aroslav: Blog

Continuing to get all of Living Next Door to Heaven released in eBook form. This morning, I've released book 9 (last in the SOL serial LNDtH2), Heaven's Gate, on Bookapy. This is the longest individual book in the entire series at 195,000 words! It was a challenge getting it all reformatted for release.

Next week will be the last of the LNDtH novels if I can get the editing and formatting done by then. This one will be book 10 (SOL LNDtH3), What Were They Thinking? I've been enjoying the series over again, even complete with the tears, as I've prepared it for this release.

Weird things at the South American jungle company. In uploading files for release there, I can no longer get the .MOBI files downloaded as a proof. When KDP displays the link for the copy "to preview on my computer or tablet" it sends me an HTML file as a .zip. It's actually just the ePUB file returned to me and it does not display on my tablet or in Kindle at all. Not sure what they are pulling there, but it seems to be the latest in a long-line of author-prevention "features." When they finally subsumed CreateSpace completely, they started splashing a bar across print copies ordered as an author proof that declares the book as "Not for Resale" so I can't turn around and sell a proof copy. OF MY OWN BOOK! Amazon thinks they own the rights, I guess.

Oops. I didn't mean to say their name.

As a result of not getting converted files back from the behemoth, I'm using Convertio to turn my ePUBs into MOBIs. (Yes, I've also got Calibre. Haven't seen a difference in the output.) I have to admit that the conversions are not up to the standard of the files I used to get. For example, I no longer get drop caps at the beginning of chapters. Also, the table of contents gets repeated at the end of the book with links back into the book. I'm not seeing the chapter hierarchy so that chapters are collected into parts, etc. However, I'm seeing the same problem in the ePUBs I'm currently generating from Adobe products. Investigations continue so that I can produce the best possible quality of eBooks.

I got notice this week that the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) site has opened for writers to post their November project descriptions. Oh, dear! What shall I do???

The answer is obvious. A couple of weeks ago, on my drive to the grocery store, a new character interrupted my thoughts and has been demanding attention ever since. It seems he wants to be my November project: Bob's Memoir: 4000 years as a free demon.

It seems that 4,000 years ago, a drunk inept adept attempted to summon Beelzebub but slurred the word to Beetlebob. Then, just as Bob was apparating, the magi had the courtesy to die, scuffing out the confining circle into which Bob had been summoned. The newly created demon walked out of the circle a new man. Or demon. For 4,000 years of earth's history, he has romped through civilization as a mischievous, happy-go-lucky (mostly lucky) being. (Thanks to Doug for the "mostly lucky" comment.)

Bob's Memoir promises to be a little spooky, a little sexy, and a lot funny as he discovers the disadvantages of immortality and the different attitudes people of different ages have toward supernatural beings. Immortality would not be fun if he was just a charred ash. On the other hand, a new country means a whole lot of new women with different customs than where he last fled. Oh, boy!

I'm looking forward to a lot of fun in 2022!

I've released the eighth Living Next Door to Heaven book this morning. I have two more to go. Becoming the Storm was probably the most difficult story for me to write ever. There will be tears, anger, and frustration, but the Clan of the Heart will come through the storm.

I clearly remember writing one chapter in the book. I was camped near the Pacific Ocean in Oregon. I finished the chapter and slammed my computer shut. Then I spent two weeks screaming myself hoarse at the ocean.

But oddly, I felt purged. A great deal of my life's pain was washed away with my tears and Brian's ability to overcome his pain and self-doubt to lead his clan to the other side of the storm.

Anyway, that book is now available.

New chapters are being written in the Team Manager series. I'm nearly 3/4 of the way through writing the third book and can almost see a fourth taking shape in the future. But to answer your question before it gets asked, Book 2, SPRINT! will be released for purchase on October 1 and will start serializing on SOL October 4. There will be no break between that story and SWISH!

I have other books for both Wayzgoose and aroslav in the works but have been focused on Team Manager while I get my trailer emptied and cleaned for sale so I can pick up my new home soon. It won't happen this week as I originally was told, because it just came off the production line on Friday. Then a long holiday weekend, scheduling transport, and navigating around fires to get the trailer to Yakima so I can pick it up from my dealer.

So, I took a drive into Coeur d'Alene to get my characters talking earlier this week. I expected some word from Dennis, Liam, or Jett. No, they were silent. Instead my head was overcome with non-stop chatter from Bob.

"Who is Bob?" you might ask. I did. It turns out that Bob wants me to write his memoir. But there's a catch. The memoir is to be titled Bob's Memoir: 4,000 Years as a Free Demon. Oh, man! What am I going to do with this? I'd never heard of a demon named Bob. It appears that 4000 years ago, he was conjured by an inept and drunk magi, who was trying to conjure Beelzebub, but slurred his words and they came out Beetlebob. Then he had the courtesy to die and scuff out his protective circle, freeing Bob.

I need a stove with more back burners!

And what is happening with the jungle? I uploaded books to the giant and discovered they are no longer accepting .MOBI format books, nor are they returning .MOBI for proofing! The proof was listed as html, but turned out to be the exact same .ePUB file I uploaded. I'm going to follow their instructions and see if it will open on my Kindle. I don't actually trust them all that much.

Well, the AQI is over 130 again today, so I'm staying sealed up in my trailer, hoping the wind blows the smoke away. Have a good Labor Day!

...and it's space-faring president, too. I remember a T-shirt back when I was in college with a picture of a mouse giving the finger to an eagle swooping down to grab him. The caption was "One last great act of defiance."

That's the way I feel every time I think of Amazon's temerity in refusing to release some of my books. The trigger for my ire this week is the 2017 non-release of Hearthstone Entertainment, Book 7 of the Living Next Door to Heaven saga. They simply locked it and told me it was in violation of Amazon community standards. They didn't like the cover. They gave me no opportunity to correct the problem or even say further what the problem was. I defied them by releasing the book on my own website and giving it away for free. So there!

But now, I'm releasing the whole series on Bookapy and in other venues. So, I've continued my great act of defiance by making the book available for free! Yes, you can download Hearthstone Entertainment from Bookapy or other sites (except Amazon) for free. If you started buying the series at Amazon years ago and got cock-blocked by their stick-up-the-butt reviewer, now is your opportunity to download the newest release at no charge.

Based on the sales of the other volumes, I estimate they cost me about $200 in royalties. So, I'll show them and just give the book away. (And provide a link to Bookapy in volume 6!)

Oh, yes. It's available today. Go get it!

In other news, I received word that my new trailer is scheduled for me to pick it up on 9/9. I'm thrilled. And spending my time packing up the current trailer so I can move out. Planning to get as much out of the trailer as possible this weekend as I have a professional cleaner coming to scrub it down on Tuesday.

If you know anyone in the Coeur d'Alene/Spokane region in the market for a fifth wheel trailer, send them my direction. Asking $10k, OBO.

I'm incredibly excited about finally having a delivery date for the new home. I ordered it back in April! Even when it came off the production line, the mfg. said it was still missing something that they expected to install before it shipped. I trust them???

I spent a few hours on the phone trying to get various doctor's appointments set up before I leave for Las Vegas in mid-October. Ha! My primary care physician's next available appointment was in January 2022. The colonoscopy folks were booked out until late November. Called three different dentists before I could get an appointment. What a circus.

But I'll show them! Right. I booked appointments with other doctors in other locations and will have to go through the inconvenience of meeting a new doctor and going to a downtown location so that I can get tuned up before I leave town.

Other than that... The day is bright and sunny here in Idaho with an air quality index of 2!!! (I can breathe!) Now I need to start sorting clothes into storage, wear, and Goodwill bags. Have a great week!

I admit, I'm proud of the amount of research I do for my stories. In writing Team Manager SWISH!, I learned an incredible amount about Iowa and about girls' basketball. I've tried to be faithful to details, going so far as to model my high school after an actual town and school in Iowa, translate the images and uniform numbers of a basketball team, and even look up some actual game and tournament results for the games I chose.

Still, I've had a number of Iowa residents challenge bits and pieces of the story, offering advice on how to make it more real. In most cases, I've managed to make corrections in my manuscripts and follow the advice of my readers.

However, today I discovered something that was never spelled out in the rules I read or the games I saw. I might have figured it out if I'd even had an inkling of an idea that there was a problem. I had none until a reader sent me mail this morning with an interesting tidbit.

"I know that there are variations in some of the rules basketball is played by, but I'm pretty sure that nowhere would a player be permitted to have a number on his or her jersey higher that five. Acceptable basketball jersey numbers would include 0,00,1,2,3,4,5,10,11,12,13,14,15,20,21, and so on with the highest number on a players jersey being 55. A player having the number 17 on her jersey would probably be cause for a technical foul being called every game she played in."

I stopped to think. All the Angelines have jersey numbers that have no digit greater than 5. All the college teams I'm currently researching have no jersey number with a digit above 5.

But Wait! Kobe Bryant wears jersey #8! Shaquille O'Neal wears #36. Dennis Rodman wore #70 for the Mavericks, #73 for the Lakers, and #91 for the Bulls.

Yep. Sure enough, there is no limit to the numbers for players in the NBA. For high school and college, though, the rule book clearly states no digit on a jersey higher than 5. Apparently, this was established to make it easier on the refs and scorers. When calling a foul, the ref displays the tens digit on his right hand and the ones digit on his left hand. Only five fingers on each. So, indeed, jersey #17, worn by the tall captain of the Temple Divas in chapter 32 is illegal.

I've submitted corrections to the chapter online, but it will be a while before a new version of the eBook or print book is released. I'll correct it there eventually.

I love readers who read carefully and care enough to let me know when I've screwed something up. I'm not that proud!

I barely got my Patreon updated this morning before I hit the road and headed East from the Seattle area. So, I didn't put out a notice that I've started posting the four books of LNDtH2. Book six, El Rancho Del Corazon, is out today. I see some people have already discovered it and made their purchase. This is the book in which the Clan of the Heart makes its move after high school to start their college careers. If they can figure out a place to live, how to continue producing Brian's Young Cooking television show, and can survive the groups who still think the ranch is party central.

Now available on Bookapy! (And of course, those other sites.)

Here's something that's such old news, you've probably forgotten. When I first released this series back in 2017, Amazon decided they wouldn't release book 7: Hearthstone Entertainment. They froze it and sent me a warning that it didn't meet their community standards. I tried to get a response as to why and what I could do to correct it. The response I got was simply to say they didn't like the cover and some material on the inside. No ability to mitigate or correct or explain. The cover is part of a series of ten that are all by the same artist and in the same style. Apparently, Hearthstone Entertainment just got a reviewer with a stick up his butt about erotica.

As a result, I offered the book free on my website. Unfortunately, I believe many people never found it. I'll be doing the same with the new edition. Next weekend, I'll offer it for free on my site, on Bookapy, and elsewhere. Everywhere, in fact, except Amazon. Poo on them.

Now that you've had the announcement, suffice it to say that I'm home in my trailer in Idaho. And I'm happy there is mild weather and good air. This past week, a fire broke out in the state park and forest area just a ways south of here. This is all tribal land, and the volunteers responded immediately. They were joined by seven other teams, including air support, and by yesterday, the Toetly Fire was fully contained. They held it to about 750 acres and lost only three primary structures. The farthest north the fire reached is about a mile and a half from my camp.

I'm going down to the tribal office tomorrow and make a donation toward the feeding and equipping of the fire fighters who are still on the scene making sure the containment holds.

Later this week, I'll be calling my RV dealer in Yakima to try to get a date for delivery of my new trailer. The last I heard it was slated to come off the production line on August 24. That's Tuesday. Of course, it has to be shipped from Southern California to Yakima before I can get it and there are--you guessed it--fires between here and there. I'm just hoping they will be able to give me a delivery date sometime Labor Day week.

Until then, I'm back in the raw and pumping out more words on volume three of Team Manager. My Advance Release Patrons ($5/mo) received the final three chapters (43-45) of Team Manager SWISH! this morning. In two weeks, they'll be starting on Team Manager SPRINT! That is slated to hit here on SOL just after the first of October. Of course the Sausage Grinder Patrons ($10/mo) who don't care if there are typos or incomplete sentences, are gobbling up chapter 20 of the third volume this morning in its raw unedited condition, straight off my keyboard.

Thank you to all who read my stories, whether as patrons, book buyers, or serial readers online. I sincerely hope you are enjoying these words.