aroslav: Blog

This morning, I've released Living Next Door to Heaven book 10, What Were They Thinking? on Bookapy and in other venues. This was released as a serial on SOL as LNDtH3. In publishing the books, the three serials became ten long novels, totaling over 1.5 million words. The stats indicate the saga has been downloaded on SOL, well over two million times, which translates to somewhere between ten and twenty thousand actual readers. THANK YOU!

I have managed to release the series on Bookapy weekly for ten weeks. Wow! What a challenge! I hope you enjoy the eBooks.

In other news, we're just four chapters from the end of Team Manager SWISH! I've already uploaded the first chapter and cast list for Team Manager SPRINT! to begin posting three days after SWISH! ends. And YES! The eBook will be available at the same time. That will all happen right after the first of October.

The "production" date for my new travel trailer has now been changed to a "ship" date! With luck, it will be in Yakima by the end of this week and I may be able to pick it up for my birthday on September 27. Nice way to turn 72. They say the birth anniversary that matches the day of the month you were born (27 in my case) would be your golden birthday. I don't think anyone celebrated those when I was in my twenties. But I think that the birth anniversary that is the inverse of the day of the month you were born (72 in my case) should be a diamond jubilee! I'm going to strut that for the entire next year.

Nearly all my worldly possessions are packed in sealed plastic bins, stacked on the patio of my RV site, and covered with a tarp against the rain and wind. I have about two more boxes of clothes and kitchen items to pack, and then I'm moved out of this trailer.

I had a lot of trouble getting a cleaning service to come out to clean the trailer. Something about me living in a nudist park, I think. Reading about my difficulties, my friend and neighbor, Colleen, volunteered to come and help me clean. I accepted. We spent four hours, scrubbing floors, kitchen surfaces, bathrooms, and windows. I was so thankful for the help! However, I nearly lost my cool when she showed up at my door in a little French maid outfit! What a trip! I just need to thank her again for helping get this place ready to sell.

One of the big advantages of completely emptying a domicile is the discovery of things you thought were lost and gone forever. Among those items in my trailer, I found a box of manuscripts from the 1970s and 80s that I thought had been lost forever. These are all short stories and humorous essays. I plan to start posting them here as a collection, probably under the Wayzgoose moniker, since I hadn't invented Devon Layne or aroslav at the time. That will come sometime after the first of the year. I need to get some other stories cleared from my desk before then.

One of those stories will be my November novel. I'm going for my eighteenth consecutive "win" during National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Currently I'm just continuing to make notes on the Minoan society of 2000 BC and its evolution into Mycenean Greece. That will get me through the first two chapters when I start writing, and I need to brush up my Homer for the Trojan War after that.

One common theme in Bob's Memoir: 4000 years as a free demon is the demon's success and failure at courting women in the different ages of man. It seems that from the Bronze Age forward, Bob could always find a woman who would. This will be a little bit spooky, a little bit sexy, and a lot funny as we follow the adventures of a happy-go-lucky (mostly lucky) demon through human history.

And that's this week from the heart of your favorite author. Or one of them. Sort of on the favorite side. At least tolerable. Most of the time.

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!