Whovian Wednesday

     It's Thursday today. I forgot to post this yesterday.

     This summer at WOL, I started Whovian Wednesdays. I got a cheap eyeliner and drew tally marks on people's arms. Pretty soon, Whovians were wearing their Doctor Who T-shirts and carrying sonic screwdrivers on Wednesdays. One girl even had a fez. People who have never seen an episode of Doctor Who were asking me to tally mark their arms. It was fantastic.

     So, in honor of all the fun people who joined me in craziness this summer, I posted my article yesterday on Whovian Wednesday. I hope some of them read it and enjoy it. If you are a Doctor Who fan, I hope you will read it and let me know what you think!

     Here's the link: "The Weeping War: In Defense of a Doctor Who Adversary" @ storyshoutout.com

     And to the left is a picture drawn especially for the article by the lovely Elizabeth Buller. She was so gracious to give her time and talent to this project. Isn't it great?

Post Tenebras Lux!
-ST

Confession Time: I am an Indecisive Creative

      After my last post, I opened my draft and wrote nothing. Inspiration just wasn't flowing. I was second guessing myself on everything from the plot to the characters. It was like ramming my head into a brick wall.

     I was still having doubts a couple days later. "What if I did it that way instead? What if I have too many characters? What if I change what I've already written?" On and on and on. Finally, I realized that I just have to MAKE A DECISION and run with it. And thus I discovered that I am a naturally indecisive person. I think it is good to know that about myself. Now I can control it better.

     In other news, I think I found some good from my long illness. All that Doctor Who watching inspired a speculative article, which I will be posting on storyshoutout.com when it is finished. It's pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. Cinderella would slap me if she heard me telling you my secret wish, but I kinda hope the article gains some attention. Maybe even inspires a future episode, if the idea hasn't already been uncovered. I dunno. That'd be cool. *insert dreamy stare into space*

     One more creative splurt: You know how people say stuff like, "It captured my imagination?" Well, I was thinking about that, and it doesn't really make sense to me. As a writer, I don't want to capture readers' imaginations. I want to set their imaginations free to wander over unexplored places, unsolved mysteries, and unknown universes. So, I made a picture with that thought. Feel free to steal it for your Pinterest or Tumblr.

Post Tenebras Lux!
-ST

Shouting Out

     I read an article written by a man who self published a book that was the #1 bestseller in non-fiction on Amazon.com for a few days. He described exactly what he did to publish and market his book, and then at the end tallied up the total cost. He spent about $30,000.


     As a writer pursuing authorship, that number freaked me out a bit. I don't have and probably won't ever have that kind of cash to spend on a book.

     I noticed that most of the $30,000 was spent on marketing. The author paid for an animated trailer, radio interviews, an audiobook, and more. He even paid people to market the book in various places for him.

     Then God said, "Let there be a light bulb above Cadi's head."

     This author had to go to tons of different places to market his book, from blogs to business websites. But what if there were a place, a group, so well known for their coverage of media, that if your book could be featured in this place, thousands of people would be sure to see it? What if it were a crazy combo of talk show, podcast, video, radio, blog, news report, and any other kind of media? What if this place was THE place that authors would want to be seen on? That readers would enjoy watching? That EVERYONE who loves a story will want to follow?

     That was the beginning of StoryShoutOut.
     So, I started it. I want StoryShoutOut to grow into a reliable hub that will entertain and educate lovers of story. I am making it to be an entertainment center for everything relating to stories, both fiction and non-fiction.

     Of course, I expect this project to take years before it gets any sort of following. But I am building a great team to help me with the blog posts, videos, interviews, giveaways, and, of course, stories. It is going to be a fun ride.

     Here is a link to the site: storyshoutout.com. Please come visit! And if you would like to be involved, just go to the contact page and let me know.

Post Tenebras Lux!
-ST