New Bloggy Update! 4/22/23

Thisclose, people!

I’ve sent the manuscript and cover ideas/concepts to Tami Boyce, my layout and cover creator, and am now waiting for her two mock ups for the cover of Sanctum. The back blurb and acknowledgement page are also finished and sent. When I receive the layout, I’ll go over it one more time (Draft #8) to check for any last minute fixes/corrections, which she’ll take care of on the layout end. After that, it’s go time. She’ll format it into something that I can upload to Amazon (and Kindle), and after a few clicks, a book is born.

At this point, I’d say we’ll be “going Live” sometime in May. I’ll keep you apprised, of course. Similar to my other books, I’ll be pricing Sanctum at $12 on Amazon and selling it for $10 in person at events. I’m hoping to have the “cover reveal” for the next Bloggy Update! 🙂

So then what?

That’s a common question authors get asked after a new book comes out. I assume most of us have a similar answer – “NOTHING!” (lol) The LAST thing I want to do is to write/edit anything for a little while. But, rest assure, I’ll still be posting my monthly All Business article which comes out the first of each month. I’m also loosely preparing to do NanoWriMo this November. nanowrimo.org/

Sunday, April 30th is the first event of 2023! Spring Maker’s Market will be held at the Mackinaw Valley Winery in Mackinaw, Illinois from 11am to 5pm. If you are within driving distance, come on by. LOTS of vendors, food, wine, and music on some wonderful grounds. More info can be found in the Event Section of the blog, but I’ll post a link here if you are so inclined: https://www.mackinawvalleyvineyard.com/events/upcoming-events/

The NEXT event follows close behind – a week later on Sunday, May 7th at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in the Orr Building! It’s the First Sunday Bazaar in Springfield (and a first for me being a vendor). It runs from 8am to 4pm and the list of vendors is so big, it’s almost frightening. Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/firstsundaymidwestbazaar They say there will be between 160 – 180 vendors present in the building that once hosted chickens at the State Fair. You should come JUST for that connection alone.

So…what are we watching these days?

The Path (2015 – 2018) – “A man who converts to a controversial following suffers from a crisis of faith.” (IMDb) Don’t let this one-off sentence discourage you. Led by Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad), this three season show is a fast-paced, sometimes off the wall story of Meyerism (a fake religion that is similar enough to other ‘cults’ which are real and well-known) Things to know: this show doesn’t slam religion nor does it ‘preach’. There are enough characters who go through their own crisis of faith, as well as followers who choose to leave (and visa versa). It’s extremely well done and I highly recommend it. But be warned – it was cancelled after the end of the third season (although it does ‘wrap up enough’ not to leave you hanging).

Beef (2023 – ) – Can I be totally honest with you? I made it through four episodes…and somehow managed not to throw a shoe at our TV set. I didn’t just dislike what I watched. I hated it. Yes, hate. Every character, every plot line, every piece of dialogue, and every facial expression grated on my nerves. Why? Because the adults acted like pre-teens, made STUPID childish decisions, behaved as if they shouldn’t hold a job, let alone communicate with other people, and acted smug and entitled the whole time. I know, this is a top-rated show that people love…but…no. I cannot and will not give this a single star. My rating? 0.0. (Charlie was on the fence and still might go back to watch the rest.)

Close to Home: Murder in the Coalfield (2022) – “When a grisly murder brings Detective Maik Briegand back to his hometown, he finds himself dredging up bodies, clues and past traumas.” (Google) This German six-part series sounded interesting enough to hold our attention for six hours or so. Alas, we were wrong. After watching two episodes, we threw in the towel and started watching Unseen (a South African series which we are currently half-way through). Maybe something got lost between the subtitles and the translation, but we couldn’t follow what was going on if we had a road map AND a GPS. You might have better luck. We were simply lost and kinda bored.

So, there it is. Hey, a quick reminder. If YOU would like to write up an article for All Business (topic – anything to do with writing, marketing, promotion, swag, events, etc. between 400 and 800 words), hit me up at srovens@yahoo.com. You’ll get to promote YOUR stuff too! 🙂 Too busy right now, but want to later this year? That’s cool. We can figure out a good month for you. Let me know!