Author Archives: CrissyMoss

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About CrissyMoss

I've been writing as long as I can remember.

Finished!

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I finished re-writing “Prophecy by Barlight” last night.

I’m going through it again to smooth it out, and I am hoping for release on Friday at 99 cents. It will be 99 cents for a week, then it will go to $2.99.

“Prophecy by Barlight” is the tale of Galdris, the poor hapless sot that buys the Drunken Unicorn, complete with a prophecy in vibrant blue letters on the wall. He soon discovers that the prophecy might draw customers in, but it also causes problems… problems that slowly eat away at him, until he’ll go to great lengths to free himself.

A comedic, fantasy story. 3500 words. (14 pages).

GRUMBLE

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I am one of those lucky people that works a 9-5 job. Lucky because at least I have a job, even if it isn’t exactly what I’d like to be doing. At least it isn’t a very difficult job, gives me time to make notes for later writing, and I feel like I am accomplishing a useful service for people… most days.

Then there are days like today when someone comes in and yells at me, then tells me everything is my fault, and I’m a liar because his sister or girlfriend (whatever she was to him) was a pretty smart girl and couldn’t possibly have misunderstood me.

Now… Deep breath. Calm down…

Some days I wish I could just be a writer, and nothing else. Other days I remind myself that this is a good opportunity to study a human beings real reactions and use it to write about later.

But at the moment… at the moment I just wish I could tell him he’s a jerk to his face, and I would really like to kick him out of my store for yelling at me.

Pick your battles. Breath deep. Find the good things in life and let the bad ones flow off you. Otherwise how will you ever survive?

Fan Fiction, and Amazon

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A few days ago Amazon announced their intentions to start a new line. Fan fiction… for pay.

This is unusual because fan fiction is usually skirting copyright by avoiding pay.

Basically, if you write fan fiction for “Vampire Diaries” or “Pretty Little Liars”, and it isn’t porn, then you have a chance of earning some money from the sale of that fan fiction. However, in exchange Amazon, and the original IP owners (in this case the studio producing that franchise) get to use your stories in whatever way shape or form they want to, and they don’t have to cut you in on the deal.

This is good, in the way that it allows some people who like writing fan fiction to write it, and sell it. To earn money they would not have been able to earn otherwise.

This is bad because if you do write the fan fiction, then the producers decide your fic is good and they want to make that into an episode… well they already have it. You aren’t getting paid anymore for it, no matter what you say or do. You don’t even get the regular writers fees for people who work on these shows.

If you write it anyway, maybe it is okay for you. But in all honesty I like Hugh Howey’s idea of fan-fic better. He encourages it, and lets you sell. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t even care what kind of fan-fic it is because it’s your work. He even advertises it on his website!

Fan fiction is an interesting beast all it’s own. I wrote it when I was younger. E.L. James wrote it then changed it up and made millions off “50 Shades of Grey”. Fan fiction isn’t going anywhere.

But I don’t agree with giving Amazon, or “Pretty Little Liars” the ability to use your work unchecked. If they want to hire you as a writer… great. If they want to use your work, license it. But don’t just claim it for a few bucks while they make millions.

John Skulzi had something to say about Amazon’s new world, and Neil Gaiman agreed with him. Here is Neil Gaiman’s opinion on fan fiction itself.

If you want to write it, and publish it, just know what you’re getting into.

 

NOTE: “Twilight Tales” will only be available for a few more hours, but if you did pick it up, and read it, please consider giving it a review. Reviews mean so much to new authors. Also, there are three more books available ranging .99 to 2.99.

Expanding

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I’m going to be moving some of my books to Kobo, and possibly other platforms. That will make them available in a wider area, and give people more options.

It’s going to take a little while to get everything up and running, but hopefully I will have “Prophecy by Barlight” and “Small Bites 2” out by then.

“Twilight Tales” will be free until the 27th. Because I put it though KDP select that means I won’t be able to put it up on any other platform for a while. But… that’s okay. Eventually I may make it permanently free just to give people a taste of my writing. But that won’t be for at least three months.

BUT, that gives me time to work on some other projects.

I really like how “Footprints” is going. It is a first person story in which a man goes to his family’s cabin to deal with the death of his father. And while there something strange happens.

“Small Bites 2” should also be out soon. It has three more flash-fic stories. Each dealing with curiosity, and what happens when it bites back. “Scarecrow“, which is available in Twilight Tales, “Carmine” which is about a telepath and a vampire, and “Price of a Book” about a woman who finally fights back.

Look for each of these toward the end of the month.

Loving it!

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I got an email from a friend today. A forward actually. He wanted to share with me what Amazon was trying to sell him.

me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There I am, right at the top! I know it’s just a little thing, but it really is awesome that they included me in their email this month.

Overflowing with Ideas

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I suppose this isn’t a horrible problem.

I am OVERFLOWING with ideas.

Tons of ideas! Why, just within the last two weeks I have written four complete plot-lines, each at least 1500 words, with fully sketched characters, settings, and worlds.

But have I finished anything?

Well, I actually have two finished short stories (3k words each) that i am trying to get polished up so I can send out. But the new ideas keep flowing.

I hate losing new ideas, so I try to write just short blurbs (fifteen minutes worth of writing) but sometimes the stories get away with me. Sometimes I see some potential for something good in them, and I just go with it.

Like last week, I was reading a thread on Reddit when I had a moment of inspiration to start writing a ghost story. The entire story sprang into my head, and I had to get it all out. I have a good chunk of both stories finished, and it would probably only take a few days to get them to the editing stage if I put my nose to the grindstone. In fact one of them, “Tux”, I already created a cover for. I liked it that much. But it also has a lot of work to go through since it is going to be a longer story. “Footprints”, however, is going to be a shortish story. And “The Ring” is the first in a series about some mysterious items.

SO!

  • Prophecy By Barlight
  • The Ring
  • Footprints

All good ideas. All nearing completion. I need to get my butt in gear.

Stats

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It’s been a while since I shared my word count.

year graph

You can see the steady rise of daily word counts. I went from an average of 200 in February  to 500 in April. I’m pushing that even higher this month.

What I’ve noticed….

When I finished a big project (in this case, Osiren’s Tears) I had a sharp drop off in word counts because I ended up spending a lot of time doing edits, cover design, formatting and the other “boring” parts of self publishing. I also had no idea where to start on the 20 projects I have lined up.

When I got a new idea the words just flew out of my finger tips. I ended up with two days over 2000+ words because of two great little ghost story ideas. Similarly, back in March I had a 1000+ day because of a brand new Sci-fi idea that I am still working out the kinks for.

Good news, I’m getting faster. Bad news, I’m going to have to spend a few more days here and there ironing out the “boring” parts of self publishing because I’ll have more content to put out there.

tux2And a teaser for the ghost story….

Around the Web

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Your semi regular dose of news from around the web.

The saga over Penguin exploiting authors continues. And now there is a class action lawsuit over unpaid royalties to go with it all.

On some lighter notes:

Some of the best known authors prove it’s never too late to start writing.

The Creative Penn discusses marketing and selling learned from some top selling indie authors.

Pets of favorite authors.

The SPP interviews CJ Lyons. (youtube)

 

Happy writing.