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Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Last week I wrote over 12K, a short story for an anthology and then I started on the novel I’m doing the traveling for. Since this week I won’t be writing at all to research some more, I thought I’d write down the part set in Romania before I move on to some other place.

Yes, I have plenty of notes, but I might start to confuse them, so I decided to have a headstart! Next week I should be able to continue and finish by the end of the month. Wordcount rises when I write longer works, so I can catch up on the two lost weeks! 😉

Well, they weren’t completely lost. They were research trips. And I’m practically done for now. I may do another one in October, but I haven’t decided where or how yet. Although I’m thinking train, like, a Europass ticket, although I may also improvise. We’ll see.

The newsletter goes out tomorrow and has some reading recommendations! You can still subscribe on the publisher’s page!

As soon as I put on the publisher’s hat again, I will do a cover reveal. Yes, I’m having some Silvery Earth covers redone once again, since the awesome artist who made the Quests covers is available again. So when I’ll update the prices on the paperbacks, I hope to upload also the new covers for these 10 books.

And that’s all for today! Have a great week!

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by Barb on 31/05/2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 31/05/2023

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2023/05/31/wednesday-weekly-roundup-190/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Last week, after a kick in the pants from the workshop I’m taking, I managed over 12K and finished whatever I was working on, despite not writing every day. This week I’ll try for a short story and then we’ll see. Maybe two short stories if I manage to keep the wordcount high! I mean, I do want to reach pulp speed (i.e.1million words per year), so I better start worning on it! 😉

I got the email from KDP that they’re raising the paperback prices. With hundreds of books to update, I will take advantage of their bulk update, but not until mid-June, so if you’re a paperback lover, go grab ’em now! Other authors who have already sent the bulk update mentioned it takes time, but just to be safe, order now.

I ordered some paperbacks myself for future comic con, since they will cost more for me as well! They’re mostly in Italian, since I don’t plan on going anywhere this year. Worldcon is in China, and since I didn’t make it to Chicago, which I love, imagine if I want to embark on a trip to China! 😉 Next year it’s in Glasgow, so we’ll see…

Speaking of Worldcons, I finally read a paperback that I got from the author at Loncon 2014… yeah, I’m ashamed to admit that’s how much it took me to get to reading it. And since he’s not on Bookbub, but he’s a Goodreads friend, here’s the link to his book (although I have a different cover).

Do I recommend it? Yes, if you like historical time travel! I read the short story back then, so I don’t remember it at all (it’s still on K.K. though), therefore it was totally new and rather interesting. I mean, historical time travel and alternate history, what’s not to love? Check it out!

I see he has written other books since, although we haven’t been in touch… but my TBR pile is still quite high, so I’ll have to postpone checking them! I might go back to reading on Kindle soon, still plenty of Kickstarter books to read, sigh!

Above it’s Peter&Barb at Loncon 2014, and yes, he’s holding the book he gave me (and I’m holding my copy of Star Minds the Trilogy)… While looking for that picture in the dashboard, I cleaned up the old posts – mostly of my own drawings, all the guest posts still have images – to get more space in the media library… And that’s all for today! Have a great week!

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by Barb on 24/05/2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 24/05/2023

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2023/05/24/wednesday-weekly-roundup-189/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Last week I wrote almost 10K, and two stories. This week I shall start by checking Mighty Editor’s proofreading and send out a couple of stories on submission, then I can dive in a longer project that I started last year, but couldn’t bring myself to finish. I will, now, and hopefully you’ll see it before the end of the year.

After reading Kris Rusch’s post on Amazon, I decided not to renew the three titles I currently have in KU, especially since they never brought in any revenue. I won’t upload them everywhere, since they’re already available in other forms, but if you’re a KU reader, check them now.

The short story Lisa’s Odyssey will be in KU until the end of the month. It’s available everywhere in the collection Future Earth Chronicles Shorts. The other two are the collections of novellas, one from the Star Minds Universe, the other is Going Into the Future, because of the paperback. Those will both expire in June.

The ebooks will stay on Amazon, but not elsewhere, since they’re “duplicates” – an experiment that didn’t work any time I tried it, so I’m sorry, but I won’t put my books in KDP Select anymore. The collections of novellas include titles that are sold separately everywhere, I combined them only to make thicker paperbacks.

Now, my new favorite author (sort of!) doesn’t seem to be on Bookbub, so to recommend her books I shall put the Goodreads link, but I’m not going to bother writing a review on that site. Through her Kickstarter, I got Hero De Facto, a fun romp of breathtaking adventures that both makes fun and follows the superhero trope. Check out the whole series, the first book is really a page turner! 🙂

Now I’m going to take a break from ebooks and fiction, and go through some of the books I bought in England last year! And that’s all for today… have a great week! 🙂

by Barb on 10/05/2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 10/05/2023

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2023/05/10/wednesday-weekly-roundup-187/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Last week I wrote zero words of fiction, but it was expected, since I was traveling. I took loads of notes, though, and got ideas for at least two short stories besides the novel that was the reason for this research trip. I did a tour of Romania, through Transylvania, Bucovina and Moldova, three very different regions – and took a thousand pics with both my phone and my camera (although at some point it took weird pictures, I don’t know what I touched, but a monastery has a few weird pics… pity, because it looked like a castle, and I could have used it on some cover, LOL!).

As I came back on Monday, I needed a couple of days to sort those notes and edit a novella I plan to submit, so I’ll hopefully resume writing today, one of those stories, probably. And some notes for the novel that I won’t start until the summer, but it’s slowly taking shape in my head.

Traveling again felt nice, it was a small group of 15, and the guide was really nice. We visited towns, painted (outside) monasteries, and went across the Carpathians, like, four times – including Borgo Pass of Bram Stoker’s book. Which is fiction, of course. There’s no “count” in Romania, only “vovoid”, and there’s no castle beyond Borgo Pass (besides, Bucovina starts shortly after, so it’s no longer Transylvania!).

I did like Castle Bran, a.k.a. Dracula’s castle, because it’s medieval, originally built by the Teutonic Knights, and I don’t care much about all the fuss they did about it after the above novel came out. Well, at least they repaired it! And it still belongs to the last descendant of the Romanian royal family – such an interesting history I was totally oblivious to because it’s too recent… oh, well, now I know more about it! 🙂

This week I’m still off day job, so I should be able to catch up on some writing. Meanwhile wishing you a wonderful week!

by Barb on 03/05/2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 03/05/2023

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Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Last week I wrote around 5K, a very short story (almost a flash fiction around 1K), a short story and the start of a third, then the weekend hit and I had no time to go back to it. I won’t send more than 12 stories to my partner in crime/fellow challenge mate, but I will probably send them before the end of March, when the challenge ends. I have 2 and a half more to go.

Did I come up with a few ideas for the next projects? Yes. Will I be starting something completely new? Probably not. But even “sequels” are going to be different from the original series, that’s for sure. I haven’d decided which project I’m tackling next, though, and I’m thinking of preparing a couple of booklets of strips for next year’s comic cons in Italy, since everything seems to have resumed like before the lockdown.

Also, I’m hoping to do some traveling to find insipiration for another project. Going to the actual places instead of researching on the internet is going to be exciting and a new way of writing! Maybe I won’t even need those description generators anymore, LOL! I look forward to adding pages to my travel diary (started in India in 2016 and sorely empty since – except for the short trip to Cornwall last year).

I’m currently reading Space Opera Digest 2022: Have Ship, Will Travel and since I have a story in the antho, I guess I won’t be able to review it on Bookbub, but it’s definitely another recommended reader. I don’t have favorites yet, because I’m not done, but check it out! 🙂

And that’s all for today… have a great week!

by Barb on 01/03/2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 01/03/2023

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Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Last week I wrote about 6K of new words, including a complete rewrite for a submission. And I already had one rejection to the first submission. We’ll see if they’re as fast for the second submission, LOL! These guys wanted .docx, which forces me to jump through hoops and using the office wordprocessor, but I no longer have access to Dropbox from the office, so I send docs back and forth between emails. Glad I have many! 😉

A nice post on the state of social media (as it pertains to writers in particular) by Chuck Wendig. “Books don’t require social media to exist” – no doubts about that. I haven’t really sold anything through my FB posts, boosted or not. Or because I posted a video on TikTok – that Booktok hashtag is hard to catch. But I did send out my bi-monthly newsletter, and of course there’s still this very blog that doesn’t depend on algorithms – if you subscribe to it, you get it.

It might be a wondrous new world for writers, but there’s still some chaos in the discoverability department. Therefore I shall keep writing, and soon I will also take a break to figure out when to publish the stuff I’m writing or I have written at the end of last year.

Considering my low levels of energy, I will need a week off the day job to put on the publisher’s hat and start programming this year’s titles. Hopefully the first will come out in spring, but I don’t know yet which ones. Stay tuned! 😉

Now I better go back to my challenge and finish this week’s story, so I can move on to the next! Have a great week!

by Barb on 08/02/2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 08/02/2023

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2023/02/08/wednesday-weekly-roundup-174/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Last week I write a little over 4K, or one story as per challenge. Except this challenge isn’t doing much for me. I waste way too much time procrastinating, because I know I can write the story in a couple of days. So from this week, I’ll try to do it differently, and possibly write two, like I did on the first week of January.

Monday and Tuesday are a little busy, but hopefully this week’s story will be done by Thursday, so I have time to start on something else. When I’m done with the prompts from my Photomanipulation challenge, I’ll move back to the projects I want to complete as soon as possible so I can set up a Kickstarter for them.

I’m not sure about my partner in crime, but in my case, I’m going to write 12 short stories, probably in much less than three months, and then I’ll consider the challenge done. And then I’ll move on, unless I find an open call I want to write for, since I’m still in a Facebook group with open calls and I have friends who sometimes post open calls for anthologies.

The research trip for the next novel will probably be in the late spring, but I do have at least another novel that I want to write before the summer. And after the summer we’ll see. Hopefully I’ll have read a few more books from my TBR pile (although I backed a few more Kickstarters, so more books coming, ARGH!) and will be able to dive into new stuff.

Also, in the final part of the year I hope to get good news from DayJob and start to organize my life after 35 years in the trenches, so to speak. More workshops, both for the writing and for other things I want to learn and that I’ve been postponing for lack of energy. The past couple of years have really drained me.

Today Dean Nephew turns 18! Seems like yestarday I was in Angouleme for a comic convention and I got the text message that he was born! Now he is taller than me (but then, so is Techie Bro – those little brothers who become taller than you, grunt!) and has some problems, much like his aunt/godmother, but we shall overcome!

Now I better go back to writing and stop wasting time with Hidden City and Bubble Witch Saga, LOL! Have a great week!

by Barb on 25/01/2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 25/01/2023

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2023/01/25/wednesday-weekly-roundup-172/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


So, last week I wrote 10k+, so I’m off on a good start. And it’s two short stories, not one, but don’t tell my challenge mate (although he might read it on this very blog, LOL! I sent him just one!). I still don’t have a publishing schedule, but at least I’m writing – and I booked Mighty Editor for this week, so who knows, maybe you’ll get something to read next month! 🙂

I started the new “strip” on Instagram and even made a video for TikTok with the same images. I also got a new graphic tablet for Christmas, but I haven’t started using it yet… I gew up in the age of the typewriter and prefer to draw on paper and then scan and do the digital coloring, although I’m determined to learn to draw directly on those tablets at some point.

I guess I have another thing to learn this year! 🙂 Also, after hearing this conversation about what do you need to quit I’m glad I decided to quit a regular publishing schedule. This year I need to try new stuff and don’t want to be encumbered with deadlines. Like they say, “sometimes it’s just about letting things go so that something new can come in.”

A wonderful quote from that link:

I think it’s easy enough to know you should quit if money is falling, but actually, if money is still fine and you’re selling reasonably well, but you know that creatively you’re in a rut and you know you’re bored or worse; you can really have quite negative feelings where you turn your writing into the worst sort of day job and you have to whip yourself in and all of that. That too is time to quit.
If you’re not balancing both the commercial and the creative, then that is a sign that something needs to change, for sure.
Maybe not all out quitting the full thing, the full series or the full genre, but something needs to go. So, it’s not just about commercial reasons, which can make it easier to make that judgment. (Orna Ross)

I’ve been saying for some time now, that I needed to slow down the publishing to have fun with the writing again, so now I’m doing it. I have enough books out for readers to discover me (and it seems the rebranding I did last year is starting to work), and I still do the mock covers to inspire me, even if I won’t actually use them in the end.

This year I don’t have a publishing schedule because I want to surprise both the readers and myself with what I accomplish. I still aim to write 500K, but when I’ll publish them is still a mystery. And I won’t give up this blog, since I’ve gone to weekly posts and it’s still my main way to talk with you guys (although it looks like a conversation between me and Tori, but I know you’re listening). I’m not leaving Facebook either, although it’s mostly to send these posts to my page, LOL!

Anyhow, hope you’re all set for the new years now that the Holiday Season is finally over. Have a great week!

by Barb on 11/01/2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 11/01/2023

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2023/01/11/wednesday-weekly-roundup-170/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Happy New Year! I’m glad 2022 is over, since it was a rough year for me personally. Although I did manage 524K words, which is more than last year! 😉 Also, it’s the first time I actually earned some money – the Kickstarter paid for the workshops, and the Storybundles I participated in paid the editor’s fees.

Here’s to hoping the new year will be as successful on the indie side – and that it will be the last with a day job that gives me nervous breakdowns. Last week I wrote 1330 words, mostly wrapping up projects and editing them. I shall start slowly, since writing shorts doesn’t necessarily hit the 10K/week wordcount, but I still hope to reach 500K by the end of the year.

This week is the first of the challenge. I already have a few stories in mind to cover the first weeks, but not for the whole three months. I shall improvise, LOL! And hopefully my next novel will be rich with details after a reserch trip in spring – fingers crossed.

Now, looking back to the past year, I did a few things. After the rebranding that messed up titles and editions, I decided to start a brand new inventory sheet for the years to come. I also did a count of final sales numbers on the unpublished titles – that’s 61 stories that are no longer available in that specific format, but are probably bundled in other ways.

12 had sales in the 2 digits, 3 of which were in bundles at PubShare (one is still live, and it’s currently a bestseller – Beautiful is available only in two bundles, Love& Magic and Cats Cats Cats, or paired with Lovers in Warriors of the North). 29 sold zero copies. I still have 180+ titles live (some in Italian) and 32 still have zero sales.

My bestseller is still Body Switches. On Storybundle, the best seller is Adventurer. On PubShare, like I said, Beautiful. And my newest series, Immortaland Dragons is off to a very good start. I’m planning a few sales this year, so watch this space! 🙂

Off we go into the new year… And I found out a bunch of authors are doing a Make 100 Kickstarter of SFF stories, check them out! Happy reading (and/or writing) and have a great week!

by Barb on 04/01/2023  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 04/01/2023

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2023/01/04/wednesday-weekly-roundup-169/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


As you may know if you’ve been following this blog for a long time, December is my least favorite month of the year. And this year was even worse than the previous ones, which means that I didn’t write at all during the working week because I was completely drained.

I caught up during the (Christmas) weekend when I wrote almost 6K on a new story. I have reached my yearly goal of 500K some time ago, so I don’t worry if I don’t write much in the last weeks of the year. In the end I wrote more than last year, despite the two months dedicated to rebranding old titles and less titles out.

But I don’t have a publishing plan for 2023 yet, and to make sure I keep writing, I challenged a friend. We will write one story a week for three months and swap them. Accountability, LOL! Also, if we find a story of the other person that tickles our fantasy, we might work on a collaboration (either a novel or a shared world) and expand it.

I also hope to explore other subgenres and find the spark for the next series. Then in spring I hope to be able to do a short trip to find inspiration for a novel that I want to write, and after that I’ll improvise, either expanding short stories into novels, or writing sequels or added books to pre-existing series.

At the worst, after this challenge I’ll have enough stories to do a Make 100 Kickstarter in January 2024, when I hope to celebrate an early retirement from the day job! 😉

I also hope to do more “marketing” work, meaning I’m planning short strips of presentation of my works for Instagram and TikTok. We’ll see how those go, but, like I said, Happiness is ends next Sunday, so I want to keep the IG page going, and with those pics I can make TikTok videos.

We’ll see. I’m mostly in survival mode at the moment, and my energy levels are very low. Here’s to hoping they get back up next year! Have a wonderful week and talk to you in 2023! 🙂

by Barb on 28/12/2022  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 28/12/2022

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2022/12/28/wednesday-weekly-roundup-168/

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