I’m going to admit, I’m mostly here to gloat that I called the next two to go down so easily.
I wasn’t sad to see Thia go, as I think she gave us everything she had to offer. I hope she has fun on tour, and perhaps with a few more years of life behind her, she’ll learn how to emote.
Naima, though. Man. Sorry to see her go, but not surprised. And while I loved the idea of a reggae take on “I’m Still Standing,” the accent was a poor, poor, poor idea.
As for the rest of ‘em, a friend of mine said I should consider a reshuffle. I think I’ll leave the names in the same order, and just update my thoughts.
James – The man puts on a show every time. While everyone else plays it safe, he’s giving James In Concert. I do wonder if he might be too much of a goofball to win, but no one is having more fun.
Jacob – This boy is reigning it in, and good for him. If he keeps at it, I think he may just overtake James.
Pia – Fast songs or slow, the girl doesn’t move. That’s cool. But it’s not “winner” cool. Still, man, what a voice.
Lauren – Now that all the saves are gone, Lauren’s fate is sealed, because there’s no one to save her when she tumbles. She’s a sweetheart, to be sure, but she’s got a Thia problem – she just hasn’t lived long enough to really pack an emotional punch.
Casey – I still love Casey, and I’m more than a little shocked that voters turned against him. I don’t really buy in conspiracy theories, but I wouldn’t be at all shocked if, twenty years down the road, someone didn’t admit that the vote was rigged because the show was getting boring. Still, he’s an odd dude, and I can’t see him winning.
Scotty – Scotty may last longer than I originally thought, but he’s one-note. People love that note, though.
Paul – Hit the bottom three last week, and a friend of mine thinks he’ll be gone next week. Nah. Too many fans at this point who love his voice, even if he isn’t the greatest singer. He’s got another couple weeks to go.
Stefano – The dude is trying to learn not to close his eyes, and failing. Lovely voice, but he’s been hanging around the bottom for a while and I don’t see much in a way of signage for him. He’ll be gone soon.
Haley – My wife likes the growl. I think the growl is lame, and one-note. If I had to guess, she might make it through this week based on last week’s performance, which was pretty good. But… probably not.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
The Reviews, They Roll In
So, let’s see…
Book is now officially launched, as far as the world is concerned. And I’m starting to see some reviews show up.
First, Word Nerd, who was kind enough to blurb the book in advance. The review is actually even better than the blurb, I think:
“This is what sci-fi should be; normal people operating in extraordinary circumstances, relying on what makes us human to prevail.”
And I got some kindly words from ZombieSlam.com.
“Overall, I would recommend this book for zombie enthusiasts and those who enjoy looking at a more heartfelt version of a normal zombie tale.”
Also over the weekend, I got a couple more people ask to read and review it.
Which means I also need to get back to work filling up my bookstore with more stuff to buy…
Book is now officially launched, as far as the world is concerned. And I’m starting to see some reviews show up.
First, Word Nerd, who was kind enough to blurb the book in advance. The review is actually even better than the blurb, I think:
“This is what sci-fi should be; normal people operating in extraordinary circumstances, relying on what makes us human to prevail.”
And I got some kindly words from ZombieSlam.com.
“Overall, I would recommend this book for zombie enthusiasts and those who enjoy looking at a more heartfelt version of a normal zombie tale.”
Also over the weekend, I got a couple more people ask to read and review it.
Which means I also need to get back to work filling up my bookstore with more stuff to buy…
Friday, April 1, 2011
Today’s the Day!
(An aside: You can read the first ten pages of Mercy here.)
Well, kind of. According the information that I sent to a whole lot of bloggers, today is the “official” release date of “Mercy.”
Yep.
Apparently, the internet is celebrating by buying copies of my short story, “Fairy Godmother-In-Law.” Not that I’m complaining. A sale is a sale.
Is there anything else worth sharing today?
Kinda.
I’ve got one more person who wants to do a review. I’ve got a blog interview that I need to writer answers for because it’s going up next week. And I’ve got another blog guest post that I need to think about writing, like, right now.
But otherwise?
I guess today is helpful hint day.
If you want to buy my book, here are some links:
Mercy on Kindle
Mercy on nook
Fairy Godmother-In-Law on Kindle
Fairy Godmother-In-Law on nook
And if you’re saying to yourself, “Self, I don’t have a Kindle or a nook. If only I could read the book on my iPad. Or iPhone. Or Android. Or PC. Or Mac. Or some other place…”
You can!
Free Kindle Apps
Free nook Apps
And there you have it. Every possible reason to go buy “Mercy.” Heck, it’s $2.99. That’s less than coffee at Starbucks.
Plus the effect is the same: Keeping you up late at night…
Well, kind of. According the information that I sent to a whole lot of bloggers, today is the “official” release date of “Mercy.”
Yep.
Apparently, the internet is celebrating by buying copies of my short story, “Fairy Godmother-In-Law.” Not that I’m complaining. A sale is a sale.
Is there anything else worth sharing today?
Kinda.
I’ve got one more person who wants to do a review. I’ve got a blog interview that I need to writer answers for because it’s going up next week. And I’ve got another blog guest post that I need to think about writing, like, right now.
But otherwise?
I guess today is helpful hint day.
If you want to buy my book, here are some links:
Mercy on Kindle
Mercy on nook
Fairy Godmother-In-Law on Kindle
Fairy Godmother-In-Law on nook
And if you’re saying to yourself, “Self, I don’t have a Kindle or a nook. If only I could read the book on my iPad. Or iPhone. Or Android. Or PC. Or Mac. Or some other place…”
You can!
Free Kindle Apps
Free nook Apps
And there you have it. Every possible reason to go buy “Mercy.” Heck, it’s $2.99. That’s less than coffee at Starbucks.
Plus the effect is the same: Keeping you up late at night…
Thursday, March 31, 2011
The Word Continues to Spread
Not unlike, you know, zombies do. At least in my book.
At any rate, here's a lovely write-up of the book.
Warning: If you go to Zombie Girl Shambling and start clicking around, you'll probably find a dozen books you want to buy. You've been warned.
And if you find this, Dana, I'm glad you're enjoying the book!
At any rate, here's a lovely write-up of the book.
Warning: If you go to Zombie Girl Shambling and start clicking around, you'll probably find a dozen books you want to buy. You've been warned.
And if you find this, Dana, I'm glad you're enjoying the book!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Why I Heart Hocking
If you haven’t heard of Amanda Hocking, you should click on over to her blog and read everything she’s got there. Start at the beginning, way back in 2009 when Amanda was a no-name writer trying to get an agent.
Then keep on moving forward, month-by-month, and watch her evolve from a woman who decided to put her books up on the Kindle to raise a little money to a woman who made, by her own admission, somewhere between 1.5 and two million dollars in about a year.
This, by the way, is why she’s the hero of the indie published writer. Because secretly (well, probably not so secretly) we all want to make a million dollars, and have agents and publishers begging to even talk to us, even though they wouldn’t even LOOK at our books before we put them on the Kindle and sold the kind of numbers that would make Stephen King envious.
It’s not unlike the nerdy guy in high school who wants to go back to his reunion 10 years later and tell the cute cheerleader that he’s all rich and stuff now and she totally should have taken her shot with him when she had the chance.
The thing of it is, though, Amanda ISN’T like that. At least in cyberspace (does anyone even use that word any more?) Amanda is just as kind and sweet and friendly as she was back in 2009.
She may be kinder and sweeter.
She offers up advice on how she got to the point where she sold over a million books. She’s honest and forthright. And she blogs about stuff she loves, like the movie “Inception.”
But then… she made the news. Why? Because she made a traditional publishing deal for two million dollars.
And some people got angry about this. How could this indie author, who was so dang nice, and already making all this money, choose to get a traditional publishing deal?
She’s supposed to be one of us!
Allow me to slightly misquote the cult favorite flick “The Way of the Gun:”
“Two million dollars is not money. It's a motive with a universal adaptor on it.”
Hocking has a longer, more elaborate answer than that, but really, that should be all you need. If someone comes to you and offers you two million dollars to do something you love, be it writing, or laying bricks, you take the two million.
And this is central to why I think Hocking is awesome. She tried to explain it anyway.
For the record, people are wondering what Hocking is doing, and I think it’s pretty simple: She wants people to read her stuff. So she made a deal to get her books into bookstores.
That should do it.
She’s done well up to this point, and I wish her continued success, whether it’s in print, or on the Internet, or if she starts inscribing clay tablets and selling them on street corners.
May we all remember to be as kind and hardworking as she has been. And may we all be so lucky, too.
Then keep on moving forward, month-by-month, and watch her evolve from a woman who decided to put her books up on the Kindle to raise a little money to a woman who made, by her own admission, somewhere between 1.5 and two million dollars in about a year.
This, by the way, is why she’s the hero of the indie published writer. Because secretly (well, probably not so secretly) we all want to make a million dollars, and have agents and publishers begging to even talk to us, even though they wouldn’t even LOOK at our books before we put them on the Kindle and sold the kind of numbers that would make Stephen King envious.
It’s not unlike the nerdy guy in high school who wants to go back to his reunion 10 years later and tell the cute cheerleader that he’s all rich and stuff now and she totally should have taken her shot with him when she had the chance.
The thing of it is, though, Amanda ISN’T like that. At least in cyberspace (does anyone even use that word any more?) Amanda is just as kind and sweet and friendly as she was back in 2009.
She may be kinder and sweeter.
She offers up advice on how she got to the point where she sold over a million books. She’s honest and forthright. And she blogs about stuff she loves, like the movie “Inception.”
But then… she made the news. Why? Because she made a traditional publishing deal for two million dollars.
And some people got angry about this. How could this indie author, who was so dang nice, and already making all this money, choose to get a traditional publishing deal?
She’s supposed to be one of us!
Allow me to slightly misquote the cult favorite flick “The Way of the Gun:”
“Two million dollars is not money. It's a motive with a universal adaptor on it.”
Hocking has a longer, more elaborate answer than that, but really, that should be all you need. If someone comes to you and offers you two million dollars to do something you love, be it writing, or laying bricks, you take the two million.
And this is central to why I think Hocking is awesome. She tried to explain it anyway.
For the record, people are wondering what Hocking is doing, and I think it’s pretty simple: She wants people to read her stuff. So she made a deal to get her books into bookstores.
That should do it.
She’s done well up to this point, and I wish her continued success, whether it’s in print, or on the Internet, or if she starts inscribing clay tablets and selling them on street corners.
May we all remember to be as kind and hardworking as she has been. And may we all be so lucky, too.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Getting the Word Out
So… it turns out, when you write a book, and put it out yourself, you have to tell people about it so they can read it and review it and hopefully say nice things about it.
Over the last few weeks, while the book was in final editing stages, I sent out more than 80 emails to people all over the country telling them that I had a book, that the book was coming out, and that I’d be happy to send them a copy so they could read it and tell their readers about it.
All things being equal, it probably would have been best to start the process a month or two in advance of selling the book. But with spring and summer on the way, I knew that a lot of people would be packing up the old Kindle and heading out on vacation, and they’d want to have a book with them.
Which is a good thing for me (I hope) as I have a well-loved, inexpensive book they can put on their e-reader. I mean, come on… what better place to read a book about being trapped on an uncharted island than on the beach? What better place to read about a plane crash than on a plane? And there’s a boat in the book, too! And a tank! It’s the perfect travel book!
I digress.
It was time to get the word out. So I sent out 80-some emails, and got 21 replies back (so far) from folks willing to read and review, or let me come and chat up the book on their blog, or do a giveaway.
And word has started to spread on ye olde Internet:
The Firefly Book Loft featured my book on their “In My Mailbox” post this week.
The Zed word let the world know that my book is out there, as well.
And finally, I got my first review, at the King of Zombies blog. What did he have to say?
“Patterson provides fans of contemporary zombie fiction with a delightfully gruesome world of death and survival.”
And how!
Further reviews as they appear…
Over the last few weeks, while the book was in final editing stages, I sent out more than 80 emails to people all over the country telling them that I had a book, that the book was coming out, and that I’d be happy to send them a copy so they could read it and tell their readers about it.
All things being equal, it probably would have been best to start the process a month or two in advance of selling the book. But with spring and summer on the way, I knew that a lot of people would be packing up the old Kindle and heading out on vacation, and they’d want to have a book with them.
Which is a good thing for me (I hope) as I have a well-loved, inexpensive book they can put on their e-reader. I mean, come on… what better place to read a book about being trapped on an uncharted island than on the beach? What better place to read about a plane crash than on a plane? And there’s a boat in the book, too! And a tank! It’s the perfect travel book!
I digress.
It was time to get the word out. So I sent out 80-some emails, and got 21 replies back (so far) from folks willing to read and review, or let me come and chat up the book on their blog, or do a giveaway.
And word has started to spread on ye olde Internet:
The Firefly Book Loft featured my book on their “In My Mailbox” post this week.
The Zed word let the world know that my book is out there, as well.
And finally, I got my first review, at the King of Zombies blog. What did he have to say?
“Patterson provides fans of contemporary zombie fiction with a delightfully gruesome world of death and survival.”
And how!
Further reviews as they appear…
Monday, March 28, 2011
The Secret is Out
The secret is out – my book went on sale last weekend, mostly so I could let bloggers know where to link.
Since I’ve gotten ahead of myself, I might as well go all the way.
So:
Mercy on the Kindle
Mercy on the nook
What’s the story about?
When Georgina Fulci’s plane crashes into the Atlantic, her troubles have just begun.
Desperate to get home to her family, Georgina and a handful of survivors must find a way to escape an uncharted island… while fighting off hordes of the living dead.
And here’s what people have been saying about the book:
“Joshua Grover-David Patterson writes in a style that will surely connect with many contemporary zombie fans. His use of tone and narrative structure are miles ahead of most who work in the genre.”
-Scott Kenemore, author of “Zombie, Ohio” and “The Zen of Zombie.”
“You expect a zombie novel to have brains, but you don't expect it to be this smart. You expect a number of internal organs to be on display, but you don't expect this much heart. MERCY is a kicka** zombie novel, but it's also a thoughtful, moving story about the joy and importance of being human and alive.”
-Seamus Cooper, author of “The Mall of Cthulhu”
“Patterson has taken the zombie-pocalypse story in a fresh new direction, infusing hope and heart into a format that normally only thinks of heart in relation to gory attacks.”
-Word Nerd Blog/Bethany K. Warner
Since I’ve gotten ahead of myself, I might as well go all the way.
So:
Mercy on the Kindle
Mercy on the nook
What’s the story about?
When Georgina Fulci’s plane crashes into the Atlantic, her troubles have just begun.
Desperate to get home to her family, Georgina and a handful of survivors must find a way to escape an uncharted island… while fighting off hordes of the living dead.
And here’s what people have been saying about the book:
“Joshua Grover-David Patterson writes in a style that will surely connect with many contemporary zombie fans. His use of tone and narrative structure are miles ahead of most who work in the genre.”
-Scott Kenemore, author of “Zombie, Ohio” and “The Zen of Zombie.”
“You expect a zombie novel to have brains, but you don't expect it to be this smart. You expect a number of internal organs to be on display, but you don't expect this much heart. MERCY is a kicka** zombie novel, but it's also a thoughtful, moving story about the joy and importance of being human and alive.”
-Seamus Cooper, author of “The Mall of Cthulhu”
“Patterson has taken the zombie-pocalypse story in a fresh new direction, infusing hope and heart into a format that normally only thinks of heart in relation to gory attacks.”
-Word Nerd Blog/Bethany K. Warner
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