Thursday This n That

I've been working in the woods these past few days.  It feels good to be back at it again.  Two years of not doing it means there is a LOT to clean up down in there.  Unfortunately, we lost several dogwood trees.  We have no clue what killed them.  Especially since there are live dogwood trees right near the dead ones.  Anyway, with all this deadfall, our firewood hoard is growing.  When we eventually get a woodstove, we're going to be golden.  Until then, though, it's just really good exercise.

Yes, I am sore from all the wood hauling - Hubs has been doing the cutting - but I'd rather be sore than turn into Jabba the Hut.  

I'm trying to make marketing images this morning, but the internet is killing me.

Mmm, cheese.

Right now, I'm reading a compendium of HG Wells' stories.  It starts off with War of the Worlds.  I'd read that once years ago and not since, so it's pretty interesting.  Nothing at all like the movie (the old one... I refuse to acknowledge that weird thing Tom Cruise did).  This whole volume could take me the rest of the year, but I think after WotW, I'll read an ebook or two before forging on.

I think I made a pretty good graphic this morning.  It might be too creepy, though.  What do you think?

Hey!  Blogger let my graphic load!  Yay!

Okay, I've gotta go get life started this morning.  Have a great day.

Pretty Graphic for Sleeping Ugly

I know you know that SLEEPING UGLY is free right now, but I just wanted to post this graphic I made because I think it's pretty.

I splashed that sucker all over FB this morning, so if you've got any critiques, it's too late for that now and you will only harsh my morning.  

I'm sure some of you know exactly how hard it is making marketing graphics :cough:Silver:cough: but for the rest of you, this isn't just a matter of POOF there it is.  You have to find just the right background and just the right text to go with it.  Even then, you have no clue whether it's actually grabby to anyone but you.  (Unless you're already a marketing genius... this is for the rest of us.)  I've made graphics I thought we're really da bomb, and when I look at them later, I'm all like :sad trombone noise: so there's really no telling.  

One thing I have learned is that it all seems to go better if you have a graphic to splash rather than just letting the link in the text populate a clickable image.  That seems a little counterintuitive - like I would've thought that having a larger space to click would be more attractive - but in my experience, it's true.  More people click through and buy with a graphic and a link, than with just the link and its clickable image.  :shrug:  Also, some groups won't actually let a post without an image go through.  They're auto-blocked.  :additional shrug:

Anyway, I just wanted to leave this out there for anyone who might be contemplating this marketing plan.  Learn from my mistakes and all that.  And look at my pretty graphic while you're at it.  And get a copy of the book, then buy the rest of the series, okay?  

Sunday Update - Week 9

Hi!  Thanks for stopping by!  Here is the week that was.

I started off the week by finishing the round of edits on Ugly and the Beast and sending it out to peoples.  Now I wait.  And while I'm waiting, I made some good strides in writing Cinder Ugly this week.  I was up about 7K words by Thursday night, then I took Friday night off to watch Live PD.  Then last night, my hands were too squonky to write, so I had to take it off, too.  Better luck tonight.

In marketing news, UNEQUAL is still free through today.  I've been posting things on FB and have moved X copies as of the writing of this post.  To that end, a friend of mine took some time out of her busy schedule to make me a pretty graphic:

SQUEE!  It's way the hell better than anything I could've done.  I'd pay her to do all my books, but, yeah, budget.

In other marketing news, the SCIU books will go on sale Wednesday.  99c each.  Woohoo.

Other than that, I did a little reading - very little.  I only finished one book and got about a third of the way through another.  When the writing goes up, the reading goes down.  =o\

Of course, I baked stuff.  More applesauce bread.  Yay!  I need to do a batch of oatmeal cookies today.  We'll see.

Last Sunday, I went fishing.  I finally caught a fish!  It was only a 5" bluegill, but it's better than getting skunked again.  I meant to go fishing Friday, but... :shrug:

Instead of fishing, I was uncovering my garden beds for Spring.  Those poor plants were getting all funky from hiding under the leaves.  They'll do better now.  Even though Hubs helped yesterday, I didn't get all the beds done yet.  It's a pain in the back (and the wrists and the legs and the feet) to do it, so I do it a bed at a time.  Four beds down, two to go.  (One bed doesn't need uncovering, since it never got covered to begin with.)

In diet and activity news, well, I bought ice cream.  And I ate it all.  :shrug:  I went almost two months - missed it by a day - and I didn't really see a change in my weight or how I felt.  We'll see if I start buying ice cream again.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  No weight lost this week and the activity was mostly clearing the gardens.  Now that the weather is getting warmer, I need to start walking every day again.

And that's it for me.  How are things in your world?

ETA:  Gah.  Totally forgot that it was going to be the hell of time-changing this morning.  Will they never stop this madness?