Looking Forward To April...

My mind has been buzzing with stories lately. So much so, that I am dreaming them half the time. I have lots of ideas and very little time. I'm thinking I will be writing up a couple of short stories, to sort of get the thoughts flowing, the ideas out there and then go back to other stuff.

Again, I have lots and lots to do. And I'm gearing up for the A-Z Blog Challenge! I'll be posting and hope to get around to everyone else who is a part of it.

My theme for the challenge is going to be "World Building From A-Z". It'll be interesting to see if I can pull it off. Wish me luck!

I can't wait to see what you all will post about.

So tell me, do you have a theme or you just going to wing it? What is your theme if you have one? Have you done the A-Z blog challenge before or are you new?

Have a great rest of the week! I'll see you Friday with some funnies.

Insecure Writers Support Group...

It's the first Wednesday of the month and that means it is time for IWSG! Insecure Writers Support Group.

Who isn't insecure about their writing?

Having a support group like this is really, really helpful. It saves my sanity, more often than not, just knowing I can vent to other writers once a month. People who know what I am going through when I feel insecure or hit a snag or get irritated with some lousy idiot who doesn't....

Ahem.

You get the idea.

It's also nice to be able to offer up support and advice for those who might need it. There are soooo many of us involved in this, I don't get to everyone. I think the Ninja Captain himself is the only one who does... So if I don't make it by, I'm sorry. I will try to get to you next time around.

Which leads me to my insecurity of sorts. Commenting. I love reading everyone's posts and I do drop by, trust me. Time is limited as you are well aware. But sometimes, I don't leave a comment to let you know I was there because I just don't know what to say.

Things like, "Great post!" is good, but I fear may come across as, "Oh. Hey. Just skimmed. Good job. Keep it up. See ya."

You know?

Meh.

I do make an effort to get involved in discussions. But I'm also having issues with Blogger these days with people not able to leave a comment. (Some anyway, working on it.) And I've reached my limit on how many people I can follow. So I don't see all the posts in the feed. I have tried deleting some blogs that are inactive and have been for over a year or something silly I don't want to follow anymore and I can't get them to load so I can remove them. Very frustrating!

And I refuse to upgrade Blogger. That's like saying, "Hey, don't worry about your buggy issues, let me just throw some money at you to make it all go away..."

Not.

I'll try to be better. Maybe when I comment, I'll say, "I was here!!!" if I can't think of anything else to say. That way you know I stopped by and showed you some bloggy love. <3 br="br">

I'm Sorry?...

I'm a little stunned.

You guys know me, I don't always comment on your blogs, but when I see something you've posted and it hits me like a ton of bricks, I have to add my two cents.

So here it is.

First of all, let me just link you to this post here about an indie author who went on a review rant. This post will link to another where you can see the details of it all.

Second, let me state right here and now that if I offered up to review your book and haven't AND you have not heard from me about it. I'm sorry.

Last thing I need is someone listing me as their source of angst. I mean... I can be, but not in this instance!

Now for the rest of my two cents. It doesn't matter if you are an indie author or traditionally published author. If you ask me to review your book (because hey, I've reviewed books here) please keep in mind that I have stuff to do with my own book, my work, my family. Even with *gasp!* other books. If I can't finish your book, for whatever reason, I will try again. If I still can't, I will email you. Personally, I don't like to give a bad review. I'll give you my review in private if it comes to that point, not for all the world to see simply because I know how hard it is to shake off negativity.

I also am seeing a trend in some of the indie authors out there (not that any of them have contacted me personally) that have the frame of mind that they're somehow better than traditionally published authors. Writers as a whole are pretty humble creatures. We don't expect anything or think we're entitled to special treatment because we write. So why have that attitude? Are you so jaded by the publishing industry that you would turn on your readers and fellow authors? If that's the case, stop writing and find something else to do. Otherwise, stop whining and work on your book. Hire an editor, join a critique group, make your self published book the best it can be to avoid getting bad reviews.

I try to review books I read, whether asked to do the review or not. If I like the book, I am going to review it. There were a couple of reviews I did that were not glowing, rave reviews when I was helping another reviewer on their blog, but I didn't enjoy posting them. I did contact the person I was helping and said, "I can't do this anymore, some of these books are soooo bad!"

If indie authors want to maintain respect, let me suggest that you act in a professional manner. Act like a published author! Don't call people thieves or liars if they did not review your book. Not everyone will contact you if they don't like your work, they'll just drop it, ignore you and hope you'll go away. If you really want that bad review, it can be done. But why would you?

Tips on professionalism:

* Politely email the people and ask if they've had a chance to read your work, if not, when can they do so? If they have, but didn't like your material, either thank them for their time or ask for constructive criticism.

* Don't bad mouth people, their blogs, their books, etc. Karma will come back to you. People will see you acting petty and think, "Wow, I am NOT going to read their book if they're going to be like this..."

* What you post on the internet will find a way to remain on here FOREVER. So, with that in mind... THINK about what you post before you post it. I'm sure I have stuff out there I would LOVE to take down...

* Treat people how you want to be treated. The Golden Rule. If someone offers up a review of your book, offer one in return if they are a writer. If they're not a writer, link to their blog or website. Support the people that support YOU. However, if they don't follow through on their review promise, don't get pissy. Again, politely email them and say, "Hey, you promised a review for a review. If you are unable to review my book, I will not be able to uphold the deal we had." Of course... maybe try not to sound so rude... But people will read things online in their own voice and you may end up coming across snarky anyway. So begin with "I'm not trying to be rude."

Overall, no one is entitled to anything more than anyone else in this business. Yes, indie authors seem to have a harder time of it because of the route they choose. But I know several indie authors and respect the hell out of them because of taking this route. I also respect them because they ACT PROFESSIONALLY. No matter what route you take, this is a difficult enough of an industry as it is, why add to it? Writers have been pretty good about supporting their fellow writers. I really don't see a need for such competitiveness in this field because readers will choose what they like, no matter what. Not everyone is going to like your book to begin with and it isn't your job to force them to like it. Take it in stride.

And I hope everyone reminds me of this when I get my bad reviews. Hehe!

Do you have anything to add to this? Did I not review a book for you and contact you? By all means, leave comments. Not the best way to start off the week, but hope you all have a good week regardless.

How Do You Handle...

Recently, I read somewhere about someone giving an honest (although bad) review of someone else's book.

The author had approached the reviewer and the reviewer could not find one shining example in the book to give any sort of praise. The reviewer posted the bad review on their blog and soon after, was being harassed by the author's friends.

Nasty comments appeared under the review and the reviewer even received a nasty email.

The author was never heard from.

What if this had been your book or even your review? I am all about honesty and when reading the review, I didn't find it as harsh as I had been warned it would be. But if you cannot find anything to praise, should the review be done?

And you, as the author. How would this affect you? What if someone posted in their blog that your book lacked plot, had characters you couldn't make a connection with and was poorly written?

We, as authors/writers, take a responsibility to make sure our work is the absolute best that it can be before we give it to the world. But there are those out there who think, "Hey, that would make a neat story!", then proceed to write it out and push it onto the web before any editing has been done.

Funny. I think my first book was just like that and I thank whatever deity listens that I didn't get the horrible reviews. My book just died, quietly, with no fanfare. Had I gotten those bad reviews, I probably would have hid from the world, never writing another word again.

And it is fine that friends stick up for your work. Family will as well. But don't harass the person who wrote the bad review. (Okay, yeah I have asked people to help out my sister in law on Amazon...) But honestly, I didn't attack the person who wrote the bad review, I just posted a more positive one. Others have as well.

With that being said... if you are going to be honest and write a bad review, don't slam the author and just say it was a horrible story, that it was the worse book ever and leave it at that. Back up your words and give examples.

What would you have done in any of these situations?

Harry Potter And A Touch Of Sarcasm...

Okay, so I have to wait 'til Monday to see the new Harry Potter movie because that's payday. Bummer. I'm so excited I could spit! Just kidding, if I do I will make sure it is not on your shoes.

So this past week, posts have had to be scheduled, probably next week as well. I hate doing that because I feel a little disconnected with everyone when I am not on here daily. Then I filter quickly through all the other blogs and rarely have time to comment, only on a few.

So where's the sarcasm come in? I've been reading posts about sarcasm, people working customer service and getting their sarcasm and snarkiness from their years dealing with ignorant (just a nice way to say stupid) people.

I have certainly had MY share of that particular piece of pie. Customer service was, if nothing else, entertaining at best. Irritating at worse. I have to say, my favorite people were the ones who would call me while I worked tech support. Now... mind you. I worked for an internet company and later on, tech support for a tax program.

Rule number one... don't piss off the person who is in control of resetting your password. Don't scream and yell at dozens of people because your kid got busted doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing per terms of service. Or your husband for that matter. I would have liked to have dealt with the husband in one case because the wife was an absolute train wreck of a witch. Before hanging up, (after changing her password and telling her what it was...) she told me, "F -- you very much." She almost had the phone on the cradle and her husband was in the background telling her "Wait, wait! What is... blah blah blah?" So I answered her question as politely as I could. And she said it AGAIN! Twice! "F-- you very much." *click* THAT time was doubly uncalled for. So I changed her password and put in the customer service notes: "Cannot be nice, swearing the entire time and just downright rude. If she calls back, yeah, I did reset her password because she was being a b--."

My all time favorites when I worked tech support for the tax software was the "Any key" situation. After installation, it would usually tell you to press 'any key to continue'.
"Well, where IS the 'Any Key'?"
"Just press ANY key on your keyboard."
"But I can't find it."
"It's the space bar. Press the space bar."
"Ooooh! Good to know!"

Then there was, I kid you not, the classic disc drive person who thought it was a cup holder. I ACTUALLY got that call, but no, I didn't start the joke.

I also got people who couldn't install it because the disc wasn't working. The amazement in their voices when I told them to wash it in warm water with a tiny drop of dish soap and then pat dry was priceless. They would always call back just to say, "It WORKED!"

And last but not least... there was always one poor guy I relentlessly picked on while working a convenience store. The one who would come in and ask if I could break his 50 dollar or 20 dollar bill. I couldn't get enough of the look on their faces when I said, "Sure!" and tore it in half.

Hope this gives you a good laugh on this wonderful Saturday! See you on Monday!

We Wanna Give Stuff Away!

I had some technical difficulties with my internet yesterday. For whatever reason, it decided to let just one person on at a time. The problem was either my modem or router. Still don't know which...

I digress. As usual. I do that a lot, don't I? Of course I do, I wouldn't be me if I didn't get sidetracked on some tangent that has nothing to do with the original title of this post...

Did it again, didn't I?

OK! This time I stick to the topic. We wanna give some stuff away, baby! We does not mean I have a mouse in my pocket. It does mean me and my sister in law, Cheri. (Look, I spelled it right this time)

Cheri and I are wanting to (Sorry, got sidetracked by "Friends") give some prizes away, but we don't want to have our drawing until we each reach 100 followers. This will include FaceBook followers, the ones you see below the other followers, you know? Okay, cool, I didn't want to have to explain further. Hehehe... just kidding. Anyway, as soon as the two of us reach 100 followers each, we're going to have a drawing. But I won't tell you the prizes yet. That's for another post. Have to keep you all reading somehow, don't I?

So pass this around, tell your friends, we'll tell our friends and we'll keep networking like we do. We're good at that. And as soon as we reach that magic number, we'll be sure to let you know!