Happy Birthday!

July 2, 2018 Guy Pace

Happy Birthday!

Well, Happy Birthday to me, anyway.

I know we celebrate our nation’s birth with the signing of The Declaration of Independence on July 4. Actually the delegates endorsed it on July 2, 1776. Congress adopted it on July 4, 1776. So, this little celebration I’m launching will cover these days–which includes my own birthday.

July 3 is an important date throughout history. For example:

1035, William the Conqueror became Duke of Normandy;
1863, Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg;
1890, Idaho admitted to the US;
1962, Jackie Robinson inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame;
1996, the Stone of Scone returned to Scotland.

So, yes, there is reason to celebrate and here we go.

Still, you all are the ones getting the gifts.

First Gift

Here’s the deal. I’m making the Amazon e-book editions of Sudden Mission and Nasty Leftovers free ($0.00) on Tuesday, July 3, 2018. Just for the one day. That’s tomorrow.

If you already have the ebooks, you can gift them to friends. You can also share this post with others. I’ll link on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter, so if you are on those platforms, you can share the information there. And, please do so.

Second Gift

The Amazon e-book edition of Carolina Dawn goes on sale–a countdown sale–starting today. It starts at $0.99, shifts to $1.99 later on July 3, then goes back to the regular price of $2.99 at midnight on July 4. That’s Pacific Daylight Time, if you’re in another time zone.

If you already have it, again, you can gift it to others at these prices. As above, share this on the social media of your choice.

Reviews

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m always trying to find more reviews for Spirit Missions books. If you take advantage of this celebration, please take a few minutes to post a review or rating on Amazon. Anything helps.

So, let the celebration begin!

Keep writing.

Reviews & Reviewing

June 25, 2018 Guy Pace

Reviews & Reviewing

I’m involved in a round-robin review group for Christian writers on Goodreads. I love writing and reading. Reviewing other’s work is a challenge.

I don’t mind getting reviews from others, be they readers or writers. I learn from them no matter how critical they might get. But, writing a review of someone else’s work … that can be a minefield.

Fortunately, the folks involved in the round-robin are honest and direct, and give good reviews.

I wrote a couple of reviews so far and they were honest, constructive reviews of stories that I liked. They aren’t my normal reading fare, but it never hurts to explore new material. I posted the reviews, then crawled into a corner until the authors responded positively to the comments.

Whew!

More Reviews

I’m well into another book that I’m enjoying and will review it soon. In addition, I have some new reviews for Sudden Mission, both on Amazon and Goodreads. In this next round, I hope to see more reviews of Nasty Leftovers. This round-robin works out well, and my reviews are increasing.

Granted, the new reviews are by other authors and not my target audience (teens). But, getting teens to review on Amazon or anywhere else is very difficult. I used a little meme on Facebook a couple of times to prod folks to review.

The rules are simple, if not completely accurate today. I know Amazon has changed some of their rules for reviews. For example, they usually do not accept reviews of books by friends of the author, or family members. How they figure that out is beyond me.

The Rules

As for Rule #1, that is true. But, if you buy the book and review it, you get a “verified purchase” tag on your review. That might impact the “algorithms.”

Rule #4, though, is the most important. Authors need reviews. More reviews move a book’s status in the rankings on Amazon. They make the title more visible to other readers. They help other readers make decisions on what to choose to read.

Sure, not all reviews or ratings are five-star. Not everyone likes the same thing. My books aren’t everyone’s favorite genre. But, a review is a review and I appreciate every single one I get.

Hurts

Some comments in reviews can inflict pain in the author. That’s part of growing a thick skin–which we need to survive. No one is perfect, no author writes a perfect book. Accepting that and moving on is important.

I try to keep that in mind as I review other author’s work. No, the book isn’t my cup of tea. Maybe the book needs an editor. Maybe there are issues with the story. But, I can address that with constructive, positive comments. I made the mistake of being too blunt and critical in a review once. It hurt a relationship. That’s the minefield I mentioned earlier.

Care. You write and you read. The only way this business can get better is if we all care and comment positively and constructively.

Keep reading.

Keep writing.

Rules of the Game

May 14, 2018 Guy Pace

Rules of the Game

Every game has rules. Some are easy to understand. Some, not so much. It’s the rules that can drive us nuts, though.

Solitaire (the classic, Vegas rules version) is a losing game. There is no way to win long-term in that game. The rules protect “the house” and that is by design. The house is the casino, or the hosting organization allowing you to play. The rules are pretty simple.

Shuffle the cards, deal out the seven piles (the tableau), set the rest in a pile (the stock) nearby. Play all the possible cards showing in the tableau. Then begin taking one cards at a time from the stock and play it if possible. If not, place it on the waste pile (the talon). Once you go through the stock once, you’re done and the game is over.

If you are fortunate, you’ll get to stack suits (hearts, diamonds, spades, clubs) on the foundations (the four piles at the top where you place the aces of each suit and proceed to stack the rest of the suit numerically). If you are very fortunate, you’ll end the game by completing all four suits in the foundations and clear the stock and the tableau.

Reality

But, nine times out of ten, you will only get one or two aces in the foundations, and maybe a few more cards.

See, to start, you ante up for $52 for each game. One dollar for each card in the deck–for each game. The house will pay you back $5 for each card placed in the foundations. If you lose $20 to $40 each hand you’ll find yourself in negative dollar land in short order.

You see, the odds are not in your favor–no matter what that strange-looking person in The Hunger Games says. While you can win a game once in a while, your chances of winning enough to stay even or gain a little are abysmal. The odds against winning two games in a row is huge. It’s designed to separate you from your money.

Gaming

Knowing all this, playing a solitaire game on your laptop when your life savings isn’t on the line is still a fun pastime, and supposedly is good exercise for your brain. But, how does this play when you are writing a situation for a character? I used solitaire for an example, but the odds and rules for roulette, blackjack, and other gambling games are always stacked in favor of the house. That won’t change.

How many times have you seen or read characters getting to Las Vegas with just a few bucks to their names, and in a few hours riding out of town in a new Cadillac and pockets full of cash. Aside from special talents (Starman), the odds against this kind of thing happening is astronomical. Then there is the house itself. Someone watches all games, players, dealers, all the time. If anything looks hinkey (this is Tabitha’s word), someone from the house shows up and takes the offending person(s) off the floor and maybe out the door.

Jackpot

Once in a while someone hits a jackpot. That’s by design. The good fortune of the odd player keeps the rest of the folks playing. Without that odd jackpot, the rest of the players in the facility would not have any hope of winning.

This doesn’t mean good things don’t happen. When my wife and I were leaving Reno many years ago, there was a gaming system right there in the gate concourse. I had a few coins left of our “to play” stash, so I plugged a few into the machine and played one last game before our flight home started boarding.

I won $10.

Keep writing.

The Bucket List

May 7, 2018 Guy Pace

The Bucket List

Things change, the world changes, and we move ahead in time. Many of us have a bucket list, things we feel we need to do before we, ourselves, come to an end.

One of the things I’d love to do before I leave this plane is to travel the old Route 66 from Chicago, IL to Santa Monica, CA. My brother, cousin, and I talked about making that trip a lot last summer. The 2,448 mile trip would take about two to three weeks if we stopped to see all the sights.

Much of the old route faded into newer roads, highways, freeways. Still, you can find a lot of the old route’s highlights if you look for them. Finding and riding the old road–as much as is left–brings some of the legend and history of The Mother Road to life. Route 66 in the mid-1900’s displayed the character of America and you can still find and experience some of that today.

So, that’s one of the things on my bucket list.

The List

Another item on the list is to crate up the Harley, ship it to Europe, then ride it for two or three months all over the place. Some places in Europe I visited in the 1970’s and I’d love to go back and see the changes or the things that are still the same. I’d like to spend more time seeing the countries and seeing some friends.

A fascinating ride in Scotland would be the North Coast 500. Tourism in the UK bills the route as the Route 66 of Scotland, but I think it has its own attraction. The article suggests a three-day run due to small, slow winding roads threading through the highlands, lochs, and rugged coastline.

Some of the things in my bucket list drive what I’m writing about in my current work in progress. A Harley, an open road, and time. But, time is a limited commodity. Progress, politics (both national and international), economics, and other factors may conspire to prevent me from doing some of the things on the bucket list.

Route 66 is slowly disappearing and it may be gone before I get a chance to ride it. I do have a small piece of tarmac I picked off from the old road in Arizona from a trip in 1995. I keep it with a Route 66 key tag in my curio cabinet.

Why?

The items on the bucket list represent dreams we might have. Things we’ve always wanted to see or do. When you can reach down deep and find those dreams and desires, you can find the motivation that drives a character in a story. It’s what makes that character set out on the adventure, chase that dream, or follow a cause.

Time, though, is the enemy. The limiter of experience. Like Route 66 fading, or the far-off adventure ending before you get a chance. Your character must strive for the goal in spite of time.

So. Find the time.

Keep writing.

SaveSave

Unique

March 26, 2018 Guy Pace

Unique

Here’s the trouble with writing something different, unique. As I try to get reviews and marketing attention for Sudden Mission, Nasty Leftovers, and Carolina Dawn, I often come across the question “Are these like the Harry Potter books, or The Hunger Games?”

Uh. No.

And, that’s a problem. I can’t piggy-back off the success of other authors by claiming if you like The Hunger Games, you’ll love Sudden Mission. I’m not throwing shade on The Hunger Games or Suzanne Collins. She is a very good author and I loved her books, as I did J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

But, the Spirit Missions series–I think–is unique. It’s a teen Christian fiction series that incorporates some science fiction, fantasy, role-playing gaming, and a lot of spiritual elements. You won’t find anything like it on the shelves at a Christian book store–unless that store gets some copies of Spirit Missions.

Something Different

Of course, it all started when I set out to write something I wanted to read. For Christian fiction, I stumbled on Ted Dekker’s work. I found it fascinating and dealing with characters that weren’t cartoon simulations. That’s where I wanted to go. Write about real characters, facing challenges in the real world (okay, mostly real world), incorporating their relationship to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit during their journeys.

That’s where I went. I didn’t expect glowing reviews (but I got a few), and I expected a lot of knock-back due to the spiritual nature and some violence. I even expected harsh challenges to the Christian doctrine I chose to follow, and some shock with the way I handle aliens in Carolina Dawn.

What I got was positive feedback from friends who said their non-reader teens couldn’t put the books down. I just wish those teens would get on Amazon or Barnes & Noble and post reviews. I also got a couple of Spirit-filled Fiction awards and I hope Carolina Dawn earns one, too.

Self-publishing

Since my former publisher closed their doors in 2016, I’ve struggled with the marketing and promotion. It’s not easy when your product is so different or unique. I got some great help from fellow authors on the net and from friends and family around the country. I also received good advice from Rachel Thompson and her 30-Day Book Marketing Challenge.

So, I keep plugging along. Maybe someday someone will publish something and make the claim that “if you liked the Spirit Missions books, you’ll love <new book title>.” It’s a nice dream.

Keep writing.

Guy L. Pace

Living to Write

Category: Novel

Happy Birthday!