Theoretically, autumn begins in September. Temperatures begin to cool, leaves fall from the trees, a certain ineffable crispness suffuses the air. Although we've had a few days that were unmistakably full of "fall," we've also had our hottest days of the year this September. Full on summer hitting 100 degrees. Not that I'm complaining about the weather, they've been dealing with worse heat in Texas and other parts of the south all summer.
As I mentioned in my last post, we're moving, and that's definitely a cold moment. I, now, really understand why we, culturally, are no longer nomadic. Moving sucks! It really just does. I can just imagine cavemen back in the day trying to decide which prized skull they were going to drag along with them to the next location, because they could only carry one. Or mothers trying to motivate their young children to "just come on!" It makes perfect sense to me that we all settled down and quit following herds of beasts around.
Not that I didn't already know that moving sucks, but it's one of those things that you put out of your mind when you're not actually in the midst of it.
As for the house, the drama with the banks at the beginning of September was cold, nay, frigid, but getting the house was definitely HOT! Painting it was... cold. We're still not finished with that, because we lost a weekend to the bank time suck, but we're having to put off the rest till after we get all of our stuff moved over. Cold cold cold.
The lack of writing this month due to the move is definitely cold. You know when you pull on a rubber band? That tension that forms... that's what it feels like inside me, at the moment. I want to get back to Brother's Keeper, but I just don't have any time for it, right now.
As for The House on the Corner, although it technically came out in August, it was close enough to September that I'm going to give it a September hot. The sales, on the other hand, have been oh, so so so cold. Between the Nook and the Kindle, I have a total of 6 sales, much less than I had hoped for. I'm actually above that on the sales for the physical book, although most of those have been hand-to-hand purchases as opposed to online purchases. I definitely have a lot to learn about this whole marketing thing.
However, I did get my first review! Definitely a HOT! You can read it here, and you should! If you've been thinking about buying but have just been waiting to see the feedback on it from other people, here you go. Also, there is an additional short review for it here if you scroll down to it.
Well, I suppose that's about it. And, really, all I have time for. Back to packing go I!
Moving does suck. I did it three years in a row and it was hell. And that was just one apartment; a whole house would be much, much worse.
ReplyDeleteWhy wasn't I following Rusty's blog? Never mind, I've rectified that :-)
ReplyDeleteAndrew, do you know if 'The House on the Corner' will be offered in paperback on Amazon UK? It just says it's currently unavailable.
Mutt: Yeah, especially with the amount of stuff I have. >sigh<
ReplyDeleteSarah P: You know, I have no idea why. Rusty's blog is great :)
I just checked my CreateSpace, and I don't see any way to make it available that way. I'm assuming it's not available on Amazon UK because it's POD. It has to ship from the US.
Congrats on the review! And I'm planning to buy your book -- just waiting for payday:)
ReplyDeleteMoving. I hope I have just one more in me. But if it all goes as planned, that would mean I can have my minions do all my packing and stuff.
ReplyDeleteAs for the weather. It got cool here (TN) in mid August. Weirdest thing I've ever seen. It's been down in the fifties almost every night, maybe up into the 70's in the day. Just so weird.
Good luck with the sales. Hey - check out the Dead Robots Society podcast that went up yesterday. Robin Sullivan is on to talk about how to market your novel. The woman is a genius. Really.
I fully plan on buying your book for my Nook tomorrow! It's payday. :D Hopefully October will be a little warmer for you (metaphorically speaking, of course...Lord knows we don't need any more actual heat this year)!
ReplyDeleteThe hots seem very hot, so I'm hoping the month was more hot than cold. I'm clueless about marketing. Perhaps some most blogs will hook you up with interviews/reviews?
ReplyDeleteSales is all luck man. Read Joe Konrath's blog about it. He attributes his sales to pure luck.
ReplyDeleteMy in laws were visiting all of last week, so I completely understand what you mean when you talk about that rubber band being pulled. That's me, wound up, just wanting to get back to writing.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you should just adopt my brother-in-law's lazy form of moving. He just leaves all of his furniture, and buys everything brand new when he moves to a new house. But, warning, you may have to be a lazy millionaire to achieve this, as he is, otherwise you may bankrupt yourself.
Bess: Ah, I know how that is. I am so behind on my book buying!
ReplyDeleteRusty: I'm not sure I've ever had one more move in me. I hate doing it. Unfortunately, I don't think I'd trust anyone to do most of it for me. Horrible catch 22.
I'll try to remember to check out that podcast. Still going to be short on time for the next few weeks.
J: Well, let me know what you think of it! :) And I do hope things even out kind of soon.
Shannon: I'm hoping for more reviews, and I have another interview coming up.
Michael: Yeah, I agree with that to a certain extent. I think there's a point that's luck. Not all of it, just one point. The point where it starts. If you have one of those points, after that, it isn't luck anymore.
Beer: You know, if I had the money, I just might do that. I had a friend in college who had that same idea about clothes. Instead of washing his dirty ones, he would just buy new ones.