AUGH! Not Again!

2022 has been a major pain in my backside. The topper is when I uploaded Invasion! for distribution on Amazon. And the f***ing website froze.

This happened to me with A Twist of Love a few years ago. According to Amazon, I didn't upload the book file in time, and the preorder is cancelled. The poor customer service peeps cannot reinstate the preorder.

I'm frustrated and pissed and a bunch of other things. So I'm taking a step back. Taking a deep breath. And since this is the holiday season, I'm going to embrace that spirit.

I already promised a free copy to my mailing list. If you preordered Invasion!, contact me. I'll send you a link for a free copy for any e-reader, tablet, etc.

Or you can sign up for my newsletter before Saturday, December 3.

Will Invasion! be released on Amazon? Yes, it will, and all the other retailers, but I need a week to work off the accumulative stress of this year. And it's going to start with a hot cup of coffee and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer this evening.

I'm sorry for this, but I'll make the best of things and get the last two books for 2022 out to you come hell or high water!

Music I've Been Listening to Lately

I've always wondered what happened to Brad and Janet after their wild, crazy night.

The Day After

As enjoyable and low-key as yesterday's Thanksgiving celebration was, my body ached, and exhaustion claimed me. I slept nearly twelve hours last night.

It was a little reminder I need to be careful with my spoons. I'll need all of them for the rest of weekend to finish Invasion!

I hope everyone has an enjoyable holiday weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm cleaning, cooking, and writing in spurts today since we're hosting family for the holiday. If you have cinnamon and alfredo sauce on your e-book of Invasion! next week, that's why.

The Harden Menu
Conn's Potato Chips and Dean's French Onion Dip
Triscuits and spray cheese
Water crackers and Italian cheese ball
Sausage Alfredo Lasagna
Apple pie with cinnamon ice cream

Salads will be eaten the rest of the holiday weekend.

Have a wonderful holiday, everyove!

Sisters and Monsters

I submitted a short story to an editor last night. I don't know why I submitted it.

I had lunch with one of my sorority littles on Saturday. She found me through Facebook shortly before the pandemic started. We hadn't seen each other in thirty-five years and spent a good two hours talking. I made sure to tip our server well for taking up a table for so long.

So what does that have to do with writing and submitting a short story last night?

Little #2 and I didn't like a particular sister. She was a Karen before Karens became a thing. The Particular Sister was constantly trying to get me in trouble with both our sorority advisor and an advisor in another club. She tried to bully the girls in Little #2's pledge class. She was manipulative and passive-aggressive and an all around negative person.

And while I was reminiscing about college yesterday, the perfect revenge story clicked in my head. Or maybe I've watched too many episodes of Supernatural.

Anyway, the story spilled out of me during football yesterday. You know an idea has me in its grip when I pay no attention to a Steelers game.

I finished the story and sent it into the world. If it doesn't sell, I'll post on my author website. Maybe I needed a small break from all my other projects. Maybe I'll write more monster stories and publish a collection.

Either way, the experience helped me deal with some lingering anger at some people who shouldn't matter in my life now. And it felt good.

Music I've Been Listening to Lately

Oh, no! Not Meat Loaf again!

Latest Happenings

I know I haven't talked a whole lot about the publishing business this year. On one hand, I've been a bit distracted. On the other, everyone seems to be holding their breath, waiting for the next big thing to hit.

There's a ton of indies bitching about slow sales. However, this year's midterms garnered the kind of attention reserved for the presidential elections. The drop in my own sales in October was expected.

Other than a few grumblings about government overreach, no one is saying much about Randy Penguins being blocked from buying Simon & Schuster. Paramount Global have been looking to unload S&S back when the company was ViacomCBS. I find it interesting that none of the big American corporations really wants to run a publishing company anymore.

Internet ads aren't bringing in the big bucks to anyone but the advertising agencies themselves these days. Hey, I block a lot of shit on my browser, so I'm with the consumers on this one.

AI is probably the most talked about new issue this year. From fake voices reading audiobooks to computer-generated cover art, questions are arising about copyright. But not fast enough in my opinion. Ever worse is when AI can generate art in the same style as a living artist. I mean, I'd love Meryl Streep to do the voice work for one of my novels, but I can't afford her (even if she'd agree to do it). It's not right to teach an AI to sound like Meryl though.

So these are the weird things floating through my head as snowflakes gently fall outside. Anyone want to add an issue in 2022 that I overlooked?

One Last Sale

Pestilence in Pumpkin Spice is currently free on Amazon. Yep, that's zero moola WITHOUT joining the Kindle Unlimited club.

So if you need something fun and crazy to read while your uncles argue whether sasquatches and yetis are the same thing over the remnants of the turkey carcass, pick up your copy now!

The sale ends on Friday, November 18th!

Link to Pestilence in Pumpkin Spice on Amazon

Monday Movie Mania - Black Adam

Black Adam was the second film DH and I attended during his week off. Honestly, I wasn't planning on seeing it until I found out Viola Davis, Aldis Hodge, and Pierce Brosnan were in it. Sorry, but Dwayne Johnson is not the end-all, be-all for me. Beyond GK's childhood favorites that Johnson appeared in, it's usually his co-stars who attract me to the movie.

Then there's the fact that DCEU is trying to remake Black Adam into an anti-hero. It's a little hard to wrap my head around. I had the same problem with Joaquin Phoenix's Joker (a movie I still haven't seen despite my love of the DC Universe).


*** SPOILERS ***


PROS
1) The introduction of the Justice Society of America!

2) Aldis Hodge was pitch-perfect as the Golden Age Carter Hall/Hawkman.

3) Same for Pierce Brosnan's Golden Age Kent Nelson/Doctor Fate.

4) Henry Winkler's cameo as the Golden Age Atom was hysterical!

5) The kids playing Cyclone and Atom Smasher were adorable. And the movie stuck with their Golden Age orgins, even though they made Atom Smasher the grandson of the Atom instead of his godson.

6) You can never go wrong with an appearance of Amanda Waller!

7) Don't miss a certain mid-credit cameo!

CONS
1) The convuluted backstory of how this version of Black Adam got his powers. Can we do an origin story where a man's wife and kid aren't fridged as motivation?

2) I wished there was more backstory of the JSA within the movie. Instead of being treated as an early vversion of the JLA, they were tools of Amanda Waller.

3) Dwayne Johnson smoldering is not acting.


Overall, I give Black Adam a solid 7 stars out of 10.

Music I've Been Listening to Lately

How can you not dance to this song?

Judge Pan's Decision on Randy Penguins

I still haven't read Judge Florence Pan's decision, but Publishers Weekly copiously quoted the judge in their article this week about the matter. It will be interesting to see what happens with PRH's planned appeal.

The whole case is unusual in that the DOJ took the side of the product producers (i.e. the writers) instead of that of the consumers. However, Judge Pan was quick to point out that Apple was slapped with $450 million fine after its trial back in 2013 because the Big Five idiotically admitted to the price-fixing during the course of their settlements with the DOJ. She essentially stated the Big Five were using the same type of collusion between themselves with their product producers.

It will be interesting to see how far Randy Penguins get with their appeals, considering Apple failed with their appeals in the 2012 price-fixing lawsuit.

Thirty Percent Through NaNoWriMo

I'm getting the words in, but not on the project I'd planned to at the beginning of 2022.

Death in Double Mocha is way behind thanks to the multiple deaths in the family this year, not mention the two additional stories that will be audiobooks. Invasion! is supposed to come out December 1st, and I can't afford to lose my pre-order privileges on Amazon. And I'd wanted to do A Hint of Thief for NaNo. I have written a few chapters on it in order to wrap up the events at the end of A Measure of Knowledge and Invasion!

As a friend mentioned, it's like I'm writing three NaNo projects at once.

Looking at timing, I need to take a step back and finish Invasion! first since Elaina is scheduled to do the paperback cover next week.

Then, I need to finish up everything for the Soccer Moms of the Apocalypse Kickstarter before the end of the year.

Finally, I can jump back into A Hint of Thief because of the excitement factor of Anthea and Luc being caught in plots, spies, and triple-crosses while trying to keep Quan alive long enough to be crowned.

Yep, my brain is high on stories!

Monday Movie Mania - Amsterdam

I'm finally feeling comfortable enough to go to movie theaters again. Yay!

Amsterdam is a quirky little historical comedy-thriller you're either going to love or hate. DH and I wanted to see it because of the all-star cast, many of whom we're huge fans of. (Seriously, I will watch Margot Robbie in anything!)

Unfortunately, it's so quirky people either love it or hate it. There doesn't seem to be any middle ground. The main plot is very loosely based on a real event in U.S. history, the Business Plot.

*********

SPOILERS!!

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PROS

1)  The cast was excellent. The starring trio of Christian Bales, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington shine as old friends who are trying to solve the murder of a general they served with during Word War I.

2)  Chris Rock was understated as the trio's cynical sidekick who tries to inject reality in his repeated requests to drop the case.

3)  Rami Malek was delightfully scary as one of the villains.

4) I fear this movie was given such poor reviews because the events in the movie from a century ago are far too similar to the real life events over the last few years. We're seeing the same rise in fascism and violence for political ends. I don't think American citizens like facing the same damn flaws in the mirror.

 

CONS

 1) As much as I respect Christian Bales as an actor, his Dr. Bert Berendsen came across as Peter Falk playing Columbo, which Bert was acting as a detective, but it was distracting for me at times.

Overall, I really liked Amsterdam. I give it 9 stars out of 10.

Music I've Been Listening to Lately

Anybody else need a sweet transvestite?

PRH Takeover of Simon & Schuster Blocked

I haven't read the actual order from the judge yet, but the DOJ issued a press release Monday, stating they received their request for a permanent injunction on the Randy Penguin's takeover of Simon & Schuster.

So what does this mean?

As of right now, not much. Randy Penquin has requested an expedited appeal of the decision, which might go all the way up to the Supreme Court.

If Judge Florence Pan stuck with her same concerns she displayed during last summer's trial, her decision will focus on what authors are being paid to license their manuscripts and not what consumers are paying for the actual books.

So here's the conundrum for the Appellate and Supreme Courts--which rich people are they going to side with? The rich authors like Stephen King or the rich owners of Randy Penguin and the execs at Simon & Schuster who want their golden parachutes?

It ain't over yet by any means!