Thursday, February 28, 2019

Stuck in a portal

 I started on my newest novel immediately after finishing my last one. Year after year, I finish one and start another. I had some downtime this Christmas, but was busy designing coloring books and getting my first children's book published (visit AngieMcP blog - if interested). But now that things have slowed down, I don't want to work on it. People are waiting for it and it's kind of needed to make my series better. Three books are better than two, and all that.

I have an outline (sort of) and I kind of know where it's going, but I still don't want to work on it. So for now, I'm hedging around it. I think once I get back into it, everything will fall into place. I hope so. I think it's because it takes an entire year to complete. That's so much time. I'm not saying it's not worth it, but I have been testing new writing styles. Some can be completed in a month (or even less).

I will continue to write full-length novels, also look to the future for different audiences.

Stay tuned and stay paranormally weird!
Penny

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Why does KDP hate me and my ability to design book covers?

Oh, CreateSpace, how I wish you would come back!!! I miss you Cover Creator.  I cannot make a cover that doesn't get kicked out of KDP repeatedly to save my life. I download templates, re-download templates, pray to the gods... nothing seems to matter. My cover gets past the initial proof stage. It looks great. then I get the dreaded email from KDP stating my cover doesn't fit how it's supposed to.

Image result for public domain crying

I am ready to pull my hair out and not sure how to fix it going forward. Now I know why I'm happy to have some traditionally published work. Someone else can deal with this headache.

So here's to hoping for some good luck!
Stay paranormally weird!
Penny

Tuesday, February 19, 2019

My Fair Lady!

I went to see the Fathom Events My Fair Lady this weekend. I thought for sure I had seen the movie. I mean, who hasn't, right? Yeah. Apparently, I've never seen the movie. I knew some scenes and songs, but the movie was new to me. Crazy, I know! In the beginning, they related facts pertaining to the movie. I didn't know that Audrey Hepburn didn't sing the songs, and I didn't know that Julie Andrews was the lead in the Broadway play.  Andrews wasn't cast as the lead in the movie because she hadn't done any movies.

Which luckily that happened or we might not have gotten our beloved Mary Poppins! I did enjoy My Fair Lady and so glad I got to finally see it!

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Ready for spring and ready for a sequel!

My sequel to A Girl's Guide to Time Travel will be out in the next few months. This story doesn't involve any characters previously met before. I realize people want sequels and publishers know this, but I wanted to create a series where the situations might be similar but each story contains completely different people. The pitch I could use would be: My main character finds themselves in strange situations.

Pretty simple, huh? Well, why did I pick something that requires so much research? I'm a glutton for punishment. The second story, A Girl's Guide to Purgatory, still needed research, but not as much. For purgatory, I could use my imagination and didn't have to rely on so much book work. And now that I'm working on the third installment, I'm back up to my neck in research.

I don't hate research, but it's hard for me to keep it all organized. Sometimes I find myself spending hours on background info, but in the end it will make the story more well-rounded.

Stay tuned for more Purgatory info!
Stay paranormally weird!
Penny