All posts tagged Star Minds universe

Wednesday Weekly Roundup


Errata corrige: the previous week I actually wrote 11K. Last week only 6K, but I have reached a 440K yearly total and still have plenty of stuff to write in the next two months and a half. The less words are also because I started a new strip, and those have less words but more work on the drawings, LOL!

So this is one of the protagonists of the new strip – Star Minds Kids – and here you have a work-in-progress showing the birth of that particular strip. It’s similar to the ones I’ve done for Silvery Earth Kids. It was an upcoming anthology that spurred my imagination – very close to the deadline, even though I had been told about it months ago.

Nothing like a deadline to spur your muses into action, right? Next I’ll do something with the Cosmic Corsairs I already told you about and then develop that strip in the coming months. Again, it’s probably for next year. I guess that’s my way of procrastinating on the prose at this time, LOL!

I’m still trudging through my contemporary story and have jotted down notes for another short story that might take precedence when I’m done lettering the Silvery Earth Kids. I need to finish a proof of the English version before Friday, so I can order it on Lulu and receive it next week.

I plan on checking the paperback for changes and stuff, and then I want to take it to Lucca Comics and see if some publisher wants the Italian version before I go indie. So I might do little writing this week, but some projects need wrapping up! 🙂

Some links: 6 effective ways to treat depression – still have to sign up for a dance class or some other kind of moving with music, but there’s so much going on right now, that I’m not sure I want to start something yet. Maybe in November, maybe in January. We’ll see.

For the indie writers out there – the (in)famous 7 Kindle Keywords: use all 50 characters or not? I’m probably totally misusing those keyword spaces, but I really have trouble finding sentences for my books. Even when I went through the various books to update the manuscripts, I didn’t really add anything to those fields… I should have, I know. Sigh.

I know that my WHY has nothing to do with publishing and all that stuff. The beating heart that keeps my muse alive definitely doesn’t care about algorithms and ads and all that publishing stuff! 🙂 In fact I think I mentioned I have publishing fatigue, more than writing.

6 ways to stay productive in a creative slump – I think I’ve done some of these things even before reading the article, but it’s a good summary/reminder. I think I mentioned spending too much time doing research and not enough writing. Reading for research and not for entertainment.

Well, after discarding a few samples, I started reading a novel for entertainment. It’s traditionally published, but has plenty of mistakes. So I guess we can really live without traditional publishers. And the eBook was cheap, but is not very well formatted IMHO… but I shall tell more about it in my end of the year recommended list (or on Bookbub, since now my book recommendations are there and not on Goodreads)! 🙂

And a new story is up on Infinite Bard! 😉 Have a great week! 😀

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by Barb on 16/10/2019  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 16/10/2019

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2019/10/16/wednesday-weekly-roundup-3/

Writer Wednesday


Slowly easing back into the writing routine. That handwritten stuff from during worldcon was about 1800words, but I added a lot more, finishing the week with my usual 10K. And then on Monday it occurred to me that the Paths Trilogy could simply be a single longer novel with multiple points of view (4 intertwined), so I’m going to try that now.

I have around 85K already and need to finish, so it might end up like Books of the Immortals – Air, around 90K (my longest novel, with multiple points of view – 6 or 7, if I remember correctly), possibly longer (but I’ll have to trim the duplicated scenes, so some version might end up on the cutting floor).

The weekend was spent cleaning up the Star Minds Universe (the series page and the documents + an update to the cover of the Star Minds Starter) updating backmatter for both eBooks and paperbacks, which means I got flooded by Amazon emails for updating both the versions of each title. And I even had to redo a cover I hadn’t touched. Sheesh.

This also allowed me to discover a few glitches in the move from CreateSpace to KDPprint, so if you haven’t already, go check the third “page” – territorial rights and pricing. But you have to start from the first page to confirm ownership of the paperback, and don’t forget to check blurb and tags, since once they were completely missing from the paperback version.

Findaway Voices announced shared royalties, so I might do another audio book sooner rather than later. Most sales through them are to libraries, and I’m very far to breaking even with the expenses for producing the first three audiobooks. But I’ve been told longer books get listened to much more, so I’ll have to try with a full-length novel eventually.

A couple of long but awesome posts from Kristen Lamb – In It to WIN It: How Committed Are You to Being a Successful Author? and Pitch Perfect: Can You Sell Your Story in ONE Sentence? Still trying to find those loglines for my books, but eventually, I’ll make it, LOL!

And that’s all for now! Have a great week! 🙂

by Barb on 28/08/2019  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 28/08/2019

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2019/08/28/writer-wednesday-383/

Writer Wednesday


Last week I didn’t do much writing, but I consider myself inbetween projects. This week will probably have no writing at all, and it will resume next week when I come back from Worldcon. Not worried at all, since I’m already at 375K anyway (for those coming in late, my target is 500K a year). The next Paths novel should take me to 400K and then I have a few more to write before the end of the year.

The Mission #30 was written, sent and rejected in less than a week, but since it comes after the epilogue of the Team‘s missions, it shall be the first of volume 2, coming out next year whenever I write another 20something missions. This team is still growing on me, and they’re keeping the name anyway, even though they’re no longer lone wolves! 🙂

And Rogue is out too, so the Star Minds Lone Wolves books are complete for this year. I updated the series page, redid the lettering on the single books covers and adjusted the backend matter. Now I’ll have to do it for the other Star Minds books, but I will do it in September. I did do a new trailer for the series, though! 🙂

I also added the Lone Wolves to Drive Thru, as you can see from the “sidebar”, since I sold a SKYBAND Omnibus in their Comics shop, but every now and then I get a sale even in the Fiction shop. We’ll see if a banner or two will make the Star Minds Universe soar over there too! 🙂

I also started unpublishing things. I made a list and will take down 25 Silvery Earth titles, 12 Star Minds Universe and 5 others. It will clean up my retailers dashboard and allow me to update the rest with less junk.

I’m mostly taking down shorter titles or single stories that are included in collections. I’ve been told that short titles sink faster in Amazon charts, so I might as well get rid of them since they don’t sell anyway.

So here’s the cleaned up Star Minds Universe and Silvery Earth on Smashwords. I have unpublished also from Kobo, Amazon and D2D. It’s been a long hot weekend, sigh. Let me know what you think of the new presentation of Silvery Earth on the series page, though!

An interesting post on how science fiction is dying again – the Hopepunk Edition. Considering the bleak present, I should probably write something about my apocalypse… and my vampires live through it, so they might be the right ones to tell that story! 😉

Currently flying to Dublin for Worldcon, so will update next week when I get back… If you’re there too, and see me wandering around, come and say hello. I have no panels, so I’ll be in and out of the buildings. And the curated anthologies will be available at Hodges Figgis booth in the dealer’s room (it’s a local bookstore for non-Dubliners). Have a great week! 🙂

 

by Barb on 14/08/2019  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 14/08/2019

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2019/08/14/writer-wednesday-381/

Writer Wednesday


The grand total for the writing retreat (even though I didn’t write every day, and definitely not when traveling) was 14600words, although I finished The Path of Metal on Sunday. I printed it out on Monday at the office and did a final pass, reading it all in one sitting before moving on.

Now writing those short stories to submit to traditional markets with very tight deadlines. Including Mission #30 of the Lone Wolves Team, that therefore is not included in the last volume of our adventurers’ jobs, out now. I will add it to the collection of all the missions if it gets rejected (or will wait until I can publish it in the whole collection, depending how long I have to postpone it, LOL).

Next weekend I’ll upload Rogue, then pause the publishing for a few months. I considered enrolling it in KU so I could participate in the Kindle StorytellerAward 2019 on Amazon UK, but unless my one true fan (yes, Tori, I’m talking to you) tells me she doesn’t mind waiting 3 months, I won’t. If I happen to win (which I won’t), means it would be stuck on Amazon only for much longer. If you’re in KU and have published between May and August, do try your luck, though! 😉

I learned a few things and got a few ideas at the conference, so it’s time I start working on that rebranding – or tending my garden, as they say. Since “just write more books” doesn’t really work, I’m studying the Reader Magnets. Although the PDF is outdated RE: MailChimp, but I have no intention of opening another newsletter yet.

But someone pointed me to StoryOrigin, and they handle Reader Magnets and review copies even if you don’t have a mailing list. So I might try that too in the coming months (as well as signing up for Pinterest when I have the rebranded covers ready – not all of them, but still quite a few, I’m afraid).

I haven’t done a priority list yet, although I have booked out a few weekends to start the revamping of the publisher’s site. Might also give me ideas for the Backstage Pass posts! 😉 Oh, and another link of something I discovered in Edinburgh (thanks, Josie, glad I didn’t spend all my time talking to the only face I knew beforehand and saw your link on the group discussion) – Hopepunk. Might be something to consider when I re-tag my books! 😉

Now, you might have noticed my re-blog on Sunday. Yes, the awesome A.L. Butcher put together another awesome bundle, Here Be Magic, that includes yours truly. Soon you’ll hear from some of those authors on this very blog.

Aaaand, you guessed it, it’s Infinite Bard time again! Hop off to the site and read another free short story for your reading pleasure! 🙂 Have a great week!

by Barb on 07/08/2019  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 07/08/2019

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2019/08/07/writer-wednesday-380/

Writer Wednesday


Last week I started on The Path of Metal and wrote 13K. I’m also adding strips to the strip, but I hope to wrap everything in Edinburgh. I have a few short stories to write bythe end of August, lest the submission windows closes! Hopefully those places have some kind of submission form, since one of my latest attempts was flagged as spam and didn’t go through. Sigh.

And we have another batch of missions of the Lone Wolves Team! Again at all retailers, then one more and it’s over… at least for now! I’ll do a collection of the collection at the end of August. Cherry is on the cover, as always by awesome Ravven…

Don’t forget this is the last week of the Smashwords Sale… it lasts only until the end of the month. You have a few more days to grab some of my books 50%off! 🙂 And check out the other authors too! 😀

Here’s an amazing learning opportunity for you IF YOU’RE IN THE US. I can vouch for Kevin J. Anderson and Dean Wesley Smith as teachers, but I always come back frustrated from the business masterclasses, because none of that applies in Italy. But if you’re American, you should definitely check them! 😉

And here’s some advice from Joe Konrath, 6 things writers need to stop worrying about. Very apt since I’m heading for a conference tomorrow! 😉

Also, if you plan on writing sci-fi, check this article. I did read that book of putting science into fiction, and it’s good! Also, the article is right down my alley too! 😉

Now I better go back to my fantasy world… but know that there are a few sci-fi stories to write when I’m done with Torik and friends! 😉

And last but not least, it’s Infinite Bard time again! Hop off to the main page and discover another new author, another free story… Have a great week! 😀

 

by Barb on 24/07/2019  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 24/07/2019

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2019/07/24/writer-wednesday-378/

Writer Wednesday


Last week I wrote almost 19K, but 15K were that expanded outline that was the original version. By Friday I was able to start adding meat (and deleting some of that outline stuff that didn’t really belong) and will continue this week before moving to Part 2 that has less prose outline underneath, since it’s a comic.

I have considered asking one of my artist friends to redraw that comic, but I’d need to rewrite the story first anyway, so I might as well just do the new prose version and forget the comic. But I recycled a couple of frames in Silvery Earth Kids, when Copperscales tells Torik some history, haha!

I have published Missions 6-10 of the Lone Wolves Team, but you can also wait until I put them all together in one volume. Missions 1-5 is out at 99c, this second volume is at 2.99$ as will the others be. Six in total, for 30 missions.

I’m slowing down the publishing after the summer, especially since l don’t think l’ll sell anything at Worldcon. I’m still debating if actually getting a table or not. Oh, and since the dreaded summer heat is here, I’ll also discontinue the Backstage Pass on the publisher’s page, at least until the end of summer.

You probably know by now that I hibernate in summer, and even though I have two scheduled trips to colder countries, I don’t think I’ll have the brains to do much. I’ll be home, writing, that’s for sure! 🙂 Wishing you a wonderful week! 🙂

by Barb on 05/06/2019  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 05/06/2019

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2019/06/05/writer-wednesday-371/

Writer Wednesday


Last week I wrote almost 14K, wrapping the Lone Wolves and even writing the two short stories I need to submit for anthos. I already submitted them too. And I wrote a third that will possibly work for another antho, but I haven’t sent it to the curator yet.

So, productive week, hopping through series (Star Minds Universe, Future Earth Chronicles, Vampires Through the Centuries and Silvery Earth – yep, I think I touched them all!), the writing is still going great. Everything else… meh!

I lost almost an hour (bad connection? Firefox issues? Old computer? No idea, but it was very frustrating!) to gather the audiobook links after a Google Alert informed me I was on Audible. Firebird wasn’t there yet, but The Hooded Man and Otherside are available at most places at last. Except Kobo, still lagging behind. And I still have codes valid for US, AU and CA of Otherside in anyone is interested.

Well, I did publish the first five missions of the Lone Wolves Team, as promised. But, after Kris Rusch’s blog on Patreon and in spite of their recent ToS changes, I ended up closing my Patreon account, and after David Gaughran’s lengthy explanation of the MailChimp debacle, I closed that account too. My newsletter was discontinued anyway, useless to keep it open.

I didn’t open new accounts yet, though. After Tori was locked out of her Facebook account for a day, I was considering adding an admin to the author page, but then gave up the thought. I haven’t joined Pinterest or Ko-fi yet, and still haven’t decided which webcomics sites to join – but then, if there’s one project that might make me go through Kickstarter stress, it’s Silvery Earth Kids, so… I’ll ponder my option a little longer on that one.

As for the things that were on Patreon, I’m going to start a regular feature on the publisher’s page. Every Sunday Backstage Pass will take you behind the scenes of the books. So, for readers only, hoping they’ll follow that instead of the newsletter. I will post articles, deleted scenes, alternate openings, etc. starting next Sunday. If interested, be sure to follow UPB that doesn’t have a Facebook page because it was supposed to be a static place to find the books.

I might make the Pinterest page under that logo and Ko-fi as the writer/artist… I’ll think about it during this week as I get back to the Legends of the Moren Empire and Silvery Earth Kids… Have a great week!

 

by Barb on 22/05/2019  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 22/05/2019

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2019/05/22/writer-wednesday-369/

Writer Wednesday


And of course last week I wrote more than 20K… now that I had dived into Rogue! I even finished Draft Zero, but then, I always say I have trouble starting a story. And probably tend to wrap it up too quickly, so I’m going through it one last time before sending it off to the editor. Also because I added the flashbacks after I was done with the present, and I need to see if it flows! 😉

I have written Hal’s mother’s story and now I’ll be writing a couple of stories for anthologies (a charity anthology and a traditional market submission) before going back to Silvery Earth. About the Silvery Earth Kids, I now have more than seventy strips – six are taken for another anthology, and they will come out in black&white sometime this summer, I think – and still need to introduce a character.

I’m still busy with cleaning up, coloring and lettering, though, so I didn’t have time to do the visually impaired version yet. Tori knows she’ll get first look, though! As soon as I’m ready, hopefully sometime next month. The other two hopefully short stories will be one in 25th century Paris (that’s Future Earth Chronicles Book 5 for whoever will make it that far), and the other is going to be the Battle of Chittor from a new point of view (that’s Kristine the Youngest for whoever follows the Vampires through the Centuries).

The Future Earth Chronicles paperbacks are done, but in a weird way. If you buy all five, you’ll see they alternate cream and white paper. That’s because you can’t change that once the book is published, even if you haven’t sold a copy. Sigh. With Createspace there was only the white paper option, but still… Anyhow, I’m ordering my copies tomorrow and hopefully next week or the following I can show you how they all came out.

Speaking of paperbacks, I got my copies of the two portal anthologies… don’t they look neat? 😉 That colorful table cloth isn’t mine, I had them sent to my parents’ and opened the enveloppe at our local market…

And I believe there’s a new free story by Sarah Stegall up on the Infinite Bard, go check it out! 🙂 Have a great week!

by Barb on 15/05/2019  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 15/05/2019

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2019/05/15/writer-wednesday-368/

Writer Wednesday


Last week I wrote less than 10K (but more than 9K anyway), but since the yearly total so far il over 200K, I’m not really worried that I might fall behind. Also because I write consistently all year round, so even if a month or a week I might have a lower wordcount for various reasons, I usually catch up the next.

What slowed me down was getting into Rogue. I wanted to write it in the order you’ll read it, and just couldn’t get going. Until I decided to just write the NOW and add the flashbacks later. Originally I wanted to start with his mother’s story, which would have given me room for flashbacks, but then I started his story, so I wrote one flashback and simply jotted down “Write X flashback here” at the end of each chapter.

Hopefully this will be a productive week, since I’m also off DayJob, but I need to clean the house of some clutter (both on bookshelves and in wardrobes) and make some paperbacks – one a day, hopefully, if I keep to the schedule. For the first one, I had to unpublish the previous version, unlink it from the Kindle version and start a new paperback. I think Brainwaves was the last paperback I did with CreateSpace, and now it’s gone the way of the dodo.

I also updated the headers of the blog and the publisher’s page (although on UPB I had to ask for help, since it didn’t update) so the old, illustrated cover is gone, except on the book’s page, where I post also the old covers. And I took the Goodreads Author widget off, since it kept showing the same old ugly covers. I’m on Goodreads, look me up without going via the sidebar of this blog, haha!

The first May post on Patreon was late, but I guess nobody noticed… I guess I still need to get used to having two online venues where I should post regularly, LOL! Coming up this month more Silvery Earth Kids strips (every Sunday @3$), an original beginning and a Lone Wolves Mission (Wednesdays @1$).

Also, if you want to just follow without becoming a patron, that option will send you all the public posts as they come out. I’m not sure of how it works, since the people l started following haven’t done any public post yet, but it’s a new feature for Patreon.

I’m also doing a black&white version of six strips for an upcoming anthology, I shall announce it whenever the curator tells me to! And on this very blog’s header, you have a preview of what the Star Minds Lone Wolves Team ebook covers will look like. Hariel is by the awesome Ravven, the background is a NASA picture. It will be the same for all six books.

Now I better go back to writing! Have a great week! 🙂

by Barb on 08/05/2019  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 08/05/2019

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2019/05/08/writer-wednesday-367/

Writer Wednesday


Last week was another 11K week, wrapping up the Lone Wolves Team and adding something to Silvery Earth Kids. Now I’m on Hal the Rogue and probably I’ll add his mother’s story at the end, since, like the other Lone Wolves books, his story starts with the hunt for Mr. H – that’s year 5245 of the Star Nations or 2053 on Earth in the alternative future of Star Minds.

Yesterday two more audiobooks should have gone live, but I will try to provide the links next week. I’m still trying to find the links for Otherside on Amazon and Kobo, way over 30 days since I hit that “publish” button! 😦 If Findaway Voices can’t get me on Amazon, I don’t think I’ll do many more audiobooks with them. Maybe a couple more, because I loved two of the narrators and would love to hear their voices again, but that’s it. And not before the end of the summer anyway.

Next week I’m off DayJob and hope to catch up on paperbacks. Not that I hear anyone clamoring for them, but if I don’t do them, nobody will buy them, right? 😉 And I’ll need some paperbacks if I get a table in the Creators’ Alley at Dublin Worldcon. Booked the flights (even for 20BooksEdinburgh), now time will fly – hopefully. And the summer heat won’t kill me before I get there! 😀

By the way, I will NOT be a panelist in Dublin (my first Worldcon without panels, yay!), so I better start looking for a space in the Creators’ Alley and bring the curated anthologies to that table! I have at least one other author at the con, Fulvio Gatti, he might help sell some! 🙂

Two unmissable posts this week: Great Advice from Joe Lansdale reposted by Dean Welsey Smith and Taming the Critical Voice by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

And since it’s May 1st… here’s the link to the Infinite Bard! The first three free stories are up! 🙂 Go check them! Show us some love! Check all the awesome authors participating, including yours truly!

The Infinite Bard, an international collection of authors who banded together to offer free fiction: epic adventure, spine-tingling action, thrills, chills, romance, humor, mystery. The Infinite Bard launches with three exciting stories. A brand new story will follow every two weeks. Visit the hub at http://TheInfiniteBard.wordpress.com/the-infinite-bard/ to see what’s new, then visit each author’s web site to enjoy each new story as it’s released.

Dive in to the first of The Infinite Bard’s exotic tales of excitement:

Diamond of the Sky by Azure Avians
Blind Spot by Donald J. Bingle
First Command by Chris A. Jackson

And I guess that’s all for now! Have a wonderful week! 🙂

by Barb on 01/05/2019  •  Permalink
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Posted by Barb on 01/05/2019

https://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/2019/05/01/writer-wednesday-366/

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