Just a reminder: today is the LAST DAY to get The Watchmage of Old New York e-book for 99 cents. Yes! 99 cents! 99 pennies! A dollar minus one cent! 3 times 33 cents! All of these things!
Wiggle Cat and Wiggle Shaq like it. So will you. (See how happy they are?)
Watchmage is also shortlisted for a whole bunch of awards right now, but you’ll be hearing tons more about that in the near future. If you like Historical Fantasy, word play, mythological creatures, well-developed characters, interesting worlds, intrigue, and flying dogs, you’ll love The Watchmage of Old New York.
And, you know, 99 cents. You can’t even get cawfee for that little. You know how I feel about cawfee.
On Sunday, I was privileged to be part of the Writers in the Mountains’s “Meet the Authors” conference. Set in a distillery (talk about reinforcing a stereotype) in Arkville, NY, it was one of the most supportive, interesting, and especially fun, writing events that I’ve attended. Thank you so very much to the good people at Writers in the Mountains.
First, let me plug the distillery, because they deserve it. Union Grove Distillery opened only three months ago, and their vodka is fantastic. It’s in an old building that may have been a warehouse, I’m not sure. The setting…hell, the whole area around Arkville, deep in the Catskills, is beautiful. The mixed drinks were pretty damn good too.
(Coffee and booze: it’s what writers crave)
I even sold a few books! Considering my last clusterF at Barnes & Noble, it was a great confidence builder. Since I’m selling the Kindle copy of The Watchmage of Old New York for 99 cents (until 5/31/16) I sold a few of those too.
(I don’t always sell books, but when I do, it’s because I’ma sexy beast)
Did I mention that Watchmage is 99 cents right now? I did? I’m doing it again.
I got to sit between two excellent (and very different) writers. The novelist and musician Robert Burke Warren, and the academic writer Linda Lowen. You can’t see them in the picture, but they’re there.
There were panels on the current state of publishing (both indie and traditionaul) and some beautiful poetry readings from luminaries like Danniel Schoonebeek and Sharon Israel. The keynote speaker was the always funny Rosie Schaap, author of the excellent memoir Drinking With Men, and the “Drink” columnist for The New York Times.
What else can I say. The conference was a very positive experience for me, and after being despondent about my work for the last month or so, I feel revitalized. Thank you to everyone, especially the president of Writers in the Mountains, Simona David.
If you’re an aspiring or established writer, always go to events. The internet is a fine way to network, but nothing beats face-to-face.
This website has gone over 1000 views a month every month since last August, with two months over 2000 and one over 3000. Thank you all for the support. I promise to continue with the geeky goodness, silly memes, and occasional serious topics.
Oh, and more of this guy:
Fly, Flappy, fly!
BTW: The Watchmage of Old New York is 99 cents on Amazon until May 31st (2016). *hypnotizing voice* buyyyyyy myyyy boooookkkkk…buyyyyy myyyy booookkkk. Or not, it’s cool.
I have no clue what I did, but over the past two weeks Amazon has removed several of the reviews for The Watchmage of Old New York, and blocked at least five (people have told me that their reviews were blocked). I’m now down to 18 reviews, and who knows how far it will fall.
I don’t understand what I did wrong. I’ve never broken the terms and conditions or tried anything shady. Hell, I don’t even let my family leave reviews for fear of breaking terms. I guess i’m just unlucky.
They also removed several reviews that I’ve left on products and books. I think that this is kinda funny, but funny sad. They send me emails asking for reviews on this and that product, but it’s those reviews that get removed.
Right now I’m a floating teacher and TA for BOCES (the NY alternative program for special needs and learning challenges), but I feel like I don’t do enough there. I’m far more effective teaching one-on-one as opposed to a large class. If you know me, you’d know that I’m a very mellow guy and seem to have a way with kids, especially when they’re frustrated with something.
Further more, a lot of my assignments are for students with MR or severe Autism. It’s a completely different form of teaching, and while it is rewarding, I miss teaching in more mainstream programs.
On the side, I’ve been working as a writing coach and editor, but that’s for adults. I’m good at it, and I think that it, combined with my own published work, gives me a very unique skill set.
The plan is to slowly phase out teaching with tutoring. It’ll give me more time to write and edit as well, plus, it’s more rewarding. Every student needs a tutor, because there’s always room to level up.
I’m even considering offering tutoring through Google Hangouts to increase my range. Might as well embrace the new technology, right?
If you couldn’t tell from the title, this is an update. A bunch of cool writing stuff happened in the past few days.
My short story “Skully” is now in the anthology Twisted Tales: 15 Literary Lies and Epic Yarns, published by Readers Circle of Avenue Park I’m in very talented and established company here, and I’m tickled magenta…which is even more tickled than pink.
You can buy it on Amazon for $2.99, or you can get it for FREE by joining their mailing list here
Sometimes I wonder if I truly want to be a famous author.
Of course it’s been my dream since I was a child. When other kids would run around at recess, I stayed on the side and wrote short stories. I lived in my imagination (and still do). But I wonder if success would take that love for writing away from me.
Hey everyone. I decided to have a sale on The Watchmage of Old New York for this week only. Why? Because I CAN!!!! Also because sales and reviews are falling off.
Sooo, the sale is on Amazon only, and only for the ebook. If you like my blog, you’ll probably like Watchmage. It’s the same writer, you know 😉 You’ll also be helping a neat-o dude like me. I consider every purchase a hug (and each review is a belly rub…I love belly rubs)
Yes, I know it’s shameless pandering…But I gotta eat.
In case you haven’t heard of The Watchmage of Old New York yet, let me hit you with the book blurb:
Thanks to my good friend Sean, I’m back in business. He lent me his spare laptop so I could write again. Of course, the first thing I did was putz around on Facebook. Procrastination never loses it’s appeal.
Hopefully I’ll motivate myself to start blogging again. There’s so much I want to talk about, from artificial gender roles as a form of Anima/Animus, to Search Engines as unintentional social control, to how great The Muppets are (UnveilTheTail). Oh yeah, I want to add more to the Watchmage Wiki as well (without alliteration), and I’m sure that at some point you’ll hear me geeking out about Deadpool and Daniel Bryan’s retirement.
All of this fun to come. I think it deserves a happy dance.
That’s all for now. I have some editing to do. I’m way behind on the next Watchmage novel.
Well, it’s the first blog post of the new year. I better make it a good one. Let’s start with some kitten hijinx.
I can never get enough of that.
First of all, I’d like to thank all of my followers, especially the new ones that joined in the past few months. Every time I get a email that says i have a new follower, my heart swells a little bit. Actually, it’s my head swelling, but I try to keep that in. I already have trouble finding hats.
I hope that I continue to entertain you this year, either through my website, or through my stories. Normally I’d throw in a link to a novel or two, but I’m showing restraint. Look at me, restraining all over the fucking place.
*Pseudo-Philosophy moment* The years turn around, and hopefully we change with them. Evolution is important, but sometimes we need a push. They’re not Resolutions, they’re Revolutions.
So here are my revolutions regarding the site. But first, a poofy dog action hero.
Still better than a Michael Bay movie.
I will blog more often. Sometimes I go for too long without blogging. I don’t know why. I guess I get caught up in life and forget, or I focus too much on my books…still showing restraint here. I’m going to do more of everything. History stuff, Music stuff, Over-analysis of geeky things, weird memes and gifs. Just…more.
I will spend more time reading other blogs. I like reading your blogs, but again, the world catches up to me. If you’re goodly enough to read my stuff, I should reciprocate. Let’s be a community of insecure people struggling to be heard…and post weird stuff.
I will finish the Watchmage Wiki. I think that enough people have read The Watchmage of Old New York that they might actually be interested in extra source material. I admit, a lot of it is done in a “game format,” as I someday want to create a board game or rpg based on Watchmage, but I think it’s still a good read.
I will update my bio and evergreen material. I’m way behind in this. Some of my pages still have Watchmage listed as a serial on Jukepop. While you can still read it on Jukepop, the novel is very…very different, and much better. The next novel is even more so. Look, still no ads! I’m so restrained, like super duper restrained.
I will limit posts about politics. It’s hard. I hate writing about politics, but the news always seems to suck me in. I get so mad sometimes that I can’t keep my mouth shut, but I’m going to try. If I do post about politics, it will be combined with some sort of geeky, literary, or historical analysis as opposed to straight up “fuck this” or “fuck that.” There are enough blogs out there that do that, and I don’t want to be one of them.
There are other things that I’d like to do, but I don’t know what they are yet. You’ll be the second to know.
Ok, I’m done restraining myself. I can’t take it anymore. Buy The Watchmage of Old New York! It’s like The Dresden Files meets Gangs of New York meets American Gods meets Who Framed Roger Rabbit? meets Starsky and Hutch meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Doctor Strange meets…I dunno, but it’s damn good! You can buy it anywhere, but it’s easiest to post the Amazon link. Oh, and if you want to review it, I’ll give you a free copy. I can always use reviewers. Let me know, and we’ll talk.
Note that I didn’t plug Song of Simon. I figure that one shameless plug is enough…oh wait, how did that link get there?
I’ll end this with something funny to make up for the sales pitch.
Because I really don’t. Have a great day, and keep reading. I love you all, but not as much as the It’s Raining Tacos song. Sorry.
casandersdotnet 