Wicked weather

As the deadly storms roll through Oklahoma spreading death and destruction, I am thankful that they basically fell apart when they reached me. I say a prayer for those that died and are trying to recover from their injuries. For those that lost everything except for their lives, I hope they are able to have a speedy recovery from their losses. Two years ago this month when the Tornado came through Denning-Altus area I lost part of the roof on the house and other damage. Along with not having power for seven days which meant we lost all our frozen foods along with everything in the refrigerator. It took months afterwards to refill and restore everything back like it was. At least the house still stood and we were able to overcome the damage. Those in Oklahoma I know will overcome this just as they did in Joplin. Starting over is one of the most difficult things and the emotional scars left behind by the tornado will take a long time to heal. I know that when the sirens went off here, we have a secure shelter and people that normally never took cover before came crowding in. It was okay with us, we brought plenty of water but the only thing we forgot was something to use for a bathroom but we worked it out. Boy it gets stuffy in a crowded storm shelter but we all were okay It turned out to be just wind and hail that caused problems around here. No tornado materialized, thank goodness!
Today could have another return of the wicked weather but we are in the slight risk category so we should be okay, but the storm cellar is ready if it turns bad around here. Talk back to me, I'm listening!

Still Struggling!

The one thing I'm not struggling with right now is I just completed writing Chronicles of the Marauder book Two Now comes the proofing and editing part. That takes just as long as writing the story in my estimation. All you writers out there know that, then I will see how I'm going to publish it and get a cover made for it. At least now I should be able to sleep better. When I am writing a book, some times I can't fall asleep at night writing the next scene in my head or I wake up early to write the scene down on the computer. That is why I decided not to work on Book Three for awhiile. Just let it rest and me.
Last Friday and Saturday, I put the first Chronicles of the Marauder Book One, on free kindle downloads. I am still struggling on whether that was such a good idea even though it got hundreds of downloads but does that mean I will get more sales in the future? I'm not sure! I at least hope a few of those that downloaded it give a review of the book on Amazon or Goodreads maybe interesting others in the series. Is it worth givign away so many free books? That is the question I keep asking my self. I guess it is what unknown authors have to do to get noticed. Sales of the book started off okay but slowed to a trickle that was why I even gave it  a shot. Just maybe, they will tell their friends and they might buy a copy. What is a writer to do?
My other struggle is this computer, I had to basically dump everything and reset to factory settings. It has been a struggle to get everything back to where it was. Right now, it keeps telling me that it has a problem saving/publishing this blog, so it might never get out! So goes life! Talk back to me, I'm listening if this fool computer works right!

Free Promotions?

Approaching the end of Chronicles of the Marauder on KDP select, 90 day restriction for publishing on Kindle, I have debated about offering free downloads on the book. I have done other books with some success all depending on how much I got the word out was how successful they were. Sometimes after hundreds of downloads, the sales are very sporadic leaving me to believe everyone that was interested in that book had downloaded it for free and did not tell anyone about it so I don't know if it was worth the effort except to get my name known. I have yet to have anyone on prime to read any of my books so I am not concerned about their Prime feature. Against my better judgment, I am going to place Chronicles of the Marauder Book One! on May 17 and 18th I will be offering it for free downloads only because I want a couple of book clubs to review it and post the review on Goodreads and Amazon. So for you that have been waiting on it to be free here is the link http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BM5L606 for you to download on those two days, a week before I am no longer enrolled in KDP select.
I am thinking about putting it on Smashwords after it gets off KDP Select but I always have a problem with them because no matter how big my image is, they say it is too small and that frustrates me with their stupid autovetter errors. Putting it on Smashwords gives me other outlets besides Amazon to sell my books since I don't have a button on my websites to sell them.
It is difficult being an Indie author now days, you all know how irritating it can get just getting your brand out there so everyone will recognize you as a writer. Like I said earlier that I used the free download promotion on other books with limited success. I was reluctant to put the Chronicles of the Marauder on free promotions because sales have been steady but not brisk! Talk back to me, I'm Listening! Have a great day!  

my villains!

Villains are necessary in telling a good adventure story, sometimes they are loved more than the main characters of the story because a lot of people identify with them in their mind. They may hate them and love them at the same time. Such is the case in the Chronicles of the Marauder, Sockan, the Aszakalan the emotionless, heartless, evil woman with pale white skin, white hair, cold to the touch skin and purple lips that can pass through certain materials by changing her shape, read minds at a touch and make herself invisible to the human eye. Yet, while held captive after the death of her son and life companion, she reads ebooks to pass the time and learns there is such a thing as emotions and wished to explore them finding them totally alien to her. Exploring these emotions she read about in the books she read, she finds love and slowly becomes somewhat human. Her desire to experience love leads her to make herself invisible slipping into the Captain's quarters finding Neil dreaming about his dead ex-lover whereas she takes the dead lovers physical place. Neil thought the coldness was his ex-lover being dead. He tells her over and over that he loves her in his dream while they were enjoying each other. Sockan never knew the truth and she falls in love with him. In book two she becomes an officer of the Marauder. There are plenty of other villains in the story as they roam the galaxy seeking out new life forms, some friendly and some not!
In Brandi's Nightmare, the villains keep changing sides with some on her side and others trying to kill her to obtain her key. In the end, she finds who the true villains were.
In A Stranger Comes Crawling The villains are the government during the first part of the story and later Tee`ra and the other Minds become the villains when Ripley goes off Earth. Then the shocking revelation occurs on how and why the Minds come into being also why not all Zotorna were not Minds.
My Dystopia series called Lightning in the Tunnel is filled with villains, some are the main characters that everyone comes to love.
if you would like to read about my villains in anyone of my books, drop by my author site at http://www.amazon.com/author/agmoye  Talk back to me, I'm listening! tell me all about your villains! Have a great day!
     

And Etc.

Well, the relatives have come and gone. It was nice visiting with them even though it somewhat disrupted our lives and prevented me from writing anything on my blogs. I had plans to do some traveling this summer but looks like they will change do to the same old reason, not enough money to do what I planned. LOL  How many of you have to scale back or cancel your summer plans for that?
Anyway back to my original conversation, when relatives drop by it is like a whirlwind for a few days then they are gone. Hopefully not to return for a few years, yes, you love them dearly but you are glad when they leave.
One of relatives has such a filthy mouth that I can not stand to hear what she has to say. I never understood the reason for such a filthy mouth. It seems like she acquired it after she became of age. Maybe, she thinks a filthy mouth is a sign of being an adult. Once in a while to cuss is understandable trying to make a point or when you smash your finger or do something stupid like that, then it is acceptable to use certain words but to have every other word a cuss word. I see no need for that. I'm not a prude neither is my wife but it is hard to tolerate this kind of talk. In my books, I avoid cuss words except once in a while when something happens to them that a cuss word is required to get the point across. Anyway, enough said about cussing to the extreme.
How has your week been going? I now can get back to writing my second book in the Chronicles of the Marauder. It is going well, I'm about two thirds done with the first write adding a couple of different points of view to spice it up some more. If you are a writer, how is your next book coming along or have you even started it?
Talk back to me, I'm Listening!  Have a nice day!
If you are a reader, take a look at my author page on http://www.amazon.com/author/agmoye

problem with relatives

The problem with relatives that you see only every few years is they think you are made of money just because you have a few books written. They think all authors are rich and the more books they have out, the richer they are! LOL! All of you writers out there know that it is difficult at best to make money from your books. Unless you have several best sellers, you won't. They drop in expecting to stay for a few days at your expense or call you on the phone with a sob story wanting money or free books expecting you to do it. When you say no they get all bent out of shape. We have a one bedroom house which is just perfect for my wife and I. We can accompany over night guest, we hate being rude, but no long term staying living on retirement. We have found most don't call or come by unless they want something. Usually they leave quickly all bent out of shape because they didn't get what they came for. Sometimes we make it a point not to be at home when one of these "I wants" calls and tells us they are coming. I love my family and wished I could do more for them but like I said "I'm living on a fixed income" There just is not extra money to spare, We have to budget ourselves to make each month's income reach the next pay day. When I first retired and my wife became disabled, we had several months where it didn't reach the next check. That is bad both of us needing medications that don't always need refilling on the day my check comes. Money doesn't grow on trees unlike some think. Our children are all grown up with children of their own, now the grandchildren think we are made of money. We love them all and try to help when we can but that is impossible to help everyone of them.
My sister, Barbara is one of the few that have never asked me for a thing but she is in ill health and has bought an RV to travel around the country. She wants to see things while she can before she leaves this world. She finally asked me for something that I can do, she wants me and my wife to travel with her so she won't be alone being in poor health. That is something I can do, be  driver and help take care of her. I wish the others would take her lead and never ask me for money but a little of my time! Talk back to me, I'm Listening!  Do you have some of these same problems with relatives or friends?  

Things that upset me!

I learned long ago not to let things people do bother me, after all they are human with their own beliefs and see things with their clouded vision created by their understanding of the world. Mechanical things are what can upset me the easiest. That was why I gave up working on cars, all my brothers are mechanics or mechanically inclined but me! I know how to do some work like that but if it doesn't go right, I'm libel to take a sledgehammer to it and make matters worse. I don't know why I never had the patience to mechanical things.
Yesterday, I got upset because for some reason I couldn't get the angles right on cutting molding I was putting up in the hallway after paneling it. I have a mitre saw I borrowed from a friend of mine, that should have made it easy but I kept cutting them wrong and finally had to ask a friend of mine to come by and show me what I was doing wrong. It seemed so simple when she showed me so today after I get through writing this blog, I will try once again. I might have to go buy more molding but I want it right.
I guess thirty some years in upper management was what made me patient with people and never let them upset me. Part of the time, I was Training Manager at one company. I was told I had the patience of a saint, never getting upset with a person that failed to grasp what I was teaching them because I never got upset, just found a way to teach them that they would understand even those that didn't speak much English. Just let one thing mechanical go wrong and my patience flies out the window. I had to stop cutting molding until my friend came by, instead I sanded down an old dresser that my wife wants to refinish. I'm trying to do more things so I am not house bound just sitting in front of the computer writing my books. For the past two days, I haven't written a single line on my book two of the Chronicles of the Marauder. With spring here and warmer days, I'm trying to do things that keeps my body from turning to jelly from inactivity. It is easy to set in front of the computer and write but not good for the body.
A few days ago, I mowed the lawn with our push lawnmower and the intake manifold busted. A friend of mine helped me replace it so I wouldn't get mad at it and lose my temper with the stupid mechanical thing. It worked fine that day but when I went to use it again, the gas tank busted off. I think it has a warped shaft causing so much vibrations that the bolts work lose and when it tighten them up, other things break on it. Being something mechanical, I am not going to try to replace anything else on it, I will just scrap it and buy another one! It has pushed me to the end of my patience. LOL    Talk back to me, I'm Listening! Tell me the things that try your patience!