Tapestry of Dreams, my Anthology of eight stories ranging from vampires to time travel, is available now from MSFiction. Just follow the link. Click on Tapestry of Dreams.
Thanks for visiting. Send me an e-mail to hegro@shaw.ca and I’ll send you a free download of ‘Seeds of Chaos’, Eden’s Gate.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Tapestry of Dreams and a few other things
I’m still waiting for TAPESTRY OF DREAMS to be downloaded to the Midnight Showcase Fiction site, but so far, it hasn’t happened. Probably because of the tropical storm in Texas. That is where Mae Powers, my copy editor, lives. She sent me the copy for one last look-over on Monday, but my eyes were going blurry from writing all day (my blog, postings on the different groups, and some other stuff). I never got a chance to check it out for a last minute edit. So if there are still any mistakes in the finished product, I’ll have to live with it.
I went through a couple of my released novels and, to my unpleasant surprise, I found many mistakes. Even though the novels were checked over to death by me and then again by my editors, mistakes still slipped through. I’m talking about typing errors. I can only hope my readers are forgiving and not nit picking. There are always those.
That, of course, is the reality of life. Plenty of people find great pleasure in hurting others, either physically or mentally. Writing a nasty review seems to give some people a high. No writer makes a mistake on purpose. Most of us want to create a perfect piece of work. Unfortunately, life is not perfect. Sometimes you just have to overlook mistakes. To err is to be human. (I know it is a cliché, but it is the truth).
Then again, I admit, if a novel is riddled with too many errors it can be distracting, unless one is blessed with a mind that connects the dots and ignores misspelled words.
Too many errors spell: SLOPPY or HASTE. It is natural for a writer to have his (or her) work published as soon as it is finished. We can’t wait to have other people read the product of our dreaming minds. It is a fault most of us suffer from. Therefore, if you do find a mistake, don’t be too critical. Be forgiving and enjoy the story. After all, that is my purpose. To give my readers a few hours of escape from reality. So, forget about everyday life, forget about rules and conventional customs, sit back, relax and dream.
Stardogs Two has slipped to number 11 position at Fiction Wise. I’m losing hope for the number one spot. There were just too many releases last week and the readers have only so much money to spend. Maybe they like Erotic Romance better than Erotic Science Fiction, I don’t know.
I’ve noticed that M/M and F/F stories are selling well. I don’t write that kind of stuff. If I write Erotica, it is M/F, that’s it. My characters might be aliens, but males are attracted to females and females to males. The way nature intended. It may not be politically correct these days, but, hey, that’s the way I feel. I make no apologies. Same goes for using words like ‘server’ instead of ‘waitress’, or ‘flight attendant’ instead of ‘stewardess’. If it’s a man, I will say so by using the word ‘waiter’ and ‘steward’. Why should I limit myself to certain words just to satisfy those kooks who feel insulted every time somebody says or writes things that don’t fit into their little world, when the English language is so rich and colorful. The words are there. Therefore I use them. It’s like telling a painter he (or she) can only use certain colors.
Another thing that drives me up a wall is when a writer can’t make up his/her mind if he/she should use ‘he’ or ‘she‘. He/she might come up with a solution to please everyone, like using ‘he’ in one paragraph and ‘she’ in the next. Or ‘he/she’. That’s when I want to shout: MAKE UP YOUR FRIGGEN MIND! Use EITHER, but not this crazy jumping around! It makes me dizzy. Again, it may not be politically correct, but it only makes common sense.
Okay, I vented again. Just a little.
I went through a couple of my released novels and, to my unpleasant surprise, I found many mistakes. Even though the novels were checked over to death by me and then again by my editors, mistakes still slipped through. I’m talking about typing errors. I can only hope my readers are forgiving and not nit picking. There are always those.
That, of course, is the reality of life. Plenty of people find great pleasure in hurting others, either physically or mentally. Writing a nasty review seems to give some people a high. No writer makes a mistake on purpose. Most of us want to create a perfect piece of work. Unfortunately, life is not perfect. Sometimes you just have to overlook mistakes. To err is to be human. (I know it is a cliché, but it is the truth).
Then again, I admit, if a novel is riddled with too many errors it can be distracting, unless one is blessed with a mind that connects the dots and ignores misspelled words.
Too many errors spell: SLOPPY or HASTE. It is natural for a writer to have his (or her) work published as soon as it is finished. We can’t wait to have other people read the product of our dreaming minds. It is a fault most of us suffer from. Therefore, if you do find a mistake, don’t be too critical. Be forgiving and enjoy the story. After all, that is my purpose. To give my readers a few hours of escape from reality. So, forget about everyday life, forget about rules and conventional customs, sit back, relax and dream.
Stardogs Two has slipped to number 11 position at Fiction Wise. I’m losing hope for the number one spot. There were just too many releases last week and the readers have only so much money to spend. Maybe they like Erotic Romance better than Erotic Science Fiction, I don’t know.
I’ve noticed that M/M and F/F stories are selling well. I don’t write that kind of stuff. If I write Erotica, it is M/F, that’s it. My characters might be aliens, but males are attracted to females and females to males. The way nature intended. It may not be politically correct these days, but, hey, that’s the way I feel. I make no apologies. Same goes for using words like ‘server’ instead of ‘waitress’, or ‘flight attendant’ instead of ‘stewardess’. If it’s a man, I will say so by using the word ‘waiter’ and ‘steward’. Why should I limit myself to certain words just to satisfy those kooks who feel insulted every time somebody says or writes things that don’t fit into their little world, when the English language is so rich and colorful. The words are there. Therefore I use them. It’s like telling a painter he (or she) can only use certain colors.
Another thing that drives me up a wall is when a writer can’t make up his/her mind if he/she should use ‘he’ or ‘she‘. He/she might come up with a solution to please everyone, like using ‘he’ in one paragraph and ‘she’ in the next. Or ‘he/she’. That’s when I want to shout: MAKE UP YOUR FRIGGEN MIND! Use EITHER, but not this crazy jumping around! It makes me dizzy. Again, it may not be politically correct, but it only makes common sense.
Okay, I vented again. Just a little.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Fiction Wise sales update
Just checked Fiction Wise. I am happy to report that ‘Stardogs 2’ has moved from yesterday’s position 46 to number 9 in sales. ‘Stardogs 1’ has moved from 35 to 14. ‘Cliffs of Time’ is at 23, Beyond the Stars digest with my story ‘Time Flares’ at number 24. ‘Orion, the Hunt’ at 27. Things are looking gooood.
Stardogs 1 reached only the number 2 spot in December 2007. Never got to number one. Maybe Stardogs 2 will make it. One can hope.
Stardogs 1 reached only the number 2 spot in December 2007. Never got to number one. Maybe Stardogs 2 will make it. One can hope.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Stardogs Two and other releases
My latest books are finally available from Fiction Wise. Stardogs Two was at number 46 in sales last time I checked. Midnight Showcase Fiction put quite a number of new releases on the Fiction Wise site. My book will have a hard time competing with them all. We’ll see, if Stardogs Two manages to move into the ten top positions. I hope so.
My other titles are Cliffs of Time, Orion--the Hunt, and my novella Time Flares, which is part of the digest Beyond the Stars. Fiction Wise is not a money maker for us, but it gets us exposure to more readers. We prefer that our readers buy our books from Midnight Showcase Fiction The links to all of my books are listed on the sidebar.
Anyone visiting for the first time, I bid you welcome. Stay a while and check out my blog. As stated in one of my last posts, if you are interested, send me an e-mail at hegro@shaw.ca and I will send you a copy of my story ‘Gin and Tonic’. It is not available anymore, but maybe soon it will be again as part of another digest. The first two who send me an e-mail will get a free download of 'Tapestry of Dreams' as soon as it is released. Please, ask for it.
I just renewed my contracts for the stories ‘The Anniversary Gift’ (my very first published story) and ‘Remember me next Christmas’. They will be published either individually or as part of a digest this year still.
Tapestry of Dreams should be released soon. The cover looks good.
My other titles are Cliffs of Time, Orion--the Hunt, and my novella Time Flares, which is part of the digest Beyond the Stars. Fiction Wise is not a money maker for us, but it gets us exposure to more readers. We prefer that our readers buy our books from Midnight Showcase Fiction The links to all of my books are listed on the sidebar.
Anyone visiting for the first time, I bid you welcome. Stay a while and check out my blog. As stated in one of my last posts, if you are interested, send me an e-mail at hegro@shaw.ca and I will send you a copy of my story ‘Gin and Tonic’. It is not available anymore, but maybe soon it will be again as part of another digest. The first two who send me an e-mail will get a free download of 'Tapestry of Dreams' as soon as it is released. Please, ask for it.
I just renewed my contracts for the stories ‘The Anniversary Gift’ (my very first published story) and ‘Remember me next Christmas’. They will be published either individually or as part of a digest this year still.
Tapestry of Dreams should be released soon. The cover looks good.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Update and a few thoughts on writing
It’s been a month since my last post. Nothing much has happened except I’ve been battling this stubborn cold for a month. Summer colds are the worst to get rid off. My garden is growing well. Unless the weather turns nasty, like hail or strong winds, I should have a nice crop of tomatoes and peppers. Even my onions are getting large. The beans are also growing and so is the corn. I’ve planted corn only once, years ago, and it didn’t do well. I’m hoping this year it will have cobs we can eat.
The basil plant I thought was frozen out, did actually make it. It is growing. Basil is great in tomato sauces and even makes a nice tasting tea.
We have this little jackrabbit in the yard. He’s as cute as a button and not shy at all. First, he ate the tops of my red beets and the lettuce. When I put a fence around the bed, he began munching on my Swiss chard. Now I covered that with wire. I tried to chase him, but he runs circles around me and just looks at me. Even though I’m a hunter, I don’t want to hurt him. After all, he’s part of the yard and almost a pet.
I’m feeding the wild birds. We get many of the North American Finches. They are so beautiful with their bright yellow and black colors. We set up one of those tubes and fill them with Niger seeds. They love those, but the birds go to the other feeders also. Strange how some birds are. The females all get along, but the males won’t tolerate another one on the feeder. We have a few sparrows. Not as many as in the winter. Years ago, we used to have more. Maybe there are people in the neighborhood who feed them better food? Birds can be fussy; we know that from our Canary. He has his preferences.
Last week I sent away the final edit on ‘Tapestry of Dreams’. It should be released soon from Midnight Showcase Fiction.
When I have some spare time, I write on my new novel ‘Epsilon’. So far, I’ve written about 8,000 words. I have some ideas in my head but I don’t really know yet where I’m going. Can’t seem to get into it. There are always other things demanding my attention. I still have to fix some errors in my other novels and novellas scheduled for publishing this year. ‘Outpost Epsilon’ is one of them. It is next on the list. And then comes ‘Mark of the Cobra’. I read them again, found many mistakes, fixed them on the printed paper, but now I still have to do it on the computer. It all takes time.
When you write for your own entertainment, it doesn’t really matter if the grammar is correct. You don’t worry if you have the commas in the right place, if you used the proper words to describe something, if you misspelled a word, or if you use adverbs and adjectives correctly. Who cares about point of view, passive voice, past tense or present tense, or even being politically correct. It is the story that is important, nothing else. That all changes when you write for the public. Some readers will take a story apart and will painstakingly look for errors. That is a fact of life for a writer, and in a way, you can’t blame the reader, who spends money on the book. The reader expects an entertaining story but also one that is free of errors.
It should be easy to have a book without errors considering that our computers have a built-in spell checker, right? Well, it isn’t that easy. To trust the spell checker is like trusting a blind man to take you across a floating bridge without a railing and a bunch of boards missing. Maybe that is not a good analog but it’s the only one that pops into my head. A spell checker will never find the wrong words. Mine always tells me not to end a sentence with a preposition, not to start one with ‘but’ or ‘and’. Totally wrong. You are allowed to do both.
Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to have my stories published electronically. There certainly is no monetary reward. I could use my time better to just keep on writing and not worry about getting everything right.
Ah, here comes the clincher. Ego for one thing. It is nice to have my name in print. It also is nice to have my stories read by others and, hopefully, enjoyed. It also forces me to be disciplined and not become sloppy. Writing for me is not just a way to pass my free time and let my mind roam in realms of fantasy. It helped me to become more fluent in the use of the English language, helped me to learn new words, helped me to see, for instance, when to use ‘I’ or ‘me’. I am always surprised how many people don’t know the difference, even public speakers who should know better.
For me writing correctly is a challenge and it keeps my mind sharp and active. Very important as I grow older.
And there is always the hope, that some day my books will be discovered by more people and maybe, just maybe, one of them will become a worldwide bestseller. (If I am already dreaming, it might as well be big).
In the meantime I keep putting my fantasies into words and share them with you, my faithful readers, hoping you enjoy them as much as I. If you find a mistake, don’t be too harsh. It was not done intentionally or out of sloppiness. Sometimes our minds ignore them, even if our tired eyes notice them.
The basil plant I thought was frozen out, did actually make it. It is growing. Basil is great in tomato sauces and even makes a nice tasting tea.
We have this little jackrabbit in the yard. He’s as cute as a button and not shy at all. First, he ate the tops of my red beets and the lettuce. When I put a fence around the bed, he began munching on my Swiss chard. Now I covered that with wire. I tried to chase him, but he runs circles around me and just looks at me. Even though I’m a hunter, I don’t want to hurt him. After all, he’s part of the yard and almost a pet.
I’m feeding the wild birds. We get many of the North American Finches. They are so beautiful with their bright yellow and black colors. We set up one of those tubes and fill them with Niger seeds. They love those, but the birds go to the other feeders also. Strange how some birds are. The females all get along, but the males won’t tolerate another one on the feeder. We have a few sparrows. Not as many as in the winter. Years ago, we used to have more. Maybe there are people in the neighborhood who feed them better food? Birds can be fussy; we know that from our Canary. He has his preferences.
Last week I sent away the final edit on ‘Tapestry of Dreams’. It should be released soon from Midnight Showcase Fiction.
When I have some spare time, I write on my new novel ‘Epsilon’. So far, I’ve written about 8,000 words. I have some ideas in my head but I don’t really know yet where I’m going. Can’t seem to get into it. There are always other things demanding my attention. I still have to fix some errors in my other novels and novellas scheduled for publishing this year. ‘Outpost Epsilon’ is one of them. It is next on the list. And then comes ‘Mark of the Cobra’. I read them again, found many mistakes, fixed them on the printed paper, but now I still have to do it on the computer. It all takes time.
When you write for your own entertainment, it doesn’t really matter if the grammar is correct. You don’t worry if you have the commas in the right place, if you used the proper words to describe something, if you misspelled a word, or if you use adverbs and adjectives correctly. Who cares about point of view, passive voice, past tense or present tense, or even being politically correct. It is the story that is important, nothing else. That all changes when you write for the public. Some readers will take a story apart and will painstakingly look for errors. That is a fact of life for a writer, and in a way, you can’t blame the reader, who spends money on the book. The reader expects an entertaining story but also one that is free of errors.
It should be easy to have a book without errors considering that our computers have a built-in spell checker, right? Well, it isn’t that easy. To trust the spell checker is like trusting a blind man to take you across a floating bridge without a railing and a bunch of boards missing. Maybe that is not a good analog but it’s the only one that pops into my head. A spell checker will never find the wrong words. Mine always tells me not to end a sentence with a preposition, not to start one with ‘but’ or ‘and’. Totally wrong. You are allowed to do both.
Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to have my stories published electronically. There certainly is no monetary reward. I could use my time better to just keep on writing and not worry about getting everything right.
Ah, here comes the clincher. Ego for one thing. It is nice to have my name in print. It also is nice to have my stories read by others and, hopefully, enjoyed. It also forces me to be disciplined and not become sloppy. Writing for me is not just a way to pass my free time and let my mind roam in realms of fantasy. It helped me to become more fluent in the use of the English language, helped me to learn new words, helped me to see, for instance, when to use ‘I’ or ‘me’. I am always surprised how many people don’t know the difference, even public speakers who should know better.
For me writing correctly is a challenge and it keeps my mind sharp and active. Very important as I grow older.
And there is always the hope, that some day my books will be discovered by more people and maybe, just maybe, one of them will become a worldwide bestseller. (If I am already dreaming, it might as well be big).
In the meantime I keep putting my fantasies into words and share them with you, my faithful readers, hoping you enjoy them as much as I. If you find a mistake, don’t be too harsh. It was not done intentionally or out of sloppiness. Sometimes our minds ignore them, even if our tired eyes notice them.
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