We are fast approaching Read an Ebook Week, a week that encourages readers to pick up the digital device of their choice and download a new book to read.
I’m excited to announce that my book, My Cancer Journey: Stage 4 to Cure, will be available as part of a promotion on Smashwords to celebrate 2024 Read an Ebook Week! This is a chance to get my book, along with books from many other great authors, at a discount so you can get right to reading.
If you wouldn’t mind taking part in promoting this celebration of Ebooks and reading, please feel free to share this promo with your friends and family. Just forward this blog post to anyone who would love a chance to find their next favorite book and, as the name suggests, read an ebook!
The last couple of months, I been hearing rumors of Florida Man Games. This is inspired by the wacky headlines coming out of Florida starting with “Florida Man…”.
Lo and behold, it is not a rumor! Florida Man Games will be held this upcoming February 24th, 2024 in St. Augustine, Florida. That’s about 45 minutes from my house. I’m making plans now on attending as I think it will be a blast.
Click on the image above to be taken to the official website.
The events are directly inspired by Florida Man headlines. For instance:
Plus many more events. Also just for fun, they’ve added a few more things for people that are coming to see the games. Like Florida Man Mullet Contest! And not to mention a fan favorite for Floridians:
All in all, this sounds like a great time to celebrate this wacky state that I call home. Yes, I’ll be taking oodles and oodles of pictures.
If you have a loved one that has been diagnosed with Cancer, you need to get this book. You may save their life! If you have Cancer, you need to get this book. It may save your life.
I’ve partnered with Books2Read in order to get this book out to as many marketplaces as I can. The e-book version cost only $0.99 no matter if you have a Kindle, a Nook, or Apple device. Can’t afford that? Then sign up to Palace Marketplace with your local library and you can check it out for free on your favorite e-book device. Also available in several other e-book retailers.
It’s also exclusively available on Amazon in the print version. A bound 5″ x 8″ paperback that has large enough letters so you won’t be squinting while reading.
I would be eternally grateful if you have a blog and post a review of the book. Help spread the word and save people’s lives from the horrors of Cancer and it’s treatment.
I’ve been the recipient of the silent treatment more times than I can shake a stick at it. At first, it bothered me to no end. Mostly because I had no idea why I was being given the short shrift and ignored. Foolishly, I would confess to almost anything to get my loved one to resume talking with me.
I often wondered why this punishment was so effective. I finally realized my own insecurities were to blame. I wanted to be liked, loved, adored and wanted. Who doesn’t? I felt less than when confronted with silence. I would pick a fight in order to get a response. Other times, I would go all out in a romantic gesture. Most of the time, it didn’t work. The only solution was to wait out the silent treatment.
I tried doing the silent treatment to my loved one a few times. It didn’t last long as I’m not that stubborn. Also, it made me feel worse. I realized I was only hurting myself.
After suffering for years, my attitude has changed. It’s a blessed relief to not to have to listen to blathering’s that I have no interest in. Is that wrong? Maybe, but when my loved one chooses to remove themselves for days from my company and conversation, then perhaps they are the ones at fault, no matter what their justification for the silent treatment.
Life gets so much more simpler when you cry out “Oh NO!”, followed by an understated, “Anyways”.
This past month I’ve been mired in negativity. It’s been a slow downward spiral that has sped up recently. My tolerance level has decreased. At times, I thought I was the only sane person in a world of insanity. Now that I mention it, that usually is a sign of insanity.
I’ve become incensed at the double standards, the hypocrisy, the childness of those around me and the world in general. Aghast at the level of sheer stupidity, incompetence and general B.S. I bit my tongue more often than not until recently. Then I became snappy and let loose biting and hurtful remarks.
My general outlook of the world is dismal. I have dark fantasies run through my mind that end up with everyone around me finally realizing that I’m right and they are all a bunch of dolts and don’t deserve anything. My stress level rises each day, each hour, each minute. I start praying that a smoking meteor of death comes smashing down on Earth and wipes out every last stupid, idiotic, vain and lying human.
This is not the first time I’ve ventured into this morass. Each time it occurs, I don’t recognize what is happening until someone that knows me and cares for me finally has enough of my bad mood. “What is wrong with you?”, they ask. My first inclination is to blurt out that everyone is a piece of crap! Thankfully, I hold my tongue, seething inside at the very audacious thought that someone would question me when “they” are the problem.
It may not seem like much, but that little question is enough to start a period of introspection. Who has really changed? Was it everyone around me? Or, God forbid, was it me? Why am I so sensitive lately to what other people do? Truth be told, they haven’t changed at all. It’s always my attitude that has changed.
I’ve been plagued by this downward spiral since childhood. It happens every so often and I have yet to figure out what triggers it, even after 60 years of living on this insane glob of dirt we call Earth. Maybe by writing about it, I can end this cycle of anger of the injustice of everything. Probably a forlorn hope.
Today at work, I started climbing my way out of the black pit by making an effort to be cheerful and happy. From experience, this is a first step that will eventually get me back to that lovable but weird old guy they know and like. I’ve done this many times before and it always takes a tremendous amount of effort. Sometimes there will be a bit of backsliding, but step by step my attitude toward other people and life in general will improve. I still want to scream and yell at people for being imbeciles. To actually do so would be a wasted effort.
I’ve often wondered if this is a mental thing with me. Am I borderline insane? Is it a curse for having greater insight than those around me? Sometimes I wish to be struck dumb as ignorance is bliss. I do know I don’t know the answer. I’m not even sure what is the question. It’s these thoughts that bedevil me as I slowly return to normal.
Growing up I fell in love with books. Due to my father’s love of Science Fiction, I also read every science fiction book I could get my hands on. Even though we were sometimes struggling, my father always had a subscription to Analog. This is a science fiction magazine that came out every couple of months. I patiently waited for him to finish the magazine and then I would swoop in and grab it before my brother could get his grimy mitts on it.
I also like history. What better way to combine the two then to look at the history of science fiction. The first widely known science fiction book was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne in 1870. Just a few years earlier, during the Civil War, both sides experimented with submersibles. Jules Verne took that idea and asked “What if?”.
It’s a bit dated now as most of what he wrote has come to pass. We have submarines that can stay underwater for months at a time. We have submersibles that can dive very deep into the ocean. But that’s what Science Fiction is all about. What if? It shows what might be accomplished or what might happen in the future. Nevertheless, it is still an enjoyable novel even today to read.
The Time Machine by H.G. Wells in 1895 introduced us to time travel and post apocalyptic future. In other words, the forerunner to dystopian sci-fi. In 1898, H.G. Wells wrote War of the Worlds. This started a whole new genre of Invasion Science Fiction with a sub-plot of dystopian science fiction. Both of these are timeless (no pun intended) novels that still delight fans of science fiction.
Then in 1948 George Orwell wrote 1984. The first true dystopian novel. I remember when 1984 finally came around and we all drew a breath of silent relief that Orwell’s prediction hadn’t come to pass. Unfortunately, in 2023, it’s looking more and more probable with all the surveillance tech being deployed against the everyday people of the world. Orwell wrote 1984 as a warning to the future generations. Unfortunately, there are some that are using 1984 as a manual to gain power instead. I imagine Orwell would be horrified to see that his “What if?” is slowly becoming true.
Ray Bradbury followed suit with his novel Fahrenheit 451 in 1953. With all the book banning, cancel culture and censorship happening right now, unfortunately we may be in the beginnings of Fahrenheit 451.
These novels are not the only ones in the genre. There are many that are as good if not better. But what makes them noteworthy is the groundbreaking nature of each one. By the way, all five novels have been made into movies, some with multiple remakes. These are the novels that when I read them affected me profoundly. That’s why I’m naturally drawn into writing dystopian Science Fiction.
It’s said that in order to write dystopian, then one must be a pessimist about the future. Quite frankly, I’m not too keen on what is going to happen in our world so that makes me a definite candidate to write dystopian novels. Paradoxically, I’m also an optimist. I think we are headed into dark times, but eventually the world will come out of it even better than before. One only has to look back at the Dark Ages from 476 to 800 A.D. for an example. It was a cultural, economic and technological decline, but the explosion of ideas from 800 A.D. on changed the world into something that no one could envision before that time.
To me, a dystopian novel that shows we are heading into a tough time that may or may not wipe out the entire human race, but then shows the rebuilding of society into something so much better is the best kind of dystopian novels. (oops! Did I give away my plot?)
I’m no Verne, Orwell or Bradbury, but maybe, just maybe, I might be able to craft a story that is memorable and stand the test of time. I may never join the illustrious ranks of those above, but I do think my novel will be one that is enjoyed by fans and readers of dystopian Science Fiction. (That is if I can ever finish the damn thing)
This experience with writing and publishing my memoir has been a learning experience. I’ve shared thoughts on finishing the writing and now I’m going to share my thoughts on self-publishing.
First, there are three ways to get a book published. Traditional publishing where you submit a book to a publisher and if they accept it, they pay you and give you royalties. They do the final edits and formatting of the book. They also do the marketing.
Secondly, there is the vanity press. This is where you pay to get your book published. They do the formatting of the book. In addition you pay a fee for editing and marketing. Spoiler alert, this is the worst way to make money off your hard work.
Thirdly, there is the self-publishing route. You have to do the final edits. You have to do the formatting. You have to do all the marketing. You don’t have to pay anything to get it published. This is the route I chose for my book.
I decided to go with Amazon and publish an eBook and a paperback. For the eBook, I had to download Kindle Create to format my manuscript. It’s pretty straightforward, but also a bit of a pain. First, I needed to format my document in a specific way for Kindle Create. Then figure out the front matter and the back matter. Not to mention going through the entire manuscript line by line to ensure everything would line up correctly. It was tedious and took loads of focus and determination. Once I got everything perfect, I hit the publish button and had to wait 72 hours before it went live.
I thought formatting for the paperback would be easy, but turns out you need to pre-format your manuscript to a specific template. Then uploading and checking each and every part of the manuscript once again before hitting the publish button and waiting an additional 72 hours before it would go live.
All in all, not a pleasant experience at all. Lots of questions to answer and little details that can trip you up.
Then I realized belatedly that not everyone has a Kindle. There are people that read using Nook or Apple. Luckily, I had decided to not do the Kindle Select Program where it becomes available for free download to Kindle Unlimited members. If I had, I would have had to agree to a minimum of 90 days of it being exclusive to Kindle. I went on the Barnes & Noble site and the Apple site and realized I would have to go through the entire process all over on each site. Ugh!
While researching another way to publish, I was referred to Smashwords. Turns out that Smashwords is now Draft2Digital. I wish I had known of them before I went through the whole process with Amazon. I only need to go through the formatting process once, and then it is published with Barnes & Noble, Apple, Amazon and a whole host of other providers of eBooks. The catch is that Draft2Digital gets 10% of whatever royalties you collect from the provider. Seems like a bargain to me. I also can go through the print formatting once and it is also published with many providers including the library system. Wow!
Having had experience with Kindle Create, I dreaded going through the process again. Turns out it was extremely easy. In addition, I was given a UBL Universal Book Link that I could customize the URL. It was also nice that I could add the Amazon links to that too.
Click that above to see all the variety of ways to order my memoir. Plus there are still more to come like Hoopla.
I’m working on the print formatting for Draft2Digital and should have print versions available at your favorite retailer soon including Books A Million.
If I choose to self-publish my next book, I’ll definitely go with Draft2Digital.
Writing with Cancer 