Hello  Bloglandia!

The other day I was reminded why I keep on doing this whole writing thing.

Of course there’s various reasons such as that giddy feeling when a story really starts taking shape, of getting a nice crack of humor across on the page, and I always love killing someone off. 

Sorry… “killing characters off.” Please don’t call out the SWAT team on me.

But along with those giddy feelings (and imaginary murder) is plenty of frustration, irritation, and self-doubt.

And sure, I don’t mind the crazy increase in royalties I’ve seen this year. They’ve helped me finally buy a new computer and make a few investments.

But trust me, those royalties aren’t going to support me in any “first world” country and are still a LONG way off of my goal earnings. 

So let’s see, mega frustration. Poor wages. Why in the world do I keep dragging the pen across the page every day.

Because every now and then, I get emails like this…

 

“Dear Tammie

I downloaded a sample of The Undead Mr Tenpenny a little at random on my kindle just now after one of those bleurgh days. I have full on laugh-snorted three times so far, disturbed 2 cats and bought the book! Loving the feeling of anticipation that I am launching into a new favourite!

Thank you for bringing some snort laughs into a bleurgh Wednesday.”

 

I mean, come on, a mere sample of my book made someone’s day!

It’s kind of hard to beat that for job satisfaction.

I don’t have “fan mail” flooding in. Maybe an email a month. But those emails mean so much to me. 

I have pretty much given up on social media, so I don’t see mentions or shares or anything like that if someone touts my book.

I am in no way crazy enough to ever read my reviews (except from my review team), so I don’t get feedback about my work in that regard.

But what I do get are those emails. 

They mean a lot not only for the ego/confidence boost (HUGE boost), but also because I know the people sending them had to 1) make an effort to locate my email address (included at the end of all my books), and 2) they actually had to take time from their busy lives to write out that email.

It absolutely fills me with all kinds of warm goodies.

Or maybe that’s just all the tea.

Anyway, this is all a bit sappy, but it still makes me marvel that my words actually touch people lives of rite better.

I’ve made lonely people feel like they have a friend, I’ve made depressed people giggle for a while, and I’ve made a few writer friends along the way (yay!).

So, yeah, that’s why I keep doing this.

And, okay, the royalties don’t hurt either.

Oh, and while the sappy factor is notched up to at least 8.5, I also want to say thanks to every one who has bought my books this year, to everyone who has written a review (even if I don’t see it), and especially to everyone who has told another person about my silly tales.

You all make this worthwhile!!

Have a great week!

And I realize it’s a bit late, but if you’re curious, my writing update from October is below. 

Thanks Everyone!!! Gobble gobble : )

Writing Update: An Odd October

So the first week of October was pretty much a wash. 

I got back from vacation on the 4th, then spent the next couple days wondering, “What is it I do, again?”

And that was after leaving myself a long list of Reminders of Things To Do Upon Returning from Vacation. 

Who knows what sort of disorganizational horrors might have happened without that list! (insert shudders)

Anyway, once I got my writing wheels back under me, I hit a nice stride of productivity.

I wrapped up the final draft of my novella, AND I finally gave it a title after letting it run around nameless for all these months.

And that title is…. The Unwanted Inheritance of the Bookman Brothers.

I started some cover work on it as well and even threw it up for pre-order on a few sites, but the cover still needs a bit of tweaking, so no cover reveal just yet.

I also set a release date of 14 February 2023 for it…and yes, I picked Valentine’s Day since it’s about the love (and magic) of books.

The novella’s currently with my first readers, so it’ll be interesting to see what they think.

As for Duncan… Fangs a Million is pretty much ready to go.

I think. 

Unless I’m forgetting some little publication detail (highly likely).

After wrapping up the novella, I did another read-through of Fangsto once again hone the language, catch typos, and fix the booboos my first readers discovered.

I’m doing another quick read-through this week, just to sparkle up the wording one last time, but for the most part, Fangs is all set for its 20 December release.

Squee!!!

If you’re on my review team, you’ll be getting your review copy of the book on 19 November. 

If you’re not on the review team, and want to be, there are a few spots open, so just reply to this email and I’ll give you the scoop.

And now comes the sales pitch moment of this update….

Fangs a Million is currently available for pre-order at select retailers. 

Pre-orders on these retailers are super beneficial to me, so to reward and thank you for helping me out, I’m offering a small pre-order discount (2.99 instead of 3.99 USD).

Or at least I think I am…. assuming I’ve set everything up properly.

Oh, and if you order the book from my Payhip Bookstore, you’ll get your copy a few days before anyone else!