Some Plans For The Future

Now Playing -   
She's So Fine by The Bodeans

Life -  

My adoring fans.

 

 So, though I'm now a Self-published author, with all of the fame and acclaim that comes with it, (None) I still have time to think about how I could be doing things better, or at least more effciently. Since a few months ago, when I split my blog off into a few factions, it's been a lot easier to post, and though I find myself posting less frequently, I seem to have attracted a few more readers by having a theme to the site they visit.

It's this frequency thing I plan to remedy, or try to, anyway. I've noticed a lot of bloggers have themed blogs each week, like Beard Of The Week, or Thursday Thoughts. It seems to work well for them and their readers seem to enjoy that kind of thing. So I sat down with a piece of paper and a pencil and mapped out a tentative plan for my posting... Let me know if you'd like to see anything different!

And remember, The Whispering Ferns is available on Smashwords, Barnes and Noble and the corrected version is up on Amazon too! And it's only three bucks!

The ROUS FAMILY -   

Saturdays - Photo Post -
This will be one of my "gimme" days, when I'll post a photo I've taken in the past and comment on it, or tell a story related to it.

Wednesdays - Weekly Update -
What's been happening in our lives, whether that's work, pets, road trips or random thoughts.

Sundays - Retro Sundays -
A time to share some of my favorite classic photos and videos from the past, when colors were black and white.

Tuesdays - Self Publishing Thoughts -
This is where you'll go if you're interested in publishing your own novels, or seeing how mine is going. I'll promise full disclosure and only a little bit of self-doubt.

Fridays - Wag The Blog -
A spotlight on other authors, editors and sites that I find diverting or inspiring.

Saturdays - The Weekly Update
Stories about Moonstone Bay, Character Profiles, News, Legends of the Northwest, drawings and more.
This website will be geared more towards the readers of my Moonstone Bay series, and will be all-ages.
 

Mondays - Art Sharing/Updates
Mondays will be the day to hit up Deeply Dapper for pics of works in progress, past pieces and things now available in the Etsy shoppe.

Thursdays -  1,000 Words, Abridged.
A chance to share a piece of art or art process that I find inspiring, impressive or just plain cool.

Reviews Of Unusual Size will continue to offer up the ROUS style of reviews on everything from books and movies to restaurants and Legos on a regular basis from a number of contributors.

  Lindsay Kiernan will update her site whenever she feels like it, and it is not my place to question when or how often that may be... But I'd like to see more installments of "Like The Used To..." immediately!

July 5th, 2009 - Privacy at last!

Life -

Man, my father in law can work a post hole digger like an old farm boy! Sunday, Rich came over and helped me build a fence along a portion of our backyard, cordoning off an odd cement patio and what used to be the dog run. We live on a corner lot with a good sized back yard, but the it is ringed by a low chain link fence, and the entirety is visible from the street, so we spend very little actual time in the yard, as most of our neighbors are the nosy, annoying variety. Previously, there had been a fenced in dog run, all dirt and weeds beside the patio space. We pulled down the section of fence separating the two and tried to plant some grass on the dog run area.

Unfortunately, the previous owners not only used the run area for dogs, but he apparently used a section to pour sawdust and chemicals from his various home projects, and grass wouldnt grow there very well. We've worked on it though and it was starting to take shape. We just figure we'll put some fun pavers down where the grass wont grow or something. So then we had a nice sized space, but we could still be assaulted by Graham Cracker Fogey and the Momma from Throw Momma From The Train and her yappy pocket dog. We started throwing around ideas and after chatting with Rich, he said that we should just build a simple fence rather than the outlandish things I was bandying about (Vines, tiered benches, holograms, etc...)

On the 3rd, we hit Home Depot and Lowes and bought a few posts and slats for around a hundred and fifty bucks, which was quite cheap. Sunday morning, Rich showed up and we dug the holes and mounted the posts, and later that night he came back over to help finish the job. Turned out pretty damn nice, if I say so myself! We still have the original chain link gate and a section of fencing, but eventually we'll likely replace those too.

In the meantime, we have a nice sized, fairly private garden area to hang out and barbecue in. Hooray! Now we just have to start looking into some furniture that doesn't consist of old spools and thrift store chic....


Writing -

Not a lot on this front, though I've tried a few different things with my Zombie book and printed a couple of my current draft of The Whispering Ferns. I also started some layout and plot ideas for a MG/YA fantasy novel, one that takes a lot of the conventional roles from fantasy and twists 'em a bit. It should be fun, but I have the crappy task of coming up with a passel of fantasy names that don't sound goofy. I hate that.

I also finished my header for the Moonstone Bay Blog which I think turned out really fun. I tried to hit something that had a bit of a classic children's book illustration feel to it. My only regret is that the welcome sign seems too removed from the rest of the piece, I think the coloring is too noticeably different.. have to fix that eventually.

Speaking of children's book artists, I highly recommend Kelly Light's blog. She has an excellent, clean style and she digs the Barenaked Ladies... how can you not love that??