Quote of the week - Jan 04 2013

" The monsters don’t quite care if you believe in them or not, they would gobble you up just the same."
- Grace

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Quick warning - I'm getting kicked out of KDP, kinda...

I'm taking a break from reading about horse embryos - why on Earth am I reading about horse embryos, even I don't know - to tell anyone who might be interested that my books will no longer be available on KDP. I hope they'll still be allowed to remain on print form at amazon. I don't remember what the tax requirements were like for that one.

This is what happened:
 I got an email saying I had to fill out some form to figure out which type of tax forms I needed to fill out for the IRS. Since I have never dealt with the IRS and have watched enough series and movies to be scared of them, I'd rather not fill any forms I do not comprehend. Especially not when I'm focusing on a dozen other university-related things...
  Maybe in the near future - or in 2015 - I'll manage to get all that sorted out and I'll be able to get back to KDP. I also plan on looking for alternatives as soon as I get enough time to think.
Maybe freebies don't require tax forms? That would be an alternative, I guess...

Anyway, ebooks won't be there starting on Dec 4. If you wanna read it after that, email me and I'll send you a copy. How's that sound?

I'm still struggling with getting In Dreams finished by the end of the year, but real life is really not helping.
If you don't hear from me by the holidays, have a nice Christmas and may the next year be always better than the one before.

Hugs to all!

Saturday, August 3, 2013

Time goes by very quickly... whether you're having fun or not

What do you mean it's August already?

Okay, so I've been slow with my stories... and most of everything else. Some time in June I decided I'd wait until I got my computer fixed before continuing this blog-thing, but then the computer was declared KIA and I just decided not to think about it in fear of realizing what files and photos I might lose.

I'm still not sure if they're lost or not, but now I've started to actually miss the files... One thing I'm sure I had no backup of was the initial draft of the cover for In Dreams. I don't even have the photograph I was using for background. The draft for the cover of Vanishing Act is also somewhere in the dead computer, but I think I sent a jpg of it to a friend to get her opinion so I might still have that at least.

Anyways, finished reading a book, started reading another one, should probably be studying, and haven't gone to the university for more than a week in the last 3 months for several reasons ranging from bus strikes to illnesses. That's pretty much what's been going on with me since I last wrote anything here. :) 

I just figured I should stop by the blog and see if I still remembered my password. Glad to say I only needed two tries this time to get it right. Better than the manuscript submission page (five tries!).

Hopefully, I'll have some real news soon if I ever get to sit down and finish either story I'm currently working on.

Hugs to all!

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

So close to the end... and I'm having second thoughts...

Don't you just hate it when you have a jumbled up ball of yarn-looking story pieces, redundant conversations and multiple possible outcomes that you have to sort through and figure out how the story will go?

What? You don't? It's just me? Really? Huh... didn't see that one coming. ;)

Anyways, I spent an hour waiting for a professor to sign a paper for me... he didn't show... I wasted an hour of my life, right? Wrong! Because that hour allowed me to finish up a conversation between Sarah and Pegasus that I was stuck on... Yes, I do have a character named Pegasus... No, that's not his real name...

I think I'm only a couple of chapters away from the epilogue... The aforementioned ball of yarn is the pieces I've written down leading to the epilogue and the conclusion of the first part in this series. Ooops, forgot to say which story I'm talking about: In Dreams.

There's this girl called Sarah, and she gets mixed up in some complicated secret stuff when her parents are assassinated... and I'll wait until I come up with a proper blurb before I try to explain this to anyone without giving away too many spoilers. :)

I am wondering how much of an explanation of what's going on I should put into the epilogue. I don't want it to just be a long list of "and this is what happened" or "so that's why they said that" or whatever. But I also want to have things explained enough in case someone falls asleep while reading. I know I could have used a recap during the last mystery book I read over a few months. When I got to the end, there was a character I could not remember for the life of me...


So, I had to change my counter thinguie for In Dreams over there (look right) because I had gotten past 200 pages already with the draft. I have to confess that I didn't calculate the percentage, I just guessed, but since my guesses are usually more accurate that my actual calculations except when a calculator is involved, I'd say we're okay.

I think I mentioned that I thought I lied about my age, turns out I didn't. I calculated wrong how old I was because I forgot what year we were in... And no, I didn't use 2012 for the calculations. It was worse than that. 2014. :) It sounds so ridiculous when I say it, but it really was funny...
Here's the transcript of the conversation between me and my friend Cassia when I found out I had miscalculated:

Me: How old am I? Because I thought the last candles on my cake said 30, but last night I was counting and I think I might've missed a birthday somewhere along the line...
Slightly-less-insane-friend Cassia: You're 30.
Me: Are you sure?
Cassia: Yeah. 1983 to 2013 is 30.
Me (laughing now): Wait... we're in 2013?

Needless to say I was not asleep at the time. I am just naturally insane. I blame my dad. He started it.
But now it is time to sleep. I hope I got at least a smile out of someone out there. I know I've already laughed myself silly because of this.


Oh, and in real life news, I'll be away from my computer for a month in May, which will probably change nothing for this blog because I rarely post more than once a month anyway. ;)

Hugs to all!

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Posted my review for Kathy Garlock's Gone for a Soldier on goodreads and amazon.com... finally

It too me a while... Actually, it took me a very long time, I think...
I read it fairly quickly, mainly because I couldn't stop reading. Couple that with my natural insomnia, and a saw the sun come up a few nights while reading about Lucy's adventures with the First Minnesota.

Gone for a Soldier is a historical fiction, but even if that makes you look at the book with skepticism, I'd suggest you give it a try. I know I really enjoyed it, right down to the seemingly random details that to me added so much color to the whole ensemble...

I know I sound like I'm talking nonsense, but I'm trying to explain how I liked it without describing the stuff I really liked. That's hard.

Here's the goodreads review:

                                     http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/590167652

On another note, real life is mean...
... I stopped staring at the VM KS counter - and if you don't know what that is, you don't watch as much TV as you think you do. :)

And there's less than a month before the family trip...

... and I may have lied without my age without realizing it. Someone asked me my age, I told them, and now I'm thinking I told them the wrong age... Yes, that's totally possible. But in my defense, it was only off by one year and last month I was writing down the date as being Dec 2012, so a little lunacy will be expected, right?

Anyways, I just decided to make sure the blog still let me on here, it's been so long. And what are you doing online? Go read a book. j/k :P

Hugs to all,



Sunday, March 10, 2013

I made a form for people who want to hear about promotions!


Well, this has been a weirdly productive week. I say productive because: 

 I got my contact form ready and waiting!! 

It  has a section for getting notified if you want to hear about free promotions, giveaways, new books or just one book in particular... And you can also click on no to everything, because I'm just wacky that way. 
 I showed a friend of mine the form and she said it was clearly written in my own voice... which means I sound like a teenager on a sugar high... But I've known that ever since I actually was a teenager on a sugar high.
It's a little long, but it's the short version. :)
I'm thinking of making a second form just because I feel this one won't annoy people enough... or maybe I'm just hoping I can get a smile out of someone.

As I was saying, productive:

I got Cameras on kindle!!

It looks really nice now that I fixed the chapters. I used the "template" John (thank you sooo much! - again) made me and I got it done in a day after I figured it out. 
I even went back to Grace and added a link or two at the end as well... I'm lying, it was 3 links, but who's counting? :)


Now for the weirdly...
My doors are closed, the windows that are open have screens on them, I haven't been out of the apartment in two days... how do these insects keep getting in?!?
I'm thinking there's some sort of magical vortex in the kitchen, or maybe the insects have evolved into beings capable of passing through walls.... Hey, if my cat could do it, why can't a fly or a mosquito?

Non sequitur moment: I hate non-productive insomnia... Oh well... 
Okay, done with the "weirdly"

Oh, and just because I can ask, what's your opinion on changing arrangements at the last possible moment? Fair, unfair, or just plain mean? Why wait until the last moment? It's like waiting for someone to organize three dozen roses and then saying you should change them to lilies.
No, I'm not saying what I'm talking about, but if you're reading this, it's probably not about you... unless you spy, in which case: shame on you! 
Just kidding about the last part...

Well, the weekend is practically done and tomorrow I get back to my normal schedule, let's see how that goes. :)

Hugs!!

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Back to "normal"? So many lists my lists have lists...

Hi there!!

How did February treat everyone? Hopefully it was kinder to you than it was to me. :) Just kidding, a little bit.
 My head's been pounding intermittently for the last two, maybe three weeks. I figure that's not a good thing, I also don't really know how to make it stop unless maybe I stop a bit... Can I sleep now? hehe


Last steps of the things with immediate deadlines. Took my dissertation to be printed and made into a pretty little green thing with golden letters.... and my mind just went to a dragon... hm... I would rather have a dragon than ten copies of my dissertation... The dragon would be cuter. :)

Anyways, I figured I should probably see where I left off on my imaginary worlds. I'm doing some corrections to Cameras - though it is kind of officially done. But I decided to fix the commas (anyone who read Grace knows I have issues with commas) and found a few more repeated words to fix... You know, when you use the same word in consecutive sentences and you don't notice it when you read the thing for the second, third, or even eleventh time? Well, twelve, combined with reading aloud seems to be helping.

I'm thinking of creating a form over at the website for people who'd like to be contacted when another book comes out or there are any promotions or giveaways... I think that would be something some people would like. I know I would. Still thinking that over, and how to let people know that exists would be a problem... Can't really message all of them, can I? No, probably not... I actually stopped to consider it for 3.4 seconds.


Oh! And I got a third review on Amazon!!

Also, planning are finally being set in motion for the official launch of Cameras Tell No Lies... I should start to keep track of the gaps in time between my finishing the books and having an actual "launch" party. :) 


Monday, February 18, 2013

Tick tock... Mestre, kkk


Is life really just an infinite number of countdowns? That's what it feels like sometimes....

Anyways,
 Finished my master's, sort of... I can relax now, sort of... I feel a little relieved, but I feel like I shouldn't feel relieved... There's still corrections and printing, and getting everything done by the end of this month so I can get the doctorate started... Can I sleep now?

I was watching Doctor who the other day, an episode where the Master was trying to rule the world - again - and I started laughing every time he said his name was Master... I know, I'm silly that way. :)

Apresentei minha dissertação e mestrado nessa quinta depois do carnaval...

Então, eu tenho 11 dias, aproximadamente, com uma margem de segurança de uns dias pra terminar as correções e entregar as versões finais... Mas realmente me sinto aliviada de ter apresentado, mas não tanto. É uma sensação estranha, e não sei se as outras pessoas se sentem assim também quando chegam nessa etapa (ou qualquer etapa onde se tem um evento de transição de um ponto para o outro). Eu lembro que na apresentação do ESO fiquei mais nervosa, na apresentação da especialização fiquei mais nervosa ainda. Tão nervosa que meu orientador mandou eu ir tomar água e depois voltar... E no mestrado pareceu tudo tão normal, tão automático... Claro, fiquei nervosa, mas não como antes. Será que tô criando resistência? Ou a diferença está no conteúdo? É muito mais fácil falar sobre um assunto que se conhece do que um assunto que se sabe mais ou menos, né?

Bem, eu não queria passar muito tempo sem deixar algo por aqui, mas a parte das histórias anda caminhando meio lentamente nos últimos dias. Também não teria como me dedicar a escrever coisas reais e imaginárias com o mesmo zelo ao mesmo tempo... E por enquanto, a urgência está com as coisas reais.
Por enquanto... ;)

Obrigada a todos que me ajudaram e me aturaram nesse período, e até breve... Afinal, ainda tem o lançamento de Cameras Tell No Lies por vir.


Esta foto foi embaçada pra proteger a identidade dos envolvidos... Brincadeira, painho que não checa o foco, haha






Povos comendo...

Eu e Tortinha, a coisa mais fofa a circular pelos corredores do hospital...

Galera do Labhum (nota-se que Nadyne já tinha saído e Cássia se recusou a vir, kkk)








Sunday, January 27, 2013

Interview went up on BookGoodies! And another review on amazon...

  Filled out an interview in BookGoodies last month when I was promoting Grace's free days, and found out the interview went up a few days ago! And I missed it, because, of course, this is when I chose to try and stay away from the internet for a while... Because sleep is needed at some point, you know. Just kidding about the sleep.

Here's the link:





Also, another review came up on amazon.com. I'm really happy with it, and determined to work on my weaknesses. :) Constructive criticism is always good, especially when it comes coupled with positive impressions and having your book called "unputdownable".




Have a nice weekend - or last hours thereof - and a nice week!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Thanks, everyone!


The second promotion for Grace ended a few days ago over at amazon.com, and I gotta say there were almost 10 times the amount of downloads from the first time.

A belated, but most heartfelt thank you to everyone who downloaded and helped spread the word. And those who clicked on the "like" button as well. :)

I hope at least one person finds it a good read.

Hugs!

Friday, January 11, 2013

Free days... and the lack of days, period...

So Grace is having its second free promotion over at Amazon.com...

See previous post for details and link

I just found out the data you input into one amazon page does nt translate to the others, which is kind of silly if you ask me, but of course no one did...

And I have a splitting headache today. :)

Wait, January is almost done? What happened to half of it? Where did it go?

And is it true that Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award is accepting submissions from Brazil, now? One of my frustrations was not being able to compete, haha. Don't get me wrong, I don't think I'd have a shot at winning, but the chance to compete is everything... It's like clicking on a giveaway and finding it's not available for your region.
Well, I only found this yesterday, so I'm not sure I can get anything ready to enter, but I'd like to try... ;)





Friday, January 4, 2013

Free ebook coming in a few days! Jan 10-12

Keep an eye out for the free ebook promotion over at amazon KDP for Grace.

Promotion date:
January 10-12, 2013

All you have to do is download it free from amazon (either to your kindle or directly to your PC).

Click on the image to go to the amazon site: 


Oh, and I got my first amazon review! I'm really happy about that. :)

Well, still have to get everything with Cameras Tell No Lies organized, and as soon as I can get my hands on another html editor, I'll try and get the kindle version done as well.

 O lançamento provavelmente vai ser no mesmo estilo do de Grace - mas talvez só lá pra março... Estou decidindo ainda.