Tag: Kindle

New Kindle! And some new old projects as well

So I came out to Tbilisi today, because MY NEW KINDLE PAPERWHITE JUST ARRIVED!

Okay, sorry for the all-caps shouting, but I’m really happy that it finally got here.  My old kindle broke down a few months ago, leaving me stranded in my tiny village without any books.  With the weather getting worse and the power outages becoming more frequent, cabin fever has started to become a problem.  So really, it couldn’t have come at a better time.

It shipped out almost a month ago, but Georgia (the country, not the state) is a fairly remote place, so it’s taken a looong time to get here.  The wait has definitely been worth it, though.  I love this device, especially the cover browsing function.  And the backlight is going to be very, very useful, what with all the power outages we get in the village.

So I’m about 100 pages into The Sword Keeper, my latest project, and I realized that I need to do a lot more worldbuilding before I can continue.  I’ve got a good handle on the characters and have more or less figured out the plot, but there are still a lot of holes in the setting.  This new project is a fantasy novel, and it seems to be leaning more towards epic than heroic, so I probably should take the time to really build the world before trying to finish the story.

I’ve been drawing a lot of inspiration from my experience here in Georgia, but right now, I feel like I’m too close to it to really take it in the right direction.  The time I spent in Jordan was a huge influence in Desert Stars, but I didn’t start it until I came home (and didn’t finish the first draft until almost two years later).  Ideas are like wine: sometimes, you just need to let them sit in the back of your head and age for a while.

So long story short, I’ve decided to put The Sword Keeper on the back burner for a while.  I’m  sure I’ll come back to it, though–the story is far too interesting to let go.  Magical thinking swords that meld with the minds of those who wield them, ancient prophecies and a secret order of warrior monks–and that’s just the backdrop.  The characters themselves are much more interesting–I have got to tell their story!

But for now, I’m going to revisit the Gaia Nova universe and finish the revisions for Heart of the Nebula.  This one is a direct sequel to Bringing Stella Home, and while it definitely still needs work, I feel like it’s almost there.  The first draft had some major problems and needed to be revamped, especially toward the end.  If all goes well, I should finish this pass before the end of November, with enough time to write another Star Wanderers story before the end of the year.

Stars of Blood and Glory is still with my first readers, but if they give it the green light, I hope to publish it sometime in February.  This one is also a direct sequel to Bringing Stella Home, with Danica, Roman, Stella, and Stella’s son Abaqa, and a couple of characters from Desert Stars as well.  I’m really excited about this story, but I figure it’s best to get some more feedback first before putting it out.

Which brings me to Star Wanderers: Homeworld (Part IV).  I can’t promise that it will be out before the end of November, but that’s what I’m shooting for.  Of course, I’m not going to put it out until I’m satisfied that it represents my best work, but even my first readers do come back with problems, I’m 99% confident I can fix them all by December at the latest.  There is nothing–absolutely nothing–like the feeling you get when you finish a story where everything just comes together.  I may not be the best judge of my own work, but I know that feeling.  You can definitely expect to see this story come out before the end of the year.

That’s about all for now.  Internet is spotty out in the village, but I’ve got a couple of interesting posts brewing in the back of my mind.  I’ll probably write them up in the next few days, and post them the next time I get a chance.  Until then, see you around!

…WHUT

So this morning when I was getting ready for church, I realized that I couldn’t find my Kindle.  Anywhere.  Remembering that I’d left it at a Quark event in my apartment’s lobby, I started frantically calling people and knocking doors.  Unfortunately, no one had seen it.

A few hours later, after combing every place I could have possibly left it at least four or five times, I have to admit it’s completely lost.  I have a very good idea when and where I lost it, so the only remaining possibility is that someone picked it up.  The aggravating thing is waiting to see whether they return it, or whether they decide to run off with it.  ARRRRGH!

The amazing thing is how attached I’ve become to that device in the last month since I first got it.  I’m not a particularly voracious reader, but right up until I lost it I was carrying that thing around everywhere.  It’s so amazingly convenient–instead of lugging books around, I can read almost anything I want on a device that fits in my back pocket.  And the interconnectivity is really cool, too, although if I end up having to replace it, I’ll probably go with the more expensive 3g version, since hunting for wireless is a major pain.

But yeah…it’s lost, and I can’t currently afford to replace it.  I’m saving up for Worldcon 2011, so finances are tight; I’ll probably have to work this temp job through most of August just to be able to go.

However, all is not lost.  Yesterday, Genesis Earth got a stunning review on a book blogger / fellow indie writer’s blog.  My favorite part:

This is space opera of the highest caliber.  There are grand, sweeping ideas, the discovery of a new world, first contact with an alien species, an examination of the nature of humanity, the nature of the human mind.  Yet it’s always a personal story.  No matter how epic the backdrop, you are always reading about engaging, fully-realized characters.

It certainly qualifies as an adventure story, and keeps you wondering what will happen next.  Yet it’s also much more.  Genesis Earth will broaden your mind even as it delights your inner ten-year-old.  It has a kick-ass premise, executed with enviable skill, full of thought-provoking ideas couched in a thoroughly-entertaining story that’s just plain fun to read.

I kid you not, I stood up and did a little dance when I read that.  Someday, I’ll probably have a wife who will secretly videotape a moment like that and embarrass me by posting it to youtube or something…hehe.  Anyhow, the whole review is awesome, so check it out!

In other news, I finally got around to publishing Genesis Earth on the Nook: you can find it here.  And I don’t know whether I mentioned this or not, but I’ve also published it to smashwords, so if you live outside the US/UK and want to avoid the nasty $2+ surcharge that Amazon tags onto its international sales, you can find it there.

As far as the epublishing goals I set at the beginning of the week, I’ve accomplished all of them except the blog tour index and the 3+ guest posts…better get on top of that.  This week, here is what I want to accomplish:

  • Publish the short stories to smashwords for $0 and get Amazon to price match (since giving them out for free will *hopefully* drive readers to my novels).
  • Figure out how how the Kindle book forums work.
  • Query artists/illustrators for Bringing Stella Home cover art.
  • Send out Genesis Earth to another 5 review sites.
  • Write another 3 guest posts for the Genesis Earth blog tour.
  • Put up the index for the blog tour.

Oh, and one more thing…FIND MY &$%! KINDLE!!!

<< sigh >>