All Stressed Up with Somewhere to Go!
Actual footage captured of me at the end of last week.
First off, I apologize for the delay on Friday's regular Blog post. Between getting ready for the convention and cleaning up the apartment for my fellow conventioneer houseguest, it just wasn't happening. Not even a little bit. But, boy howdy, do I have plenty to report. Buckle up kids; this is going to be a bumpy ride.
So, Sunday I caught up with my back-logged TV shows because, hey, I need days off too (lesson learned the hard way). Monday I hopped back on the second round of read throughs and editing for Wolfkin, but I had to cut my efforts short due to a rescheduled appointment and an impromptu dinner with my Mom (because I was already out and Mom time is important too!).
Tuesday... well Tuesday looked kind of like this:
The week of March 1st, I contacted Createspace to ask for details on whether or not I could simply reuse elements from the Ash to Ashes cover or if licensing required me to pay for their use again. I figured I knew the answer, but I wanted to know for sure as I plotted the cover design concepts for Wolfkin. Tuesday (3/6/18) I missed a call from the Createspace rep in the morning. When I called back that afternoon I got my answer (yes you have to pay each time you use a design element for a new project), but I also learned so much more. Oh. So. Much. More.
For the last month I've been racing along, finishing up the Wolfkin manuscript, and mentally preparing to dive into the publishing process with the help of Createspace. On Tuesday afternoon my mental space was flipped heels over head as that particular metaphorical rug got ripped out from underneath of me. It turns out Createspace no longer offers professional publishing services. In January they stopped accepting contract work for Editing, Cover Design, Interior Design, E-book conversion... you know, all of those things I was looking forward to them doing again for my second book. Fortunately, they are still doing publication, print, and sales (I can still get Ash to Ashes ordered and printed the same as before, thankfully), but everything else has been shut down and relegated to "self-service." To say I reacted poorly would be underselling it. (The cat puked on the floor next to me right after I got off of the phone either in solidarity or just to add his special brand of icing to that particular cake.)
My list of things to do exploded. I watched all of the side projects I'd planned to work on (while Createspace handled their duties) go up in smoke and flames. The realization of how little I actually knew about completing any of these publishing aspects on my own came crashing down on me. I hyperventilated. I panicked. I tried to convince myself that it was going to be fine. I investigated my options and recognized that Kindle Direct Publishing had pretty good software additions and guides on how to set up publishing from their end. Then I freaked once more when I realized that the software add-ons were incompatible with my current edition of Microsoft Word (that tends to happen when you run a 10-year-old edition, go figure).
A few things happened that helped to salvage Tuesday. First, my Alpha reader team jumped into support mode. They were awesome at getting me back on track and leveled off again. Second, my author buddy Lynn Main happened to call that evening. He gave me some pointers on resources to investigate and reminded me that most of the authors in our circle of friends handle a lot of what I was freaking out about on their own. Finally, a benefactor (I'll refrain from naming for privacy sake) read my Facebook post complaining about the unexpected expense of the required software purchases I'd be needing to make. Without any requests he dropped a healthy donation into my Paypal account to cover the cost of the software upgrades. When I contacted him to thank/"argue" with him, he explained that he wanted to read the second book and wasn't about to let something as "trivial" as software expenses delay it from being released. I was absolutely floored and humbled. It wasn't just me versus these unexpected circumstances. It was all of us pushing forward to see this project through.
Sadly, elsewhere in the Midwest, things took a turn for the horrible that same night.
Wednesday I had errands to run and I was late getting to the computer to try and convince myself to pick up where I left off in editing. I was prepared to pull up my bootstraps and put one foot in front of the other to keep moving forward. That notion disintegrated immediately when one of my friends messaged me late that afternoon. "Have you seen it yet?" he asked. At first I thought he was about to brag about something he'd accomplished in the game we both play, but no. Instead he linked me a news report out of Evansville, Indiana. Our friend Nick Belcher ("Brae" to us in the gaming community) was dead, murdered in cold blood by some woman's crazed ex-boyfriend. It wasn't even clear if Brae knew the woman this guy was stalking or if Brae was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Either way, Brae was dead. 20-years-old. One of the nicest guys I'd met in game or in general. Good natured and funny. Always willing to help out. Gone. Just like that.
Nicolas "Brae" Belcher, Rest in Peace, my friend.
The police found the shooter in Kentucky. I haven't followed the story much since I first read the article. I just haven't been able to convince myself to keep searching for ongoing information. It feels morbid and obsessive to keep checking. Oddly enough, I really don't even care what happens to the murdering scumbag as long as he doesn't walk free after his crimes. Brae's gone and that's the main issue for me. End of story.
May the Light Be with you Always
The rest of Wednesday I stayed numb. I played WoW until stupid-o'clock in the morning because I figured it was a fitting thing to do to honor my friend and fellow priest (in-game). That numbness wore off after I woke up Thursday. With the convention on Saturday barreling toward me and a whole mess of preparation to do in the mean time, my head and emotions were swimming. I got the bare-minimum done that I could that day, but it was at least something. Once Friday rolled around, I plowed through everything I needed to do to get ready for the weekend - not because I felt at all like doing it, but because it needed to be done. Brae was a big fan and supporter of Ash to Ashes. I figured he'd understand.
By the time Saturday morning rolled around, Author C. Robert Jones had stepped fully into the driver seat We were going to LACE, baby! Load up the car and go! It's convention time!
Self was curled up in the back seat rocking back and forth in tears. He was still shell-shocked after all the bombs that had gone off around us during the week. Regular me was along for the ride and thankful for the distraction. Author C. Robert Jones did what he does best - he took control and left everything that wasn't book, convention, or otherwise work-related behind on the front porch to deal with later. We had all come to an agreement for once. Today was his time to shine, so we let him have it.
Little Apple Comic Expo (LACE) was a blast. I got to catch up with some of my convention friends. I met some new friends to add to that group. There was some excellent cosplay. The folks that picked up Ash to Ashes that day were awesome and super excited to read the book. The afternoon crowd died down more than we would have liked, but the early part of the show was phenomenal. Part of me was sad to know that we'd be moving off campus for 2019's show, but I'm also excited to see what opportunities that venue change will bring!
Special thanks to Ali Smith and all of the team at LACE for making the event a smooth-running and fun-filled day! You guys rock!
I guess that pretty much covers the chaos that has been my week. I'd like to give a shout out to all of my friends and family who helped me to make it through everything in (mostly) one piece. I couldn't do any of this without you, and I love you all dearly!
Moving Forward: At this point, it's hard to say exactly how big of a delay all of this Createspace crap will put on the release of Wolfkin. As far as publishing goes, I'm back to square one on where to go next. That being said, Volume 2 will be published, come Hell or high water, no later than this summer (but hopefully still some time this spring). I absolutely refuse to let anything put it further behind than that. I'm putting my big boy boots on and we're stomping through this muck all the way to the finish line, my friends. Hold on to your butts. It's about to get messy.
