It’s been ten years since my last tattoo. I’m pretty particular, so it shouldn’t come as a shock that it took something pretty important for me to head in for a new one, or in this case, three things that made a huge impact on me this year. This is a bit of a long story. Hold on tight.
Initially the plan was to have each of the elements stand on their own. I had a hard time deciding where to place them and which one I would get first. That’s when the idea came to mash them all together. The image of a messy desk stuck in my brain, so I printed everything out and started ripping up paper. I reached out to an amazing local artist for a consult, and soon enough the appointment was booked. If you’re in Airdrie, I highly recommend checking out Danica with Human Kanvas. I gave her a couple scraps of paper and a lot of trust, and she gave me something to be proud of.
I talked about my plans and introduction to self-publishing last month. The process was stressful, but it showed me how wonderful it can be to spread your creative wings. With all of the good feelings still front and centre, I talked my best friend into helping me take my publishing company Pencil on Paper (insert hyperlink) and grow it into something more. Now we offer services to help writers bring their own dreams to life. It’s been a rollercoaster ride, and perhaps the tattoo was a little premature, but even if this goes no further it’s been one of the biggest experiences of my life, so that’s why the PoP logo is right up top.
Do better comes next. It became a near daily reminder that we all can do better, and it’s something we should all be aspiring to. It doesn’t matter how far along you think you are, how good you think you are, there’s always room to do better. While writing it out myself would make sense, I really wanted someone special to write it out for me. Long story short, because there’s a lot going on behind the scenes with this that I don’t feel it necessary to share, I reached out to an artist, singer-songwriter seems too simple a term, that I am a huge fan of. The idea came to me, and it was just crazy enough to give it a shot. You only live once, right? I reached out, and they graciously obliged. I still feel weird about it, because I’m weird and why wouldn’t I feel strange about asking a public figure for something?
So it goes is on the bottom. I typed it out on my 80-year-old Remington portable typewriter. Kurt Vonnegut wrote it originally, and used it to what I feel is great effect in his novel Slaughterhouse Five. The last two years have not been easy on a personal level. It’s been a time filled with loss and conflict, sometimes brought on by the very things that are supposed to bring happiness. We’re constantly put into situations to learn a lesson, but the path isn’t always easy. It’s up to meet the challenge, or not. Life gets in the way of your dreams. People leave. Hearts are broken. Nothing is forever. So it goes.
The finished product.
Now it’s time to talk about all the books that I made mention of last month.
The opening novella in The Storm series will be off to final edit in two weeks. Then it will be time to format the interior and finish up the cover. It seems rushed, and it is, but it’s necessary so that we have enough time to proof and order test copies before launch in February.
This time around I’m looking to try something new with distribution. I distributed This and That through Ingram Spark and have few complaints. The plan for The Storm is still bubbling away in my brain, but at the moment what I want is to launch the ebook on Kindle Unlimited, and print a limited run of paperbacks for local shows and give-aways.
As if there’s not enough going on, we’re also about to launch a new short, short story compilation. It’s titled More of the Other, and if it’s not apparent, is an add-on to This and That but Mostly the Other. Would you like a copy of the new compilation for free? I’m going to send the file to anyone who subscribes to blog notifications here. If that’s not your thing, click the contact link in the header or send me a message through Twitter or Facebook (scroll down for links) and tell me what your favourite story is from This and That, and I’ll still send it along to you. Haven’t read This and That but Mostly the Other? It’s available for only $0.99 on Kindle and Kobo! You can find the links here.
Until next time…
Shane
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