Lydia Schoch

Photo by Chaojoker.

Cross your fingers! We think we have all of the bugs worked out with the publishing site.

I just resubmitted Tumble to it. I won’t make any promises about the turnaround time, but I’ll share a link to the story as soon as it’s ready.

All we need to do in the meantime is hunker down with a fluffy friend and hope everything comes out ok. 🙂

I’ll share the next eBook update this evening. In the meantime, this is a fascinating TED talk about why it’s so important to have compassion for yourself.

It’s just as important as having compassion for other people.

Photo by Keraj1976.

I’ve decided to share daily updates until Tumble is actually available for download. This is a frustrating situation, but I’m making the best of it with cute bunnies. 🙂

We’ve figured out that the problem is due to a glitch in the publishing site I’m using. The first workaround didn’t work entirely, but the techs are busy helping us figure out what to try next. The good news is that the turnaround time for their responses has been excellent.

I hope tomorrow’s update will have more information for everyone!

The tech support people I’ve been talking to have been very helpful. I won’t promise anything until I know for sure, but it looks like Tumble will be released in the next few days.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this eager little bunny who can’t wait to read it. 😉

Bunny via technohell and lovelylops.

Due to technical difficulties with the ebook system I was planning to publish with, my ebook Tumble has been temporarily delayed.

Drew and I spent a big chunk of yesterday afternoon working on trying to get it published, but for some reason the online system didn’t seem to want to do anything when we hit the Publish button. Drew has spoken with their first level customer service department, but it was a Sunday so we probably won’t hear anything from someone who knows what’s going on until later today or tomorrow at the soonest.

Hopefully it’s just a simple glitch and they can hit the Publish button behind the scenes for us. If so, it may still get released today. I’ll share updates as soon as I have them. I’m sorry for the delay.

Here is this week’s list of blog posts, comic strips, short stories, poems, and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

The Needs of the Many via NatashaA_Author. What I find most interesting about this post is how few questions it answers. Sometimes there isn’t a good answer yet. It takes courage to admit that.

Hello, My Name Is… A creative post in which each one of Ruth’s pets describe how they came to live with her. Some of their stories are sad, but they made me wish I wasn’t allergic to dogs and cats. There are so many animals out there who need families.

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings. Gabriel Garcia Marquez died last week. This is my favourite story from him.

So, You’re Going to Die. Morality and death for non-theists.

Empty Nests via JAHesch. I love the imagery in this poem.

From OOTT via KarenPilarski:

That day in the kitchen I asked her about the appointment. “It was a total waste of time” she lamented. The doctor had killed her afternoon. “Well, so you don’t have a new allergy that is making your hand swell?” I was trying to comprehend the doctor’s voice of reason.

“Ugh, he said it was OOTT.” She said in an annoyed tone. Huh? I wondered if it was an acronym for a weird disease that effects moody teens. “He said one of those things, that is what OOTT stands for” she explained.

The author of today’s book recommendation is giving away free copies of it until Mother’s Day.

I Wonder is a beautifully illustrated children’s book about not having all of the answers in life. I hadn’t heard of Annaka Harris’ work before stumbling across this offer, but I like her smooth writing style and ability to admit when she doesn’t know something.

What have you been reading?

I have an exciting announcement to make today.

Do you remember all of those science fiction stories I’ve mentioned working on in previous posts? The first one, “Tumble,” will be published on April 28.

I’ll be giving it away for free to say thank you to all of my amazing readers. On Monday I’ll tell you where to get it and share a few other pertinent details.

In the meantime, check out the blurb:

Between growing up in the middle of nowhere and being homeschooled by her reclusive father, Elle has lead an incredibly sheltered life.

Little has changed in her life now that she’s officially an adult. The mystery of what, exactly, her dad does for a living has never been solved, and neither has his strong preference to keep both of them in almost total isolation.

Her life changes when she discovers something peculiar in the dirt while working in their garden, yet her father’s disinterested reaction to it is as puzzling as his insistence that she forget she ever found it.

The truth is out there. Can Elle find it?

Omelette from Madeline Sharafian on Vimeo.

Imagine telling a story without using any dialogue.

I love the creativity in this short film.

Here is this week’s list of blog posts and other tidbits from my favourite corners of the web.

Domestic Work, 1937. Feministing continues to impress me with their daily poems in honour of National Poetry Month. The imagery in this one is excellent.

Valeria Lukyanova, the Human Barbie Doll. Halfway through this article I paused and wondered what the hell I was reading. I’m still not 100% sure, but it’s a fascinating glimpse into the life of a woman I’d never heard of before.

Instruments from Inside via morguefile_site. This is so cool. It reminds me of a dim memory I have from early childhood about my parents building a very strange instrument. It had strings like a guitar, but it was smaller and boxier than that instrument. Maybe it was a dream, but I remember being fascinated by all of the tiny pieces they fit together.

Bunnies, It Must Be Bunnies. Now this is my kind of Easter story!

Why Some Relationships Create Energy for Introverts and Other Relationships Are Draining via losapala. My lists of what I find energizing and draining in a relationship are a little different, and I don’t entirely buy into the Meyers-Briggs theory because it doesn’t seem to take mental health into account.  Two people can share the same label yet appear to have little in common on the surface based on how high or low functioning they are emotionally. There is still a lot of truth to this essay, though.

From Socially Awkward Isn’t An Excuse:

Here’s the thing about the socially awkward: they don’t want to trip over people’s boundaries. You can almost always track the exact moment they realize that they’ve done something wrong by the way they desperately try to backtrack, apologize and generally try to reassure the other person that they didn’t mean to and they’re so embarrassed and are kind of freaking out and, and, and…

You know what you don’t see? You don’t see them justifying their behavior. Or turning it around and making it about the person whose boundaries they just blew past.

I recently finished Beltamar’s War, an epic fantasy novel written by my friend, C.G. Ayling.

It would be dishonest for me not  to mention that the first few chapters were a little difficult to get through due to the number of characters it introduces and how many unfamiliar terms are thrown around in them. In the first few scenes the reader is thrown into a society that is quite different from anything you’d find on earth in 2014. There are few if any explanations of what certain words mean or why it’s so shocking for character X to break social convention Y.

The glossary at the end helps to explain many of these things without giving away spoilers. Other pieces of the puzzle snapped together for me as I kept reading, and once this happened I became completely engrossed in the people and places that exist in this book. The world-building is astounding.  My initial struggle to understand why certain things mattered so much to the main characters was rewarded many times over.

This isn’t something that should be skimmed. If you’re curious about this story, I highly recommend taking your time to savour each chapter. It’s well-worth the wait.

What have you been reading?

By Gaspirtz.

Earlier this year, I started slowly making some lifestyle changes. Getting into an exercise routine was my first goal. It’s now a regular part of my daily routine. I’ve blogged before about how difficult it is for me to find types of exercise that I actually enjoy and stick with them, so this is a big accomplishment.

Dietary changes came next. I started out by eating a small salad every day, but I also indulged my sweet tooth when the urge struck. Some days I was too full to want a treat. On others my chocolate cravings won out. Gradually, though, I’ve been decreasing how often I eat stuff like chocolate and replacing it with healthier options.

I’d been doing pretty well at making this adjustment when I noticed that my favourite type of coconut milk ice cream was in stock again at the store. Clearly it was time for dessert!

After dinner I opened the container eagerly. There’s nothing better than chocolate, cherries, and creamy ice cream mixed together.

The funny thing was, though, that it didn’t taste as great as I remember. It was a little too sweet and cloying. I finished it to avoid wasting food, but I don’t think I’ll be buying it again anytime soon. I’ve always loved fruit, but even a bowl full of cherry tomatoes is more appealing than something this sweet these days.

How have your tastes changed lately?