover doesn't appear in the story. Personally, I like the outfit in the story better, but I'm limited by what photos I can find for use at sites like Shutterstock. I was considering using this image instead, but it's still not a good match for the lingerie in the story, and it doesn't really show enough of the titular "Stocking Stuffers." The extra leg seen in the photo I ended up using is, I think, much more appropriate to the title while still having obvious Christmas ... let's call it "spirit." ;-)
The story itself does not include any sex and is overall pretty PG-13. OK, maybe R for nudity, but still pretty tame. At the end, things gets a little sentimental. If that's not your thing ... well, it's still free. Why not check it out anyway? You may find something to like about it. Perhaps the slow transformation, or the elf costume.
Still to come, an Amazon Kindle Countdown deal as we draw closer to Christmas. Again, this is because I want to make the story available for as little as possible for as long as possible as a way to say "Thank You" to everyone for their support. If anyone wants to thank me for doing this, please leave a review for the story on Amazon.
I hope you enjoy it!
Monday, November 24, 2014
Christmas Is Coming Early
Within the next day or so, I'll be publishing my next story, a Christmas story, for FREE.
The plan is to submit it tomorrow morning so that it will be published by the time I get home from work. Once it's up, I can put on the promotion to make it FREE (yes, FREE) from Black Friday through this coming Sunday (11/28/14 - 11/30/14). So, be warned. It will be up for $5.95 as soon as tomorrow night, in case you really, really can't wait. Those that are patient enough to wait for Friday can get it for FREE. I think I may have mentioned that once or twice already.
I'd prefer to wait until Thursday to post, then add the promo Thursday night for the next morning to minimize the chance that someone buys it at full cost by mistake. With the holiday, though, that doesn't seem like the wisest course of action. It also give me less time to post notices on TG Comics and Fictionmania to let people know it's up for FREE for the weekend.
After that, I intend to put up a holiday countdown promotion so that the story will scale up in price as the holiday approaches. That's not exactly ideal, but as long as I've committed to distributing through Amazon, these are the tools I have to work with.
One last thing. I do not approve of retailers cutting into the Thanksgiving holiday by starting their Black Friday sales on Thursday. So, no free story until Friday. Them's the breaks, folks.
The plan is to submit it tomorrow morning so that it will be published by the time I get home from work. Once it's up, I can put on the promotion to make it FREE (yes, FREE) from Black Friday through this coming Sunday (11/28/14 - 11/30/14). So, be warned. It will be up for $5.95 as soon as tomorrow night, in case you really, really can't wait. Those that are patient enough to wait for Friday can get it for FREE. I think I may have mentioned that once or twice already.
I'd prefer to wait until Thursday to post, then add the promo Thursday night for the next morning to minimize the chance that someone buys it at full cost by mistake. With the holiday, though, that doesn't seem like the wisest course of action. It also give me less time to post notices on TG Comics and Fictionmania to let people know it's up for FREE for the weekend.
After that, I intend to put up a holiday countdown promotion so that the story will scale up in price as the holiday approaches. That's not exactly ideal, but as long as I've committed to distributing through Amazon, these are the tools I have to work with.
One last thing. I do not approve of retailers cutting into the Thanksgiving holiday by starting their Black Friday sales on Thursday. So, no free story until Friday. Them's the breaks, folks.
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