Episode #72: Where I Be? I Be Here, There & Nowhere.

Since I was in a good mood at the tail end of my last post, I thought I would continue in that same vein with the posting of pic taken from my 2nd to last real vacation that I took (2009 I believe). 

I mean, who can't help but like a happy yellow frog, right?

Anyways, here is where I currently stand with my latest project.

From the last post until now, I managed to get everything that I wanted to get done with this book done.  I wrote a new table-of-contents; tweaked my bio; tweaked the links on how peeps could follow/find me (yeah, previous version had all kinds of broken links); and added two different samples to the end. The only things left that needs to be done is to make one long document out of everything and covert it all from Google docs to Word.

The samples were important as I want to make this into a print edition as well, and in order to do it, the page count has to be 1} up there (last short book I did, What Is Life?, has roughly 80+ pages) and 2} the size of the book has to be a bit smaller than normal, so that the book can have a spine (thus the need for a minimum page count).

So all that remains of this to get published is 1} purchase a cover and 2} hire a formatter.

Ultimately we're shooting for a late Spring/early Summer publication date. I'm a bit mellower/laid back now, so that may get me a few brownie points with the businesses of choice.

And now, a preview of other potential e-book projects.

Doing the aforementioned e-book rewrite provided just the right kind of motivation/jump-start that I so desperately needed (no writer's block, just lack of proper motivation). I immediately went through what I had stashed on my current USB drive (I have others which will eventually migrate to my current computer) and found two suitable short stories to play with. Also went through my Google Drive and printed out the story that I spent 2020 working on as well.

The current idea that I got percolating is to come out with at least two more short story e-books, which means I will need to find a doable fourth. The three that I do have in the on-deck circle are as follows:

1}What A Day...: this one takes place at home where the MC is telecommuting. Alternate reality with shades of horror/gore. Unpublished 2020.

2} The Grid: This one is basically a public revenge story that unfolds over the course of a few days. Will probably tweak it to an alternate reality of some kind, where two worlds uneasily co-exist. Also unpublished and originally written in 2009.

3} Saturday: This unfolds during the course of a few hours, with the MC running a morning errand to the bank via foot patrol. Definitely takes place in our favorite alternate reality. Writing and blog published in 2009.

While I'm looking forward to get back into the swing of things, I think I'm going to concentrate on the short story thing until I can get back in my comfort zone, then switch back to the novella/novel genres again.

Until next time, always vocalize what you feel and don't let anyone stop you from doing so.

{c} 2021 by G.B. Miller. All Rights Reserved

Episode #71: My Muse Has Chosen For Me

As you might been able to guess, this e-book is my next project.

When I had decided to take an early retirement (pending disability) this past November, one of the modest goals I had set for myself was to get back into my writing groove in 2021. A groove, I might add, that was put on the back burner in the summer of 2019, mostly due to other pressing, and quite necessary, life commitments that required my full attention.

So here we are in 2021, and I decided that I wanted to work on an important sub-tangent to my primary goal of writing: to make money from my writing. One of the quickest, and not quite the easiest way but pretty damn close, was to enroll a book into the KDP Exclusive program.

What book, you might ask?

Well, in this particular case, I wanted to start with something simple. Which turned out to be the book pictured above. That particular book was my first official attempt at self-publishing (via Smashwords), which was accomplished in 2013.

While this book was head and shoulders above anything that I written prior, it still had a serious flaw to it: namely basic editing that was very basic. It also had a few other things that needed adjusting, so basically it became the opening salvo (hopefully) of a good quantity books enrolled in that particular program.

So far, I have tweaked all three stories in varying degrees, including changing two of the stories' titles. Among other things that need to be done in no particular order: is a table of contents, new title for the book/e-book (check), new links to where you can find me; new copyright/publishing page (check and this one was way easier to do than the one I did for What Is Life?), and most importantly, since I want to come out with a print copy, a snippet to another book that will pump up the final page count.

Presently, my manuscript page count stands at about 25 pages, with a word count that's just a shade over 11k. Once all is said and done, the present incarnation of this book will be unpublished, since one of the rules is that the book cannot be published elsewhere. Which in this case is no biggie, since a lot of people don't really do Smashwords since it requires setting up another account, and lets be honest, people (including myself) are lazy and would prefer to do one-stop shopping if at all possible.

So, if anything, this project will force me to do the following things: kill the dust bunnies on skills long dormant and face my fear of publishing on Amazon for the first time since they merged CreateSpace back in 2018.

Making money is a good thing indeed, and if I can earn enough to buy a tall dark roast from Starbucks (in my town, it's $2.36 including 6.35% sales tax), I'll be a happy boy.

{c} 2021 by G.B. Miller. All Rights Reserved

Episode #70: My Muse Has Come Back Freely To Me: 4

Part 4

{I'm having a Tom Swifty kind of writing day, so enjoy!}

Again with the picture automatically popping up?

"Wait...wut? Wut picture?" he asks nervously, like a deer caught in foglights.

The picture on the soon to be filled blog post screen. And this one gives me the creeps.

"How so?" he says worriedly.

It's like the blog read my mind or something.

"Read your mind? Like....okay."

Giving the computer screen the stink-eye, she casually strolled back to her blogger and once again sat down on his lap. Again purring seductively, she snuggled up to him and licked his chin with her sandpaper tongue.

She snapped her finders and her tail instantly stuck itself deep inside her hair and begun to rummage around. About fifteen seconds later, it found what it had been looking for and withdrew it quickly. It shook it free of the dust bunnies before handing it to its mistress, he took it and lightly kissed its tip. It quickly gave her a salute before returning to its rightful place and current languid state.

This will be your next project. This averagely written e-book needs a complete overhaul.

He took the manuscript from her and gave a quick scan. "What's wrong with it?" he asked questioningly.

She was about to rip him a new one, but remembering a promise she made to herself prior to returning, said in a seductive tone, My handsome writer, you were good when you published this several years ago, but you're now so much better than that. Don't you think that the new you should be now be accurately reflected in your previously published work?

Once again, he became putty in her hands after fully taking in her dark hazel eyes. His lower lip began to quiver with an ache that he never felt before. He went to caress her cheek, but something made him quickly withdrew his hand, so instead he just shakily nodded in agreement.

Smiling seductively, she lightly ticked his chin and said, That's my handsome writer. Now, let's develop a plan of attack, shall we?

to be continued.

{c} 2021 by G.B. Miller. All Rights Reserved

Episode #69: My Muse Has Come Back Freely To Me: 3

Part 3

She suddenly wakes with a start. Unable to ascertain as to what caused her to wake up, she moves on to doing the usual feline morning stretches. Afterwards, she carefully swings her legs around and starts to survey her surroundings. After about a minute or so, she notices that some time during her nap, the computer opened up to a blank blog post page.

She zeroes in on the picture gracing the screen. Furrowing her brow for a nano-second, she says, So you must be the late lamented queen of the household. I can see that I'll have a large pair of paw-prints to fill.

She deftly rolls out of the blogger's lap and quietly lands on all fours. Doing one last stretch, she then steals a glance at her blogger and is mildly surprised to find him still in the same frame of mind previously. Purring very quietly, she stands up and walks over to the table of what her blogger likes to call "his pile of lost stories". 

Before she can do more than a cursory observation of the random piles of paper, an odd sound coming from behind makes her switch her attention back to the blogger. She walks back over to take stock of the situation, and what she finds troubles her slightly.

Her blogger is still in the same position that she had left him in, although now he seems to be in full meltdown mode: blubbering like a baby and completely collapsing into himself. She kneels down and places a hand on his knee.

Hey, look. We can get through this bump in the road together. There's no need to turn on the waterworks, she purrs touchingly.

He looks down, but doesn't say a word. Instead, the blubbering increases in volume and heft.

She scooches a little closer and lightly places her hand on his cheek. I said, we will get through this together. Did we not always make a fantastic team in the past?

He pauses for a moment and shakily nods in the affirmative.

Well aright then. We will get through this together, because frankly, I don't like doing things half-ass.

She sits down in his lap, rests her head on his shoulder and again purrs, We still need to talk and I found the perfect project in which to talk about. Do you trust me?

He again shakily nods.

Well aright then. I'll be right back.

to be continued.

 

{c} 2021 by G.B. Miller. All Rights Reserved

Episode #68: Bullied? Suck It Up! No, We Will Not Do So Any More!

So. Unless you’ve been in your basement in deep transcendental meditation or living overseas with minimal news coverage from the US, you know we had an election and the unit that I like to call Dementia Joe and the Hoe will be our new Big Brother for the next four years. There was a lot of shit being inflicted on the chunk of the  populace that voted for Trump  for the past four years leading up to the election, and on Jan 6th, things came to a head.

There were protests in D.C. and because it wasn’t allies of the Democratic party (e.g. Antifa and bclm) that made it “bad” and “treasonous’, at least according to most woke celebrities, sufferers of TDS, social justice warriors, MSM and their pimp the Democratic party. However, as much as they refuse to admit it, the DNC and MSM are very much to blame for what happened that day as well.

The chunk of the populace who voted for Trump basically got tired of being viciously insulted, physically threatened, jobs threatened, families threatened, physically assaulted, doxxed, harassed and treated like pieces of shit for having the audacity to actually think for themselves, for the past 4+ years. They simply responded by finally standing up to the bullies of the playground and fighting back, and now somehow, the bullies are now “shocked” and “surprised” that their victims are now fighting back.

Hello! How did you think people would respond after being tormented for so long? Turn the other cheek and say, “Please sir, may I have another?”? Of course not. They’re going to respond like any normal sane person would and fight back. And bravo to those who did. The DNC and MSM, who ultimately helped give birth to this protest as well as the Dementia Joe and The Hoe presidency (more on that shortly), are 100% to blame for what happened today, and to say otherwise, is to be simply a sheeple that follows the mantra of “Newspeak, Thought Crimes and 2+2=5”.

Some words about Dementia Joe and The Hoe.

I’m not a believer in conspiracies at all, but the way the DNC orchestrated the election of Dementia Joe is classic manipulation/bribery. They managed to get a field with quite a few good candidates to drop out so as to have Dementia Joe fulfill his lifelong dream of being President. How? Promises of spots in the incoming administration’s new Cabinet (and yes, this is actually true). Once that was done, they needed to keep Dementia Joe out of the spotlight. They knew that he was suffering from cognitive dissonance due to two serious brain aneurysm surgeries that he underwent in 1988, so he needed to be kept out of sight for the majority of the campaign.

Now for the V.P. pick. Since the DNC are slaves (insult intended) to all things identity/politically correct/woke driven, they needed a female to ride the coattails and ultimately, after Dementia Joe kept the seat warm for a year or two, become the first female president. So they picked the one person who could not hold her own in the debates, that everyone absolutely despises, and has questionable morals and ethics (due to her previous life as an D.A. and member of various California political entities), The Hoe. By the time 2024 rolls around, Dementia Joe will have already gone as per the 25th amendment (for legitimate medical reasons and not like the fake ones given to try to get Trump to leave) and your incumbent, who will be a half-termer at best, The Hoe.

That is the one conspiracy theory that I’ve chosen as my hill to die on. This also wraps up my one and only post on the national political scene, and I pray that I don’t have to do this again until 2024. In any event, enjoy the next four years, because you voted for it and you’re not allowed buyer’s remorse.

{c} 2021 by G.B. Miller. All Rights Reserved

Episode #67: My Muse Has Come Back Freely To Me: 2

Part 2

"Now, just hold on for one damn {her face instantly changes to RBF}...umm...dang...minute! There is nothing that we need to talk about!"

She points at the computer. What's with the pic again? I never saw you do anything on the computer.

Without batting an eye, he says, "Computer is tuned into my head space and will often do things after scanning my cerebral cortex."

A tad unnerved, she quickly rebounds and asks, What's the meaning behind this one?

Smiling, he says, "Gonna do battle with the frenemy I cherish the most."

She raises an eyebrow but still continues to sexily fondle her stiletto. Pursing her lips, she purrs gently and says, Gracias, Now, we need to talk about how you're gonna work me back into your life.

"Who says I need to work you back into my life? My life has been going just fine without you for the past one and a half years."

Almost instantly, a half-dozen strands of hair shoot out and make a direct beeline him. He closes his eyes as the thought of a major pain being inflicted on his mental well-being races to the forefront. When nothing of note happens, he opens his eyes to see the hair strands gently and lovingly caressing face. A strange feeling starts to wash over, and he begins to cry.

Still maintaining her RBF, she replaces the stiletto before quietly walking over to him. She drops to her knees, picks up his hand and gently begins to play with it as a cat might do. After a few minutes, she gently disengages and says, Has it really?

He looks down into her eyes, cries a little harder, before saying, "No."

Taking his other hand, she kisses both and asks in a softer tone, Do you agree then that we need to talk?

Still quietly sobbing, he simply nods.

She places her head in his lap and quietly begins to purr. This is going to be a challenge, she says quietly to herself as she begins to make herself comfortable.

to be continued.

{c} 2021 by G.B. Miller. All Rights Reserved