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Wednesday weekly roundup


So, last week I was off for my first trip out of Italy since the pandemic, but I did manage to write almost 3K, longhand on a small notebook that I tiped when I got back home on Sunday. So I reached 350K this year and may reach 400K, but definitely not 500K. Although, there’s still four months, so you never know! 🙂

I also somehow reached 500 likes on my Facebook page (thank you very much) and keep getting new subscribers to this very blog, so welcome! 🙂 Gearing up for the next release, since I have to travel again to get my parents back to Rome (Saturday was a bad day for traveling – the train line was interrupted and Techie Bro couldn’t get to Tuscany and I arrived back in Rome at 2.30am instead of half past midnight), so I’ll go since I’m still of Day Job until next week.

The trip was a group tour of a part of England I hadn’t visited (not that I saw much besides London and the medieval castles easily reachable from there, LOL!). We went to Salisbury, Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Mount St Michael, Glastonbury, St Ives, Tintagel and Stonehenge (the order might be slightly wrong, I’m not checking my schedule), and I came back with a couple of books for future research.

I also had time to read another book before plunging back into Dragons of Immortalands, and I recommended it on Bookbub, as usual. I wasn’t the target audience, but I enjoyed it nevertheless. Worldcon came and went without me, although I got a link for the virtual part even though I had donated my membership. I passed that on too, since I really wasn’t in the mood for it.

This week I hope to finish a few projects, but I probably won’t make it with Book 5, so I’ll have to ask Mighty Editor to postpone the second week of editing. It should be done on time anyway.

I may put up the pre-order of the other books whenever I finish book 5, but so far pre-orders haven’t really worked for me. But! It’s been ten years, and things might have changed, so… pre-orders it will be for the other books! 🙂

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

by Barb on 07/09/2022  •  Permalink
Posted in indie publishing, reading, the Human being, writing projects
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Posted by Barb on 07/09/2022

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2022/09/07/wednesday-weekly-roundup-152/

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Rome August average temperature 31°C, Cornwall, England 24°C – looking forward to going north and a cooler climate!

Last week I managed almost 15K, despite the above… and I’m past halfway writing that collection. I need to finish it before going to the cooler climate for a week, although I won’t have to send it to Mighty Editor until September 12, when I go back to DayJob. I need that extra week for other stuff, LOL!

It looks like writers aren’t on vacation! 😉 Check out this post by Chuck Wendig about AI art (and maybe write a flash fiction to his AI art prompts?) I don’t think I’ll ever use an AI to make cover art (especially since I do not write horror, LOL), but it’s fun to watch.

If you’re considering doing a Kickstarter, check out this post, including the comments! I probably won’t do another until next year, but I keep backing them and studying them (and my TBR pile keeps growing, waaah!).

And I like this idea of book binding POD books for special editions… I might do something like this in the future! 🙂 It would have to be a special title or something… mmm… so many ideas, so little time…

Anyhow, that’s all for today! Have a great week! 🙂

by Barb on 10/08/2022  •  Permalink
Posted in indie publishing, real world inspiration, writing projects
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Posted by Barb on 10/08/2022

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2022/08/10/wednesday-weekly-roundup-148/

Random Friday


So, last week I was off Day Job and after a few days at home to work on Nightly Bites Volume 2 (by the way, it’s up for pre-order, yay!) I hopped on a train to Milan with my friend and cover artist Cristina Fabris. We arrived around 3pm and spent the afternoon chilling out in our hotel room – she had work to finish and I had a novel to check, LOL!

Friday we met with her friend and fan Michel at the central train station and headed for Cartoomics, where I was supposed to meet two more of my cover artists, Lawrence Wendigo and Rossana Beretta, to give them proofs of the book with their covers…

I also had a list of comics I wanted to buy since I hadn’t gone to a comicon in a few years, so I ended up with a very heavy bag. And since I flew back from Linate (I had to use my Alitalia miles, LOL!), I decided to send some of that stuff back by mail.

Saturday morning I went to the post office and sent to my parents 4,1kg of comics. Then we went to the bookstores around Duomo, where I lost my hat (in the Mondadori flagship store – and they got rid of the Espresso Book Machine, IMHO…), then we met with Franco Giambalvo of an Italian SFF site.

We had lunch with him then spent an hour at Tempo di Libri, meeting Francesco Verso, then, being wrecked, we went back to the hotel. Sunday morning, we got home separated, since I flew and she took the train again…

And yesterday I retrieved the box of comics from my parents… destroyed, but the interior was fine, yay! Now battling a spring cold, but wishing you a wonderful weekend! 🙂

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by Barb on 16/03/2018  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 16/03/2018

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2018/03/16/random-friday-298/

Random Friday


And you can tell I’ve been shopping online AND ordering proofs! So, yeah, some new paperbacks, and the anthology is finally in my greedy hands along with a couple more things – research reading and a comic. Next week I should get some DVDs. And then I’ll do another order after I come back from London – whatever I can’t find at Waterstones or Southall will be ordered online next month! 😉

Because some things are better read on paper (I’m all for reading fiction on my Kindle Keyboard, but non-fiction and artbooks are better on paper) but I don’t have many English bookstores in Rome (a couple who might hear from me sometime later in the year, LOL!), so… Amazon. Yeah, I know.

It’s not Mighty Zon that is killing bookstores. Check Kris Rusch’s excellent post on bookstores – I’ve been to North by Northwest during my 3 coast workshops and I look forward to going back with the new management. Especially if they indeed open to people like me on the other side of the world! 😉 Just kidding, it’s just required visit when one goes to Lincoln City, that’s all! 😀

Two more bundles are coming soon, show some love also to the bundles page (and the above anthology page). I’m not sure how many I will curate this year and if I’ll be invited to some, so follow those pages to stay updated. Unless you really really really like this very blog here, LOL!

Thank you again for following me on this journey. Little poll to get to meet you all. And if you’re a writer, feel free to contact me to request my writerly questions and be featured on here! 🙂

Have a wonderful weekend! 😀

by Barb on 19/01/2018  •  Permalink
Posted in struggles to get through, the Human being
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Posted by Barb on 19/01/2018

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2018/01/19/random-friday-291/

Random Friday


Random Friday is… A list of great books to add to your Xmas list.

I stole a great idea from my talented friend and fellow author, Douglas Smith, whose psychic vampire  in Nightly Bites Volume 1 will suck you in. (And by the way, the anthology is also a very good title you could add to your Xmas gifts list).

I asked my author friends to give me the title of one of their books with title and genre, short blurb and buying link (the buy links were given by the authors, so they might not be universal). This is what I got and as you can see there’s something for everyone! 🙂

 

Santa Claus: Private Detective (The Noel Kringle Chronicles) by Rebecca M. Senese

Genre: mystery/fantasy

When no one at the North Pole takes Noel Kringle seriously he relocates to Toronto to live his dream as a private detective. Mystery with a dash of fantasy, Noel Kringle mixes Christmas and sleuthing in a tale of magic and suspense.

https://www.amazon.com/Santa-Claus-Private-Detective-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B077Y2VXSD/

The Wolf at the End of the World by Douglas Smith

Genre: fantasy

The Heroka walk among us. Unseen, unknown. Shapeshifters. Human in appearance but with power over their animal totems.
A shapeshifter hero battles ancient spirits, a covert government agency, and his own dark past in a race to solve a murder that could mean the end of the world. http://www.smithwriter.com/the_wolf_at_the_end_of_the_world

Old Bones by Rita Schulz

Genre: cozy mystery

Inspired by a true story two friends try to solve the mystery of the Old Bones in this new mystery cozy.

http://www.53rdstreetpublishing.com/books/old-bones/

Tales from Space by Russ Crossley

Genre: science fiction

Robots locked in deadly civil war, explorers faced with impossible secrets, a continent-sized asteroid about to destroy the Earth…these are some of the stories in this volume of fantastic fiction. Welcome to the 21st century.

http://www.53rdstreetpublishing.com/books/tales-from-space/

The Bet by Vivienne Tuffnell

Genre: psychological literary fiction

Currently £1.99 for the remainder of advent. Jenny likes a challenge and Antony is the biggest challenge of her life…

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bet-Vivienne-Tuffnell-ebook/dp/B009ISHLYI/

Zeena Dragon Fae series by Victoria Zigler (Barb’s note: on my ToBuy list)

Genre: Fantasy

A four book series that tells the story of a faerie dragon named Zeena, and her quest to save the world from the evil Spirit fairy.
Smashwords series https://www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/20557

“Redemption” – a Christian suspense by Laura Ware

Genre: Christian suspense

When Mary Hollister Beamer was 16, she became pregnant. She is taken to an abortion clinic, where she is told her child was stillborn. Ten years later, Mary is married with a young daughter. One day she gets a note in the mail: “I know what you tried to do. Your son is alive.”

https://www.amazon.com/Redemption-Mrs-Laura-A-Ware/dp/0692298045

Shades of Gray (Amaranthine Book 1) by Joleene Naylor

Genre: paranormal

FREE! When Patrick is murdered, Katelina is left with questions. Jorick, one of his so-called friends, has answers of the darkest kind: Patrick was involved with – and betrayed – a coven of vampires; vampires that may now be after Katelina.

https://www.amazon.com/Shades-Gray-Amaranthine-Book-1-ebook/dp/B002RHP5D6

Offside by David Hendrickson

Genre: Young adult (but plenty of adults have loved it, too). This is the book that has been adopted by high schools for required reading.
“Rabbit” Labelle finally gets his chance to play the sport he loves the most, but he must also confront the dangers of “Lynn, Lynn, City of Sin.” Since it’s 1967 and cities are torn by racial turmoil, this includes his father’s greatest fear: “the Negroes.”

Rabbit, who’d been the most popular kid in Plainfield, Maine, struggles to make friends and wonders if he’ll even survive. Only football can save him.

https://www.amazon.com/Offside-David-H-Hendrickson-ebook/dp/B00QZ5Y3FC

Christmas comes to Oddleton (Oddleton Chronicles) by Dulcie Feenan

Genre: holidays humor

For the teacher Mrs Troyd, the pressure is on.

Who will stand in for the Angel Gabriel? Was it an unwise move for the Shepherd to have eaten three packets of Sour Squigglers and a Whistling Dayglo-pop before the play? And did donkeys wear sombreros in Ancient Palestine?

Whatever happens, this will be a Nativity the parishioners will remember for a very long time….

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Christmas-comes-Oddleton-Chronicles-ebook/dp/B00AS0UW8W

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY READING Y’ALL! 🙂

by Barb on 22/12/2017  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 22/12/2017

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2017/12/22/random-friday-286/

Random Friday


I don’t know how I missed that I had won (ex equo) one of the categories of the fan fiction fling! Thanks for the badge, Jo! I shall ask you to beta-read again whenever I write something set in the US, since my proofreader is British… 😉

On total randomness… I watched another movie, and it made me cry – much like Hardball. This one is French, though, and I had seen the posters, but I don’t go to theaters anymore because in this country everything is dubbed, so I waited for the DVD, haha. Demain tout commence (sorry, don’t know the English title, only the stupid Italian one) it’s about a man dealing with sudden paternity – just one, not three like in the more famous counterpart (the French original, never saw the American version, sorry).

It’s a dramedy, and I still think Omar Sy is gorgeous! 😉 It’s also set in London, so you got some English inbetween the French. Again, I don’t think I’d have liked it dubbed (unfortunately all the extras were dubbed, but whatever)… but it was great in its original version. If you want to cry, that is! 😉

And speaking of King Arthur again, I’m finally reading a book that was in a bundle that I bought almost two years ago from Storybundle, and it’s another version of the legend. Again characters are changed in unrecognizable ways, and we even have the evil albino trope. I would have happily lived without that one.

I know there’s a whole subgenre of Arthurian fantasy that revises those old legends, but it’s not for me. I enjoyed Jennifer Robertson’s version of Robin Hood, but I usually stay clear from those medieval legends revisited, because I’m quite familiar with the originals and often don’t like what authors have done to them. That’s just Reader me, of course! 😉

You albino readers, avoid the Camelot Papers and wait for my own post-apocalyptic book that has an albino woman who is NOT the villain, quite the opposite, yay! And there will probably be more in the series, but I haven’t started thinking about the rest since I still need to touch up this one, LOL!

Have a great weekend! 🙂

by Barb on 29/09/2017  •  Permalink
Posted in real world inspiration, writing projects
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Posted by Barb on 29/09/2017

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2017/09/29/random-friday-275/

Random Friday


Last Friday I had a guest – and a cough, which made it hard to talk. Besides, she likes Bollywood movies (although she’d watch forever Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and wouldn’t try any other), so I suggested we watch a movie after dinner to spare my throat. And it was Joker time! I saw the trailer in theaters back in 2012 and was glad to finally see this demented comedy about aliens and crazies.

I like Akki when he does comedies. Of course my suspension of disbelief was slightly challenged when I saw the FBI sending troops in India (I thought that was an internal bureau… ;p), but I attributed it to the crazy screenplay and absurd story, so it was okay… lots of fun and lots of nice songs.

Staying in that country but moving to books, The Missus of the above, Twinkle Khanna (a.k.a. Da Muse’s neighbors) wrote a book of stories. Fiction, a collection. I bought the paperback because it was cheaper than the Kindle version (ahem, traditional publishers…) and got to reading it during the week.

I must say that the dialogs felt a lot like a Bollywood movie, which makes me wonder if some other Westerner who isn’t as obsessed as I am would appreciate it. Anyhow, it’s a cute little book, and since I read it immediately after another Indian author, I could see a pattern in their storytelling.

The other book was a Kindle version (hello, indie authors!), and it was set in Ancient Egypt, not India, but still the storytelling felt similar. Of course it’s two completely different collections with completely different topics (and you can now pre-order volume 2) and what I loved about this one was the little historical notes at the end of each story – a very nice touch for an ignorant of Ancient History like myself. It gave depth and meaning to the story I had just read.

Now I hope to have one of the two ladies over at this very blog soon, I shall let you guess which one will grace us…

Last night, since I was done with Saif’s story and was bored with checking the proofreader’s job on the Star Minds stories, I decided I’d rather watch a movie… it had been sitting on my ToWatch shelve for a couple of months, so it was high time! It was Star Trek: Beyond – last movie with Anton Yelchin and tribute to Leonard Nimoy.

A nice addition to the reboot, I particularly liked the warrior Jaylah and hope she’ll be back in the next movies. For the rest, it was the five-year mission stretched to movie length with 21st century special effects and Dubai instead of cardboard sets! 😉 I don’t mind the reboot, even though some things of the original will never be repeated…

Have a great weekend! 🙂

by Barb on 24/03/2017  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 24/03/2017

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2017/03/24/random-friday-249/

Random Friday


Rest of the trip! When the workshop was over, I got back to reading the novel I had to drop in January. Fortunately I had reached the end of Book 1 by then, so starting Book 2 was okay. Except one night I was thankfully kicked out of the book by a mistake that wasn’t caught by the author(s) or the editor(s)…

This is Ocean: The Ocean Cycle Omnibus and since it’s a bestselling author, I don’t think I’ll ruin his reputation if I comment on this (besides Goodreaders seemt to be quite divided about it all, haha!). So at one point there is a discussion about ancient sea divinities by a so-called expert (the character) who totally mixes up Greek and Roman names.

Here’s the complete list thanks to Encyclopedia Mythica. In the book, Poseidon and Aphrodite are the Roman names and Neptune and Venus the Greek ones… Gee… I’m glad I overdosed with both Greek and Roman myths in childhood (one more reason to hate what they did in Troy, I know enough of the Iliad and Odissey to know they completely f…ed up – beside using a gorgeous 40-year-old instead of a 20-year-old. Achilles died young, as was often the case back then! Me and my friend were the only one laughing in the movie theater, though. Sigh.)!

So, unless it was meant to be a joke, here’s a good way of throwing your reader out of your story… I got back into it, but the second book is getting weirder and weirder. I will finish it, but it’s not on my recommended list! 😉 I might even quit at some point, since I bought books during the trip and the TBR pile is now enhanced with more dead trees…

Then there were the movies. Not during the trips, not until I got to Long Island, when I saw John Wick: Chapter 2 with my friend. Glad it was still in theaters. And glad to see it NOT dubbed (and wondering what a mess they might have done for this country’s distribution – probably missed all the bilingual dialogs!). I guess for a chapter 2 it’s almost as good as chapter 1. Maybe even better. Still have to think about that. And of course, it opens the way to chapter 3…

Anyhow, both me and my friend were happy because we recognized most of the places where it was shot (New York and Rome). I’m glad Riccardo Scamarcio dared to be the bad guy, although my Italian friend who likes him might not think so. But then, my favorite Hrithik’s role is still Aryan, the villain of Dhoom 2, so…

On the way back I watched Gayal Once Again on the Alitalia flight, but I must admit it took me some time to figure out the story. They all looked the same to me! Nobody was good-looking enough for my tastes and there was only one song – had it been cut? since I could not sleep I also re-watched Something’s Gotta Give – only certain scenes since I had broken my headphones during the flight and didn’t want to ask for a third one (the first I was given was faulty). You can guess which ones (Julian Mercer is Keanu at his best looking, LOL! Pity he’s only a secondary character)…

I enjoyed visiting Boston, although it was a rainy and gloomy day, so I’ll have to go back eventually. My friends were all were kind and I hope to do it again in the future. Have a great weekend! 🙂

by Barb on 17/03/2017  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 17/03/2017

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2017/03/17/random-friday-248/

Random Friday


Welcome to random randomness. Sort of. I watched Pan, which might actually sound like a good prequel to Peter Pan, but makes me wonder. Does Hollywood really think that making sequels and prequels to classics is a good thing? No risk-takers there anymore. No original screenplays, please, just in case we can’t sell the movies. Sigh. So reminds me of traditional publishing…

I mean, the kid is great, Hugh Jackman unrecognizable, but… was it really needed? You know what it did to me? I went to finally read the actual book! I have downloaded it on K.K. ages ago, and now I finally got to reading it, LOL! And since the first two chapters reminded me of another movie, so…

I rewatched Peter Pan. Of course it’s slightly revised, but it’s so much more  faithful to the book (and original play, apparently, I haven’t read that one)! This Peter Pan might be slightly older than the previous one, but it’s certainly closer to JM Barrie’s spirit, IMHO.

Now prepping for art weekend. Cristina is coming over and I hope to do at least two more illustrations for Quests, although only 3 out of 5 will be used as covers. I guess I’ll post what I won’t use on DeviantART when I’m done… Gotta wrap up book 2 and send it off to editor as well…

Have a great weekend!

by Barb on 03/06/2016  •  Permalink
Posted in reading, real world inspiration, the Human being
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Posted by Barb on 03/06/2016

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2016/06/03/random-friday-213/

Random Friday


Let’s make it Reading Friday! 🙂 There’s the post on reading by Dean Wesley Smith and also another on Shannon A. Thompson’s blog. I’m not a huge reader, but I do read, in most genres – as long as there’s a plot. And while I go through my SFF bundles, I took a break to read my other reading love – comics and graphic novels.

Last year two classmates gave me an Amazon gift card. I finished using it this year, with the following purchase.

2016-02-24 13.34.18To the bookseller bemoaning Amazon – if I ever get to London, I’m not setting foot in your shop, since I doubt you’ll store graphic novels. And I don’t drink whiskey. If I buy PAPER books on Amazon it’s because local bookstores don’t stock them (and not only because they’re in English and I live in a non-English speaking country – we do have English bookshops).

Now, to my purchases! I am I known fan of Colleen Doran (see my sidebar, LOL) and I’ve wanted to check Gone to Amerikay since it came out. I wasn’t disappointed, the three intertwined story-lines (1870, 1960 and 2010) are beautifully rendered by Colleen with the nice colors of José Villarubia. The story is a nice mix of history and fantasy, with ghosts and historical events. I like mostly the splash pages that show New York in the three timelines – and how it changed throughout the years.

Drawing the Line was brought to my attention by a Goodreads friend who had read and reviewed it. Being a little leery of underground comics, I did a quick google check for more about the stories inside the book. I don’t like all the drawing styles, but most of them yes. With comics and graphic novels, if I don’t like the art, I don’t enjoy the story, so that’s why it’s critical that I see something in the drawings.

None of these ladies has an hyper-realistic style like Colleen Doran, but some were really neat. An Ideal Girl and The Poet, Sharmila reminded me of some French BDs, and the simplicity of Asha, now made me wish I could see it in colors. Lots of nice stories by very nice women – highly recommended for India lovers and not only! 🙂

Final thoughts on reading. You may have heard that Unberto Eco is dead. 60% of Italians read less than a book a year, but 98% are mourning his passing… will we get “distilled” Eco novels at newsagents now? 😉 I have never read him and I don’t know what to think of this. Definitely a leap year that’s taking away a lot of artists and writers and creators and actors and… but this year too shall pass!

Happy reading – I have a beta-reading weekend ahead, so… I won’t be idle!

 

by Barb on 26/02/2016  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 26/02/2016

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2016/02/26/random-friday-200/

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