All posts in category the Human being

Wednesday Weekly Roundup

So, no new words last week, I was too busy getting lost and being clumsy in France, LOL! My feet were destroyed by the wrong shoes and I spent two afternoons in cinemas, watching French movies, only to allow those poor feet to recover.

I also brought 3 DVDs home… and I’m trying to declutter… sigh! But then, I didn’t get any BéDé, since I have way too many. I wanted the last Thorgal book drawn by Rosinski, but it was nowhere to be found, neither at the Paris FNAC, nor at the Toulouse FNAC. I guess it’s already out of print… So I’m good, the collection is complete! 😀

I found inspiration for another Otherside story, so I might get back to that soon – possibly this week, but I have more travel coming up.

And I met up with a friend in Toulouse, where we had wonderful conversations in English and French, switching back and forth, and neither of us are native speakers of either (she’s Norwegian, I’m Italian)! 🙂

I did enjoy exploring Toulouse, and if you manage to get there before January 2025, don’t forget to check the Halle de la Machine! That Minotaur is sure something to behold (they had taken his wings off when I saw it, though)!

I will not write the story I planned on setting in Toulouse. I’ve had enough of this planet for now, and I wanna go back to my fantasy worlds for a while! 😉 I still have the notes (and the pictures and videos) in case I change my mind in the future, though!

I have updated the publisher’s page, both the Urban Fantasy and the Star Minds Universe pages… But I haven’t announced the next title yet – it will still be sci-fi after those five, then I’m definitely back to fantasy!

And that’s all for today… hopefully next week I’ll be back at the writing laptop for real! Have a great week!

Wednesday Weekly Roundup

Last week I wrote less than 2K, but I did manage to wrap a couple of projects. This week I probably won’t write much, since I’m traveling, but I do have Writing Netbook with me, so… you never know! 😉

In fact, I may forget to finish and post this, so I may skip a week… if that’s the case, well, I was traveling and got distracted!

So, the post remained in draft form for three days, until I realized “It’s Wednesday!” and as soon as I could, I got back to it. So that’s why it’s a few hours late.

This might be my last trip to a place because I want to set a story here. Next ones will be of discovery of places I want to visit – and if I come up with a story, good, if not, at least I saw more world!

Well, in this case, it’s also a way to catch up with a friend I met in 2020 in Vegas (right before the lockdown) and since we were both from Europe and even rather close, we’ve meant to meet again since.

Also, I’m curious about this place, so it’s not just to write a story set here, it’s also to meet friends and see new places! 😉

I’ll let you know how it went soon… have a great week and sorry for the late posting!

2 Comments

by Barb on 24/04/2024 • Permalink

Posted in real world inspiration, the Human being

Tagged long distance friendships, traveling, writing

Posted by Barb on 24/04/2024

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2024/04/24/wednesday-weekly-roundup-237/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup

Last week I wrote a solid 4K. This week I’m off day job, but I’m actually starting to declutter the house, something I’ve been wanting to do for at least a couple of years. And of course my almost-29-year-old car broke down, so I’ll probably get rid of it too. I aim for a life with no car, although I’m going to renew my driving license for the next 10 years! 😉

I’m also busy with fulfilling the Kickstarter – uploading books to BookFunnel, sending out surveys, all that lovely stuff that needs doing. Easter was okay (as usual), but I don’t care much for official holidays, be them religious or not – well, at the moment it’s a way to get off the day job, LOL! Eventually I hope to get off the grid.

One day. And I’ve started the bucket list, so it’s getting closer.

The above is a reference to Bollywood Movie Bang Bang with Katrina Kaif playing a bank teller who “one day” wants to travel, and Rajveer tells her she shouldn’t wait for that “one day”.

This movie is now 10 years old and it’s still one of my favorites. I watched it in a Long Island cinema with my friend Jennifer when it came out. It’s supposedly a remake of Knight and Day, but I haven’t seen the original.

Still can’t believe how much stuff I accumulated in this house in 30 years… it’s definitely going to take me a couple of years to declutter and get rid of everything! I started with my VHS, and here’s proof (and I’m not showing the original VHS I don’t seem to be able to throw away yet…):

That’s all for today! Have a great week!

by Barb on 03/04/2024 • Permalink

Posted in real world inspiration, the Human being

Tagged decluttering, kickstarter, movies, old stuff, writing

Posted by Barb on 03/04/2024

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2024/04/03/wednesday-weekly-roundup-234/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup

Last week I wrote almost 10K and finished the second book. This week I might take a few days to go through the first and second book one last time before starting on the third and last of the publishing challenge.

And it’s March, so of course there’s a new title out! You can either find it at the usual retailers, or back the Kickstarter and get 6 other books to go with it! 😉 Check it out!

A couple of posts by Kris Rusch on the Findaway debacle (part 1 and part 2). Check also the comments, they’re worth reading! I’m still in the queue to get my final payment and the account deletion, but I guess they’re a little backlogged!

Now I better go back to my revisions or new book or whatever I’ll be doing today… have a great week!

by Barb on 06/03/2024 • Permalink

Posted in indie publishing, the Human being, writing projects

Tagged ebooks and paperbacks, granny witches, indie publishing, kickstarter, urban fantasy, writing

Posted by Barb on 06/03/2024

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2024/03/06/wednesday-weekly-roundup-230/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup

Last week I wrote 3.5K words, which brings the yearly total to 40K. Not bad for a year in which I’m concentrating on other things. The major rewrite is proving interesting, with a lot of names changes. Back in the 1980s my English was bad, we only watched dubbed movies on TV and in cinemas, so I misused names – at least a couple of girls’ names were used for men. Sigh.

Also, it was definitely set in 20th century setting, despite the starships and the planets and the aliens, but then, we didn’t have cellphones or PCs back then. And I was never good with inventing future tech. It was definitely science fantasy, but now it’s science fiction/space opera again, yay!

You might have heard of the Spotify/Findaway Voices controversy. Already last year there were problems with Spotify taking over Findaway Voices, now they’re also trying to grab rights to what you upload to Findaway Voices. So I’m taking down all my audiobooks and closing my account with them. It was an experiment, and it didn’t work well.

Maybe one day I’ll offer them again, but not in the near future. I saw no return of investment on those three, hence I’m not doing any more. And I’ll keep boycotting Spotify, who doesn’t pay musicians and now tries to grab rights to audiobooks as well.

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

by Barb on 21/02/2024 • Permalink

Posted in indie publishing, the Human being, writing projects

Tagged audiobooks, indie publishing, writing

Posted by Barb on 21/02/2024

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2024/02/21/wednesday-weekly-roundup-228/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup

Last week I wrote less than 3K, but I don’t really care. I’m in no hurry and I’m confident that by the deadline with Mighty Editor I’ll have the other two books done. These should go quickly, so no worries there. The story is already there, but it’s badly outdated, so it needs a complete rewrite (the original is in Italian, in case you’re wondering, I wrote it back in the mid-1980s, with some adjustments in the new millennium).

I’m trying to make travel plans for the year, but at the moment I’m waiting to be transferred to another branch from the DayJob, and can’t seem to be able to concentrate on anything. Add aging parents and the toxic work environment is really choking me. But I shall overcome! 😉

Happy Valentine’s Day to those who celebrate it. I never celebrated it in my life, but since we’re here… I wish you all the best, you lovers!

Sorry to keep this short, but I really don’t have anything to say… questions or comments are welcome to spark a conversation at this point, because I’m really drained! Have a great week!

by Barb on 14/02/2024 • Permalink

Posted in the Human being, writing projects

Tagged indie publishing, writing

Posted by Barb on 14/02/2024

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2024/02/14/wednesday-weekly-roundup-227/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup

Last week I skipped a couple of days of writing for both life rolls and struggling with formatting. The new laptop seems to have trouble interacting with the old one, so I had to redo two PDF interiors (and then two covers when I uploaded them to KDP, because the writing on the spine was too big – I took it out, since it’s thin paperbacks.

So I ended up with a little over 7K, which is not bad at all. I hope to finish this book by the end of the month, but if it bleeds into February, I won’t berate myself. I should still be able to complete the three books I need to send to Mighty Editor by the end of April for the last quarter of my publishing challenge (one is ready, I mean, edited).

Did you subscribe to the IASFA yet? One more day for that awesome promo of Urban Fantasy books… including one of mine. Check it out! I’m not sure when the next one will be (that I participate in, I mean, you get the full calendar on the above link), so don’t miss it.

Onward to another busy week… I was hoping for a creative weekend, but my friend has some health problems so we have to postpone to February, sigh. But this might mean that I have the author copies of the Italian strips when we meet, yay!

Back to reading and writing and whatnot… have a great week!

by Barb on 24/01/2024 • Permalink

Posted in indie publishing, real world inspiration, the Human being, writing projects

Tagged ebooks, indie publishing, urban fantasy, writing

Posted by Barb on 24/01/2024

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2024/01/24/wednesday-weekly-roundup-224/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup

The year started with 1050 words written on January 1st, and that’s it. The rest of the week was spent on Photoshop, prepping those strips, so I can retire the old laptop and start using the new one (that still doesn’t have a Photoshop, so I need to do everything on the old one). I might get done this week with the English lettering, then I’ll have to move everything to the new laptop. Sigh.

I haven’t posted links in a long time, but this Top 10 Publishing Trends for 2024 really caught my eye. I might be working on #1 (it’s called practice, LOL! The more you write, the better you become), definitely still working on #2 (hence my author name is bigger than the title of the book), not sure I’m going to use #3 ever, not interested in #4 yet, although I probably do need help in writing my blurbs, but I won’t surrender to AI helpers yet… #5 I won’t use TikTok ads, but will keep posting on TikTok random stuff, I sure hope #6 gets implemented and I’m definitely on #7, refocusing on the long game. #8 I’m still not sure about subscription models, since I don’t have the energy to start something new this year, so I’ll probably keep it in mind for later, #9 I’ll stick to my current social media and leave my recommendations on Bookbub and as for #10, we’ll see. Maybe a strategic partnership is in the near future.

Meanwhile, the publisher’s site has the next four covers reveal, and of course the January title is out!

If you see the Magic Bookshop in the older part of your hometown, it means you need to take a look at a certain, unique book. Whether you have research to do, have a transgender child or need to be reminded how great your country was, whether you dream of sailing on a galleon or needed a reminder about what great women did in the past to ensure your current well-being, then Mr. Pitt will hand you the book. It’s free, but it’s not for you to keep. Enjoy it and drink in its wisdom, experience a short time in eras long gone, an invisible observer of past lives.

Five episodes, five women, five countries.

London and the Regency times.

Paris and women in pants.

Rome and the pirates of the Caribbean.

Delhi and India’s glorious past.

New York City and African queens.

Five fascinating time loops from a magic book.

I will also join a few promos, so stay tuned for those! Also, I would like to let you know I have let go of Da Muses, but since the youngest turns 50 today, I wish him a Happy Birthday and possibly do a last drawing of him!

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

by Barb on 10/01/2024 • Permalink

Posted in indie publishing, real world inspiration, the Human being

Tagged drawing, indie publishing, writing

Posted by Barb on 10/01/2024

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2024/01/10/wednesday-weekly-roundup-222/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup

I know I said I wouldn’t post this week, and I don’t have any writerly news or wordcounts for you, but I wanted to talk about the Kickstarter That Didn’t Fund. As you lovely readers of this blog know, it was an experiment. The good thing was that 15 people backed it and that’s my favorite number above 10.

The funny thing was watching the countdown and getting Kickstarter’s email about not funding, and then writing the update for those lovely backers. I had to beg my superbacker not to throw in the funding money at the last minute like they did with my first Kickstarter, because that wasn’t the point of the experiment. Funding, I mean.

I tried a Kickstarter hashtag (namely Witchstarter) to see if that would help. I got plenty of offers to help me find more backers by people who had backed ZERO Kickstarters (I reported them as spam except the one who sent an email which I ignored) – I mean if I couldn’t get m friends to help me spread the word about it, why would perfect strangers bother?

There were even a couple of people who asked if it was my first Kickstarter when it’s plain out there on the campaign itself. Sigh. Anyhow, this made me rething my strategy, and I’ll do better next time. As for the Granny Witches, they shall be back next year, so stay tuned!

by Barb on 01/11/2023 • Permalink

Posted in the Human being

Tagged kickstarter, urban fantasy, writing

Posted by Barb on 01/11/2023

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2023/11/01/wednesday-weekly-roundup-212/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup

Last week I wrote almost 8K and two short stories. Now everything is with Mighty Editor, and this week I probably won’t be writing much. Lots of publishing stuff to do. Also, since I’m prepping Italian versions of the various strips that I intend to take to comic cons next year all over Italy, I decided I will translate the novels that go with them – namely Adventurer and Magical Friends, and possibly also Chasing Stardom – since they’re currently only in English.

So with the translations, I probably won’t write many new words and will have an all-time low in wordcount since I started keeping track. I also wasted a lot of time with all those shorts. Writing longer works means more words, because I procrastinate before I start a lot. But I hope to get done with shorts by the end of the year so in 2024 I can hit those 500K and in 2025 I can hopefully hit pulp speed! 🙂

Meanwhile, did you see the cover reveal on the publisher’s site? That’s the upcoming titles for the year while I’m busy with translations and another novel or two. I still have a few short stories to write for a couple of workshops with no deadline, but I want to get rid of them now, so next year I can start writing more.

And did you get your Space Opera Sisterhood bundle yet? One more week and it’s gone forever! Now I better get back to my formatting and translating and writing and re-reading and whatnot… I found more typos while checking a paperback, those pesky little buggers always find a way in, don’t they? Have a great week!