Experimentation

Sometimes trying something new is a good thing. For me, it can be a terrifying thing. I’ve decided to go out on a limb and self publish a couple of short stories that have been lying around in my dust bin for the last, oh, four years. I’m trying out two different venues to see which one is the best.

Smashwords is probably the most popular for writers and I can definitely see why. It has lots of distribution on several platforms. Plus you can set your own price (from free and up). I’m actually kind of excited about selling this long-forgotten little short story on there. You can see it here. But because I’m proud of my effort, I’ve included the artwork I created here. Isn’t that snazzy? I love the inkwell and the quill pen and it’s so fitting for this story. Plus it gave me a chance to play around with my (limited) Photoshop skills.

The other brand new self-publishing venue is Pub It through Barnes & Noble. I figured I’d give this one a try, too. Though I have to admit it’s limited distribution (only through BN.com). You can see it here. I’m not nearly as impressed with my artwork on this short story so I’m not going to show it to you but if you’re burning to see it, you can view it at my home page by clicking here.

So I spent a good portion of time on Friday and Sunday tinkering with Smashwords and Pub It. Now I wait for the numbers to roll in and you know how I just love to wait. (sarcasm) 😉

We had a pretty low-key weekend for the most part. Saturday the kiddo had a birthday party to go to. I dropped him off and did some shopping and found a lovely silver party dress for $35 at Dressbarn. It’ll be going on the cruise with me in December. Then I found a Michael’s (score!) and browsed the cross-stitch section and then looked at all the yarn to my heart’s content. I have an urge to take up crocheting but I have to learn first. I may just stick to cross-stitching. I know how to do that already. 🙂

After I picked up the kiddo, that evening we headed to the airport to pick up Man from his work trip. The kiddo was highly interested in everything in the airport and asked me about all the camera, escalators and bag claim carrousels. By the time we got home, the kiddo wasn’t feeling so well. I couldn’t take him temperature since the battery in my thermometer died (and did you know you can find a regular one of those these days?) but I could tell he had a little bit of fever. I gave him Motrin. By the next morning, he still wasn’t feeling well. Off to Walgreen’s for a new thermometer and lots of meds. Mostly I think it’s allergies bothering him so I got him some saline wash for his nose. He actually used it without too much trouble (he liked that it helped him breath and I like that it’s non-medicated).

We pretty much just hung around the house and watched lots of sports. Rangers, Stars and Cowboys. (Win, Win and, oh-surprise!, loss).  The Rangers are headed to NY for Game 3 tonight and the Stars are currently 4-0-0. I won’t mention the Cowboys record. 🙂

And then the weekend was, sadly, over.

Another thing I accomplished was writing up my goals for 2011 and beyond. They’re aggressive and ambitious. I need to stick to them and get going on them because after December 31, I have no more excuses. It’s time to buckle down, hit the accelerator and enjoy the ride.