![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Hello?
Hello?
Is this thing on?
[yelling into the ether] ...my life sucks without you...
Do you believe me?
Ok, so maybe sucks is a bit of an exaggeration. My life doesn't suck, exactly. It is a little rough around the edges, but we're working on that. Working on that means re-connecting with the things that make me happy. Things like the participatory culture on LJ and DW. I miss all the writing and the conversations, the deep-thinky thoughts, the not-so-deep, not-so-thinky thoughts, the art, the creativity, the exuberance. I miss all of it. My fannish activity was always rooted in the Whedonverse and Farscape (to lesser degree) and my participation in LJ has been waning with the absence of a strong show that just got me "like that." Agents of Shield held my attention for two whole seconds. There's plenty that I'm still watching (The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, Sleepy Hollow), but nothing has quite made me dive into fandom the way that BtVS did.
Other things ... other non-fannish, meatspace things also threw a monkey wrench in the works. 2012 and 2013 were difficult. My world fell apart a little bit in 2012 and 2013 was all about recovery. Bloody, sweaty, tearful, 15 extra pounds worth of recovery. Part of that recovery included a self-published collection of short stories titled All This and Love. I worked from October 2012 to September 2013 to get that thing completed and out in the world. It consumed all of my time. I even put the job search on the backburner to get that thing done. It's success is...really, anybody's guess. I have all of 2 reviews and although they are good, there's only two of them. The book has sold maybe 16 e-copies (at least 2 for sure not to anyone that I know personally) and still...2 lonely little reviews on Goodreads. One of the key things for me to focus on and remember is the types of communities that I am moving from with LJ and fandom and into with the free-for-all of masses at large. This is not directed at anyone in particular or even, really, in general. It's a brief vent and it's something that's largely resolved within myself.
I am thrilled to have actually sold copies and I am thrilled to have the reviews that I do have. I do not want anyone to think that I'm complaining too heavily here because there's no real reason that I should have sold anything or that anyone would have anything to say about what I had written. I was thrilled with the first sale. Which just so happened to be from a complete and total stranger!! I do struggle with the lack of feedback but then so do all authors in all mediums. But what I am learning is that they are hard to come by in general. And it's okay. It's not necessarily a commentary on the manuscript or the author. I'm learning. I'm growing accustomed and the process has been a fascinating one. I'm still glad that I did it. And you know what? I'm planning on doing it again! Huzzah!
Writing original fiction is challenging in ways completely different than writing fanfiction. Writing fanfiction has a totally different, but equally difficult, set of challenges. I can't say that one trumps the other or that I prefer one type of writing over the other. I love it all so I will continue to write. Because I love it. Marketing has been the biggest pain in my ass as it regards the book. I mean, I don't know how people find time to work, write, read, and deal with all of the social media and crap that goes along with a self-pub. It's exhausting and I freely admit that I suck at it. To date: I have a Tumblr account, LJ and DW accounts (soon to be cancelled), YouTube channel, Google+ page, Pinterest page, Goodreads account, and a Facebook page. They are updated rather sparingly. A friend of mine mentioned Twitter and I broke out in hives.
No.
Nope.
Absolutely cannot do it.
I think part of the chore is that I chose to write under a pen name (J. Libby) and that makes three online profiles for me to manage. My RL stuff, my fannish stuff, and the book stuff. If I had been thinking straight I would have rolled everything into the fannish stuff. Cause why the hell not. Definitely would have made things easier.
Anyway, I've decided to fold things together a little bit and combine the LJ and DW pages for the book with the my fannish stuff. It will make it infinitely easier because it's not like I have different thoughts for each scenario. I'm just not that complex.
With all of that out. One of my goals for 2014 is to get back to fannish things and to overall post more! Tumblr and Facebook make it really, really easy to "like" things and to heart things, but that is a definite detractor from actual interaction. The interaction is the thing that I miss most about LJ. That interaction is probably why I'm so challenged with the review situation. I'm used to feedback and constructive criticism from my peer group. LJ was always good at that. Unfortunately, the rest of the world is not so much. Even my BFF hasn't given me a review, although she claims to like the book. She is the only specific that I point out because me and her have discussed the why for her reticence and through that discussion it helped enlighten me on how probably a lot of people feel. She doesn't feel qualified! I tell her, there is no qualification. It's just your opinion. She's still not comfortable with the concept and I don't know that she ever will be. And that's okay. Our relationship isn't going to die because she doesn't feel comfortable with reviews or that she isn't as opinionated as I am regarding literature. Reminding everyone that a bad review is fine, a mediocre review is fine, I just want honest, doesn't seem to make anyone more willing to give it a go. That's okay. It happens. It's something that I am learning about. Again, the shift from fannish culture to this larger mass book culture comes with a learning curve. So, okay. Whatevs. Letting that go. Walking away from it!
Anyway... yeah. That's the plan. I'd like to try the 30 posts in 30 days thing, but I'll admit, I don't have 30 ideas for things to post and I don't know if enough of the people on my friends list are still floating around to suggest 30 things. Feel free to drop something in the comments if you do.
It's good to be back. And I do mean to be back. I missed this space. I missed writing and the interaction. I need to get out of my head and get out with you good, gorgeous, smart, creative people. Here I come. Back home! Let's get cozy again!
I MISSED YOU GUYS!!
Hello?
Is this thing on?
[yelling into the ether] ...my life sucks without you...
Do you believe me?
Ok, so maybe sucks is a bit of an exaggeration. My life doesn't suck, exactly. It is a little rough around the edges, but we're working on that. Working on that means re-connecting with the things that make me happy. Things like the participatory culture on LJ and DW. I miss all the writing and the conversations, the deep-thinky thoughts, the not-so-deep, not-so-thinky thoughts, the art, the creativity, the exuberance. I miss all of it. My fannish activity was always rooted in the Whedonverse and Farscape (to lesser degree) and my participation in LJ has been waning with the absence of a strong show that just got me "like that." Agents of Shield held my attention for two whole seconds. There's plenty that I'm still watching (The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, Sleepy Hollow), but nothing has quite made me dive into fandom the way that BtVS did.
Other things ... other non-fannish, meatspace things also threw a monkey wrench in the works. 2012 and 2013 were difficult. My world fell apart a little bit in 2012 and 2013 was all about recovery. Bloody, sweaty, tearful, 15 extra pounds worth of recovery. Part of that recovery included a self-published collection of short stories titled All This and Love. I worked from October 2012 to September 2013 to get that thing completed and out in the world. It consumed all of my time. I even put the job search on the backburner to get that thing done. It's success is...really, anybody's guess. I have all of 2 reviews and although they are good, there's only two of them. The book has sold maybe 16 e-copies (at least 2 for sure not to anyone that I know personally) and still...2 lonely little reviews on Goodreads. One of the key things for me to focus on and remember is the types of communities that I am moving from with LJ and fandom and into with the free-for-all of masses at large. This is not directed at anyone in particular or even, really, in general. It's a brief vent and it's something that's largely resolved within myself.
I am thrilled to have actually sold copies and I am thrilled to have the reviews that I do have. I do not want anyone to think that I'm complaining too heavily here because there's no real reason that I should have sold anything or that anyone would have anything to say about what I had written. I was thrilled with the first sale. Which just so happened to be from a complete and total stranger!! I do struggle with the lack of feedback but then so do all authors in all mediums. But what I am learning is that they are hard to come by in general. And it's okay. It's not necessarily a commentary on the manuscript or the author. I'm learning. I'm growing accustomed and the process has been a fascinating one. I'm still glad that I did it. And you know what? I'm planning on doing it again! Huzzah!
Writing original fiction is challenging in ways completely different than writing fanfiction. Writing fanfiction has a totally different, but equally difficult, set of challenges. I can't say that one trumps the other or that I prefer one type of writing over the other. I love it all so I will continue to write. Because I love it. Marketing has been the biggest pain in my ass as it regards the book. I mean, I don't know how people find time to work, write, read, and deal with all of the social media and crap that goes along with a self-pub. It's exhausting and I freely admit that I suck at it. To date: I have a Tumblr account, LJ and DW accounts (soon to be cancelled), YouTube channel, Google+ page, Pinterest page, Goodreads account, and a Facebook page. They are updated rather sparingly. A friend of mine mentioned Twitter and I broke out in hives.
No.
Nope.
Absolutely cannot do it.
I think part of the chore is that I chose to write under a pen name (J. Libby) and that makes three online profiles for me to manage. My RL stuff, my fannish stuff, and the book stuff. If I had been thinking straight I would have rolled everything into the fannish stuff. Cause why the hell not. Definitely would have made things easier.
Anyway, I've decided to fold things together a little bit and combine the LJ and DW pages for the book with the my fannish stuff. It will make it infinitely easier because it's not like I have different thoughts for each scenario. I'm just not that complex.
With all of that out. One of my goals for 2014 is to get back to fannish things and to overall post more! Tumblr and Facebook make it really, really easy to "like" things and to heart things, but that is a definite detractor from actual interaction. The interaction is the thing that I miss most about LJ. That interaction is probably why I'm so challenged with the review situation. I'm used to feedback and constructive criticism from my peer group. LJ was always good at that. Unfortunately, the rest of the world is not so much. Even my BFF hasn't given me a review, although she claims to like the book. She is the only specific that I point out because me and her have discussed the why for her reticence and through that discussion it helped enlighten me on how probably a lot of people feel. She doesn't feel qualified! I tell her, there is no qualification. It's just your opinion. She's still not comfortable with the concept and I don't know that she ever will be. And that's okay. Our relationship isn't going to die because she doesn't feel comfortable with reviews or that she isn't as opinionated as I am regarding literature. Reminding everyone that a bad review is fine, a mediocre review is fine, I just want honest, doesn't seem to make anyone more willing to give it a go. That's okay. It happens. It's something that I am learning about. Again, the shift from fannish culture to this larger mass book culture comes with a learning curve. So, okay. Whatevs. Letting that go. Walking away from it!
Anyway... yeah. That's the plan. I'd like to try the 30 posts in 30 days thing, but I'll admit, I don't have 30 ideas for things to post and I don't know if enough of the people on my friends list are still floating around to suggest 30 things. Feel free to drop something in the comments if you do.
It's good to be back. And I do mean to be back. I missed this space. I missed writing and the interaction. I need to get out of my head and get out with you good, gorgeous, smart, creative people. Here I come. Back home! Let's get cozy again!
I MISSED YOU GUYS!!
no subject
Date: 2014-01-30 10:48 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2014-01-31 06:14 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2014-01-31 04:04 pm (UTC)From: