May
16

Squeaky Wheel

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If you’ve followed the blog for any length of time, you’ll probably know I’ve had some rather expensive house issues over the last few years. In a nutshell, whoever put our house together was probably smoking something because everything from the wiring to the windows is basically shit. And we’re not the first owners, but the house is in that 15 – 20 year age range so guess that’s when stuff really starts breaking. Hence having to replace both AC/furnace units last year…and the complete clusterfuck that was our bathroom the year before. And the guy who lived there previously was a tool-time bonehead who did a lot of his own fixing and such, but didn’t bother building anything to code. Like our deck. Or the outlets he added to the bathrooms without grounding properly. Good times. And we have stuff we’d really like to do – new carpets, some paint,… Read more
Apr
25

CrowdSurfing for CrowdSourcing

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One of the things about side projects is that they can have a tendency to cost money. I’m no stranger to that – I ran my gaming forum for nearly 10 years out of my own pocket, to the tune of $400 a year.  I never asked anyone to contribute to it because I never really thought about it. It was my project, and my responsibility and that’s all there was to it. In hindsight, maybe I should have. We talk about what an item’s intrinsic value is, though so much of that is in the eye of the beholder. (Just look at all the crazy stuff people collect – a worthless stuffed toy to you might mean everything to me.) And the same is true for consumed media. Ebooks in particular have been in the thick of it – the argument of whether selling books at .99 is a… Read more
Apr
23

Auction for RAINN

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Just a quick post today to note that I’m part of an auction for RAINN over at the My Countless Lives blog that is now live! I’m donating a 1st chapter/25 page critique, so please check it out if you’re interested. 😀  (Minimum bid is $10.) There are lots of other auctions going on as well, so anything you can do to help would be fabulous. 🙂 Bidding/auction rules can be found here. Auction ends tonight at midnight so have at it! 😀… Read more
Apr
21

A Real Author?

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So I’ve been offline for a week or so, hanging out with family and friends in Vermont. It was nice to get away and unplug, get back to nature and eat some fabulous and copious amounts of food. However, the first part of the week was spent at a writer’s retreat with Danielle Poiesz. Now, I fully admit I’ve never actually been to a retreat – invited to them, sure. The timing just had never worked out, so when Danielle asked me to tag along as a guest, I jumped at the chance, especially because I was able to combine it with a spring break trip for the kids. Now, as far as retreats go, I suppose it started out okay. It was hosted at a rustic/historical farm house up in the mountains. There was wi-fi and cable and a fire in the fireplace every night and several chefs drifting… Read more
Apr
10

Authors After Dark

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So I’m headed to the Authors After Dark con in August this year – here’s a little more info about it if you guys want to come hang out.  🙂 (As an aside, there’s a good chance that Kelly Meding and I will be setting up an impromptu bar game of Cards Against Humanity. Here’s your chance to be Card Czar, yo!) OOO Authors After Dark is coming QUICKLY and OMG this year is going to be INSANE! As always AAD is about the readers, and the amount of awesome we have put together for you this year, you would be INSANE not to attend…. First, our amazing Master of Ceremonies is none other than Alexandra Ivy! She will be doing a cool little event to celebrate your favorite gargoyle, Levet on Friday! Wanna know more? Check out the FB group where Alex will be talking about the awesome that she has going on! Torquere… Read more