Sunday, December 4, 2016

The Gears Are Grinding Along...Slowly

Yes, I'm still making headway on the new novel. 

And yes, it is moving along slower than grass growing. (But hey, we're heading into Winter and the grass won't grown then! What's that? You're...not...buying...that excuse? Yeah...me neither!)

Truth be told, I didn't feel much like writing last night, but I sat my gluteus maximus down at my computer and hammered out a pretty good draft of a page. Which means I'm a page closer to being done with the first draft! And I plan to do it again tonight...and hopefully tomorrow night (even following some oral surgery)...and the next night...and the next...

I'm pushing these new characters into the deep end of space with limited help and little hope. Still, if they have a little faith, I'll lead them on to victory (or at least their little part of it).


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I'm also gearing up for a major advertising push leading up to Christmas. Yeah, I know...how commercial of me! Charlie Brown and Linus will be so upset with me. But it IS an important part of an (self-published) author's job, if he or she wants to get their works in front of potential customers. And I DO need to get better at it if I wish to continue to sell my stories!

One frustration I've had with advertising on Facebook is that they don't like the images in their boosted ads to have too many words in them. Hello! I'm an author...I work in words! Covers usually have the author's name on them! Some books have sub-titles, too!

So, I've revised some of my cover images to create an image for FB that I can promote or boost and rely on the text in the post to handle that part of it. Wish me luck!





Looking for new e-books to read on your e-reader, tablet, or laptop? Need gifts for family members and friends who are avid e-book fans? My e-books are available for sale on my author page at www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney.

Chaos on Terra-Prime - $2.99
Foothold on Terra-Bravo - $2.99
Crisis on Terra-Bravo - $2.99
The Terra-Bravo Saga - Volume 1 (box set) - $5.97

Arizona State Guard: Bloody Border - $3.99
Arizona State Guard: Target Terror - $3.99
Arizona State Guard: Freedom’s Forge - $3.99

Death Haunts the Stars - $4.99

Honing Your Instructional Skills - $0.99


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For those of you already experiencing Winter's dustings of snow, be safe out there. For those of us anticipating some in the near future...relax, we'll get it soon enough!

Stay safe, everyone!

Jeffrey

© Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2016

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Time to Really Ramp Things Up!

Greetings Everybody,

Well, another Thanksgiving Holiday behind us and we're all well stuffed and looking forward to Christmas and New Years. I had a wonderful lunch with Julie and my father-in-law, Gary! Then, the boys and their wives and kids came over and we have a great evening together!

Now it's time to look to the future. It's going to be a busy time for me (and the rest of the family). We have Gary and Stoni's wedding coming up in about three weeks. And, of course, Christmas! 

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And I really need to work on the new novel as I just had another one added to the backlog behind it. So, I turn my thoughts back to Camadin Station and the heroes and heroines waiting there for my fleeting fingers to write their destinies. The last few weeks of recharging have not been fruitless. I've come up with some new ideas for the new novel so now it's time to begin applying those ideas to the story.

Starting December 1st I'll begin some advertising of the current e-books. Time to think of new e-books for your e-reader/tablet or to gift to family and friends. So let everyone you know (and you know who they are!) about my e-books. Check 'em out at my Amazon Author Page at www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney.


Chaos on Terra-Prime - $2.99
Foothold on Terra-Bravo - $2.99 Crisis on Terra-Bravo - $2.99 The Terra-Bravo Saga - Volume 1 (box set) - $5.97
Arizona State Guard: Target Terror - $3.99
Arizona State Guard: Freedom’s Forge - $3.99


Arizona State Guard: Bloody Border - $3.99

Death Haunts the Stars - $4.99


Honing Your Instructional Skills - $0.99

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Have a great week! Remember...let's be safe out there!

Jeffrey 

© Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2016

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Bummer of a Week!

Well, what a bummer of a week!

- Haven't felt well for a couple of weeks and it caught up with me. Big time!
- Too much to do and not enough oomph to do it all. 

So, I decided to take a little time to relax, unwind, and have some fun. Needed something to take my mind off of things and let me recharge the old creative batteries. Earlier this year, I enjoyed some time spent playing World of Tanks, so I downloaded the latest version of that game and have been having a (pardon the pun) blast!!!

Still, I need to get back to writing. I plan to start up again over the Thanksgiving weekend. I have some ideas I want to try out in the sci-fi novel. 

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I had a friend contact me today about the possibility of my existing military adventure novels being acceptable for Young Adults. I had to admit I didn't think so but I suggested something I have on tap for next year...a YA series set in and around Arizona in the 1880s. It will be an alternate reality/steampunk series involving a number of the well-know inventors of the time. I don't want' to say too much right now, though.

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Looking for new e-books to read on your e-reader, tablet, or laptop? Need gifts for family members and friends who are avid e-book fans? My e-books are available for sale on my author page at www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney.


Chaos on Terra-Prime - $2.99
Foothold on Terra-Bravo - $2.99
Crisis on Terra-Bravo - $2.99
The Terra-Bravo Saga - Volume 1 (box set) - $5.97

Arizona State Guard: Bloody Border - $3.99
Arizona State Guard: Target Terror - $3.99
Arizona State Guard: Freedom’s Forge - $3.99

Death Haunts the Stars - $4.99

Honing Your Instructional Skills - $0.99

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I wish everyone a safe, happy, and healthy Thanksgiving Day! Enjoy!

Jeffrey

© Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2016

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Still Making Headway!

Writing on the new novel has been hit or miss of late but I'm still making headway on it. Almost have the main character to the new big revelation in the story and a new jumping off point for the adventure. It takes awhile to get use to new characters, who they are, how they talk, etc... The older characters making their cameos are much easier to write. The difficulty with them this time is to show how they have evolved since their previous appearance AND keep them from becoming too important to the story.

I now have a working title (Last Stand at Camadin Station) BUT I've had some fresh ideas since that one:

Camadin Fleet
Task Force: Camadin
'Til the Stars Go Dark
'Til Dark Go the Stars

It's still a work in progress!

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We're coming up on Christmas next month! Amazon lets you give e-books as gifts to family and friends. Perhaps you'd like to gift some of my e-books this season! Check 'em out at my Amazon Author Page at www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney.


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And remember...let's be safe out there!

Jeffrey

© Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2016

Sunday, November 6, 2016

The Best Laid Plans...

...of mice and men oft go awry. (To paraphrase Robert Burns! The original read: The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft a-gley.”)

Well, damn! I DID get some writing in this past week. And I DID do a wee little bit of advertising. But NOT as much as I'd hoped to do with either. No excuses...it just didn't happen.

Still, my mind has been working on the new novel even if my fingers haven't been transferring those thoughts into my computer. And I'm still working on a title! Think I'm getting close though...


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Advertising...spending time not writing about (fill in genre here) to write about what I've written already. (Hey! There's a story in that somewhere...)

Please take a moment in your busy days to tell your family, friends, acquaintances, pool boys, bookies, auto mechanics, and other sundry personages about my stories. They are available through my Amazon Author's Page at www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney. 

A reminder for those with Kindle Unlimited subscriptions, you can download and read my e-novels easily as part of your subscription! Don't worry...I still make money on the deal through Amazon's Kindle Edition Normalized Pages Read program. I've tried to price each e-book at a reasonable price for the every day reader.



Chaos on Terra-Prime - $2.99

Foothold on Terra-Bravo - $2.99
Crisis on Terra-Bravo - $2.99
The Terra-Bravo Saga - Volume 1 (box set) - $5.97




Arizona State Guard: Bloody Border - $3.99

Arizona State Guard: Target Terror - $3.99
Arizona State Guard: Freedom’s Forge - $3.99



Death Haunts the Stars - $4.99


Honing Your Instructional Skills - $0.99

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Take some time to enjoy the Fall weather...it's been nice in Stillwater!

Jeffrey

© Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2016

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Razzin', Frazzin', Rit-razz-ma-tazzin'...

Many years ago, Saturday morning cartoons introduced a character named Muttley. Now Muttley was a cartoon dog on a show called Wacky Races (1968) and was the sidekick of Dick Dastardly. Muttley was know for two things: 1) his wheezy snicker and 2) his grumbling at Dastardly that sounded to my youthful ear something like "Razzin', Frazzin', Rit-razz-ma-tazin'..." He used this whenever he was frustrated...and over the years, I've been know to mumble it myself once and awhile.

Well, I'm been mumbling it a lot this past week! I've had a lot of personal tasks to accomplish on top of not feeling my best, so not much really got done...especially in the writing and advertising departments. *Sigh* 

So, I've got my weekly advertising (almost) done this afternoon and hope to do some writing this evening. And I will try to do a little of both during the upcoming week!


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My e-books are available for sale on my Amazon Author's Page at www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney.

Chaos on Terra-Prime
Foothold on Terra-Bravo
Crisis on Terra-Bravo
The Terra-Bravo Saga

Arizona State Guard: Bloody Border
Arizona State Guard: Target Terror
Arizona State Guard: Freedom’s Forge

Death Haunts the Stars


Honing Your Instructional Skills



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Enjoy the lovely Fall weather! Winter will be upon us much too soon.

Jeffrey

© Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2016

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Just a Short One...

Had a busy week at the office working on Essentials of Fire Fighting 7th and an equally busy weekend at the house doing some long over due chores. So this blog post is gonna be a short one!

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Work on the new science fiction novel is coming along well. Finished the first big space battle, put the hero in even more deadly danger, re-introduced a character from Death Haunts the Stars (with more to come later!), and set the stage for the next few chapters!

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Sales and KENP reads have slacked off this month, so I guess I need to do more advertising each night for awhile. Hey! Speaking of advertising:

My current library of e-books is available through my Amazon Author Page at www.amazon.com/author/jeffreyfortney. If you've read and enjoyed my stories, please let your family and friends know about them! Remember, if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription, you can download and read my e-novels at no additional cost! (Don't worry, Amazon takes care of it authors in the KENP program.)


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Take some time and enjoy the wonderful Fall weather as it comes your way. The leaves on the trees here in Stillwater are starting to change color and that is always pretty!

Be safe!

Jeffrey 

© Jeffrey M. Fortney - 2016