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Tag: life

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Thoughts on my first week.

Thea’s Tale went live on Tuesday. It’s been a great week. It’s getting a little traction. A couple of reviews, some borrows,some sales. I’m pleased. It’s staying in the top 100 for my genre, and in the Hot New Release section for my genre. All of that is fantastic.

So I’m browsing around Kboards today, and I come upon a thread that makes me go to Google, and see what I find.

What do I find? Evidence of the same thing the author of the thread was discussing. My book had been pirated.

In all honesty, I don’t know what to do. I want to be outraged, and in way, I am. At the same time, I know it’s part of digital publishing.

I think it’s a measure of how much I’ve read about this that my first thought, upon seeing the page with my work on there (other than, How in the hell did they get an audio book download? I haven’t done anything near audio yet!) was…Well, wow. There are reviews.

Wish they’d post them on Amazon. So I am posting them here.

Surprise! I actually like this.

OH MY GOD! This has got to be one of…if not the best book I have ever read. It was written so well, and the characters were all amazing.

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Organization!!!!

I’ve been so busy with writing that not having a looming deadline has left me sort of at odds.

I’ve caught up on sleep. My house (see previous posts, LOL) is now clean. Organized…not so much.

I am one of those people who gets overwhelmed with trying to get organized. Lord, the paper piles in my clutter ‘Hot Spots’. Like many of us, I look at the clutter, and go, “Well, dang. What am I gonna do with this mess?” I consider where to start, and then get depressed just thinking about it, and go and watch a Jane Austen. I feel marginally better, because Hey, at least I considered it, right?

This means I have what my Dear Husband calls the Corner of Hell in our kitchen. It’s where paperwork goes to die. The kids have a Corner of Hell with their things – because I don’t insist on getting rid of stuff (my poor kiddos – I already see some pack ratting in them). I cannot even begin to discuss my closet and dressers. Yes, I have three dressers. They’re not all the same size – but one really doesn’t need three of them.

I was bemoaning this earlier in the year to some of the ladies in my Tuesday critique group. I think clutter is a universal language. Recently, one of the ladies shared what has become a solution for her.  It’s this.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KK0PICK/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

The whole idea is to only keep things that bring you joy.

That idea is thrilling to me. One of the things I’ve struggled with over the years is that the act of acquisition is fun for me. Particularly if I can get it for a bargain. Lord-a-mercy, I love a bargain. For a long time, I didn’t bother to look and see if I NEEDED it. I paid attention to the fact that I wanted it, or thought I did. That meant I ended up with a lot of STUFF.

Home decor is a prime example of this. I have specific things I like to have in my home. I search them out, and the hunt is as fun as having them in the home. But I don’t have enough wall or display space for all the things I have. So I have begun to pare down my decor. It’s really HARD. I also bought two more display cases, but I’m not going to chastise myself over that. It organizes things, right? And with more space, it will allow for the things I have to be more readily enjoyed, right? LOL. I am actually moving one case down into my office, thus freeing up space for enjoyment in more places in the home.

I digress. Back to the book, and the premise behind it. Several of the ladies in my group have started working through their clutter hell based on this book. They report a high level of success so far. They also report that they feel better. Lighter.

I have company coming in two weeks. I want my house to show to the best advantage. So I am going to be employing the techniques listed in the book, and working through my areas of embarrassment.

I will keep you all updated on how it goes.

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Singin’ The Techie Blues

Technology Woes.

We all have them. Even if you don’t do anything other than fiddle with your smart phone, or play games on social media. There’s no escaping them.

However, in the world of online business, because let’s be honest, artists in today’s world have to see the online world as one of business, you really have to stay on top of things. Generally, I feel okay with this. I feel like I can hold my own in jumping into the technology pool.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Today, ladies and gents, I was bested, soundly by Facebook. I have an author page there, but because I jump before looking, I created, sometime last year, just a regular profile account. It means I must add people as friends, and it’s not an open subject page. Which, if you are promoting a business, you really want. Plus, Facebook’s TOS suggest you get your business to a Page rather than a profile.

So leaping before looking. There I was. I haven’t done anything about it since, even though it’s been on my to do list. Today, I went poking around. I took a massive leap once again, and created a Page.

No! No no no no no! Bad Lisa! Bad bad bad!

So off I go to….ah…actually read the directions. It seems one can take a profile and make it a Page. Open, your followers can add themselves, and it’s less administrative hassle as far as getting information out to your audience.

So I must go, delete the newly created Page, and take the steps to make my personal profile a Page.

The link crashes.

Yep. I crashed my own profile. It was not available for a good five minutes. Then I found it again, and went in to make the needed changes for my personal social media happiness.

It denied me. I was not allowed to make certain changes because I’d made too many. Apparently Facebook has a limit, and my fumbling had reached it.

Yay for me! I have to tell you, even though I am rolling my eyes at my ownself, I am also laughing. If I would just read the directions first – something my long-suffering spouse would have asked immediately had he been apprised of this debacle – the many steps and re-steps probably could have been avoided.

As well as the Facebook change denied message.

So there’s your public service announcement regarding tech today, chickens. Read the directions first, or show your online fumbling to the world.