Last week by Saturday I had almost 17K (and another short story to throw in the last batch of Star Minds stories), so I took a break during the weekend, also to get on with the strip. By Week 23 I already reached 250K (of 500K for those who arrived later), so whenever I’ll be able to travel again and I’ll skip a week, I won’t have to worry about reaching my goal! 😉

I also cleaned up this very blog, in case you didn’t notice. I had already changed the blog description to My Name – Writer, now I cleaned out all those very unprofessional pages at the top. Doesn’t it look better like this? No? Oh, well. The free anthos are still there, if you want to read them. And there’s a neat clean page of links to the other books (and if you’re a reader, you might want to follow the publisher’s page, it gets updated only with new releases or sales announcements).

And welcome new followers, for whatever reason you subscribed to this blog feed! 🙂 Just be warned I will ramble a lot – but at least it’s only once a week, LOL! Almost like a weekly newsletter! 😀

I cleaned up also my DeviantART page before closing the account… I don’t know when yet. But I took down more than half of the art I had uploaded there. I cursed them a whole afternoon while doing it. Glad that WordPress’s updates are much more discreet and I’m not forced to use them (yet!)…

And I finished coloring the current strip! Below is a wordless strip, the rest is coming on Instagram, every Sunday as usual! Star Minds Kids and Teens will also have a prose version for the visually impaired, like Silvery Earth Kids.

I got the new Kindle along with a couple of paperbacks, and I already hate it. It does have airplane mode, but otherwise it’s constantly on wi-fi. It’s a hassle to turn pages on lists and I turned off the front light (since I have a Kindle for the e-ink, not for the built-in front light. I’m not reading in the dark). I might have gotten used to touch screens since 2011, but I still prefer KK.

In fact, I downloaded a couple samples on KK, and eventually I’ll synch the New Kindle (that shall not have a name, sgrunt!). My own mobi files go on the New Kindle, along with the bundles and other books I got from elsewhere, since KK can still connect to the Amazon store, but the cable doesn’t connect it to the laptop anymore, so I can only download stuff from Amazon and not add other books like I used to. Sigh.

I still have quite a few books to read on KK anyway, so the New Kindle will stay offline until I’m done with that. Then I’ll synch it and start using it, possibly next year, giving how fast (read: slow!) I am at reading ebooks! 😀

As for the paperbacks, one is Snow Glass Apples by Neil Gaiman and Colleen Doran, a highly recommended graphic novel, a Snow White retelling with luscious artwork. I love all of Colleen’s works, and the pairing with Neil Gaiman is awesome. The other paperback is non-fiction and I haven’t started it yet…

I reworked the blurb and cover for The Fern and The Cross, go check it out! I hope I made it better, not worse, LOL! A special thanks to Anna Lowenstein for the consultations on the blurb (and correcting my mistakes) and Joleene Naylor for the consultations on the cover and introducing me to That Group.

I left the old cover on the book page (like I did for Brainwaves) because I think the old cover was more faithful to the history and the character, but if the new one sells… readers should get what they want! 😀

See how the right one has the heraldry of Fougères and the flat-topped helmet and that crusader look? But comments said it wasn’t clear what it was about, so I changed pictures (there was the color version of the first one) and decided to forego historical accuracy…

Now I’ll have to update the banners, both here and on the publisher’s page… but I’m waiting for the Future Earth Chronicles cover reveal and possibly other new covers! 🙂

Now I better get back to writing and wrap Book 8 and 9… I still have Book 10 to start and finish in two weeks, yikes!

Some Kickstarters worth checking:

Ask Jericho: To Die For by Bonnie Elizabeth Koenig.

Despot: Science Fiction and Fantasy Anthology by Van Alrik. This is an anthology that is trying something new with the editing side of things. It is matching by computer stories to classic author’s styles and forms. Read it to understand what he is doing.

The Cold Poker Gang by Dean Wesley Smith. This is trying to get the series into hardback and to give readers and fans an early look at the new novel. It also has workshops and some good stretch goals. It has now funded and gone past two stretch goals and gaining on a third with about eight days left

One laat link this week, something that was shared in the Italian version by one of my FB friends. The Human Library. Now I’m pondering if I could be a book in this library or should try to read some titles before applying… Have a great week!