Why aren't you writing?

I was checking through my Google+ writers forums this morning and found this article shared by Chicki Brown. This article comes at a good time. I am getting ready to start on my next book now that most of my book signing events are over. I still have a few to do in the next two months, but I really need to get down to doing more writing. After reading this article, I realize I have become a slacker and have lost the momentum.  Even my blog here is not as active as I want it to be so I am going to have to do something about it. This is the right place to begin creating and sharing ideas about my characters and places which, in turn,  may inspire you to do the same with your project.

My fictional world of Tiaera is far from finished and I have some new characters I'll be introducing with my next novel.  The working title that most of my Google+ writer friends liked was "The Guardians of Fayre Sea." Other suggestions are welcome, so leave me a comment below if you can think any.  Other suggestions are as follows:

The Fayre Sea Pirates
Souls of the Wave
The Trident and the Cutlass
Fayre Sea
The Merfolk of Fayre Sea

The story I am working on is about not one but two races of merfolk (or merpeople) who inhabit the waters just off the coast of Athrylle known as The Fayre Sea. They are rivals who strive to live in peace while menacing pirates sail their ships between those two continents. The story will involve the piratess, Felucia Athlynn, a character you met in "Realmwalkers." There will be raiding, romance, betrayal and mystery if everything turns out the way I plan.

I've been working on the story outline this week and I've done several pages so far. Right now it looks like it's going to become a novel (as opposed to another novella) and I hope to have it done by the end of the year. It will be a follow-up story that takes place after "The Priestess and the Ravenknight" and ends right before "Realmwalkers."

 THIS IS THE PLAN SO FAR!  

Yes, I guess you can call me a plotter. I need to do research and write notes. I update my maps, notebook, character sheets and outline before I can do any actual writing.  I don't find this method of writing too rigid for my creativity as my methods and outline are always subject to change as the story unfolds. This is why I won't give out too much about it at this time. Once the book takes shape, I will give more details for those of you interested.

And none of this will ever get done if I keep finding too many things to do instead of writing, which brings me back to this article. I hope you find it helpful as I did.  Keep writing even if its short stories, articles, poetry, etc... I meet readers hungry for a good story at every event.  Whether it's by ereader, audio or the printed book, readers still abound in search of a great story.

The Clock's Ticking: Why Aren't You Writing?

Amazon's Automatic Updating Service

Did you know that you can opt to receive updates automatically for some of your Kindle books? A new book version will be made available after they confirm that improvements were made to your Kindle book. I just found out about this tool and I think it's a great idea. Too bad it's still a bit buggy.

Case in point: The Priestess and the Ravenknight ebook I promoted at Amazon's KDP last autumn. After the first promotion, I decided to go over the ebook file again and revised it. I didn't make many changes, but I am happier with the newest version.  Then when I ran another 3-day free promotion at KDP, I wanted to download the newest version to my Android and Cloud Reader. The end result was that I got the same old version even though I deleted the copies I had on both readers. I tried it again and again, thinking it was just "operator error."  Well, it wasn't.

Fortunately, KDP has a good Help Chat Service at their site and I didn't have to wait long at all to get someone who fixed the problem. The rep had me remove the ebook from both my Android and Cloud Reader once more. Then I downloaded my ebook again and checked. This time the copy I got was the most current and best available. I don't know why the automatic updating tool did not work. I decided to check with a friend and had her check her copy and she also had problems with the automatic updating tool. In the end she ended up going the same route I did so a rep could reset and send her the latest copy of The Priestess and the Ravenknight.

It troubles me that after two free promotions, there may be readers out there that only have the old versions of my ebook. You should NOT have to pay for the newest copy even though the promotion days have ended. Please log into your Kindle account and go to Manage Your Kindle
and see if you have even opted for Automatic Updates. If you are opted in, you should see a message saying that you have an update. If you do as it says, you should get any new versions of ebooks that have been updated since your original purchase. Be careful if you use this service as it will remove any annotations or bookmarks you may have made in those Kindle ebooks.  

If you do not get the new update or if you are not even sure you did, I recommend you look up at the menu tool bar (once logged into Amazon.com) and click on HELP.  Look to the left column under TOPICS and click on KINDLE.  Under QUICK SOLUTIONS click on the button "Contact Us"  and scroll down the list of methods you want to use for contacting Amazon KDP.  You can use Phone, Email or Chat. I chose the chat option and got a rep almost instantly.  I explained the problem and she was able to guide me through the steps, which were the same ones I did before but this time she reset something on her end and made the update available to me. Once I verified I got the newest copies on my Cloud Reader and Android I thanked her and decided I should write you all today about this.

If you downloaded my ebook or have a library of Kindle ebooks, you may find the Automatic Update service useful in ensuring you have the best copy of your ebooks at hand. If you have any questions or problems with it, know that their Chat Reps are highly recommended and I will use them again for their fast and excellent help.

Happy Reading and Writing!