Hello Again, Imaginary Friend

 Okay, so I'm a couple days behind in my weekly blog, but I've been busy so it's allowed. Time is really flying and can't believe Phil is already recording Tales of Fort Thomas. It's been so long since I did

audiobook work that I completely forgot the process. In order to hear my 15-minute sample I needed to actually have the book on file with the production company, which is easy enough. I mean, it should have been, but I forgot a lot of the finer details of the process which left me kind of bumbling around my KDP and ACX pages for about three hours trying to get things in order. 

But, as things always do, it all worked out in the end. I presented my contract, Phil accepted it and two days ago I got my first audio sample of Tales. Phil read Funeral For a Fish and, let me tell you, you're all going to love it. 

It was so nice to hear Paige and everyone again, but moreover, I got to hear Bourbon for the very first time. I know maybe only 4 of you actually know Bourbon like I do and understand his importance, but believe me when I say that hearing him brought to life like this was just great... even if it was only for one short scene. 

It's surreal hearing my characters speak. Like I've said before, I've been writing Paige since I was fifteen. Fer and the other Omegas came along in my early 20's along with Bourbon and Rossdale. I know more about them than I care to admit and at some point they all became a kind of imaginary family to me. So, when Phil gives them an actual voice, it's like meeting them for the first time all over. It's one of the best feelings in the world.

I am very particular about my characters... like I said... I know them better than I know most real humans. I think Phil can attest to my particularities when I send him character sheets with paragraphs of back story, illustrations, and weird details like "Picture early 2000's Rob Thomas mixed with Bluegrass from the Silverhawks." If I am anything, I am thorough. 

So yeah, that's what I've been up to-- well, that and cleaning up blood from the Cafe floor at the day
job... Don't ask. Just know it was a hell of a way to begin the day and that head wounds bleed... a lot.

I can't wait to hear the finished work and I can't wait for all of you to experience it too.

Tales of Fort Thomas Sneak Peek

 Right now it seems like everyone is hard at work on Tales of Fort Thomas but me. There's still a long way to go before release day, so that means I need to keep you all interested until then. Besides, you've all been such great fans I'd be remiss if I didn't give you all something to whet your appetites. 

This excerpt is from one of my favorite stories in the collection: "Terms and Conditions". I hope you enjoy it.

And Here We Are

 Well, after a week of struggling, my husband finally got my old domain name re-routed to my blog here. So, now when you search ajbasswrites.com you'll end up here.

As of right now, my manuscript is done. It's been beta read and adjusted, edited and cleaned up, and proofread and corrected... I feel there is nothing more I can do with this book at this point. Any further changes will be nothing more than overworking it. Again, I like to keep The Oatmeal's comic about overworking a painting in mind any time I find myself nearing the end of a project. 

So yeah, Tales of Fort Thomas is done... at least as far as my part goes. Tomorrow I'll send it off to Phil so he can get a feel for it before he records. I can't wait to get my first 15 minute sample. Saturday, my family and I are going to Bloomington for a day trip to the IU campus, where I'll be taking my new author photo. Once that's done, I'll send the manuscript off to Damonza so it can be formatted. They'll send me my final, hi-res covers and I can finally do a cover reveal.

It's so strange. Writing seems to have two speeds. Either absolutely nothing is happening or everything is happening. There is no in between.

Right now, though, I'm tired. So I think I'm going to have a celebratory beverage and then go to bed. 

The Horrifying Necessity of Change

When I was in 8th grade, my teacher found a doodle I did of a horse and told me it was good. 

She was right.

From then on a drew every chance I could get. I copied images of game character from Game Pro magazines, video game boxes, and sometimes I'd pull stuff from my head. Everyone thought it was great. They especially liked that crazy 'Japanimation' style I used which was like, so cool and new. (Seriously, it was 1996, anime was basically relegated to Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, and hentai from the back corner of the video store.)

Everyone loved my work. I got compliments galore and I rode that wave all though high school. Somewhere in my junior year I decided I was going to art school and would eventually become a cartoonist. Everyone said I'd kill it as an artist. I mean, why wouldn't I? Everyone said I was great.

Enter: Art School... where I was asked to draw in new and different styles, with tools I wasn't familiar with. 

"Nah, nah," I said to myself. "I'll do the project in my style and everyone will love it. They'll see how good I am, and I'll get an A."

At this point, you'd think I'd be all, "Hmm... maybe learning things like fundamentals is important and taking the time to learn these things now will help me in the long run when I'm out of school and drawing on my own." Yeah no. I took the coaching of my teachers as insults... and while I did adjust my style accordingly to whatever project I was doing, I didn't like it and I didn't do it 100%.

Soooo....I half-assed my way through art school... I still made it out with a solid B+, but still... sometimes I wonder, what if I had tried? Once I graduated, I got to work on my comics... but I never bothered to learn how to get them on the internet in a way that was beyond my janky deviantart account, or refine them so they were, you know, clean or colored. I was stuck in my way... which was fast becoming outdated... and refused to learn anything new. 

I wasn't a teachable student and I wasn't allowing myself to grow as an artist partly because of my ego, but mostly because I was lazy. Learning how to use art software? Buying different pens and markers? Maybe reading a book on the subject? Ugh, that all sounds hard and time consuming. What's wrong with pen and ink and basic know-how? Nothing if you're Charles fucking Schulz. (I love Charles Schulz, by the way.)

Suffice it to say, I never made it as an artist. I did eventually learn how to use photoshop and invested in a tablet, but it was too little too late. I still draw for fun from time to time.... Mostly illustrations from my books and little pencil sketches.  And that's fine. I'm okay with that. But now, here I am writing and selling books, and trying to make a respectable profit from them. 

Ben Wallace once mentioned to me that I need to find time every day to work on my writing. That's solid advice and his success is a testament to that. You'd think I'd see that and maybe, you know, listen... but I did what I always do... I agreed politely and went on about my business of doing exactly NOT that. I published Paige's Story aaaaand basically that was it. Occasionally I'd boost an ad on Facebook or Instagram but that was about all. I'm not sure what I expected to happen, but I'm pretty sure I was relying too much on luck-- luck that the right person would read my book, make a big damn deal over it and that would be that. 

Yeah, that's not how that works. It took me three years and a Facebook post from JN Chaney to get it through my damn thick skull, but I finally got the message that I can't just sit around and wait for recognition. 

Which means I not only have to write books, but I have to market them. I have to interact with people

on social media, make partnerships, advertise, write REGULAR blogs, and basically do everything that I hate doing with the fiery passion of 400 billion suns.

I'm not a people person. Those of you who have met me in real life can probably agree that I'm awkward and talk way too loud and fast when I'm nervous... which is more or less all the time.

But, here we are. Tales of Fort Thomas is getting ready to go and I'll be damned if I just keep on keeping on with the bare minimum. It's going to be hard. I work a day job, raise a family, and (worst of all) have my mental health to contend with. Sometimes the depression is so heavy all I can do is stare at my computer and wonder why I even bother. Then, when I DO bother, my anxiety crashes the party and starts in with, "Holy shit! Why did you do that? Who do you think you are? You're going to bomb so hard! People are going to laugh at you! You want to be laughed at?"

I do not want to be laughed at, but I also want to write soooooo... I guess, maybe I should learn from my mistakes in art school and become a teachable human being. You know, take the advice other, long time authors are giving me and listen. I also need to be open to learning new tricks like marketing and strategic social media practices. These are small, reasonable things. But, most importantly, I need to be open to change and I need to put in the work. 

Ugh... that last bit's gonna suck. 

  

Temper, Temper

 Monday is writing night. As such, I was supposed to spend this evening working on my edits of Tales of Fort Thomas. But earlier today I lost my temper and now I'm exhausted and I don't think working on my book is a good idea. 

It's been a long time since I've lost my temper. And, to my credit, I was fully aware of it as it happened. Basically, spelling practice with my son was, once again, a complete disaster. I managed to keep it together until my husband got home then proceeded to lose my shit at him. Note, I said "At him" not "On him." I needed a body to intercept my emotions and he was it. 

Now, back in the day when I had an emotional shit show like that, I'd just call my friend Wendy and be all, "Hey, I might murder someone unless we go to Yogi's." And we went to Yogi's where we'd drink and eat various fried foods until about 1 AM and we'd talk our problems to death. We'd stumble back to our apartments, pass out, and wake up the next day feeling better...albeit hungover. 

These days, I and my friends all have gross, grown up responsibilities and suddenly "Meet me at the bar before I'm in jail for homicide." is likely to be met with "Okay, but I can only get away for an hour." And truth be told, I'm in that same boat. So, when Ben was all, "Do you need to call someone and have a margarita?" my first thought was, "Yes! But me and my friends are all grown ups now and we have families, and shit to do! We need at least three days notice before stuff like this!"

So, you know what I did instead? 

I stood up, tears still on my face. I looked at Ben and said the only thing I could think of at the moment, "We're having tikka masala for dinner!" Then, I got in my car. I didn't even listen to any angry music. I put on goddamned K-pop (because BTS and Ateez are my jams at them moment). I didn't go to a bar or any place like that. I went to Kroger, and in my fury I bought a house plant. Not booze or chocolate or anything like that. A fucking house plant. 

I am physically unable to get angry like I used to, and I guess that's a good thing... but rage-buying a house plant does leave a bit to be desired.

Oh well.

Anyway, her name is Bronwyn and she's my new baby.

Impatience and the Art of Gun Jumping

     I'm good at jumping things. I jump to conclusions. I jump through hoops. In 8th grade I won 4th

place in the long jump on track and field day at school. But the thing I'm best at is jumping the gun. Which is kind of what I did with the announcement I made yesterday regarding the release of Tales of Fort Thomas. I know, I know, it's a total dick move. But I think once I explain myself, you'll understand.

    

When I create anything I want to get it out to the masses as soon as humanly possible. I have no patience. I just get my book/art/etc... out there and let the universe do with it what it pleases. I did that with Paige's Story. No, honestly, I really did. I should have held on it to for a few more months, scoured the manuscript again, and beefed up my marketing strategy. But I didn't. Now, I had a great release for Paige's Story. Sales are still steady years down the road and that's pretty okay for a self published gal such as myself. Now, to my defense, I had no fucking clue what I was doing when I published Paige's Story, so all things considered, I think I did okay.

    This time it's different. This time I know what I'm doing. I know more about marketing. I know more

about publishing, and editing, and all that. But, most importantly, I know the importance of taking my time, timing things correctly, and how to make sales count. 

    I hadn't really intended on doing an audiobook release of Tales of Fort Thomas, but after I wrote the short story 'Terms and Conditions', I just knew I couldn't deny the world the opportunity to hear Phil Thron's take on Fer after he loses his ability to swear.

    That's right. You guessed it. Phil's back and he's reading my next book! It's official! I'm excited! Are you excited? Because I'm excited! That's why I'm postponing my launch. I want to be able to give you, my readers, followers, and friends, the opportunity to experience my next book the way you want-- be it paperback, e-book, or audiobook-- from day one. I don't have a specific date yet, but I will certainly keep everyone posted once dates become clearer. ...and this time I swear I won't jump the gun.  

In the meantime, don't lose heart, there's still going to be plenty to look forward to in the upcoming months. Ben and I are working on new designs for stickers, t-shirts, and other merchandise for when we re-open the Fort Thomas PX. There will be give aways for free e-books and audiobooks on the horizon. And, of course, regular updates and progress reports from yours truly. 

Trying To Write In All the Wrong Head Space

 Scene: It's eight o'clock and time for my kids to go to bed. They turn off their video games and You Tubes as though they were on death row and it was time for them to make the long walk. They go to the
bathroom and brush their teeth and after I confirm for the five millionth time that my son is actually using toothpaste (what the hell is it with little boys and not wanting to do shit like this?) we get waters, my daughter takes her pill (chronic UTIs for the win... do people still say that? For the win? They don't, do they? I bet they don't.)

    After pills and waters, it's story time. But not yet, because everyone has to find their blankies, Cat-titos, and Corgos. Now, with stuffed animals and blankets and gathered and it's time for a story. We're reading
Matilda right now. We read a chapter... with frequent commentary from both kids on how Matilda's parents are garbage and how they are so confused as to why Miss. Trunchbull would work in a school if she hates kids so much. We make it through a chapter and of course both kids are all, "Noooooo! One more chapter!" Depending on the length of the next chapter I may or may not oblige. 

    After stories there are tuck ins, hugs, and if you're my daughter, a big long conversation about death, how one goes about getting their own apartment, and how she plans to never get married and just live with her pet beagle named Rosie. ... my daughter is six. 

    So at this point it's been an hour since bedtime began and now I have to go downstairs, sit in front of my computer and put myself in the headspace of a traumatized fifteen-year-old and her sentient android parent. 

    This is hard.

    This is hard because I worked a shift at the café that was utter pandemonium, I ran my ass off, made a nice chunk of change, came home, tided the house, got the kids their showers and then headlined the three ring circus that is bedtime. I am tired. I am tired and my mind is all, "Can I please just watch Bob's Burgers and eat a bowl full of Dot's pretzels?" But I don't. I sit down and open my computer and a have at it.  And sometimes, like tonight, good stuff happens. I get right into the correct headspace and
everything flows. Other nights I get nothing. 

    The last few nights I wasn't able to get anything really good down. I couldn't loosen my brain up enough. I've had a long week. It's nice out so that means the café has been super busy. That's not a complaint. The fact that we're starting to bounce back to normal, pre-'rona business is great. It just means I'm tired as fuck at the end of the day. Tonight I was just the right amount of tired, and focused, and with the aid of a glass of bourbon my brain was able to get some good stuff down. 

   Hopefully I'll be able to get some more quality work done tomorrow and wrap this story up. Once it's done that means it's time to start editing and putting Tales together. 

    I'm looking forward to that. 

    In the meantime, have an old drawing from 2011 of Paige, Anji, and Fer.