Category: I pretend I’m a Writer

Day One

1 Comment

For some reason I remember a particular day in middle school, 8th grade maybe, in PE class. We had just started the health section where they had to make sure we knew to eat healthy and take care of ourselves, and the health teacher looked at us and said, “This is the first day of the rest of your life.” At that point I stopped listening and started to draw. I know it was supposed to be inspirational and make me want to do something awesome with my life, but that came later. All I could think about was how by her logic I should be saying that every day, and in that the phrase lost meaning.

So what has meaning? Today. For two reasons that have timed out perfectly.

Today is the last day of classes. In one day I will no longer have to worry about homework, making it to class on time, carrying heavy books around, or sitting through long lectures that don’t interest me. I’ve spent years doing that and it’s all behind me now. Awesome. In about one week I will be a college graduate. Two papers, a portfolio, and a presentation stand in my way after today. I’ve given in to the fact that I do my best work under a tight deadline, so I’ll probably put it all off until after the weekend, but then I’ll be finished. I have the silly looking cap and gown and in about a week I’ll go sit with my friends and walk across a stage to get a piece of paper, then my family will say nice things and it will all be real life from there.

And perhaps one of the more bizarre mileposts today: I’ve been a published author for one month as of today. I’ve sold somewhere around 150 copies, and about 1,500 more have gotten my book for free. I’m already finding myself listed on other websites. My amazing friends have been awesome at spreading the word and expanding my reader base just a little bit farther. I am 5,000 words into my second publication, and I’m looking forward to the release with as much excitement as I used to anticipate my birthday. Maybe I can do this full time someday. Maybe. It’s a pretty good goal.

1277

2 Comments

Yesterday was a roller coaster. 1277 people took a free kindle version of Children of Fire. That blows my 50 sales out of the water. It feels like I’m holding my breath now, waiting for some sort of feedback – a review, a Facebook like, screams of anguish in the streets, something. Even if only a fraction of those 1277 decide to read it I’ll have expanded my reader base dramatically. It’s unreal to think that the story I was scribbling down on notebook paper in high school now has that many potential readers out there who think the stuff that comes out of my head is worth space on their kindle. If any of those people ever read this: I am honored, truly. Continue reading →

Ch-ch-ch-changes

1 Comment

New blog title, new stuff happening!

Okay, first of all: I’m a published author! Yay! It is honestly one of the most bizarre feelings I’ve ever experienced. I’ll post more up tomorrow or Friday when my print copy arrives, but seeing my pages on Amazon’s website is really strange. I don’t know that everything has sunk in yet. I will say that my friends have shown incredible support, and I am truly grateful for all their efforts, from buying my book to plugging it to others to leaving awesome reviews. Thank you, everyone.

Just over three weeks of school left. Ever. I don’t think that has sunk in, either. My plans and ambitions have been all over the place the last few months, but I finally feel like I have some sort of direction. My apartment is officially subleased for the summer and I (hopefully) have a place to move to at the end of May. My biggest concern is that it has been a real struggle to keep myself involved in my classes. At this point I feel like I’ve gotten started on what I hope will one day be my career, and honestly school has just been getting in the way lately. I’ve promised myself that the last three weeks won’t be that way, that I’ll participate in class and do all my homework and all that jazz, but we’ll see. I think it was like this during my last month of high school, but I don’t really remember.

What else… I’ve been keeping up  with my artwork lately, which I love. I feel like I improve a little every time. I’ve rediscovered charcoal as a medium and I’m starting to like it a lot more. I was first formally introduced to using charcoal in a drawing class I took here – incidentally the class that led to choosing Art as a minor. I didn’t think I was very good at it and stored all my pencils and such away. For whatever reason I dug them out a couple weeks ago, and now I’m not sure why I hated using it. Most of what I’ve been drawing is character sketches and concept art for my writing, and I hope the folks who liked my Facebook page don’t mind the spamming.

So that’s all for today, but I will try to be better about posting updates again – especially once I reach graduation. Counting down the days!