Well I Guess I'm Just a Little Disappointed, That's All

I am an indie author (IA). I know y'all know that, bear with me - I'm setting the tone. An IA can be a lonely thing. I have no great depth of experience editing, marketing, distributing, hell, even writing my books. So I, naturally, 21st Century Boy that I am, turn to the internet for help. I have a few good author-friends and can honestly bounce matters off of them, but I do not want to re-invent any wheels. So, amongst other sources of info, I join online IA blogs/forums/etc. There have been many, but here are a few I have participated in, as examples:

Indie Writer's Unite! on FB http://www.facebook.com/groups/indiewriters/
Writer's Cafe http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/board,60.0.html
Author's Den http://www.authorsden.com/
The Laid Back Cafe http://www.amazon.co.uk/forum/kindle/Tx200NZ0Z5RXBSQ

So, what is the up-shot? Mostly people plug/spam their IA books shamelessly. The forum will announce not to, that this is a 'discussion' forum, and bam! here come d'spam. There are sites where you are supposed to plug your work, encouraged to in fact. I don't know what lost soul would spend time reading these forums, but the outlets are there. Bottom-line, I am getting disgusted with so called IA sites. Recently, someone joined IWU on FB and immediately posted 21 or 22 'comments', all with huge links to his new whatever. He was called-out as a spammer, but denied being so base, and was contritely allowed to stay. Come on! I want publicity, of course, but really,, people, do you think an IA site is either a proper or even a good place to spam your way to fame and fortune? Really? Really- really? Wow, if y'do, then I guess, after you are all spammed-out, you should hang around the site and learn a thing or two.
I guess it all comes down to a central theme of my private musings: where has common decency gone? What a wonderful world it could be, if every living son-of-a-gun bothered to treat everyone with respect and courteous consideration. Yeah, pipe-dream, I know, but there you have it. While I'm at it, as a corollary, what if everyone applied the following formula: get-up every morning, go to work and be productive, abuse nothing, and make an effort to make everyone around you's life just a little better. Yeah, that would be sweet.
Anyhow, I am in the final home-stretch for finishing the major draft of Time Diving, so I am pleased. I was able to write a beautiful scene between a sad couple with an over-formal, passionless marriage. It was fun and the output is excellent. I am so jealous of you that you get to read it fresh (now now, don't be calling me full-of-myself here, this is my blog, correct?).

I Said I'm ILL, Not That I'm Sick.

Yeah, there's a difference, y'know? I have been blogging less, because, well I'm not chatty and I don't want to write about today's weather and bowel movements - you know, bloggy stuff. And then, MOM, I get sick. 4 days ago I was pathologically tired, which is always a bad sign. Then the shaking chills, the shoot-me-now-euthanasia appeal, and then, yup, the - how shall I say it delicately - them the gastrointestinal end of things chimed in. Four days into this, and I feel like hammered dog-shit. You know, I feel like excrement left in the warm sun then pounded with a heavy metal implement would feel.
So, I am Farmvilling-it and watching old movies. Viruses take quite the toll on us living beings, you know. Someone should do something! I will make a note of that, for when I feel up to doing something. Bleeck!
I have pushed further into Time Diving, and I find I can create while I'm feeling punk, just not when I was at my lowest, shaking-chill phase. I still cannot estimate how much longer I will be.
Speaking of philosophical, I have been lately about writing. I compare what I write, and why I write it, to popular stories, like say podcasts I enjoy and movies I watch. They are different things, what I create and what I watch. I think the fundamental difference is that I love stories, but I love to explore, ie. write about, characters. I love to get inside a character's head, see what they would do, how they would react, as a reflection of how any of us might. I write about human nature. This is why I watch/read/listen-to stories but find I must pen character insights. This of course leads me to speculate, "Hey, Craig, why don't you write a story, an adventure, a romantic ditty? Come on, don't be stuff - cut loose!" But, alas, I cannot. Scooping out brain tissue and examining it under a microscope - that's what I wonder-after. Realistically, even mega-hits like Kill Bill and The Warrior's Way [ http://bit.ly/rDILe3 ] are in-depth character analyses, but they also tell a fun story - well, maybe compelling is a better word. I do not think I am being vain when I proclaim inwardly that any of my books would make terrific movies (maybe Write Now would never be a blockbuster, but it would be cute) because they have those elements. If you are looking for me, I'm over there by the mailbox waiting for the contract from a big Hollywood studio to arrive....

I Got Nothin'

So, what can I say? The picture tells the story, so it is not a new tale. I did not want y'all to think I was beyond you, busy with no time to share. Nope. I just got nada to say. But... I will be back!

This Is Fun

So I am crafting a pivotal confrontation between my lead character and a rival, shall we call him.... Laszlo. All I can say to you, my friend, is beware the Laszlo, oh yes, be very cautious! Who is dis man?