Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label writing. Show all posts

Inkshares Geek & Sundry Fantasy competition

I've done it. I've started the process to publish, something that when I first began NaNoWriMo I said I would never do. I believe I even said it several years in.
But things change. The main character in this novel has pushed me in ways I didn't expect. He really does have his own voice and he can be very, very convincing. It doesn't help that I keep having dreams that flesh out this story more and more.
So here is the challenge: I have 90 days (88 remaining) to sell as many pre-orders as possible. The more sales, the better the publishing deal I can win. I've entered the book in a contest on Inkshares, a crowdfunding publishing platform, but I can't do this alone. Likes are great, shares even better, but I need SALES. And when it comes down to it it's all about the number of buyers of the book (i.e. you buying three copies is cool, but you, your mom, and your brother buying one copy each is how I win).  Please support me by buying a copy of the book! An e-book version costs less than two drinks at Starbucks and makes a huge, indescribable difference to me. And here's how you can help make this dream a reality: www.sarapolk.com 

28 looks odd from this angle

Tomorrow's my 28th birthday, and I must say that every time another year passes it just seems that the numbers make less and less sense.
Hear me out. All along the first 2.5 decades there are real, solid milestones: you turn 16 you get to drive; you turn 18 you are now responsible for your own welfare; you turn 21 and you can drink; and you turn 26 you get a discount on your car insurance (hey, I was really excited for that one).
But now it seems there aren't hard and fast reasons for the age. Sure, the "big ones" or decade numbers make you feel like they are important but if we are all honest with ourselves 30 is a lot like 29 or 31. It's still a wishy-washy year. The next solid and real external milestone is what? Retirement? Even that is fluid. Social Security? Likely won't exist by the time I get there.
So I've decided that from now on each year I will set one solid goal for my next rotation around the sun. I'm not sure what 29 will be, but I have set my sights on 28.
I am going to publish my novel. I've been setting faux deadlines and contemplating for too long. I'm actually going to do it. Delicate Art of Soul Ripping will finally stop being a wish-washy thing and finally be a solid thing.
First, I need to finish it. Then I need to market it/get the publishing "deal," hopefully through Inkshares since they seem to make sense. Then actually finish the rest of the process. I can totally do this.

Right?

Official declaration:

How often do you wake up in the morning only to roll over and go back to sleep? How often are you late to class because of over sleeping? How often do you just skip class or meetings altogether purely for the reason that you don't want to get out of bed?
We need to wake up in the morning and face the day, head on. No more begrudgingly getting out of bed in the morning because we feel we have to! No more shall we suffer from the agony of having to part with that beloved piece of furniture.

How do we do this, you ask? By sleeping in more often, you hope? NO!

I hereby declare that beds are to be uncomfortable. If anything is ever going to get done in the world, it needs to be started. If it needs to be started, the day needs to begin. In order for the day to begin, we must get out of bed.
For too long now, we have succumb to the allure of comfortable beds and hit the snooze. We can not allow these warm, sinfull (yes, sinFULL. Full of sin) to contribute to our inefficiency as a species. We need to rise up and take our day back from the naps that go too long, the mornings that are difficult to handle, and the nights that come to early because our bed just looks too comfy.
If everyone bans together and shakes off the shackles our beds have on us, we can take the world back from these inanimate objects that dominate a large part of our life. Think about it: if you didn't want to stay in bed in the morning, if it was a very uncomfortable place to be, you could be writing the great American novel, climbing Mount Everest, or even CURING CANCER! (How can you be against CURING CANCER? If you are, you are a terrible person that doesn't deserve a bed anyway.)
Go out and find the most uncomfortable bed you can and make that a permanent fixture in your nightly routine. Take back your life. Take back your dignity.